Dear sailors,
a fresh newsletter is online! In this month’s edition: the new website, the F18 Worlds 2015, 2016 & 2017, the new Belgium chair, the agenda for the Counsil Meeting in Kiel, and more… If you have something that must be mentioned in the next newsletter and/or on the website, please let us know.
Best wishes for a good season!
Don Findlay
New IF18CA website online
We are delighted to announce the new IF18CA website. We thank Jasper for all the work and Sanyi for his support in this complex matter. The new website will give the sailors the opportunity to stay on top of the news. An up-to-date design, an integrated Twitter feed to provide live updates at (major) events, photo galleries of previous Worlds and Round Texel events to show the thrills of F18 sailing, a Newsletter (subscription) is in progress, an Instagram account, special room for advertisers and much, much more! The number of active followers on our F18 International Facebook page keeps growing every week. We almost reached a new milestone: 3000 followers! Please check that the contact detail of your NCA is still correct. If not, please let Jasper know and he’ll update your NCA info page.
Worlds 2015
All plans are now coming to fruition and we thank our German colleagues for all their work. The Class is growing throughout the world and we are holding the Worlds 2015 with record numbers of entrants. This is a great success for the Class. We thank our sponsors: Nacra, Contender Sailcloth and Dimension-Polyant for their support and providing another Sailors Dinner. Soon an article about our sponsors will be on the website.
Worlds 2016
Details are now settling, and we look forward to another great regatta. As we move to South America for the first time, it is important that we make arrangements in good time. We NEED to know which ports are likely to be used by each NCA for containers, we can then give quotations, can all NCA’s let me know? We are in discussion with major shipping agents to co-ordinate worldwide shipping and checking with the Club. Dates are Friday 28th October through to Friday 4th November 2016. We plan to get NoR ready later this year, so that all sailors can make their travel plans at Christmas.
Worlds 2017
Council will be asked in July at the Kiel meeting to select a venue for Worlds 2017. Finland and US are seeking 2018, leaving just Spain wishing to host 2017. (Please see their prospectus on website) If there are any further NCA’s that wish to support, please check the Championship Rules, and prepare a detailed application. Please contact me urgently for any further advice.
Thomas Pierlet
Our President has already published a tribute to Thomas, but can I add my thanks for his support for F18 over many years. His calm approach and deep understanding of all matters F18 has always been respected and we thank him again for years of service to our sailors. We welcome Patrick Demesmaeker as the new Belgium F18 chair and look forward to working with him, Patrick is very experienced both on the water with his F18 and on land with Club management.
Australian F18 website
Congratulations and thanks to our Australian friends for their great new website. Please visit www.ausf18.org.au and another good video, and we really appreciate the positive comments, thanks to friends “Down Under”!
NCA websites
If your NCA website needs an update, don’t hesitate to contact Jasper for photos and/or help. Please note all the names and email addresses of NCA officers on the website and make every effort to keep them up to date.
Europeans 2016
As reported before, Olivier and I were invited to the USAM Club in Brest, all plans are going well with our French team. Dates for your diary are 5th through to 12th July 2016. We plan to get the NoR in final DRAFT by November, so that we will be ready for publication by Christmas. This is going to be another great regatta for F18 at a super venue. The Organising Committee have included costs for our Press work, and also we plan both Measurers Seminar and a Coaching Session, we will be seeking NCA’s that wish to participate.
New Season Regattas
Great turnout and results for all the early season F18 regattas across Europe. Please make use of your regattas and send details to Jasper who will give coverage of your event by mail: media@f18-international.org. It was joy to be asked to attend the opening Dutch F18 opening season regatta. Olivier and I were on the water all day and there was some good racing in perfect weather conditions. Jasper got some more good photos. We were pleased to be offered the opportunity to have a “Sailors Meeting” and listen to the comments from them all. We had many good comments on the work that we were doing but above “keep everybody informed” was the message loud and clear. Great to see three new boats “hit” the water for the first time. We thank Bas Paumen and Ad Noordzij for the work that they are doing to bring our Dutch friends back to their leading place in European F18 racing.
Last weekend I was Race Officer for the 38th Annual Catamaran Open at my Club in North Wales. Again F18 dominated the field and we had some great racing, three races out of eight, finishing with just a metre between first and second boat.
Agenda items for Council
It is never easy to hold a Council Meeting during a Worlds regatta, but we need to try, but we will settle as many points as we can in advance, so we can keep the meeting short. We are suggesting that we meet on Sunday July 12th 2015. Please let have agenda items so we can settle agenda in good time in early June, I will arrange email discussion prior to the meeting.
Agenda Items to date:
- Venue for Worlds 2017
- Consistency of rules
- Auditors Report
- Coaching (Decision) 300 EUR per day for NCA applications
- Championship Rules
Flags
The F18 flags have been distributed by Pierre-Charles, I have had requests for more. We have two quotes:
From the Netherlands
- Costs by 10 pc’s: 24,95 euro p/s.
- Costs by 20 pc’s: 19,95 euro p/s.
- Costs by 30 pc’s: 17,95 euro p/s.
- Costs by 50 Pc’s: 12,95 euro p/s!!
- Size: 150 x 100 cm
- Free design + tax
- Delivery costs 15 euro
From France
- 200 flags cost 778 EUR + tax and delivery. (Dated 28.01.2011) All have now been delivered, so we do not hold any stock.
F18 Clothing
We have built this service into the new website. Simply, we ask for your support, because we need to create (more) income for the Class.