Key decisions

We take a look at the ISAF Mid-Year meeting

As much of the sailing world is well aware last weekend saw the ISAF Mid-Year Meeting taking place in Qingdao, China where the biggest item on the agenda was whether the ISAF Council would vote to reaffirm the decisions they made in November 2007 over the make-up of Olympic events for 2012.

The result, as we have reported (see article here) was that the situation remains the same as it was after last November’s Annual Meeting – the Tornado remains out, the Women’s high performance skiff is no longer being considered and instead Women’s match racing is to be included. . Clearly this has been a big decision for the sailing world and the ISAF have been going out of their way to push the point that the Council voting procedure is democratic. Currently on the ISAF website their latest release regarding the meeting states that the “Committee had put forward a submission to give Council the opportunity to consider again their decision from November 2007 on the selection of events for 2012. A submission which demonstrates the democracy of ISAF, and the flexibility and open-mindedness the organization has in ensuring the interests of the sport prevail.” The bluntness of this shows just how strongly they are taking this line.

In addition to this President, Goran Peterssen, kicked off the event apologetically by stating to the council : “First let me say I deeply regret the divide this debate has caused in ISAF and the sailing community. It was not an easy decision in November 2007 and it will not be an easy decision today. I don’t want to lose the multihull from the Olympic Programme, nor the windsurfer nor the keelboat or any event. I don’t want to say goodbye to any event or class. But ISAF was requested by the IOC to reduce the Olympic events by one for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition. Some group will be disappointed. However, no event is in or out of the Olympics forever.”



The decisions regarding the multihull have had a couple of knock on effects in other areas of discussion. On the agenda for Sunday was the approval of Olympic Equipment being put forward for selection in November. However, since the multihull category had been removed from Olympic sailing, multihulls had been put forward by a number of other associations in spots such as the men’s two person dinghy. Presumably in order to block this option the ISAF Equipment committee discussed this issue and came to the conclusion that for these purposes a multihull does not constitute a ‘dinghy.’

Interestingly with reference to the above point, ISAF regulation 16.1.1 (f)(i) states that: ‘At the Mid-year meeting of Council immediately before the meeting referred to in regulation 16.1.1(c) Council will make a list of the equipment for selection in November. The list shall include all equipment which has been the subject of a valid submission made in accordance with regulation 16.1.2, unless the relevant Class/Owners Association has indicated to the Secretary General before the Mid-year meeting that it does not wish to be included in the list.’

This all leaves the ISAF in a slightly difficult position whereby they are required by their regulations to put forward a number of multihull classes as potential Olympic equipment but have already stated they are not eligible to qualify for one of the ‘dinghy’ spots, neither have they a spot of their own to occupy. In light of this, the ISAF Council added the proviso that “the selection of equipment for dinghy events for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition will not be open to multihulls”. This is according to an ISAF press release, though we have yet to find such a statement within any regulation or official document.

The equipment list going forward is:

29er XX International Moth
470 Laser
49er Laser Radial
Byte CII Laser SB3 (M)
Capricorn* Musto Performance Skiff
Europe Nacra F18
F18* RS: X
Formula One Design Sonar
Finn Star
Hobie Tiger* Tornado*
J/22 Ultimate 20
J/24 Yngling
J/80



ISAF World Cup

The start-stop concept of an ISAF World Cup looks as though it is properly back on and will be underway in 2009, following this latest meeting by ISAF.

The possibility of an Olympic classes World Cup has been under debate for a while now. At the ISAF Annual conference in November 2006, it was decided ISAF would attempt to put together a World Cup whereby a number of Grade 1 events throughout the world (think Formula One world championship) and a final event at the end of each year in a different country would produce World Cup champions for each Olympic class in every year. The intention of this was two fold - firstly it seemed a great way to get the media involved outside of the Olympics, giving them an annual focal point and with a clear result sheet throughout the course of the year. Secondly it would do a lot to clear up the highly confusing ISAF World Rankings.

At the time of the original announcement, the plan was to introduce the first World Cup this year with a dry run. However, this was not to be as a year after the idea was introduced by ISAF a submission appeared for the 2007 meeting that stated:

‘Following the Council decision of the 2007 ISAF Mid Year Meeting, a meeting with the representatives of the Event Organizers was held in London in mid-June 2007. From these discussions, it became apparent that it would not be possible to achieve a mutual and unified agreement between ISAF and the event organizers to introduce an ISAF Sailing World Cup based on the concept approved by the ISAF Council.

‘Meetings with Class representatives and MNAs were sought, resulting in a lack of support for the concept as approved by the ISAF Council.

‘Supporting Submission 126-07, the Executive Committee recommends that a biannual ISAF Sailing World Championships will better achieve the objectives for Olympic sailing which were initially established as the basis for introducing the ISAF Sailing World Cup.

‘It is therefore recommended that the concept of the ISAF Sailing World Cup be immediately terminated. In addition, that ISAF will not allow any event organizers to independently use the title “ISAF World Cup” or derivatives of the name/title.’

We are big fans of the World Cup concept, particularly that it can effectively replace the complex and confusing ISAF World Ranking system.

But at the Mid-Year meeting this time around the ISAF World Cup now looks set to become a reality again, with the announcement to Council that all event organisers have signed a ‘Memorandum of Intent’ and that a management company has be found to partner with ISAF. The event will launch in 2009, and will include the following existing events, together with an event in the country to hold the next Olympic Games, as opposed to an annual changing venue as originally proposed:

• Sail Melbourne
• Rolex Miami OCR
• Princess Sofia Trophy
• Semaine Olympique Française
• Holland Regatta
• Kiel Week

While we love the ISAF World Cup concept, one final decision we are uncertain about is to hold an ISAF World Sailing Championship (such as the one held in Cascais in 2007) once every two years. Clearly both this decision and the ISAF World Cup concept are designed to keep competition high in the years between Olympics specifically in the early stage of the Olympic cycle when the best sailors tend to take a one or two year break.

However, where we feel the World Cup benefits the Olympic sailing world by providing key events for media focus and giving clear events for sailors to aim for, the combined World Championships is another matter. Specifically the schedule for so many classes tends to be tight, a day of lost racing makes life very difficult for race officers who find themselves with no choice but to run races in poor conditions.

Conclusion

So, another meeting over and a number of interesting developments. We look forward to the World Cup coming to fruition and feel it will be a big help to the Olympic circuit. We continue to rue the decision not to introduce the Women’s Skiff and drop the Multihull event but as many have stated, all that can be done now is to look to the future to get the events back in for 2016. The ISAF have made it clear, particularly for the multihull, that there is absolutely no chance for 2012.

What are your views on the recent ISAF decisions? Send your comments to batmail@thedailysail.com