Cut and pasted from the Tornado class website
http://www.tornado-class.org/news/articles/2009/isaf-conference.htm




ISAF Conference Report
5-15 november 2009 Busan, Korea
MEETING REPORTS
MULTIHULL COMMISSION
The first meeting I attended to was the Multihull Commission (MC) meeting. Unfortunately only four members of the MC were present in Busan: Paul Pascoe (AUS) - Chairman, Carolijn Brouwer (BEL) - Vice Chairman, Olivier Bovyn (FRA) and David Brookes (AUS). Simon Forbes was present as ISAF staff.
The meeting was scheduled for three and a half hours. The first part of the meeting was open and the second half was closed. During the open session there were 3 members of the Hobie Cat Association along side with Rob White and Rick Reading from GBR. Since the MC is a Commission and not a Committee, it reports directly to the ISAF Executive Committee. Paul Pascoe reported to the Executive on Saturday morning, the day after the MC meeting. Paul is working on a report and needs to get it approved by ISAF before he can send it out. I will forward this as soon as I get it.
The main thing to come out of the meeting in regards to the Olympics was that everyone is hanging on to see what the Olympic Commission (OC) recommendations included. The OC would officially report for the first time during the Events Committee meeting which was held on Wednesday 11 Nov.
The general feeling from ISAF is that the decision to drop the Multihull from the Olympics was a very big mistake and that there will be at least one back in 2016.
In fact, it was mentioned that the IOC Golden Rings Award that ISAF won for the Best Sport Coverage at Beijing 2008 was thanks to the Tornado Medal Race!
There is still strong support for 5/5 split in Men's and Women's disciplines. The IOC is strongly encouraging gender equity. It is clear that in the case of 5/5, there is a suitable Multihull and available equipment out there for the Men. The Women's side still needs a lot of work.
If there is only one Multihull discipline, it would probably be Open. This is currently being investigated by ISAF as the message coming from the IOC is that they do not encourage Open/Mixed disciplines.
The Multihull position is secured in the Youth Worlds until at least 2012, which means there is no threat of losing Multihull in the Youth before the decision on Olympic Events will be made (Nov 2011). This is very positive. Although there are two concerns that need to be raised regarding the Youth Worlds: the event is so popular that the organization is struggling with the number of athletes and therefore there is some push mainly from Skiff supporters to remove Multihull from the Youth Worlds.
Pinnacle event for Multihull: I spoke to John Longley in Busan about including Multihull in the 2011 ISAF World Sailing Championships. The event organisers are happy to have Multihulls there. ISAF is the problem here as one of their regulations state that only Olympic classes can participate in ISAF organised events. John is still happy to try and arrange some sort of set up to make it possible for Multihulls to race as in a demonstration event prior to the Worlds when for example the Olympic Classes are in their measurement days. As the event is progressing quickly, the available space will become an issue so we need to act fast.
Paul Pascoe's report to follow with further information on the MC meeting.
ISAF CLASSES COMMITTEE
Saturday was a full day of ISAF Classes Committee meeting. It is normal practice of the ICC to avoid commenting on anything to do with the Events and/or Equipment at Olympic Games because there are too many class interests.
The biggest item on the table was the discussion on a submission that would allow event organisers to charge sailors a supplementary entry fee on top of the normal entry fee for carrying advertising on their boat during that event. Luckily this was fought and rejected. Conclusion was sailors are being taxed enough already.
WOMENS FORUM
The next meeting on my agenda was the Women's Forum. No Multihull issues were discussed in this meeting.
I would like to express my concern that there is hardly any Multihull representation on the Women's Forum. All the women seem to speak about is Match racing (obviously the hot and problematic topic at the moment) and/or Skiff sailing.
Multihull is basically non existent as far as the women in ISAF are concerned and my feeling is that there is not much support for it either. So if a Women's Multihull is to be considered in the future, the Women's forum should be the first to show its support.
EQUIPMENT COMMITTEE
The Equipment Committee meeting was held on Tuesday 10 November. This is my first term on this Committee. Once again, discussions were "on hold" waiting for the deliberations of the Olympic Commission.
Main things coming out of this meeting, that involve Multihull, was the review of ISAF classes. Nacra F18 and the A Class have not paid for their ISAF plaque fees.
Every ISAF class has to pay a plaque fee for every boat built. Nacra F18 has lost its ISAF class status as they have replaced it by the Nacra Infusion. The Nacra Infusion has to apply for a new ISAF recognised status.
