HKSI is the government’s agent responsible for providing a high quality training environment and support services for high performance athletes with the aim of developing athletes to achieve good results at international sporting events.  Under the HKSAR Government’s Elite Vote Support Scheme (EVSS), achievements of both senior and junior athletes at major international competitions are used as the selection criterion to identify high performance sports to be supported by the HKSI for a period of four years.  This review is conducted every two years which is aligned with the Asian Games and Olympic Games cycles, to provide stable support for the selected sports.

The criteria for Tier A require an EVSS score of 9 points or above and sailing achieved a score of 9.5 during the latest review cycle.

In preparation for the review, HKSF sent many sailors to international events including the Asian Sailing Championships and last year’s Asian Games where they garnered enough points.  HKSF then collated the results and made their submission to HKSI for the Tier A approval.

President of HKSF, Warwick Downes said “This gives sailing the recognition that it deserves as a major sport in Hong Kong and now allows Hong Kong athletes a pathway to achieve their sailing goals.”

The level of support at Tier A includes funding for elite training programmes, dedicated coaching led by a Head Coach, full sports science and medical support, and athlete development programmes.  HKSI Scholarship Athletes of Elite Sports (Tier A) will also have access to the Elite Training Grant (ETG) under the Individual Athletes Support Scheme (IASS).

RHKYC Rear Commodore Sailing, Anthony Day shared Downes’ sentiments “This is great news for our sport here in Hong Kong, obviously. We are looking forward to seeing some improved results around the region with the significant increase in funding and support that comes with this promotion to Tier A.”