Star Worlds at Yacht Club Isole di Toscana - Opening Ceremony
by ISCYRA 19 Sep 2023 08:40 NZST
17-24 September 2023
For the first time in 24 years, the Star World Championship comes back to Tuscany, Italy.
In 1999 the event was held in Punta Ala, a few kilometres south of the modern port of Marina di Scarlino, where the regatta is taking place this year from September 17th to the 24th. With the official Opening Ceremony just finished, the 2023 Star World Championship is officially underway and the 100 boat-fleet will hit the water tomorrow for the first warning signal going off at 1200 CET (GMT +2).
100 entries is a big achievement for a Class that is more than 100 years old and that has last held its Olympic status at the 2012 games, 200 sailors will be racing the 2 mile long racecourse for one race per day for the next six days, following the traditional format. 25 nations are represented here in Tuscany, with eight teams in the U30 group, the youth sailors, the future of the Class.
Alongside the under 30, a look around at the Opening Ceremony attendees sees multiple World Champions, Star Continental Champions, Bacardi Cup winners and other famous names set for some super competitive racing. Over 10 Star World Champions will be among the fleet, starting side-by-side with the youngsters.
Every Star World Championship is a battle of legends, and for title holder, Diego Negri (ITA), the challenge for him will be to defend it for the third time in a row. Eric Doyle (USA), the winner of the 1999 Championship in Tuscany, hoisted the flag at the Opening Ceremony, two other Italians are sporting the gold star, Enrico Chieffi, Roberto Benamati, and Norwegian Eivind Melleby with American Josh Revkin.
The 100 year-old Star World Championship Trophy will be presented to the winning Star World Championship team on Sunday September the 24th after the very last race of the series, with prizes to the top five overall, along with trophies to top placing teams in the Under 30, Seniors, Masters, Grand Masters and Exalted Grand Master divisions, as well as daily and series prizes.
Results, reports, photos and video will be available throughout the Star World Championship on https://worlds.starchampionships.org/ as well as updates on Facebook and Instagram. The official hashtags for the Championship are: #2023StarWorldChampionsip #StarSailing #StarSailors