The RS:X windsurfing World Championships on the Tokyo 2020 may face severe weather challenges in the next couple of days Netherlands' Dorian Van Rijsselberghe competes during the RS:X Men sailing final race at Rio 2016, where he retained his title. He and

The arrival of a tropical cyclone is forecast to disrupt windsurfing’s RS:X World Championships, which are getting underway this weekend on the Tokyo 2020 course at Enoshima.

Many of the 111 men and 67 women from over 30 different nations taking part in these Championships - which run officially from September 16-23 – were involved in the first of two days of practice racing and equipment inspection today, with racing scheduled for Monday.

According to the event’s official website,  the weather has so far provided

“some spectacular conditions for warm up training… but with Typhoon No.18 getting close to Enoshima over the weekend, competitors could experience more of a local welcome than sushi for dinner, with winds of over 180km per hour potentially forecast.”

The wind limit for windsurfers is between 25-30 knots – which corresponds to 46-55 km per hour.

Meanwhile the RS:X sailing class annual general meeting has voted for the 2019 World Championships to be held at Torbole, Lake Garda in Italy, and Takapuna in New Zealand has been awarded the event for the following year.

Netherlands' Dorian Van Rijsselberghe competes during the RS:X Men sailing final race at Rio 2016, where he retained his title. He and fellow athletes may face a tough challenge from the elements at the current world championships on the Tokyo 2020 course ©Getty Images
Netherlands' Dorian Van Rijsselberghe competes during the RS:X Men sailing final race at Rio 2016, where he retained his title. He and fellow athletes may face a tough challenge from the elements at the current world championships on the Tokyo 2020 course ©Getty Images

Winning a world title on a course that will host a future Olympic competition is particularly significant, and event favourite Dorian van Rijsselberghe, the London 2012 and Rio 2016 champion, will be taking a very particular interest in a stretch of water where he hopes to complete an Olympic hat-trick three years from now.

France has entered the largest team with eleven riders entered, including Rio bronze medallist Pierre Le Coq and Louis Giard, currently the most successful windsurfer.

Britain – despite no longer being able to call on 2009 and 2013 world champion Nick Dempsey, have the second largest team, with emerging talents such as Tom Squires and Kieran Martin.

Over 20 sailors from six Asian countries have arrived at these World Championships with the aim of gaining vital skills ahead of Tokyo 2020.