Lightning World Championship

The Lightning World Championship is a bi-annual international sailing regatta for lightning (dinghy). It is organized by the host club on behalf of the International Lightning Class Association and recognized by World Sailing, the sport's IOC-recognized governing body. The class gained class status in November 1962 from World Sailing, so its first Worlds were in 1963, although an International Regatta was held in 1961.

Edition			Host			Boats	Participant			Ref
No.	Date	Year	Host club	Location	Nat.	Boats	Sailor	Nat.	Cont.	Ref
1		1963	Club de Regatas Lima	Lima	Peru	35	105	8	3	^[1]^[2]
2	9-19 Sept	1965	Circolo Canottiere Napoli	Naples	Italy	43	129	12	4	^[3]^[4]
3		1967	Royal Canadian Yacht Club	Toronto	Canada	37	0	8	3	^[5]^[6]^[7]
4		1969	Yacht Club Olivos	Olivos, Buenos Aires	Argentina	43	129	12	3	^[8]^[9]
5		1971	Merenkavijat Yacht Club	Helsinki	Finland	40	121	10	3	^[10]^[11]
6		1973	Buffalo Canoe Club	Fort Erie, Ontario	Canada	39	117	8	3	^[12]^[13]
7		1975	Salinas Yacht Club	Salinas, Ecuador	Ecuador	49	147	10	3	^[14]^[15]
8		1977	Yacht-Club Spiez	Spiez	Switzerland	54	160	12	4	^[16]^[17]
9		1979	Rush Creek Yacht Club	Heath, Texas	United States	52	156	11	3	^[18]^[19]
10		1981	Gran Hotel Pucon	Pucon	Chile					^[20]^[21]
11		1983	Circola Velici	Napoletani	Italy	41	123	8	3	^[22]^[23]
12		1985	Little Egg Harbor Yacht Club	Beach Haven, New Jersey	United States	40	121	8	3	^[24]^[25]
13		1987	Club Naval Castillogrande	Cartagena	Colombia	39	117	9	3	^[26]^[27]
14	2–7 July	1989	Yacht Racing Club of Athens / Piareaus Sailing Club	Athens	Greece	45	135	8	3	^[28]^[29]
15		1991	Severn Sailing Association	Annapolis	United States	39	117	8	3	^[30]^[31]
16		1993		lhabela Island	Brazil	42	126	7	3	^[32]^[33]
17	2–8 July	1995	Kuopion Pursiscura	Kuopio	Finland	35	105	6	3	^[34]^[35]
18	8–13 June	1997	St Claire Yacht Club and Royal St. Lawrence Yacht Club	Montreal, Quebec	Canada	58	175	9	3	^[36]^[37]^[38]
19	22-29 Nov	1999	Salinas Yacht Club	Salinas, Ecuador	Ecuador	45	135	7	3	^[39]^[40]^[41]
20	20–24 July	2001	Circolo Velico Marsala	Marsala, Sicily	Italy	44	132	9	3	^[42]^[43]
21	13-18 Apr	2003	Coral Reef Yacht Club & Biscayne Bay Yacht Club	Miami	United States	60	180	11	3	^[44]^[45]^[46]
22	19-26 Nov	2005	Higuerillas Yacht Club	Higuerillas	Chile	45	135	8	3	^[47]^[48]^[49]^[50]
23	21–27 July	2007	Yacht Club of Greece	Athens	Greece	48	145	12	5	^[51]^[52]
24	11-29 Sept	2009	Mallets Bay Yacht Club	Colchester, Vermont	United States	60	180	10	5	^[53]^[54]^[55]^[56]
25		2011	Clube Armacao de Buzios	Buzios, Rio de Janeiro	Brazil	30	90	9	5	^[57]^[58]^[59]
26	6–14 June	2013	Club Velico Castiglionese	Castiglione del Lago	Italy	46	139	10	5	^[60]^[61]
27	18–25 July	2015	Buffalo Canoe Club	Fort Erie, Ontario	Canada	63	190	10	5	^[62]^[63]^[64]
28	21-25 Nov	2017	Salinas Yacht Club	Salinas, Ecuador	Ecuador	56	168	12	5	^[65]^[66]^[67]
29	12–17 June	2019	Espoo Yacht Club	Espoo	Finland	49	147	12	5	^[68]^[69]^[70]^[71]
N/A	13–22 May	2021		Charleston	United States	Postponed due to COVID				^[72]^[73]
30	17–21 May	2022	Carolina Yacht Club	Charleston	United States	50	150	8	4	^[74]^[75]
31	23-27 Nov	2023	Club Naval Santa Cruz de Castillogrande	Cartagena	Colombia	40		11+	4+	^[76]^[77]^[78]
32	16-21 Jun	2025	Yacht Club of Voula	Voula	Greece	40	123	10	4	^[79]

