Spain is bidding to host the next World Sailing Olympic Class World Championships

The Real Club Náutico de Valencia is working hard and determined to host the World Sailing World Championships in 2026-2027.

The Club has presented its credentials to host the most important Olympic class event in sailing, even more than the Olympic Games themselves, as David Graham, CEO of World Sailing, states, highlighting that "it is a unique event with more than 1,400 athletes under the flag from 80 countries, the depth of the competition is greater than the Olympic Games".

Last November, a delegation from the Real Club Náutico de Valencia, headed by its president: Marisa Arlandis, accompanied by Carlos de Beltrán, Manager, and Pedro Quiroga, Sports Director, as well as the Sailing Federation of the Valencian Community, represented by Miguel Sánchez, Manager, met with Graham to show their personal interest in the project of the RCN of Valencia and the city for this great event. With this, they fulfilled the first step marked by World Sailing on the road to the presentation of the candidacy, which in the case of Valencia being the chosen venue would be held between the months of August and October.

If it is selected as the venue, the Balearic sailors, who already have their sights set on the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games, will be able to compete for this place in a sea they know well. The main objectives of this ambitious project are: to convert the RCNV into the first fixed regatta base in the world for dinghy sailing and to classify Spain in all Olympic classes for the 2028 Olympic Games.  It is also a great opportunity to bring water sports closer to the public, but in a massive and global way. An event that brings great seasonal value to the nautical-sports activity, and that will consolidate the city at an international level as a training venue for competition teams. With a direct sporting return that will span more than three years. With around 1,400 sailors from 80 countries, as it is the event in which the countries in each of the Olympic classes qualify to attend the next Olympics, in this case the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

The regatta area, in the Gulf of Valencia, is another of the points in favor of the Spanish candidacy, being qualified by all the great sailors as one of the best in the world. All this, together with the great sporting spaces and infrastructures that the RCN Valencia currently has, which also has 10 restaurant areas, with a well diversified and high quality offer, open all year round, is in itself a differential advantage over any other nautical-sporting area.  These values, which both the RCNV and the city of Valencia hope will be key to passing the first filter of the selection of countries whose deadline for submission was 15 December. The World Sailing Evaluation Committee will announce in the next few days which candidates have made the cut and will work over the next few months until the chosen candidature is announced at the end of the first half of 2024.