While the Coronavirus pandemic takes its unpredictable and terrible course we can only guess what the future holds …. but the IDA and event organisers are very hopeful that the French Grand Prix in Douarnenez (August) and the Portuguese Grand Prix in Vilamoura (November) will take place as planned – as well as the Gold Cup in Kinsale in September. As we have lost two Grand Prix so far, this year’s qualification for the Finals in Vilamoura will be slightly different, as follows:
The top 10 boats in Douarnenez plus the 2 highest placed Corinthians will qualify.
If a Corinthian team finish in the top 10 then 11th place will also qualify and so on. Therefore, 12 teams will qualify from this first event.
(Should any of the 12 qualifiers not wish to participate in the Vilamoura Finals then the next highest place team will be invited, until we have 12 confirmed teams which include a minimum of 2 Corinthian teams).
Following this the Top 10 boats in Vilamoura plus the 2 highest placed Corinthians will also qualify (Same procedure as in Douarnenez), but subject to a maximum of 20 boats in total.
We are confident that some of the same teams will qualify at both events, ensuring that we do not end up with more than 20 boats. If we have fewer than 20 after this process, the next highest ranking team from the Vilamoura event will qualify, until we reach our target of 20 boats to participate in the Finals.