World Sailing confirms appointment of Race Official Technical Delegate and Chief Positions for Paris 2024 Olympic Games

World Sailing, the global governing body for the sport, has announced the appointment of the Technical Delegate and Chief Race Official positions for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition.

The appointees are:

  • Ricardo Navarro (BRA), Technical Delegate – Ricardo is the current chair of the Race Officials Committee and was the Field of Play Manager at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. He has served as the Technical Delegate at several Regional Games including the 2019 Pan Am Games, a role he will reprise in 2023. This is his first Olympic Games Technical Delegate position.
  • Pinar Coskuner Genç (TUR), Principal Race Officer – Pinar was a key member of the Tokyo 2020 Race Management Team and is currently the Regions and Development Committee Chair.
  • Ana Sanchez Del Campo Ferrer (ESP), Chair of International Jury – Ana is currently the Chair of the Racing Rules Committee and represented World Sailing as part of the jury team at Tokyo 2020.
  • Jurgen Cluytmans (BEL), Chair of Technical Committee – Jurgen is currently Equipment Committee chair and previously served as the vice-chair of the Technical Committee at Tokyo 2020.

Genç will lead a team of Course Representatives, responsible for organising the racing of each Olympic Event, with a supporting team of an additional International Race Officers.

Ana Sanchez will Chair the International Jury, leading a team which will be tasked with ensuring the Racing Rules of Sailing are properly applied to ensure a fair competition.

Cluytmans will chair a committee of International Measurers, each with a specific area of expertise related to the Olympic Equipment used in competition at the Games. The Technical Committee will be responsible for ensuring that each boat complies with the Class-specific rules.

Quanhai Li, President of World Sailing, said, “We are delighted to make the opening series of appointments to key roles for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition. All four delegates have demonstrated their knowledge, integrity and commitment to ensuring sailing at the Olympic Games will be a fair and even competition for all athletes. This will be the first Olympic Games where two of the three Chief roles in the sailing event will be female appointees. World Sailing has made gender equity a priority and to achieve this goal for Paris 2024 is a huge step forward for the sport.”

David Graham, World Sailing CEO, said, “The Games are just over two years away and it is absolutely vital that we assemble the correct team to adjudicate the ten sailing events. This is the first stage of that process and further appointments will be made in conjunction with the French Sailing Federation to recruit the national race officials required. These appointments will reflect the sport’s global reach and our target for gender equality as we continue preparations to deliver an exceptional sailing competition in 2024.”

The Vice-Chair and remaining Technical Delegate appointments will be made in due course. Race Officials are required to administer sailing’s 10 events at Paris 2024, which will be held in the newly-renovated Roucas-Blanc Marina in Marseille from 26 July to 11 August 2024.