President’s 10th Letter – 18/12/2018

Dear friends,

As the current is steadily pushing us towards the end of the year, we are making the most of the gusts that are lingering; we all know they will shortly wane to give way to the holiday season.

At the EUROSAF Executive Board we are still busy in favour of sailing in Europe. Here are some of the matters we are working on.

2019 ROEP Meeting

The next Race Officials Exchange Programme meeting will take place in Athens on January 12. ROEP delegates from all our Members are expected to attend the yearly meeting held under the generous invitation of the Hellenic Sailing Federation.

In addition to the usual pairing of events and race officials, this year’s meeting will include a presentation of the newly developed web-based tool and a discussion about further development of the programme. Both Executive Board liaison members with EUROSAF’s RO Committee, Tomasz Chamera, EUROSAF’s first vice-president, and Pınar Coşkuner Genç, EUROSAF’s vice-president, will attend the meeting to exchange with delegates.

Sailing Top Seminar

As the first fruit of EUROSAF’s collaboration with Politecnico di Torino, January 16 will see the first Sailing Top Seminar imparted at Città Studi in Biella (Italy). This high level technical seminar is part of the Second Level Specializing Master in Sports Engineering started this year by Politecnico di Torino.

Matters covered in the seminar will include:

• Foiling—a big change in the practice of sailing, by Dr Christian Finnsgård;
• Hot weather management in sailing—development of adapted gear, by Prof. Ada Ferri;
• Meteorology and weather analysis for sailors, by Prof. Alessandro Pezzoli;
• Sport performance analysis—SAP analytics for sailing, by Dr Marco Iazzetta;
• EUROSAF Winter Extension Seminar and Tutoring (ESA - WEST), by Josep M. Pla.

On January 17 a visit to the climatic chamber and textile laboratory in Biella with a test demonstration will be organised by Prof. Ada Ferri. Registration is open to all who have an interest in sailing technology and is free. Attendance certificates will be delivered to participants. To register, contact Politecnico di Torino at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or EUROSAF’s This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. Politecnico di Torino is considering the possibility to stream the seminar; information will be available on EUROSAF’s website.

EUROSAF 420 Circuit

EUROSAF and the International 420 Class Association have set up the EUROSAF 420 Circuit, a circuit of regattas within Europe to foster and promote two-person dinghy sailing.

The 2018/2019 circuit will comprise six events across Europe starting with the 2018 Imperia Winter Regatta in Italy, held this December, and ending with the 2019 Kiel Week in Germany next June.

EUROSAF will award medals to the top placed Boys/Mixed U19, Girls U19 and Open U17 teams across the six events. The best boys’ and girls’ teams under 19 and the best team under 17 will be eligible for an extra starting place (over the quotas for their nation) at the 2019 420 Junior European Championship in Vilagarcia de Arousa, north-western Spain, 23-30 July 2019, with the entry fee waived.

This circuit is a great opportunity for young sailors from all over Europe to meet, exchange, and compete at an international level. By traveling further afield than their home waters they will discover new regattas and new fellow sailors and enhance their experience. By being consistent in their results they will have a European recognition within their reach. In addition, we expect the selected regattas to see an increase in participation, especially from other parts of Europe.

EUROSAF Office in Austria

On November 24 and 25 the Executive Board held a meeting in Neusiedl-am-See, where the EUROSAF Office is located thanks to the generous help from the Austrian Sailing Federation and the Austrian Ministry of Sports. The meeting followed the official reopening of the Austrian Sailing Federation premises after extensive renovation and expansion.

The ceremony gave Executive Board members the opportunity to fondly thank, among many important contributors to EUROSAF, Austrian EUROSAF Committee members Georg Fundak, Matthias Schmid, and Anastasia Weinberger; the President, Herbert Houf; and the Vice-Chancellor and Minister of Sports, Heinz-Christian Strache. It also gave EUROSAF the opportunity to share the core values of sailing with a devoted audience and to present some EUROSAF projects to Austrian Sailing Clubs’ representatives.

2019 EUROSAF Events

Allow me to insist on EUROSAF Events for next year:

Contribute! Confirm your teams’ attendance and bid for 2020 events (except the AGM and the Open Match Race Championship, which are already awarded—think 2021).

At the Executive Board we have also been working on other projects and proposals that are still being finalised. From now to the next AGM in Istanbul—book the dates, Friday to Sunday as last year delegates asked for—you will read about them.

I wish you and your family a wonderful holiday season. May your sailing dreams come true!

Joyful regards,

Josep M. Pla
President
EUROSAF