The world’s best junior sailors (U23) in the fastest Olympic boats are taking Risør, Norway for the summer. The first week of July, sailors from all over the world come to Risør to compete for the 2019 Junior World Championship.
About Risør
The event will take place at the core of Risør center where the square and the streets along the seafront will be the arena for boat park and social gathering, so that the event can be a sailing festival for the whole city. It is exciting to add the championship to the square so the whole city can take part in the event. Although it is logistically demanding for us to achieve this, we see that linking the event to the city offers a larger dimension, and we are helping to build up the region’s desire to focus on activities in region.
Ripple effects that contribute to local value creation are a consequence of successful collaboration. We are very grateful that Aust-Agder County Council and Risør Municipality have received financial support, this shows that they see how successful events have more ripple effects than just the event itself,” says Anne Wichstrøm, who heads the event.
One of the focus areas in culture for the Agder 2020 Regional Plan is to ensure that several national and international sports events are carried out in Agder. Aust-Agder County Council is therefore pleased to support this international event, which contributes to many practitioners and their support agencies coming to the region. Participants will experience a fantastic championship in Risør, says county culture manager in Aust-Agder, Hege Solli.
The championship is a result of cooperation between Risør Sailing Association and the Royal Norwegian Sailing Association (KNS). For the past year, volunteers from both sailing associations have worked on the practicality of the championship, so when the sailors arrive, there is full focus on sailing. Together, the clubs are in full swing with the planning work for what will be the largest sailing event ever added to Risør Sailing Association and Risør town.
Risør is a sailing town and a festival and cultural municipality. It is therefore with great expectations that we look forward to this summer’s World Championship in sailing. Risør town is in many ways an ideal sailing arena, with a very special proximity between the city itself and where the voyages take place. We look forward to getting many international guests to the city and the municipality under the voyages. We are proud of our local sailing association Risør Seilforening which together with KNS takes on the big promise such a championship is. The municipality supports the World Championship in many areas and we of course hope for good summer weather and fresh wind, says Mayor of Risør, Per Kristian Lunden.
In addition to this, KNS and Risør Seilforening are pleased that Agder Energi also joined the team and will be the main sponsor of the event.
We at Agder Energi have an important and meaningful assignment; We provide clean energy for society to function, now and for the future. Sailing is in itself a symbol of sustainable and renewable energy, which makes collaboration natural. We are impressed by the enormous volunteer effort that will be used to host a world sailing championship in our region. Together with our subsidiaries LOS and Entelios, we look forward to raising talented participants who compete for who can utilize the renewable energy best, says Unni Farestveit, Executive Vice President of Corporate Communications in Agder Energi.
FACTS – JUNIOR World Cup Sailing 2019
It must be competed in the 49er, 49erFX and Nacra 17 classes for sailors under the age of 23. These are Olympic class boats, and the Junior World Championship is a regatta for upcoming Olympic sailors. Some may make the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.
Norwegian sailors: It is expected about a hundred boats with sailors from all over the world and great participation from, among other things, Denmark, Sweden, Germany and other countries in Europe. From Norway you count on boats in all classes. Risør brothers Thomas and Mats Mathisen who sail 49er will also be watching the starting line during the championship.
Press: If you have any questions, please contact the event manager, Anne Wichstrøm at anne.wichstrom@gmail.com or 971 85 440.
