World Sailing

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World Sailing
World Sailing logo local.svg
Sport Sailing
Official website www.sailing.org
Year of formation14 October 1907;116 years ago (14 October 1907)
Former namesInternational Yacht Racing Union;
International Sailing Federation
Membership size144
Other affiliation(s)
Patron King Harald V of Norway
President Quanhai Li
Vice-presidents
  • Özlem Akdurak
  • Philip Baum
  • Tomasz Chamera
  • Sarah Kenny
  • Yann Rocherieux
  • Cory Sertl
  • Marcus Spillane
Executive Office
Address
Chief ExecutiveDavid Graham
Number of staffApprox. 30
Continental Association

World Sailing (WS) is the world governing body for the sport of sailing recognized by the International Olympic Committee and the International Paralympic Committee (IPC).

Contents

History

The creation of the International Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) began in 1904, when Major Brooke Heckstall-Smith AINA, then Secretary of the Yacht Racing Association (now the Royal Yachting Association) wrote to the Yacht Club de France, pointing out the desirability of holding a conference for the purpose of devising an International Rule of Measurement for Racing Yachts acceptable to all European countries. As a result, an International Conference of Yacht Measurement was held in London in January and June 1906, at which the Metre Rule was developed. This group went on to adopt a formal Constitution after a meeting at the Yacht Club de France in Paris on 14 October 1907 which is seen as the formation date of the International Yacht Racing Union. [1]

On 5 August 1996, the IYRU changed its name to the International Sailing Federation (ISAF). [2]

On 14 November 2015, ISAF changed its name to World Sailing. [3] [4]

Competition formats

Competitive sailing regatta contain events which are defined by a combination of discipline, equipment, gender and sometimes categories. These criteria are defined by the race purpose.

Disciplines

The following are the main disciplines:

Equipment

Common categories of equipment include the following: dinghies, multihulls, keelboats, sailing yacht, windsurfers, kiteboarding and radio-controlled sailboats. Within these categories normally specific class or rating system are used.

Gender

The majority of sailing events are "open" events in which males and females compete together on equal terms either as individuals or part of team. Sailing has had female only World Championships since the 1970s to encourage participation and now host more than 30 such World Championship titles each year. For the 2016 Olympics, compulsory mixed gender in the event was added for the first time.[ citation needed ]

Sailor categories

In addition the following categories are sometimes applied to events:

Rules and regulations

World Sailing is now most familiar to sailors for defining the Racing Rules of Sailing (RRS), the international standard used to define competition rules and the framework within which racing is conducted.

Para sailing regattas for para sailors likewise follow the World Sailing rulebook with a minor change to permit things like powered adaptations. Strict classification requirements are enforced in the Paralympic Games for fair competition in Paralympic-class keelboats.

The key documents under control of World Sailing are:

Membership

National members

Like all sports federations, World Sailing is composed of "Member National Authorities" (MNA's) from over 140 countries all of whom have the right to make submissions to determine World Sailing's policies. [13]

Persons with a physical impairment who are interested to learn to sail are encouraged [14] to locate their national World Sailing Member National Authority (MNA), Disabled Sports Organization, or visit the local sailing club, as World Sailing seeks to people with disabilities into the sport.

Class associations

The federation recognizes over 80 classes which are each entitled to hold world championships. [15]

Affiliated members

Events

Sailing and the Olympics

World Sailing is responsible for administration of the Olympic Sailing Regatta. Sailing (called yachting in the early years) has been a mainstay of the modern summer Olympic games since 1896, omitted only from the 1904 summer games in St. Louis. [19] [20]

To help encourage high level international competition in the Classes used for the Olympic Games, World Sailing arrange the following events:

Sailing in the Paralympic Games

Sailing as an equipment based sports allows one of the largest ranges of paralympians to compete under equal terms. Sailing was included for the first time in the Atlanta 1996 Paralympic Games program as a demonstration event. It became a full medal sport at the Sydney 2000 Paralympic Games up to 2020 were IPC removed sailing from the paralympic program. Work continues to get sailing reinstated for the 2028 Paralympics.

World Sailing classes world championships

Each World Sailing class is entitled to hold a world championship

World Sailing initiated world championships and events

The following World Championships are held: [21]

World Sailing recognised world championships

World Sailing Special Events

World Sailing Special Event.png

Disabled sailing

Sailing is a versatile sport that can accommodate many types of disability primarily because it is equipment based. Sailing is one of the few sports where disabled sailors compete on equal terms to able body sailors in a large section of the sport. Almost any boat can be sailed though some are more suitable for larger ranges of disabilities or specific categories of impairment.

