ISAF Youth Multi: Open letter & Submission by SL16 Class & Sirena Voile

Image: Sime Sokota | Regarding the new inocming selection I really don´t know why ISAF decided to change the Youth Multi again, but as it is clear they wanted a new boat my position and common sense dictated F16 over an invented new class.

As I wrote , for low cost / access we already have the H16 & SL16. I build a RC16 daggerless coremat cat with a 8mts mast similar to the SL16 that it is an excellent school, adult recreational/ youth racing boat.
With current scenario an intermediate step towards de Nacra 17 we have the Formula 16 ,  with a previous step being currently the H16/SL16. An additional key aspect I see together with this , as I wrote too , that only high level youths enter ISAF Youth Worlds.

All in all a pathway to the Nacra 17 calls for a Formula 16. If focus are cost & accessibility  let things as they are with the H16 & SL16. It is not that complicated.
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Letter & Submission sent by Vincent Gueho Chairman, SL16 International Class Association.
“We, the SL16 International Class Association and Sirena Voile, published today and Open Letter about the SL16 and the ISAF Youth Worlds. This publication is related to the submission we sent to the ISAF prior the Annual Assembly which is starting tomorrow at Palma de Mallorca in Spain.”

– The submission can be found here: https://bit.ly/SL16_Submission
– Full text Open Letter here: https://bit.ly/Open_Letter_SL16

Below excerpt of the Open letter
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ISAF
…”The ISAF is the world governing body for the sport of sailing. This year, the ISAF General Assembly will take place in Palma de Mallorca in Spain from the 1st to the 8th of November.
This meeting gathers members of the ISAF Board, Sub-Committees and Commissions. Heads of MNAs
 (Member National Authorities, i.e. national sailing federation), class associations, retailers, sailors and event organizers will also be there, representing more than 500 people coming to share their ideas and updates and to talk about the future of sailing.

This year, more than 200 submissions were sent to the ISAF. A submission is a request of proposal
leading to a potential modification of the ISAF rules and texts. All these proposals will be studied by
different commissions next week. Recommendations will then be given about those submissions during the last two days of the meeting, on the 7th and the 8th of November by the different commissions. The  ISAF Council will then approve, reject or postpone these submissions.

SL16 International Class Association
The SL16 was designed by Yves LODAY in 2003 to answer a call for bids launched by the ISAF to select a new multihull for the ISAF Youth World Championship. The SL16 cross with success the different steps of  the selection process after being recommended by youth sailors during the test event in 2003. The ISAF  preselected the SL16 in 2005 and officially recognized the boat in 2007.

The first SL16 ISAF Youth World Championship was organized in 2008. The whole process to select a new multihull for the ISAF Youth  World Championship lasted almost 5 years!
Since 2005, three presidents led the SL16 International Class Association: Yann AUFAUVRE (2005-2009),  Arnaud GAUTIER (2009-2012) and since then, Vincent GUEHO. For its tenth birthday in 2013, an  infography about the history of the SL16 was published and can be seen on the following link:https://visual.ly/10-years-sl16-champions

So far, the SL16 International Class Association has not been very proactive on the international stage,  mostly for financial reasons and a lack of skills in the art of politics. For the first time since 2007, a submission has been published by the class and will be analyzed next week during the ISAF Annual Conference.

Up to now, boats used for the ISAF Youth World Championship can change from one year to another. As far as you are a class association recognized by the ISAF and if you can justify a certain amount of boats per countries and continent, you can ask to be the next official multihull. It can be seen as a way to give  an opportunity to everyone and give the latest high technology catamaran to the youth sailors.

But we believe that in the current economic situation, such a politic choice is extremely dangerous for our sport and for industrial key players in the sailing world like Sirena Voile. Those companies cannot invest without mid or long term visibility.” ……..