Regarding the A Class, ISAF staff and the A Class are working together to set up and implement the plaque system into their class.
All these issues put Multihull in a bad light at ISAF and these problems should be and can be easily avoided in the future.
A review paper has been put forward to introduce proposals designed to simplify and improve the regulations that serve the ISAF classes and the sport of sailing. One of the goals is to resolve the enormous number of World Champions in our sport and therefore establish fleet size criteria for World Championships. The number of participating entries for a World Champion title in the Multihull (less than 7.6m) has doubled from 25 to 50 entries (8 countries, 3 continents). As a reference, Centreboard boats have gone from 30 to 50 entries, Keelboats (less than 7.6m) from 25 to 30.
I have expressed my concern at the meeting and will put it in writing to the chairman of the Equipment Committee, Dick Batt.
EVENTS COMMITTEE
The meeting everyone had been looking forward to all week was the Events Committee meeting.
Chairman of the Events Committee, Chris Atkins (GBR) opened the meeting with the following comments: Our role is to create a clearer vision and strategy for Olympic sailing.
1. Cater for multiple profiles of sailors?
2. Sailing World Cup: does it simplify or does it confuse it for the media and general public?
3. IOC provides us with 37 criteria to be an Olympic sport. Do we maximise these set of values?
4. Do the young kids of today have a clear pathway?
These are some of the questions the OC will be looking at finding the answers in the next 12 months.
3 main issues were discussed:
1. 2012 Olympic format and qualification
2. Sailing World Cup - short term changes and long term changes (2013 - 2016)
3. 2016 Sailing Competition. What needs to be done NOW.
2 main themes:
1. Role of the IOC. How do we use the Olympic Commission to do our job better?
2. How do we get the media/marketing better?
This was immediately followed by a presentation from Phil Jones, Chairman of the Olympic Commission.
OLYMPIC COMMISSION
The Olympic Commission has the role of creating and implementing the strategy for Olympic sailing.
The OC will present a draft at the ISAF Mid Years meeting 2010 and its final version will be presented at the ISAF meeting in November 2010.
The IOC Program Commission has 37 evaluation criteria for the sports on the Olympic Programme. Universality, popularity, image and environment, television and broadcasting are some of these important criteria.
Sailing needs to make changes and follow strategies to move closer to what IOC is asking for. It is not what you do at the Olympic Games that makes a sport Olympic. It's what you do and achieve in the other 204 weeks of the year.
Some of the interesting topics that Phil raised and the OC will be strongly considering in their proposal were the following:
1. When you look at the number of countries (MNA's) affiliated to the International Federations in the Olympic sports, sailing comes 5th from the bottom. The goal is to increase country participation. Increase the number of affiliated MNA's. Europe scores well, it's the numbers in the other continents that need to be raised.
2. Continental representation is becoming more and more important. The question is not how many countries you have at the Olympic Games, it's the number of nations you have at qualification events that are world wide spread that counts.
3. Television and broadcasting: The development and strategy on new media (i.e. tracking systems) should be continued but it should also be taken into consideration that $2.75 billion of the income of the IOC is from television rights. And sailing needs to urgently evolve in this area.
4. The Olympic Qualification System should encourage universality by introducing local/regional events and introducing equipment that limits development costs is widespread and popular (One of the questions raised was: How many boats would you get at a Star African Qualifier?)
5. Another concern raised that needs to be addressed was the unbalance between the numbers of official technical delegates vs number of Athletes at the Olympic Games. Sailing scored very poorly here compared to other Olympic sports. By including Match racing these numbers will only get worse as number of umpires will rise.
6. IOC is encouraging the young and athletic. The Star class had by far the oldest sailors in the fleet at the Olympics and the Tornado class was second on the list. The OC will be looking into this when making its considerations.
One of the things that the OC is looking at doing is bringing forward decisions on events, and perhaps even equipment. So the decision on events for 2016 could be taken as early as next November! We could have less than a year to get Multihull back in!
Another idea is to lock in events/equipment for 2 (max 3) Olympic cycles. The idea is to evolve the chosen equipment rather than changing equipment every 4 yrs. I.e. carbon mast on 49er, lighter board for RS-X, carbon topmast for Laser.
- END -
Thank You
A huge thank you to Carolijn for producing this report.