World Sailing is also responsible for disabled sailing worldwide under the guidance of its own brand Para World Sailing. [14] This is since the merger of International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) in November 2014, and re-forming of the World Sailing Committee later rebrand Para World Sailing. The rational was given as follows: "The creation of a single governing body for Member National Authorities (MNAs) and sailors will better serve the needs and interests of sailors with disabilities, and provide consistency within the sport, from relationships with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) to technical support and operational efficiencies." [22] [23]

The IFDS Foundation was dissolved during the 2015 Annual Conference in Sanya, China. The Disabled Sailing Committee then re-branded as the Para World Sailing Committee. [24]

People

Presidents

From 1906 to 1946 a chairman was elected from time to time to orchestrate the annual meetings.

Vice presidents

Vice presidents have been elected since 1955.

Presidents of Honour

Race officials

There are four types of race officials used to conduct sailing events recognised by World Sailing as follows:

Official awards

World Sailing hold the following awards together with service medals.

Rolex World Sailor of the Year

The main annual award the "Rolex World Sailor of the Year" that is sponsored by ROLEX in the following categories:

When a crew of two or three people is nominated, the awarded is presented to the entire crew. When larger crews win the award, normally only the skipper is recognised.

Hall of Fame

On 5 November 2007 in Estoril, Portugal, the International Sailing Federation announced the first six inductees for the ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame. [26] [27]

At the 2015 annual conference in Sanya, China, there were seven further inductees. [27]

Beppe Croce Trophy

The Beppe Croce Trophy is presented to an individual who has made an outstanding voluntary contribution to the sport of sailing. The roll of honour is an impressive one, including multiple Olympic medallists, rules gurus and designers, and all have dedicated an outstanding amount of time to the sport of sailing. Recipients are presented with a replica trophy.

See also

Notes

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dinghy racing</span> Racing Dinghy boats as a sport.

Dinghy racing is a competitive sport using dinghies, which are small boats which may be rowboats, have an outboard motor, or be sailing dinghies. Dinghy racing has affected aspects of the modern sailing dinghy, including hull design, sail materials and sailplan, and techniques such as planing and trapezing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2.4 Metre</span>

The International 2.4mR is a one-person keelboat. The class is a development class governed by the 2.4mR rule. The rule controlled by World Sailing is one of the few classes designated as an International Class. The International 2.4mR Class rule is closely related to the International 12mR class rule that was used at the America's Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ben Ainslie</span> British sailor

Sir Charles Benedict Ainslie is a British competitive sailor. Ainslie is the most successful sailor in Olympic history. He won medals at five consecutive Olympics from 1996 onwards, including gold at the four consecutive Games held between 2000 and 2012.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">505 (dinghy)</span> International racing sailing class

The International 505 is a One-Design high-performance two-person monohull planing sailing dinghy, with spinnaker, utilising a trapeze for the crew.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Nova Scotia Yacht Squadron</span> Canadian yacht club in Halifax

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">SKUD 18</span>

The SKUD 18 is a class of racing sailing boat. It is a lead-assisted skiff with a tube-launched asymmetrical and a modern high performance stayed rig. The boat was created for trials held by the International Association for Disabled Sailing who were looking for a new two person boat for an additional medal allocated to sailing for the 2008 Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailing (sport)</span> Amateur or professional competitive sport

The sport of sailing involves a variety of competitive sailing formats that are sanctioned through various sailing federations and yacht clubs. Racing disciplines include matches within a fleet of sailing craft, between a pair thereof or among teams. Additionally, there are specialized competitions that include setting speed records. Racing formats include both closed courses and point-to-point contests; they may be in sheltered waters, coast-wise or on the open ocean. Most competitions are held within defined classes or ratings that either entail one type of sailing craft to ensure a contest primarily of skill or rating the sailing craft to create classifications or handicaps.

The International Radio Sailing Association (IRSA) formerly the ISAF Radio Sailing Division is an affiliate member of World Sailing that sanctions radio-controlled sailing competitions. It is authorised by WS to conduct up to three official World Championships each year.

The International Association for Disabled Sailing (IFDS) was an affiliate member of the International Sailing Federation and was responsible for coordinating the paralympic sailing competition with the International Paralympic Committee. The organisation was initially called the International Foundation for Disabled Sailing up until around 2008 when it had to change its name due to tax law in the country it is registered in.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Fitzgibbon</span> Australian Paralympic sailor

Daniel Fitzgibbon, is an Australian Paralympic sailor, who won a silver medal at the 2008 Summer Paralympics in Beijing. He won gold medals at the 2012 London and 2016 Rio Paralympics with partner Liesl Tesch in the two person SKUD 18.

