IACA President on Official Class Submissions
Letter from Andrew Landenberger, IACA's President, to clarify and inform about the formal procedures to submit rule changes, and which are the current official ones currently analyzed by the Class World Council.
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Dear Members,
Over the past months we have seen several submissions put forward by
National Associations for possible rule changes. Some of these submissions
have created a lot of interest in the class, both for and against.
With the access we have to internet and other social media it is now much easier than
ever before to discuss class issues openly with people from all over the
world. I believe this is very healthy and necessary for the class, however
we must also be careful that we discuss the facts and not divert into other
areas creating confusion, as this can also be harmful to the class.
After recent conversations with Piet Saarberg and other members it seems we have
quite a lot of confusion going on, especially regarding the voting and
polling which has been carried out within individual countries. I would like
to make clear to all members that all voting or polling which has been
carried out so far is not official in the eyes of IACA.
Any changes to the class rules or Championship rules can only be achieved by
strictly following the class constitution. This means that any proposal for
a change to the class rules must be submitted in writing to IACA at least 3
months prior to the World General Meeting with the support of at least three
nations. At that point the submission is added to the Agenda for discussion
and eventual voting by the class presidents. This vote is weighted for each
country with 1 vote for every 10 paid up members. In order for this vote to
pass there must be a majority of 2/3 in favour. If the submission is for a
change in the Championship rules, it can be decided at the World General
Meeting.
If the submission is for a change to the class rules, it must first
pass in favour at the World General Meeting with a 2/3 majority, and then it
must go to ballot across all class members world wide where it again needs a
2/3 majority in favour to pass. This is the only way class rules can be
altered.
I point this out because some members are under the belief they are
currently voting for changes to the class rules. At this stage the only
thing members of individual national associations have been voting for is if
their country would or would not support different submissions.
The actual vote is only made at the World General Meeting. As you can see
the whole process requires a lot support from the class to achieve any
change. This is a good thing as the process creates stability and removed
the possibility for a minority to change the class.
Once the date for submissions closes, the class presidents will be notified
of the successful submissions and they will have to notify their members to
determine which way they should vote at the WGM. It is very important that
the class presidents discuss the submissions only which are to be voted
upon.
There has been quite a lot of confusion already as some nations have spent
more time discussing points and opinions of issues which are not actually
submissions. The amount of interest in some of these issues (mainly
Hydrofoils) has lead to new questions being asked and it is clear that there
are genuine grounds to get a correct feedback from the class how there feel
about this issue. Germany has now addressed the issue formally with a
question to the class. If they receive enough support then the proposal may
become a submission and also end up on on the WGM agenda for voting.
I ask all members to remember that this is all only discussion at this point
which should be healthy for the future of the A class. It should not become
a political battle field which harms or destabilises our class. Remember, that
we are one of the last remaining development classes in the world, and the
A class we enjoy today is because of that development. We need to make sure
that any decision we take now will keep our class just as interesting in the years ahead.
It will take an overwhelming majority to make any changes to the class rules and in that
case it can only be considered a positive step for the class, since it would
have the support from so many.
Kind regards,
Andrew Landenberger,
IACA President