Getting set in Medemblik for the Allen & PA Consulting RS Feva Worlds
by Jon Partridge 21 Jul 2017 17:12 BST
21-27 July 2017
The 10th RS Feva World Championship will start on Sunday 23rd July 2017. The International Regatta Centre in Medemblik, The Netherlands will host 177 boats from 17 nations with the support of two amazing sponsors - Allen Brothers and PA Consulting.
As the dinghy park begins to fill up it is great to see so many old friends from previous RS Feva Championships. Teams have travelled from as far away as China, New Zealand, Hong Kong, and the USA making this RS Feva World Championships the most international RS Feva event to date.
The Dutch, as usual, are the prefect hosts with many volunteers on hand to help unload, rig charter boats and keep everyone smiling (even in the rain).
The forecast for the next 8 days is looking fantastic for championship racing. Keep an eye on the conditions by checking out the RS Feva World Championships LIVE Windguru station. www.windguru.cz/station/1035
Clearly there are sailors here trying to win this year's event, which looks wide open with no clear favourite. Willian Pank, last year's World Champion in Santander, has a new crew. Current European Champions Michal Kostyr/Klara Kulhankova for the Czech Republic were fantastic in the light airs of Switzerland, but will they have the pace if the breeze is up? Others to watch out for are Eli Liefting/Rose Dixon from New Zealand, 4th at 2016 RS Feva World Championships and recent winners of America's Cup Endeavour RS Feva Regatta in Bermuda; Ben Hutton-Penman/Lucy Hewitson the current UK National Champions and also in the mix must be Oscar Andersson, 3rd at last year's Worlds, sailing with a new crew Amanda Ljunggren.
By this time next week we will know who will follow in the footsteps previous RS Feva World Champions, like James Peters, who recently won the 2017 49er World Cup final in Santander and Chris Taylor – helm on Land Rover BAR's winning Youth America's Cup Team.
For others at this event winning is not the main aim. Hopefully all the young teams will set themselves targets and achieve them, experience taking part in one of the World's largest junior regattas, meet some new friends, create some memories which will last a lifetime and set them up to enjoy our wonderful sport for many years to come.
Follow the 2017 RS Feva World Championships at www.rsfeva.org, www.facebook.com/rsfeva and @rsfeva on twitter.