International Mistral Class Organisation

Minutes of the 2003 MOD Annual General Meeting

Mondello, Sicily, Italy

Saturday, May 10^th @ 1830hrs

1)      Validation of delegates in the room

2)      Minutes of the last AGM

The minutes of the 2002 Annual General Meeting were unanimously accepted by show of hands.

3)      Reports by

i) Chairman’s Report

The Mistral One Design fleets in the major regattas around the world are remaining stable in terms of size. Palma was the last major qualifying regatta prior to the 2003 Europeans and many competitors will be leaving here to take part in Spa.

ii) Continental Delegates;

a) South America

The South American Championship was staged in Buenos Aires at the end of February with a team from Chile taking part for the first time. At a meeting of delegates, it was agreed that efforts should be made to establish a Pan American Windsurfing Committee to co-ordinate activity and development efforts. If successful, this will mirror the one established in Asia. A follow up meeting with the President of the FAY was held to seek his support. He agreed that the proposal was a good idea and would do what he can to help.

b) Asia

The windsurf racing tour contains 6 events including the MACC. However, the ISAF allocation system for nations wishing to enter competitors in the 2003 Worlds has adversely affected entry numbers in the Mistral Asian Championship. The number of entries was down this year. The SARS virus is putting future events in jeopardy. The 2004 MACC will be held in Malaysia on the Southwest channel of Kuah from 8th-13th of February.

c) Oceania

Numbers competing are being maintained and there is generally a healthy level of activity. The continental championship was staged in New Zealand. It was noted that the event managers did not comply with IMCO Championship Rules. Future continental championships must comply with these, to maintain the integrity of the events.

d) North America

IMCO is a small class in this continent. The upcoming Pan Am Games includes Mistral Men and Mistral Women as two separate events. The Prodigy class has a 20 race series and is included in the US Junior Olympics.

iii) The IWA Representative

The IWA board met the industry at BOOT in Dusseldorf at the end of January and presented the first part of the independent research commissioned by the IWA into the industry’s reaction to the IWA white paper.

Key objectives have been established. These include the ISAF Evaluation Trials; Industry Membership; a submission to the ISAF proposing a new RRS Appendix B which is inclusive of all windsurfing disciplines; a global marketing strategy for the sport involving all stakeholders; a review of the production board registration and measurement procedures; and a rationalisation of the structure of competition windsurfing.

At the request of the ISAF Evaluation Trials Team, the IWA has established working groups to go give input on Technical issues, Marketing, and the proposed Olympic format, class rules, & structure.

A second IWA board meeting was held in Calais at the end of March to receive the final report from independent consultants on the industry view of the IWA White Paper. 78% by market share of the brands responded and the majority support the IWA paper. Notable exceptions include B&M who believe that One Design rather than tightly controlled measurement class is the way to go and Starboard who believe that each competitor should be allowed to choose equipment from a range registered with ISAF on an annual basis.

The 2003 Yearbook has now been distributed.

iv) Finances

B&M funding for IMCO now goes direct to the IWA on condition that the work involved in the Olympic process is unaffected. RR is directly employed by the IWA. All revenue now goes direct to the IWA.

The IMCO current account balance is £2834.86. The call account balance is £16,190.91

4)      New Class Rules for 2003

a) New class rules as approved by ISAF

The class has been working as closely as possible with ISAF to resolve the outstanding points in the 2003 Class Rules. These encompass a completely different philosophy to that enshrined in the rules up to now and so it will take time to get used to them.

However, we should identify key problems if any and resolve these with ISAF so that one set of rules can be implemented that apply to all boards. Bill Joselin will contact ISAF regarding…

i) the application of the 142cms dimension;

ii) The packing of the centerboard cassette;

iii) Clear definition of the hull  to be rubbed down and polished;

iv) The sanding of the fin

v) The weight specified in the class rules should include straps;

Hulls that comply with the class rules should be allowed to be raced at the world championship and be eligible to qualify nations for the Olympic Games.

b) To note the IMCO Championship Rules and their implications

As the new class rules only include rules that apply to equipment, those that have been long established and agreed such as the method of splitting the fleet into groups have now been incorporated into the Championship Rules together with standard paragraphs from our usual sailing instructions. The intention for 2004 is to enlarge the Championship Rules to include the whole of our standard sailing instructions. These will be included in the NoR for an event leaving the particular local details only to be included in the sailing instructions.

5) Election of Class Committee (2003 > 2005)

The following were unanimously elected as members of the class committee until the 2005 Annual General Meeting.

6) 2003 ISAF Windsurfing Evaluation Trials - Update

It was pointed out that ISAF are currently considering alternative proposals to those agreed by the Council last November. Essentially the ISAF Executive is proposing changes to the criteria and to the critical path established by the Evaluation Trials Working Party. The key change to the criteria is that instead of a “tightly restricted measurement class” the ISAF Executive would like to see a multi manufactured One Design. They have also proposed a “presentation” event in 2003 and put off the actual trial event until May 2004. Finally, they propose that ISAF staff manage the new Olympic Class.

After some discussion, it was agreed that the class should lobby hard to get the process back on track. RR must attend the ISAF Mid Year Meeting In Oslo and have face to face meetings with as many MNAs as possible so that they understand the issues at stake prior to the council meeting on May 25^th.

It was agreed unanimously that the current MOD should be at the trials as a board with a known performance, if only to compare that of other boards being evaluated.

7) Championship Sites

a) Report on the 2004 World Championship in Turkey

RR confirmed that he had visited the proposed venue for the world championships and reached final agreement with the Turkish Sailing Federation. The event will be based on the AltinYunus Resort Hotel, in Cesmi (Izmir peninsula) and take place from April 8^th > 18^th. Ilker Bayinder, the chief organiser, acted as an observer at the 2003 MEC and is familiar with the needs of the class.

b) Report on the 2004 European Championship in Poland

RR stated that he would visit the proposed site in Sopot Poland in June 2003 to finalise the arrangements for this event, which is scheduled to take place between June 2^nd and June 13^th 2004. No bids have been forthcoming from Holland.

8) Any Other Business

a) Entry to the Mistral Europeans

After some discussion, it was agreed by majority vote that the numbers of non-European entries should remain at the current level.

b) Additional place requests for the 2003 World Championship

The IMCO qualification system should be used to rank competitors put forward by MNAs requesting additional places at the 2003 Worlds.

c) Number of races per day.

Some concern was expressed that some Olympic class events are ignoring class recommendations on the number of races to be run each day. RR to distribute the IMCO championship rules to all such events drawing particular attention to scheduling.

Distribution:

National IMCOs

IMCO Executive Committee

ISAF

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