ISAF Announces Key Appointments For 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition

ISAF is delighted to announce the early appointment of the Executive Technical Delegate and the Race Officials Management Team for the 2012 London Olympic Games Sailing Competition.

The Executive Technical Delegate and the chair of the Jury, Measurement and Race Officials Teams for the Olympic Sailing Competition at Beijing 2008 have all been re-appointed to the same role for London 2012. They will form the core of the team charged with ensuring fair play on the water and will work closely with the London 2012 Organizing Committee (LOCOG) to deliver a successful Olympic Sailing Competition.

London 2012 Appointments

David KELLETT (AUS) – Technical Delegate
David TILLETT (AUS) – Jury Chair
Charley COOK (USA) – Race Officials Chair
Dick BATT (GBR) – Measurement Chair

Göran PETERSSON (SWE), President of ISAF, said: “ISAF is delighted to announce the Race Officials Management Team and first Technical Delegate appointment for London 2012. The Olympic Games is a unique arena for our sport and at Beijing 2008 we made huge strides in making the most of the global showcase it provides.

“The early appointment of the Management Team is a reflection of their success at Beijing and recognition of the detailed preparations that were behind it. By making these appointments now, the ISAF Executive Committee aims to give the Management Team as much opportunity as possible to prepare for roles which will be crucial in helping to make the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition at Weymouth and Portland a great success.”

The ISAF Technical Delegates and the Race Officials Management Team will work together with Rob ANDREWS (GBR), the Sailing Manger of LOCOG, to form the Olympic Management Team, which will oversee the preparations for the ten sailing events at London 2012. The Olympic Management Team is scheduled to meet for the first time during the ISAF Mid-Year Meeting, held in Warsaw, Poland this May.

At Beijing 2008, the Olympic Sailing Competition held in Qingdao included a number of innovations which contributed to its success. The Medal Race format, a final double-points race for the top-ten competitors, was introduced to provide a media- and spectator-friendly finale to the sailing events. Following on from the Games, sailing won the award for ‘The Best Sports Coverage by the Host Broadcaster’ at the International Olympic Committee’s (IOC) Olympic Golden Rings ceremony last December (click here for more on the IOC Award).

In the wake of these successes, sailing is already on course to make a huge impact at London in three years time. Construction work at the venue, the Weymouth & Portland National Sailing Academy (WPNSA), has already been completed on budget and ahead of schedule. In the build up to the Games, WPNSA has a host of world-class events lined up including the Skandia Sail for Gold Regatta this September, the final event of the 2008-2009 ISAF Sailing World Cup.

Technical Delegate

David KELLETT (AUS), ISAF Treasurer and Executive Committee member, has been appointed as one of two Technical Delegates, who have overall responsibility for overseeing the preparations for, and the conduct of the Olympic Sailing Competition. Kellett brings great experience to the ISAF team for the London Games, having also acted as Technical Delegate at the Beijing 2008 Games and as the ISAF liaison in the Sydney 2000 Games.

KELLETT said, “It’s a privilege to be appointed as Technical Delegate for my second consecutive Games. I’m looking forward to working with the London Organizing Committee and the rest of the ISAF team from the Beijing Games in order to make the 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition at Weymouth and Portland a great success.”

A second Technical Delegate from the ISAF Staff will be appointed later in the year.

Race Officials Management Team

The Race Officials Management Team will be responsible for directing the operations of the team of International Technical Officers (ITOs) and National Technical Officers (NTOs), who will ensure fair play both on and off the water.

David TILLETT (AUS) has been appointed as chairman of the International Jury for the third consecutive Games. The Jury is responsible for hearing and ruling on Protests made by sailors, judging Rule 42 ‘sail-kinetics’ infringements and carrying out on-the-water judging during the decisive Medal Races, which will decide the 2012 Olympic medallists. TILLETT brings a wealth of experience to the role, not just from the Athens and Beijing Games. He has been an International Judge since 1990, chairman of the ISAF Racing Rules Committee since 2000 and acted on the International Jury of high-profile sailing events around the world, including the 32nd America’s Cup and the 2008-2009 edition of the Volvo Ocean Race.

Charley COOK (USA) reprises the role of chair of the Race Management team he held at Beijing 2008. In challenging conditions of the 2008 Games in Qingdao, which ranged from the prevalent light-winds and strong tides through to heavy storms, his team successfully completed 117 races spread over 13 days of competition and five racing areas. Through two test events, the Race Management team worked extremely hard with the team of NTOs and on developing technological aids, preparation which paid off at Games time, with the fairness of the racing widely praised by competitors. As well as being head of the Race Management team at Beijing, COOK was also a member of the International Jury at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games. He has been an ISAF International Judge since 1991, an International Race Officer since 1995 and an International Umpire since 1997. He is the current chairman of the ISAF Race Officials Committee.

Dick BATT (GBR) completes the Race Officials Management Team as chair of the Measurement Team. He also held the role at the Beijing Games where a number of new measurement initiatives were successfully implemented, including the quarantine of equipment before the Medal Race and the measuring in of the first-ever set of self-certified sails under the ISAF In-House Certification (IHC) programme. He has been chairman of the ISAF Equipment Committee since its formation in 2004.

The appointments of the Race Management Team and the Technical Delegate were made at the recent meeting of the ISAF Executive Committee in Los Angeles, USA.

Find out more about the build up to the London 2012 Olympic Sailing Competition on the ISAF London 2012 microsite at www.sailing.org/london2012.