US Report On Yngling Match Racing

by US ISAF Deligate Charles Cook on 17 Nov 2000 Following are excerpts from Charlie Cook's reports posted on US Sailing's website
concerning the just concluded the ISAF Annual Conference in Edinburgh, Scotland.

The decision is now final - the women's event will be conducted in Ynglings with a crew of
three. Although the class has no weight limit, one will likely apply at the Olympics. That
decision will be taken later. The format will be fleet racing. The US SAILING Delegation and the
US Olympic Sailing Committee have received countless emails about the decision to adopt
fleet racing for the women's keelboat event.

As mentioned in earlier emails, there are several concerns about match racing. First, the IOC
charter requires that an event be competed in 35 countries. A sailor on the ranking list does
not establish that match racing is competed in her country. It simply means that she may have
traveled to another country to compete in a graded match race event. His Majesty King
Constantine summarized the concern - relying on numbers that can't be completed supported
risked losing the event. A number of members of Council also expressed concern that match
racing at the highest levels is very exclusive.

It is hard to gain an invite to a Grade 1 event. On the other hand, any sailor can gain access to
a high level fleet race event.

US SAILING supported match racing. Its representatives spoke in favor of match racing at all of
the relevant committee meetings and to the Council. We had hoped that the rapid growth in
this discipline would justify the match racing format. Nevertheless, a decision has been taken.
The US Olympic Sailing Committee's challenge will now be to bring home some medals.

The Advertising Code has been adopted, and no more changes will be effective until January 1,
2003. Unless classes or event organisers decide otherwise, the 'default' will be Category A.
Permitted advertising under Category A is much as it is under the current Appendix G in the
RRS. The only significant difference is that advertising on clothing may not be restricted.

If a class permits advertising beyond Category A, an event organizer will have limited
opportunities to restrict advertising. It is critical that classes, event organizers and PHRF fleets
look at the code NOW, not at the beginning of the season. A copy of the full text of the code
will be available shortly on ISAF's website (www.sailing.org).

US SAILING will post on its website (www.ussailing.org) information on various options
available to classes, event organizers, PHRF fleets and sailors. SAILING WORLD will also
publish information in the next issue.

A Competitors Classification Code with many similarities to US SAILING's Prescription
(Appendix R) also passed. For a period of two years, the ISAF code will be voluntary. After that
trial period, it is expected that the final code will become mandatory for any ISAF class, and
the organizer of any international event, wishing to classify competitors.

US SAILING will be able to maintain its Appendix R for racing in the US (but international
classes such as the Mumm 30 may have to drop their use of Appendix R in favor of the ISAF
code). It is recommended that any class or event organizer try the ISAF code (perhaps in
parallel with Appendix R) during this trial period.

Last, but not least, Council have adopted many changes to the RRS (Racing Rules of Sailing).
Bill Bentsen and Dick Rose, our representatives on the ISAF Racing Rules Committee have
worked very hard for the past 4 years on changes to the RRS. US SAILING will publish the
rules in the Spring 2001.
The changes will also likely be posted on ISAF's website (www.sailing.org). There are very few
'game changes.' Event organizers should be aware that the rules regarding scoring, tie
breaking and starting procedures have changed.