Dutch Water Week Announces Dates and Notice of Race 2026

Olympic classes to race from May 30 to June 7 on the IJmeer in Almere

Dutch Water Week announced last weekend the dates and the Notice of Race (NOR) for the Olympic classes in 2026. From May 30 to June 7, 2026, the world’s best sailors, surfers, and kiters will compete on the IJmeer near Almere for titles, ranking points, and top-level exposure. By publishing the NOR early, teams, coaches, and federations gain clarity for their planning toward the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games.

Dutch Water Week returns as a core part of the Sailing Grand Slam
In 2026, Dutch Water Week (DWW) returns as a regular fixture on the Sailing Grand Slam calendar. The Olympic classes will once again race from the harbor at Almeerderstrand, rather than the city center of Almere. This provides athletes with an environment fully optimized for elite sport, featuring cleaner racecourses and smoother logistics on and around the water.

“To ensure fair and predictable racing, Dutch Water Week this year has an official permit to mow aquatic plants,” says event manager Linda Bomhof. “This allows us to selectively remove waterweed from the racecourses, which makes a world of difference for both the sailors and the race management.”

“As the city with the most water in the Netherlands, Dutch Water Week fits perfectly with the Almere of today and tomorrow. We bring Olympic-level sport literally to the beaches of our city and show the world what Almere can do on the water,” says Alderman for Sports Paul Tang.

About Dutch Water Week
Dutch Water Week is an annual watersports event on and around the IJmeer near Almere. Elite sport, grassroots participation, innovation, and entertainment come together in a week that showcases the Netherlands as a leading water(sports) nation. The Olympic classes form a fixed pillar of the program, with a strong focus on creating an engaging experience for fans, partners, and media.

More about the Sailing Grand Slam
“With Sailing Grand Slam, we bring all ten Olympic sailing disciplines together in one international Grand Prix circuit across Europe and the United States,” says series spokesperson Simon Keijzer. “Through a single combined ranking, which also includes World Championships, we consciously build toward an annual Sailing Grand Slam Final, where the best athletes from all disciplines compete for the overall title, prize money, and global visibility for the sport. In one sentence: One Sport. One Story. One World. By the athletes. For the sport.”

The SGS calendar begins with the Trofeo Princesa Sofía Mallorca (March 27 – April 4) and the Semaine Olympique Française – Hyères (April 18–25), followed by Dutch Water Week in Almere (May 30 – June 7) and Kieler Woche in Germany (June 20–28). The series concludes with the Pre-Olympic event in Los Angeles, the Long Beach & Los Angeles OCR (July 13 – August 7).