The Portuguese sailing venue of Vilamoura will host the 2026 470 mixed European Championships from 6 to 14 March.
The Championship will serve as a testing ground for the new medal series format, designed to increase the final stage competition and jeopardy of the final medal places.
For the Medal Series (top ten) the Opening Series scores will be adjusted so as to keep the fleet close so that everyone still has a chance to fight for medals while keeping the original order of boats.
Places 3 to 10 are mathematically compressed, while places 1 and 2 are adjusted afterward using simple gap limits.
The points between the 3rd and 10th boats are compressed to a fixed number of 18 points, the compressed Medal Series scores. No gap between two boats can be more than 9 points. If any gap is larger, it is reduced to 9.
For the 1st and 2nd places, if a gap is more than 9 points, it is reduced to 9 and the scores above 3rd place are rbuilt using those capped gaps.
55 crews from 21 nations are expected to take part in the event, the first major championship of an Olympic class in Europe this year.
Britain has seven crews entered:
Martin Wrigley and Bettine Harris (World rank 8th)
Hannah Bristow and James Taylor (World rank 12th)
Haydn Sewell and Daniela Fusco-House
Sabine Potter and Ralph Cawthorne
Arwen Fflur and David Bromilow
James Crossley and Rachael Potter
Alice Davis and Oscar Cawthorne
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