Games	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Ref.
1963	US 7811 Thomas Allen III (USA) Anne Allen (sailor) (USA) Bruce Goldsmith (USA)	US 8513 Bob Seidelmann (USA) John Walton (USA) Bob Bray (USA)	US 8390 Carl Eichenlaub (USA) Michael O'Bryan (USA) Stan Brander (USA)	^[1]^[2]
1965	US 9411 - ATOM II Thomas Allen III (USA) Anne Allen (sailor) (USA) Bruce Goldsmith (USA)	US 8529 - SHAZAM Alan Raffee (USA) Dennis Conner (USA) Carol Mclaughlin (USA)	US 9110 - HYPERTENSION David M. Peterson (USA) M.J. O'Meara (USA) J.W. Healy (USA)	^[3]
1967	US 10199 Dr Louis Pocharski (USA) UNKNOWN UNKNOWN	10411 Thomas Allen III (USA)	8510 Bergantz USA	^[5]^[6]
1969	US 11367 - Snoopy Bruce Goldsmith (USA) Pamela Goldsmith (USA) Jim Dressel (USA)	9390 - Cat James R Crane (USA) Robert B. Crane (USA) Robert Lansing (USA)	11011 - Atom Thomas Allen III (USA) Anne Allen (sailor) (USA) John Schneider (USA)	^[8]^[9]
1971	US 11501 - Finesse William Shore (sailor) (USA) Bonnie Shore (USA) Robert Bone (USA)	US 11491 - Tickled Pink Jack Mueller Jnr. (USA) J. Mueller (USA) Nancy Mueller (USA)	US 11099 - Spook Louis Pocharski (USA) Janet Shore (USA) F. Healey Jnr. (USA)	^[11]
1973	US 12422 - Snoopy Bruce Goldsmith (USA) Pam Goldsmith (USA) David Peters (sailor) (USA)	US 12060 - Hang On Sloopy Jim Dressel Nancy Dressel Gary Cameron	US 10599 - Shoe Shine Baby Bob Seidelmann Bill Clausen Karen Huntsman	^[13]
1975	B 12414 Mario Buckup (BRA) Ralph Christian (BRA) Joaquim Feneberg (BRA)	US 10114 William Shore (sailor) (USA) Bonnie Shore (USA) Mark Bryant (sailor) (USA)	US 12422 Bruce Goldsmith (USA) Pam Goldsmith (USA) Bob Smither (USA)	^[80]
1977	13111 Thomas Allen III (USA) Brenda Allen (USA) Tom Allen (USA)	7495 Mario Buckup BRA Joaquim Feneberg BRA Ralph W. Christian	11658 Jim Crane Steve Nightingale Eugene Peters	^[17]
1979	US 13226 Glenn Darden (USA) Kelly Gough (USA) Doug Shelton (USA)	US 13226 William A Shore (USA) Bonnie Shore (USA) Mark BRYANT (USA)	US 13333 Jim Crane (USA) Bill Crane (USA) Gene Peters (USA)	^[19]
1981	Walmor Gomez (BRA) UNKNOWN UNKNOWN	Glenn Darden (USA) UNKNOWN UNKNOWN	UNKNOWN UNKNOWN UNKNOWN	^[21]
1983	US 11420 - Speedy Jay Lutz (USA) Dick Escalara (USA) Michael Healy (USA)	I 13706 Sergio Messina (ITA) Antonino Nizza (ITA) Pasquale Vitaggio (ITA)	BL 12489 Claudio Biekarck (BRA) Gunnar Ficker (BRA) Ralph Berger (BRA)	^[23]
