The newly elected Executive Committee (EC) of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF) held its first meeting on Monday 10 and Tuesday 11 December in Genoa, Italy.
The EC finalised its recommendations for the appointment of Chairmen, Vice-Chairmen and members of the ISAF Committees, Sub-Committees and Commissions which will be presented to the ISAF Council for an email vote to confirm the recommendations on Friday 21 December.
The members of the EC have been allocated their areas of responsibilities. The Treasurer's role is being reconsidered in light of the fact that the Directors of the ISAF are, as of two years ago, the eight members of the Executive Committee instead of the members of the ISAF Council.
The EC received an update on the meetings the President held with Jacques Rogge, President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the IOC Sports Director Christophe Dubi. The President also met with Andrew Ryan the Executive Director of the Association of Summer Olympic International Federations (ASOIF). An important topic in conversations had been the possibilities for ISAF to have a satellite office in Lausanne. Good progress has been made towards ISAF achieving a presence in the Olympic Capital.
Looking at the future plans of the EC, it was decided that a review of the Governance of ISAF should be undertaken with the aim of improving the decision-making process and to modernise the structure of the Federation. Marketing and promotion will be a priority for the new EC. The aim will be to raise additional income for the Federation and also to ensure that sailors can sustain their sporting career by creating events and opportunities that attract media attention and sponsorship options for ISAF, event organisers and the sailors.
Decisions were also taken on future meetings of the Federation. From 2013 it is the intention of the EC that there shall only be one meeting a year of the Council in November and the November Meetings should fit within the timescale of one week. More meetings will take place using video conferencing technology and it was determined that there will be simultaneous translation at the Council meetings which will also will be broadcasted live through the internet available to all ISAF stakeholders.
Following on from the November Council Meetings, the EC will establish a working party to look at the composition, scope, and election process of the Athletes' Commission. The EC recognises the importance of Athletes representation at all levels of the decision making process in the Federation, including the EC.
The Executive Committee has appointed the current Secretary General Jerome Pels as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of ISAF reflecting the intent to further empower the staff of the Federation to efficiently run the daily business of the Federation and implement policies and speed up the development of new initiatives under the supervision of the EC.
The next meeting of the Executive Committee will take place on 4, 5, 6 February 2013, in Southampton.