The WASZP Class is celebrating their 1000th WASZP out the door, as well as the launch of the Class Administration system RaceHub. This is a huge achievement from humble beginnings and through 2020 the WASZP has continued to push infrastructure and innovation to connect its sailors through the middle of a pandemic.

The WASZP is expanding exponentially and wants to further bring WASZP sailors and non-WASZP sailors together for the chance to win a NEW WASZP. Since the WASZP Class was launched in July 2016, over 1000 boats have been delivered to 44 countries. Across the world, fleets are growing and the WASZP community is thriving.

ENTER HERE >>> racehub.waszp.com

The WASZP class has used COVID-19 as an opportunity to strengthen its infrastructure and provide sailors with exciting opportunities to kick start 2021. The class continues to go from strength to strength, whilst focussing on its core mission to lead the industry in innovation and use their event and membership structure to drive positive change. The WASZP has been instrumental in developing strategies and vehicles to connect their sailors across the globe, and COVID-19 has strengthened this.

To celebrate this milestone WASZP is inviting all WASZP owners and future WASZP owners to come up with a slogan that best depicts the WASZP lifestyle and its culture. The best slogan will be voted on by the public and the winner will claim the ultimate prize, a brand-new limited-edition GOLD CHROME WASZP! (check T&Cs when you enter)

Coinciding with the 1000th boat, the WASZP team is also launching new WASZP specific class administration tool known as RACEHUB. To celebrate, all WASZP owners will be able to purchase their 2021 International WASZP Class Membership (IWCM) and get a ticket to win a host of prizes including the NEW WASZP, an Oculus Quest 2 Virtual Reality Headset and a WASZP Merchandise pack.

This competition is open to current WASZP sailors/owners and sailors who are wanting to get into the class. Anyone who does not currently own a boat and would like to get their hands on a NEW WASZP, can enter by purchasing a Future WASZP Class Membership (FWCM) at the low price of $AUD15.

Since the inception of the WASZP in July 2016, the class has lived by a mantra of inclusiveness, affordability, accessibility and culture. Committing to hosting major events in iconic locations and providing engaging racing formats, such as SLALOM and Marathon to compliment the standard championship racing. Prior to COVID-19 there was signification growth across the premier events:

2018 European Championships - 63 boats from 17 nations
2019 International WASZP Games - Perth Australia - 72 boats from 19 nations
2019 European Championships - 100 boats from 23 nations

Instead of growth in the pinnacle events such as the WASZP Games, COVID-19 has generated enormous strength in domestic events providing a competitive, unique and sought after one design foiling racing fleet. This continues to provide a solid foundation for when the fleet can travel again. The headline event for 2021 will be the European Championships in Spain. The event is planned to be held in the European summer holidays in early/mid August, with the expectation to see 150 boats attending.

In early 2020, WASZP aligned with SailGP, one of the fastest growing sports properties in the world. WASZP is proudly connected through their SailGP Youth INSPIRE program. The objective of this strategic partnership, is to provide a youth performance pathway that kick-starts sailors dreams and aspirations of one day sailing professionally on a F50. Unfortunately due to COVID-19, only one event was run in Sydney, Australia, however this event was a fast-start with young females and males being involved in the SailGP Inspire program and racing WASZPs on the same stadium course as the F50's.

Since this event in February 2020, there has been significant development in the youth performance pathway, with many of the SailGP teams building academies using the WASZP. These have provided opportunities for elite Youth and Women talent to take their first steps on the pathway to professional sailing. Coming into 2021, WASZP and SailGP Inspire, will continue to grow and intensify with the program being run across key SailGP events.

This partnership has allowed the WASZP to keep its iconic culture and integrity of their senior fleet, but work on retaining the youth beyond elite talent pathways. Traditionally, it has always been tough for the sport to retain sailors in the 20-40 age group, however the WASZP boasts a large contingent of sailors that are just that. The boat is used by many Olympic and professional sailors as an affordable option to cross train. The culture of the class is an attraction for these sailors who can compete in an exciting event circuit, while easily transporting their boat and we look forward to seeing these sailors at the major events in 2021.

