The AFCCA today received a communications from the French Sailing Federation giving their consent to foiling and non-foiling boats sailing together. A result for the French A Class and it's friends!

The communication was as follows (Translated) from the original here.

'The organization of the National (French) A Class presents a problem to this day despite the efforts of each other to find a consensual solution.

Italian aerospace engineer, Ubaldo Cella, has recently had his research on A-Class sail design methodology awarded 'Best in class' CAE (Computer Aided Engineering) application by the ANSYS “Hall of Fame” competition.  For those who don't mix in these elevated circles, ANSYS is the World leader in engineering simulation and 'develops, markets and supports engineering simulation software used to predict how products will behave and how manufacturing processes will operate in real-world environments'.

A petition has been set up in support of the French 'A' Class Association's (AFCAA) fight against having restrictive rules imposed on 'A' Cat regattas by the FFV.  

Two 'A' cats on display at the RYA London Dinghy Show.

The World's only dedicated dinghy show took place last weekend at the Alexandra Palace exhibition centre in North London.  Organised by the Royal Yachting Association, several thousand visitors come to this show to see the latest designs and developments, and to buy kit and equipment for the new season.

IACA President Andrew Landenberger replies to the French FFV in response to their recent pronouncements.

Dear Jean Pierre,

I have read your letter with great interest. It shows you have given detailed thought and consideration to the current situation in our class which is a constant evolution of changes during this time. I would however like to point out some details surrounding my letter to the class which you have referenced in your response.

On February 18, in a meeting with the Vice -President of the French national sailing regulator, the FFV, Jean-Pierre Churet, French A Class Association President  Thierry Boisbouvier and Vice President Jacques Piallat  said that the FFV conceders the A-Class to be a flying boat and as such, two possibilities were offered to them:

The IACA technical committee and World Sailing agree a clarification.

A rudder hanging clarification was posted on the IACA website 27/1/16 to clarify our interpretation of rudder hangings and since that time the issue has been raised by a number of individuals and measurers as to how this interpretation can be ruled on and how a sailor is to know if he is class legal or not.

The Technical Committee has received many enquiries as to how the new “decksweeper “ type sails are to be measured and how Black Bands are to be applied.  In the past with the present “standard” sail shape the measurement guide adequately covered and we could simplify our procedure by taking maximum offsets and in some cases eliminating some of the roach area measurements.  The new sails have presented new challenges and the new guidelines hopefully cover these areas.

Following the tragic death of Murray Philpott, his very good friend and IACA Technical head, Graeme Harbour, writes this piece for him.

The International A Class Association is deeply saddened by the death of New Zealand A Class sailor Murray Philpott in a tragic gliding accident on the 6th February.

It is with great sadness that we must report the death of top New Zealand A class sailor Murray Philpott in a gliding accident at the weekend.  Our thoughts are with his family and friends. 

NZADCA President, Brent Harsant, released the following statement.

It was with great sadness that we heard of the passing of Murray Philpott on Saturday 6 February in a glider accident.

Murray was one NZADCA's longest serving members, and was happy to offer his services as a technical advisor and measurer to other sailors.