Dart18 Worlds 2022 not in Vilamoura

Dear Dart 18 sailors,

In 2019 during the Dart 18 Worlds in Thailand, Portugal proposed to organise the Dart18 Worlds Championships in Vilamoura Portugal. The Dart 18 fleet welcomed this proposal. We planned to hold the event in 2021. Unfortunately due to Covid the Vilamoura Worlds were postponed to September 2022.

For the last couple of months the IDA board has been in contact with the organisers in Vilamoura to assist with the organisation. The Vilamoura organisation guaranteed that, despite the lack of information we shouldn’t be worried. We would get a great event. Unfortunately CIMAV informed us last week that they are not able to host our event in September 2022. The costs would be too high for them and they couln’t take the risk. In September it is still high season in Vilamoura. The IDA board then discussed with Vilamoura Sailing, the other sailing club in Vilamoura, if they could host our event in September. Unfortunately the result of these talks are that today they also informed us that they are not able to host our event this September.

So with regret we have to announce that the Dart18 2022 Worlds in Vilamoura will not happen.

Luckily we have a plan B that is very promising. We will have a big international Dart18 event on Lake Garda in the week from 22 to 27 August. At this moment we can’t provide you with the exact dates, entry fee etc. etc. We are discussing all details with the club: Circolo Vela Arco and World Sailing. In the next few days we hope to be able to give more information on the exact dates, the name of the event and the entry fee.

We do understand this all is a big disappointment for you all! We know lots of time has been spent in organising transportation of boats to Portugal, booking accommodation etc. That is the reason we have tried everything to have an event in Vilamoura. Unfortunately Vilamoura couldn’t honour their original commitment.

We hope you can adapt your plans so that we will see most of you on the beautiful Lake Garda this summer. In the next days and weeks we will update you with details of the event.

Kind regards

IDA Committee