Please select your home edition
Edition
Rooster 2025

World Sailing 2019 Annual Conference Day 1: 25 International Classes meet

by World Sailing 28 Oct 2019 03:08 PDT 27 October - 3 November 2019
2019 Annual Conference © Tom Roberts / World Sailing

The meetings programme at World Sailing's 2019 Annual Conference kicked off on Sunday 27 October and featured the bringing together of 25 International Class Association representatives meeting at the Classes Committee.

The diversity of the sport was represented at the Classes Committee on Sunday with the future of youth sailing discussed at the Youth Events Sub-committee. Officials of the sport also came together for the International Judges, Measurers and Race Management Sub-committee meetings.

Following the meetings, the official opening was held and World Sailing President, Kim Andersen, and CEO of Bermuda Tourism Authority, Kevin Dallas, welcomed the delegates.

Addressing delegates, Andersen said, "Tonight marks the formal start of our Annual Conference, with seven further days ahead of meetings, discussion, debate and decision making.

"A lot has happened since I last addressed you at the Mid-Year meeting and yet again, we are meeting at a crucial time for World Sailing where the discussions we will have and the decisions that we will make later this week will affect us all.

"And this makes your participation, your support and your dedication to World Sailing and to our great sport incredibly important. I am looking forward to a constructive week of productive meetings and to having open conversations with all of you here."

An overview of the meeting programme is below:

Classes Committee

There are 117 International Class Associations that have received World Sailing status. Each class is entitled to a seat in the Classes Committee and the session is an opportunity for each of them to receive updates and voice opinions on various items. In total, there were 25 classes represented.

During the session, the Committee invited the International Measurers Sub-committee to discuss common areas of interest around Equipment Control at their events. The members agreed that it was important to develop measurement protocols, inspection policies and to transfer lessons learned at events between classes.

Safety is a continuous topic of discussion each year and a report from World Sailing's Safety Panel was received. An Incident Reporting Portal is available on World Sailing's website here and these are reviewed by the panel on a regular basis. More insight on reported incidents is available here.

The Committee also discussed the regulations around the requirements for the classes to continue their recognition. On Submission 046-19, to modernise the information reporting in annual reports, and Submission 047-19, on the number of entries required for large keelboat World Championships, they made the recommendation to Council to approve them both.

Youth Events Sub-committee

Chaired by Cory Sertl (USA), the Youth Events Sub-committee is responsible for recommending the policies and subsequently implementing actions to the Events Committee for major international youth sailing events.

The Sub-committee's primary remit is centred around the Youth Sailing World Championships. At today's meeting, the Committee, that also includes Mark Turnbull (AUS) - Sydney 2000 gold medallist, reviewed the most recent edition of the Hempel Youth Worlds and received feedback on the event delivery.

They approved a strategic and comprehensive review of the current model and working processes of the Championships and agreed to work with past hosts, bidders and venues who opted against bidding to understand the challenges of hosting the event to ensure long-term success.

The Sub-committee also touched upon the Youth Olympic Games. The next edition will be held in 2022 in Dakar, Senegal - the first Olympiad in Africa. They received a progress report and discussed potential opportunities for the inclusion of dinghies, kiteboarding and windsurfing.

With regards to submissions, the Sub-committee supported the following:0.

  • 084-19 - as the inclusion of the Techno293 Plus, alongside the RS:X, would provide more options for supplied equipment
  • 085-19 - to include the Mixed One Person Kiteboard from 2021
  • 086-19 - to replace the Laser Radial with the RS Aero for the One Person Dinghy
  • 087-19 / 088-19 - To expand the Boy's Two Person Dinghy to mixed crews, allowing more female sailors to participate
These will now go to the Events Committee who will discuss further before they make a recommendation to Council, the main decision making body.

International Judges, Measurers and Race Management Sub-committees

Alongside the International Umpires Sub-committee, who meet on Monday 28 October, the Sub-committees report directly to the Race Officials Committee.

Each Sub-committee administers their respective recognised areas of World Sailing officiating and bring together some of the finest International Race Officials.

On Sunday, they reviewed their relevant strategies, tasks and responsibilities and looked at how they can improve the work they deliver on the water and at global sailing events.

Alongside their core business, one of their deliverables is to consider applications for International Race Official status. In advance of the Conference, several potential officials put forward their applications and the Sub-committees reviewed each application. They will make their recommendations on appointments to the Race Officials Committee who will make the final decision on Tuesday 29 October.

The Annual Conference continues on Monday 28 October where the Sub-committees for Match Racing, Equipment Rules, International Umpires, Olympic Classes, Special Regulations and Regional Games will be held. The Women's Forum and Coaches Commission will run alongside these meeting.

Related Articles

World Sailing's inaugural Impact Report
Charting a new course for a sustainable future in sport World Sailing, the global governing body for the sport of sailing, today released its first Impact Report, a comprehensive overview of the federation's significant progress in environmental sustainability and social contribution. Posted on 24 Jul
Tristan triumphs to win 2nd eSailing World title
Tristan Péron became eSailing's first double world champion after qualifying for five finals The 2025 eSailing World Championship has concluded with a dramatic final live from Gdynia as part of the Gdynia Sailing Days festival. Posted on 20 Jul
World Sailing Nations Cup to make grand return
After a seven-year hiatus, World Sailing has officially opened the bid process for host cities After a seven-year hiatus, the World Sailing Nations Cup, the ultimate event to crown the world's top match-racing nations, is making its much-anticipated return. Posted on 18 Jul
Nominations open for World Sailing Awards 2025
Presentation to be held at the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire on 5th November Many of the sport's biggest names will be in attendance at the World Sailing Awards 2025, held on Wednesday 5 November at a gala ceremony at the Royal St. George Yacht Club in Dún Laoghaire, Ireland. Posted on 16 Jul
World Sailing announces split venues for LA28
The boards will be at Long Beach, with the dinghy events at the Port World Sailing has said it welcomes the confirmation of sailing venues for the Olympic Games LA28 the boards will be at Long Beach, with the dinghy events at the Port. Posted on 30 Jun
World Sailing launches the World Sailing Academy
A new online learning platform for the global sailing community World Sailing officially launched the World Sailing Academy, an innovative new online learning platform designed to provide comprehensive educational resources and training to sailors, coaches, officials, administrators, and the global sailing community. Posted on 17 Jun
Summer Youth Olympic Games equipment confirmed
Dakar 2026 will feature 2 sailing events in the Techno293 World Sailing is pleased to announce the selection of Techno293 as the equipment used in competition at the upcoming Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026, being held from 31 October to 13 November 2026. Posted on 29 May
Steering the Course kicks off to #AccelerateAction
World Sailing's global women's sailing festival gets under way soon The 2025 edition of Steering the Course, World Sailing's global women's sailing festival, gets under way on 23 May with a week-long focus on #AccelerateAction in support of this year's International Women's Day theme. Posted on 22 May
NYYC hosts 2025 World Sailing Mid-Year Meeting
Board conducted a series of productive strategic meetings The gathering brought the World Sailing Board and Council together in person at the Club's historic 44th Street Clubhouse in Manhattan—an iconic venue designed by Whitney Warren, renowned architect of Grand Central Station. Posted on 19 May
World Sailing Inclusion Championships preview
Event will bring together an expected 215 sailors from around the world, to Oman The Sultanate of Oman has been chosen to host the first edition of the new World Sailing Inclusion Championships. Posted on 14 May
Selden 2020 - FOOTERDoyle_SailWorld_728X90px_cruise BOTTOMC-Tech 2021 America's Cup 728x90 BOTTOM