In addition to the formal aspects of the meting a seminar was held with the theme Sailing and the Media.  Information on the conclusion of what was an extremely successful event, will also be published in due course.  All members present were complimentary about the new format of the meeting, in particular the seminar and the guest speakers.  Our thanks must go to everyone who contributed.

NEWS Headlines
At their meeting on 14th and 15th February 2009, the EUROSAF Executive agreed to dedicate a significant proportion of the time available at their Annual Meeting in Copenhagen on 4th & 5th April 2009, to considering how sailing can improve its media image, in particular with the broadcast media. Several professional broadcasters, commentators and media experts have been invited to join representatives from the European Sailing National Authorities to debate this issue, which has challenged sailing for many years. Sailing may have won a media award at the Olympics in Quingdao, but it still lacks public acceptance, so how can we start to change this?

The EU Sports Forum, held in Biarritz in late November, proved to be a disappointment and was dominated by professional sports organisations, in particular, football. The question arises, does the EU understand the significance of mass participation in Sport? They say yes, but still appear to focus more on professional bodies, rather than amateur participation. For more information see EU page

Twenty three countries attended the annual Race Officials' Exchange Meeting in Copenhagen at the beginning of December. For the first time a representative of the ISAF Classes was invited to participate, which proved to be a progressive step in widening the scheme to involve class associations. New draft guidelines for the exchange programme were discussed and agreed and will now be submitted to the Executive Committee and eventually to the General Assembly for approval. Please see Race Officials section for more information