Notes from the Whitstable World Council Meeting

The Tasar World Council met in Whitstable during the 2001 Tasar International Regatta. Full minutes will be posted on the web at www.tasar.org as soon as they are available. In the meantime, here are some of the highlights.

Advertising

The World Council voted to adopt ISAF Category C for the Tasar class. Tasars may now carry advertising without restriction on hulls, spars and sails, except for the space reserved for the event organizers (the forward 25% of the hull, if specified in the Notice of Race). See Appendix 1 of the Racing Rules of Sailing for more information on the effect of this decision.

Hull Weight

The average hull weight of boats racing is falling. A proposal to change the class rules to lower the minimum hull weight from 68 kg to 66 kg will be circulated for discussion, and regions will be asked to vote on changing Rule 4 (c).

Review of Crew Weight Rule

The World Council approved a request from the Japanese Tasar Association to ask each region to promote discussion of the crew weight rule (rule 29) and to prepare a report regarding:

a) the importance of the current rule 29 to the Tasar class in the future;
b) the lack of consideration of crew height (leverage) when considering equalisation;
c) whether regional crew equalization rules would be more appropriate than world rules.

Regions are asked to report back to the World Council by August 31, 2002.

Window in the Main

After hearing a brief report from Carl Buchan about the successful test of a mainsail with a window, the World Council voted to ask the designer, Frank Bethwaite, to incorporate a window into the Tasar mainsail, and to publish the dimensions and specification, so that owners of existing mains can also add a window.

Shroud Pull Backs

A new rules interpretation (31) requires any extension of the line past the shroud pull back handles to be elastic (shock cord) and to be lead forward, through the forward toe strap saddles and/or in front of the centreboard case. This allows the simple solution used in many boats (and standard in Australia) to keep the handles neat and out of the way. However, it prohibits leading a line backward from one pull back handle, down through a hole in the thwart, across the boat under the thwart, up through the thwart on the other side, and forward to the other handle. A line rigged like this can be used to pull the leeward shroud back from the windward side of the boat. The shockcord solution permitted by interpretation 31, as well as the solution shown in the original drawings for pull backs, can pull the leeward shroud back when it is not under tension, but this is not its primary function.


Handicap Racing

Interpretation 28 was not approved, and is therefore currently not in force. The wording of this interpretation changes the class rules for Tasars racing in handicap events, and allows them to race without hull weight ballast. However, many handicap events require all competing boats to conform to their class rules, and organizers would expect Tasars to carry the ballast required in class events. There is a conflict here that needs to be resolved. Interpretations 29 and 30 were approved.

New Age "Super G" Category

The World Council voted to introduce a new category of Super Grand Master for crews with a combined age of 120 years or more The combined ages for the Masters category is 80 to 99, and for the Grand Masters categories it is 100 to 119 years.

The age for the Junior Helm category is under 19. All ages are on the day of the first scheduled race at a regatta. These categories should be used at all World Championships, and at other major Tasar regattas where there are entrants in these categories.

Designer's report

Frank Bethwaite was unable to attend, but submitted a written report, which is available here.

Next Worlds

The next Tasar Worlds (assuming the ISAF approves recognized status, and we can again hold a World Championship) will be held in Victoria, BC, Canada in 2003. The date for the event has not been decided yet.

Officers

Cathy Sherwood (North America) was elected World Council President, Chris Parkinson (Australia) is the new Vice President, and Todd Blumel is the new Chief Measurer. Richard Spencer was elected as Executive Secretary. John Rischmiller was thanked for his excellent service as President.

Richard Spencer
Executive Secretary, World Tasar Class Association