Reports from the WTC Meeting held in Gamagori, Japan, will be found here.
President's report
Regional reports
i. Europe and TAUK
Attached is a copy of the regional report given by TAUK to WTC at the 2017 Worlds at Gamagori on Monday 31st July 2017
Rod Porteous, the Acting Chairman of TAUK, has provided a written report. I would just like to summarise the main points from his report.
Nationals attendance has remained steady and we have seen 20, 21, 22 and 26 boats over the last four years.
A key concern continues to be declining attendances at other Tasar events and the resulting drop in the number of Tasar open meetings being held. We have tried to address this by piggy-backing selected well-recognised handicap racing events and encouraging Tasar sailors to attend these.
Reasons for the decline in attendances are believed to include:
1. The ever-increasing number of new dinghies coming onto the UK market.
2. RYA youth training programmes which are great but which attract younger sailors away from club racing where previously they might have got into Tasar sailing. There are definitely fewer young people sailing Tasars now than there were 15 years ago.
3. The high cost of fuel and general austerity in the UK which has impacted attendances at many dinghy sailing events.
4. The high cost of replacement masts, booms and sails which are known to deter people from entering the class.
A number of U.K. sailors were concerned enough at the price and quality of sails to have had a limited number of high quality training sails manufactured overseas at a significantly lower cost. The concern is that this kind of thing ultimately threatens the existence of the class in the UK and that the cost of sails therefore needs to be recognised as a potential issue.
Separately TAUK would also like reassurance that the changes to the centre board case with the potential to use alternative foils in the future will not have any performance implications.
Finally, TAUK is progressing arrangements to hold the 2019 World Championships at the prestigious Hayling Island Sailing Club. The 2018 UK Nationals have also been confirmed to be held at Hayling Island (as a shared event with the Contender class) with the intention of building support for the Worlds from the home club and also, we hope attracting some overseas visitors.
ii. Australia
Australian Tasar Council
Report to World Tasar Council - Gamagori, JAPAN
On behalf of the Australian Tasar Council Inc and Australian Tasar sailors, it is my pleasure to present this report to the World Tasar Council meeting at Gamagori, Japan. This report is my first in the capacity of ATC President and I would also take this opportunity to acknowledge Michael Paynter for his strong leadership of the Australian Tasar Class during his tenure of seven years.
Since the last report given in January 2015 at the Busselton Worlds, the ATC has conducted two national championships - in September 2015 in Townsville, QLD with 68 tasars competing and was won by local cane farmers Aaron Linton and Jamie Jochheim. In January 2017 in Port Stephens NSW, this event attracted a fleet of 84 tasars. Former World Champions Rob and Nicole Douglass are the current Australian champions.
In the latter event, the split fleet concept was used (for the first time in 30 years) and was generally very well received. The ATC would encourage the regions to consider this method for future world championship events to assist with start line congestion with larger fleets, or where geographic constraints exist.
Australian Tasar sailing is generally buoyant, especially with growing fleets in our more regional locations such as Far North QLD and in Western Australia. Following the Busselton Worlds, the WA region has enjoyed significant growth and for the first time has a container in its own right at these championships.
There are 33 Australian boats competing in Gamagori, one of the largest contingents Australia has ever sent to an overseas event. The ATC has provided significant financial support to subsidise shipping costs, however, it is becoming more cost prohibitive to send containers offshore. I would invite the regions to give some consideration to round robin or fleet sharing arrangements so costs can be reduced for our people participating in these future events. We will need to be innovative to ensure that class participation remains strong at the world level.
Recent changes to the Centreboard case design have been subject to robust discussions by the Australian districts. One of the great strengths of the Tasar Class is its one design principle. The ATC seeks to work collaboratively with the WTC and the Designer to ensure matters such as quality control, price and accessibility are appropriately addressed in the implementation plan as this particular issue reaches a viable conclusion.
