Very last call for the German Nationals near Kiel Schilksee! Very late entries are accepted by FAX until thursday 24 h, the entry form is attached, the FAX Number is shown on it. Late entry fee 90 Euros, Pasta and Barbeque free.

First start Friday Sept. 28th 11h, the race course is just off the harbour.
Good wind promised, see you there!

 

German-Nationals-2012.pdf

 

See you -

Schappi

The International Geman Nationals are held this year in Schilksee.

This is the last call to attend. The raceoffice is closing the List on September  12th.

Location: Olympic Center Kiel Schilksee
Date: Registration from Thursday Sept 27th 15 h
First race: Friday 11 h,
Last possible race: Sunday 14 h
9 races total, 3 races per day
Free Pasta Party on Friday, free Barbeque on Saturday

 

http://www.raceoffice.org/contender

Download here the AGM Minutes 2012

Here you can get your copy of the AGM 2012 Agenda. If you join the meeting in Florida, you better be prepared. So grab your copy.

Agenda 2012

Se also these 2 Dokuments.

Centerboard Rule Update

Contender Calss Rule Change Proposal

 

You can download or view the notes from 2011 here.

ICA_AGM_2011_minutes.pdf

Altiplano, the production Company behind the great footage of the La Rochelle Video has agreed to publish their extended Version of Axel Dachets Video footage of the Worlds in La Rochelle. It has some real nice shots of the venue and the competitors. On and Off shore. You can watch it right here or download it from our vault here . Size is aprox. 2GB.

You can download or view the notes from AGM 2010 in Queensland here

 ICA_AGM_2010.pdf

Roberto Mazzali 

Italy

email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

David schafft

                                                                                       

Germany

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Simon Barwood

 

PerthAustralia

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Chris Howe 

United Kingdom

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Greg Barrington

Australia

 

email: Greg.Barrington @ outlook.com

Meeting started at 2012hrs and ended at 2223 hrs
The meeting was opened by chairman Neil Smith.
Apologies from: Gil Woolley
Ben Holden commented that the Agenda for the meeting should have been posted prior to the Meeting
Neil Smith ran through the Agenda and introduced himself,  Jan, Marco, Chris and Jens.
Matter Arising from previous AGM:
Jan Von der Bank apologised for not having got round to re writing the class rules and said they would be rewritten by the next AGM.

 

 

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Chairman's report

- Neil Smith
Neil  thanked everyone for coming  and thanked the Danish Team at the Yacht Club and the Race committee for organising the event with special thanks to Flemming.
He went on to thank the national representatives for helping the class to grow , especially Germany which now has a larger contender class than lasers. He also thanked the sailmakers, boatbuilders and other people connected with the class for their work in keeping the class going.
He mentioned the challenges faced over the past year, in finding a new class secretary, a new international measurer in which we have Andrew Davies, a  new content and web manager for the website who is now Jan and Nikky and praised them for the production of the web page, links and frontage and asked if anyone had any content they wished to be published this could be sent to himself for forwarding.
He mentioned about raising the profile of the class by advertising on line with Sailing Anarchy and if there were any other prospective websites which would be good for the class then contact the ICA committee and it may be able to help fund this.
He mentioned the 2008 worlds in North America and how this was helping to gain momentum for the class with 7 boats in the last 2 years.
Plans for the forthcoming year were to increase advertising and web presence and the introduction of a YouTube competition with a prize.
He also suggested that the National Associations could learn from the growing countries and should pass on what they’ve been doing to other NAs.
He suggested that we should get greater ISAF coverage and although there is a strong European presence and growth in North America we should continue to grow and promote the class.
He asked the National Associations that if they were planning on doing anything they should involve the committee early and seek approval before spending anything.
He finished with asking for any new or unique ideas to promote the class and if anyone had any thoughts on how we can promote the class better to contact him directly.

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Treasurer's report -

Jens Langendorf
All fees are now in for 2008, but still awaiting some fees for 2009, despite this there is almost 19,000 euros in the bank, which is 3k less than last year.
The worlds video had cost 2k and the money which had been lent to Canada had now been returned and once this has cleared we will have broken even.
There has been a growth in paying members although CAN, USA, ITA, BEL, EST and FIN were still unpaid which has resulted in overall growth.
JVdB proposed that we didn’t charge countries with small memberships
Soren proposed all pay but the ICA fund them
There was then a discussion about the criteria for a small membership i.e. number of members
JVdB then clarified that we needed to be see the monetary transactions
Neil said that we’d been down the not paying route before and that hadn’t been successful/
Soren suggested that in that case a bill to the value of the subscriptions to the ICA would suffice and all agreed, Jens therefore plans to take a relaxed approach to the smaller countries.
Back to the treasurers report, AUS had been leant money to build a mold and the monies were being returned as aboats were built.
 

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Other Business

Richard Buttner suggested that the class publish a yearbook as a means of promoting the class and offered assistance.

Election of Officers
President: Jan Von der Bank was nominated, Stephanie Mah Proposed and Andrea Bonezzi seconded
Chairman: Neil Smith was nominated, JVdB proposed and Soren seconded.
Technical Chairman: Marco Versari and Gregg Barrington were nominated, Chris Southerland proposed and Jaqueline Rufenacht seconded
Treasurer: Jens Langendorf was nominated, Soren proposed and Andreas Voight seconded
Secretary: Chris Boshier was nominated, Soren proposed and Marco seconded

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Upcoming Events

Worlds 2010: Brisbane, Australia
Chris Sutherland stated that Brisbane is less than 6 months away and that he and Matt Mulder will do anything they can to make it happen.  He said what a lovely place it is and that everyone goes there for their holidays. The venue is only a 10 euro taxi ride from the airport and once there, camping on site is ok and everything is pretty local so you’d only need a pushbike to get around. He also mentioned that  containers will be left on site.
Andrea mentioned that the Italian container would be able to take some rental boats out if necessary and may be able to do up to 6.
Simon Mussel l said that there should be 11 boats going from the UK.
Schappi wasn’t sure of numbers from Germany but stated the difference in price between a 20’ and 40’ container was minimal per boat.
Andrea asked if there would be support from the ICA for shipping boats to Brisbane.  The ICA responded that find out the final shipping situation and let us know.

Worlds 2011: Weymouth, UK
Matt Aston started that Weymouth is a great venue and the 2012 Olympic venue with a choice of sailing in either the bay or the harbour dependant on weather, the event will be preceded by the British National Championships in the 2nd week of July. The venue has accommodation, containers can be left at the club and caravans and campers can also stay on site, camping however is currently under negotiation.
The venue is 3.5 hours from Dover, containers would come into Southampton. The event has a website, http://www.contenderworlds2011.co.uk/ Weymouth also has its own website, Matt promised 15+knots everyday and sunshine.

Worlds 2012: St Petersburg, Florida
Neil Smith suggested dates April 23-29 with Ethan Bixby organizing the event. They have recently hosted the 2007 FD worlds and hold the NOOD regatta annually. Several options were offered, either Fort Desoto or at the sailing centre. It’s a fancy club with cannons at sunset and a swimming pool. Weather is 80F (25/26C) and the water’s lovely, nice shorty weather. The event is timed to fit between the Australian and Euro seasons.  Motion passed to have the 2012 Worlds in Florida

European 2010: La Rochelle
Francois started that there were few contenders in France but even so they had grown from 2 to 10 in a year, he then went on to give a presentation for the Europeans stating that La Rochelle was the biggest sailing club in France, the prevailing winds are south westerlies at that time of year and the sailing area in the bay is protected to a degree from the Atlantic swell . The harbour is approximately 2km from the town. Camping is ok at the harbour. He gave examples of the experience of the race and organisational team there having hosted the Tornado worlds and it also being the french olympic training venue. There were some graphs from the french meteorological office showing that 41% of the time it below 4beaufort+  and the average temperature at that time of year was 21C. He suggested that it was worth visiting for more than a week and a visit to the vinyards was recommended and could be incorporated.

