INTERNATIONAL FINN ASSOCIATION
2023 ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
Was held at Procelero Sportegyesület, Csopak.
On Saturday 13 May at 10.009
[All papers at finnclass.org]
MINUTES
1. National Class Associations
18 National Finn Class associations were represented. POL, POR, AUS, NED, AUT, GBR, HUN were represented in person and BEL, CAN, DEN, FRA, FIN, GER, NZL, SVK, SWE, ESP AND SUI were represented by proxy. Five members of the Executive Committee were also present.
In the absence of the President, who sent apologies, Tim Tavinor took the chair.
2. Minutes from the last meeting
The minutes from the 2022 IFA AGM (previously circulated on IFA website, to secretaries) were approved.
3. Accounts
The 2022 accounts and 2023 budget were approved.
4. Executive Committee Reports
4.1 President
Firstly, please accept my apologies as I am currently unable to travel due some small health issues.
2022 was a very successful year for the Finn class. We continue to see strong interest in the class and booming Masters fleets all around the world.
During the year we ran successful a fantastic Gold Cup in Malcesine and a combined Open/Masters European Championships in Spain. The latter event became a necessity due to the lack of support for the planned Kiel event, despite the assurances given by NFAs at the 2022 AGM. The Miami 2023 Finn Gold Cup was a great showcase of the strength of the Finn class, with a respectable turnout and great media we have helped re-build momentum in North America and proven that the Finn class has bounced back from our enforced COVID break.
Looking ahead we have exciting events and proposal for all major regattas up to and including 2026. The executive has been working hard to make this possible and we will continue to work collaboratively with the NFAs try and please as many Finn sailors as we can, whilst preserving the integrity of our class and a high standard of racing.
During the year we significantly improved the social media activity and marketing of the class. This has had a dramatic impact and our social media is hard to ignore on the major social channels.
There is much work that needs to be done in re-energising younger sailors to take up the Finn. In that respect, everything is on the table, and we will need the support of the entire Finn community to address this issue. Whether it is U23, U30 or U35 sailors – we need them. Despite lots of different initiatives the membership profile of our NFAs is ageing and in order to sustain our class we need shift the average age down. We will be engaging more with NFAS and sailors on this topic in the weeks ahead.
It is pleasing to note the progress in getting a new builder online in North America, and that our current builders and part manufactures are all busy. Technically we continue to be stable with a vibrant market for used boats and equipment. We are also fortunate to have a very active service provider community offering charter boats, transport, coaching and other services – all of this activity is highly valued and improves the access and the feasibility of the regatta participation.
I look forward to racing with you in person possibly in the Autumn at the Euro Masters, if not most certainly in Italy in 2024.
All the best for the season ahead.
4.2 Class Secretary
The Finn Class remains in very good health, though with a few areas of concern. IFA membership remains buoyant with very little impact following the Olympic decision. It’s still too early to have a full understanding of the long-term financial impact, but so far, we are certainly operating within means without too many changes.
The 2022 season was overshadowed by the Ukraine conflict, while the increased cost of travelling has had a knock-on impact on some events.
After a fantastic 2022 Gold Cup at Malcesine on Lake Garda, there was disappointment that the Europeans in Kiel were cancelled, which resulted in a combined Open and Masters European Championship in September in L’Hospitalet. While this was slightly unsatisfactory, it was a great event for those that travelled.
The 2023 season started well with a fantastic Finn Gold Cup in Miami, ably hosted by Coconut Grove Sailing Club.
This year we planned all five events, and all seem to be well attended with the exception of the Silver Cup, which is a bit slow so far. Numbers at the World Masters are still a long way from pre-pandemic levels, but events have been off the beaten track, so 2024 in Puntala should provide a better indication.
Having said that, during the week of the Europeans, there will be more than 260 Finn sailors racing around Europe. The unfortunate clash of the Dutch Masters and the German Nationals with the Open Europeans is something that should be avoided in the future with better scheduling and more advance dates, and that is something we will try to address at the AGM with a strategy of major events up to 2026 on the Agenda. The Executive is very conscious of the need to put together a long-term event plan.
On that note the Executive has been functioning well with frequent meetings and good discussions. Also, since last year we have tried to improve the communication channels to members and hopefully that has been useful. Though Finnfare frequency has been reduced to twice a year, the savings have been ploughed back into the media output through the year. There is always something going on.
The class media work took a great leap forward in 2022 when we took on Francesca to look after our social media channels. I think many will agree that the increase in content, quality and frequency has been a great step for the class – it gets noticed in many corners and produces huge visibility for the class.
The new World Tour for Finns and World Ranking List seem to be very successful so far and provides a great focus for the media output. A lot of work has also gone into the USA Finn project and it’s great to have another builder there after so many years without.
There is a lot of positivity about the class right now, and hopefully in the coming year we will have a range of great events that a significant number of members will be encouraged to attend. There has been more interest in hosting Finn events in the coming years than we have had for some time, and many will be voted on at the AGM, so this bodes well for the future.
Thank you for your support over the past year and keep the ideas coming. The Executive is always open to hear from members over what can be done better or differently.
4.3 Vice-President Sailing
Ranking List
A Finn World Ranking, which has been talked about on and off for some time now, went live by the end of 2022. The idea is to not only to simply rank the sailors but also to hopefully entice more people to take part in international regattas and to gather valuable information about people’s racing habits. The overall number of sailors that took part in at least one ranking event was a very commendable 1115 sailors, whilst 82 sailors took part in 5 or more ranking events during the season.
The most internationally active and dedicated sailor was Bas de Waal NED-29. Bas participated in no less than 12 ranking events during the year!
