IOMICA Forum

The upcoming AGM sees the Executive Officers positions due for re-election. Regrettably, I won’t be running for office this time. Circumstances have changed sufficiently for me to no longer have the time.

IOMICA will need a strong Executive moving forward, the changes likely with RSD will require considerable work if we’re to make the most of the opportunities presented to us, I’m afraid I wouldn’t be able to do the role justice.

I would encourage Owners to consider serving; run for an Exec position or offer to sit on a sub committee. Above all else the Exec needs people willing and able to give their time.

Cheers

Dear Andy and dear members of IOM community,

Alfonso Moreno (ESP) – candidate for IOM ICA Chairman, Robert Grubisa (CRO) – candidate for VC Technical and Olivier Cohen (FRA) – candidate for VC Events, following Andy’s request, will seek your votes for new IOM ICA Executive members on 2009 AGM in Barbados. We think it would be good idea to present you with what people who decide to stand for IOM ICA Exec positions want to do, if elected by the World Council.

A bit of history and present situation
International One Metre (IOM) Class was developed by the IYRU-MYRD and adopted as an radio sailing international class in 1988.

IOM Class rules have been rewritten by ISAF RSD in the standard ISAF format during the 2002.

So far, seven World Championships have been held. Eight World Championship will be organized in Barbados during July 2009.

Among IOM skippers, there are people having nothing with manned sailing boats as well as Olympic Games participants in sailing disciplines.

Main goals for the future
We (candidates for IOM ICA Exec) would like to have:
 IOM Class as international class in the future.
 IOM Class Rules to the highest standard with authoritative and expert class rule interpretations and class rule changes approval.
 The future World Championship with skippers coming from ISAF manned sailing classes as well as amateurs with professional and home made boats.

In order to achieve above mentioned in the future and having in mind that ISAF RSD will cease to exist, we believe that the full integration with ISAF structure as ISAF international class would be the best option for the IOM Class. Having in mind ISAF Regulations, it seems that such goal could be achieved.

ISAF membership will not solve our (IOM ICA) internal issues so we would like to see competent sub-committees, especially technical, event and measurement sub-committees which would have the proactive role everyday life of the IOM ICA.

In case that IOMICA joints ISAF directly, as we expect, we will work to review all IOM ICA documents, update them if necessary and act according to them.

For example, proposals for class rule changes from NCAs must be checked and discussed by the IOM ICA Technical committee prior to the official presentation to the IOM ICA Exec for World Council voting and ISAF Technical formal approval. Such approach will result in better proposals, final approval will be shorter and ISAF final approval will assure that similar issues on other radio sailing classes within ISAF (if any) will be solved in a similar way.

Who are we?

Alfonso Moreno (ESP) – candidate for IOM ICA Chairman

Born in Cadiz (ESP) in 1969.
He started sailing just after he started walking, first with his father and then in Optimist class as soon as he learned swimming. After those days, he has sailed in many dinghy classes and also in cruising boats. He started sailing IOMs when he moved to work in Madrid in 1999. Since then, he has taken part in 3 World Championship, 3 European Championships and several International Races.

From 2005 onward, he is ESP NCA Chairman so he is used to deal with his MNA, clubs, owners and the IOMICA itself. He is also used to coordinate the members of ESP NCA Exec.

He is married and has two daughters and a son.

Robert Grubisa (CRO) – candidate for IOM ICA Vice chairman – Technical

Born in Rijeka (CRO) in 1968.
He has started with model boats when he was fourteen. Until 1998 he has raced in Marblehead class as a major radio sailing class in Croatia in those days. Since 1998, he has designed, built and raced numerous IOM designs. In Marblehead and IOM CRO Championships, he won many medals. Since mid-2005, he is the builder of IOM boats Topiko and Pikanto (from the year of 2008) under the Sails Etc license. Topiko and Pikanto boats were made for many CRO and some foreign owners, or they are currently under construction.

