The 2024 ILCA Master European Championships started at the world-renowned Vilamoura Sailing venue, one of top sailing destinations, offering world-class facilities and a vibrant marina atmosphere.
From October 5th to 11th, this record-breaking event welcomes 313 registered sailors, from a wide range of countries, making it the largest edition in this championship’s history.
This figure highlights the incredible growth of the Masters fleet over the last decade. In 2014, the event saw 106 participants, meaning the fleet has nearly tripled in size over the past 10 years. It’s exciting to see the European Masters fleet expanding year after year!The 2024 ILCA Master European Championships will count with a remarkable record-breaking turnout of 313 sailors.
Netherlands will be the largest fleet with 48 sailors, followed by Great Britain with 36.
This year’s event will feature sailors from 29 nations, 20 of which are European. The largest fleet will come from the Netherlands with 48 sailors, followed by Great Britain with 36. Spain and France each have 31 sailors, while the largest non-European contingent is from the United States with 19 competitors, followed by Brazil and Canada, each with 13.
The ILCA 6 championships will include 168 sailors across five categories, while the ILCA 7 championships will have 144 participants across four. The Grand Masters will be the most represented group, with 59 sailors in ILCA 6 and 74 in ILCA 7.Grand Masters will be the most represented group, with 59 sailors in ILCA 6 and 74 in ILCA 7.
Women will make up nearly 10% of the ILCA 6 fleet, with 15 sailors competing. Additionally, 19 experienced sailors aged 75 and over will compete in the Legends category.
The first two days (October 5th and 6th) have been focused on final preparations, with sailors and coaches registering and undergoing equipment checks to ensure they are race-ready. With ideal conditions on the horizon, the fleet is eager to hit the water when racing officially begins on October 7th.The event promises a thrilling week of sailing action on Algarve coast.
The plan for the first day of races tomorrow is the following:
- 10:00 Coaches & Sailors meeting
- 12:00 First possible warning signal for the ILCA 7 (Alpha course)
- 12:30 First possible warning signal for the ILCA 6 (Bravo course)
Participants arrived at the venue for registration and equipment inspection, a critical process to ensure all boats meet championship standards.
How to follow the 2024 ILCA Master Europeans
Live contents
We’ll be streaming some of the action and races live in our Instagram https://www.instagram.com/eurilca/ and YouTube account: https://www.youtube.com/eurilcachannel – We suggest you to subscribe and follow us in order to receive instant notifications when we’re live!
News and reports
A daily report with news and results, photos and videos will be published at eurilca.org and in the event website; https://2024-master.eurilca-europeans.org/
Newsletter
You can opt to receive our daily report with news, results and photos in your email, subscribing to our newsletter here: https://eurilca.org/newsletter/
Instant notifications
We have created a Telegram channel that you can join to receive instant communications about the event: https://t.me/ilcamastereuropeans2024
Photo galleries
We are pleased to inform you that we will be consistently sharing photos on our Smugmug account at https://eurilca.smugmug.com/ILCA-European-Championships/2024-European-Championships/2024-ILCA-Master-Europeans.
All the photos can be downloaded for free and are intended only for editorial use, and specifically related to this event. If you have any other purpose in mind or if you intend to use the photos for commercial use, please reach out to the photographer directly at thomtouw@me.com.
Video galleries
We will be sharing video highlights and interviews on our YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/eurilcachannel – We recommend subscribing to our channel to receive instant notifications whenever we upload new content.
Much more live news and contents will be spread through our Instagram account mentioned before, plus the Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/eurilca so follow us also there.
Race documents
For further information about the event you can download the Notice of Race, Sailing Instructions and other documents here: https://eurilca.eu/event/307/documents
Event website
All the information and links to the different contents mentioned before you can also find them at the official event website: https://2024-master.eurilca-europeans.org/
Vilamoura Sailing
You’re also invited to follow Vilamoura Sailing on Facebook, Instagram and YouTube to find more information and contents.
The 2024 ILCA Master European Championships are organized by EurILCA in conjunction with Vilamoura Sailing.
The event is kindly supported by Vilamoura Marina, Turismo de Portugal, Inframoura, Federação Portuguesa de Vela, Associação Regional de Vela do Sul, Instituto Português do Desporto e Juventude, and Junta de Freguesia de Quarteira.
Keep Smiling, Keep Sailing!
The EurILCA Team
Report by Agustín Argüelles – EurILCA | Photos by Thom Touw Photography.