Some non official news in order to prevent any leaks in the meantime the minutes are published…
Dear friends,
Although I did ask every participant to the WC meeting to wait for minutes to be published before making any comments, it appears some talks are already spreading in some blogs, so let me inform you on the main decisions made by the F18 World Council last saturday in Paris, making clear only approved minutes and final documents will have due force.
1) Class Rules :
The Class Rules dated August 2012 we put as a draft in our download section were presented to Council. They had been prepared by a rules sub Committee of IF18CA, by the ISAF Technical Dept., by the ISAF Class Rules Sub Committee and, in line with Rules A.7.1, were returning to Council for ratification.
Those have been adopted as drafted, by the exception of very minor changes : definition of a compass, and adding H7 on the drawing related to Jib measurement.
These rules should be in force by 1st January 2013, and published on ISAF website accordingly. Don Findlay, Technical Committee Chair, already get in touch with ISAF Technical Department, and this should be achieved as scheduled.
2) Paint list :
Irrespective of debate on actual efficiency of paint on performance, it was agreed that there is little chance of policing such a list, and so no point in it being in the Class Rules. The meeting then agreed to the removal of the Paint List as an Appendix from the August 2012 draft Rules.
3) Cloth List :
After considerable debate round the table, and although many of the cloths on the list were no longer made, the meeting decided to keep the March 2010 List in force, and to mission the Technical Committee for defining technical and mechanical specifications to be send to producers in order to get fit for purpose, and long lasting cloths.
4) Submission process :
The Technical Committee were asked to prepare a clear protocol on how submitting changes of rules or even cloths, based on :
– What is the current situation (rule or cloth)
– Reason(s) for change
– Proposed new wording or new cloth
5) Constitution :
The draft have been circulated, and there is still further discussion needed to seek consensus. This item will be back on the agenda of July meeting, and the draft will be published on our website shortly.
These are the most urgent topics sailors are likely to wait for in order to prepare their 2013 season, and please note the Council agreed that long term stability is requested with class rules, while keeping the possibility to review the fabrics from the cloth list, ensuring value for money to the sailors.
Draft minutes of the meeting are currently going through WC members, and our Secretary General should be then able to issue these minutes next Monday. We will duly publish those accordingly.
Please be patient for a while… and watch ISAF website for official Class Rules publication.
Wishing you the best for 2013,
Merry Christmas,
Olivier Bovyn
Int. F18 Class Association President