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The International Sailing Federation (ISAF) held its 2006 annual conference in Helsinki, Finland, November 4-12. Star Class President Bill Allen and Chief Measurer John Koopman attended on behalf of the Class. ISAF is the governing body of international sailing, and is responsible for running the Olympics, America’s Cup, Volvo Ocean Race, and other international events. In addition, ISAF publishes the Rules of Sailing, coordinates International Class rules and measurement specifications and certifies race officials and judges. They are also involved in youth sailing activities and Offshore Sailing.
At the annual meeting, ISAF considers many submissions for improving the state of Sailing. Various committees discuss these ideas, and make recommendations to the 39 person ISAF Council, which then votes on the submissions. This year there were over 100 submissions to consider. Of these, only 10-15 were of relevance to the Star Class.
Rather than review these submissions one by one, we will review the major topics considered, and any decisions reached which affect the class or one design sailing in general. You can get further details from the ISAF site at www.sailing.org.
In general, there was very little passed that will affect the Star Class. The majority of discussion in meetings and the back halls concerned the establishment of an ISAF World Cup for Olympic classes. After much consideration, Council approved a general concept that combines the existing 5 Grade One events that are not class events, plus the Princess Sophia Trophy in Mallorca, into a World Cup series. The results of these events will be combined in some way to award a World Cup champion. The final scoring format has not been decided, and may include a World Cup Grand Final event, probably to be sailed in September or October, that would crown the Champion. It is hoped that such a series might be initiated in 2007, but possibly it would be postponed until 2008
The World Cup series would be essentially a professional circuit, with sponsorship, media coverage, and possibly prize money. It would be totally outside of class activities, including our World and Continental Championships. The events would initially consist of Sail Melbourne, Miami OCR, Princess Sophia Trophy, Hyeres Weeks, Holland Regatta and Kieler Woche. The Class World Championships may be included in the scoring, but would continue to be sailed under Star Class rules, except for the Combined ISAF World Championships every 4 years. It is expected that these events will continue to be open to all competitors within the Olympic designation. As you can see, many details of the concept are yet to be decided.
The concept of a World Cup should be beneficial to the Star Class. We will be included in a major new sailing initiative, which should increase the media attention to the class; and we will continue to have authority over our existing class events.
ISAF also considered changes to the medal race format for the Olympics, and decided to keep the format as is. It was suggested, but not required, that the grade one events making up the World Cup series all use the Olympic format. Class events will continue to be sailed under Star Class rules.
Several submissions concerned increasing the authority of member national authorities (MNA’s) in the qualification and organizing of Olympic Class events. These were not passed.
The previously published qualification process for the 2007 ISAF Combined World Championships in Cascais, Portugal was modified slightly, and remains a work in progress. At this time, a complicated formula is being used to allocate country slots for the event, based on performance in the 2005 and 2006 worlds. A country can receive a maximum of seven slots based on this formula. Additional slots may be allocated by an ISAF commission. The individual sailors for these slots will be selected by the country MNA. Unfortunately, The Star Class qualification process will not apply. For more details, please contact your individual country MNA.
At the Measurement and Equipment meetings there was little that directly affects the Star.
At the sub-committee level, the concept of “Out of the Box” boats was discussed. Does the term refer to a boat like a Laser where you have all you need from a single supplier (you may need to buy a few until you get one you like), or a high quality boat like the Star where you buy the components you want, do some tuning and win a worlds. As the term went up the reporting chain, the concept appeared to go in the single source direction. This has implications for the selection of Olympic Equipment, where manufacturer supplied equipment has great appeal from the organizational standpoint, but little appeal to the Competitors who may get saddled with defective equipment. The Laser Radial competitors made a submission to be allowed to bring their own equipment to China. It probably won't happen.
Of more interest to the Class, in ISAF involvement are issues outside the submissions.
ISO is preparing new rules regarding harness release mechanisms for trapeze, kite boarding etc. This is a complex issue which will take a lot of time. At least two more years before anything is done. The type of harness discussed is quite different from the Star system and should only become an issue if the wording of applicability becomes too generalized.
ISO and the many national and international marine safety organizations are getting together to provide a single set of specifications, acceptable worldwide, for personal flotation devices (PFD's) for the sailing community. The “Type 6” device will have derivatives focusing on specific sailing disciplines such as dingy, board, etc. This may happen within a year. While there are some good serviceable PFD's made under the current specifications, an international standard should provide better competition between manufacturers resulting in more and better choices.
The selection of Olympic classes for 2012 will not be made prior to the 2007 ISAF annual meeting in Athens next November. It has been decided by the IOC that only 10 medals will be awarded for Sailing. This will mean elimination of at least one of the existing classes. There will be discussion regarding the retention of keelboats in the Olympics, but I feel that there will probably continue to be keelboats, at least for 2012. The Class will be actively involved in this selection process throughout 2007.
In general, the image of the Star Class remains very positive at ISAF and in the international arena. We took 50 of the new Starlights to Helsinki, displaying 8-10 each day. They were always taken within an hour! Many people came up to me and commented about the beauty of the boat and the top level of competition. I could only smile and add that the enjoyment of sailing the boat and camaraderie of the class are truly what makes the Star Class so special.
Good Sailing.
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