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The Nations Cup was first introduced to the world in 1991, with the inaugural event won the USA team led by Ed BAIRD, currently helmsman for the America's Cup Defender Alinghi. The Nations Cup had a very successful rejuvenation in 2006, hosting more than 50 nations in eight Regional Finals held around the world. The top teams in the Regional Finals met at the Grand Final at the Royal Cork Yacht Club, with France winning both the Women's and Open divisions, led by skippers Claire LEROY and Mathieu RICHARD.

It is now time to prepare for the ISAF Nations Cup 2009. ISAF encourages clubs and Member National Authorities (MNA) from around the world to submit bids to host the Regional Finals and the Grand Final. The Regional Finals will begin shortly after the completion of the Olympic Games in 2008 and will continue into 2009.

Click here to download the Event Description and Bid Information.

Spreading Match Racing Around The World

The aim of the event is to broaden the availability of match racing and provide international match racing competition for national authorities and sailors at reasonable cost, whilst acting as an incentive for club and national match racing programmes.

The ISAF Nations Cup traditionally triggers a pyramid of events, with nations holding elimination qualifiers to select their teams to attend the Regional Finals, which in turn leads to the Grand Final, where nations are pitted against each other, creating a sound, viable and appealing series of match racing events.

Each Regional Final will have an Open and Women's division, with entries limited to one per nation per division from each of the nations within that region eligible to participate. This will promote a global event and ensure that all nations have the opportunity to participate.

Regional Finals will be held over a maximum of four days, with one or two crews going through to the 2009 Nations Cup Grand Final. As in the past, prior to each Regional Final ISAF will offer clinics for training in match racing, training umpires, training race committees and assistance to organizers.