The International Canoe

Hi, I guess I'm trying to find out from each of the National IC Class leaders what their thoughts are on the DC... This is outside of the ICF Committee, after all our reps should be relaying information from there to us, this thread is more about what issues Australia (christian), USA (Karl), UK (Gareth), Sweden (Ola), Germany (Arne), NZ (Rhys/Andrew), France (?), Canada (?), others... are having and whether other nations can assist. Chances are that if we continue this 'Presidents Chat' we will work through some issues.

I'll kick off:
Overall IC sailing in Australia is growing steadily, and more importantly we are seeing old boats changing hands to sailors who are prepared to attend regattas. I think we can attribute the growth in 2005/06 to the motivation of sailors looking to compete in the 2008 World Championships (unfortunately not all of them achieved this goal), but further growth seems to be linked to the momentum behind the DC movement.
Since becoming ICAA President in 2004 I have not seen a ballot in Australia so overwhelmingly supported by members and the greater sailing community via International Forums. The DC has raised the profile of IC sailing as a whole in Australia, interestingly it has had a positive effect on Nethercotts with 2nd hand boats still being bought and sold. The ICAA has 3 new boats (DC’s) ready to commence production, with one of these being a member new to IC’s, to add to the 3 DC’s already racing regularly (AUS26, AUS25, AUS21). As President I feel it would be a major blow to IC sailing in Australia (and indeed the world) if the DC ballot did not succeed – the DC gives us a wonderful platform to sail as well as market competitively in the niche high performance single handed arena. It compliments classes like the Moth, whose hydrofoils have made it a helm weight sensitive boat, but offers something radically different to the international Lasers and OK dinghies, which are popular nationally.

Australia continues to be instrumental in class promotion and has been the driving force behind a Class Promotional DVD. We acknowledge that the class may never achieve huge on water numbers, however that is no reason not to continue to keep raising the profile of our class.

Australia has also just had its most successful World Championships ever:
• An Australian World Champion
• An Australian Junior World Champion
• NYCC International Challenge Cup winners
Members have already started planning for Germany in 2011, though achieving numbers to fill a container will be heavily influenced by what class the ‘World Championships’ and NYCC ICC will be competed in. I honestly don’t believe that we would see three Nethercotts travel to Germany in 2011 from Australia.

So overall growth is slow in Australia but is positive - Australians see the DC as a positive step and as President I welcome the chance to have a modern and competitive platform to promote in the sailing community. We hope that the ICF Committee will lend its support to the DC, so Germany and future Worlds can be well attended. We are also pushing, through our ICF Rep, that ICF committee members take on portfolios (i.e. training, promotion, ISAF liasion, Events....) so then we have a reporting path, and someone to champion these initiatives at an international level.

I don't think this Presidents thread has had time to be reviewed and accepted by the Presidents (and normally I would not post something as candid as the following for public review). However the actions taken by our International Committee at the moment directly impact how we as national body leaders manage the class for the next 3 years at least. I'm honestly not sure how close Australia came to not achieveing 6 Nations/3 Continents (and we would have failed had it not been for the combined support of US DC's and a Pol IC). It was a lot of effort, and I am positive that the IC class will lose it's International status without embracing the DC, and confident that our Australian fleet will struggle without the box rule boats to market and promote the IC with (and still support the Nethercotts at National and International level).



As I see it, the Committee needs to let us know where it stands as to what path it will recommend to the ICF, so that we as representatives of our countries can consider the impact and possible ways ahead prior the ICF deadline.

I'd like to think though that they will come to their meeting/discussions with open minds. If they were to pre-announce their opinions it would suggest that the discussions are pointless.

Here in the US, after too many years of reduced fleet size there is the beginning of a resurgence in fleet growth. Much of this growth is in the enthusiasm of the second generation of Clark’s & Moore’s, with Will & David Clark, Oliver, Sam & Chris Moore all competing in McCrae. Not everyone new to the class is a related to Steve! Other new younger sailors in the fleet include Tim Clark (no relation to the Point Farm Clark’s), Mikey “Poland” Radziejowski, Bill Vining & Stephen Gay. New sailors over 30 include Carl Cramer, Mitchell Baum, Gui Verniers, and the return of Chris Mass to Canoe Sailing.