Event plan
Within the Executive we have tried to create a much longer-term plan for major events to make it easier for the NFAs to schedule their national events so as to avoid clashes.
There has been much discussion over the pros and cons of combining events such as the Open and Masters Europeans. The Executive took the view that it made sense for the Finn Class to have a flexible approach. For example in 2024, when all the major events are in Europe, it makes sense to combine the Open and Masters Europeans (in Cannes) whilst in 2026, if the Gold Cup and/or World Masters would be awarded to Brisbane in Australia, it would equally make sense to be able to have separate events for the Open and the Masters Europeans to beef up the European calendar.
We have many offers and opportunities for events, but first we need to see the programmes for the Finn Gold Cup.
2024 Finn Gold Cup – There will be a vote at the AGM whether FGC Anzio, Italy will be just before FWM in Punta Ala (with a one day gap) or with a week long gap in between the two.
Both FGC and FWM are in May whilst we then have the combined Open and Masters Europeans in Cannes in October.
2025 – We have bid for the Finn Gold Cup in Aarhus in August and Cascais in October.
If Aarhus win, then we plan a combined EC/FEM late in year, probably in the south
If Cascais win, then we plan a summer combined Europeans.
2026 – We have bids for the Silver Cup, Finn Gold Cup and Finn Masters in Brisbane. The IFA AGM can only vote on Gold Cup, while the Masters will have to vote of FWM a few weeks later. General feedback so far is positive.
Assuming this is voted then we should plan for both a summer Europeans at a major nice venue, and an Autumn European Masters.
Silver Cup – This is a concern. It was felt that an event on Como in the summer would provide the best indication whether the event is viable. Though there has been a lot of interest, entries remain low. There will be a discussion at the AGM around the future of this event. One idea has been to mandate/entice all the largest and most active NFAs to ´find and equip´ at least one U23 sailor to send to the Silver Cup and by doing so help create and foster a fleet of young(er) sailors.
4.5 Finance Secretariat
2022 was the first non-Olympic sailing season and the first fully uninterrupted season following the pandemic.
The result of these factors was slightly increased membership but considerably reduced equipment revenue. Combined revenue for sail labels, mast labels and plaques decreased 16,000 euros.
With a full sailing season including 4 major events, expenses were higher than 2021 when the pandemic caused events and conferences to be cancelled. Overall expenses increased by 20,000 euros, but were lower than pre-Pandemic levels of expenditure.
Regatta and conference expenses were up by almost 10000, while our increased Social media and web exposure cost 6000.
Overall loss for the year was 7000 euros, including a foreign exchange loss of 2400.
The outlook for 2023 is bright. Membership is up on 2022. A successful Gold Cup was held in Miami re-motivating the American fleet and all major events are attracting good entries. And our equipment suppliers have stronger orders than last year.
The impact on the Balance Sheet was a reduction in cash held of 6000 euros. Accounts Receivable and Payable both had an offsetting reduction of 4000euros.
Year end Cash reserves were 161500euro.
Horizons Consulting (Chartered Accountants) have reviewed the association Accounts. The audit report is available online.
4.6 Chairman of the Technical Committee
The Chairman of the TC commented on
• The positive development in the USA of a new builder.
• The ongoing process to update the Finn Class Rules to current ERS terms.
• The changes now in place from the 2022 AG regarding flags on sails.
• A question was raised from GBR on carbon booms and whether a test boom had been made. This is being investigated.
5. Major Championships
Following the withdrawal of the Anzio for the 2024 Finn Gold Cup due to issues with the port management, Aarhus offered to host in 2024 instead of 2025. A proposal was also being explored with Naples but not received prior to the AGM. As there was not a quorum in the room, it was decided to take an indicative vote for 2024 and followed by contacting the proxy voters, and then to vote on the 2025 FGC.
For the 2024 Finn Gold Cup, the majority in the room voted in favour of Aarhus. The 2024 Finn Gold Cup will be in Aarhus following further clarification with the Proxy Voters. [Update: This has since been confirmed.]
For the 2025 Finn Gold Cup, Cascais received a unanimous vote in the room. The Proxy Votes were 50:50 between Cascais and Aarhus. GER, BEL abstained. Therefore the 2025 Finn Gold Cup will be in Cascais.
The proposal for the 2026 Finn Gold Cup in Brisbane was approved with two abstentions, GER, SVK, and one rejection, ESP.
The proposal for the 2026 Silver Gold Cup in Brisbane was deferred following a long discussion on the future of the Silver Cup and the need for a better plan than at present.
6. Submissions
None presented.
7. Elections of Members to IFA Committees
The members of all IFA Committees were re-elected unopposed.
8. AOB (non voting)
GBR asked a question about the Finance Secretariat and whether IFA could justify the €12,000 salary when the constitution stated here should be an Honorary Treasurer. There was a general discussion on this, and it was stated this the Finance Secretariat was an Executive Committee appointment. The Chairman pointed out that the IFA had a comfortable financial position so there was not a financial problem with this but that the committee should be careful with spending if it was not needed. NED pointed out that last year there was a volunteer, a retired accountant, who had offered to do the job on an Honorary basis, but this was turned down by the 2022 AGM. The feeling from the floor to Council was for the Executive to address this urgently and find an Honorary Treasurer.
NED made a comment about the clash of events in the coming week with the Dutch Masters and the German nationals and the number of boats it had removed from the IFA championships. Better coordination between National associations and IFA was needed so this didn’t happen again. The Executive reported that this was in hand, communication had improved though the dates for both the Masters and the Europeans were published before the Dutch and German events had been released.
