The North Sea is about to take a beating, with the Delta Lloyd 470 World championships about to set sail in Scheveningen, The Hague from the 9 - 18 July.

Three hundred and sixty sailors will represent more than 40 nations and six continents. The Opening ceremony will take place on 11 July at 18.00 hours at Sailing Center The Hague on Hellingweg. The races start on 12 July and conclude on 18 July with the final medal races taking place as close as possible to the Scheveningen coast, which is visited daily by thousands of people. Everybody is welcome on Saturday, 17 July and Sunday 18, July at Brunotti Beach Club to witness the finals. Organisers are expecting great sailing conditions, fantastic weather, a wonderful natural arena for spectators to watch the racing and the world's best sailors showing their talents.  

Image: Thom Touw

The 470 fleet represents a huge depth of talent in the pool of sailors competing for medals. Sime Fantela and Igor Marenic from Croatia will defend their men's 470 World title, while the Dutch women Lisa Westerhof and Lobke Berkhout (winner of the Beijing 2008 Two Person Dinghy silver medal) will defend their women's titles.

The 470 is a popular class of dinghy with both individuals and sailing schools, offering a good introduction to high-performance boats without being excessively difficult to handle. It is a double-handed monohull planing dinghy with a centreboard, Bermuda rig, and centre sheeting. The 470 is equipped with spinnaker and trapeze, making teamwork necessary to sail it well.

The 470 has been an Olympic class since the 1976 games and will be used for the Men's Two Person Dinghy event and the Women's Two Person Dinghy event at the 2012 Olympics in London.

The 470 is one of the most widely spread two person dinghies in the world, sailed in over 60 nations and with over 40,000 boats built. Next year's 470 World Championships will be held in Perth, Australia, as part of the ISAF Sailing World Championships. This sailing event will be an interesting performance evaluator for the 2012 Olympics in London.

The Delta Lloyd 470 Class World Championships 2010 are organised by the Royal Netherlands Yachting Union (KNWV), The Royal Yacht Club Hollandia, Yacht Club Scheveningen, the Dutch 470 Class Organisation and the International 470 Class Association.

For addtional information visit: www.470worlds2010.com.

Claire Ijsbrandij

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