ISAF Annual Conference: Day One Summary

The 2015 ISAF Annual Conference has commenced in Sanya, China, with the world of sailing gathering on the Chinese island of Hainan on November 7-14 to talk about the business of sailing and make the decisions that take the sport forward into the new year. Here is the November 7 day one summary…

International Regulations Commission
The International Regulations Commission were the first to conclude their meeting at the 2015 Annual Conference. They received reports from ISAF representation on the International Maritime Organisation, the Marine Environment Protection Committee, the Sub Committee on Navigation, Communication and Search and Rescue as well as the Maritime Safety Committee.

An update was given on international standards for small craft and this touched upon the stability of the craft as well as scantling standards.

Interestingly, the usage of flying drones was mentioned. They are often a common sight at sailing events nowadays with a mixture of professionals and amateurs taking up the controls to fly above the boat parks and racing areas.

A question was asked about any forthcoming international regulations but it was mentioned that it is dependent on the rules within each nation. Later this week the International Judges Sub-committee will also discuss the usage of drones for officiating the sport and what potential they have in the future.

Coaches Commission
The Coaches Commission is a bit of a who’s who in the world of coaching with all of them leading sailors to a number of Olympic, World and Youth sailing medals.

The list of attendees included:
• Victor Kovalenko, aka the Medal Maker
• Aiko Sato – Japanese team leader
• Jez Fanstone – New Zealand team leader
• George Fundak – Austrian team leader
• Anastasia Chernova – Russian youth sailing coach
• Alain Champy – Chairman from France and Oman Sail coach

With such a distinguished list of coaches topics remained close to the Rio 2016 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The schedule, pollution and the importance of race management flexibility were all mentioned. The schedule was published just over a week ago and the Pão de Açucar, Ponte and Escola Naval courses inside Guanabara Bay and the Copacabana and Niteroi areas outside the bay are to be utilised. The reserve course areas are Aeroporto, an additional course situated in-between Ponte and Escola Naval in Guanabara Bay, and Pai, outside Guanabara Bay.

Racing is set to start on Monday 8 August and conclude on Thursday 18 August and the sailors were full of anticipation when we caught up with them in Abu Dhabi. Check out the full schedule and find out more here – http://www.sailing.org/olympics/rio2016/news/41364.php

The Coaches Commission also reviewed the Rio 2016 Support Team Regulations ahead of their publication next year as well as the sailing calendar and the future of the Sailing World Cup.

Class Rules Sub-committee
There are eight classes applying to become ISAF affiliated this year. They include the Fareast 28, VXONE, Nacra F20 Carbon, RS Aero, Kite Foil, Kite Twin Tip Freestyle, VOR65 and M32. As part of their application process each class has to submit its proposed class rules to the Sub-committee. They reviewed each class rule and will report to the Equipment Committee later this week.

A live blog will be available from Saturday 7 November through to Saturday 14 November here: www.sailing.org/follow/2015-annual-conference-blog.php

The Annual Conference meeting schedule, papers and further information here: www.sailing.org/meetings/2015-conference.php