The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) claims the number of broadcasters was a 600 per cent increase on the previous Championships in Perth, Australia, in 2011.

British media firm Sunset+Vine International was responsible for the international television distribution rights of the event, which included coverage being provided by ESPN in the United States, the BBC in the United Kingdom, OSN and beIN in France, Seven Australia, CBC in Canada, Globosat in Brazil and TYC Argentina.

These deals contributed to coverage being provided in 46 territories and an estimated household reach of more than 182 million.

"The ISAF World Championships is an enormously important event in the sailing calendar and ISAF is delighted with what we have achieved with Sunset+Vine|APP," said ISAF vice-president Gary Jobson.

"The city of Santander did an excellent job in enabling us to bring the competition to the people which, combined with the expertise of Sunset+Vine in sailing production, made for some dramatic scenes which were shared with the world.

"Olympic sailing is firmly on the road to Rio and we look forward to continuing to build on the success in Santander as we move into the 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup series."

More than 1,250 sailors took part in 10 Olympic classes in Santander over 10 ten days of action from September 12 to 21.

King Felipe VI of Spain attended the Opening Ceremony of the ISAF Sailing World Championships in Santander which received record viewing figures ©Getty Images



Sunset+Vine|APP has a strong pedigree in sailing and is already the production partner for the forthcoming Volvo Ocean Race 2014-2015 and was chosen by the BBC to assist in production of sailing events at the London 2012 Olympic Games.

The firm was also a host broadcaster for this year's Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and was part of Channel 4's award-winning coverage of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.

"The broadcast results from this year's Santander 2014 ISAF Sailing World Championships are simply outstanding," said managing director of Sunset+Vine|APP Andrew Preece.

"It's a clear sign that the appetite for sailing content is strong as long as events are packaged in the right way for both broadcasters and the viewing public.

"We had some exciting moments as medal races threatened to overrun our scheduled broadcast.

"But in the end we managed to get all 10 medal races to air.

"We have been fortunate that sailing's governing body entrusted us to take their prestigious sailing event to a global audience - and with a fantastic working relationship in place between our two organisations, I believe we have categorically proven that it's a combination that really delivers.

"It's great for the sport of sailing that these World Championships now have a truly global appeal and we look forward to building on the broadcaster appetite from here."

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