2012 Euros Discussion
Sweden was being considered for 2012
JVdB said that Kiel will not host another Worlds, however Germany were looking to host a World Championships soon.
JVdB then thanked the National Associations for presenting and planning the events.

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Proposals for Rules Changes

Remove towing eye from rules. vote 21 for 5 against, goes to ballot
Proposal: Rule 8.2 outlaw chines from new boats – insert ‘hull not to curve less than 35mm’ to be measured at right angles and referenced to the stations.  Vote 31 for 1 against, goes to ballot
Proposal: Rule 17.2 sail measurement – rule needs redefining for leach length, sail batten placing and measurement marks as there are legacy anomalies from when IYRU changed to ISAF and the ERS were created. Vote 32 for none against, goes to ballot
Proposal: Rule 19.2 clarification required – proposal that the maximum rudder pintle size including any packing be limited to 80mm wide (transversely) and 40mm deep (longitudinally), 35 for none against, goes to ballot
Proposal: Rule 19.2 (2) redefinition of skin projections and a minimum height for the rudder fitting from the bottom of the hull, 19 for 8 against. No action as will be included in 19.2 above
There was one rule change that did not make it.

Championship rules changes
Chris Sutherland gave a preamble that the current rules were legacy and impracticable for a race committee to work with and that they needed modernizing and including more instructions.  Soren thanked Chris S and explained that the proposed rules were a great improvement.  Ben Holden suggested that the new championships rules be circulated to all national associations and the secretaries to distribute for feed back from the national classes in time for the next AGM. This was agreed.
The proposed new rules were circulated to the floor and varies items were discussed
Mark Robinson was against pre seeding competitors and a seeding discussion ensued
SM wanted to know who would decide on the seeding
2 boat zone was also discussed Marco suggested that ISAFs 3 boat lengths had made it too soft
BH suggested we move on and awaited the rules being circulated properly.
JVdB said the ICA would decide and then said a draft would be sent out to the NA’s for circulation as per BH’s suggestion so we can vote at the next AGM.
There was a discussion on templates and it was decided there was no need to discuss with ISAF.

Submitted by Chris Boshier, Secretary, dated 29 July 2009

Any Other Business
Poll proposed a vote of thanks to Gil in his absence for his extraordinary work over the years as class secretary and proposed the he be made an honorary life member,  Soren proposed this and JVdB seconded, the vote was unanimously in favour.
Neil mentioned the youtube competition, this would be a 1-3 minute video to promote the class and had to include contender sailing, the award would be given to the video clip with the most hits over a year and the award would be sailing equipment to the value of 500 euros. The ICA committee will come up with full rules in due course. Mention was made not to use commercial music as a soundtrack as this could infringe copyright and cause legal issues, Neil mentioned that there were plenty of copyright free music sites to get music from.
A European trophy is required for the Europeans
Soren mention the requirement for a tow rope and that it should be included in the championship rules.



Meeting closed at 22:23

This is Page 2

Election of Officers

The following persons were re-elected to the following five offices. There were no nominees proposed in opposition to the incumbent officers.
President: Arthur Brett
Chairman: Søren Andreason
Technical Chairman: Alan Mollatt
Treasurer: Manfred Kieckbusch
Secretary: Gil Woolley

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Upcoming Events

Worlds 2003: Great Britain, Plymouth, 3rd Week of August. Approved.

Worlds 2004: Italy, Lake Garda approved

Worlds 2005: Germany. Jan von der Bank presented information regarding three possible venues
Votes
1 Kiel, during Kieler Woche 3rd week of June. Sort of early and cold. Excellent sailing
18 Travemünde inexpensive camping, good social place
8 Wanemünde long waves, cheap accommodation
Despite the votes listed, a final decision was not made.

Worlds 2006: Western Australia in January at Freemantle at Freemantle Sailing Club
Large sailing club, parking for 500 to 600 cars
Ramps, rock groins provide wave protection whilst launching. Windy. Containers are stored right on the site. Club is 1.5 km from the shipping port. Sea is fair, unbiased
Full Bistro. Morning races. Cheap accommodation.

Europeans 2002: 13-18 July ; Søren described
Dinner Thursday. Camping close by, 5 to 15 minutes away. Possibly able to park in the harbour and sleep. 2 basketball courts

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Championship rules

Chris Mitchell reported.
We have been sailing different procedures at our championships than the old rules provide for. They state for instance, that the chairman and the president may not sail the World Championship. Søren and Arthur
would probably resign if we held them to that rule.

• New championship rules permit 2 races per day
• Defines the championship committee
• Junior is less than 25, Master is over 50

After discussion, some problems were identified so a vote was deferred until the class is more ready to accept the provisions.

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Proposals for Rules Changes
The Secretary received a number of rules change proposals during the regatta and typed up and posted the suggestions received. The sailors present had an opportunity to translate these proposals into their native tongue and to consider further improvements.

At the AGM, a total of 45 members signed the sign up sheet. In order to pass a rule change must have at least 2/3 of 45 votes or 30 votes or if some members leave the meeting, then we counted those in favour and those opposed. A thumbnail description of each proposal is presented here but there are also links to the exact wording of the old rule and the new proposed rule.

Proposal 1. Rule 17.4. Changes the maximum width of letters and numbers from 45 to 40 mm. All other dimensions in the present rule are unchanged.
This passed unanimously.

Proposal 2. Rule 13.8. This change would decrease the mast tip weigh from 3 kg to 2.5 kg. This particular rule change would be made as of January, 2004.
The measure passed with 25 in favour, 7 opposed.78% in favour.

Proposal 3.
This proposal was to permit builders and owners to install up to 10 kg of lead weight compared to the present limit of 6 kg. Builders such as Paul Walker and Chappi Harprecht spoke against the practicality of the idea.
The measure failed with 17 in favour, 14 opposed. 55% in favour.

In discussion of the proposal, frustration was expressed that boats that are deemed to be at the correct hull weight at one championship are found underweight at another. The ICA committee received an action item to do something about solving the problem such as purchasing calibrated scales.
The ICA committee received an action item from Tim Holden asking what will be done to prevent the construction of any more Contenders which require more than 6 kg in corrector lead weights. Tim discovered this discrepancy in the boat chartered to Chris Mitchell.

Proposal 4. Rule 16.2.
The rule presently requires that lead weights be evenly divided and installed on the fore and aft cockpit walls no more than 50 mm below the deck. The proposal permits the lead to be installed lower in the cockpit but still at the cockpit ends.
The measure passed with 30 votes. 66.67% in favour.

Proposal 5.
This would have lowered the hull weight below 83 kg but the officers elected to not discuss the measure or ask for a vote as the mood seemed to be opposed to such.

Proposal 6a.
This measure replaced a proposal 6. The goal was to find an acceptable way to include the centreboard weight in the hull weight measurement at a major championship. The discussion indicated that the members do not feel this is a goal worth pursuing.
The measure failed.

Proposal 7. Rule 2.3
This measure legitimizes the existing practice of permitting amateur builders to build not only timber boats but also from a kit where the glasfibre hull has been built by a licensed builder.
This measure passed with 30 votes. 66.67% in favour.

Proposal 8. Rule 15.1
This measure permits materials other than aluminium in the construction of booms. This was rejected previously at the AGM at Medemblik in 2000.
This time the measure passed with 25 votes in favour, 6 opposed. 80.1% in favour.

Proposal 9. Rule 13.1.
When the recent change was made to rule 13.1 permitting materials other than aluminium to be used in the construction of masts, the words "inherently straight" were inadvertently omitted from the new rule wording. The measure is to put those words back into the rule.
The measure passed with 29 in favour, none opposed. 

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary

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Other Business

Richard Buttner suggested that the class publish a yearbook as a means of promoting the class and offered assistance.

