RS Venture Connect Worlds: Entries to para sailing event reach capacity
Entry to the RS Venture Connect Worlds sailing event in Oman has now closed, after the event reached capacity.
From November 23 to 27, 2022, 36 teams representing 19 nations will come together to sail in the RS Venture Connect, a current World Sailing Paralympic sailboat class, which features a ‘seated control system’ designed to benefit both the helm and their crew.
The sailing event is a collaboration between RS Sailing and Oman Sail, and was originally confirmed in September 2021. Organisers say that, because para sailing represents the most niche category of sailor within the sport, they believed there was no guarantee that enough teams would sign up for the event to be run.
Fast forward 12 months, and the event registration website says, “Due to capacity, the event entry is now closed.”
RS Sailing says it is passionate about lowering barriers to participation while at the same time increasing the overall value for those participating. The sailboat brand says, to help bolster registrations, it decided early on to provide six charter boats alongside Oman Sails’ existing fleet of six RS Venture Connects, used in the SailFree national para sailing programme. This removed the need for competitors to ship their own boats.
The overall cost of the ‘early bird’ entry was also subsidised to increase value for participants and encourage entries; the entry fee includes airport transfers, use of charter boats and attendance at a pre-event coaching clinic.
The RS Sailing international distribution network and personal relationships already established by RS dealers helped bring the event to the attention of para sailing organisations and individuals who would not have been motivated to attend had they seen the news through more generic channels.
Subsidies towards travel costs and event entry fees for teams from ’emerging nations’ competing in the event were made available by World Sailing through Koray Ezer, the newly appointed director of international development. This pledge immediately attracted a number of applications, with five teams chosen as the final beneficiaries.
