Monday, October 14, 2013

Top Universities Sailing J/80s- Student Yachting World Cup

J/80 Student World Sailing champions (Pornic, France)- The Student Yachting World Cup, an annual sailing competition organized by students of the École Polytechnique, a French engineering school, will have the world’s best student sailing teams confront each other in the International J/80 Class sailboats! The 33rd edition of SYWC is October 14-19 in Pornic, France, with teams from Australia, Belgium, Canada, China, Great Britain, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Norway, Scotland, Switzerland, Ireland and USA vying for the 2013 title. Representing North America will be Dalhousie University (CAN) and the US Naval Academy (USA).

The SYWC is an event organized every year in France by students for students. Created in 1979 under the name of Course de l'Europe, the Cup was just meant to include participants from Western Europe. But, as time went by, more and more Eastern European countries joined the Cup. That's why the Course de l'Europe changed its name to become the SYWC.

Now, any country can take part at this annual event. For now, one country is represented by only one team, who represents its university (or school), too. The university winning the SYWC is granted a "free pass" to take part in the next edition to defend their title.

The regatta lasts for one week in France and includes about 150 competitors, representing 15 countries from all around the world. During the week, the atmosphere is both fun, sporting and multicultural. The first night, every team has to participate at the crews' dinner by bringing some dishes or some beverage representing their country. This way, the students have an opportunity to meet and discover other cultures before the cup begins. Each night, students can also meet at the dining room and have a nice time with members from other university teams. But, don't forget that every morning, the teams are ready to sailing on their boat to fight for the Cup!  For more J/80 Student Yachting World Cup sailing information