The Minutes of the 2014 International Melges 24 Class Association World Council AGM Published
The following is a short summary of the 2014 International Melges 24 Class Association World Council Annual General Meeting which was held on December 6 in Milan, Italy. You can read more from the Minutes of the AGM.
National Class Reports - were introduced by the Class Administrators who were present and the rest can be read in the Minutes.
Budget 2015 - it was voted in favour of increasing full membership fee by 10 Euros (from 85 to 95), increasing Sail Royalty’s price by 10 Euros (from 75 to 85) and implementing a voluntary fee of 10 Euros for those Associate members participating at the international regattas. See more in the Minutes.
Marketing and Communications – it was emphasized that spend minutes and engagement numbers in social media platforms have been growing steadily and there’s a highly growing interest in YouTube video footages as minutes watched in total have been growing 18% vs 2013, therefore we are inviting to share your sailing videos as much as possible to response to this interest!
Election of Officers – Jens Wathne (NOR) was elected to stand in to post of the Chairman. AGM was thanking Riccardo Simoneschi for the exceptional years what the class have had with him as a Chairman. A special trophy was awarded to Riccardo to thank him for all those 8 years (2006-2014) with the class.
Rob Britts (USA) was elected to stand in to post of the Vice Chairman.
Duncan Stamper (CAN) was elected to stand in to post of the Member North America.
Michael Good (SUI) was elected to stand in to post of the Member Europe.
Tomi Hakola (FIN) will stand for another year in the office as the Secretary/Treasurer.
National Class Association Submissions - Several revisions to the Championship Regatta Rules and Regulations were also discussed and the group of people leaded by Arto Kiiski (FIN) were nominated to revise the whole documents. USMCA’s proposal to abolish an existing Class Rule C.2.2. WEIGHTS was rejected.
Technical Committee report was presented by Peter Göckel and all in all a conclusion from the Tech Comm meeting was that 2013 Class Rule change was successful and the class was happy with the shortened stanchions.
Rule Changes – Fittings Rule Change/Regulation from the Technical Committee was discussed and it was emphasized that the class has struggled with rudder fittings and gudgeons delivery problems for the years already and those delivered the sailors have the quality problems. Approved Rule Change will allow the custom made rudder fittings made based on the official drawings launched by Atomic Ski (AUT). To conclude it was highlighted that this rule will exclude some materials from using on boat and having this rule we’ll put the boats already using titanium into legal position. The new rule wording and the drawings can be found in the Rule Changes section of the Minutes.
Future Events & Current Situation
Worlds 2015 in Middelfart, Denmark - Soren Laugensen updated the meeting on the progress with this event. Currently 70 teams have been registered and at least 100 boats are expected. Hank Stuart will be the PRO of the event and since December 2014, the NOR is available on the event website.
North Americans 2015 & Worlds 2016, USA - Rob Britts updated the meeting on the progress with these events and will report back to IMCA for a final decision no later than the end of December 2014 such that the necessary preparations can begin.
Europeans 2016 – Hyeres, France was confirmed as the venue, the exact dates to be finalized by the Executive Committee in consultation with the international sailing calendar and the schedules of the other Melges classes.
Worlds 2017 – Helsinki, Finland won the bid competing with Italy. The exact dates of the event will be from July 28 until August 4, 2017 and the hosting club is HSK (Helsingfors Segelklubb).
2018 Europeans, 2018 Worlds USA & 2019 Worlds EU - shall be decided in next year´s AGM. IMCA is asking all national classes to be active in getting bids for the 2018-2019 major championships. Bid deadline is the end of August 2015 and to be sent to IMCA central office.
USA/CAN/Asia Pacific Events 2015
US Gorge Nationals 2015, Cascade Locks, OR, August 7-9 and DIYC Series leading up to Worlds in 2016
Canadian Nationals 2015, Windsor Yacht Club – July 10-12
Australian Championships 2015, January 8-11
The events for the European, North American and Australian Sailing Series were also reviewed. Details of all can be found in the Events sections of the Minutes.
Thanks go to all the delegates who attended the meeting for volunteering their valuable free time and for their commitment to ensuring the future success of the Melges 24 Class.