Olympic qualification at Sailing World Cup Miami explained

Sailing World Cup Miami presented by Sunbrella acts as an Olympic qualification regatta for sailors from North and South America.

Miami is the last chance for sailors from both continents to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition on merit.

Their first opportunity came at the Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships where 50% of the total spots were taken followed by the 2015 class world championships where another chunk of places were available.

For the Laser and Laser Radial fleets, two places were available for North and South American sailors. The 2015 Pan American Games saw the allocation of places for the following nations:

North America
Laser – Trinidad and Tobago
Laser Radial – Aruba

South America
Laser – El Salvador
Laser Radial – Uruguay

Two spots in the Men’s RS:X are available in Miami with the remaining fleets fighting for one place.

After today’s results, the Laser, Laser Radial and 49er fleets will split into gold and silver divisions where the stakes will be upped. As of 18:50 a number of protests were still on the table that could decide the fate of a number of teams.

Stay tuned for further qualification updates.

The nations below are fighting for the Olympic spots:

Nacra 17
North – Canada, Puerto Rico
South – Guatemala, Uruguay, Venezuela

RS:X Men
North – Aruba, Canada, USA
South – Chile, Colombia, Peru, Venezuela

RS:X Women
North – Canada
South – Argentina, Peru, Venezuela

Laser
North – Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Puerto Rico
South – Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Uruguay, Venezuela

Laser Radial
North – Bermuda, Cayman Islands, Cuba, St. Lucia, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago
South – Chile, Ecuador, Guatemala, Peru, Venezuela

470 Men
North – Canada, Mexico
South – Chile, Ecuador

470 Women
North – Canada
South – Argentina, Chile

49er
North – Canada, British Virgin Islands, USA
South – Chile, Uruguay

49erFX
North – Aruba, US Virgin Islands, USA
South – Chile

Finn
North – Canada
South – Argentina, Chile

By Daniel Smith, World Sailing and Stuart Streuli, Sailing World Cup Miami

HOW TO FOLLOW

Live sailing will be available from 11:00 EST on Saturday here:
URL - https://youtu.be/_V2YQYar0IU
Embed - Further information on how to follow the event is available below: RESULTS / ENTRIES
Entries for Sailing World Cup Miami are available to view here - http://www.regattanetwork.com/clubmgmt/applet_registrant_list.php?regatta_id=11442&custom_report_id=66 and results will be available throughout when racing commences on 25 January here - http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/results/index.php
 
LIVE TRACKING
The racing will be available to watch in 2D and 3D via the live tracking. Live tracking will be available when racing commences via - http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/multimedia/tracking.php
 
Live Tracking via the Sailviewer-3D Tablet App will be available for devices with 7" or greater screens.
Click here to download the iOS Application - https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/sailviewer-3d/id912801278
Click here to download the Android Application - https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.stsportservice.sailviewer COMPETITION STATUS
The Competition Status Screen feeds in straight from the Race Committee boats with the teams inputting data such as race times, course type, the status of each race and the plan moving forward. The competition status screen will be available when racing commences via - http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/multimedia/tracking.php NEWS RELEASES
World Sailing will be releasing international press releases after racing throughout the duration of Sailing World Cup Miami. All the latest news and reports will be available to read here - http://www.sailing.org/worldcup/news/index.php SOCIAL MEDIA
The hashtag of Sailing World Cup Miami is #SWCMiami16 Follow the event on World Sailing’s and Sailing World Cup Miami's social networks:
Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ISAFWorldSailing
Instagram - https://instagram.com/isafworldsailing/
Twitter - @worldsailing Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/SailingWCMiami
Twitter - https://www.twitter.com/SailingWCMiami

Watch a promotional video to Sailing World Cup Miami here https://youtu.be/gAmGURstKko