Since 2001, Robert Grubisa has been the Chairman of the ISAF RSD Technical committee and he was involved in class rule revisions (in standard ISAF format) of IOM, Marblehead and 10R International Classes, as well as in technical interpretation and class rule revisions for mentioned and International A Class.

He was a member of the International Jury on the first IOM Worlds in St. Cyr (FRA) and Chief of Equipment Inspection team on last IOM European Championship in Dubrovnik (CRO).

Robert Grubisa is Naval Architect B.Sc. He is currently working as a Manager of Technical Dept. (Design and drawings) in one of the biggest Croatian shipyards 3.MAJ.

He is married and has two daughters.


Olivier Cohen (FRA) – candidate for IOM ICA Vice Chairman Events

Born in Paris (FRA) in 1969
He started sailing at the age of 10 and achieved good results at national level in Optimist class and 420 class. For several years, he was involved in cruising boats and then dedicated himself to his studies and after that to his family.
He started radio sailing and IOM by end of 2004, and since then he has taken part in 2007 World and 2008 European Championships.

Since 2008, he has been in charge of International issues within FRA NCA exec committee.

He is currently working as the project manager in the automotive industry. He is married and has a daughter and a son.

In conclusion, we are a young team but with a lot of experience for positions that we are running for, we want that our class continues to be the most active class in radio sailing, with the highest racing level, but we also want a class as simple as possible so owners can enjoy designing, building, sailmaking or sailing their IOMs. In order to fulfil all these goals, we know that a lot of work has to be done and we are willing to listen what the owners want us to stand for.

Also we come forward as a team but we are not a closed team, we are looking forward to bring more people into our project and work with them provided we share the same goals.



Alfonso Moreno (ESP) – candidate for IOM ICA Chairman,
Robert Grubisa (CRO) – candidate for VC Technical and
Olivier Cohen (FRA) – candidate for VC Events[/b]

I've been meaning to post something for a while now.

Due to some recent changes in my health, I have decided not to stand for re-election to the position of VC Technical.

It has been a privilege to have worked with the other members of the Executive past and present. I hope that the class is better for our service.

The principle lesson I pass on to those who succeed me on the IOMICA Executive is to always keep what is best for the class and its members first in your mind. Rules are meant to serve the needs of the class and must evolve and change.

Finally, we are lucky to have two candidates who have volunteered to stand for election for the VC Technical post. While in many ways both are qualified, I would like to endorse the candidacy of Val Provost. I have worked with Val over the years and find her insightful, talented and well informed. She has served on both the technical and measurement committees of numerous "big" boat classes. Most important, I believe she has the right temperament and attitude to best fulfill the needs of the VC Technical position. Oh, and not that it should matter, but it is now more than time for the IOMICA Executive to include a woman.

It's been a heck of ride. Thanks. Roy

Like Roy, I have been meaning to post a candidate statement for a while and his post has spurred me on to do so.
Some of you know me, either personally or through my posts on this forum but many do not, so a little background for a start.
I have been an official measurer of the Royal Yachting Association since the mid 60's, gradually expanding the range of classes as time has passed. Currently I measure for about 20 different classes, national and International and am an approved Sail Measurer for any class that adopts the ISAF Sail Measurent system. I do ad-hoc work for the Dutch KNWV and am a measurer for the Belgian Model Sailing Association. I also am qualified to measure boats built to the International Metre classes rule, so that includes 5.5, 6, 8,and 12m boats.
I have been sailing for 64 years, the last 16 in model boats. I have boats from all four of the International classes, including an Isis IOM and sail mostly in Belgium at present.
Where rules are concerned, I really do believe that the simpler they can be, the better they work. After all, in any class if you can get 10% of the owners communicationg and discussing you are doing well but they will always be the most motivated and competetive sailors. We have about 3000 members and about 700 forum members, so we are doing well on that front, but the real grass roots sailor, the one that never leaves his club, joins a forum or speaks out is the one that interests me because they are the foundation upon which all the rest is built and the rules need to develop with them in mind.
I am married to another model sailor Bob Provoost and have two daughters. I have a currently dormant business called Rush Raceboats which is just ticking over doing small repairs and not producing anything commercially at present. Should you decide to appoint me as your VP Tech I can give you an absolute assurance that should any referral be made to the Tech Committee over another producers boats or components, that I would withdraw from any discussion or decision about the item in question and delegate to whole question to a member or members of the Tech committee. I regard such a situation as a conflict of interests and as such, one in which it would be inappropriate for me to be involved. After all I would not like it done to me as a producer.
And finally, Roy raised the matter of involving a woman in the affairs of IOMICA. He would not have known of course that I have an absolute loathing of positive discrimination and its attendant 'Political Correctness' and so I ask that if you do decide to vote for me, please do so because you think I am the best person for the job and the one most in accord with your own insight into the class and its rules going forward.