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Election of Officers

President: Nigel Walbank
Chairman: Chris Mitchell
Technical Chairman: Alan Mollatt
Treasurer: Manfred Kieckbusch
Secretary: Gil Woolley

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Upcoming Events

Worlds 2001: Kingston, Ontario Canada August 4-11. Ian Watson, chairman of the Canadian Contender Association, presented some information and handed out thick flyers to the National Secretaries. Kingston is the site used for CORK - Canadian Olympic Regatta Kingston. Lake Ontario is quite large - roughly 70 miles by 250 miles. It is a thermal wind area. They are planning two races per day.

Worlds 2002: Melbourne, Australia in January 2002. The organizers plan to offer free shipping container handling (terminal charges) but, contrary to previous announcements, no free shipping.

Worlds 2003: Plymouth, Great Britain. Third week of August.

Worlds 2004: Is open. Members of the German contingent suggested Travemunde.

Europeans 2001: Britanny, France held from 23 to 27 May at Loctudy. Henri Chemineau presented.

Europeans 2002: Hellerup, Denmark (20 minutes from Copenhagen). July or August. 5 days racing, car camping, gymnastic room. Manfred Kieckbusch adds that this is the club from which Paul Elvstrom sails. Lars Schrøder presented.

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Proposals for Rules Changes

A number of events external to and internal to the Contender class caused many class members to discuss and propose potential class rule changes. These proposals were written down and presented to the class members attending the Annual General Meeting (AGM). In order for a rule change to take effect, the proposal must be approved by 2/3 of the members attending the AGM, then it must be approved by a simple majority of class members voting by postal ballot, then it must be approved by the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) at their annual meeting. The votes taken at the AGM only start the process running.
13 May, 2001. The postal ballot process has been completed. Proposed changes to Rules 13, 15 and 17 have been approved by class membership and will now be submitted to the ISAF for final ratification.
 postal_ballot_results_2000 70.00 Kb

Proposal: Rule 17 (Sail). Change rule 17.12
from: Double luffed or loose footed sails are prohibited.
to: Double luffed sails are prohibited.
47 in favour
5 against
14 abstentions
66 total
Proposal approved by 71 percent. Proposal carried.

Proposal: Change rule 15 (Boom). Change rule 15.2
from: The boom, excluding fittings, shall be able to pass through an 80 mm diameter circle.
to: The boom, excluding fittings, shall be able to pass through an 120 mm diameter circle.
55 in favour
6 opposed
10 abstentions
71 total
Proposal approved by 77 percent. Proposal carried

Proposal: Change 15 (Boom). Change boom material to permit carbon fibre.
34 in favour
23 opposed
15 abstentions
72 total
Proposal approved by 47 percent. Proposal failed.

Proposal: Rule 13 (Masts) Proposal to permit any material.
56 in favour
9 opposed
9 abstentions
74 present
Proposal approved by 76 percent. Proposal carried.

Proposal: Rule 16 (Hull). Change hull weight downward.
32 in favour
35 opposed
3 abstentions
70 total
Proposal approved by 46 percent. Proposal failed.

Proposal: Rule 19 (Prohibitions) Change rule 19 to add a weight
equalization system involving addition of racks (for hiking out)
and additional hull weight for light weight sailors.
18 in favour
37 opposed
8 abstentions
63 total
Proposal approved by 29 percent. Proposal failed.

Proposal: Rule 42. Change class rules to permit pumping at any time.
8 in favour
47 opposed
0 abstentions
55 total
Proposal approved by 15 percent. Proposal failed.

Proposal: Change to permit up to 3 of the required 5 jury members
to participate by telecommunication rather than having to be on site
during a World Championship.
It was felt that this is the province of the ISAF and the Racing Rules.
It was not submitted to a vote by the members. Class representatives will discuss this with the ISAF.

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary dated 7 September, 2000, revised 13 May, 2001 with Postal Ballot Results

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Business Arising

Yearbook 1997
It was proposed by Richard Buttner that a new yearbook with updated class rules should be printed. The cost for the last yearbook including some brochures had been 2000 Sterling. Details were discussed and the proposal was unanimously carried.

Video from Weymouth Worlds
There was a video prepared during this championship by a professional photographer. It was agreed that the ICA should buy 2 copies for each National Contender Association.

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Election of Officers

The following officers were unanimously elected:

President: Jo Rosler
Chairman: Chris Mitchell
Treasurer: Manfred Kieckbusch
Secretary: Tobias Abarbanell
Technical Chairman: Nigel Walbank

The technical committee was re-elected without changes.

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Upcoming Events

World Championship 1997 in Sydney / Australia: The organizers asked for permission to change the race format for this championship so that on 5 racing days there would be 2 races a day of 1:15 to 1:30 hours length. There would be 2 discards if all races sailed. This was accepted with 50 votes pro, 4 against, and 15 abstentions. The dates will be:

    Wednesday, 31-Dec-97: New Year's Eve and Welcome Party.
    Thursday, 1-Jan-98 and Friday, 2-Jan-98: New South Wales Open.
    Saturday, 3-Jan-98 and Sunday, 4-Jan-98: Measurement.
    Monday, 5-Jan-98 - Friday, 9-Jan-98: World Championship races.

European Championship 1997 in Århus / Denmark: The Championship will be held from 2-9 Aug 1997 in Kaløvig 10 km north of Århus. The venue was presented by Søren Andreasen.

World Championship 1998 in Italy: Andrea Bonezzi explained that the Italian Class Association was pursuing a venue in Sardinia, but had no confirmation yet.

For the championships in 1999 and 2000 there had been the following proposals:
    * The Dutch Association proposed Medemblik in 1999
    * The German Association proposed Kiel in Aug/Sep 2000
    * The Swiss Association proposed a European Championship in 1999/2000 if the Worlds would be outside Europe.

There were no proposals for non-European events. It was discussed whether there should be three consecutive World Championships in such geographic proximity as Italy/Holland/Germany, but both Medemblik and Kiel were eventually unanimously accepted.

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The next AGM was announced to be during the World Championships in Sydney. The precise location and time will be announced in accordance with the Association rules.

Nigel Walbank proposed a vote of thanks to Richard Buttner which was unanimously carried.

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary.  26 November, 1999 revised per email 30 December, 1999 and 2 January, 2000
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Business Arising

Annual Levy to ICA and how we should spend the current balance of 21000€.
There was a proposal to substantially drop the fee, and to change it to Euros, rather than £ Sterling.
Eventually a proposal from Roy Otten to change the fee to 6 €(ie remain unchanged other than
the currency switch) was voted upon and agreed by a majority, with 2 against.

How to spend our cash……. Topics discussed……..

Class promotion within individual countries
Over the past years much has been spent, and claimed from ICA to support this area of expenditure. While not ruling it out in the future, National Associations have been reminded that ANY expense in this area where ICA grants are needed MUST be pre agreed ie national associations cannot spend and then claim or deduct these costs from their ICA annual Levy.

An agreement in one year does not confer agreement for subsequent years.
Areas which will be considered for support include :

• National exhibitions
• Publicity materials that can be used within all countries
• Grants towards European and world championships
• Reimbursement for discounts allowed to juniors at world or European events (not national events)
• Professionally run training events aimed at developing grass roots racing

Much discussion took place on how to encourage sailors from under represented nations attend
world events. Specifically Australian sailors put forward a case for support, from direct container
support to discounted, or free entry fees, but this can also be used to argue the case for USA,
Canada, France, Spain etc. There was a strong feeling from members that some support should
be given, with a proposal that we should even allow a special fund to be set up by voluntary
donation / annual levy by sailors wishing to pledge extra support for this specific purpose.
This is a point that the committee needs to discuss, possibly encouraging National Associations
to seek additional small voluntary contributions. There was a definite feeling that our championships
would be a poorer place without an international contingent.
No formal proposition was put to a vote, but the committee agreed to produce a budget, based on
our known income and likely expenditure, and how we intend to use the money wisely in supporting
the class development.

