World Sailing President addresses Council with an update on the direction of the sport

Opening the Council meeting, World Sailing President, Quanhai Li, praised the resilience of the sport and its members after bouncing back from a challenging two-year period.

He said, “I am delighted to find that the World Sailing family is responding to COVID-19 with a positive attitude. Our sailors never give up on this great sport. We have seen all kinds of sailing events returning across the world, our sailors shine in world and regional competitions, with unbelievable performances.”

President Li reiterated the Board’s commitment to gender equality, strengthening relations between World Sailing and the International Olympic Committee in the build up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games and with the International Paralympic Committee regarding the #BacktheBid campaign to see sailing reinstated as a Paralympic event for LA28. He also stressed that World Sailing is far more financially secure than this time last year.

David Graham, World Sailing CEO, gave positive news to Council, he confirmed: “The financial situation of the federation is back on track, the relationships with the federation’s members and special events is better than it has ever been.

“We have moved into our new office which delivers a significant cost saving, a staff restructure and the senior management team is now complete.” He went on to thank the Board and his team for their excellent work in facing the challenges of the last two years.

Council also voted to resolve issues raised by members related to changes to the rules of sailing and the future administration of the sport.

In total, 18 recommendations were voted on, including the unanimous approvals of motions to amend the Skiff event in the Youth Sailing World Championships to a male/mixed competition and adjust the point scoring for Youth Match Racing to mirror the Women’s Match Racing events. Also receiving universal approval was a motion to extend the grace period for first-time International Measurers to gain the required qualifications considering the reduced number of events since 2020.

A proposal to consolidate the Equipment Rules of Sailing and Racing Rules of Sailing into a single rules book was also approved. Council then received an update on Olympic Equipment and from each Committee that will then be formulated into recommendations for approval.

All approved recommendations will be ratified at the World Sailing Annual General Meeting on Saturday 29 October 2022. All submissions and reports are available to view and download on the World Sailing website.