International Regatta Dates

30 August 2012

The recent European Championships held in Bracciano, Italy afforded those members of the Fireball International Executive who were present to have an informal discussion on FI business. Executive members present were Joe Jospe (Commodore), Andrew Davies (Secretary), Penny Gibbs (Treasurer), Tom Egli (Technical Representative), Maja Suter (Rear Commodore Europe), Tim Saunders (UKFA Chairman), and Cormac Bradley (Communications Officer). David Hall of Weathermark Boats was present as an observer.

First order of business was the immediate schedule of international regattas.

• The 2013 Worlds are scheduled to be hosted by Slovenia in September at the coastal venue of Portoroz. This regatta will consist of 2 days of measurement (Mon/Tues), a 3-day Europeans (Wed - Fri) and a week long World Championship (Sunday - Friday).
• The 2014 Europeans are scheduled for the Shetland Islands.
• 2014 had been pencilled in as Mauritius, but meetings with the Mauritian Government have become too random and other venues have now been investigated. The meeting was advised that an approach had been made from Turkey and while the concerns of Ben Schulz were voiced, about another European venue, the ultimate consensus of the meeting was that Turkey should be considered.
• 2015 is down for a UK Worlds. Tim Saunders advised that a venue has not yet been negotiated, but there are clubs who are capable of hosting the large fleet that a UK Worlds will generate. There was some discussion that venues in Wales could be considered.
• 2016 - The suggestion was made to return to Barbados.

While it is acknowledged that this would create a run of events in Europe, or close to Europe, it was also felt that if the venues could be got out early enough, people could make plans on a long-term basis.

The revised format for the Slovenia event is an attempt to cut down on the time needed to do the Worlds. The idea is that the Sat/Sun of the first weekend is used to travel to the venue, rather than having these days used for measurement. Measurement then goes into Mon/Tues, with racing starting on the Wednesday. Some measurement might be required on the second Saturday, but if not then the fleet is free to do its own thing. Racing for the Worlds starts on the Sunday, concludes on the Friday, and the third weekend is used for return travel. The question of a fixed or floating layday also generated some discussion. It was agreed that in view of the current climate, fixing the layday is of more benefit to the host volunteers who can use it to go back into work.

The Slovenians were scheduled to give a presentation on their event later in the week.

Maja Suter advised that this season's Grand National will probably be hosted by the Swiss in September, but she would be communicating dates and a venue after the Europeans.