Inside the 2020 - 2023 Para World Sailing competition Strategy

Launched at the 2019 Annual Conference in Bermuda, the goals include:
- #1 - Increase Worldwide Participation to 45 nations on 5 continents by the end of 2023
- #2 - Expand Competition
- #3 - Effective marketing and communications
- #4 - Governance and rules

On 2 December, World Sailing provided insight on goal #1 - click here for more - and throughout December, further insight will be delivered as the sport aims for inclusion in the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.

Expanding the competition for Para athletes is the second goal of the 2020 - 2023 Para World Sailing Strategy. In recent years, the competition programme for Para athletes has increased with more classes available to sail in the Para World Sailing Championships, a growth in the number of Regional Para Games that feature sailing and increased awareness globally.

The second goal aims to expand on the work delivered to date and the priorities include:
- Growing the number of nations participating in Para sailing and inclusive regattas at all levels;
- Growing the number and quality of Para sailing and inclusive events at an international, regional and national level;
- Expanding the competition programme at all levels to provide for all types and severity of disability and to encourage greater youth and female participation;
- Identify ways to reduce the cost of competing at Para sailing events internationally, regionally and locally.

In order to expand the competition and to support the wider goal of increasing worldwide participating to 45 nations, the competition programme for Para sailing will see some amendments from 2020 to 2023.

At The Hague 2022 Sailing World Championships in the Netherlands, Para World Sailing Classes will be included in the programme of events and will continue to be included in editions thereafter. This replaces the previous yearly Para World Sailing Championships that had been held every year since 1991. In order to award yearly World Championship titles in Para World Sailing Classes, they will be held in conjunction with Open Class World Championships in years not coinciding with the Sailing World Championships.

Para World Sailing Classes have been included in the World Cup Series since its inception in 2008 and will continue to do so with the aim of promoting the excellence of sailing in a fully inclusive event.

Sailing's inclusion in Regional Para Games has increased following the release of the Para World Sailing Strategic Plan in 2016 and World Sailing will continue to promote the inclusion.

In order to support Member National Authorities in growing Para sailing, World Sailing will encourage and support them in establishing National Para Sailing Championships and support class National Championships in identified development or inclusive classes.

World Sailing will ensure Para sailing is fully inclusive, and not restricted to events and disciplines within the Paralympic sphere. An international competition programme for Integrated Blind Fleet Racing and Autonomous Blind Match Racing will be maintained. Furthermore, an international competition programme for sailors with intellectual disabilities and deaf and hearing impaired sailors will also be established.

The full outline of goal #2 is available in the Para World Sailing Strategy 2020 - 2023 document here.

Further insight into goal #2, 'Expand Competition', will be available on 16 December with the series concluding on 30 December with 'Effective Marketing and Communications'.