29TH JULY TO 5TH AUGUST – ST PIERRE QUIBERON – FRANCE
The Techno 293 and Techno + 2023 World Championships is taking place in France, at St Pierre Quiberon on Brittany’s south coast.The biggest annual rendezvous on the Techno class calendar is already a big success with no less than 327 riders from 16 different countries registered as of today. This excellent result brings us back to the kind of numbers pre-Covid, and confirms the good health of Techno following on from an excellent European Championships in Torbole, Italy, earlier this spring. The event is organised by the CDV 56 (Morbihan Sailing Committee).
Needless to say, the French team is by far the biggest with 80 riders in Quiberon. The French clubs have clearly responded to the return of the World Championships to French water for the first time in ten years. The other big teams at this WC, with 40 or more riders, are Spain, Italy, Germany and the UK, all of who have been sending bigger teams every year for the last few
years. And don’t forget the strength of the Greek team who always expect to take some of the podium places, and the increasing power of the Turkish team. Both of them are bringing more than 20 riders. And you can see there’s an excellent spread of interest in the other teams present in Quiberon : the eastern European nations (Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Czech Republic) all still fully committed with teams of 15, and Belgium with their 10 riders. From Asia, Japan will be bringing a team of 10 to compete in Techno Plus Open, a hugely popular class in Japanese universities, and there’s a small team from Singapore, still very faithful to the Techno class. And we’re very pleased to see the return of the great Israeli U15 team following the pandemic eclipse and the selection of foilboarding for their U17s.
As for the age categories, the number of entrants in the U17s (over 110) is very satisfying given the huge competition that foilboarding has presented in this age group. The long-standing “Queen” category for Techno, it’s a big return to strength, making them bigger even than the U15s, which itself has close to 100 entrants!
We should also mention the U13 category, only created 2 years ago, and which has quickly proved a big hit with coaches and riders alike. This youngest group will be 45 strong in Quiberon. And Techno Plus (over 17s) remains competitive with a solid entry of 70 riders. A great way for this group to celebrate the end of their school education.
Those are the facts and stats, now it’s all down to the racing which is scheduled to start on Monday, after the traditional opening ceremony.
To follow the World Championships live and direct, you just have to click on the event website link where you will find all the latest daily results, photos and videos.
