World Sailing announced the qualification system and procedure March 23, 2017 to inform sailors and coaches how to gain entry to the 2018 Sailing World Cup.
The 2018 SWC consists of 3 Rounds and then a SWC Final in June:
- Gamagori, Japan – 15 to 22 Oct 2017
- Miami, USA – 21 to 28 Jan 2018
- Hyères, France 22 to 29 April 2018
- Sailing World Cup Final – Kiel, Germany (TBC)(TBC)
(For a full event calendar use 49er.org/event)
Sailors can qualify through their ranking or through regatta performances at 2017 Princess Sofia Trophy or 2017 Delta Lloyd Regatta. For the 49er, 49erFX, and Nacra 17 there will be a total of 30 spots, with 18 going by rankings, 8 from Palma, and 4 from Delta Lloyd. The rankings will be from the update on April 30, 2017, right after Hyeres World Cup.
World Sailing is offering series entry, meaning that those teams qualifying for the World Cup must attend all three events. It remains to be seen if teams will accept these spots knowing that they must travel to Japan in 2017 to race in a location that is not the Olympic venue in order to gain further entry in Miami and Hyeres, but that is the system.
Here is the Full Document with all of the details.
While sailors will be happy for the clarity on what is occurring in 2018, there will be sailors upset by the process. This system has been released only 3 days from the start Palma regatta, which, it turns out, is the qualifier for 27% of the berths available. Anyone not already heading to Palma certainly won’t have time to react.
