With less than 24-hours to go until the first starting gun at the 17th Asian Sailing Championship 2018 in Jakarta, Indonesia, sailors were officially welcomed at the opening ceremony.
A total of 243 sailors from 16 nations will race in 178 boats across five days of competition and anticipation is building to see who will walk away with the honours and own the bragging rights ahead of the Asian Games in August 2018.
Jakarta is welcoming a mixture of rising stars who will be targeting a medal at the Asian Games Sailing Competition, which will be held out of the same venue as the 17th Asian Sailing Championships 2018.
The dignitaries, sailors, coaches and officials were welcomed with a short performance by a traditional dance form reflecting the richness and diversity of race and culture in Indonesia.
“It gives me immense pleasure to welcome you all to Asian Sailing Championship 2018 here in the beautiful city of Jakarta,” commented Admiral Darwanto, President of Honor of the Asian Sailing Federation and President of Indonesian Sailing Federation, at the Opening Ceremony.
“The preparations for the Asian Sailing Championships 2018 started back in October last year with the Government allocating this land to us for setting up a permanent facility. From the barren grounds in October last year, we have witnessed hectic activities and narratives unfold.
“All of the competitors here these past few weeks have earned the right to be here and the top performing sailors from Asia will race over the next five days.”
Malav Shroff, President, Asian Sailing Federation, in his address to the gathering of over 500 sailors, coaches, officials and local volunteers, highlighted that this was the first event where the entire team of ITO’s were from Asia.
“This event is first of its kind in the history of Asian Sailing Championships, where eight of the ten Olympic classes are being competed, and I am sure that Asian sailors will be strong contenders for a podium finish at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games”.
Vice-Governor of Jakarta Mr Anissandi, Mrs Helen Dalima, Secy General, Indonesian Olympic Committee and Mr Ammad Arsani, representative of the Ministry of Sports, Govt of Indonesia, were also represented.
Following a series of speeches, representatives of each nation were invited to the stage to receive a gift from the organising committee.
Sailors will now turn their focus to racing on the opening day.
Racing will commence at 11:00 local time on Thursday 21 June and will conclude Monday 25 June, and we shall have daily updates through our network as the action unfolds.