IMCO - International Mistral Class Organization

As only 2 members of the MJOD Committee were attending this meeting, the AGM was declared to be an informal meeting. It was stated to continue with a discussion on the different points of the agenda including taking votes on the important questions.

Minutes would be taken of the decisions of the meeting and circulated to national class associations and committee members so that they can vote by e-mail to ratify the meeting's decisions as those of the 2004 MJOD Annual General meeting.

2) Minutes of the last AGM

The minutes of the previous meeting were taken as read and approved.

3) Reports by

The IWA Representative

Peter Krimbacher presented a short summary of the achievements of the joint administration of the classes using the IWA office and other support services.

In 2004 3 European tours (FW Racing, Slalom& Freestyle) and 2 grand Prix Tours (FW Racing & Slalom) have been organized.

IWA has been working and pushing hard to integrate the slalom, wave, freestyle and speed rules into one set of competition rules for windsurfing which will also include only one set of racing rules. These were accepted by the ISAF Council at their mid-year meeting in June 2004 and will now be included in the 2005>2008 RRS.

IWA is continuing in developing racing all over the world, helping small countries to join the different Race Tours and set up structures for regional racing.

All class income goes into a single IWA current account. The Classes are scheduled to break even for 2004. Because of bigger fleets than expected, especially at all the IMCO, MJOD and FW Events, the budgeted revenue of IWA for 2004 will be exceeded.

4) Report about the ISAF-Windsurfing Evaluation Event in Torbole, decisions and the actual developments

The evaluation event in Torbole was a success in terms of the number of brands and concepts participating with new 'hybrid' boards. However, the criteria established by ISAF required these to be 'production' versions and not the prototypes, which were presented. This caused some disappointment among senior ISAF officials who may not be as familiar as we are with the new board development procedures currently practiced in the industry.

Eleven boards were trialed - from long boards to formula boards. The working party found most innovation in the middle area - the hybrid - where they evaluated four prototypes. For these boards, the designers were working to combine the best of both worlds, working to combine the light wind performance of the long boards and the planing capabilities of the formula boards.

The evaluation panel also considered the key goals for Olympic windsurfing and came up with approx. 20 criteria, of which these seven are crucial:

1. That the racing windsurfer had appeal to the sailor and could re-establish the Olympic windsurfing regatta as the pinnacle event for windsurfers.

2. To make sure that it is not the choice of Olympic equipment that is holding back the evolution of windsurfing racing

3. To make sure that the Olympic windsurfing equipment remains state of the art.

4. To make sure that the choice is a good board to race in all conditions and in particular, a good board for the regatta in QuingDao.

5. To make sure that the board has a media visual appeal for the sailor and for the spectator.

6. To make sure the board is available around the world

7. To make sure that the board is not over-expensive, so it can be part of every emerging nation's Olympic campaign.

The evaluation working party undertook extensive trials with the long board and, as a result, do not believe that the existing technology meets the needs or the desires of windsurfer racing any longer. The evaluation working party believes that if ISAF continues with the long board, windsurfer racing will continue to decline and disappear.

The evaluation working party also considered the formula boards and found that in light to medium airs the formula boards could not supply satisfactory racing. The conditions in QuingDao will amplify this.

Moreover, the evaluation working party were very impressed by the capabilities of the hybrid boards which were marginally slower than the long boards, up wind in light weather but performance was still satisfactory. The hybrid boards were marginally slower than the formula boards off wind in strong winds but again they performed satisfactorily and above all, they really excited the sailors. Unfortunately, the evaluation working party were not assured that the demonstrated hybrid boards were prototypes and therefore want to send a clear signal to the industry that if ISAF is going to continue with windsurfing in the Olympic Regatta, there needs to be clear proof of the hybrid board technology.

The ISAF Mid Year Meeting in June 2004 made the following decisions

a) That the boards selected for future Olympic regattas will be manufactured to a 'box rule'. This will allow developments in technology between subsequent Olympic regattas;

b) That a 3^rd trial for 'hybrid boards' only should be held in September in the UK. By this time, brands must be able to prove that the 'protos' presented in Torbole are ready for manufacture so that the selected version can be rolled out quickly in 2005 to all MNAs round the world.

c) ISAF will confirm the rule that will define the hybrid board for the 2008 Olympic regatta.

5) Class Rules Change

The name of the class has to be changed from MJOD to International windsurfing Junior One Design, as Mistral (B&M) has sold the whole board-production to Cobra in Thailand. Although the production of the MOD is guaranteed for the next 3 years, the board can be sold from Cobra to different brands as a 'white board'. Additional the 'white board' concept was explained again.

The votes for this change was unanimous.

6) Championship Sites

One bid for the Youth and Junior Worlds 2005 has been put forward by Sopot. As organizers of the European Championship 2004 Sopot is well known and approved. Racing conditions, Race management, facilities on shore like beach, storage, accommodation and restaurant is one of the best available worldwide.

Another bid from Paros has been lodged, but could not be approved by RR so far. Concerns about too heavy wind conditions where noticed.

It was stated, that the bid from Sopot should be favoured, except that the conditions at Paros could be proved to be comparable including easy and cheap travel arrangements.

For future events the question of easy and cheap travel arrangements has been noted as a very important one.

7) Any Other Business

The importance to organize international training camps has been stated by many class members. Especially if the Worlds are held in Europe, the organization of a big Youth Training Camp between December and April should be favoured against having European Youth Championships.

The Class should try to force the involved manufactures in guaranteeing the availability of equipment including spare parts.