1985	US 14021 - Eclipse William Shore (sailor) (USA) Karen Neri (USA) Betsy Gelenitis (USA)	BL 12812 - Flash Rider Mario Buckup (BRA) Michael Anthony Norris (BRA) Christina Maricke (BRA) Marttin Norris (BRA)	US 11739 - Speedy Again Jay Lutz (USA) Jody Lutz (USA) Dick Escalera (USA)	^{[citation needed]}
1987 Cartegena	X 11099 Manuel González Maz (CHI) Alberto Gonzalez (CHI) Rodrigo Zuazola (CHI)	KC 14057 Eddy Martin (CAN) Perry Owen (CAN) Jay Mann (CAN)	US 14175 William Shore (USA) Brad Read (USA) Steve Hayden (USA)	^[27]
1989	KC 13968 Peter Hall (CAN) Mark Osterman (CAN) Alain Boucher (CAN)	US 14045 Matt Fisher (USA) Greg Fisher (USA) Joyce Ferguson (USA)	US 14176 Ched Proctor (USA) Kathryn Ritchie (USA) Doug Barlow (USA)	^[29]^[28]
1991	US 11346 David Dellenbaugh (USA) Kip Hamblet (USA) Hale Walcoff (USA)	KC 14499 Larry MacDonald (CAN) Jody Swanson (CAN) Trevor Born (CAN)	US 14296 Brad Read (USA) Elizabeth Alison (USA) Terry Hutchinson (USA)	^[31]
1993	BRA 12657 Manfred Kaufmann (BRA) Renato Kaufmann (BRA) Marcelo Batista da Silva (BRA)	BRA 11721 Fernando Hackerott (BRA) Frederico Costa (BRA) Riccardo Costa (BRA)	BRA 14203 Claudio Biekarck (BRA) Gunnar Ficker (BRA) Edu Melchert (BRA)	^[33]
1995	CHI 11011 Tito Gonzalez (CHI) Rodrigo Zuazola (CHI) German Schacht (CHI)	USA 14709 Thomas Allen Iv (USA) Jim Allen (USA) Jane Allen (USA)	USA 14530 William Faude (USA) Jared Drake (USA) Brian Taboada (USA)	^{[citation needed]}
1997	CAN 14834 Larry Macdonald (CAN) Jody Swanson (USA) Ian Jones (USA)	CHI 14709 Manuel Gonzalez (CHI) Juan FRANCISCO Novion (CHI) German Novion (CHI)	14763 Timothy Healy (USA) Maria White (USA) William Healy (USA)	^[36]
1999	11011 Alberto Gonzalez Mas (CHI) Pablo Barahona (CHI) Claus Engell (CHI)	14730 Jeff Linton (USA) Amy Smith Linton (USA) Mark T. Taylor (USA)	14927 Timothy Healy (USA) William Healy (USA) Anthony Kotoun (USA)
2001	USA-15083 Jeff Linton (USA) Mark Taylor (USA) Amy Smith Linton (USA)	USA-15045 Matt Fisher (USA) Dan Moriarty (USA) Rick Bernstein (USA)	USA-14740 William Faude (USA) Ernest Dieball (USA) Jared Drake (USA)	^[43]
2003	CHI-11011 Tito Gonzalez Mas (CHI) Jay Lutz (USA) Claus Engell (CHI)	USA-14752 Steve Hayden (USA) Barr Batzer (USA) Jamey Rabbitt (USA)	USA-14900 James Crane (USA) William Crane (USA) Jim Allen (USA)	^[46]
2005	11011 Alberto Gonzalez Parro (CHI) Diego Gonzalez Parro (CHI) Cristian Herman Sanhueza (CHI)	15252 David Starck (USA) Ian Jones (USA) Scott Ikle (USA)	14454 Pablo Herman (CHI) Luis Felipe Herman (CHI) Claus Engell (CHI)	^[48]^[49]
