The announcement was made today by International Sailing Federation (ISAF) President Goran Petersson at the organisation's annual conference in Estoril.

The 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships will bring together the ten Olympic sailing events and is provisionally scheduled for December 2011.

The Championships are expected to attract well over a thousand of the world’s best sailors to Perth.

Petersson said: “Perth is a fantastic and proven sailing venue which will provide Olympic sailing with an exceptional and unique arena. ISAF is looking forward to working with the management team at the Western Australia 2011 organising committee.”

Initially eight cities bid to host the 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships, with six going through to make a presentation to the evaluation panel at the ISAF Secretariat in October 2007.

Phil Jones, the chief executive of Yachting Australia, said: “Perth offers ideal conditions and a truly unique environment and we look forward to welcoming everybody there in 2011.

"Western Australia has a long and successful history in hosting major events and an understanding and experience that will deliver a very professional and highly successful event.

"We will make sure that this is the best ISAF Sailing World Championships ever.”

The 2011 ISAF Sailing World Championships will be the third edition of the event.

Cadiz, Spain hosted the inaugural championships in 2003, with Cascais, Portugal hosting the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships in July.