
EUROSAF congratulates World Sailing new Board members
November 4, 2020
Season´s Greetings
December 18, 2020President’s 20th Letter – 01/12/2020

Dear friends,
Looking back at the almost expended year, we all come to realize how deeply the unexpected has disrupted our lives and our sport. At the Executive Board of EUROSAF we feel fortunate to have been able to hold, after the first wave of the pandemic in March, two EUROSAF Events out of seven scheduled, plus an online regatta and an online General Assembly. A big thank-you to intent organizing authorities, to a committed class, and to resolute sailors!
Looking ahead to the incoming year, with the second wave of the pandemic starting to subside, we feel a surge of willingness and determination among the sailing community, as if to over-compensate for the sailing opportunities lost in 2020. All 2021 EUROSAF Events have arisen widespread interest and all but one have at least one bidder. We are expanding our collaboration with classes. We will launch the bidding process for 2022 and 2023 EUROSAF Events this December—please come forward! And we look forward to expanding EUROSAF Circuits to encompass further classes and disciplines, as circuits have proven a fruitful way to provide more value to sailors, to foster collaboration between organizing authorities, and to increase participation.
At the same time, we also feel among the sailing community an expectation for more respect, more constructive spirit, and more friendly discussion to help collectively overcome the crucial challenges our sport is facing in so many areas. EUROSAF strives to be such a forum, assuredly not the only one!
While heading into unchartered waters regarding the permanent effects of the pandemic on our lives and our sport, and with the looming danger of a third incoming wave after—and because—the Season’s holidays, it falls upon all of us to define what the nondescript “new normal” will be. Let’s come together to build it as a tribute to our wonderful sport and to all people involved; let’s make it welcoming and inclusive, nurturing those already engaged and attracting new talent, expanding its reach and enhancing its positive impact on people’s lives.
If pandemics come in waves, aren’t we sailors among the most adept at riding them and at making the most out of them?
I wish you, your families, and your sailors good health and high spirits, without moderation.
Best regards,
Josep M. PLA
President
EUROSAF