Candidate Statement

My name is Bruce Andersen. Many of you know me from my involvement in the class, but as a candidate for Chairman, thought it proper to give out some more information.

I’ve been sailing about 40 years or so, starting out in inland lake E and A Scows and moving through Lasers, Stars, J-24’s and a host of larger keelboats up to 66 feet on the Great Lakes, Chesapeake Bay/Annapolis, and South Florida.

I started R/C sailing in Marbleheads about 15 years ago in Central Park, New York and have sailed IOM’s since they were introduced into the US.

I have served 2 terms as Commodore of the Central Park Model Yacht Club and as IOMICA VC Events for the last 2 terms, during which time I supervised and helped organize 2 World Championship and 1 European Championship Regattas.

I’m married with 2 kids and run an amateur machine shop at night, mostly building bits & pieces for R/C boats. My day job is as a neurosurgeon in Boise, Idaho, USA and prior to entering private practice, was in academic neurosurgery for 12 years, advancing to the post of Department Chairman. I also earned a PhD in neurophysiology and do basic science research on the bio-energetics of axonal transport with colleagues from NIH at the Woods Hole Marine Biological Laboratory.

I have no commercial interests in R/C sailing and have no business attachments with anyone who does.

I believe that the EXEC needs some continuity as well as some new faces to maintain momentum and explore new ideas. The slate of myself, David Turton, and Pedro Egea (who has been working with Anders on the website for some time) will be able to maintain the present agenda while the addition of Val Provoost, Barry Fox, and Olivier Cohen brings quite a bit of talent, enthusiasm, and new perspectives to the EXEC.

The tone of the EXEC is set by its members: We have had EXEC’s that were quite active and authoritative, taking many matters into their own hands. We have also had EXEC’s that, in contrast, were quite hands-off, preferring to have change come from the membership. Somewhere in the middle ground is where I see my position. I believe that the officers are elected to serve the membership of the class, and endeavor (if elected) to follow mandates of the majority.

Clearly, ISAF affiliation is looming on the horizon. Affiliating with ISAF offers many benefits and few downsides, mostly financial. I have contacted the ISAF Secretariat who outlined the cost of membership – the application fee will almost certainly be waived, the yearly fee is a few hundred GBP, and new hulls will have a per-boat fee of about 5 GBP. All in all, I believe the advantages far outweigh the cost, and favor joining ISAF as an international class.

It looks as though Motion B directing RSD to continue existing with elections for new officers will pass. I’m not sure when this will happen, but I think it’s a good thing for R/C sailing in general, particularly for the smaller and/or less organized classes. How IOMICA might fit into that scheme remains to be seen.

I welcome any questions, encourage all the members to cast votes, and ask that you support my candidacy. Thank you.

Although it appears that the Secretary position won’t be contested during the upcoming elections, I thought I should post a little something to let you know who I am and a bit of history.

