The majority of water sports clubs in the northern hemisphere have already closed up for winter, time to take stock of 2023 and start thinking about the 2024 season that will soon be upon us. Here’s a quick snapshot of a very positive year for the Techno 293 OD and O’pen Skiff classes, with exceptional numbers of entrants, plus a glimpse of what’s coming in 2024.
TECHNO 293 OD
The 2023 season started with a very good European Championships at Torbole on Lake Garda, Italy with 270 riders present from 16 different countries. All the age categories were well represented, keeping up the strong return achieved in 2022, following the Covid hiatus.
We were particularly pleased to see the continuing strength of the U17 category, despite the increasing presence of Foil boarding on the scene.
And that was continued at the subsequent World Championships in Quiberon, France. The U15s and U13s entries were either stable or slightly up on the 2022 numbers.
The other pleasant surprise was the return “en-masse” of the French team at the World Championships. More than 80 French riders were in Quiberon and there will be French presence at all the international events in 2024!
Rendezvous the 20th to 28th July 2024 on Lake Balaton, Hungary, for the World Championships, then in Athens, Greece, from 25th October to 3rd November for the European Championships.
O'PEN SKIFF
Just like Techno 293 OD, the O’pen Skiff class is doing extremely well, with active fleets in fifteen countries and a World Championships 2023 in Rimini that broke all sorts of records with 286 young skippers from 13 countries participating.
Especially pleasing has been the strong growth of interest in the recently-launched U12s category; officially launched in 2022, a year later there were nearly double the number of entrants in Rimini!
2024 will see a full programme of events with the notable return of a Euro Challenge series, giving young skippers multiple opportunities to meet and compete internationally at a variety of European locations.
Event 1: 5th to 7th April in Arco - Italy/Lake Garda.
Event 2: 9th to 11th May in Sopot - Poland/Baltic Sea
Event 3: 31st May to 2nd June in Balaton - Hungary/Lake Balaton
Event 4: End of October in France, at a Mediterranean location yet to be confirmed
Then there’s the World Championships 2024, which will see the fleet return from 28th July to 2nd August to one of the best-liked locations among the skippers and their coaches: Arco on Lake Garda, Italy.