Hey, thanks for posting. Most interesting and I am left with a lot of questions to ponder

So in other words from the summary ISAF still apparently is a complete waste of oxygen...



May I point out the Tornado was always "Open"!! Before the new rig at least one lady competed! So this line of thinking is redundant at best.

As for "The general feeling from ISAF is that the decision to drop the Multihull from the Olympics was a very big mistake".. BULL!!! Its was what the majority national associations and ISAF wanted.. The decision was later supported by statements from senior ISAF committee members.. Flip didn't one of the US committee members say the recent Star titles was the most entertaining event he had been to in a long time (or words to that meaning).. So in other words now they are wanting to salvage some honor.. While making sure multihulls are still reamed..

What they dont want is the multihulls to go their own way..

So who on the multihull commission didn't show up?
I would have thought that this meeting was fairly important

What direction do we spin down under as we spiral down the toilet? That is certainly the way we are choosing to go!

Let's see.. We have few leaders... and even fewer people who are willing to follow... Oh right!... "we be cat sailors". the iconic rebels without cause or focus.... bent on proving the old adage... ... You can't herd cats.

Anyone have a plan to solve the demographhic issues...
that they noted... WHAT A SHOCK IT WAS WHEN THEY SAID... Cat sailors are OLD... MALE... and represent just a handful of rich countries in world wide competition. WHO WOULD HAVE NOTICED SUCH A THING.

Oh.. and we could have as little as a year to start having answers and results for these problems.

No worries!... we get to blame ISAF AGAIN for pissing on the multihulls when they don't give us TWO Olympic spots.... Hell we should be happy if we can hold the skiff juniors off and preserve some space for the Hobie 16 juniors.

When all that you have is an argument that multihulls are the most spectacular of the sailing classes on TV.... but yeah... the TV appeal of any sailboat race is on par with watching grass grow... AND THAT's WHAT THE SAILORS SAY. You don't have much of an argument. Photogenic is not going to trump lots of competitors world wide competing internationally.

The fat lady is warming up.

We might be better off focusing on the viable world wide classes and regional classes and not worrying about an elite level of international competition.

I represent the US on the Commission. There was discussion that the meeting would be less formal with a light agenda this early in the quadrennium. I passed along the US input on issues to Paul after participating in the ISAF Delegation conference call. On the call, we reviewed all the submissions on the table and developed the US position on each. I passed along to Paul that the US still supported the 5/5 approach, as well as the idea of selecting Events and equipment for multiple Games. There are whispers that 5/5 is losing traction against pressure from the dinghy lobby - I don't see that reflected in Carolijn's summary.

Also, there were separate reports supporting Carolijn's statement that the decisions on Events could be moved up from November 2011 to November 2010. This would mean we'll need to greatly move up our lobbying efforts, whatever they may be.

Travel to the meeting in Korea priced out very high, as you can imagine. The US Delegation was pretty small. In the end, with a light agenda for the Commission and a commitment to RC at the HavaMega, I opted to pass along the US position to the Chair and not go to the meeting. I will be attending the Mid-year meeting in Hungary and the Annual meeting in Greece, as there will be a lot happening for multihulls in 2010.

..ER Its actually the SL 16 now Mark.

Until 2012 at least

SL 16 ???

Right... Well there's the plan and then there are the facts on the ground. The US is a little different. We still have clubs pushing the Wave as a junior boat. 10 SL16's were brought to the states... None sold after three years. Performance was graciously chartering them out for ISAF junior qualifiers.

So, the last time, the US used the old fall back... hobie 16's with spins.. BUT
We had an internal Hissy fit with the NAHCA over Hobie 16's with spin's used in the the USA. A compromise was reached but the boats are no longer in the US...

So... the defacto junior boat is a Hobie 16. Period.

As I said.... we have issues.

Mark, you're wrong about the H16s with 'chutes. The HCANA fully support the boat for youth, and did so to the tune of around $9,000 earlier this year. Credit due.

Yes, the NAHCA did support that round.

However, the larger point is what I am addressing.

US Juniors don't sail a chute boat Neither the SL16 or the H16 with chutes are doable in the US in 2010. We have Waves and Hobie 16's.

This is symptomatic of the value we really place on international competition, the Olympics, ISAF, etc etc.

Look at the ISAF report and ask.. OK... what is the actual US initiative and commitment and progress to each of the points raised.

