IOMICA

Events

The ESC has accepted the bid for the 2008 European Championships from CRO and we’re looking forward to an excellent event.

The IOMICA CCR are in the process of being updated with the changes from the AGM and will be released shortly.

There are other events around the world that are open to international competitors; Malta, Spain and France have all recently announced dates as well as most NCA national championships welcoming international entrants. The Exec wishes them all the very best for their events.

For more information try these links:
http://www.mmba.moonfruit.com/
http://www.classe1metre.org/
http://www.velarc.es/metro/2008/02/01/copa-de-espana-2008/

The Exec is looking into the possibility of bring information about such events together in one place, via an additional events page on the IOMICA website.

Disappointingly, we are still suffering from a terrible lack of feedback from the World Championships. Neither competitors nor organisers seem willing to offer their opinions. You must have opinions, we’d love to hear them, please get in touch.

Technical

Questions have been asked about the legality of the recent Emergency Class Rule Change; the TSC is considering the situation and will respond shortly.

Opinions have been solicited from the World Council on the way forward for dealing with similar Class Rules anomalies (battery indicators and rig fittings spring to mind immediately), as yet the response has been limited. Hopefully more opinions will be forthcoming.

The TSC is also taking another look at the question of batten reinforcement at the leech. Something that has been raised previously and discussed at length within the Exec. Unfortunately a conclusion failed to emerge from those discussions and the question remains open. The TSC may well solicit opinions in due course.

Measurement

Another recurring question is that of who should retain measurement forms, Registrars or Owners. Some of the larger NCAs are beginning to struggle with paper overload apparently. The MSC is considering the question. Again, opinions may well be solicited in due course.

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Chairman

General
David T has been able to contact Rob O’Brian and we’re hopeful that he will take up the Secretary’s position in the near future. Thank you to those people that offered to take on the role, or help out in the interim. It’s good to see people willing to take part & pick up the baton. Please give thought to offering your services on a Sub Committee.

Events
Bruce has confirmed that Greg Willis will take up a position on the ESC. This is great news, I’m particularly pleased that the Exec will continue to benefit from Greg’s input. Our regulations limit the number of SC positions to 4, so there’s still room to accommodate a few more willing bodies.

Despite chasing, the ESC has still to receive event reports from the Worlds. This isn’t going away and we will continue to push YCPR. There has also been little response to the request for thoughts and observations from competitors and others involved. I can’t believe that nobody has opinions they want to share?

Technical
There has been an anomaly or two crop up with the Class Rules and Roy has attempted to get the feelings of owners and the World Council, again with little in the way of response. There is however a proposal for a Class Rule change to accommodate the Spektrum receiver with the World Council, hopefully we’ll be able to draw a line under that issue soon.

My Thoughts
It’s unlikely that we’re going to get much movement on any of our outstanding issues with such a limited response from owners and the World Council in the run up to Christmas, perfectly understandable. I’m sure we’ll pick up again in the New Year.

Merry Christmas one and all, may 2008 bring you all you desire.

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Chairman

Things have become a little hectic since the World Championships, a consequence of this has been a lack of Exec updates from me. I apologise, it had been my intention to continue them as Chairman and I will endeavour to do better from now on.

The Exec has been attempting a smooth change over, not too difficult a task as the Vice Chairmen all retain their roles, unfortunately, while Rob O’Brian has been invited on to the Exec as Secretary, he’s yet to take up the post.

The minutes of the AGM are in process, if a little delayed, we’ll publish them shortly.

Bruce has been busy trying to get some feedback from Marseille, unfortunately with little joy, particularly in attempting to chase for the event reports. This is an important exercise and the Exec will continue to push the organisers for their reports. Feedback from competitors is equally useful, Please let Bruce, or any member of the Exec have your thoughts, either via the forum or a PM or email.

He has also requested interested parties contact him with a view to serving on the Events Sub Committee. I would urge anyone with an interest to contact him; the ESC has a lot it can achieve with some willing volunteers.

Indeed both the Technical & Measurement Sub Committees are a few bodies shy of the required membership, please contact the appropriate VC, or any member of the Exec if you have a desire to serve.

Roy has asked for opinions on materials for mast fittings in the public forum. Please make your views known, if you’re not comfortable responding publicly you can always PM or email Roy, or myself, directly.

The Malta Model Boat Association has released the NoR for their first international open meeting, the venue certainly looks impressive! The Exec wishes Vinnie and his team every success.

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Chairman

World Council

Preparations for the AGM continue, as yet there have been no submissions for resolutions and the list of Exec nominations remains incomplete.

Measurement

[None]

Technical

[None]

Events

Standard Sailing Instructions for the World Championships have been finalized and forwarded to YCPR. Stage 1 & 2 competitor allocation has been completed and we’re still working on umpiring instructions.

Infocomms

The website has been updated to reflect the progress of Resolutions and Exec nominations for the forthcoming AGM. This page will be updated regularly as nominations & resolutions come in.

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Secretary

World Council

All the annual reports are in except one. A campaign of chasing will begin shortly!

