World Sailing has opened applications for its 2026 Performance Coach Scholarship, and OSAF is encouraging Member National Authorities across Oceania to put their strongest national coaches forward before the 25 June deadline.

In announcing the programme, World Sailing's Head of International Development, Fiona Kidd, set out a 12-month learning pathway built around a 4-week residential block, two online modules, and dedicated project mentoring. She told Member National Authorities that places are limited and competition will be strong, and urged anyone hoping for Olympic Solidarity funding to speak with their National Olympic Committee early.

The residential phase takes place from 21 September to 17 October 2026 at the Weymouth and Portland National Sailing Academy in the United Kingdom, delivered with the Andrew Simpson Performance Academy. World Sailing has designed it for coaches already active at national level within their MNA, those guiding youth and adult athletes as they step up into international competition. The cohort tops out at 10 participants, which World Sailing says keeps instruction personalised and leaves room for peer collaboration.

OSAF Chair Tony Philp has described the federation as a bridge between World Sailing and the region, with the board's energy going toward growth, lower costs, and education. A scholarship that lifts national coaching falls squarely inside that brief. Philp has also pointed to a regional training centre taking shape in Fiji, a base he believes would change the picture for coaching and officials right across Oceania.

VP Tamatoa Audouin has drawn attention to the momentum building across the Pacific Rim, an axis stretching from Los Angeles 2028 through the 2028 ILCA World Championship in Aotearoa (Takapuna Boating Club) to the Sydney trials and Brisbane in 2032. In his reading, OSAF holds a good position to build coaching strength into that window, with the Tahiti 2027 Pacific Games as the next marker.

VP Olivia Price has called OSAF a tool that binds a membership stretching from small Pacific nations to Australia and New Zealand into a single team. VP John Tierney, back on the board from the Cook Islands, puts the same goal in sharper terms, helping Pacific Member National Authorities grow into properly resourced, professional national bodies so that their sailors are no longer held back by where in the Pacific they were born. A scholarship that trains Pacific coaches speaks straight to that aim.

Better coaching at home feeds straight into the performance pathways that Oceania federations have written into their own strategic plans, from Fiji's ambition to grow as a regional training hub to the medal goals set by Australia and New Zealand.

The funding follows a set order: World Sailing first selects the candidates, after which each MNA engages its National Olympic Committee to lodge the formal Olympic Solidarity application. The place can be funded privately or through the International Olympic Committee's Olympic Solidarity Fund.

Full details on the Performance Coach Scholarship and the application form are available through World Sailing. Coaches and federations who want to take part should read the programme information and submit the application form before 25 June. World Sailing will confirm successful candidates on or before 3 July.