World Sailing Presidential Newsletter: June 2018
by Kim Andersen, President World Sailing 6 Jul 2018 23:28 PDT
World Sailing President Kim Andersen © Laura Carrau / World Sailing
First of all, I would like to apologize for the slight delay in sharing with you my monthly insights around World Sailing. As you may have seen, I have been busy promoting and advocating for our beautiful sport at various meetings and competitions; but more recently I had the pleasure of getting back on the water and competing myself. Last weekend I sailed at the Dragon Grand Prix in Denmark, together with 38 Dragons from 12 different countries we had the added opportunity to challenge for the prestigious Marblehead Trophy. All in all, it was wonderful to could catch up with old friends, discuss the future of our sport but most of all being able to enjoy our sport and race again.
While I am looking forward to sharing with you all the latest updates at World Sailing, I have to admit that I am also looking forward to my next race, the Gold Cup, which will take place in Helsinki in late July.
Sailing events
Before updating you on the latest sailing events that took place in the Northern hemisphere, it is my pleasure to provide you with an update on the upcoming 2018 Hempel Sailing World Championships in Aarhus, Denmark. Our World Championships are building up nicely, already to date we have close to 1,000 registered teams, 1,315 sailors and 85 participating countries who will compete in the 10 Olympic sailing classes. It is shaping up to be an excellent event!
Regarding our latest competitions, we had the opportunity of enjoying the debut of the World Cup final in Marseille, France which hosted more than 350 sailors. I want to take this opportunity to congratulate both the organizers and the French Sailing Federation for an excellent event. With the venue growing in importance in view of the Olympic Games in 2024, the organisation, the field of play and the town of Marseille have proven to be perfect for sailing.
Hopefully, you also had time to follow the World Cup final through the different options provided by World Sailing's daily video news releases, the live online coverage of the Medal Race days and the 52 minute highlights show which was distributed to 58 broadcasters and 190 countries. As I already mentioned in previous occasions, I would like to emphasize the importance of providing great media coverage, not only to reach as many of the public as possible, but also to inspire our young sailors to follow in the footsteps of their heroes at the highest level. Click here to see and share the highlights from the World Cup Final: World Sailing TV.
Following the celebration of sailing events, I could not miss the opportunity of sharing my insights regarding the 17th edition of the Asian Sailing Championships in Jakarta. The event could enjoy a nice sailing atmosphere with the participation of 250 enthusiastic sailors from 16 nations. The organization of the event was a positive sign for the development of the region, as well as a perfect starting point before the pinnacle event: the Asian Games that will take place in August.
A special mention should also be made to The Hague, which has become a true sailing supporter. Having a clear events-strategy, with sailing being one of their pinnacle sports, they will be hosting their first joint World Championships - the 2018 ORC/IRC Offshore combined Worlds are taking place later this month. The Hague has also recently been awarded the 2022 Sailing World Championships, so for those who have not yet had the opportunity to experience this great city there will be plenty of time in the future.
Lastly, the iconic event of ocean sailing deserves a special mention after a stunning final. The Volvo Ocean Race has come to an end after nine months of great excitement, where three teams, Mapfre, Dongfeng Race Team and Team Brunel have delighted us with a fierce competition. The winner was only decided in the last race, where Dongfeng took the overall victory. Congratulations to the winner but also to all the participating teams! Not only was it a fantastic display of sailing, but a historic moment for our sport by having women on the podium in The Hague. This race continues to be an important marker for sailing and we must thank Volvo for their great commitment to our sport.
Promoting World Sailing
During the month of June, I had the opportunity to visit the United Arab Emirates and speak with their Sailing Federation about growing our sport and building on the existing development structure in the region. I am pleased to report that there was a strong commitment given by their leadership to contribute to the development of sailing through the hosting of a new emerging nations program. This new program will not only benefit countries in the region, but also those in Africa and the Far East. In the coming months, we will continue to plan and finalize next steps in order to activate this program as soon as possible.
I would also like to share one experience that took place during my flight to the UAE, which I think reflects the importance of promoting our sport. While flying with Emirates Airline, I came across a Nautical Channel in their inflight program. I was pleased to notice that the channel was offering beautiful videos of the 2018 Sailing World Cup in Miami and the Volvo Ocean Race. There is so much good material available to promote our sport and so many outlets on which to share our sport - let's make sure to use every available resource and make sailing and our heroes better known worldwide!
Olympic Sailing
In terms of the process regarding the selection of equipment – I would like to remind you all that while the events for the 2024 Olympic Games were decided last May, we are still continuing to work on our selection of equipment for these events. I believe that the intention of Regulation 23 was good, however the process of executing it is complicated and takes time. But our team in London is doing a good job in outlining the timelines and procedures to make the selection process clear in the lead up to our annual meeting in November.
Finally, I would like to announce that the Stakeholder Satisfaction Survey has been conducted. The results and the feedback are very important and useful for us, providing a good indication in determining if we are in line or above expectations as well as where we should focus to improve ourselves. I am looking forward to reviewing the findings with the Board and the Executive team and working with all of you as we strive for the continued success of our sport and of our organization. Please note that the findings will be shared once they have been reviewed and discussed.
I hope you enjoy reading this month's newsletter and for all sailors I wish you all good winds in your upcoming races! Please feel free to reach out to me either via E-mail, Facebook, or Twitter with any questions or comments you have. I am always happy to hear from you.