World championships in sailing are world championships organised or sanctioned by World Sailing. As a sport, sailing has the largest number of world championships due to the diversity of equipment and disciplines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Matthew Bugg</span> Australian sailor

Matthew Bugg is an Australian sailor. He represented Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in the 2.4mR class sailing event. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 IFDS World Championships. He won a silver medal in the 2.4mR at the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stephen Churm</span> Australian sailor

Stephen Andrew Churm is an Australian sailor. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in sailing. He did not medal at the 2012 Games.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jonathan Harris (sailor)</span> Australian Paralympic sailor

Jonathan Bruce Harris is an Australian blue-water sailor who began his sailing career when he was about ten. He won a gold medal in the Mixed Three Person Sonar the 2016 Rio Paralympics.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blair Tuke</span> New Zealand sailor

Andrew Blair Tuke is a New Zealand sailor who won the 2021 Americas Cup Held in Auckland and also won the 2017 Version held in Bermuda. He also won the gold medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and the silver medal at the 2012 Summer Olympics in the 49er class alongside Peter Burling.

Elizabeth Baylis is an American sailor competing in match racing. Baylis started her sailing career at an early age in the classic high winds venue of San Francisco Bay. She still calls the Bay her home, but she has accumulated over 25,000 offshore miles including many victorious Pacific Cup and TransPac races from California to Hawaii. She sailed with America True during the 2000 Louis Vuitton Cup. Baylis is probably best known for her match racing accomplishments as a skipper which include the 2002 ISAF Women's Match Racing World Championship. title and multiple Grade 1 championship wins. Her offshore and match racing success were recognized in 2002 when she received the US Rolex Yachtswomen of the Year award. As the Executive Director of the Women's International Match Racing Association (WIMRA) she led the campaign to include women's match racing in the 2012 Olympics and continues to promote the sport around the world by teaching clinics and running regattas. In 2013, WIMRA successfully launched the first professional match racing series for women with Baylis taking the role of Series Manager. Baylis is the Chairman of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) Match Racing Committee.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sailing at the 2016 Summer Paralympics</span>

Sailing at the 2016 Summer Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro took place between 12 and 17 September 2016 in Marina da Glória, Copacabana. 80 competitors, 11 of which were female, competed in three keelboat classes. Three sailing events will be held. All were mixed events, meaning that men and women can compete together.

John Twomey is an Irish Paralympic athlete and sailor. He has represented Ireland at 11 consecutive Paralympic games winning medals at three of them.

Cherrie "Cherry" Samonte Pinpin, is a Filipina Paralympic sailor who crewed in the SKUD 18 Two-Person Keelboat class, Sailing at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, Beijing.

Elizabeth "Betsy" Gelentis Alison is an American sailor who has been voted Rolex Yachtswoman of the Year five times. She was inducted into the United States' National Sailing Hall of Fame in 2011

References

  1. "A Short History of the International Sailing Federation". Sailing.org. Archived from the original on 21 December 2015.
  2. "A Short History of the International Sailing Federation". Sailing.org. Archived from the original on 12 September 2015.
  3. Minutes from the Annual General Meeting of the International Sailing Federation, Archived 27 October 2017 at the Wayback Machine , page 3, "5. Special Business – Change of Name". 40 voted in favour, 1 reject.
  4. "ISAF Changes Name to World Sailing". SailingScuttlebutt.com. 8 December 2015.
  5. "Fleet Racing". Sailing.org.
  6. "Match Racing". Sailing.org.
  7. "Team Racing". Sailing.org.
  8. "Offshore & Oceanic Sailing". Sailing.org.
  9. "Cruising". Sailing.org.
  10. "Racing Rules". Sailing.org.
  11. "Equipment Rules Index". Sailing.org.
  12. "Offshore Special Regs Index". Sailing.org.
  13. "Member National Authorities". Sailing.org.
  14. 1 2 "Para World Sailing". Sailing.org.
  15. "Classes & Equipment Index". Sailing.org.
  16. "Offshore Racing Congress". ORC.org.
  17. "World Sailing Speed Record Council". SailSpeedRecords.com.
  18. "International Radio Sailing Association". RadioSailing.org.
  19. "Sailing". Olympic.org. 18 October 2018.
  20. "Olympics". Sailing.org.
  21. "Sailing World Cup Series Set To Launch For 2008-2009". Sailing.org. 29 June 2008. Archived from the original on 7 June 2013.
  22. Anderson, Gary (16 November 2013). "ISAF and IFDS announce plans for merger at Annual Conference at Muscat". Inside the games. Retrieved 31 July 2019.
  23. "ISAF Conference 2014". TheDailySail.com.
  24. "2015 Annual Conference - 8 November Summary". Sailing.org. 8 November 2015. Archived from the original on 12 November 2015.
  25. "Submission 124-12". Sailing.org.
  26. "Inductees". ISAF Sailing Hall of Fame.
  27. 1 2 "Seven Sailors inducted into World Sailing's Hall of Fame". Sailing.org. 13 November 2015. Archived from the original on 17 November 2015.

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