Look back at great races with race winners, way back to 1999 down under and forward to rest of 2020

Reigning world and euro champions Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Deutz (NED) © Sailing Energy-Trofeo Sofia Iberostar

Without much sailing going on, there is little to do but dream of races from the good old days.

We've created our Relive the Moment series, where each week we look back at a key race in recent years and chat with sailors that featured prominently in the racing. It's provided a fascinating behind the mind look into current teams. On Friday we will feature Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED) as they review their Worlds win.

We've also looked through races with:

• Vittorio Bissaro (ITA)
• Stephanie Roble and Maggie Shea (USA)
• Nathan Outteridge (AUS)
• Jim Colley (AUS)
• Annemiek Bekkering and Annette Duetz (NED)

Seen enough of today's top sailors? As a Special Treat. we have found the footage from the 1999 Schneider Series!

All four of the 1999 Schneider Series recently made it's way onto youtube thanks to the 18footers. There was a two hour show for each regatta. This early days 49er sailing action is pretty awesome. This only was the third year of 49er sailing, and the worlds top teams at the time got together for a Tour Down Under in the lead up to Sydney 2000.

We've compiled the four regatta series into a page for your watching pleasure.

Want to check out some global legends learn the 49er. We've got Chris Nicholson, Dan Slater, Morgan Larson, Ian Barker and many more. Want to see the Bugen Brothers go back to back OSC, it's all there. Enjoy!

Racing for the rest of 2020

Like all sports organizations, with 49er Class and Nacra 17 Class sailors wait at home while critical workers around the globe try to clean up and keep us going through this covid pandemic. It is our privilege to sail and race as much as we do and of course that must be put on hold while such a serious medical contagion is being tackled.

In coming weeks or months, constraints at various locations will be relaxed as per the instructions of the governments at which point teams will hit the water again. However, going out for a sail is quite different from getting together at a regatta with friends from 30 or 40 different nations.

As such, we have asked each of our regional fleets to come up with a plan for racing closer to home for the rest of 2020. Geographies and politics are different from place to place, so our guidelines are loose, but essentially we have asked our fleet to put in place regional, and national championships with some coordination so that if travel is possible neighboring regions can cross attend. This might look like a Pacific Coast Championship in the USA and Canada, an Australian and New Zealand series down under, or a series of national championships across Europe, for examples.

As an international federation, we are still prepared to host our Junior World Championship and European Championship should conditions allow. Equally, we are prepared to forgo these championships if it is not safe or possible for them to be carried out.

Our Junior Worlds are scheduled for late August in Lake Como, and we will make a final decision about whether this championship will happen in late May. For our Europeans, we have a venue that we can race at in late September, and likewise, we will make a final decision about this championship in June.

For now, everyone keep safe and be kind.

Our expanded store has everything a sailor might need

During the self isolation period we have been busy building out our classes sailing store with all the great sailing products you could ever need. From dinghy gear to big boats, exercise equipment to O2 sensors, we are aiming to get you any sailing product you might want along with items that are suitable for the times. Have a look. All proceeds of the website go to the classes, so support us while getting your boat ready for summer sailing (hopefully).