In Memoriam: Jan Dejmo

The global sailing community is mourning the loss of Jan Dejmo from Gothenberg, Sweden, who passed away recently.

Jan served as an IYRU and World Sailing Committee member from 1990–2016 and made major contributions to the development of the Equipment Rules of Sailing and the Standard Class Rules. He was one of the prime movers behind the development of the Standard Class Rules (SCR) concept for IYRU which has allowed any class to adopt a common format for its class rules and, importantly, to enable manufacturers to produce equipment that could be bought ‘off the shelf’ and be compliant. This meant drafting class rules that permitted, for example, sails, masts, booms, rudders, centreboards etc to be ‘measured’ remote from other equipment with which they would be used.

Since it was introduced, manufacturers, measurers, race committees and sailors alike have all benefitted. Thanks to his hard work and dedication with the working party we now have in the Equipment Rules of Sailing (ERS) which now forms a template for any class wishing to use it.

Jan was introduced to Radio controlled sailing in the late 1970s and was soon a strong advocate of this very special discipline of sailing, as he saw it, within Sweden and further afield getting involved with the international body, the International Model Yacht Racing Union (IMYRU) soon after.

As a professional architect, artist and designer – or an ‘Arts and Crafts professional’ as he modesty described himself – applying logic and structure to the sport appealed straight away. He moved on from being responsible for technical matters for the Model Yacht Racing Division (MYRD) to become its Vice Chairman.

One piece of his still stands in the Goteborg Opera House. A massive wall of glass that displays the names of the thousands of donors of even quite modest sums of money collected for its construction. He had designed a special font that was used to print their names onto paper strips which were ‘laminated’ between the glass panels.

During his career with World Sailing, he served on the Measurement Committee from 1991-2004, and as Vice Chairman between 1995 and 2004, the Equipment Control Sub-committee 2005-2016 (Chairman 2005-2008 & 2013-2016), the International Measurers Sub-committee 1999-2004 (Chairman 2001-2004), Race Officials Committee 2001-2004 and Class Rules Sub-committee 2005-2016.

Jan Dejmo made a significant contribution to the way the sport of sailing operates today and his efforts will never be forgotten. He will be sorely missed by everyone in World Sailing who had the pleasure of working closely with him for more than 25 years.