Please select your home edition
Edition
GJW Direct 2024 Dinghy

World Sailing Presidential Newsletter: November 2019

by Kim Andersen, President World Sailing 6 Dec 2019 16:43 GMT
World Sailing © World Sailing

Interim management of World Sailing

With the departure of our CEO Andy Hunt, whose last day of work will be December 9th, we began to plan the interim period. Numerous scenarios were discussed, and the Senior Management Team (SMT) decided on an interim management structure where they will be directly responsible to the Board for the delivery of their departments' objectives.

The SMT will continue to meet regularly to manage the operations of the Executive Office, and the Board has agreed on regular reporting arrangements for the Executive Office to ensure direct communication. Given this structure is in place, the Board has decided not to appoint an interim CEO until a permanent appointment is made.

I would like to thank the employees of World Sailing for their hard work in delivering a successful Annual Conference and for stepping up during this interim period. The Board is in the process of initiating a search for the CEO position, and this process will be finalised in the coming weeks.

Chinese AGM Conference

It is interesting to follow the impressive growth of the Chinese Yachting Association which, in sailing terms, is still a relatively young federation. They have demonstrated a broad, strong development across all the many disciplines of our sport, - from family programmes to windsurf, skiff and other high-performance programmes.

The Chinese Yachting Association are promoting engagement, participation and technical high performance programmes, while at the same time building the infrastructure, implementing the facilities and planning the future of our great sport, which is certainly impressive.

Their Awards night showed their development across many disciplines through a great depth of candidates. Not many countries have an Ocean Race winner, a podium team in the SailGP and top-ten finishers in Olympic classes! I had the opportunity to talk with the Minister of Sport; his enthusiasm for our sport was genuine and he is pleased with its progression.

German AGM Conference

The roots of the German Sailing Federation go back to 1888 - today it has approximately 1,300 member clubs and is rated as one of the top 20 elite sports federations in Germany. During the last 12 months, they have been working on a new structure to mirror the development in society and to address the challenges, with a special focus on youth attraction, development and reducing dropout, as well as revitalising the participation part of our sport.

Yacht Racing Forum

The opening keynote speaker was Stan Honey, who discussed "The Present and Future of Yacht Racing."

With changes in sailing moving quicker than ever, this could be difficult, but Stan had some clear trends in mind. These included the adaptation of foiling technology and how we will see new records and new ways of "traveling" within our sport as well as the power of technology continuing to make our sport understandable and engaging with weather predictions to electronic umpiring and broadcasting techniques. The delegates at the Forum conducted a poll on the new Mixed Two Person Offshore Keelboat event with 89% welcoming its introduction and noted that there will continue to be an increase in opportunities via the new Olympic event.

Interestingly, years ago, the technical forum discussed and predicted the future of foiling in sailing, but they were highly uncertain regarding stability. Once again the real-life scenario has gone beyond our imaginations!

Other major topics at the Yacht Racing Forum centered around participation, how to welcome more women into our sport and actively improve gender balance, engage youth sailors and how to promote our sport and sailors in a better way.

New era of live sailing coverage at 2019 Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra17 World Championships

When you read this newsletter, the World Championships will already be under way in New Zealand. It's great to see that new ways/platforms are making top sailing events available for sailors and showcasing the sport to a new audience.

The combined class organisation for the three classes will have live streaming available using the SidelineApp and will provide a worldwide audience with access to live and on-demand coverage from the Hauraki Gulf race course. Advances in technology has made broadcasting in sailing more affordable than ever. Using 4G has made it possible to provide reliable streams across the globe, showcasing the sport in the best possible way. The World Championships will be of huge importance for the sailors and nations competing, preparing for the Olympics with some nations still aiming for qualification. The Royal Akarana Yacht Club is hosting the 206 teams competing from 41 nations comprising 412 athletes.

Here's how you can follow the 2019 Hyundai 49er, 49erFX and Nacra17 World Championships:

Related Articles

World Sailing announces split venues for LA28
The boards will be at Long Beach, with the dinghy events at the Port World Sailing has said it welcomes the confirmation of sailing venues for the Olympic Games LA28 the boards will be at Long Beach, with the dinghy events at the Port. Posted on 30 Jun
World Sailing launches the World Sailing Academy
A new online learning platform for the global sailing community World Sailing officially launched the World Sailing Academy, an innovative new online learning platform designed to provide comprehensive educational resources and training to sailors, coaches, officials, administrators, and the global sailing community. Posted on 17 Jun
Summer Youth Olympic Games equipment confirmed
Dakar 2026 will feature 2 sailing events in the Techno293 World Sailing is pleased to announce the selection of Techno293 as the equipment used in competition at the upcoming Summer Youth Olympic Games Dakar 2026, being held from 31 October to 13 November 2026. Posted on 29 May
Steering the Course kicks off to #AccelerateAction
World Sailing's global women's sailing festival gets under way soon The 2025 edition of Steering the Course, World Sailing's global women's sailing festival, gets under way on 23 May with a week-long focus on #AccelerateAction in support of this year's International Women's Day theme. Posted on 22 May
NYYC hosts 2025 World Sailing Mid-Year Meeting
Board conducted a series of productive strategic meetings The gathering brought the World Sailing Board and Council together in person at the Club's historic 44th Street Clubhouse in Manhattan—an iconic venue designed by Whitney Warren, renowned architect of Grand Central Station. Posted on 19 May
World Sailing Inclusion Championships preview
Event will bring together an expected 215 sailors from around the world, to Oman The Sultanate of Oman has been chosen to host the first edition of the new World Sailing Inclusion Championships. Posted on 14 May
World Sailing Annual Conference & Awards preview
This will be the second time the town has hosted a World Sailing Annual Conference. The coastal destination of Dún Laoghaire has been chosen to host the 2025 World Sailing Annual Conference and World Sailing Awards from 3-8 November 2025, bringing together over 400 international delegates. Posted on 9 May
Hannah Mills OBE to share carbon footprint success
At World Sailing Sustainability Session Great Britain's most successful female Olympic sailor and strategist for Emirates GBR SailGP Team, Hannah Mills OBE, will headline as guest speaker at World Sailing's upcoming Sustainability Session on renewable energy in the sport. Posted on 8 May
World Sailing welcomes LA28 athlete quota
The Int. Olympic Committee's has announced the of athlete Quotas, Sports and Events for LA28 World Sailing has welcomed the International Olympic Committee's announcement of athlete quotas, sports and events for the 2028 Olympics, due to be held in Los Angeles. Posted on 10 Apr
World Sailing Race Officials Training programme
Available to Member National Authorities to apply for on an annual basis World Sailing is proud to announce the launch of a new education programme for Race Officials. Posted on 1 Apr