Leaders in safety, and racing to share perspective at World Sailing's 2018 Annual Conference

by World Sailing 20 Sep 2018 21:29 PDT 26 October - 4 November 2018

World Sailing's 2018 Annual Conference will include two open forums on Safety in Sailing and the future of Offshore and Keelboat racing with sport and industry leaders sharing their perspectives.

The Annual Conference, where the key decisions for the future of our sport are made, will be held from Saturday 26 October through to Sunday 4 November in Sarasota, Florida, USA. The Safety in Sailing Forum will be held from 14:30 to 18:00 on Monday 29 October and the Future of Offshore & Keelboat Racing Forum will follow on Tuesday 30 October from 09:00 to 12:00 local time.

The forums, which will be live streamed on YouTube and open to all attendees as part of the conference agenda that includes World Sailing Committee and Council meetings, the eSailing World Championship Final and the annual World Sailing Awards.

Broadcaster Alec Wilkinson will host both forums before chairing an interactive panel session with audience members and those watching online.

Safety in Sailing Forum

The Safety in Sailing Forum will be split into two parts and topics.

To open the Forum a session on how to deal with the new risks associated with foiling in competitive sailing will be held with the following presenters:

• Safety in boat design - Gonzalo Redondo, Managing Director at D3 Applied Technologies
• Protective clothing and headwear - Bart Mikzarcyk, Global Head of Design at Zhik
• Race management - John Craig, International Race Officer and Extreme Sailing Series Race Director
• Emergency procedures - TBC

The forum will then move into the importance of being ready when sailing offshore with keynote speeches from:

• Maintenance and checks - Hasso Hoffmeister, Senior Principal Engineer at DNV GL - Maritime
• Personal safety training - Chuck Hawley, former Chairman of the US Sailing Safety at Sea Committee and Vice President of Product Information at Westmarine
• Offshore safety equipment - Alistair Hackett, Managing Director at Ocean Safety
• Offshore race management - Phil Lawrence, Race Director at Volvo Ocean Race

Future of Offshore & Keelboat Racing Forum

Keelboat and offshore are some of the most popular avenues of the sport, with historical events continuing traditions and new ones being introduced or evolved, there is an ever changing landscape. A leading cast of influencers within the community will feature in the three hour forum:

• Solo and short-handed offshore sailing - Mike Golding, Professional sailor
• Future of the Volvo Ocean Race - Richard Brisius, President of the Volvo Ocean Race
• World Sailing Offshore World Championship - TBC
• Sustainability in Offshore racing - Dee Caffari - Professional sailor and Chair of the World Sailing Trust
• ORC /IRC Combined World Championships - Andrew McIrvine, RORC Admiral and Bruno Finzi, ORC Chairman
• Future of Universal Measurement System - Stan Honey, Professional sailor and Chairman of World Sailing's Oceanic and Offshore Committee
• Growth of Sailing leagues - Olli Schwall, Managing Director at Sailing Champions League

Andy Hunt, World Sailing CEO commented, "Safety and the future of offshore and keelboat racing are topics that are high on the agenda of sailors, coaches, event organisers and our members. We are delighted to have brought together many of the leading experts together to debate these important issues."