Submissions were the focal point of discussion across three meetings on Monday 26 October, the ninth day of World Sailing’s 2020 Annual Conference.

The Constitution Committee, which reviews the Constitution and Regulations of World Sailing’s Committees, began the day. This was followed by the live broadcast of the second meeting of the Equipment Committee, with the Special Regulations Sub-committee concluding.

The convention of the Equipment Committee began at 11:00 UTC and was again chaired by Dina Kowalyshyn, with Jaime Navarro, Director of Technical & Offshore at World Sailing, as Committee Manager.

The meeting commenced with discussions on various submissions, the majority of which were approved. Submissions to allow future regional games to consider using foiling windsurfing and kiteboarding equipment were recommended, as well as Equipment Criteria for the future selection of the equipment for the 2024 Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Olympic event.

Submission 034-20, which proposed adding the iQFOil as Equipment for Windsurfing at the Youth Sailing World Championships, was deferred.

Two submissions were rejected without any committee members supporting them; Submissions 036-20 and 037-20, which refer to retaining the 2020 Olympic Slate of Events for 2024.

The review and re-evaluation process of Regulation 23, which addresses Olympic Events and Equipment, has been postponed to next year due to the postponement of Tokyo 2020 to 2021, as it is linked to the end of the Olympic cycle. Originally, Council would have had to select a minimum of four Events to review this year for 2028. A Working Party has been set up to address the impact of this delay and the topic will be further discussed at the Events Committee meeting.

The Committee recommendations will now go to World Sailing’s Council, the main decision making body of the federation, for their review before a final decision is made.

The Committee received a presentation from World Sailing’s Director of Events, Alastair Fox, on preparations for the postponed Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, with the new Notice of Race due to be published in November.

The Committee also received a report from Jurgen Cluytmans regarding the Equipment Rules of Sailing, while Hendrik Plate, World Sailing’s Technical Specialist, ran through the Class Rule Changes implemented throughout the year. Jaime Navarro outlined the Olympic Equipment Policy, before providing an update on the progress of the new Olympic Equipment for 2024, which included an insight into the manufacturing process of the IKA Formula Kite and the iQFOil. Navarro also spoke about Equipment Integrity and the plans to implement a Quality Control Strategy for Olympic equipment, with a proposed timeline outlined, as well as a One Design Equipment Charter, which will invite classes and manufacturers to implement One Design Policies and best practices.

A draft timeline for the selection of Equipment for the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Olympic Event for Paris 2024 was discussed, and the new Offshore Doubles Class Association, set up earlier this month under the leadership of President Larry Rosenfeld, was also introduced to the Committee. Click here to find out more about Offshore Doubles and to register as a member.

Finally, a report from the Safety Equipment Working Party, represented by Will Apold, was delivered, and the Para World Sailing Committee, represented by Brian Todd, provided an update on Para Sailing Equipment.

This meeting was streamed live on YouTube – you can watch again below:

The Constitution Committee started the final week of the Annual Conference with a session running between 07:00-11:00 UTC. Graham McKenzie Chaired the Committee, and Kendall Harris, World Sailing’s Director of Legal and Governance, was Committee Manager.

A range of submissions were discussed, including changes to Regulations, access to documents and records, the appointment of Committee members and the publication of policy decisions.

The meeting was recorded in BlueJeans and is now available on World Sailing’s YouTube channel. You can watch it back below:

The Special Regulations Sub-committee met between 16:00-19:00 UTC, with Will Apold as Chair and Simon Forbes, World Sailing’s Offshore Technical Manager, as Committee Manager.

All decisions made in this Sub-committee are subject to final approval by the Oceanic and Offshore Committee and unlike many other submissions, do not have to go to Council for final approval.

Three submissions were discussed; the main one being SR01, which relates to dropping the word ‘offshore’ from the Offshore Special Regulations document. The document has expanded its remit in recent years with Appendices that cover inshore racing and inshore dinghy racing. However, this submission was rejected by the Sub-committee.

Two minor changes were approved; one to align with the new Racing Rules of Sailing 2021-24, and the other to align with recognised Rating Systems abbreviations

The main topic of discussion revolved around Structural Inspection of boats, which was approved last year to be effective from January 1 2021, but was pushed back to January 1 2022 during the summer. These requirements were reviewed, and a related Frequently Asked Questions document will be publicised. The final outcome will be determined in the Oceanic and Offshore Committee.

The Sub-committee noted discussions with the ISO TC/188 relating to keel design specifications, which will be discussed further in the Oceanic and Offshore Committee.

Additionally, aligning the work of the World Sailing Medical Commission regarding Offshore Sailing into the Offshore Special Regulations will be pursued next year.

Finally, the SRSC discussed some incident reports and received updates on ongoing investigations elsewhere.

The meeting was recorded in BlueJeans and is now available on World Sailing’s YouTube channel. You can watch it back below:

From 20:00 - 23:00 UTC, World Sailing's Events Committee will meet virtually at the 2020 Annual Conference.