Canoe ocean racing is the first discipline within the ICF to have mandatory prize money, a world ranking for the World Championship participants, and an official Masters World  Championships.

The sweeping changes to the Ocean Racing international program were accepted at the recent ICF Congress, where details of a new competition format were also revealed.

“These changes build on what is already a very successful ICF ocean racing program,” Mario Santos, chairman of the ocean racing committee, said.

“It is a reward for the athletes, officials and volunteers who have worked so hard over many years building up the ocean racing brand. Now we can take the next step, and we are sure it will elevate the sport to another level.

“And this will not be the last of the changes. We will continue to promote and grow ocean racing around the world.”

In order to make qualifying for the World Championships more accessible, there are some changes to how paddlers ranking will be calculated. The following events will be eligible for world ranking points:

1. World Cups;

2. International events recognised in ICF calendar as eligible for WRP

3. Continental championships

4. National championships

The introduction of world ranking points will raise the bar significantly for athletes. To ensure the very best athletes are rewarded for their results, new minimum requirements will be put in place for qualification events.

For World Cup events, there has to be a minimum of two continents and five countries participating for the event to qualify for world ranking points.

Continental championships will have a minimum requirement of three countries and ten athletes per event to be eligible for points.

National championships will have a minimum requirement of 50 athletes in the open men category, 20 athletes in the open women and ten athletes in all other events, to be eligible for world ranking points.

Some other key points for the new format:

• Only the best two results from an athlete in world ranking point events will be eligible.

• Races eligible for world ranking points must be run no later than five weeks before the World Championships

• There will be a maximum of five ocean racing World Cup events per year, run in-between World Championships. Points will be awarded to the competitor per event according to the point system.

• National federations can enter as many boats in each class as they wish in the separate events of the Ocean Racing World Cup events.

• In the World Championships entries shall be limited to five boats per nation per class. In addition to the five boats per nation, per class, the first 40 athletes, as reflected on the ICF Ocean Racing World Ranking (per class) and the World Champions in the previous World Championship, shall also be eligible to participate.

• For the Masters World Championships, no restrictions have been placed on entries.

Considering these changes the bidding process for World Cup and World Ranking Points events is open until the end of the year.

 The following events are already allocated: