AN INTERNATIONAL AUTUMN-WINTER FOR SANTANDER 2014

Santander becomes the temporary base of many European countries, who come to the Cantabrian waters to train for the great event Santander 2014

Santander becomes a must for many international and Olympic teams, which have already scheduled several trainings and concentrations in the waters that will host the  Santander 2014 ISAF World Championships.

Spain, Germany, Poland, Ireland, Switzerland and Austria have already been seen around the Cantabrian town during the month of October and the first week of November, in which they have been organizing various concentrations.

The main actors have been varied, primarily with the classes Nacra 17, the skiffs 49er and 49er FX, the Laser Radial and Standard, and the 470 male and female.

At the end of October and early November 18 boats of the 49er and 49er FX categories, from Germany, Spain and Poland, have been summoned in the race courses in which will be held the great event  Santander 2014, the Irish team of the categories Laser Standard and Laser Radial has moved to the CEAR Principe Felipe nine boats (6 females and 3 males).

The 470 of the Austrian team are some of those who repeat the experience in recent weeks. The Austrians resumed their training in Santander in the first weeks of November, as they did in October, with the sole aim of working towards a medal in Santander 2014.

Ireland. Two training destinations for 2014

The Irish Laser team, along with their coaches and their maximum technical leaders from the Irish Sailing Federation are others who have gone to Santander in order to improve their performance, both for Santander 2014 as for the Olympic Games in Rio 2016.

James O'Callaghan, Olympic coach and performance director of the Irish Olympic program, has been more than satisfied with the final result in Santander waters: "This is the first time I am in Santander training the guys because I could not attend to the Test Event and that's why we are  now here, we need to see also the training center, the accommodations for the world championship, the racing areas and get familiar with the surrounding."

“We’ll try to come back again before Christmas, but we will be back for sure in the summer next year. For us it is a very tricky balance because it is important to spend time here to qualify for the Olympics, but then also we have to think beyond and spend time in Rio de Janeiro because it is a very complicated place to sail, so we’ll have to find a balance between both locations. Certainly, we will be here at least a month before Santander 2014.”

The Irish team rates Santander and its racing areas.

The maximum responsible of the Irish Olympic team has shown pleasantly surprised by the benefits and the race courses of the Cantabrian city: "The truth is that Santander is a very nice City and you can see that it has very seafaring culture and heritage, with a large bay space for sailing although is a bit tricky to get out of the bay with the maritime traffic. In addition, we had nice weather."

The Emerging Nations Programme resumes its activities

The Emerging Nations Programme, impulsed by Santander 2014, the International Sailing Federation and the Olympic Solidarity Association, has resumed operations with a new gathering of sailors from October 28 to November 4 in the CEAR Principe Felipe de Santander.

On this occasion seven Laser class boats were selected, with sailors of the program from the Philippines, Serbia, Bulgaria, Peru and Iceland among others.