Jacques Valente passed away on July 11. He was a seasoned sailor with a rich career, known for his participation in events such as the Mini Transat and the Route du Rhum. His passion for sailing began at the age of 9, and despite significant health challenges, including a kidney transplant in 2008, he continued to be an active advocate for organ donation and a prominent figure in competitive sailing.

Jacques owned several A-Cat’s during his sailing career and was member of the I.A.C.A. Committe from 2021 to 2023. We express our deepest sympathy to his wife and survivors.

A great fun event, with some interesting moments for all.  Christian Stock reports.

The following alterations to the class rules have been approved by World Sailing.

The amendment of rule C.1.1(b) : "...allow the use of trapeze harnesses that are not of the quick release variety".

And slight alteration of rule C.7.1 : the Event TC and the Race Committee may allow.

Available at - http://www.a-cat.org/sites/default/files/CTACR20240508.pdf

It is with great sadness that we must report the passing of another A-Cat legend, known to a great many of us. Matthias Dietz was a beloved and gentle character for many years on both the German and European circuits. His immense knowledge of all things, ranging from the 1970's Le Mans Porsche 917 breaking systems that he worked on as an engineer, up to how he sets his rig up for those light airs, of which he was one of the Kings.

Book the dates - 7th-14th June.
A-Cat Euros 2025, Spiaggia 151 Riccione, Italy

More details to follow!

It gives us great pleasure to introduce Matilde Delaite to the IACA team. Mathilde will be looking after our Instagram account and helping to spread the A-Cat love across that platform, so hopefully engaging a few new sailors to join us.

I was reflecting on the class and where it could want to be heading recently, when I realised the question that we get asked frequently when someone is expressing an interest in our lovely boats is - I’m looking at getting an A-Cat, but what type should I go for? It is usually met with the first question from us, and we must assume that they have at least done a little research, and discovered that we have 2 categories within our class, so it’s do you want an Open or a Classic?

OFFICIAL - The 2025 A-Cat Worlds will be held at Manly Sailing Club, North Island, New Zealand. Dates - 8th-16th November 2025.

We can now look forward enormously to this event, at the club where no lesser sailor than Russel Coutts is Commodore, so we hope as many as possible can come over join in the party in Aeoteroa, the 'Land Of The Long White Cloud'!

The final day of a regatta can be a strange one. Sometimes, it all comes down to the last race as in the Toulon Worlds, and sometimes the last downwind leg of that race too, as we saw in Houston. On other occasions, the frontrunner is already decided and can afford to not even race as the discard would take care of the points gained for a DNR. Today was such an event. Both Scotty Anderson and Adam Beattie had the championship sewn up probably 2 races ago. So, some choose not to race and give someone else their chance of a bullet.