ISAF are pleased to announce Santander, Spain, as the host venue for the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships.

The ISAF Sailing World Championships combines the World Championships of all the events included in the Olympic Sailing Competition and the 2014 edition is provisionally scheduled for September 2014.

Bringing together past and future Champions from all classes the Championships are one of the great events in the world sailing calendar and a key event for sailors, national teams, and sailing fans around the world.

Santander is a modern, well structured city, which has sailing as part of his heritage and culture. The 2014 Worlds will see competitors racing in the natural setting of the Bay of Santander. One race course will be within the Bay, two opposite El Sardinero's beaches and one opposite El Puntal beach allowing spectators the opportunity to follow the regatta and athletes.

Excellent facilities for sailors, closeness to the city and excellent public access mean that the 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships will be a great event for competitors and spectators.

Santander has experience of hosting major national and international sailing events. In the last ten years the city has hosted the 29er World Championship, Yngling World Championship and J80 World Championship.

In January an Evaluation Commission appointed by ISAF received presentations by the following cities in their bid to host the event:

Kingston, Canada

Qingdao, China

Aarhus, Denmark

Busan, Korea

The Hague, The Netherlands

Gdynia, Poland

Santander, Spain

The Commission made their recommendations to the ISAF Executive Committee who made the final decision.

Jerome Pels, ISAF Secretary General said, "All of the bids that we received were of extremely high quality and demonstrated that there is a big desire and commitment to hosting top level sailing events. The decision ISAF had to make was very difficult.

"We are confident that Santander will host a superb event for sailors and spectators as well as providing excellent coverage to a worldwide audience through the internet and television."

Gerardo Pombo, President of the Spanish Sailing Federation said, "We are very happy because it was a very difficult contest. All the candidates were strong. We sincerely believe that the 2014 ISAF Worlds will be a great success, with the contribution of all the institutions, the businesses and the individuals who are involved in the project."