ISAF Annual Conference comes to a close in Palma de Mallorca

by Sail-World.com on 9 Nov 2014 The 2014 ISAF Annual Conference has comes to a close in Palma de Mallorca, Spain on Saturday afternoon.

From 1-8 November 2014 more than 500 delegates from over 70 nations gathered in Palma to discuss, debate and decide on the decisions that will take the sport forward into 2015 and beyond.

ISAF Council, the final decision making body of ISAF, met on 7th and 8th November to vote on the recommendations for the expert committees. The 2014 Annual General Meeting brought the Conference to a close.

Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition

The final day format for the 49er and the 49erFX was a hotly discussed topic with a lengthy debate. The Olympic classes and the Athletes commission and many other speakers had supported the proposal to have three 10 minute medal races for the skiffs but at the vote the ISAF Council 28-12 voted for one double points Medal Race without boundaries and a target time of 20 minutes.

It was also decided that all supplied equipment at the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition should be distributed after a public draw, ensuring transparency.

As part of the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition Qualification System, ISAF included Continental Qualification Events in the pathway to help develop sailing around the world. Reflecting the IOC Qualification System Principles the key requirements are to ensure participation of the best athletes and ensure universality through continental representation.

ISAF Council agreed on the recommendation from the Events Committee on the regattas that will be held in 2015 and 2016.

African qualification events will be held at the 2016 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta in Mallorca, Spain as well as events in Cape Town, South Africa and Algeria. The 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Asia and 2015 ASAF Cup in UAE will see the Asian qualification spots picked up. European spots will be available at the 2016 Trofeo Princesa Sofia Regatta with 2015 ISAF Sailing World Cup Melbourne providing the Oceanic qualifiers. The 2015 Pan-American Games will decide one quota place each in the Laser and Laser Radial for North and South America. The additional places will be up for grabs at the 2016 edition of ISAF Sailing World Cup Miami.

International Association for Disabled Sailing Merger with ISAF

The International Association for Disabled Sailing’s (IFDS) merger with ISAF was completed with the creation of an ISAF Disabled Sailing Committee.

The Disabled Sailing Committee will be responsible for the Paralympic Sailing Competition including events and equipment selection, the IFDS World Championships and administration.

Disabled Sailing Committee representatives will liaise with other committees to offer their specialist expertise.

The merger creates a single governing body for MNAs and sailors to better serve the needs and interests of sailors with disabilities.

Classification Code

This contentious Submission 025-14 was withdrawn in advance of the ISAF Council meeting, by the Council. VP Gary Jobson commented that it amost caused his email box to melt down. An agreement that the implementation of a revision to the system would be discussed between the Executive and the ISAF Sailor Classification Commission.

ISAF Youth Worlds

Corpus Christi, Texas, USA will host the 2018 ISAF Youth Sailing World Championship subject to a successful site visit and satisfactory contractual agreements.

The following events and equipment for the 2017 ISAF Youth Worlds were also agreed by Council:

Boy's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial
Girl's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial
Boy's Two Person Dinghy - 420
Girl's Two Person Dinghy - 420
Boy's Windsurfer - RS:X with 8.5 sail
Girl's Windsurfer - RS:X with 8.5 sail
Open multihull - Sirena SL16
Boy's Skiff - 29er
Girl's Skiff - 29er

The Equipment Committee recommended the new Nacra15 for the Open Multihull event and this will be discussed at the 2015 ISAF Mid-Year Meeting in the Netherlands with the earliest possible introduction of the new equipment being 2018.

Other Business

The 2016 ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship will head to Sheboygan, USA whilst Noumea, New Caledonia, France will host the 2016 ISAF Youth Match Racing World Championship. Both venues are subject to a successful site visit and satisfactory contractual agreements.

The 2015 Nations Cup Grand Final will head to Vladivostock, Russia with Regional Finals to be held in Buenos Aires (ARG), Zallaq (BRN), Howth (IRL), San Diego (USA), Tunis (TUN) and Brisbane (AUS).

ISAF welcomes Macau and Montserrat to the ISAF family. Both were awarded associate member status.

Submission 127-14 as amended by the Racing Rules Committee was approved effective 1 January 2015. Other amendments to the Racing Rules and Equipment Rules of Sailing were approved following recommendations from the expert committees. The changes will be incorporated into the next edition of the rule books published for 2017-2020.

The Equipment Committee, Events Committee and Executive Committee will meet at the 2015 Mid-Year Meeting in Muiden, Netherlands from 7-9 May 2015 with the 2015 ISAF Annual Conference to be held in Sanya, China from 7-14 November 2015.

Full details of all the decisions made at the ISAF Annual Conference will be published in the minutes of the meetings for the ISAF Council and all ISAF Committees, which will be published on the ISAF Meetings microsite in the coming weeks.