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Election of Officers

The existing officers and committee were re-elected to stand for a further year, with 3 members
voting against.

The following were unanimously accepted onto the committee as National Representatives:

• Switzerland: Jacqueline Rufenacht
• Italy: Andrea Bonezzi
• Denmark: Moses Lovstad
• Australia: Alan Grifiths
• Netherlands: Hans Van der Viet
• Germany: Tobias Abarbanell
• UK: Simon Mussell

No nominations were received from Austria, USA, Canada, France, Spain, etc

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Upcoming Events

2005 Worlds: Travemünde, Germany Worlds 23-29 July, 2005
2006 Worlds: Fremantle, Australia 2-7 January, 2006. Paul Green guaranteed no rain and girls on the beach. Then he distributed brochures
2006 Europeans: Austria 27/8 to 1/9 ** info added revision A
2007 Netherlands: 2007 will be on the Ijsselmeer. We haven't decided the date and which side of the lake yet. As soon as we know, you will ** info added revision A
2008 Worlds: Canada will be in late August in 2008. We don't want to wait until fall as we may have iceberg issues. (yes Matt that is a joke) ** info added revision A
2008 Europeans: I think you mean... Cervia, not Gallia (a famous luxury hotel in Milan) :-)(south of Venice) in May or June ** info added revision A
Secretary sincerely gives thanks to many people who have provided more accurate information in May 2005.

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Rules

Championship Rules have been on the ICA web site since 2001. They were circulated, and further copies made available after the meeting. Tim Holden (TJH) explained how important it was to bring our Championship rules up to date. A unanimous vote was received in support. Thanks were expressed to Chris Mitchell for his drafting.

Association Rules have been redrafted by TJH to reflect how the committee and association is currently run.
Copies were made available, and a copy is attached. A unanimous vote was received and the item passed.

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary Revision A 26 May, 2005

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Business Arising

Chairman Søren Andreasen proposed that we change the class rules to permit pumping (actually suspension of rule 42 Propulsion) within our class rules. He pointed out that a number of classes have modified their class rules to permit pumping and that ISAF rule making has changed in such a way that it is now necessary to modify the class rules in order that rule 42 be suspended. 37 were in favour, 8 opposed 45 total. 82% in favour. This change must be subjected to worldwide postal ballot and approval by the ISAF.

Jan von der Bank spoke regarding the image of the Contender class, the German media and recommended that the class identify the Contender as a Skiff. The boat was designed in Australia, in Australia, the word “Skiff” is used to denote a dinghy and that in the present milieu skiffs are considered to be exciting and new. He recommended that we purchase rights on the Internet to the words contenderskiff.org.

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Election of Officers

Most of the discussion regards the position of President since former President Tim Holden decided to step sideways into the position of Treasurer.

Chairman Søren Andreasen pointed out that at present the various officers come from a number of countries and that it is probably a widespread feeling that having too many officers from one country can cause problems of lack of representation. Since Great Britain is already represented by Technical Chairman Alan Mollatt and Treasurer Tim Holden, it would be good to find a President from another country. He then recognized Albrecht Delius who proposed Manfred Kieckbusch for the office of President, which he accepted.

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Upcoming Events

Worlds:
2006 Perth, Fremantle, Australia 7-14 Worlds, 4-6 Australian Nationals. Boats will ship from Europe in a container in October
2007 Medemblik, Holland in mid July
2008 Kingston, Canada. It was recommended that one or more Canadians attend the Worlds at Fremantle to promote the Worlds in Canada.
2009 Deliberately no decision but possibilities are Finland, Sweden, Spain, Denmark, Serbia Montenegro.
2010 Brisbane, Australia

Europeans:
2006 Traunsee, Austria end of August
2008 Cervia, Italia; May decide to change to Northern Italy to reduce driving distances for German Contender sailors.

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Communication between ICA and national class associations

The GCA requested that in future only the elected and officially representing officers will be approached with respective topics with copy to national secretary, e.g. postal ballots on technical items to be sent to the German Technical Chairman. The national secretary is always responsible and in charge by law, so he should have a copy of correspondence.

Chris Sutherland spoke about Perth/Fremantle in January 2006. It is a town of 1 million people. It is windy and hot.

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary dated 19 December, 2005

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Election of Officers

The chairman identified three incumbent officers who wished to continue their service:
Treasurer: Tim Holden of UK
Technical Chairman: Alan Mollatt of UK
Secretary: Gil Woolley of USA
Then he nominated for the position of President: Jan von der Bank of Germany
Then he nominated for the position of Chairman: Neil Smith of Canada

Dissent was quickly quelled and the vote for the proposed slate was approved unanimously.

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Upcoming Events

2008: Kingston, Ontario Canada
16-17 August CORK (North Americans and tune-up?) then 19-23 August Worlds
Location: Portsmouth Olympic Harbour, 53 Yonge Street, Kingston, Ontario K7M 1A1, Canada  (613) 545-1322
Portsmouth Olympic Harbour  44º13'8,70"N   76º31'4.57"W
Foxtrot racing area   44º 9'19.62"N   76º35'13.93"W
The Race Committee is very well prepared. They are currently running the Volvo Youth Championships.
If sufficient competitors enter, then there will be day trips, a sunset ceremony and a boat cruise.

European Championships 2008: Italy
1st week in June in Punt Ala, Toscana (Tuscany)
Big camping area

Worlds 2009: Propose Denmark. First Danish Worlds since 1985. The vote was yes.

Worlds 2010: Propose Brisbane in January or November.

Worlds 2011: Propose UK Likely Weymouth. Slot in early July.

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Proposals for Rules Changes

Four rules changes proposals by Andrea Bonezzi were posted in the days before the AGM

• 16.1 Remove the text "and its retaining fittings". This permits the centreboard fixing to remain in the boat when the centreboard is removed for a weighing.
  Yes 31 No 0 Passed unanimously 100%.
• 7.1ii Remove (ii) in order to allow plastic boats to be built in epoxy.
  Yes 20 No 15 failed Only 57% in favour,
• 13.8 Change minimum tip weight from 2.5 Kg to 2.3 Kg.
  Yes: 39 No 0 Passed unanimously 100%.
• New deck layout proposal. Andrea Bonezzi proposed that the class authorize the expenditures of funds to build a more optimized cockpit section on either a new hull or a used hull changing only the look from the shrouds aft and not changing the hull shape at all.
  Proposal failed.
• Proposal to remove the present requirement for a towing eye to be fitted. Considerable discussion about whether such a towing eye would pull out and how useful that it is. It was noted by observation that many of the boats at this Worlds were not fitted with a towing eye.
  The vote after this discussion was to not change the present rule. That is to continue to require that all Contenders must be fitted with a towing eye.
• Proposal to permit the centreboard and lines to remain in the boat for a measurement at a major regatta such as the worlds. Further to assume that the centreboard adds 3.5 Kg and the lines add 0.5 Kg. This does not affect the class rules but rather the procedure to be followed at a major championship. Mol (Alan Mollatt will change the procedure. The new procedure will be used at the Worlds at Kingston.)

