Medemblik Regatta aims for a leading role in Olympic Sailing

Day 3 - Windfoil Surfing, Medemblik Regatta 2019, 25-5-2019 (21/25 May 2019). Medemblik - the Netherlands © Sander van der Borch

The Medemblik Regatta, formerly known as Spa, Holland or Delta Lloyd Regatta, can once again become a global event in Olympic Sailing. Thanks to the new plans of World Sailing, this spring classic regatta gets a prominent and protected position on the international calendar.

As the most successful sailing country of 2018 and 2019, the Netherlands deserves a world-class home competition. TIG Sports, Royal Netherlands Yachting Union and Municipality Medemblik aim to have such a world class event again in 2021 with participants in all Olympic classes on their way to Paris 2024.

Prominent and protected position on the International calendar

The Medemblik Regatta has a reputation for quality, innovation and a factor of surprise since 1985. Together with the other spring classics like Kieler Woche, Semaine Olympique Hyères and the Sofia Cup, Medemblik will once again have a prominent and protected position on the International calendar for the next five years. As a result, from 2021 onwards, international top-class sailors can collect many points for the world ranking in Medemblik.

"Incredibly important for sailing"

CEO of the Royal Netherlands Yachting Union Arno van Gerven sees a healthy future for sailing in his country: "The Netherlands has many beautiful sailing events. Traditional and innovative. Mainly thanks to the driving force of our key sailing clubs. The Medemblik Regatta is an event in which our best Dutch sailors compete against the world's best in front of their home crowd on home waters. That is incredibly important for an even better future of sailing in our country. This event is the perfect place to meet and inspire athletes, clubs, volunteers, the public and existing and future commercial partners."

World class race management together with the bigger sailing clubs

In preparation for the Youth Sailing World Championships in 2021 and the Sailing World Championships in 2022, the Royal Netherlands Yachting Union, together with TIG Sports, is building on a lot of valuable organisational experience. This world class sailing management can be well-used in the Medemblik Regatta to once again become a global tournament.

The volunteers of the sailing clubs involved in race management like KZ&RV Hollandia, KWV de Kaag, KNZ &RV Muiden, KZ&RV de Maas, KWV Loosdrecht, Yacht Club Scheveningen and Royal Yacht Club Belgium are gaining useful experience. With this, race management will develop even further in the Netherlands, qualitatively and quantitatively.

2020 transition year

As the Olympic sailors are expected to be in Tokyo at the end of May 2020 in preparation for the Games, the organisation, has decided that the Medemblik Regatta in 2020 will be compact and innovative.

This means that in 2020 the Medemblik Regatta is already looking ahead to the World Championships in its own country in 2021 and2022 and to the Olympic Games of 2024. For example, the new foiling windsurf- and kite surfing class will be invited. In addition, the paralympic classes are invited and the talents in the high-performance classes who are already focusing on participating in the next Olympic Games in France in 2024.

Experience at the highest level

In recent years, the Medemblik Regatta has been organised by Sportivents. TIG Sports is taking over this responsibility. The Amsterdam sports marketing company is no stranger to sailing. It has organised the hugely successful finish of the Volvo Ocean Race in 2018, for example. They also won the bid for the Sailing World Cup in 2022 and Youth Sailing World Cup in 2021. On behalf of TIG Sports, Frans Hin remains on board to organise the Medemblik Regatta.