The Notice of Race for the 2013 ISAF Nations Cup has been released with Middelfart, Denmark set to host the Grand Final from 6-10 August 2013.
Open and Women’s match racers will compete in six Regional Finals from January to June 2013 ahead of the Grand Final with the first, North American and Caribbean, to be hosted in Bridgetown, Barbados from 30 January – 3 February.
Winning skippers from each division in the Regional Finals will qualify for the ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final where they will be joined by defending champions France (Women’s) and New Zealand (Open) as well as host nation Denmark to battle for the 2013 ISAF Nations Cup trophies.
The Notice of Race outlines the key details of the event, including the dates and venues, equipment and format of the Regional Finals and Grand Final.
ISAF Competitions Manager Antonio Gonzalez de la Madrid said, “Spread across six continents the ISAF Nations Cup is a fully inclusive event and gives wonderful opportunities for all nations and sailors a chance to test themselves against some of the best match racers in the world.”
Grand Final Middelfart, Denmark – 6-10 August 2013
Regional Finals Asia – Vladivostok, Russia – 6-9 June 2013 Europe I – Viana do Castelo, Portugal – 12-16 June 2013 Europe II – Lelystad, Netherlands – 1-5 May 2013 North America & Caribbean – Bridgetown, Barbados – 30 Jan – 3 Feb 2013 South America – Mar Del Plata, Argentina – 27-31 March 2013 Africa & Oceania – TBC
ISAF Nations Cup
The ISAF Nations Cup was first introduced to the world in 1991. Open and Women’s contests are run and it is based on a series of Regional Finals with the top crews meeting at the Grand Final. Ed Baird (USA) won the first ISAF Nation’s Cup.
Racing at the Regional Finals is preceded by an ISAF Match Racing Clinic, aimed to help develop match racing skills and officiating in that region. The winners of each Regional Final progress to the Grand Final, where they are joined by the defending nation and the host nation.
The aim of the event is to broaden the availability of match racing and provide international match racing competition for national authorities and sailors at a reasonable cost, whilst acting as an incentive for national match racing programmes.
Many great match racers today in the Americas Cup, the World Match Racing Tour and the 2012 Olympics have come up through this event. Examples would be Mathieu Richard (FRA), Bertrand Pace (FRA), Claire Leroy (FRA), Anna Tunnicliffe (USA), Lucy Macgregor (GBR), Peter Holmberg (ISV), Eugeniy Neugodnikov (RUS), Jesper Bank (DEN), Murray Jones (NZL), Damien Iehl (FRA), Nicky Souter (AUS).