2007	USA 15083 Jeffrey Linton (USA) Amy Smith Linton (USA) Jahn Tihansky (USA)	USA 14975 Allan Terhune Jr (USA) Katie Terhune (USA) Dave Perkowski (USA)	USA 15265 Steven Davis (USA) Brian Hayes (USA) Laura Jeffers (USA)
2009	15045 Matt Fisher (USA) Dan Moriarty (USA) Tobi Moriarty (USA)	15355 David Starck (USA) Jody Starck (USA) Ian Jones (USA)	11011 Tito Gonzalez Mas (CHI) Diego Gonzalez Parro (CHI) Cristian Herman Sanhueza (CHI)	^[56]^[54]
2011	11011 Tito Gonzalez Mas (CHI) Diego Gonzalez Parro (CHI) Cristian Herman Sanhueza (CHI)	15333 Claus Biekarck (BRA) Gunnar Ficker (BRA) Marcelo Batista Da Silva (BRA)	14894 Thomas Sumner (BRA) Felipe Brito (BRA) Fillipe Gil (BRA)	^[58]
2013	15470 David Starck (USA) Jody Starck (USA) Ian Jones (USA)	14036 Justin Coplan (USA) Danielle Prior (USA) Mike Carney (USA)	15507 Ched Proctor (USA) James Ewing (USA) Meredith Killion (USA)	^[60]
2015	USA 15296 - 15296 Geoff Becker (USA) James Barnash (USA) Laura Beigel (USA)	USA 15499 Jody Starck (USA) Ian Jones (USA) Skip Dieball (USA)	USA 15385 - Ultimate Pressure Billy Martin (USA) Janel Zarkowsky (USA) Chappy Hopkins (USA)	^[63]
2017	ARG 15597 - Argentina Javier Conte (ARG) Julio Alsogaray (ARG) Paula Salerno (ARG)	USA 14298 - Freak Gasoline Fight Accident Nicholas Sertl (USA) Dylan Farrell (USA) John Mastrandrea (USA)	PUR 14677 - Black Beauty Raul Rios (PUR) Sebastian Higuera (PUR) Nicolas Deeb (PUR)	^[66]
2019	ARG 15597 Javier Conte (ARG) Ignacio Giammona (ARG) Paula Salerno (ARG)	CHI 14794 Felipe Robles (CHI) Andres Guevara (CHI) Paula Herman (CHI)	USA 15611 David Starck (USA) Tom Starck (USA) Jenna Probst (USA)	^[70]
2022	USA 15611 - Team PatStrong David Starck (USA) Tom Starck (USA) Jenna Probst (USA)	CHI 11011 - Ojo de Lince Tito Gonzalez (CHI) Alberto Gonzalez Jnr. (CHI) Zeke Horowitz (USA)	ARG 15597 - Argentina Javier Conte (ARG) Martina Silva (ARG) Trinidad Silva (ARG)	^[75]
2023	ECU 14647 - Marraqueta Jonathan Martinetti (ECU) Moira Padilla (ECU) Alisson Haon (ECU)	USA 15611 - Team PatStrong David Starck (USA) Jenna Probst (USA) Thomas Starck (USA)	USA 15561 - Danilu Augie Diaz (USA) Laura Jeffers (USA) UNKNOWN	^[78]^[81]
2025	CHI 14794 - EL DOCTORADO Felipe Robles (CHI) Andres Guevara (CHI) Paula Herman (CHI)	USA 15507 - Veggie Sub Ched Proctor (USA) Meredith Killion (USA) Samuel Blouin (USA)	USA 15296 - Silver Girl Geoff Becker (USA) Jim Barnash (USA) Laura Jeffers (USA)	^[79]

Lightning World Championship

Editions

Medalists

References

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