When they all are at zero or close to it... You have a problem.

Looking forwards to 2016, How can you make a case to US Sailing that they should support catamarans at the international level when the rank and file are not interested in building a pipeline that looks remotely like the rest of the competitive world. Heck... we can't even pretend to play on the same boats as the world.

US Sailing is very clear... sailors get funding when they hit international performance metrics. Without a pipeline... good luck getting a good sailor to be world class.

It will just be easier to blame ISAF, US Sailing, and the YC world for no catamaran in the next Olympics. They are great fall guys.

If we are unwilling to pay the costs to compete... Perhaps we should punt and refocus on something we are willing to work towards. Bashing ISAF and US Sailing won't hold much water by 2016.

There will be youth sailing Hobie 16s with spinnakers at the next Championship. There is an announcement due out any day now. The Hobie Class is again supporting the event.

John, Is this a US championship ? Not the Youth Worlds. As far as I am aware, the SL16 has bee choosen as the cat raced at the Youth Worlds for the next 3 years to 2012.

Yes, what championship do you mean john?

True that we don't have any youth in the US racing Hobie 16 with spinnaker or SL16's. That doesn't mean that we don't place a value on international competition. We have always had plenty of US youth attending the Hobie 16 Worlds and the class runs a Hobie 16 Youth North Americans every year.

The US Youth Multihull Championship for the Stevens Trophy - I swear there's an announcement right soon. Can't say any more without speaking completely out of turn. Merely wanted to point out that it is happening.

"So, the last time, the US used the old fall back... hobie 16's with spins.. BUT
We had an internal Hissy fit with the NAHCA over Hobie 16's with spin's used in the the USA. A compromise was reached but the boats are no longer in the US..."

Mark, I agree with a lot of stuff in your posts here, but really, where do you come up with this gem???

There is NO internal issue within HCA that I am aware of that amounts to a conspiracy to outlaw spinnakers for youth sailors in the US.

The main issue has always been this: There is a strong majority of Hobie 16 sailors that don't want the 16 class to go the way of the 18 class (multiple platforms, splintering the class to its demise). THAT is why the H16 spin is not an approved class for adults.

HOWEVER, the class STRONGLY supports the use of H16s with chutes for youth. The IHCA class rules allow for this rig to be used for youth events (within specific guidelines), and I personally would love to see tons of these showing up at points regattas to train our youth for major international events.

The real problem is, very few people in the US actually wants to BUY one of these boats, or upgrade kits. THAT'S the reason the boats are out of the country.

So, I do wholehearedly agree with you that what we really need in this country, whether it be led by HCA, USSA, or someone else entirely, is a real stepping system that uses Waves, H16 Spins, and any other boats that meet the need to grow the future of our sport, our kids.

But, we can't get there overnight. The reality of the situation up to now has been that the best training for youth has been to let them sail in the adult H16 class, against some of the best cat sailors in the country. That requires a stock H16, no chute. The resistance against spins for adults is not likely to change, so until we get a critical mass of strong youth competitors to train against one another, this is going to be a tough nut to crack.

Mike

The Sirena company and all building rights for the SL16 are back in the hands of Yves Loday, the designer. The SL16 has been choosen as the ISAF Youth Cat for the next three years - at least. I don't believe that many Hobie 16s with spinnakers will be raced in Europe by the Youth Sailors in the near future.

While that may be entirely true, Dermot, the SL16 simply has got little to no chance in the US. I think that those who have the responsibility for making decisions about how to keep the very-slight gains in youth sailing in our country going must deal with the reality of availability. We have Hobie 16s available, and a class association committed to helping put the spinnaker kit aboard for kids who want to race them in specific events. It remains to be seen how the selection process for our Worlds teams will shake out - again, I think the reality will dictate to the Olympic Sailing Committee (who have the responsibility of deciding who will go to the Youth Worlds to sail whatever boat is provided) that they must choose teams that have some experience. The current arrangement of designating an event as a qualifier, where the prospect for a fleet showing up is incredibly unlikely, simply isn't sustainable.

Actually when we asked North American class members this question a few years ago the overwhelming majority was NOT in favor of spinnakers on Hobie 16s for the youth at class events for the exact reasons you mention. I would still prefer to see the Youth MH Champs in a standard Hobie 16 after all it’s what most of the existing youth multihull sailors actually race.