As the world of single- and double-handed sailing expands, World Sailing has created an Offshore World Championship. At first, you’d envision fully-crewed maxis or the like; but no… it’s a one-design 30-footers to be sailed doublehanded by a combined female/male crew. After their evaluation of multiple designs, World Sailing has just chosen the L30 as the “supplied equipment” for the first Championship to be held in Valetta, Malta in October 2020. We’re proud to say that the sails being used for the first OWC are UK Sailmakers X-Drive® sails.
The Offshore World Championship
The Championship will be a two-person mixed competition between nations, featuring 20 evenly matched boats, all with the same set of UK Sailmakers X-Drive sails. The boats will be chartered by the national teams and allocated to sailors one week ahead of the Championship.
The L30
First tested in November 2015, the L30 boat concept was drawn up by Ukrainian Olympic medalist and Volvo Ocean Race competitor Rodion Luka. Andrej Justin, designer of RC44, brought the L30 to life, combining all round offshore performance, ease of logistics, a strict one-design model and global, ready to race, affordability.
L30 Sail Selection
Since the beginning, UK Sailmakers Ukraine has made almost every sail for the L30 fleet. Initially, Luka selected UK’s Tape-Drive®sails because he knew they would deliver peak performance over many seasons. Also, he knew their continuous yarn design would prevent any catastrophic failures. Recently, Luka has dressed the fleet of L30s in UK Sailmakers’ new X-Drive®continuous yarn sails providing even greater durability while delivering a smooth sail that will hold its shape season after season. UK Sailmakers Ukraine’s Alexander Muhkin worked side-by-side with Luka to design and build sails that will meet the needs of both the World Sailing Offshore Worlds competitors as well as club and offshore racers looking for affordable performance.
The L30 Up-close and Personal
To get a closer look at the L30, click here to take a video tour of the boat with Luka himself (spoiler alert – there are subtitles). The L30 is a snappy, well thought out boat that has proven to serve regular racers and cruisers. Now, World Sailing has picked-up the ball for the L30s with their UK Sailmakers inventories for the first Offshore World Championship.
