The format for a Hobie World Championship is quite different to a normal sailing event for several reasons.
For starters, the boats are supplied by the event organisers, the Dubai International Marine Club and built by Hobie Cat Europe. Sixty identical Hobie 16s will be on the beach in Dubai waiting for competitors from all over the world. With three hundred competitors and sixty boats, this also calls for a different approach to race organisation.
The Open event is broken into three rounds. Round 1 is open to all comers and after three days of racing, the top 25 teams progress to the next round, the Semi-Finals. There they are joined by the top teams from each Hobie Cat Region who have been given a bye from Round 1 and progressed directly into the Semi-Finals. Results from Round 1 are not carried forward into the Semi-Finals.
In the Semi-Finals there are 120 teams racing on the sixty boats in a round-robin series over three days.
At the conclusion of the Semi-Finals the top half of the fleet are announced and these lucky sailors then continue on to the last two days of racing in the Finals Round. Teams then sail in every race over the last two days of the competition changing boats after each race. The World Champion is the team with the best combined score of the Semi-Finals and Finals Rounds.
After each race in each series, competitors come ashore and change boats, ensuring that no advantage is gained by any competitor, and at the end of the event, the World Champion is the best sailor and not necessarily the sailor with the best boat builder or sailmaker.