World Sailing Mid-Year Meeting to shape the future of Olympic sailing

by World Sailing 9 May 2018 05:59 BST 10-15 May 2018

London, Great Britain will host more than 200 international delegates from 10-15 May 2018 for World Sailing's 2018 Mid-Year Meeting.

Held at Chelsea Football Club, the Mid-Year Meeting will bring together World Sailing's Board of Directors, Events Committee and Equipment Committee ahead of two days of Council meetings.

Ahead of the Mid-Year Meeting, World Sailing received 62 submissions, alongside 12 deferred 2017 submissions, from Member National Authorities and Class Associations, proposing new World Sailing policies or changes to World Sailing's Regulations.

Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition Events

The Events for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition will be decided by World Sailing's Council at the Mid-Year Meeting. An Event is the name of the competition at the Olympic Games, for example, 'Mixed Two Person Multihull', and is not specific to a class or piece of equipment.

Following the 2017 Annual Conference, a 2024 Events & Equipment Working Party was formed to consider and make recommendations to the Events Committee on the 2024 sailing events. The Working Party conducted an extensive program of work to understand the issues relevant for sailing and the sports events programme in the Olympic Games. A full report of their work is here.

Ahead of the Mid-Year Meeting, World Sailing's Council approved an Events Committee recommendation to review the following Events:

• Men's Windsurfer
• Women's Windsurfer
• Men's One Person Dinghy Heavyweight
• Men's Two Person Dinghy
• Women's Two Person Dinghy

The review of the five Events has meant that the remaining five Events and their equipment remain unchanged for Paris 2024. These Events and equipment are:

• Men's One Person Dinghy – Laser
• Women's One Person Dinghy – Laser Radial
• Women's Skiff – 49erFX
• Men's Skiff – 49er
• Mixed Two Person Multihull – Nacra 17

World Sailing received 58 submissions that propose recommendations for the Events that are under review. Class Associations and Member National Authorities have put forward submissions that state whether the Events under review should be retained or if new Events should replace them.

These submissions will be discussed and debated at the Events Committee meeting. The Events Committee will then make a recommendation to World Sailing's Council.

World Sailing's Council comprises the President, seven Vice-Presidents, two Officers of Honour (non-voting), twenty-eight appointed members (representing each of the regional groups of sailing nations), and representatives of the Offshore Committee, Classes Committee, Athletes' Commission and a Women's Representative.

The Council will discuss and debate the Events for Paris 2024 further before voting on the final list of Events for Paris 2024.

Following the decision, the Equipment Committee will review the Equipment for the Events which are under review.

Equipment Review Process

As part of a separate equipment review process, World Sailing is reviewing the equipment used for the Men and Women's Windsurfer and the Men and Women's One Person Dinghy Events.

The purpose of a review is to ensure there is fair and open competition at regular intervals for the equipment for an Olympic Event. This ensures that sailors, Member National Authorities and Olympic teams are receiving a high-quality service and products from manufacturers at competitive prices.

The review process will allow the existing Olympic Equipment for the Event, along with any new Classes or manufacturers who wish to have their equipment included in the Olympic Games, to tender for inclusion.

The tender process will review all aspects of the equipment (including suitability for the Olympic Event and its competitors, prices, manufacturing, availability and supply around the world). This will ensure that manufacturers do not become complacent, remain price-competitive and produce high-quality equipment.

The procedures and criteria for the re-evaluation will be approved and published by World Sailing at the Mid-Year Meeting and the final outcome of the review will be decided in November 2018.

What else is on the agenda?

Alongside the discussions regarding Olympic events World Sailing will approve the proposed slate of events and formats for the 2024 Paralympic Games which World Sailing will submit to the International Paralympic Committee as part of the reinstatement process.

World Sailing announced the launch of Sustainability Agenda 2030 at the November 2017 Annual Conference and commenced an extensive consultation process. Following feedback from World Sailing stakeholders the final plan will be presented and approved.

Furthermore, World Sailing's Strategy for 2017-2020 and a new reporting system for safety will be reviewed and approved.

Further information on the Mid-Year meeting, including all Submissions, Agendas, Supporting Papers and schedule is available here.