SailGP Impact League champions ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team will partner with WASZP Games 2024 to help deliver one of the biggest foiling events in history this summer.
The Games – taking place in Sandefjord, Norway from 5-10 August 2024 – will see 180 competitors from 18 countries racing in an iconic venue.
And in collaboration ROCKWOOL, the global leader in sustainable building materials which has been partner to the ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team since 2019, Denmark’s SailGP athletes will deliver a range of activation to help showcase the power of foiling, innovation and ocean health.
A record-breaking WASZP event
The WASZP class is a long-standing partner of SailGP’s Inspire Programme, and has cemented its position as a key step in the foiling pathway.
Thanks to foiling technology, the WASZP boat class is cool, fast, and thrilling, offering an entirely next-level experience - closer to surfing or gliding - allowing sailors the ability to fly at high speeds across the water, emulating SailGP athletes.
“Since we started this project, we have been focused on creating new pathways into foiling for youth, and the WASZP Games this summer will be a spectacle of everything great about the future of this sport,” said Nicolai Sehested, driver at ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team.
“The success of SailGP Inspire Racing underlines the depth of talent in the class globally, and we have already seen young athletes step from the WASZP to bigger boats including the F50, so we believe that it is a solid pathway to help create and nurture the next-generation of SailGP stars.”
A focus on ocean health
Spearheaded by the ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team, launched in 2019, ROCKWOOL has been focused on driving development of the sport, whilst showcasing the importance of putting nature – and the ocean – first.
“As a record-breaking WASZP Games comes to Norway, ROCKWOOL is excited to be partnering with what will be a celebration of foiling, and we look forward to expanding on the work we are doing in SailGP by working with our partners such as One Ocean Foundation to help underline that performance and sustainability can go hand in hand,” explains Mirella Vitale, Senior Vice President, Marketing, Communications and Public Affairs at ROCKWOOL.
“In SailGP’s Season 3, we won the Impact League trophy having inspired and engaged thousands around the world with activities spanning themes such as ocean health, inclusivity and diversity – plus delivered the most high profile Scandinavian event in SailGP’s history, the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix in Copenhagen.”
Building a foiling legacy in Denmark
Sandefjord, which sits around 1.5 hours from Oslo, has been dubbed the City of Foiling – and will host the WASZP class’s first major international event in Norway on a stadium course in front of the city. It will mark the biggest foiling event in Scandinavia since the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix, which took place in Copenhagen in the summer of 2022.
ROCKWOOL has been delivering the ROCKTheBoat Academies in Denmark for young Scandivian sailors since 2020, with professional SailGP athletes coaching youngsters in foiling boats including the WASZP.
Today, the region is producing a depth of foiling talent, and at the ROCKWOOL Denmark Sail Grand Prix in 2022, Norwegians Jacob Waersten and Eira Nilsson both won their Inspire Racing fleets to secure places at the SailGP final in San Francisco – teaming up with ROCKWOOL Denmark SailGP Team around the racing for mentoring and experiences.
“We are delighted to welcome ROCKWOOL into the WAZSP swarm and we believe that this partnership will help to elevate the event to the next level, whilst showcasing the value that this foiling class has to offer. I know that our sailors will love every moment of it,” says Martin Evans, WASZP Class Manager.
