2023 GC32 World Championship, 10 – 14 July Lagos 2023 – Algarve, Portugal

The GC32 remains the sole foiling boat permitted to run an official World Sailing-recognised World Championship and this is traditionally the event attracting the strongest turn out. 2023 will mark the fifth edition of the GC32 World Championship and it will be the third time Lagos, located in Portugal’s Algarve, has hosted the event.

The 2022 GC32 World Championship also took place in mid-July in Lagos.  10 teams competed including new entries from France, Canada and Poland. Christian Zuerrer’s Black Star Sailing Team took the championship title.

The GC32 International Class Association hosted its first World Championship event in Riva del Garda, Italy in 2018. This saw a record-sized fleet of 13 foiling catamarans from across the globe come together with the teams of the GC32 Racing Tour and Extreme Sailing Series competing on the same race track. Team Tilt, steered by Olympic 49er sailor Sébastien Schneiter, was crowned the first ever GC32 World Champion.

In 2019 the World Championship took place in Lagos, Portugal where Ernesto Berarelli’s Alinghi team stole the show soaring to the top of the podium with two races to spare.

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the 2020 GC32 World Championship, scheduled to take place in Villasimius, Sardinia in September had to be cancelled.

But the fleet took to the Sardinian waters for the 2021 GC32 World Championship in November. Alinghi and the Red Bull Sailing Team were locked in a close battle for the title right up until the final race, with the Red Bull Sailing Team being crowned Champions. It was an extra special moment for Roman Hagara and Hans Peter Steinacher, the duo retired from professional racing at the end of 2021.

2023 GC32 Racing Tour
 
The GC32 Racing Tour is aimed at both pro and owner-driver teams. The circuit is mostly across Southern Europe with the aim of providing easy logistics, with venues chosen to provide optimum conditions for teams to fly their catamarans for the maximum amount of time.

The following events are scheduled for this summer:

21 – 25 June: GC32 Lagos Cup, Lagos, Portugal
10-14 July: GC32 Lagos World Championship, Lagos, Portugal