Finally, the ATC offers its congratulations to World Tasar President Ikuya Tanaka and the Japanese Tasar Association on what is sure to be an exciting and memorable event - 97 entries achieved at this 21st Tasar World Championship is a fantastic achievement.
Nicole Kidman President, Australian Tasar Council 24 July 2017
iii. North America
North American Tasar Association Report to WTC July 25 2017
The Class is struggling in North America, we are having difficulty reaching a critical mass of Sailors
NATA Membership Update:
Francois Hebert
President of the North American Tasar Association
iv. Japan
Executive Secretary's report (Pete Ellis)
Executive Secretary's Report to 2017 World Council Meeting
Thanks to the Japanese Tasar Association
I would firstly like to thank the JTA for organising these 2017 Tasar World Championships. Unfortunately I am unable to attend, but having attended the 2016 Pre-Worlds event, I hope that everyone is enjoying the exceptional levels of hospitality that the Japanese provide, alongside the high levels of efficiency shown. A turnout of 97 is far beyond the initial expectations for the fleet, and I would like to wish you all fair sailing for the regatta.
Again, thank you to the JTA for their organisation of the event, and to all of the volunteers who are assisting with this. A mention should be made to the sponsors of the event to thank them for their support.
The World Tasar Class Association
Over the period between the last worlds in Busselton and now, I can report the following:
Boat Sales
There have been 7 new hulls built, with 4 of these going to Japan and 3 to Australia. This is down on the figure reported in 2014 (where there had been 26 new boats built). It should be noted however that for those boats reported on in 2014 there had been a significant discount offered.
Sails Sold
Over the period from the previous Worlds, I can report that there have been 442 new sails sold (an increase from the 397 sold in the 2 year period reported on at the previous meeting). Of these, 63% were for Australia, 25% for Japan, 11% for the UK and 1% for North America.
Member Countries Representation at Worlds
In 2014, seven countries were represented at the Worlds in the figure reported to World Sailing (formerly ISAF), and in 2013 six countries were represented. At this Worlds, 5 countries are represented. These numbers, alongside the membership numbers reported around the world, mean that the class does still meet the requirements to be a World Sailing Recognised class, although this is a concern should member numbers drop in certain regions.
Finances
The Class is in a very strong financial position, due to the steady income from sail royalties. Whilst the class continues to receive Sail Royalties there will be no requirements for the Regions to contribute funds to the running of the WTC. These funds are used to pay for the class World Sailing fee. This annual fee is one to ensure that the Class remains as a World Sailing Recognised Class. The funds from the Royalties are also used to pay for the website hosting of the class website (www.tasar.org) which is available to use for all regions of the Tasar class. The management of usernames and passwords is managed by the Australian Tasar Council.
There are now funds available to transfer to each region. This will be the proportional distribution of the Sail royalties based upon the number of sails that went to each region, subtracting the World Sailing fee and website hosting fee for 2018 and 2019, which is being kept in reserve as future sail royalties cannot be predicted. This means that US$7238 will be distributed between the regions in total, with a remainder of US$1602 remaining in the WTC account.
Class rules
At the Tasar Worlds in 2014 it was proposed to make a rule change in terms of sail number spacing. This rule change has been with World Sailing for several months now with a planned introduction after the date of these Worlds. I have not heard back yet from World Sailing. I will admit that I have found the process to be a long drawn out one when working with World Sailing.
The rule change above alongside the recommended rule changes from this years measurers meeting (should they pass), will give the class a revised set of rules. I would like to put in a process after this Worlds, by which any proposed rule changes are checked by a third party who is independent of the class and has the experience of working with a World Sailing One Design Class, and the organisation of World Sailing itself, before the rule is voted upon by each region.
The Web Site
The Tasar website is a great resource. Those regions that use it do so to convey about upcoming events and the results from these, as well as the use of the for sale area. It will continue to act as a database for the history of Champions within the class.
