Virgin Islands’ Olympic Sailors, Alec Andersen and Chris Brockbank have traversed Europe again this past week in their continued efforts to practice, prepare and strengthen their competitive edge ahead of the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo: Provided

At the end of August, having already crisscrossed Europe from their temporary Belgian home, to compete in Istanbul and Helsinki, the pair packed up the car, hitched on their trailer and set off for Santander, Spain, for the International Sailing Federation’s World Championships. Photo: Provided

Despite things not going quite as they wanted the pair finished a very creditable 10th in the Bronze Fleet at the 2014 49er European Championship in Helsinki, Finland. Photo: Provided

At the end of August, having already crisscrossed Europe from their temporary Belgian home, to compete in Istanbul and Helsinki, the pair packed up the car, hitched on their trailer and set off for Santander, Spain, for the International Sailing Federation’s World Championships.

The actual Regatta doesn’t officially begin until September 8th and runs through until the 21st, but as soon as Andersen and Brockbank arrived they were getting their feet wet.

“We got out on the water for the first time today and had a blast! It's great to be back sailing our racing boat and Santander isn't a bad place to be doing it,” said Andersen.

Despite things not going quite as they wanted the pair finished a very creditable 10th in the Bronze Fleet at the 2014 49er European Championship in Helsinki, Finland.

“This was the biggest/toughest regatta we have sailed in by a good margin and all the major players were there,” commented Andersen. “It did not go as well as we had hoped- we finished 10th in bronze fleet. We did, however, get some quality practice around the course and took away some specific notes on what we need to work on at home” he concluded.

The duo who will become the BVI’s first full Olympic Sailors in 20 years when they arrive in Rio 2016 also had a 9th place finish at the Junior Worlds. “9th overall at the 2014 Junior World Championships! We took a 4th in the only race of the day to jump into the top 10, but unfortunately no medal races we're sailed so we couldn't move up any more,” exclaimed the pair.

The Sailing World Championships are the most important event organized by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). They are held every four years and bring together all Olympic classes in a single competition. Other years each class celebrates its World Championship separately. Santander 2014 will be the qualifier for Rio 2016.

The ISAF Sailing World Championships is the principal qualification event for the Olympic Sailing Competition. Only the events and equipment included in the next Olympic Sailing Competition are included in the programme of the Championships.

The largest congregation of Olympic sailors converged on Cadiz in southwest Spain for the first ISAF World Championships from 11-24 September 2003. From 28 June-13 July 2007, Cascais, Portugal hosted the second edition of the ISAF Sailing World Championships.

Building on the success of Cadiz four years earlier, 1,350 sailors and 900 boats represented 76 nations in the biggest Olympic sailing event yet. Footage of the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships was broadcast on television networks across 61 nations with a worldwide TV footprint of 564 million viewers.

Perth, Australia hosted the third ISAF Worlds in December 2011. 1200 sailors from 79 nations took part, racing for world championship glory and Olympic qualification. As the principal qualification event for the London 2012 Olympic Games, 75% of all national places were decided.