September 9, 2002
Dear IFWCA members!
We, the boardsailing federations of the Nordic and Baltic region, want to take this opportunity to give our view on the proposed changes to the Formula Windsurfing Class. This letter will not only be sent to you. It will also be published on the following forums:
Neil Pryde – http://www.neilpryde.com/forum/index.html
Gaastra – http://forums.gaastra.com
Starboard – http://www.star-board.com/forum/forum.asp
AHD – http://www.a-h-d.com
As windsurfers, we all strive to increase the sport that we all love and care for. The Formula Windsurfing Class has been an enormous injection of energy into the world of windsurfing with decreased costs for top competitors and an easy, accessible sport to the average recreational surfer with much more potential time on water than before, especially in the low wind regions of the world.
The development of the class has been amazingly fast with sails and boards today that we never thought possible just 3-4 years ago.
Today we can sail in as low as 7 knots of wind. An enormous development for our countries up here in the Nordics and the Baltics where the wind speed often averages between 6-11 knots. This development has dramatically increased the number of sailors on the water. The interest for the sport is growing rapidly when you can sail almost every day of the week.
When setting the current rules we experienced more sailors on our regattas because they felt that they could finally go with the same equipment for several years and still be fairly competitive.
We therefore strongly suggest that the current rules should be intact for at least 2 years -starting from 2002.
First of all: There is less than a year ago since the current rules were set. To change them again and in such a way that a lot of people will loose money and loose a lot of potential sailing days is definitely not good for the sport. The trust for IFWCA and national federations such as ours will be seriously damaged if we change the rules every year. Consistency is of great importance if we want to build a trustworthy class with lot of competitors.
Also, we do not recognize the “massive request” from competitors and national associations to change the current set of rules. On the contrary, we have experienced an enormous increase in number of potential days on the water, with more competitions possible and a big increase in number of sailors on our regattas thanks to the 12,5 sails. These big sails are used in approx 70-90% of all training and regattas, increasing the number of sailing days with appro
