L’Escala inaugurates the RS21 2024 World Championships

23/September/2024
Category: Regattas

The RS21 2024 World Championship in L’Escala was inaugurated today, Monday 23rd September, in a ceremony that took place at 6pm in the Regatta Village. The ceremony included speeches from the commodore of the Club Gerard Marín, the commercial director of RS Sailing Michiel Geerling and the mayor of L’Escala and representative of the Provincial Council of Girona Josep Bofill.

After the speeches came the culminating moment: the hoisting of the class flag on the signal mast. Finally, sailors, companions, organisers and guests were able to enjoy a snack during which anchovies from L’Escala, the town’s ambassadors, were the stars of the show.

Between these two days, the crews and their boats have been arriving and have passed the measurements and have been able to carry out the first sailing tests in the sea of Empúries.

An innovative regatta

The RS21 2024 World Championship will start on the 21st and 22nd of September. This regatta will be one of the most innovative ones along with the America’s Cup. For the second time, Spain is hosting, from L’Escala, a competition of boats designed to be highly sustainable. The RS21s are built with resins derived from low environmental impact resins and when they are not sailing, they are powered by electric motors.

On the other hand, the event organisers have chosen to use GPS-controlled automatic marks. In this way, the regatta courses will be signposted, avoiding any impact on the seabed by avoiding the use of anchoring. This technology is a clear example of the benefits of innovation in events, in this case, in favour of the environment.

One, two, three… Action!

Tomorrow, Tuesday 24th September, the fleet will compete in a training race that will put an end to the preparations for the event.

From Wednesday 25th to Saturday 28th, the qualifying races for the RS21 2024 World Championship will take place. Up to 40 crews, representing the countries of Great Britain, Lithuania, Holland, Italy, Poland, Ireland, Australia, Turkey and Greece, will be fighting for the world title at home.

The organisers have planned to hold three races every day between 12pm and 5pm, followed by various social events designed for sailors to get together and enjoy some good times. On the 28th, the last day of competition, the prize-giving ceremony, which will take place at 6 p.m., will bring the RS21 2024 World Championship to a close

The RS21 2024 World Championship in L’Escala

The RS21 2024 World Championship will be organised by Club Nàutic L’Escala and the RS21 class with the support of the Catalan Sailing Federation and the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation.

The event has the institutional support of L’Escala Town Council, Girona Provincial Council, the Costa Brava Tourist Board and the General Secretariat of Sport of the Catalan Government. It also counts with the collaboration of Hyundai Fornells Motor, RS Sailing, Camping la Ballena Alegre, the Consejo Superior de Deportes, Ports de la Generalitat, Nautivela and RS Veleros.

The regatta will be financed by the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan financed by European Union funds – Next Generation EU, as part of the actions that form part of the collaboration agreement signed this summer between L’Escala Town Council and Club Nàutic l’Escala with the aim of promoting sustainable activities at sea, as well as non-motorised nautical events.