EUROSAF - President's 7th Letter

Dear friends,

Following the past General Assembly, the Executive Board has set its views on the year ahead. Here is a summary of what happened and what to expect.

2018 Ordinary General Assembly

The Ordinary General Assembly was held with great success in Limassol, thanks to the wonderful hospitality and streamlined organisation bestowed on all participants by the Cyprus Yachting Association and to the rich input from all participants, especially those who presented new projects for EUROSAF to increase its activity.

28 Members were present or represented and more than 40 people attended the meeting. In the morning the president and the Executive Board gave their report. Their main message was that the Executive Board had achieved all short-term goals set last year as Key Priorities and made some advances towards long-term goals. The Secretariat was put in place; a new website was developed and the collaboration tool upgraded; communication with Members was enhanced; six Committees and a Working Party were established and had been working in liaison with the Executive Board; the process of revision of the Constitution was carried out; the Race Officials Exchange Programme was strengthened; current events were consolidated; and a good relationship with World Sailing is developing.

The treasurer presented the 2017 accounts and the 2018 budget, which where unanimously approved. Miroslav Bjelajac (CRO) joined Maja Leśny (POL) as auditor for two years. The membership fees remained unchanged; a Working Party will be created to review the structure and amount of the membership fees and make recommendations for the next OGA. The secretary general gave his report. A detailed presentation of the 2019 OGA in Istanbul was delivered and the date was unanimously changed to 13 April. The 2020 GA will convene in Zagreb (Croatia), date to be decided in Istanbul next year. From the 97 proposals of amendment to the Constitution, 87 were examined and decided upon and 10 were deferred to the next OGA. By late morning and in the afternoon, EUROSAF Committee chairs and guest speakers took the floor and made the following presentations:

Comments on the Situation of Sailing, by Kim Andersen (DEN), World Sailing president.
Youth and Development projects, by Alexandru Micu (ROU), Youth & Development Committee chair.
Optimist On Tour project, by the Royal Dutch Watersports Federation (NED).
Proposals of a Para Sailing Development Programme and a Youth Exchange programme, by Nicolas Hénard (FRA), president of the French Sailing Federation.
Participation in Watersports, a British Marine study, by Charles Glover (GBR).
College Placement Programme from the International Junior Sailing Academy, by Luca Devoti (ITA).
Exclusivity and its Boundaries in Sports Law, by Thomas Wallentin (AUT).
European Sailing Academy Working Party projects, by Vincent Hagin (SUI), European Sailing Academy Working Party chair.
Race Officials developments, by Nino Shmueli (ISR), Race Officials Committee chair.
Youth Team Racing in Garda, by Walter Cavallucci (ITA), Contact & Cooperation Committee vice-chair.
Good Governance plan of action, by Mar Castanedo (ESP) and Josep M. Pla (AND), EUROSAF vice-president and president, respectively.
Events Committee proposals, by Georg Fundak (AUT), Events Committee chair.

Many rounds of applause were held during the meeting, showing attendees’ appreciation for the contributions and proposals. My personal thanks go to the Cyprus Sailing Federation for its wonderful hospitality and perfect organisation, to Kim Andersen for sharing with us his vision on the future of sailing, to all speakers for their effort to bring promising projects and insights to the meeting, and to MNA delegates for their keen support for the projects.

All documents, including the minutes and the presentations, are available at General Assembly 2018.

Take the time to delve into the projects presented and get involved, either by taking part yourself, by contributing ideas and resources, or by sending participants.
And if you did not attend and still want to get your EUROSAF pin, generously offered by honorary president Geörgy Wossala, mark the 2019 OGA dates in your agenda.

2019 Ordinary General Assembly

At the end of the General Assembly the widespread comment was the meeting had been too short, both to accommodate all presentations and the ensuing discussion, and to network between attendees. The prevalent view was that, once the effort and cost of attending the meeting had been taken in, the marginal cost of spending one more day was very small and well worth the benefit. The Executive Board shall investigate the opportunity to add a day to the next Ordinary General Assembly, therefore starting on Friday and following on Saturday, thus enabling the Committees to meet, the proposals to be thoroughly discussed, and the delegates to have more opportunities to network and exchange.

Key Priorities v.2

As all short-term goals have been attained, the Executive Board has established a new set of Key Priorities. It expands those formulated last year and includes new short-term goals, in most cases by targeting previous long-term goals. Check it out at Key Priorities v.2.

The short-term goals are as follows:

Consolidate the Secretariat
Update and expand the website and grow social media presence
Maintain good communication with Members
Consolidate Committees
Further develop the Race Officials Exchange Programme
Broaden Race Officials Training
Consolidate current events
Launch Youth & Development projects
Step up actions in Para Sailing
Aim for the European Sailing Academy
Nurture a good relationship with World Sailing
Strengthen EUROSAF finances
Apply good governance principles in line with IOC recommendations

2018 Events

As a reminder, the following EUROSAF events are scheduled for 2018:

EUROSAF Para Sailing European Championships in Kiel (Germany), from 16 to 24 June, with the stated goal to contribute to World Sailing’s Parasailing Strategic Plan and to the re-introduction of Para Sailing into the Paralympic Sports Programme for 2024 and beyond.
EUROSAF Club Sailing Championship in Pylos (Greece), from 17 to 21 July.
EUROSAF Match Racing, European Open Championship in Tallin (Estonia), from 8 to 12 August.
EUROSAF Match Racing, European Youth Championship in Šibenik (Croatia) from 6 to 9 September.
EUROSAF European U23 Team Race Championship and Team Race Clinic for athletes, coaches, and umpires will take place in Campione del Garda (Italy) from 4 to 7 October.

More information at EUROSAF Activities. Prepare your teams for attendance!

We have now set a course for the upcoming year, until we meet in Istanbul. Again, contribute as much as you can in favour of your sailors, coaches, and race officials, and in favour of sailing.

Best regards,

Josep M. PLA

President

EUROSAF