World Sailing Strategizes

On the heels of its London meeting blunder, that brought up « mixed single handed dinghy » to the 2024 Olympics (nobody knows what it means yet), World Sailing is coming up with a strategy for 2018-2022.

The strategy is four-pronged: a) Inspiration and Participation b) Membership and Governance c) Sport Integrity d) Leadership in sport.

These are all aspects of the sport that it would be hard to disagree with.  Each so called pillar provides implementation strategies.

According to reporting by Sailing Illustrated, a key topic of informal conversations at the recent World Sailing meeting in London was the financial issues faced by World Sailing, which is expected to run out of funds in 2019, unless borrowing against future revenues.

See Sailing Illustrated interview with Paul Henderson, former President of IYRU, the predecessor of World Sailing, which discusses the financial situation of World Sailing, including the costly and highly questionable move of its headquarters to London.

https://www.facebook.com/SailingIllustratedBlog/videos/543667229367453/

One of the first comments online, as a reaction to the report, was by Chris Thompson from Australia.  « So the first goal includes "participation" - and yet WS choose to head that document with pictures of TP52s and big foiling cats, two types of craft that the average sailor will never be able to participate on. »

Source: https://www.sail-world.com/news/205637/World-Sailing-release-five-year-strategy

Interestingly also, the report features a large picture of a female 470 dinghy - which World Sailing just dropped from the Olympics for 2024!  (ok one spot for a female sailor will be left in the mixed 470).

The report does not offer any strategy to address the financial situation of World Sailing, which would require focussing on its core functions and substantially reducing expenditures.

See the media release below.

See the strategy at this link.

http://sailing.org/tools/documents/WorldSailingStrategy20182022Finalcompressed-[24039].pdf


MEDIA RELEASE

World Sailing CEO, Andy Hunt, commented, "The strategy was developed following 18 months of debate and consultation which included over 940 inputs from 88 of World Sailing's Member National Authorities.

"Every World Sailing MNA was invited to participate in the consultation process and we have developed 33 strategies together with measures which will allow us to easily monitor and report on the progress.

"Over the next five years, the World Sailing team will work tirelessly to deliver these strategies to enhance and grow the sport."

The Strategy is broken down into four pillars which include:
*         Inspiration and Participation - To build a strong profile and image for sailing - using our key points of difference to resonate with people and to give them a lifetime of sport. Presenting the sport in a compelling and engaging way to attract and retain a wide global fan base
*         Membership and Governance - To provide a professional and valued service to our members that enables the sport to grow in relevance and influence. To establish a governance structure within the International Federation that is simple, clear and transparent to all stakeholders
*         Sport Integrity - To create and regulate, exciting and safe competition events with fairness and integrity
*         Leadership in sport - To provide leadership to the sport through strategies that ensure its long-term sustainability and growth. To seek collaboration with partners to deliver successful implementation

Each pillar then has a clear set of detailed strategies which will provide the International Federation with direction over the next five years. In order to ensure the strategy remains on track, a series of measures will be used enabling reporting into World Sailing's Member National Authorities and other key stakeholders.

Popular posts from this blog

Green, White, Blue & Red Fleets: What is it all about?

Image
If you were present at a prize giving ceremony for the Optimist class, you may have been puzzled by the number of categories and prizes that are involved. The reason is simple: the Optimist class is big, and there are kids sailing from age 5 or 6 to age 15, and there are some kids new to the class, and other kids with years of experience  So it's normal to recognize the efforts of everyone according to age and experience. So here is how it is organized. Green Fleet : when your kid starts mastering the boat and do short races at your club, (s)he may be ready for doing a regatta in the Green Fleet. This is a regatta where advice can be provided by the coaches during the race. And it is typically a shorter course than the white/blue/red fleets. The importance in the green fleet is to participate. So there is typically no ranking announced at the prize giving. But when your kid starts performing well in the Green Fleet, it's then ... time to move on and join the White, Blue o
Read more

20 Reasons to Choose the Laser 4.7 (part 1)

Image
A frequently asked question is: « Why the Laser 4.7? » While the 4.7 rig is very well known in Europe, it is less so in some places elsewhere, particularly in the United States and Canada. The reality is that there are many reasons to choose this rig, which entails a sail of 4.7 square meters (1 square meter less than the Radial sail) and a slightly shorter mast. This rig is especially suitable for youth sailing. Let's take a look at the reasons - and there are many of them - why the Laser 4.7 is an excellent choice. Below are 10 first reasons. The second part of the article, presents 10 additional reasons to choose the Laser 4.7, and can be found at this link . Note: this article is available in French . Also, don't miss our upcoming webinar on Nov. 13 " The Laser 4.7 for Youth Sailing: All You Need to Know! " 1. A Considerable International Success The Laser 4.7, launched only twenty years ago, has achieved a considerable international success. For exampl
Read more

Laser or ILCA Dinghy: Which One is Fastest?

Image
A Mix of Lasers and ILCA Dinghies at the Laser 4.7 Worlds in Kingston "There's no such thing as bad publicity." -- Phineas T. Barnum The Laser is usually referred to as a single manufacturer one design boat (SMOD). But in reality, there are 3 builders (assuming LaserPerformance will be reinstated) and possibly more to come. The ILCA Dinghies are actual PSA Lasers, rebranded to circumvent the Laser trademarks. Boats from the third, Japanese, builder are much less common, except in Japan and South Korea. So, are the PSA and LaserPerformance boats the same? As indicated earlier, only one supplier of charter boats - PSA - was promoted by the Laser class at the Youth Worlds, so that many sailors did not sail by choice on the Aussie ILCA Dinghies. The fact that many of the top competitors used ILCA Dinghies for those championships is not necessarily an indicator that these are better boats. Most of the top international competitors were sailing the ILCA Dinghies
Read more