ISAF 2005 International Judging Clinic & Seminar
Thailand 18 - 25 Sept. 2005

Overlapped, Obstruction, Keep Clear and Proper Course...

Thirty six participants from nine countries, from as far away as Estonia (1), UK (1), Australia (1), Japan (3) were joined by China (1), Hong Kong (2), Malaysia (5), Singapore (7) and Thailand (15) for the newly structured ISAF International Judging Clinic and Seminar.

Renown Australian IJ, Graeme Owens was appointed Chief Instructor by ISAF and was ably assisted by Rear Admiral Prasart and Khun Rut Subniran for the 3-day classroom Clinic and 3-day Seminar organised by the Yacht Racing Assoc of Thailand (YRAT) and held at the Royal Thai Navy's - Samudhara Kila Aquatic Sports Centre in Chonburi. Admiral Varong Songcharoen's team did a wonderful job of making the participants welcome and saw that every thing ran smoothly including transporting everyone 150 km to and from Bangkok airport to Sattahib plus a local tourism trip on the layday.

The Clinic/Seminar is conducted entirely in English and as the Clinics format mainly concentrates on the 2005 - 2008 Racing Rules of Sailing it can be separately attended by sailors only interested in brushing up or updating themselves with the rules. The ISAF are now recommending that participants attend a Clinic if they intend going on to the Judging Seminar. Knowing your rights and obligations during a race can develop confidence on the water and help serious sailors win races. The rules clinic can feasibly be conducted by national authorities to quickly bring local sailors intending to compete on the International scene up to speed.

The Seminar is for the sailors that would like to go on and become International Judges at sailing events. The syllabus focuses primarily on protest procedures and jury decision making in the protest room. A 2 hour examination in English takes place on the last day (2 1/2 hrs if English is not the first language) has proven so difficult (pass mark over 80%) that allegedly only two Asian nationals have ever passed from over 90 past participants. Graeme Owens also replayed some unpopular and often difficult decisions that had to be made during past America's Cup, match racing events in New Zealand and against some high profile sailors like Dennis Conner's.

As sailing has more rules than any other sport, this complex subject cannot be learnt or fully absorbed over the week long session, so failing the tricky exam questions is not the end of the world, which can be considered part of the educational process towards becoming a International Jury. It is recommended that serious participants go on and join with local protest committees and work with other IJ's and National Jury's at sailing events to extend their knowledge and gain further experience. The AY editor undertook both courses to update ourselves with the current rule changes and ensure accurate reporting during forth coming events.

If you found this AY Report enjoyable and like to freely Subscribe Online to the fully automated AY Circulation List click on: http://asianyachting.com/subscribe.asp (Hit Refresh button if page does not open 1st time) and submit your details.

AsianYachting Ventures Sdn. Bhd. (Co. No. 627106-T)
A 308 PD Perdana Condo Resort, Jln Pantai, 71050, Pt Dickson, Malaysia
Tel: 6 06 6477701 Email: info@asianyachting.com
Welcome to the Wonderful World of Yachting at http://AsianYachting.com