Many of you will be aware of the great work done by the initial focus group to assist in the development of the Founders Statement which was released in (November 2019). This followed a meeting in Dallas in 2018 to develop an international structure to provide support and administration functions to the classes around the world. This key document can be found in the prior post.

The second step is now underway. This involves preparing a Constitution that strongly reflects the values of the Founders Statement, and to develop a draft set of Regulations, setting out the functions and processes in more detail as outlined on the Focus Group output.

This Working Group assisting this phase consists of:

Chris Dance (AUS – Vice President, Australian DF Association)
Wayne Stobbs (UK – Membership Secretary, DF Racing UK Class Association)
Matt Hanson (SWE – Chairman, Swedish DF Association)
Russ Gardner (USA – DF95 Class Secretary AMYA USA)
Phil Burgess (AUS – President, Australian DF Association)

As part of this piece of work, the Working Group would like to hear from owners in every country that race the classes whether socially or competitively, new or well established fleets. We already have contacts in Canada, South Africa, New Zealand, Holland and Germany and would like to understand what is happening elsewhere. The growth of both classes has been phenomenal and the proposed Association’s key focus will be supporting newer countries become more established.

The Working Group expects to complete this work within the next few months (Nov/Dec) before moving to stage 3 which will be the formation of an International Association and vote in the inaugural committees.

How you can help?
If you are a representative of a DF Association or Group in your country, or you would like to be the initial point of contact where we can seek information on your fleet/country’s activities and obtain feedback on issues that may arise, then please complete this form.

 

At the DF95 Global Championships in Texas, USA last year, John Tushingham announced the formation of a Focus Group to help put together a Founders’ Statement and some initial information to guide the formation of an International Class Association (ICA).  I’m pleased to announce that the initial work of this group is now complete and we’re pushing it out for a Public Comment phase as follows:

• 3 week public comment phase (ending 15th October)
• The Focus Group will review comments and will use this to help refine
• The final version of this document will be handed over to a Working Group to undertake the work to formally create an ICA

You can read the Focus Group Output here.  It’s a public document and anyone can view and leave comments.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1C8OUAke7yNPkIpReuxB_8YrrieVrc0KTffH42yjuyj8/edit?usp=sharing

Please be constructive and solution focused with your feedback.  Also keep in mind that any comments are public. If you want to provide more private feedback, please feel free to email me at dance.chris@gmail.com and I’ll make sure it’s pushed to the group.

Expressions of interest for the next phase

We’re also seeking expressions of interest for those that may be able to help in the Working Group phase to assist with creating the formal parts of the ICA. e.g. the “fun stuff” like the paperwork, constitution, etc.  If you have skills in this area, or a strong interest in helping form an ICA to grow the DF classes, please fill out the expression of interest form.  We’d love to see representation from a wider group of countries at this phase.

This is a fantastic time for the DF classes.  The DF65 and DF95 grow from strength to strength and is now arguably the fastest growing sailing class in the world! Forming a global class association with such a strong set of community focused founding principles is very unique – not just in radio sailing, but in sailing in general!  We’re confident this step will set the class up for a strong future.