The long goodbye

And so we come to the end of two super-charged weeks of sailing activity.  We are left with images of sailors making their way to the esplanade around Gamazo, images of the opening ceremony in Las Llamas and the thousands of people who have invaded the area of La Duna. And not least, this is the end to a battle on the water, enlivened by the warmth of the south winds. The closing ceremony will take place at six oclock this evening at the stage in front of the Escuela Náutica next to La Duna. It will be a simple event in which the flag will be passed to the future championship venue, bidding farewell to Santander and starting the countdown for the next hosts in Aarhus, Denmark. Around 200 world-class sailors are expected to take part, including the medal holders for the 49ers, Finn and Nacra, due to be decided in the last medal races today.

There will be yet more winners too, as the International Olympic Committee award the prize for the most successful sailing team in the championship.

As in the opening, the flags from all the participating countries will also play an important role. However, the local government highlight that this celebration will be very different to that of the opening ceremony. «Although also open to the public, it will be unlike the opening ceremony, with the giving of the last awards and passing of the next celebration to the Danish city of Aarhus».

The President of the Royal Spanish Sailing Federation, José Ángel Rodríguez Santos, will again be speaking together with the president of the Higher Sports Council, Miguel Cardenal. The mayor of Santander, Iñigo de la Serna, and the president of the Cantabrian Government, Ignacio Diego, will act as hosts and ISAF vice-president Scott Perry will formally close the event.

Perhaps the most symbolic image of the closing ceremony will be the lowering of the flag, hoisted by Toño Gorostegui y Jan Abascal, flying on the mast in Gamazo. This flag, which started its journey in Cadiz, travelled to Cascais, Portugal, and came to Santander from Perth, Western Australia, will proudly be passed by De la Serna to Scott Perry who will then hand it to the sports councilor of Aarhus, Rabih Azad-Ahmad. The new hosts will then unveil their official video for the World Sailing Championship 2018. With that, we will conclude two memorable weeks in Santander.