2005 IMCA World Council AGM Report

The 2005 IMCA World Council AGM took place at Hyeres, France on Friday October 28th. Eleven Class and Builder representatives attended the meeting where all aspects of class management were discussed. Full minutes of the meeting will be available shortly. Below is a summary of the key items covered during the meeting:

Class Reports – each national class representative presented a summary of their national class’s current position and an overview of how they anticipate the class developing over the coming 12 months.

Class Membership Fees – Karen Gottwald of the US Class raised the question of membership fee levels and asked that the issue of increasing membership take up and income without necessarily increasing individual membership fees be discussed. IMCA Treasurer Quentin Strauss agreed that it was an opportune moment to review both the application of existing class rules regarding membership and the system by which membership fees are collected. Henri Samuel pointed out that it is the responsibility of individual competitors to protest if they are aware of boats competing at Melges 24 events without paying their membership dues. The meeting agreed that the Executive Committee will review this matter and present proposals for consideration to the 2006 AGM.

Financial Report – Treasurer Quentin Strauss presented the Financial Report. He confirmed that the IMCA finances are currently in good shape but that careful management will be necessary to keep control of finances. Denis Infant of France asked if an increase in fees paid to the IMCA was necessary and Quentin advised that he felt the current fee was set at about the right level. IMCA Chairman Henri Samuel advised that the organisers of the Hyeres Worlds had agreed that Euro 75 of each entry fee paid will go to the Melges 24 Class and asked the Executive Committee to consider how this income should be distributed between the IMCA and the French Class. The Financial Report and Budget for 2006 were both accepted unanimously.

Marketing & Communications Report - Fiona Brown presented a brief report on class marketing and communications. 2005 saw the introduction of the monthly e-newsletter which has been hugely beneficial. The appointment of national class press officers for the majority of classes has helped to considerably improve the level of coverage the Melges 24 receives at National level and take up of International stories continues to be good. Work on rebuilding www.melges24.com is no nearing completion and the new site will be launched during November. The 2006 edition of M24 magazine is currently being prepared and will be distributed in January.

Technical Report – Technical Advisor David Chivers advised that there had been no major technical problems in the past year. He is currently updating the list of class measurers.

The only technical subject that had required the committees attentions this year was the question of jib weight measurement. The recent changes in sail making technology mean that the existing class rule regarding jib weight calculation are outdated and it is no longer possible to correctly measure jib weight without destruction testing. For this reason a rule change is proposed to adjust the measurement technical to make it more practical to apply (there will be no change to the actual jib rules, just to the method used for measurement and no existing sails will be affected by the proposed change).

David also advised that ISFA is undertaking a review of the issues surrounding crew weight. No action is necessary by the IMCA at this time but he will continue to monitor ISAF’s progress on this subject.

David reported to the meeting that the new Regatta Regulations documents are now almost complete and will be published shortly.

The question of on the water judging was discussed. It was agreed that the selection of correctly experienced jury members is vital to the success of on the water judging. Franco Maria Rao reported that the Italian class has been very successful in introducing on the water judging at Volvo Cup events and this is helping to increase the number of opportunities jurors have to gain experience. Henri Samuel commented that the introduction of the “U Flag” rule, which allows judges to indicate that although they are aware of an on the water incident they did not see enough to make a call and will expect to see a protest lodged by the competitors after racing had caused some confusion. David agreed that this should be given greater emphasis at skipper briefings.

Franco Maria Rao asked that all classes emphasise the importance of enforcing the Class Rules and regularly check measuring boats at events. He asked if the IMCA could fund the Chief Measurer’s attendance at National events. Quentin Strauss responded that the IMCA was not able to fund the Chief Measurer’s attendance at anything other than World and Continental Championships but that National Classes could request his attendance at their own expense.

Builder Reports - Written reports were received from Melges Performance Sailboats and Southern Spars and Karel Samsula attended the meeting on behalf of Devoti Sailing.

Election of Officers- Quentin Struass was re-elected as IMCA Treasurer for a further 12 month period. He advised the meeting that he would not be able to continue as Treasure beyond this period and that a replacement should be sought.

Gunter Tzeschlock was re-elected as IMCA Secretary for a further 3 years.

Fiona Brown advised the meeting that a number of officers will have completed their maximum term of office at the 2006 AGM and the question of continuity should be addressed. Karen Gottwald suggested that the Constitution could be amended to allow outgoing IMCA Officers to continue serving the IMCA as co-opted/non-voting members. It was agreed that the Executive Committee should develop proposals for consideration at the 2006 AGM.

Rule Changes - Rule Changes regarding the following items were agreed at the AGM. Full details and the exact wording of the changes will be published later this year once they have been ratified by ISAF.

1. The rules concerning engine horse power and weight will be revised to allow 2hp 4 stroke outboards to be used. This is necessary as laws banning 2 stroke outboards have been introduced in some countries/regions.

2. The rules concerning use of rigging, stanchions, etc, to assist roll tacking will be tightened up and clarified to make application easier.

3. The rules governing jib weight will be revised to an all up weight excluding battens of 4kg. All known existing jibs measure under this revised rule which is introduced to enable measurement of modern jibs without the need for destruction testing.

Forthcoming Events - Proposals were received for the 2007 European Championship from the Italian & German Classes and for the 2008 World Championship from the Italian, Finnish and UK Classes. Following discussion the Italian Class proposal to host the 2008 World Championship in Sardinia, Italy under the auspices of the Yacht Club Costa Smerelda was accepted. Neither of the proposals submitted for the 2007 Europeans was felt to meet the requirements and the meeting agreed that an alternative venue in northern mainland Europe or Southern Scandinavia should be south. Gunter Tzeschlock and Tomi Hakola agreed to form a committee to identify a suitable venue and will submit proposals to the Executive Committee by the end of the year.

Next Meeting - It was agreed that the next IMCA World Council AGM will be held in association with the World Championship on Thursday 24th August 2006 at 6pm in Hyeres.