Nicola Gerin about the amended Junior Worlds Deed of Gift.

During the last Junior Worlds in Denmark only two boats were allowed per nation, with the right for the host country to line up one more boat on the strarting line. In Denmark, there were around twenty boats, a fleet with an excellent level. Youth World Champions from the Optimist class, Laser and 420 were sailing. In a fleet so deep you paid for every mistake more severely, than, for example, in the Europeans in Spain where there were many more boats but the fleet was much less homogeneous.

The new class rule provides for a maximum of ten boats per nation, always with the clause for the host country to line up one more boat. This change to the Deed of Gift will definitely increase the number of competitors at the Junior World Championship, which is good news for countries like Spain and Brazil, where fleets of junior teams are numerous. The news is somewhat frightening in other nations like Italy, where the number of competitors in these events is always small.

As the Snipe sailing season gets going I have had a great deal of correspondence from many sailors and fleets. Here in San Diego (USA) we are lucky enough to sail all year long and we have been very active in rejuvenating our fleet.

As I spoke of last time, I feel the fleet is the heart of Snipe sailing. It is where people interact with each other. While SCIRA and each National Secretary can help with commonalities like rules, major regattas and membership, it is the fleets that have a real effect at keeping small boat racing alive and encouraging new people to join in our races. Yes, I feel the fleet captain and those who organize the fleets have the biggest impact on if Snipes are a success or not.

A happy new year for all Snipe sailors around the world. As I mentioned in my Snipe Bulletin article and blog post, we all owe Luis Pessanha a big thanks for his leadership the last two years and look forward to seeing him on the water this year.

I'd like to mention that as commodore, I'll continue to blog with updates on the class as well as my views on items that may be of interest to many fellow sailors. Of current interest in the new rule the Rules Committee is working on to lengthen the battens in the main. This was done in the Star class a few years ago and we plan to not change the shape of the main but rather give it more longevity.

Snipe Bulletin - Winter 2012

Dear all

It was an extremely rewarding experience and I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to serve the classas the Commodore of SCIRA during the past 2 years. I have learned a great deal in this position and it has provided opportunities to meet much more the Snipe family and sailors worldwide.

In making a balance of the recent past, I feel that we have done quite interesting things for the sustainable future of our Class in terms of caring about our values and spirit, keeping the one design spirit, adopting modern communication tools, promoting the class worldwide, aligning ourselves with ISAF in everything compatible with our values and giving more value for money to our members. I hope that you perceive the same, especially because I could not have put a drop more of energy and talent in that direction!