While Australia can proudly point to well deserved success on the race course in McCrae, the US delegation traveled to McCrae with a different goal, to show off the potential of boats built to Appendix IV. Of the fourteen boats shipped from the US, nine competed under Appendix IV, and seven were designed to the proposed new rule. From the standpoint of the US fleet, success was achieved in winning over the hearts & minds of those who made the sacrifice to travel to and compete in the event. The enthusiasm for the lighter, more responsive boats by the sailors in McCrae was almost unanimous. New & younger sailors here in the US want to build, own & sail boats built to the new rule. It was also particularly rewarding at McCrae to compete against 5 other boats designed to Appendix IV from outside the US.

Within the US the health of the various fleets varies and it would be a stretch to say that any fleet is thriving. The US is a large country, and the high price of fuel and the distances between fleets makes it difficult to get our predominately bicoastal fleet together.

Out west, activity had all but stopped with several sailors becoming inactive, or moving away. The addition of Mikey Radziejowski has given a spark of life, and the return of Chris Maas to Canoe sailing in large part because of the design opportunity that Appendix IV provides is a much needed boost. Farther south, Karl Wittnebel has moved from Washington DC and the Annapolis Fleet to sunny LA taking one of his IC’s with him. It is hoped that the adoption of Appendix IV and the return of Chris Maas may bring Erich Chase back to Canoe sailing after a 5 year sabbatical. Also in California is Stephen Gay the new owner of Rising Sun who is looking to build a DC, Patrick Lewis & Paul Scott are also out west, and are looking at the class, have expressed interest in building boats to the new rule. Chris Maas and Del Olsen (with Erich Chase) have built two new boats this year, both to the Appendix IV rule. Chris Maas is currently planning/designing a second generation boat. Bob Lewis in Vancouver has expressed interest in Chris Maas building a boat for him.

Down in the Chesapeake, fleet activity has moderated over the past few years. Karl’s move to LA, and family commitments and other boats (Moth & A Cat) for Bill Beaver & George Saunders have made keeping fleet commitments at West River difficult. Guillaume Verniers is moving from North Carolina to the Annapolis area with his DC, Sock Puppet, in what can only be described as a good move for the Annapolis fleet. Both Bill & George intend to build new Appendix IV boats, and Gui has expressed interest in building to the new rule as well.

In New England, the center of activity has been Point Farm as we are not an established class at any club. The strength in the fleet is the growth of the fleet as Oliver, Sam, Will, Dave & Chris have all become active and enthusiastic members. The biggest challenge is a poor local racing schedule with our best events in Rye NY, Ottawa, Canada and the historic Sugar Island encampment in the St. Lawrence River each summer. Informal Racing out of Point Farm fills the gaps, and this year we plan to host the Nationals for the second year running at Ram Island. Up in Maine there are now 4 IC’s with Carl Cramer and Mitchell Baum joining Jared Hourihan & Ben Fuller. There is hope of an organized gathering of IC’s in Maine this summer. In all, 5 Appendix IV boats have been built in New England within the past two years. Steve Clark is planning to build a new modified Josie for this season, and has explored various options for plywood stitch & glue boats based upon Phil Stephenson’s 21st Century Hollow Log, and Chris Maas’ String Theory.

In summary, within the active US fleet, enthusiasm for Appendix IV is uniform. Though home build and development classes of all types struggle for traction in the current landscape of popular recreational activities, our hope is that the new rule will serve as a catalyst for a renewal of interest in Canoe sailing, and that those sincerely interested in development sailing at the highest levels will find refuge in the opportunities provided by our fleet.

Karl Wittnebel
US Class President

John Kells
US Class Secretary

An unnofficial update on the DC Ballot (as passed on by the AUS ICF Sailing Committee Rep):
The Committee still does not have 100% support for the DC Ballot, despite there being some very compelling arguments for the uniting of a Nethercott and DC fleet under the IC banner. Currently the other committee members are working hard to convince the one member currently opposing the passing of the ballot to change their opinion, and a number of strategies to reach a position that appeases everyone are being discussed - (the main points against the passing of the DC Ballot seem to be revolving around the role of the Nethercott, it's perceived world status position, and its future support racing as part of a box rule fleet, as well as interpretation of the Ballot procedures - which were approved by the committee before release).

The ICF meeting is coming up in just under 2 weeks, so expect an official decision soon.

I've been told that things have progressed at Committee level very positively, and we should be expecting an official announcement on what is being presented to the ICF pretty soon.