Minutes of the 2011 RS:X Class Annual General Meeting held at the Hotel Aqua, Bourgas, Bulgaria on 14th September 2011 from 1730hrs to 2030hrs
1. Present:

Executive Committee		Votes
Mike Dempsey (Chair)	President	1
Emmanuel Messiaen	Neil Pryde Representative	-
Ilker Bayinder	Chr of Technical Committee	1
Joao Rodrigues	Men’s Fleet Delegate	1
Olga Maslivets	Women’s Fleet Delegate	1
Rory Ramsden	COO	1
Anna Graczyk-Stankiewicz	Assistant Class Secretary	-
Sebastian Edmonds	Chief Measurer (Co-opted)	-
2. Apologies
Martin Aldridge	Treasurer
Rich Jeffries	Honorary Member
Aaron Botzer	Honorary Member
Rene Appel	Coaches Delegate
Piotr Hlavaty	Senior Vice President

3. Present

	Delegate	Vote		Delegate	Vote
AUS	Jimmy Levy	1	HKG	Rene Appel (Email vote)	1
BEL	Bruno de Wannemaeker	1	HUN	Diana Detre	1
BUL	Kamen Filyov	1	ISR	Gur Steinberg	1
DEN	Kim Braad Carlsen	1	POL	Pawel Kowalski	1
ESP	Jose Luis Pinana	1	POR	Joao Rodrigues	1
EST	Andrus Poksi	1	TUR	Deniz Erkoca	1
FRA	Yan Bouverne	1	UKR	Olga Maslivets	1
GBR	Oli Woodcock	1	USA	Ben Barger	1
GER	Kolja Voelkers	1

4. Minutes of the last meeting

The minutes of the 2010 AGM were noted. GBR questioned if there could be clarification on the voting and decision making procedure for the selection of future championships. Mike asked if this could be raised under AOB. For clarification, Rory confirmed that an agreement in principal was in place for the 2013 Worlds with Buzios, BRA but no formal contract was in place. It was noted that as Buzios, BRA had been given first refusal for 2013 after losing out on the 2012 World Championships. GBR agreed that they would submit a proposal for the 2012 AGM regarding process for selection of events for the RS:X Class, negating the ref to AOB above.

FRA asked for an update on the RS:X Class application to join the IWA. Mike updated the class on the original reasons for RS:X wanting to join the IWA which was with the aim to join up the Youth Windsurfing Classes. Mike noted that the application had broken down after the IWA had requested a significant annual administration fee and a reduction in the RS:X Class staff, which the class felt was unreasonable. Having noted the reasons, FRA confirmed that the class should continue to work on collating the Youth Windsurfing Classes even if the RS:X Class is outside of the IWA. Mike agreed that this was a worthwhile ambition and charged the coaches to pursue this with their MNA’s.

With no further comments, the minutes were put forward for adoption by FRA, seconded by POR. Voting was unanimous in accepting the minutes as proposed.

5. Reports
5.1 Presidents Report

Mike welcomed the meeting and noted that this was the first major RS:X event of the year in September after a successful World Cup series and Olympic Test Event. Mike went on to report that as such the Treasurers report would show that the class was down on finances as it had only incurred operating expenses to date.

Mike went on to note that whilst there had been no events, the back room staff of the class had been very busy in re-writing many of the class standard documents and tidying up Race Management procedures. Mike was pleased to report that Rob Lamb had been instrumental in the development of these documents. Rob is the Olympic PRO for the RS:X Class and was keen to work with the class and to develop its procedures.

Mike went on to report that the class had also successfully negotiated with ISAF a change to its class rules in respect of RRS1.2 and the requirement to carry life saving equipment. Mike noted that this had been a difficult discussion with ISAF but with the help of Rob Lamb and Bas Edmonds this has been achieved. Mike recorded a note of thanks to both Rob and Bas for their help.

5.2 Continental Reports

Oceania – Jimmy Levy

There were no new developments to report from Oceania.

North America – Ben Barger

Ben reported on a successful Miami leg of the ISAF Sailing World Cup where there were …. entries. Following from this St Francis Yacht Club hosted a very successful Techno World Championships in San Francisco Harbour. Ben noted that it was a shame that the RS:X Youth Worlds could not be organised at the same time but appreciated the complications. Ben felt that having the Youth events in the US was very beneficial for the development and promotion of windsurfing there.

Europe – No report

Asia – No report

South America – No report

5.3 Manufacturers Report

Emmanuel (Manu) gave a brief presentation on sales of boards and sails during 2011 to date. Manu noted that China had a significant increase on purchases for both boards and sails during 2011 with France and US also strong due to their being distribution centres for a larger number of countries. It was also noted that some new countries were purchasing both boards and sails in quantity such as India and Singapore.

Manu went on to brief the class on the support given during 2011 including 60 sets of equipment to the ISAF Youth Worlds as well as service support at a number of events.

For 2012, Manu described a new E-Warranty system for the class as well as the events that Neil Pryde were committed to support during 2012. This included offering $50k prize money for the 2012 Worlds in Cadiz.

A presentation was then given on the evolution of the RS:X equipment and the developments on offer to the class. A copy of this presentation can be found here.

Manu also noted that Neil Pryde had offered 10 sets of RS:X Evolution equipment to the class for their own use for evaluation.

