Lanzarote: the scenery for Olympic sailing classes

Lanzarote has been chosen as the European and African continental qualification racecourse for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games. The island in the Spanish archipelago will held competitions in three classes of Olympic sailing: Nacra 17, 49er and 49er FX. Moreover, countries will choose their Olympic representatives from the 21st to the 26th of March.

So far there have been 100 entries from more than 30 different countries. This event in Lanzarote includes 18 races for different Olympic sailing classes. Ángel Vázquez, Councillor for Tourism Promotion of the Lanzarote Island Council, stated that this is “An event of extraordinary international projection for the island" and that "this profile of tourist values the main strengths of our destination, such as sustainability, nature, sport or gastronomy”.

Lanzarote is the last chance for athletes to qualify for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, as places are very limited. We remind you that some countries have already been able to qualify during the 470 World Championship 2021 in Portugal.  For countries that have already qualified, the Canary Islands is the stage where they will decide their representative in these three classes. 

Among the entries, Tara Pacheco, the World Champion that aims for the Olympic gold representing Spain in the Nacra 17 class clearly stands out. In the men’s 49er Diego Botín and Iago López are among the favourites as they have been proclaimed 49er European champions. In the women’s 49er FX class, Tamara Echegoyen and Paula Barceló will be representatives in Tokyo after winning the World Sailing Championships.

More than 300 sailors have already chosen Lanzarote for their last training sessions before embarking to the Olympic Games. But, what makes Lanzarote such a good destination? Well, the natural conditions of the Canary Islands favour professional training. 

With 23ºC on average in summer and 19ºC during the winter, as well as over 4,800 hours of daylight, Lanzarote is with no doubt an idyllic paradise for nautical professional in sailing olympic classes. 

We will be eagerly following the competition in Lanzarote to find out who will qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic games this year.