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary dated 19 August 2007

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This is page 2

Contender Class Rules 2008
An issue arose regarding the issuance of personal sail numbers. Ballot 2006 was written in such a way as to allow the issuance of personal sail numbers but the wording was vague. ISAF revised the wording to permit the change to allowing the use of the plaque number as the sail number. However, the sense of the revision no longer permitted issuance of personal sail numbers. Some national Contender Associations have been issuing personal sail numbers for a number of years and requested a change of the wording which permits personal sail numbers. It is also a recognized practice in other international classes.
The secretary undertook discussions with ISAF and with and interested sailors and the result is addition of rule Para 4.2 iv) which explicitly permits the issuance of personal sail numbers. The rules issued 4 August, 2008 include this rule change.
Below is the text of the Class Rule 4.2 after this change:
4.2 The sail number shall be as follows:
i) ISAF plaque numbers greater than 2380, the plaque number shall be the sail number.
ii) ISAF plaque numbers between 719 and 2381, the sail number shall be either that issued by the MNA or that of the plaque number.
iii) ISAF plaque numbers less than 720, the sail number shall be that issued by the MNA.
iv) The Certification Authority may issue personal sail numbers between 1-719. In the event of a conflict of sail numbers the race committee may require the boat to add an additional prefix or use the ISAF plaque number.
Below is the text of the Class Rule 4.2 before this change.
4.2 The sail number shall be as follows:
i) ISAF plaque numbers greater than 2380, the plaque number shall be the sail number.
ii) ISAF plaque numbers between 719 and 2381, the sail number shall be either that issued by the MNA or that of the plaque number.
iii) ISAF plaque numbers less than 720, the sail number shall be that issued by the MNA.
Ballot 2008 was distributed for world wide voting. Results from 158 ballots were tallied. All three measures on the ballot were approved and the ballot has been forwarded to ISAF for consideration.
Proposed rule 2.3 Passed with 75.3% approval. The effect is to permit amateurs to build glasfibre boats. 119 voted in favour, 39 opposed.
Proposed Rule 13.8 passed with 90.4% approval. The effect is to lower the tip weight from
2.5 Kg to 2.3 Kg. 142 in favour, 15 opposed.
Proposed rule 16.1 passed with 84.2% approval. The effect is to include the weight of the centreboard retaining fittings in the hull weight measurement of 83 Kg. 133 in favour, 25 opposed.
Ballot 2008 has been sent to ISAF for consideration. It will likely be considered at or before the ISAF Annual Meeting in November 2008. If the measures are approved, the likely effective date would be 1, January 2009.
Submitted 21 August, 2008 by Secretary Gil Woolley

Voting ballots
Joachim Harpprecht raised a question about whether the Secretary had the actual ballots in hand and questioned whether the votes recorded represented actual individual votes or representative votes actually determined by a small number of people. The Secretary promised to try to obtain the detailed voting records.

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Business Arising

• Support France. Budget Euro2000? Boat show has not worked. Euro 1000 per year per country? Proposal, ICA should spend up to Euro 2000/ year on promotion. Emphasis on requesting country should make a proposal before expenditure, obtain agreement with ICA. Proposed by Chris Sutherland, seconded by Frank Whittington. Unanimous.
• Championship Rules should be modified to include rules on when the fleet is so large that the organizers will split the fleet into two or more fleets. Also specify the number of races per day.
• Volunteers for committee to revise the rules included Mark Thorborg and Chris Sutherland.
• Association Rules need del to Jan von der Bank. Committee

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Election of officers

Technical Chairman: Greg Barrington had volunteered to take on the job prior to the meeting.
at the meeting, Marco Versari expressed interest in becoming Technical Chairman
It was voted to elect both Greg and Marco as co-chairmen. Vote was unanimous.
Treasurer: Jan Langendorf was put forward as new Treasurer. He was voted in unanimously.
President: Jan van der Bank was put forward to continue as President. The vote was unanimous.
Secretary: Gil Woolley expressed willingness to continue until the Worlds in 2009. He will
not attend the Worlds in Denmark but can deliver the minutes of the 2008 meeting so that the
new Secretary may be elected and take office at the start of the AGM in 2009.
Chairman:  Neil Smith agreed to stand for reelection to the office of President. The vote was unanimous.

Ron Duffield wishes to step down as International Measurer. He is in good health but is 81 years
of age. Peter Hixson is interested in training up to take on the job.

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Upcoming Events

2009 Worlds are in Denmark are scheduled to use Travemünde Woche as the preWorlds.
Dates Wednesday 19 July to Saturday 22 July will be the preWorlds
Two days off to move boats to Denmark (2 1/2 hour drive)
Measurement for the Worlds Saturday 25 July and Sunday 26 July plus practice race.
Worlds from Monday 27 July to Friday 31 July.

2010 Worlds at Brisbane organized by Royal Queensland Yacht Club (RQYC)
The venue features camping and apartments on site.

2010 Europeans will be held at La Rochelle, France. 6 meters of tide will add spice to the mix.

2011 Worlds will be in Weymouth, U.K.

2012 Worlds Discussion of a Worlds in the fall of 2012 in Southern USA giving time for Europeans to sail
their summer meetings and events and then ship their boats for some late fall sailing.

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Proposals for Rules Changes

• Propose that the rules be changed to permit multi-part masts. This may have been envisioned by the ballot a few years ago. We may not need to submit this to a world-wide ballot. Possibly ISAF changed the rule from multipart to two part masts. They may agree to change to multipart. Reason: to enable breaking down masts into shorter sections for more economical transport aboard aircraft and in shipping containers. Vote in favour: unanimous.
• Proposal to permit modern electronic compasses which can display GPS, speed, Velocity made good. Only 3 in favour. Vote failed.
• Proposal to clarify intent of rules to explicitly preclude chines. Exact wording to be worked out with ISAF. A few persons have expressed interest in building a Contender with chines. Gil Woolley argued that if such a boat was sailed by an extremely good sailor, it might appear that the new shape was superior. This would have the effectof making obsolete all existing hulls and hull moulds. The rule change or clarification would make it clear that a Contender hull may not have chines. Vote was unanimous in favour.

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary, dated 7 November 2008

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There was no lack of wind at Fremantle, where the famed ‘Fremantle Doctor’ blew with its usual ferocity. The heavy weather stars were very much in evidence, with Brits Simon Mussell and Tim Holden mixing it with Tim Hill, Marcus Hamilton and Jan Von der Bank. Then, with everything set for a grandstand final, the wind went light and Andrea Bonezzi drew on all his experience to win once more, a truly amazing record of 6 World Championship wins. Christoph Homier won the Europeans at Ebensee, and then once again it was back to Medemblik and another monster fleet of 148 boats.

Marcus Hamilton, who had been close to winning the title in previous years, finally overcame his great rival, Andrea, at the 2007 World Championships at Medemblik

Søren Andreasen, Graham Scott and Andrea Bonezzi all looked strong, with Homier and Giovanni Bonzio just waiting for one of the top boats to leave an opening. In the end though it was Marcus Hamilton, who had already been second in the event a number of times, who went into the final day with the all important points advantage. With a strong wind blowing and visibility poor in the driving rain, the Race Committee decided against sending the fleet out afloat, a situation that resulted in Marcus being ceremoniously thrown into the harbour as the new Champion. The following year in Ontario (where the promised Kingston Thermal did not materialise), Marcus demonstrated his prowess in light air too, winning the 2008 Championships and  announcing his retirement from racing the Contender.

Back in Europe, Graham Scott won the Hellerup Europeans and must have looked the firm favourite for when the Worlds came to Plymouth, his ‘home base’. It looked even better for Graham when early on, Bonezzi found a hole in the wind. Whatever the Italian is for the “biggest ****ing hole in sailing” might be, it certainly ranked with the one that did for Barry Watson in Sweden. However, Andrea showed his true class by bouncing back later in the week to win an incredible 4th World title, ahead of Tim Holden and Stuart Jones.

At Garda the following year, Andrea made few mistakes to win the title once again, whilst behind him the growing threat of Marcus Hamilton and Tim Hill let potentially championship winning positions slip from their grasp. Could Andrea now make it ‘3 in a row’ when the fleet went up to Travemünde in Northern Germany? First though the Contender Fleet had to say a last farewell to Freddie Gale, who finally succumbed after a typically brave and resistant battle with illness.  Freddie’s vision had given the class much of its direction, there was no better tribute to him than the class once again mustering well over 100 boats for its premier event.

A beautiful boat, beautifully built and sailed…beautifully. Andrea, with his famous I (ITA) 11 leitmotif, showing how to win – and to keep on winning

Once again it looked like a Bonezzi / Hamilton battle out front, but as the week progressed it was Jan von der Bank who kept his nerve to move into the lead. The event would be decided on the final day, but then, even after the whole fleet had been towed out to the start area; racing was finally abandoned - leaving Jan as the new Champion. Jan von der Bank, seen here sailing at full speed to escape some of the more insensitive questioning from the German Press!!

