2018 World Cup Series Final declared open in Marseille
by World Sailing 5 Jun 2018 02:49 BST
3-10 June 2018
Marseille 2018 World Cup Series Final Opening Ceremony © Tomas Moya / Sailing Energy / World Sailing
With less than 24-hours to go until the first starting gun at Sailing's 2018 World Cup Series Final in Marseille, France, sailors were officially welcomed at the opening ceremony.
A total of 212 sailors from 34 nations will race in 156 boats across six days of competition and anticipation is building to see who will walk away with the honours and own the bragging rights ahead of the Hempel Sailing World Championships Aarhus 2018.
Marseille is welcoming a mixture of Olympic, World and World Cup champions as well as rising stars who will be targeting a medal at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition, which will be held out of the same venue as the World Cup Final.
"After a series of international events, it gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all to Final of the 2018 World Cup Series here in the beautiful city of Marseille," commented Carlos de Beltran, Technical and Offshore Director at World Sailing, at the Opening Ceremony.
"The 2018 World Cup Series started back in October last year with our first ever event in Japan. From the sounding of the first warning signal, we have witnessed some compelling competition and narratives unfold. Miami in USA and then Hyeres - just 90km down the coast - hosted sailors who were all vying to qualify for the Final to be here with us today.
"All of the competitors here this week have earnt the right to be here and the top performing sailors in eight of the Olympic events will race over the next six days."
Joining the World Sailing representative on the stage was Didier Reault, Deputy Mayor of the City of Marseille, who presented the medal of the city to World Sailing.
Nicolas Henard, FFVoile President, Thierry Santelli, Vice-President of the Departmental Council of Bouches-du-Rhône and Renaud Muselier, President of the Région Provence- Alpes-Côte d'Azur, were also represented.
Following a series of speeches, representatives of each nation were invited to the stage to receive a gift from the city.
Sailors will now turn their focus to racing on the opening day.
Racing will commence at 11:00 local time on Tuesday 5 June and will conclude with the Medal Races on Saturday 9 and Sunday 10 June, which will be streamed across the World Sailing Network.