Melges 24 European regatta calendar 2023 published
December 1, 2022 – International Melges 24 Class Association (IM24CA) has published the calendar of regattas to be held round Europe in 2023. This calendar includes the events from South to North, with an aim to reorganise the five-six-event based European Sailing Series into a series based on ranking of more events in various countries.
Well known as the Melges 24 European Sailing Series (ESS), since establishing by IM24CA in 2013, the series was launched with the aim to run the international regattas around Europe attracting the venues to host the events and to give a boost to the local fleets. Developments in recent years, Covid, and changes in the political and economic landscape, have not benefited the ESS's scope or participation in regattas.
After deep discussions, the IM24CA European working group has decided to transform the old ESS into a ranking-based series, including a title championship, various regattas both in North and South Europe, and national championships with minimum entrants. Under this distribution, the results of the regattas will be weighted differently in the scoring, and points can be collected according to the location and travel opportunities across Europe. This way, there will be a similar number of regattas in the North and in the South with the same weighting, so to give all Melges 24 sailors a better chance to participate and achieve results in the European series.
The foremost objective of creating the new Melges 24 European Sailing Series is that it should be inclusive and accessible by the majority of Melges 24 sailors around Europe. It will provide cross border cooperation with calendars and with a focus on supporting national associations across Europe showing the spread, popularity, and energy within the class.
The regattas below will have the highest weighting in the ranking.
- South: April 21-23 - Portoroz, Slovenia
- North: May 5-6 - TBD, Denmark
- South: May 19-21 - Malcesine, Italy
- North: June 9-11 - Pre-Worlds - Middelfart, Denmark
- North: June 24 - July 1 - Worlds - Middelfart, Denmark
- South: July 21-23 - Riva del Garda, Italy
- North: August 25-27 - Kristiansand, Norway
- North: September 15-17 - Brejning, Denmark
- South: September 1-3 - Rimini, Italy
- South: September 22-24 - Trieste, Italy
- South: October 6-8 - Split, Croatia
Lower weighting in the ranking will be given to the national championships with minimum entry number and some other regattas like the late October and November events in Croatia with a storage and event delivery service available.
- October 28-29 – Mornar (Split), Croatia
- November 17-19 - Trogir, Croatia – Croatian National Championship
Some national championships will be added to the calendar yet.
The Notice of Race and exact scoring of the reorganised Melges 24 European Sailing Series (factors, scoring, weighting, prizes) will be published in January 2023.
