European Sailing Cup for Olympic Classes to include Paralympic Classes

by John Friend on 1 Jun 2012 Eurosaf European Sailing Cup (ESSC), a new series of events for Olympic Classes, is to commence in 2013. In a statement issued this week, Eurosaf have announced that along with their partners, namely Garda Olympic Week, Delta Lloyd Regatta, Sail for Gold, Kieler Woche, and Semaine Olympique Française, they have agreed to include the Paralympic Classes in a minimum of two of the regattas, possibly all five events. This will stand alongside the decision by ISAF to include Paralympic Classes in Sailing World Cup events.

The representative to Eurosaf from the International Association For Disabled Sailing (IFDS), Wilfried Klein, a member of their Executive Committee, has been involved in the discussions between Eurosaf and the event organisers since the proposal was first mooted over one year ago. Initially, it was thought that inclusion in two of the events would be sufficient, but Wilfried said 'When I saw what events are to be included in the EESC and knowing the high standard they all achieve, I thought why not be part of more than two events. Kieler Woche, Delta Lloyd, Medemblik and Sail for Gold, Weymouth already include Paralympic classes, so this only leaves two more events to complete the whole series'. He continued 'ISAF decided to include Paralympic classes into the World Cup without limiting the number of events, so we will discuss this at the IFDS Executive Committee when we meet in June and if everyone is in agreement, we will discuss our options with the EESC Steering Committee. This will be an exciting new series for the Paralympic Classes involving a very high standard of race management and competition'

The President of Eurosaf, Mr Marco Predieri, said 'not only are we pleased to have reached an excellent agreement with the event organisers, we are delighted at the response we have received from the sailing world since we made the announcement concerning the Eurosaf European Sailing Cup last week, and the reaction from the IFDS is typical of what has happened. Our objective is to be as inclusive and forward thinking with this new series as we can and to incorporate all forms of Olympic sailing, of which the Paralympics is an increasingly important component.' Marco continued 'we in Eurosaf are very proud of what is being achieved within European sailing through the creation of the EESC and to be able to include the Paralympic classes as well, we are building a series which will be second to none in the sailing world. That is something we really can be proud of in Europe'.

The Eurosaf European Sailing Cup commences in Europe with Garda Olympic Week in May of 2013. Details of the series calendar will be published very soon. For more information in the meantime please contact Eurosaf website