F18 Newsletter 11 – October 2014

Winter Council Meeting
The Winter Council Meeting will be held on 24th January 2015 in the Offices of FFV, 17 rue Henri Bocquillon, Paris 75015. It has been agreed to hold the meeting later than usual, as more details of the financial situation can be prepared. I have already asked Council Members for agenda items, and I will get the DRAFT agenda out by mid November and then final agenda by mid December to comply with IF18CA Constitution. Would all National Class Associations (NCA’s) wishing to put forward proposals please use the standard form, Current rule (situation), Reasons for change, and Proposal and send them to me by Mid November. 
 
US F18 Nationals

We thank Steve Piche, Mike Easton and their team for the great success of the US Nationals. We understand the work of the volunteers and thank them all! Thanks to Jasper van Staveren we got first class press and TV coverage. The cost by the IF18CA of paying to get him there was certainly worth it. We have a detailed report of all the contacts that were made to our website and Facebook, it is an example of what we can do when we try! I have not attached this, so I don’t fill your Inboxes, but for anyone arranging regattas, it is useful. I look for other Nationals Class Associations to follow suit and develop their Nationals.

If other Classes and contacts wish to use Jasper’s full photograph, marketing  and press service please let us know. (www.sailshoot.com)
As Europe has “closed down” for the winter, but we still have sailors going to Gran Canaria (4th-8thDecmber) and also Caribbean, St Barts, (19th– 23rdNovember) F18 Americas (17th-21st December) we must never forget our friends “down South” and the Australia Nationals are in Humpybong Yacht Club on 22nd to 26th January.We look forward to strong daily reports. The following comment is taken from the Australian F18 website.
“Welcome to the home of the Australian F18 Association. The International Formula 18 Class is without doubt the biggest, most professional and fastest growing class in the world. Even though the Australian fleet has some of the most competitive sailors in the world, the Association’s focus is on all round participation and complete fleet involvement. With fleets now extremely active in 4 states (NSW, Vic, QLD and WA) the Association is growing in numbers and participation.”
Our focus moves internationally from the Northern hemisphere to the South, we look forward to watching the regattas with real interest, we know that they will keep us all informed. What other fleet can state that there is racing every weekend of the year somewhere in the world ?

Calendars

We need income to keep developing at a pace, and one way is to promote the Class through calendars. PLEASE go to the website and buy there. www.F18merchandise.com. They will be posted direct to your home, anywhere in the world, at ONE PRICE! The price is based on ONE EURO PER MONTH !! (£0.85p, Aus$ 1.40, US$1.40 a month!!) Surely we all can spend ONE EURO per month to support our great Class. We MUST sell 500, and if we can sell 1000 then half our marketing costs are covered in one hit! There is no better way than a permanent reminder of the summer days in Ireland that with the stunning photographs from Jasper. We ask for them to be distributed to all Clubs that have hosted F18 regattas throughout the year. Photographs in the Club bar will keep interest and be a good talking point.
You don’t have to own an F18 to get the calendar, they are for the whole sailing world not just the F18 ! You will see the fun that we all have on these fantastic craft ! So as with clothing go to www.f18merchanise.com and there are great photographs for your office or kitchen walls ! Orders for the calendars will stop at the end of November when printing will begin, we will not print calendars without firm orders.
I will keep Council informed of weekly sales. PLEASE think of all the young sailors around the world who would welcome a Christmas present, so they can adorn their bedroom walls with F18 photographs.

Clothing
As I said last time, what better way is there of showing commitment to your Class, especially at this time of year when they make wonderful Christmas presents. See new Facebook page with another new product TODAY (31-10-2014).

Let me repeat, F18 does not have any risk. F18 does not hold any stock. F18 has a cost-free secure website provided. F18 has all goods posted FREE AROUND the World without our involvement. F18 uses only high quality branded clothing. F18 gets GOOD margins provided into our account in France every quarter with list of email addresses where sales have been made. Our printer is one of our greatest sponsors!

There have been criticisms of the Clothing website, we understand these comments, but we are just at the beginning, in time, we will have a wider range, photographs by Jasper of models in boat parks, and a far “glossier” approach, but we ARE short of money and can only invest if we have good level of sales. So PLEASE go to www.F18merchanise.com All details are also on the F18 Facebook pages.

Sail Cloths 
Same comment as last time, this is always a difficult subject as some members of Council don’t want any change, but the simple facts are that the cloths and materials ARE changing. I am working with the major cloth makers and now have a new list. I have agreement of all cloth makers and the new DRAFT list will be with Council very soon.
F18 Encyclopaedia 
This is one area, of a few, where I think we need a small Racing Sub-Committee to develop this idea.  Communication through Skype and email is easy now, I suggest four, maximum five volunteers, to start this work. Volunteers PLEASE 
Details of all National Class Associations (NCA’s) elected members 
These details are continually changing and I have been asked to get ALL details onto the website. So WILL ALL  the remaining NCA’s PLEASE send me details. Sanyi (fox@.catsailing.hu) is adding their names and national flags, so we have a complete list on the website under heading “Class Associations”
Worlds 2015 Kiel Germany 
Schedules are now published. Saturday 11th July 2015 through to Saturday July 2015.Early indications are that numbers are going to be high. Numbers attending from each NCA will be based upon membership as at 31st December 2014. If any NCA wishes to have a larger group of sailors then please notify Jens and myself as soon as possible, BUT BUT please be careful, we have said this before and NCA’s have “booked” larger numbers than they have been able to fulfil.  The DRAFT NoR will be out soon and the matter discussed in full at the Winter Council Meeting in Paris on 24thJanuary 2015. Please bookmark the event website and event facebook.
Regatta Dates 
It is important that all NCA’s let us know their regatta dates for 2015, we will then build up a complete picture for the website. This again demonstrates the worldwide coverage of F18.
So PLEASE will all readers buy calendars and clothing from the website www.f18merchandise.com, your support is needed.
Back soon,

Don Findlay