The end of the millennium, the ‘Millennium Bug’ and yet more politicking from ISAF. They already had two top International singlehanders, soon they would add to this list the Joachim Harpprecht designed ‘Musto Performance Skiff’ – which would be the final nail in the coffin of the Contender's Olympic aspirations. The Contender could still attract a top class fleet for its main championships though, as at Kiel the ‘big four’, Bonezzi, Scott, Jones and Renilson, would be joined by John Browett in a ‘top of the table clash’. Scott and Browett dented their chances with mid week black flags, and on the last day only Bonezzi and Browett were left in contention for the title. The Brit picked up a penalty, leaving the consistent Italian to take another well earned Championship. For the 2000 Championships it was once again back to Medemblik, where a 107 boat fleet almost became 108 as Bernard Shapley’s dinghy was almost cut in two by a powerboat. In the racing, the big names were very much again to the fore, but then some uncharacteristic results in the teens put paid to the chances of Jones and Renilson. The way looked clear for Andrea to collect his 4th title when on the penultimate day, Gabriel Wicke won both races. In the start of the last race of the event, Andrea got into a tangle and had to take a 720º penalty, leaving Gabriel to climb clear into the second place that would make him Germany’s first Championship winner. Ashore, all the talk was now of Carbon rigs and the difficult question - would the expensive upgrades split the class? Meanwhile, there was a Europeans to contest at Loctudy, where Frank Suchanek won four races, yet only just scraped into the top ten as the light airs consistency of Ian Renilson added more silverware to the sideboard.

The Worlds meanwhile shifted back to Canada, where a small fleet more than made up for the lack of numbers by the quality of the event and the heat of the competition. The early assumption had been that Andrea would dominate the event but in the end it was Arthur Brett who showed that attention to detail, plus his relentless practice schedule, would bring him success. Arthur repeated the trick on his home waters of Black Rock YC, near Melbourne, in an event notable for some of the breezy conditions sailed in.

The Black Rock Championships was everything a Contender event should be, hot, sunny and windy.

In 1997 the wonderful city of Sydney was alive with Olympic fever as the preparations for the Games went into overdrive. But first there was the little matter of the Contender World Championships to hold, when for once the famed harbour breeze failed to blow. The lighter weather looked to favour current champion Ian Renilson, who was well placed to continue his form from Weymouth until his boat was  ‘t-boned’ in an unfortunate accident. An incredible all night effort ashore saw his boat back on the water the next day, whilst the Protest Jury was far more sympathetic to him than they had been to Andrea at Hayling. Ian pulled out all the stops and won two races in a day, but it wasn’t enough to claw the initiative back from Bonezzi, who kept a tight grip on the event to win his second title. Ian took his revenge at the Europeans held at Aarhus, to add another title to his growing list of successes.

Ian could have won back to back World Titles at Sydney, but suffered major hull damage in an unfortunate accident. The locals got him back afloat in record time, but by then Andrea had a stranglehold on the event and went on to win.

Apologies have been received from Rien van Zwienen and Ab de Niet.
The Meeting was opened by the Chairman, Richard Buttner, who read the Minutes of the previous AGM held 1994 in Austria. Acceptance of minutes was proposed by Keith Paul, seconded by Nigel Walbank, and unanimously accepted. The meeting ran 18:15 hrs - 20:00 hrs

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Chairman's report

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Treasurer's report

Apologies had been received from Ab. The following report were included in Rien's letter. Total amount due for the Yearbook is 1800 pound Sterling which needs to be paid to the British Contender Association. It was suggested that the secretary sends out a proforma invoice in the first quarter of each year reminding the National Associations of the amount per member due for the year. It was confirmed that the annual fee will 4 pound Sterling per year per full member from 1996 onwards.

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Technical Report

The ballot regarding use of vinylester for laminating has been carried and submitted to the relevant IYRU committee. The same applies for the ballot regarding transom rake. Another question brought to the tech. committee was a rewording of the rule regarding rig adjustments.The committee proposed that no change was needed. This was unanimously accepeted by the AGM. The sail measurement procedure for our class differs from the standard IYRU procedure. Nigel Walbank proposed to bring this in line with the standard procedure with a rule change via a postal ballot. Seconded by Ron Duffin, unanimously carried

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President's report

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Secretary's report

Apologies had been received from Rien. A Report from Rien was read by Richard Buttner. The ICA has been represented at the 1994 AGM of the IYRU by Rien and Richard. Keith proposed a vote of thanks for Rien, unanimously carried.

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Other Business

Andrew Keag proposed to establish a list of International Judges and Jury Members experienced in Contender Championships to make the organization of a major events easier. It was suggested that the ICA secretary should hold that list and make it available to interested parties.

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Election of Officers

Rien had mentioned that he wanted to stand down,
Tobias Abarbanell proposed as secretary by Nigel Walbank, seconded by Keith Paul, carried unanimously.

President: Jo Rösler
Chairman: Richard Buttner
Technical Chairman: Nigel Walbank
Treasurer: Ab de Niet
reelected unanimously - proposed by Steve Evans, seconded by Frank Wittington.
Technical committee: Andrea Bonezzi added to committee, proposed by Keith Paul, seconded by Andrew Keag, elected unanimously.  Michael Smits added to cormmittee replacing David Gilliland, proposed by Gil Woolley, seconded by Jerry White, elected unanimously.

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Upcoming Events

Worlds 1996: Weymouth, UK 30-Aug to 6-Sep 1996
Europeans 1997: Kaløvig near Århus, Denmark preferred Aug/Sep. 1997
Worlds 1997: Sydney 1/2 Jan 1998 New South Wales Titles, 3-7 Jan 1998 Worlds (2 races each day)
Worlds 1998: Italy, Sardinia preferred September
Worlds 1999/2000: options: one year France, South Africa, or another "new" country; other year a "big fleet" event like Germany, Holland. 

Euro Cup
To promote racing on an international level within Europe, a Euro Cup will be initiated by the German Contender Association starting 1996. This will be a ranking list calculated from each competitors best three regattas from a total of 6 to 8 European regattas. The details will be finalized during the next months and communicated by the ICA secretary. For ease of communication it was propesed to put the addresses of the national fixtures secretaries in the ICA address list.

Transport for the 1996 Worlds
Richard Buttner will try to arrange a cheap ferry price for the transport to the 1996 Worlds. People interested should contact Richard at least 6-8 weeks in advance giving details such as: Car registration, Number of people, Number of boats.

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Rules

The 1996 AGM will take place on Wednesday, 4 September 1996, 19:00 hours at the Weymouth Sailing Centre, Weymouth, Great Britain

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary dated May, 2005

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Meeting started at 18:00 hrs and ended at 19:40 hrs
The Meeting was opened by the ICA Chairman, Richard Buttner with 69 full members present.
Apologies have been received from Joe Rosler and Ab de Niet. Apologies also from the USA and Switzerland for not being able to send competitors to the 1996 World Championship. The US Contender Association expressed their thanks to all competitors of last years worlds.

A vote of thanks for the resigning Treasurer Ab de Niet was proposed by Richard Buttner, seconded by Tobias Abarbanell, and unanimously carried.

The Minutes of the 1995 AGM have been read by Richard Buttner. Approval was proposed by Nigel Walbank, seconded by Tobias Abarbanell, and unanimously carried.

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Chairman's report

Richard reported from his and Tobias' attendance at the IYRU November meetings 1995 in Hamburg. There is a high pressure on International classes and the criteria we have to meet are tight. It is important to strengthen our small fleets in order to keep our status.

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Treasurer's report

Tobias said that Ab had last reported a bottom line figure of 27,000 dutch guilders in the ICA accounts. Ab has recently moved to Brazil and would like to stand down as Treasurer.