WASZP has worked incredibly hard over 2020 to ensure they deliver and strengthen their promise, that is, a commitment to providing an experience well beyond purchasing a boat. Its success is all about a community, a culture, a lifestyle and an event circuit that is raced hard on the water, but provides ample opportunity to enjoy life off-the water.

This commitment has been further reinforced by the recent appointment of Martin Evans, as Global Class Manager for the WASZP. Martins role is directly linked to the new Class Administration platform RaceHub. Martin comes from a commercial and event management background with the Extreme Sailing Series and is passionate about the direction the WASZP is taking within the sport. With RaceHub streamlining all local WASZP associations and connecting the global community, no sailor will be left behind no matter their geographical location or sailing circumstance.

Martin will be leading all Tier 1 (WASZP Games) and Tier 2 (Continental Events), whilst further developing strategic and commercial partnerships for the class with the pure objective to benefit the sailors. In addition to this, Martin will continue to liaise with local class associations and future class associations to provide support and assist with developing consistency across all WASZP events no matter how big or small.

RaceHub is a dynamic platform that will further evolve into 2021. It will be the main platform for all event and class administration, with specific tools that are suited to the WASZP Class and will be available for all local associations. It will also be a vehicle to connect sailors from across the global with global rankings across championship racing, eSailing and GPS racing.

As part of the global rankings, WASZP has developed a GPS Racing platform that includes data analytics to not only improve your individual sailing, but to also conduct world-wide racing. They recently, conducted an event where over 100 sessions were logged over a month-long event window with the ultimate prize the chance to win a ride on a SailGP F50.

The final element of RACEHUB is the new Virtual Reality racing simulator. This exciting platform utilises the modern technology of the Oculus Quest 2 Headsets. The significant attraction to the Virtual Reality is to take users into the drivers seat of a WASZP and further reduce the barrier to enter the fleet and begin foiling. In the simulator, the physics of the boat have been tweaked by the world's best WASZP sailors and the result is comparable to foiling a WASZP in real life. On this platform you are able to race against sailors all around the world either on PC or through the Oculus Headset in a full immersive experience. Over the next 4-5 months, we will continue to receive feedback from our IWCM to develop the game further and begin to host global eSports events.

In addition to these features RACEHUB will also include:

November 2020:
International WASZP Class Membership

• Example - Global Rankings from 2020 Events
• Basic access to GPS Platform www.gps-waszp.com
• 6 months early access subscription to WASZP Virtual Reality Platform - MarineVerse Cup www.marineverse.com
• GPS Challenge Event - December
• Ability to view/edit your private Sailor Portal

Early February 2021:

• View past and upcoming WASZP events including basic information, documents and entries/results.
• Ability for sailors to enter and pay their event entry in AUD.
• Entry of post event race results (once the event has been completed and scored) with automatic rankings calculations.
• Public display of overall rankings including sub rankings for eSailing, Championship & GPS.
• Individual Sailor profiles showing basic information, current ranking points and events that the sailor has competed in. This is also publicly viewable.

June 2021:

• Support for multi-currency payments for events and memberships.
• Ability for associations to setup their own local membership, accept payments and view current members.
• Ability for associations to connect with sailors in their local area.

With so much exciting infrastructure being launched and the 2021 Event Calendar beginning to take shape there is no better time to get involved with WASZP.
The WASZP has fostered and developed a global distribution network of 33 distributors in 28 Countries, you can find your local region here to see if you are supported www.waszp.com/contacts

We are proudly supported and backed on the ground by some of the biggest and most active retailers in the sailing industry. If your region is not supported by an agent,you can contact sales@waszp.com and they will make your experience with WASZP an enjoyable one.

Don't hesitate, purchase your International WASZP Class Membership or Future WASZP Class Membership today and get your hands on the 1000th WASZP or get in contact with an agent and get into a WASZP for 2021!

For more information head to www.waszp.com or contact us at sales@waszp.com