Denmark Bids for 2018 World Sailing Championships
Aarrhus Bay: Photo courtesy of Sport Event Denmark
One of four bidding for the Championships, Aarhus, Denmark’s second largest city, outlined its bid at the ISAF headquarters in Southampton, England.
The Danish presenters explain that the new Aarhus International Sailing Centre, to be completed by mid-2016 as part of a huge harbour development, will add the most modern sailing facilities in the world and ensure the sailors have a home worthy of their talents. With the theatre-style racing in the Bay and its technological expertise Aarhus can deliver the most spectator-friendly World Championships ever.
“An ISAF Sailing World Championship is about the sailors,” Lars Lundov, CEO of Sport Event Denmark, said. “We see these great Championships as the perfect opportunity for sailing to grow beyond its boundaries and make our sailing stars household names. ISAF shares that vision with us and I think they appreciated our presentation.
“We’ll create a big bang for sailors, our vision for 2018 is to showcase the world’s star sailors, we’ll let them and the sport shine. Aarhus is ready for it – it’s the right place at the right time.”
“Sailing is in the DNA of the Danes, and Denmark is one of the greatest sailing nations in the world,” Jonas Høgh-Christensen, one of Denmark’s sailing stars and silver medalist at the London 2012 Olympics after his epic battle with Ben Ainslie, said. “The fact that we have won more Olympic medals than any other sport in Denmark tells you what an honour we would consider it to host the Worlds.
“The Bay of Aarhus has already proved it is perfect for international championships. It has unique and challenging sailing conditions. Sailors love Aarhus. It’s great place for sailing and a great place to be.”
Lundov and Høgh-Christensen were part of a five-strong delegation including Jacob Bundsgaard, the mayor of Aarhus and former sailor - underlining the fact that Aarhus is a city of sailors; Hans Natorp, the president of the Danish Sailing Association and Thomas Capitani - CEO of Sailing Aarhus, who will be general manager of the 2018 organising committee.
