Mixed Offshore Event added to Paris 2024 at World Sailing Annual General Meeting

Annual General Meeting 2018 © World Sailing

A Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Event will feature at the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Competition, providing a new dynamic to the Olympic movement, following ratification at World Sailing's Annual General Meeting.

After a week of meetings, the AGM brought the 2018 Annual Conference to a close as they ratified the decisions made throughout the week.

At the 2018 Mid-Year Meeting in London, Great Britain, World Sailing's Council approved the following slate of Events:

• Men's Windsurfer
• Women's Windsurfer
• New Event, Mixed One-Person Dinghy
• New Event, Mixed Two Person Dinghy
• New Event, Mixed Kite

• Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser*
• Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial*
• Women's Skiff - 49erFX
• Men's Skiff - 49er
• Mixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17

Although the decision was made, World Sailing's Regulations allowed both the Events and Equipment to be amended if 75% of Council members voted in favour of making the change.

A lengthy debate on replacing the Mixed One-Person Dinghy Event with the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Event was held before 31 Council members voted in favour of voting on change with eight against and two abstaining. As the 75% minimum was exceeded, Council then voted with 29 members in favour of the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore with nine against and two abstentions.

World Sailing's Member National Authorities have the power to overturn the regulations approved by the Council.

After ratifying numerous regulation amendments over the last 12-months, a debate on reinstating the Mixed One-Person Dinghy event in place of the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore event was held.

Members at the AGM voted with 43 voting in favour of retaining the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore event, 17 were against and four abstained.

This confirmed the slate of Events for Paris 2024 as:

• Men's Windsurfer – RS:X*
• Women's Windsurfer – RS:X*
• Men's One Person Dinghy - Laser*
• Women's One Person Dinghy - Laser Radial*
• Mixed Kite - TBC
• Mixed Two Person Dinghy – TBC
• Women's Skiff - 49erFX
• Men's Skiff - 49er
• Mixed Two Person Multihull - Nacra 17
• Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore - TBC

Further decisions related to the Equipment criteria for the Paris 2024 Olympic Sailing Events were also made on the Men's and Women's Windsurfer, the Mixed Two Person Dinghy and the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore.

The RS: X will be the equipment for the Men's and Women's Windsurfer events.The Mixed Kiteboarding event will be on a foiling board with a RAM-Air (foil-kite) and the Mixed Two Person Dinghy event will be a non-foiling displacement boat with a headsail, mainsail and spinnaker.

A displacement monohull (non-foiling) with a shorthanded deck layout will be used for the Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore boat. The boat will be between 6-10 metres in hull length, able to perform in 4 to 40 knots with a proper sail inventory for all conditions and be a sloop rig with a spinnaker.

Equipment trials for the Mixed Kiteboarding and Mixed Two Person Keelboat Offshore Events will follow with the decision on the Equipment to be made at the 2019 Annual Conference.

With regards to the Mixed Two Person Dinghy event, selection of the equipment should be based on evaluation against the specified criteria without equipment trials being required. If the evaluation is concluded by the Equipment Committee well ahead of the 2019 Mid-Year Meeting, then Council will be asked to make a decision by electronic vote.

Following numerous reports and presentations, members of the AGM selected Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates to host the 2020 Annual Conference.

The next meeting of World Sailing will take place in London, Great Britain in May 2019.