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Technical Report

Postal ballots regarding transom rake and vinylester had been carried out in 1995, the results being passed to the IYRU for their November meetings in 1995. The new rules became effective 1st March 1996.

At the 95 AGM in Rowayton a vote to modify the class sail measurement rules was taken so that when the method of measuring sails was brought in to line with the IYRU standard there would be no change in sail size. The agreed changes were an average of input from UK, Germany, and Italy as follows:

    3/4 height    1210-1175mm
    1/2 height    2020-2000mm
    1/4 height    2520-2510mm

Back in the UK Ron Duffield tried the new measuring system out on new sails he was measuring and pointed out that current sails were well within these new dimensions and Graham Scott and Ian Simpkins (UK sails) felt they could redesign larger sails using these measurements that would outclass current designs. The technical committee represented by Nigel Walbank therefore proposed new measurements of:

    3/4 height    1145mm
    1/2 height    1970mm
    1/4 height    2500mm.

This proposal was seconded by David Geal and unanimously carried. It will go out to a postal ballot this winter.

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ICA Measurer's report
 
Ron Duffield reported he had measured 116 boats at the beginning of this championships and expressed his thanks to all involved in the measurement. He reported that the ISAF (formerly IYRU) will change the Racing rules in respect to clothing weight. This was caused by a medical report initiated by the IYRU which showed health risks through high clothing weight and weight jackets, especially in hiking classes. The new rule, which is currently in draft status and will be finalized in November 1996, will ban weight jackets and change the clothing weight so that only 8 kg will be allowed excluding footwear and trapeze harness. Our class rule stating 12 kg including footwear and harness will become invalid then and we should consider whether we need to take action. Chris Mitchell asked, how much weight would be actually used and Ron reported, he had measured 9-11 kg according to the old measurement, which would equal 6-8 kg in the new measurement and may not leave room enough for cold weather. A change of class rule cannot be effective for 1997 because we already missed the deadline for submission to the ISAF November meeting. David Davies proposed that Ron Duffield should prepare a suitable proposal after the ISAF Racing rules for 1997-2000 are published and this should be put to a postal ballot in time for the 1997 ISAF November meeting. This was seconded by Jan von der Bank and unanimously carried.

Ron expressed concern about the class rule 19.1 prohibiting hiking aids. He regarded the footblocks fitted in several boats as hiking aids. It was mentioned that quite a lot of boats have these devices, and Joachim Harpprecht proposed to change Class rule 19.1 to allow footblocks in the dimensions as in the existing Dinghy Sports boats. Seconded by Tobias Abarbanell and carried with 38 votes pro, 14 contra, and 5 abstentions. It was agreed that Ron would measure some boats the next days and propose the wording for the postal ballot.

Peter Dives proposed a vote of thanks to Ron Duffield which was unanimously carried.

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President's report

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Secretary's report

Tobias reported on the activities started to promote the class in the Internet. Email is used for communication within the Contender community and an automatic mailing list has been set up where currently about 50 subscribers can receive and send messages about Contender related topics. Participants of the mailing service are from 8 countries.

Publication of promotional texts, images, and race calendars has begun on the World Wide Web with about 10 readers every day. Surprisingly high demand was measured for pages relating to secondhand boats and amateur building of Contenders.

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                                                  (Business Arising, Election of Officers, Ucoming Events)

Minutes of previous AGM at Sardinia, Italia: No minutes have been recorded.
Apologies: Apology from Technical Chairman, Alan Mollatt

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Chairman's report

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Treasurer's report

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Technical Report

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President's report

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Secretary's report

Gil Woolley reported on the 2nd Hand Contender web page. There are 42 current advertisements and 6 or 7 boats have been sold that were advertised on the page. The page is currently not working automatically but advertisements emailed to the secretary are entered manually on the page.

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Other Business

Discussion of the “Olympic” trials to select a new high performance single handed dinghy. There was considerable discussion by a number of members to the effect that the Contender was selected as a new high performance single handed dinghy over 30 years ago. Chairman Mitchell asked for a show of hands to see how many members support making the Contender an Olympic class and how many are opposed to making the Contender an Olympic class.
Results of show of hands.

• 4 support making the Contender an Olympic class
• 26 are opposed to making the Contender an Olympic class
• 9 abstained from taking a position.

It was the sense of the membership that the secretary should write a letter to ISAF to remind them that the Contender has already been selected as a fast single hander, the class would like to be represented by excellent Contenders and Contender sailors at the trials. Further, the ISAF has obviously decided that the Contender is not the fast single hander for which they are searching because the description of the objective of the trials is to find a boat faster on all points of sail and with a wider range of helm weight than any current International class. Finally, since ISAF is looking for a boat faster than existing International classes, the Contender and arguably other International classes should be admitted to the trials without the obligation to pay an entry fee in order that ISAF may be satisfied that the boat chosen is indeed faster than all existing International classes.

Chairman Mitchell led discussion of Contender class Championship rules. It was observed that presently, the Chairman is involved in granting exceptions to the existing Championship rules such as permitting more than a single race per day. It was the sense of the meeting that a committee be organized to redraft the Championship rules to reflect the desires of the contemporary Contender racing community and to eliminate the need to continuously grant exceptions to the rules for each World Championship.

It was suggested that the membership be posted on the Internet.

It was suggested and discussed that it would be beneficial to develop a “storm” sail or a sail better suited to low weight helms persons.

It was discussed that special incentives for juniors should be included in the Championship rules but others pointed out that the championship committee already has permission granted by the existing rules to offer special incentives and inducements (prizes) to sailors under the age 18.

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Election of Officers

The following persons were (re)-elected to the following offices:
President: Nigel Walbank
Chairman: Chris Mitchell
Technical Chairman: Alan Mollatt
Treasurer: Manfred Kieckbusch
Secretary: Gil Woolley

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Upcoming Events

World Championship Arrangements:
2000 Medemblik, Holland
2001 Kingston, Ontario Canada
2002 was firmed up to be: Melbourne, Australia in January 2002 Promote Phillip Bay
2003 Plymouth, Great Britain

European Championship Arrangements:
2001 Silvaplana Switzerland, 15-20 August - Excuse me, major correction
2001 will be held in Loctudy in Britanny, France. Dates are not yet confirmed with the club published.
2002 Denmark (added to the minutes after the meeting)

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary

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Minutes of previous AGM at Kiel, Germany: Approved with no further changes.

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Chairman's report

Chris Mitchell described the Evaluation Trials at Quiberon. Chris and Graham Scott brought their own boats to Quiberon at ICA expense. Persons evaluating the new fast single-handed skiff sailed Graham's boat, both boats competed in the limited racing. Write ups of this event appeared first in the Voiles & Voiliers article elsewhere on this web site in the original French and a translation to English.

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Treasurer's report

Manfred Kieckbusch stated that there were about £10,000 sterling in the account presently before any currently owed amounts have been presented. He further remarked it is much more difficult to obtain owed amounts from various countries than to find ways to spend the money.

Manfred asked that each national association post on the Internet their roster of boat owners and designate those owners who are currently paid up members in good standing.

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Technical Report

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President's report

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Secretary's report

Gil Woolley reported on the 2nd Hand Contender web page. There are 40 current advertisements and 29 boats have been sold that were advertised on the page. He asked for comments after the meeting regarding the frustrations of the change in servers during 2000 and whether further changes were necessary. (no comments received). He described the operation of the egroups mailing list started 12 January 2000. Activity ranges from 35 to 120 messages per month. The Evaluation trials at Quiberon in March and the Voiles & Voiliers article and the Yachts and Yachting article have produced the most activity.

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                                                  (Business Arising, Election of Officers, Upcoming Events, Proposals for Rules Changes)

Minutes of previous AGM at Medemblik, Netherlands: Approved with no further changes.