5.4 Youth

Rory gave an update on the Youth development within the class. It was noted that the class had signed an agreement with the Volvo Ocean Race to carry out Youth Racing at each of the ports of the race. This gave the class the option of going to South Africa and UAE for the first time as well as allowing Neil Pryde the option of setting up distribution networks in those countries.

In addition to this the class has been in contact with Oman Sail and their Youth Development program to offer support coaching support and assistance.

Rory reported that the Egyptian Federation were looking to hold a Youth North African event including five or six different Francophile countries.

The class noted that the 2012 Youth Worlds were due to be held in Taiwan with the 2012 Youth Europeans being held in Estonia.

5.5 Men’s Fleet Delegate

Joao had unfortunately left the meeting to catch a flight home with his apologies and noted that there were no comments from the men.

5.6 Women’s Fleet Delegate

Olga reported that there was a major concern with the women that the reports coming back from the class about the consistency of the equipment was not true – with concerns raised around the boards, masts and fins.

Olga also reported that there was a concern that sailors were paying different prices for equipment from different dealers. Manu noted that dealers could only charge a set price but that local taxes may influence the end price to the sailor.

Mike asked why no mention had been made of this before the meeting and that it highlighted the need for the sailors and coaches to communicate with the class and Bas on any issues with the equipment, not just at the AGM but throughout the year.

5.7 Coaches Delegate

No report was circulated and it was noted that the coaches had not met prior to the meeting.

5.8 Chief Measurer Report

The class received a report from Bas regarding the audits carried out of the RS:X manufacturing factories. Bas noted that the concerns with the equipment was not seen directly at the factory with a maximum tolerance of 3mm on any given point on the board with the majority of the measurements having less than 1.0mm of tolerance on them.

Bas echoed previous comments that sailors and coaches should look to feedback concerns with the equipment at any opportunity to ensure that the class could investigate any problems.

The class noted that following the initial audit, the level of consistency achieved at the factories had been greatly improved.

Bas agreed that he would, with consultation with Neil Pryde, look to publish the audit reports and measurements – which had previously only been circulated to the Executive.

6. Election of Fleet Representatives and Coaches Representative to the Executive Committee

The following positions were confirmed to the Executive Committee;

Olga Maslivets – Women’s Fleet Delegate

Joao Rodrigues – Men’s Fleet Delegate (until March 2012)

Rene Appel – Coaches Delegate (until March 2012)

7. Submissions

#	Detail	by	Accept/ Reject
1	2016 RS:X Format Working Party
	That the RS:X Class shall establish a format working party now to put forward a submission for approval by the 2012 RS:X AGM to further evolve the racing format used at major events in the run up to the 2016 Olympic Regatta.	1stBUL2nd UKR	Accept
	USA noted that the ISAF strategy is to look at developing formats which also increase the skill sets of the participating sailors. USA advised that the ISAF working party looking at format would very much welcome the input from the class at their November meeting.It was agreed that Rene Appel would chair the RS:X Working Party and that FRA, GBR, UKR, USA and Ilker would participate in this.The submission noted that it would need to send a summary of its work in progress in time for the ISAF November meeting.
2	2016 RS:X Equipement Working Party
	That the RS:X Class shall establish an equipment working party now to evaluate and put forward a submission for approval by the 2012 RS:X AGM on the adoption of the RS:X Evolution, either in whole or in part, as the class legal equipment for the 2016 Olympic Regatta.	1stRory2nd UKR	Accept
	BUL noted that any submission made would need to take into account the ISAF Mid Year meeting which allowed submissions no later than 8 weeks before the meeting date.It was agreed that Bas Edmonds would chair the RS:X Working Party with GBR, FRA, UKR, USA, ISR, Mike Dempsey and Allison Shreeve all volunteering to join this group.The submission was accepted with the amendment that the group should evaluate the current RS:X equipment against the RS:X Evolution both in full and in parts to ensure that a comprehensive evaluation was recorded. Neil Pryde confirmed that they would donate 10 boards to the Class for use but that the class would have to make arrangements for the shipping themselves. The class noted that it was looking at three events to evaluate the equipment with a possible event in Asia and two others in Europe. The Executive noted that the equipment evaluation was a small part of this but that the group should also consider the effects of any equipment change on MNA’s, Youth sailing and future class development
3	Change to Class Rules – Battens
	To add new rule C.9.3(j) as follows;Batten tubes may be shortened. Batten tubes may only be shortened at the outer end.	1stRory2nd UKR	Accept
4	Change to Class Rules – Youth sail limitations
	Withdrawn
5	Change to Class Rules – Centerboard case padding
	To amend rule C.6.3(l) as follows;Additional rubber or foam may be added to the inside of the centreboard slot. The rubber or foam shall only be applied with glue and shall not be attached using any through hull fitting. Any additional rubber or foam shall not touch or affect the gasket assembly.	1stFRA2nd BEL	Accept
6	Change to Class Rules – Mast taping
	To add new rule C.8.2(p) as follows;Any removable adhesive tape may be added to the mast in the immediate area around the joint and the base of the mast not exceeding the base, joint and the internal spigot by 100mm.	1stGBR2nd Rory	Accept
7	Change to Class Rules – Inserts
	To add new rule C.6.3(m) as follows;Insert holes may be filled.	1stUSA2nd UKR	Accept

8. Any Other Business
There being no further business, the meeting was closed
2030hrs
END