Eight Venues Through to Evaluation Round

Yesterday, 1 March 2004 was the deadline for receiving bids to host the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships.

From an initial list of thirteen bidding venues, the venues have reduced to eight, which in alphabetical country order are:

Country	Venue
Canada	Nova Scotia
Germany	Kiel
Germany	Rostock-Warnemünde
Greece	Athens
Korea	Busan
Netherlands	Medemblik
Portugal	Cascais
Spain	Cadiz

Each venue has been required to submit a Bid Document responding to Bid Criteria set by ISAF. The Bid Document contains information on local weather patterns, course areas, onshore facilities, hosting and accommodation arrangements, transport, communication, infrastructure and logistical facilities.

This Bid Document will now become the primary tool for evaluating venue suitability, and enabling ISAF to make the best venue choice for the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships. This decision will be taken at the ISAF Mid-Year Meetings, 5-6 June 2004.

Between now and the end of April 2004, ISAF will invite the Bidding Venues to make verbal presentations to ISAF at the ISAF Secretariat in Southampton, which may be followed up by site visits to each of the venues. The selection criteria to identify the most suitable venue will be a mix of factors, with emphasis on the sailing conditions, accessibility to the race course and onshore venue facility and infrastructure.

Commenting on receipt of the final bids, ISAF President Paul HENDERSON, said, “I am delighted at the motivation and commitment in the bids for the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships. For thirteen initial expressions of interest to convert to eight very strong bids is an excellent indicator of the support for this event and reflects the scope and reach of this Championships, not only to the sailing world but on the global sports stage. All eight bids are powerful in content and worthy of hosting the Championship, and it is now up to the Evaluation Panel to select the most suitable venue.”

The Evaluation Panel who will consider the eight bids and make the recommendation on the final venue to Council at the ISAF Mid-Year Meetings are:

Evaluation Panel Chair – Chairman of the Events Committee – Bjorn UNGER (SWE)
Two ISAF Vice Presidents – Ken Ryan (IRL) and one to be appointed
Representative from the Olympic Classes Commission – Corinne Rolland-McKenzie (FRA)
Representative from the Race Officials Committee – John Doerr (GBR)
Secretary General – Arve SUNDHEIM
Director of Sailing – Jerome PELS

As in 2003, the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships will be an Olympic Qualification regatta for the 2008 Olympic Games.