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Chairman's report
Chris Mitchell - See proposed Championship Rules changes below.

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Treasurer's report
No written report submitted from Manfred Kieckbusch.

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Technical Report

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President's report

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Secretary's report

We estimate that there are 600 Contenders world wide. We know of the sale of roughly 50 boats during the year 2000.

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Other Business

A proposal was put forward by Treasurer Manfred Kieckbusch.
It is presently difficult to collect dues to ICA from the member National Contender Associations. Manfred's proposal is to change from annual dues per class member to the sale of a token with the purchase of each new sail. The action on this item is for Manfred to write down the proposal and have it voted upon at the AGM in Melbourne.

Shortfall at the Kingston Worlds. The Canadian Association put forward a request that the ICA cover a CAN$900 shortfall. This shortage occurred because it had been reasonably expected that about 40 competitors would enter the Worlds at Kingston and in fact only 31 had entered. Budgeting for the event had expected the fees from 40 entries. The measure was proposed, seconded and approved.

Benjamin Voigt proposed placing Contender advertisements aimed at younger sailors in magazines such as (but not limited to) the International 420 and the Cadet.

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Election of Officers

The following persons were elected to the following offices
President: Arthur Brett AUS-279
Chairman: Søren Andreason DEN-44
Technical Chairman: Alan Mollatt GBR-540
Treasurer: Manfred Kieckbusch GER-474
Secretary: Gil Woolley USA-204

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Upcoming Events

2002 Worlds: Melbourne, Australia in January 2002
Bill Bell, commodore, described the planned regatta including accommodations or lodging for most competitors. Wharfage fees in Melbourne shall be covered by the Australians on behalf of the the containers full of Contenders coming to the Worlds in Melbourne.

2003 Worlds: Plymouth, Great Britain. Third week of August.

2004 Worlds: Riva on Lake Garda was proposed for the end of the summer. This was approved unanimously.

2005: Is open.

2002 Europeans: Hellerup, Denmark (20 minutes from Copenhagen). July or August
5 days racing, car camping, gymnastic room. Manfred Kieckbusch adds that this is the club from which Paul Elvström sails. Lars Schrøder presented.

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Rules

Chris Mitchell briefly described proposed changes to the Championship Rules.
The major changes are:

• Simplified championship committee.
• Permit two races per day.
• Low point scoring system.
• Preliminary Notice of Race required 6 months in advance of the event.
• Final Notice of Race required 3 months in advance of event.

The proposed changes have been posted on the class web site and will be reviewed and may come to a vote at Melbourne AGM in January 2002.

Gil Woolley proposed a rule change to the booms to permit a taper of the section after the outer black band. The justification is that at several World Championships, booms have been rejected at measurement because of a taper cut into the outer end of the boom. Evidently, in some countries some competitors have
come to believe that a taper is permitted but the International Measurer has required the equipment to conform to the rules which presently forbid a taper.

A "fix" has been observed wherein an aluminium can is taped to the outer end of the boom in such a way to conceal the taper. This "fix" may be dangerous to other boats and competitors during the regatta. The purpose of the rule change proposal is to make the meaning of the present rule much clearer so that no more boat owners cut a taper into their booms and to permit a very limited taper.

The proposal K was approved by over two thirds of those present. It was agreed that a postal ballot on this change will be deferred until after the 2002 Worlds at Melbourne so that if further rules changes are approved, one postal ballot may be used to seek approval of several items at one time.

Proposal K
Rule 15.1: Change from: The boom shall be constructed of inherently straight aluminium alloy extrusion(s) and shall be of constant external dimension throughout its length, except the track may be cut away to a total length of 200mm with the band at the tack and/or clew to avoid fouling the sail cringle(s). The section may be cut away or tapered to accommodate tack and clew fittings.
Change to: The boom shall be constructed of inherently straight aluminium alloy extrusion(s) and shall be of constant external dimension throughout its length, except the track may be cut away to a total length of 200mm with the band at the tack and/or clew to avoid fouling the sail cringle(s). The section may be cut away or tapered to accommodate tack and clew fittings. The section may be tapered at the clew end beyond the outer limit band.

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Submitted by Gil Woolley, Secretary dated 28 August, 2000

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Meeting started at 19:45 hrs and ended at 22:30 hrs
Minutes of the 2001 AGM at Kingston were approved with one correction.

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Chairman's report

The Report from the Chairman this year will be very short. This is due to the fact that I have only been Chairman since the Kingston worlds 4 months ago.
Not much has happened so far, but we have decided make a new rule book and some new brochures.
Kingston Worlds was overall a very good worlds, the race committee was there BUT the sailing and weather was very good.
Such a shame not more people showed up, we had a very disappointing number of boats from Great Britain, USA and Holland.
In the coming months I will be contacting each of the National Contender Associations to Ideas how to get more people in the class, If the NA has some good Ideas the ICA might sponsor them.

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Treasurer's report

Separate written report provided information that there is Eu 20,109 in the bank. An income statement was not included. Later in the meeting, David Davies asked that the ICA committee take an action item to prepare a income statement with annualized income and expenses and present it to the membership.

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Technical Report

Alan stated it has been a busy year with the completion of the postal balloting for the measures approved at the 2000 Worlds at Medemblik. This was followed by a submission to the ISAF for their meeting in November. All of the rules changes previously approved by the ICA at the AGM in Medemblik and by the following postal ballot were approved by the ISAF.
Alan pointed out that our rules change process requires a 2/3 majority both at the AGM and following that, by a 2/3 majority of the votes cast by postal ballot.

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President's report

Arthur stated that due to his short time in the job he had little to report except, smilingly, he had attempted to introduce adjustable checkstays.

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Secretary's report

Gil reported that he has been gathering information about the size of the class, the growth of the class and the exchange of boat. His report is on the sale of plaques by the ISAF to boat builders, both amateur and professional licensed builders.

Numbers of New Boats being built and used boats resold.
ISAF have supplied the ICA with recent figures of numbers of plaques being bought and paid for by amateur and licensed builders. Presumably the vast majority of plaques issued are affixed to Contenders that are completed and sailed by the owner or sold to a buyer. We have been informed of the sale of boats that were listed on the 2nd Hand Contender Market web page. We started keeping statistics on used boat sales during the year 1999.

New boat sales figures    Used boats
50    2001                            39
18    2000                            47
33    1999                            19
20    1998                            -

2247 boats have been issued plaques representing new boats since the inception of the Contender class in 1969. In the records from ISAF, there are no gaps in plaque numbers.

The secretary writes at least two required reports to ISAF. The first essentially is a report on the health of the class and its conformance to rules regarding International classes. Failure to report would possibly cause ISAF to delist the Contender as an International class.
The second report regards World Championships. The secretary and the organizers of the World event supply the information. Failure to report would result in the ISAF denying us the right to use the name "World Championship" in our promotional material.

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Business Arising

Finances
Treasurer Kieckbusch presented a suggestion that instead of collecting dues per person each year, instead we charge a "Button" fee for each sail purchased. After discussion, the vote was 16 in favour, 19 against. Several people felt that this was unfair to certain Contender owners in various ways.

Chairman Søren talked about what we might do with the large bank account we presently have and stated that he will be talking to national associations looking for groups with good ideas needing some money to expand the class. The discussion was too free ranging for the secretary to record all the interesting ideas shouted out.

Brochures, the need for them etc were discussed. An interesting suggestion from the members suggested the alternative of CD ROMs instead of brochure. The membership generally agreed to the expenditure of monies by the ICA officers to develop and print a new brochure. The Secretary pleaded inadequate skills to execute such a task and asked for a project manager for such a project.
No one stepped forward as a volunteer at the meeting but shortly afterwards some interested parties have spoken to the secretary. This will proceed.

New rigs
Tim Hill led a discussion about the creation of a new rig having a much more modern appearance. The membership clearly wants the ICA officers to proceed with the expenditure of funds through interested and competent sailmakers who presently support the Contender class.

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