Looking towards the future: First World Sailing Day - 28 May
by World Sailing Day 16 May 09:18 UTC
28 May 2026
World Sailing Day © World Sailing Day
The sailing and maritime media can play an important role in bringing together the global sailing community.
At a time when much of the news cycle is dominated by division, uncertainty and negativity, sailing continues to represent something increasingly valuable: freedom, adventure, nature, heritage, education, sport and human connection.
World Sailing Day has been created as a neutral, non-political annual day for the entire sailing and marine community to use, celebrate and benefit from together.
The success and value of the Day for everyone including the media itself will ultimately be determined by one thing: engagement and visibility. The more the Day is recognised, discussed, published and shared, the greater the long-term benefit for the entire sector.
Importantly, this is not only beneficial for sailing itself, but also for the media sector. World Sailing Day creates a fixed and recurring annual moment at the beginning of the sailing season when clubs, companies, events and organisations are actively seeking visibility, while the public is looking ahead towards the coming season on the water or at the waterfront.
Since launching the initiative, support and recognition have continued to grow internationally. In the lead-up to this inaugural year, outreach has expanded to more than 3,000 sailing clubs, maritime heritage institutions, youth organisations, sailing schools as well as sailors and marine businesses across more than 60 countries.
Among those embracing the Day are the UK Sea Cadets and the US Sea Scouts, representing more than 1,700 locations combined. In addition, maritime museums including the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich and the Dutch National Maritime Museum in Amsterdam are helping raise awareness of the Day within the wider international maritime museum community of more than 500 museums worldwide.
Our initial and direct request is a simple mention of World Sailing Day and/or wishing readers "Happy World Sailing Day" helps contribute to the momentum and visibility needed to establish this annual tradition.
Other coverage can take many forms, including:
- Highlighting a sailor, club, regatta or sailing school
- Covering a local youth initiative or community project
- Featuring a maritime museum, charity
- Publishing heritage stories or interviews
- Sharing local activities taking place around 28 May
- Encouraging participation through social media and community engagement
We also have access to leading sailors, Olympic medallists and marine industry figures who may be available for interviews, commentary and feature articles.
During these crucial days leading up to 28 May, there is a unique opportunity for the sailing media to help create what could become the largest coordinated global media and social media moment sailing has ever seen on a single day.
More information: worldsailingday.org