The following is a recap of the decisions from the 2011 World Council Meeting. For the official wording of the decisions and directives of the World Council, please see the 2011 WCM Minutes available for viewing here.
Elections
– Jim Farmer (USA) was elected Chairman and Robin Eagleson (IRL) was elected Vice Chairman. Additional members of the IJCA Executive Committee for 2011 are: Paul Scalisi (USA), Marianne Schoke (SWE) and Siegfried Spitzky (ARG).
– Tim Winger (USA) was elected Chairman of the International Technical Committee.
Rule Changes (Only approved rule changes listed.)
– Class Rule 3.8 was modified to deal only with “Fixed Fittings” to be carried when racing. This is a wording change and does not alter the way the boat is provisioned or sailed.
– Class Rule 4 was modified to remove the word “safety” from the title. This is a wording change and does not alter the way the boat is provisioned or sailed.
– Class Rule 3.7.3 was changed to reduce the “all-up weight for racing” to 1330 kg from the current 1345 kg. This will require changes to all boats’ Optional Equipment lists to meet the new lower weight but will not require re-measurement or issuance of new measurement certificates.
– Class Rule 8.1.5 was deleted as it is redundant to the RRS.
– A proposal to allow a wire strap between the mast bearing beam and the underside of the deck was approved in principle. The final wording of the rule change will be developed by the International Technical Committee and ratified by the World Council before inclusion in the Class Rules.
Technical Issues
– Each NJCA will be required to carry out a program of scanning all J/24s for illegal materials during the calendar year 2011. The details of the procedure and tools to be used will be distributed by the IJCA in the first quarter of 2011.
Regattas
– The 2013 World Championship will be held at the Howth Yacht Club in Howth, Ireland. Anticipated dates are September 14-21, 2013.
– The 2014 World Championship will be held in Newport, Rhode Island, USA. The anticipated dates are September 20-26, 2014.
– The 2012 European Championship will be held at the Club Nautico Arzachena in Sardinia, Italy. The expected dates will be in May or June of 2012.
– The 2013 European Championship will be held in at the Monaco Yacht Club. Exact dates will be forthcoming.
– Entry to the 2012 World Championship in Rochester, New York, USA will be open to all members in good standing of the International J/24 Class. All helmspersons will also be required to have been members of the J/24 Class in 2011 and to have helmed in at least one class sanctioned event in the calendar year 2011.
Administrative
– To deal with the inequities of the current system, the World Council approved a motion to require that all royalty labels be purchased directly from the IJCA office on a retail basis. This discontinues the current system of wholesaling royalty labels to NJCAs.
– An updated and redesigned website is in process and the new site will go live to the internet in the near future.
– A 2011 class magazine will be produced and distributed to all the paid NJCAs in the first quarter of 2011.