This is a list of Sonar sailboat championships.
The Sonar has also been used extensively for disabled sailing. The boat specifications are exactly the same for open and disabled sailing events, but additional adaptations are allowed to be fitted to the boat to aid the crew who are not permitted to hike or use a spinnaker. The World Championships is recognised by World Sailing.
The Sonar has been the equipment used for the three person keelboat discipline at all Paralympic Sailing Competitions that have included sailing.
World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).
The International 2.4mR is a one-person keelboat. The class is a development class governed by the 2.4mR rule. The rule controlled by World Sailing is one of the few classes designated as an International Class. The International 2.4mR Class rule is closely related to the International 12mR class rule that was used at the America's Cup.
Eighty athletes representing 25 countries in three keelboat classes - the 2.4mR, the SKUD 18, and the Sonar, took part in sailing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics. Sailing was held in two designated areas on the Yellow Sea, Qingdao, Shandong province, from September 8 to September 13.
Three athletes represented the Philippines in the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing, China. The 2-person keelboat sailing team of Pedro Sollique and Cherry Pinpin were based in the seaport city of Qingdao while Adeline Dumapong was in Beijing for the powerlifting event. The Philippine Paralympic delegation was headed by PhilSPADA-NPC, with support from the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Olympic Committee.
The SKUD 18 is a class of racing sailing boat. It is a lead-assisted skiff with a tube-launched asymmetrical and a modern high performance stayed rig. The boat was created for trials held by the International Association for Disabled Sailing who were looking for a new two person boat for an additional medal allocated to sailing for the 2008 Paralympics.
The International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) was an affiliate member of the International Sailing Federation and was responsible for coordinating the paralympic sailing competition with the International Paralympic Committee. The organisation was initially called the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing up until around 2008 when it had to change its name due to tax law in the country it is registered in.
Colin Anthony Harrison is an Australian Paralympic sailor. He won the bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and the gold medal at the 2016 Rio Paralympics in the Three Person Sonar.
Russell Boaden is a Paralympic sailor from Australia. He won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics, and a won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Daniel Fitzgibbon, is an Australian Paralympic sailor, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He won gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics with partner Liesl Tesch in the two person SKUD 18.
Sailing at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London was held from August in Weymouth and Portland. XYZ competitors representing XYZ countries will compete in three keelboat classes - the 2.4mR, the SKUD 18, and the Sonar, took part in sailing in the 2008 Summer Paralympics.
Stephen Andrew Churm is an Australian sailor. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in sailing. He did not medal at the 2012 Games.
Jonathan Bruce Harris is an Australian blue-water sailor who began his sailing career when he was about ten. He won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics.
Niki James Birrell is a British Paralympic sailor. Alongside Alexandra Rickham, he has won four IFDS World Championship titles and in the 2012 Summer Paralympics the pair took the bronze medal in the SKUD 18 two person keelboat class.
Hannah Stodel is a British Paralympic sailor. Stodel has represented Great Britain at three Summer Paralympics and with her colleagues John Robertson and Stephen Thomas has won multiple medals in the Mixed Sonar class at the Disabled Sailing World Championships, including gold in 2005 and 2006.
Sailing at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro took place between 12 and 17 September 2016 in Marina da Glória, Copacabana. 80 competitors, 11 of which were female, competed in three keelboat classes. Three sailing events will be held. All were mixed events, meaning that men and women can compete together.
John Twomey is an Irish Paralympic athlete and sailor. He has represented Ireland at 11 consecutive Paralympic games winning medals at three of them.
The Para World Sailing Championships is an annual World Championship multi-class sailing regatta in para classes organised by the World Sailing.
Per Eugen Kristiansen is a Norwegian sailor from Bekkestua who won a bronze medal at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the Sonar class, together with Marie Solberg and Aleksander Wang-Hansen. He has sailed since he was 7. In 1994, he was involved in a climbing accident, and since then has been reliant on a wheelchair. Nine months later, he was an active sailor again. In 1998, he competed for the first time after a disabled sailor invited him to an event, and from then on, he has been an active regatta sailor. In January 2012, he won the World Sailing Championship in Florida.
Marie Solberg is a Norwegian sailor from Sarpsborg. She took part in the 2012 Summer Paralympics in London in the Sonar class and won a bronze medal together with Per Eugen Kristiansen and Aleksander Wang-Hansen. She works as a graphic designer and graduated from Høgskolen i Østfold, Halden.
