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The General Assembly of the International Sailing Federation will take place at 14:30 hours on Saturday 15 November 2008 in the Prado Room at the Hotel Melia Castilla, Capitan Haya 43, Madrid 28020, Spain.

The Constitution of the Federation requires that the General Assembly should meet at an "ordinary meeting" every four years. The important agenda items will include the election of officers for the next four year term, changes to the Constitution, financial matters and other significant items.

The ISAF General Assembly also marks the four-year period when ISAF Member National Authorities (MNAs) - find them all here www.sailing.org/mna - may nominate individuals to ISAF Committees and when the MNA Groups may appoint Council Members.

The following sets out the responsibilities of MNAs in respect of delegates to the General Assembly, nominations for the election of officers and nominations to the Council.

Appointment of Delegates to the ISAF General Assembly - Article 31 of the ISAF Constitution

Each Member National Authority is entitled to be represented at the General Assembly by one delegate, who must be a national or resident of the country concerned.

A delegate who has been appointed previously remains the MNAs delegate until he is replaced. However, in order to assist ISAF with the preparations for the General Assembly, I would ask that if your delegate will remain the same that you advise ISAF.

If you are to appoint a new delegate, the appointment must be notified to the ISAF Secretary General by 12:00 UTC on Friday 31 October 2008. The notification must be signed by the MNA President or Secretary General (or equivalent in position).

Election of Officers - Articles 71-72 of the ISAF Constitution

The President and seven Vice-Presidents will be elected at the General Assembly. In accordance with Article 83 at least two of the seven Vice-Presidents must be women.

In order to be eligible as a candidate for President or Vice-President, a candidate must be nominated by five or more MNAs. MNAs may nominate as many or as few candidates as they wish. There is no requirement that the candidate is nominated by his own MNA.

Nominations for candidates must be notified to the ISAF Secretary General by 12:00 UTC on Friday 19 September 2008. The nomination letter must be signed by the MNA President or Secretary General (or equivalent in position).

The ISAF Council has appointed the following Election Committee (His Majesty King Constantine - Chair, His Majesty King Harald V of Norway, Peter Siemsen (BRA) and John Tinker (CAN)) who will be responsible to:

• determine whether or not a nominated candidate is eligible for election
• publish a list of eligible candidates nominated in accordance with Article 71 together with the names of their nominating Full Members for distribution with the agendas of Council
• be responsible for the conduct of the election and the votes taken for the candidates during the meeting of the General Assembly

Nominations to Council - Articles 39.1 to 42 of the ISAF Constitution

The ISAF Council is the final decision making body of ISAF and comprises the ISAF President and Vice-Presidents, 28 members appointed by the MNAs, the Chairman of the ISAF Offshore Committee, a member appointed by the ISAF Classes Committee and a women's representative. The Treasurer is also a member but does not have a vote unless he is a member in some other capacity, such as Vice-President. The Presidents of Honour are also non-voting members of the ISAF Council.

The 28 members above are appointed by Groups of Full Members as set out in Schedule A of the Constitution and may be nominated by any of the MNAs in that Group.

Nominations for Council Members must be notified to the ISAF Secretary General by 12:00 UTC on Thursday 30 October 2008. The nomination letter must be signed by the MNA President or Secretary General (or equivalent in position).

In respect of the ISAF policy to achieve representation of both genders on the ISAF Council, I would like to remind you that it is ISAF policy that at least 20% of the Council should be drawn from each gender.

Full details on the ISAF General Assembly can also be found at www.sailing.org/generalassembly.

ISAF Meetings microsite - www.sailing.org/meetings