HELENSBURGH is set to play host to top-class sailors and yachts when a world championship event comes to the area next month.

The 8 Metre World Championships will take place on the Clyde from August 18 to 24, with the event to be jointly hosted and organised by the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club and the Mudhook Yacht Club, along with the International 8 Metre Class Association (IEMA).

The class boasts many active fleets in the UK, Scandinavia, France, Switzerland, Germany and North America, and it’s expected that around 40 yachts will be brought to the Clyde for the event.

A spokesperson for the event’s organisers said: The Clyde has been intimately involved with metre class racing since the early days and it was very fitting that the centenary of the metre rule was celebrated here in 2007.

“It is equally fitting that you should return to help us celebrate another major anniversary. 

“In 2024 the RNCYC will be 200 years old and the MYC a slightly more youthful at 150 years. 

“Three hundred and fifty years of sailing history takes some beating, and we are looking forward to a big year here on the Clyde.

“We are planning an exciting week of racing on the Upper Clyde and an entertaining social program, based at the fabulously historic club house of the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club in Rhu.”

To find out more about the event see worldcup.8mr.org or rncyc.com/8mr-worldcup.