The ISAF Nations Cup is a global championship to find the world’s top match racing nations in open and women’s events.
The ISAF Nations Cup, which was first introduced to the world in 1991, is based on a series of Regional Finals with the top crews meeting at a Grand Final. The aim of the event is to broaden the availability of match racing and provide international match racing competition for national authorities and sailors at reasonable cost, whilst acting as an incentive for national match racing programmes.
Held five times previously, the Nations Cup triggers a pyramid of events, with nations holding club and then national championships to select their teams to attend the Regional Finals, which in turn lead to the Grand Final, where nations are pitted against each other, creating a sound, viable and appealing series of events.
The US SAILING Center Sheboygan will host the Grand Final of the sixth edition of the ISAF Nations Cup from 13-18 September 2011. Competition will be held on Lake Michigan in the Sonar (with a crew of three) for the men’s event and the Elliott 6m (with a crew of three) for the women’s event.
The ISAF Nations Cup Grand Final is the culmination of an 18-month competition staged over a series of Regional Finals held across the globe to find the world’s top match racing nation in both men’s and women’s events.
Nations Cup 2011 - Event Details
Below are all the dates and venues for the Grand Final and Regional Finals of the 2011 ISAF Nations Cup. France as defender and USA as host are pre-qualified for the Grand Final.
Grand Final 2011
Open and Women Division
Venue: US Sailing Center, Sheboygan, Sheboygan, Wisconsin, USA
Dates: 13-18 September 2011
Host Club’s website: www.ussailingcentersheboygan.org
Sailing venue: Lake Michigan
Provided Equipment: Elliott 6m (Women) and Sonar (Open)
Nearest international airport: Milwaukee’s General Mitchell Airport (100 km) and Chicago O’Hare International (200 km).
Regional Final Africa
Open and Women Division
Venue: Royal Cape Yacht Club / South Africa Sailing, Cape Town, South Africa
Dates: 29 April - 2 May 2011
Host Club’s website: www.rcyc.co.za
Sailing venue: Table Bay, Cape Town
Provided Equipment: J 22
Nearest international airport: Cape Town International Airport - 30 minutes
MNA Allocation: ALG, ANG, EGY, KEN, LBA, MRI, MAR, NAM, NGR, RSA, SEN, SEY, SUD, TUN, ZIM
Regional Final Asia
Open and Women Division
Venue: Bahrain Sailing Club / Bahrain Maritime Sports Association, Manama, Bahrain
Dates: March or April 2011
Host Club’s website: www.bhsailing.com
Sailing venue: Manama Bay
Provided Equipment: J 24
Nearest international airport: Bahrain International Airport - 20 minutes
MNA Allocation: AZE, BRN, CHN, FSM, HKG, INA, IND, KAZ, KGZ, KUW, LIB, MYA, OMA, PAK, PHI, PLE, QAT, SIN, SRI, THA, TPE, UAE
Regional Final Europe I (Open)
Open Division only
Venue: Bundesleistungszentrum fuer Segeln / Austrian Sailing Federation, Neusiedl am See, Austria
Dates: Beginning of May 2011
Host Club’s website: www.segelzentrum.at
Racing area: Neusiedl am See
Provided Equipment: Sprinto
Nearest airport: Vienna International Airport, 35 km
MNA Allocation: AND, ARM, BUL, CRO, CYP, ESP, FRA, GEO, GRE, ISR, ITA, LIE, MKD, MLT, MON, POR, ROU, SBR, SMR, SLO, SUI, TUR
Regional Final Europe I (Women)
Women’s Division only
Venue: Yate Clube do Porto, Porto, Portugal
Dates: Spring 2011
Host Club’s website: www.ycporto.com
Racing area: Inner port of Leixões, Leixões, Portugal
Provided equipment: Platu 25
Nearest airport: Sá Carneiro Airport (Oporto Airport) / 5km from club
MNA Allocation: AND, ARM, BUL, CRO, CYP, ESP, FRA, GEO, GRE, ISR, ITA, LIE, MKD, MLT, MON, POR, ROU, SBR, SMR, SLO, SUI. TUR
Regional Final Europe II (Open and Women)
Open and Women Division
Venue: Gdynia, Poland
Dates: July-August 2011
Host Club’s website: www.polishmatch.pl
Provided equipment: Blu 26 (Open) and Skippi Match (Women)
Nearest international airport: Lech Walesa Airport, Gda?sk,20km
MNA Allocation: AUT, BEL, BLR, CZE, DEN, EST, FIN, GBR, GER, HUN, ISL, IRL, LAT, LTU, LUX, MDA, NED, NOR, POL, RUS, SVK, SWE, UKR
Regional Final North America and Caribbean
Open and Women Division
Venue: Fort Worth Boat Club, Fort Worth, Texas, USA
Dates: 15-21 May 2011
Host Club’s website: www.fwbc.com
Racing area: Eagle Mountain Lake
Provided equipment: J 22
Nearest international airport: Dallas/Forth Worth (DFW) International Airport, 45 minutes, serves all major hub cities in the USA
MNA Allocation: AHO, ANT, BAH, BAR, BER, BVI, CAN, CAY, CUB, DOM, ESA, GRN, GUA, ISV, JAM, LCA, MEX, PUR, TRI
Regional Final Oceania
Open and Women Division
Venue: Cruising Yacht Club of Australia, Sydney, Australia
Dates: 12-14 May 2011
Host Club’s website: www.cyca.com.au
Racing area: Sydney Harbour
Provided equipment: Elliott 6
Nearest international airport: Sydney International, 20km, serves all major hub cities in Asia and Oceania
MNA Allocation: ASA, AUS, COK, FIJ, GUM, JPN, KOR, MAS, NZL, PNG, SAM, SOL, TAH, VAN, NCA
Regional Final South America
Open and Women Division
Venue: Veleiros do Sul, Porto Alegre, Brazil
Dates: 19-26 March 2011
Host Club’s website: www.vds.com.br
Sailing venue: Guaiba River
Provided Equipment: J 24
Nearest international airport: Salgado Filho International Airport Porto Alegre, 20km, daily connections to Rio de Janeiro, Sao Paolo and Buenos Aires
MNA Allocation: ARG, CHI, COL, ECU, PAR, PER, URU, VEN
For more details on the Nations Cup visit: www.sailing.org/nationscup
