Report And Minutes From Estoril Meeting

The ISAF Executive Committee held their first of four meetings it has each year over the weekend of 10-12 February 2007 in Estoril, Portugal. Amongst a wide range of matter discussed, there was considerable focus on the planning and format for the ISAF World Cup.

The week prior to the Executive Meeting, from 2-3 February, ISAF held meetings with the Event Organizers of the six identified World Cup events – Sail Melbourne, Rolex Miami OCR, Princess Sofia Trophy, Semaine Olympique Française, Holland Regatta and Kiel Week – to give the opportunity for the individual Event Organizers to present their event and hold open discussions directly with ISAF, and collectively with the other Event Organizers. The format for the ISAF World Cup will be presented to Council at the 2007 ISAF Mid-Year Meeting, with the ISAF World Cup being formally launched in 2008.

The Organizing Committee for the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships gave a presentation on the preparations for the Championship, with ISAF’s television production and distribution partners reporting on their plans for the Championship.

Olympic Selection

Looking ahead to the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition, debate focussed on the selection of events for the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition and the challenge for ISAF to meet the priority of securing increased nation participation at the Olympic Games, together with the many complex issues which ISAF needs to consider when selecting events and the equipment. Increased nation participation is a priority for ISAF and a goal of the International Olympic Committee. With the number of events reducing from eleven to ten at the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition, there will be much debate at the 2007 ISAF Annual Conference when the final decision is made on the ten events.

Reports were received from the various Executive Committee working parties including, Rules Compliance, Women, Extreme Sailing and Professionalism. The Executive Committee also considered the reports of the six Commissions which report to it, being the Athletes’ Commission, Classification Commission, Coaches Commission, International Regulations Commission, Medical Commission and Training Commission.

Whilst in Portugal, the Executive Committee also visited the Club Naval de Cascais, which is the venue for the 2007 ISAF Sailing World Championships, attending the opening of the new club premises.

The ISAF Executive Committee is responsible for implementing the policy decisions of the final decision making body of ISAF, the ISAF Council. It is made up of the President, seven Vice-Presidents and two Presidents of Honour (non-voting).

The next meeting of the ISAF Executive Committee will take place during the 2007 ISAF Mid-Year Meeting, taking place from 4-6 May in Paris, France.

To view the minutes from the Executive Committee meeting CLICK HERE.