I would encourage all regions to use the website to share their results and events. The Tasar being a World Recognised Class is a strength in terms of promotion, but it is also interesting for us as a community to see what the other regions are doing. I would like to thank the ATC Secretary of Adrian Nicholson for his management of the Usernames and Passwords of this site.
Tasar Communication and Social Media
I have personally noticed an increase of the use of Social media within each of the Regions over the past two years. This has been a positive for the class and I would encourage the use of this as both a method of promotion and sharing of information. This could also become a more relevant point of entry for discussions as I have felt that email has been a difficult medium to communicate over whilst collaborating on areas of interest for the class.
Changes to the Tasar Hull
I realise that the change to the centreboard case is a point of discussion later on in the meeting, and so will not dwell too much on this in my report, although I would like to mention that the changes made were done so in consultation by the copyright holder with all regions offered the opportunity to give their views. Those changes that were not agreed upon by those that responded were not carried out.
The process in releasing a WTC Interpretation on this has not been a swift one. The timeline of this was made more complex due to the matter being taken to Australian Sailing in a protest appeal. The WTC was working with Australian Sailing to give a response and as soon as the decision was released so was the WTC interpretation. I understand and appreciate that there may be some frustration in the fleet over the timeline associated with the released of this information.
Additionally, there were other changes made to the specification of the hull by the copyright holder and builder, in consultation with members of the WTC. These were made to increase the strength and longevity of the Tasar hull, without affecting performance. There have been seven hulls produced following on from these changes. The changes of the specification are currently being discussed with World Sailing.
The future
We have a great class in the Tasar. In my opinion, the boat is a joy to sail, and has some of the most enthusiastic sailors who are passionate about their class. We are attracting sailors of Olympic standard racing and socialising with Weekend warriors on a level setting in some of the most amazing locations in the world.
I understand that the Tasar is facing difficult times around the world in several regions. Whilst Australia appears as a visibly strong region and the Japanese have appeared to have a strong showing in the lead up to the Worlds, there are difficulties in other regions. From my experience of sailing on different sides of the World I can appreciate the difficulties faced when competing against mass produced and marketed boats. The push of being a World Sailing Recognised Class is an important one to be marketed, but it is also the challenge of each region to find where the class fits in their own sailing "landscape". I would encourage each region to use the support of each other in finding this fit, and sharing the lessons learnt from those things that have and haven't worked.
I believe that the class should always continue to look to evolve. This should be in the venues that we go to, the way that we run events, as well as the boat itself. Any changes should be aimed at building the dynamic within the class and should not in any way erode it.
It is important to remember that the class rules ensure that all decisions to change the Tasar must be approved by both the class and the copyright holder. The copyright holder may make changes at short notice citing 'circumstances of supply' as the reason. The process that has been described above has shown the way in which the copyright holder has carried out any such changes in a consultative manner with each of the regions. As it currently stands, I believe that the class must continue to maintain a close relationship with the copyright holder to ensure agreement to any future changes that may be suggested by the copyright holder or the class, that all have the best intentions of the class at the core.
Details for WTC Communication
Currently, just about all WTC communications are via email and it is important that I have up to date details of office bearers of all Region and Districts. Could I urge you to notify me as soon as any changes occur. This will also allow me to update the information on the WTCA web site.
Finally..
I would like to thank Mike Karas for his work as World Measurer, as he will be stepping down from the role after this event. I sometimes feel that the role of Measurer can become a thankless task. Mike has offered support to the Japanese measurement in the lead up to this event as they have looked to address some scenarios that I have not dealt with in the past at a Tasar Worlds.
I would like to finish by wishing everyone an enjoyable event at Gamagori. The Tasar community is a great one to spend an event with, and alongside the hospitality of the Japanese fleet I am sure that you will all appreciate the joy of the experience, both on and off the water, of a Tasar Worlds.
Peter Ellis
Executive Secretary, World Tasar Class Association
Designer's report (Julian Bethwaite)