The AGM this year will be held at the World Championships in Marseille, the 18th or 19th has been suggested but is subject to confirmation.

Assuming the above, timescales are as follows:

• AGM resolutions / Exec nominations due by 09 August 2007
• A notice of meeting & final agenda will then be released by 23 August 2007
• Each NCA must advise its voting strength by 20 September 2007

An announcement will follow in due course once venue & dates have been finalised, but it would be prudent for those with resolutions to propose or a desire to serve on the Exec to start getting themselves organised.

Measurement

It has been pointed out that there’s a typo in the new Rig measurement form. A revision is available for download from the web site. My apologies for the slip up.

Technical

[None]

Events

[None]

Infocomms

[None]

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Secretary

World Council

I’m still missing 2 annual reports. Reminders to the offending parties will go out soon.

At the moment it is likely that the IOMICA AGM will be held at the World Championships this year, assuming sufficient turn out of World Council members. It’s worth a gentle reminder that it won’t be too long before we’ll need to start thinking about submissions for AGM resolutions.

It’s also re-election time for the Executive Committee; anyone with an interest in serving should start to make themselves heard.

Details of the required timings will follow a firm decision on where & when the AGM will take place.

Measurement

A new electronic version of the certificate has been distributed. So far the response has been positive.

Final versions of the measurement forms are now available from the website.

Technical

[None]

Events

[None]

Infocomms

Please everyone remember that new users registering on the forum should in addition to registering through the forum software send email to vcinfocomms. Otherwise your username request will not be handled!
 
As the national sub-forums on the IOMICA forum have seen very little use I have not created national sub-forums for the new NCAs, and in the long term it is probably best to remove all of the national sub-forums since they do not seem to be needed.

If anyone has a good IOM racing picture for the IOMICA website we could use a change. So email it to vcinfocomms!

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Secretary

World Council

I’m still missing 3 annual reports. Come on chaps, you know who you are!

The new versions of the Class Rules, Boat Measurement form and Rig Measurement Form are available for download from the IOMICA website; this is a change from previously as they had been hosted on the ISAF-RSD website.

The Certificate has also been updated; this has been circulated to each World Council representative.

There have been a good number of questions regarding the updated certificate and measurement forms, the Exec are considering several suggestions and will update the World Council shortly.

Measurement

[None]

Technical

[None]

Events

We have finalized the version of HMS 2007 that will be used for the World Championships and have four applicants for the guest spots.

We are now working on the Sailing Instructions and the Umpiring Instructions.

Infocomms

[None]

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Secretary

World Council

The IOMICA annual report is underway, I can’t complete it until all the NCA annual reports are in and I’m still three missing, I’m sure those three know who they are, but reminders will go out again shortly.

RSD ratification of the class rule changes has been completed and new versions of the Class Rules and IOM measurement forms have been produced. Details can be found on the website shortly.

An application has been received fro The Malta Model Boat Association to join the World Council as the NCA for MLT. The paperwork is currently with the Exec for scrutiny.

Measurement

[None]

Technical

[None]

Events

[None]

Infocomms

’spam’ registrations to the forum have increased so much since December that it has been impossible to manually sift through all new account requests (about 1200 of them right now).

New forum users should first register on the forum normally, then email VCInfocomms (“vcinfocomms” at “iomclass.org”) and confirm their registration (please state your username, your full name, and your boat registration number).

Apologies to those legitimate users who have registered since December but not yet been approved.

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Secretary

World Council

The successful application of NED for NCA status brings the World Council membership to 21, an application from MLT is hopefully imminent.

The Exec has officially announced the return of ESP to the World Council.

RSD has responded to the request for ratification of the AGM resolutions, we’re confident that an amicable solution can be reached and an announcement will happen soon.

NCA Annual reports are starting to pick up a little pace; there are still 13 to go.

Measurement

[None]

Technical

[None]

Events

The events sub committee is working diligently with YCPR to translate and publish HMS 2007 and the Sailing Instructions for the World Championships. We have received 4 applications from skippers not represented by NCA’s for our 10 guest spots.

Infocomms

The website is now fully functional on WordPress, it’s certainly making updates easier and we’ve had no negative feedback yet.

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Secretary

World Council

NCA Annual reports have started to trickle in, ok I’ve had one. But it’s a start. There’s a message on the World Council Forum, reminders will go out after January. Once they’re all in we can finalise the IOMICA Annual Report.

The ESP NCA has settled the debt for the Acros Euro Championships and has been restored to the World Council. An official announcement will be issued shortly.

The Exec has announced an application for the NCA for NED, see the website.

Measurement

[None]

Technical

[None]

Events

HMS has been revised by Peter Stollery to include 6 boat promotions; this will be the format for the World Championships. Work continues to ensure the SSI and other documentation is up to date and ready for the event.

Infocomms

We’ve been experiencing problems with the web site, although the forum continues to function. We’re now back up and running and iomclass.org now runs a Content Management System called WordPress. We hope it will make it easier for the InfoComms and Executive to keep the site updated, and also allow easier navigation for users. Feedback is welcome.

Andy Stevenson
GBR 1779
IOMICA Secretary