I am a Canadian, coming from a fairly non-sailing part of the country in Alberta. I am married and have 3 kids who are spread around the US pursuing their careers. I lived in Edmonton, Alberta for most all of my life.

My primary career was in IT management for a multi-national petrochemical manufacturing company. During that career I spent the last 9 years of it in Texas before retiring and moving back to Canada. During that stay in Texas we became used to milder winters which prompted our move to Victoria, British Columbia to enjoy what is maybe the mildest climate in Canada and year round sailing.

My sailing history is quite short. In 2004 I was casting about for a new hobby with a competitive function to it and discovered radio sailing. My first boat was a Victoria class boat and I sailed with a bunch of pretty active clubs in Texas in that class. In 2005 I acquired an IOM and have built and raced a few of those since then.

When I returned to Canada, I found a few other IOMs to sail with but not much active racing going on. In conjunction with some others we devised a plan where inexpensive hulls were made available to interested people and advice on how to build a relatively economical IOM that would be a decent boat. This required a philanthropic approach to some extent as the hulls were built for the material cost alone.

The result of that effort is a fleet of nearly 40 boats within a few hours drive of each other. And the boats sail quite well on top of it.

To supplement the new fleet of boats, I organized a series of events (3 years in row now) that travels to 4 different locations in the early part of each year and manages to bring together a good sized portion of those 40 boats. In addition we now have at least four good sized groups who get together very regularly for local sailing.

While my sailing experience is limited, I spent something over 30 years racing cars. I did drive for quiet a while but also spent a lot of time throughout those years as the President of a very large club, President of the regional organization, Race Director for the region and Clerk of the Course (RD equivalent) for a number of international race meets. In the middle of that I also re-wrote the rule book we used so that it could actually be understood and not contradict itself.

My interest in this class is pretty high. My specific knowledge is maybe a bit limited but growing daily. I see my place as one where I can bring some organizational skills and a bit of an outsider’s view as I think I represent a good number of the newer owners in this class.

I look forward to be able to offer my services to help the class continue to grow and mature. A lot of good groundwork has been put in place by all of the previous administrations. We need to keep moving and refining the organization to keep it at the level we all want.

Please feel free to contact me at anytime if you have any questions.

Bruce,

Thanks for including me in your team for upcoming elections.

Be sure that I will work with anyone that may be elected in the next AGM, but, before these elections, I support Alfonso Moreno and Robert Grubisa whom I consider are the best candidates as Chairman and VC Technical, considering their knowledge and expertise regarding IOM.

Regards

Hi all,

I have a question to both Alfonso and Bruce. It is my understanding that there has been a handshake deal that the next IOM Worlds will be held at West Kirby England to celebrate the MYA's 100 year anniversary. The question is, if you are elected will you honour this handshake agreement?

Thank you
Daniel

GBR sent a formal letter of intent and the official application to host the 2011 World Championships to IOMICA in September of 2008. We posted this on the website. To my knowledge there is no secret deal to award the race to GBR.

That being said, I am in favor of awarding the WC to them since they hope to host the regatta in celebration of MYA's centennial, have obviously planned far ahead, and have a rich history of radio sailing and hosting large regattas. I am confident they will put on quite a show.

Dear Daniel,

I am running for the position of Chairman nor VC Events and I do not know if the Exec has taken any decision on this issue. If they did I will respect it but I think it should have been made public.

On the other hand I can tell you that I know the proposed venue. I went there in 2006 (I am not sure if the year is correct but David Potter will remember) when the GBR National was held in that club. Thanks to Ken Binks I could rent a boat and take part in that event. I really had fun. I never had sailed a whole championship with nº 2 and most of the time with nº 3 rig. When the championship finished I ordered my beautiful Lintel and now I wonder if I should take her to BAR .

Finally I can tell you that if I am elected I will ask the VC Events to clarify some points of the IOMICA Class Championship regulations.

Thank you both for your reply's
Daniel