Minutes of the 2003 Annual General Meeting held in Puck, Poland on August 6th at 1830hours 

1. Minutes of the previous meeting

1.1 The minutes of last year's meeting were taken as read.  Dave Gilchrist proposed and Sam Wong seconded the motion that they be accepted.  All in favour except Marc Cardon who abstained by postal vote.

2.  Chairman's Report

2.1 The objectives of the class have been established as follows:

- Ensure the continuing success and enjoyment of competitive and recreational longboard racing;

- Provide world class World and Continental championship events to attract a growing number of sailors;

- Increase the number of female sailors participating in major championships;

- Stimulate and support the evolutionary technical development of Raceboard design;

 - Strengthen the Class structure to be able to support the potential inclusion of an Olympic format

2.2 Consistent with our objectives and in response to a desire to have a clearer structure for racing by all long board classes we recently determined to

- Hold separate stand-alone high profile Raceboard World Open Championship events;

- Continue to stage continental championships outside Europe in association with IMCO and the MJOD;

- Continue to stage joint European and World Master Championships with the Aloha Under 15 Class, the Mistral Junior Under 17 class and the IMCO Youth class events.

2.3 The class has stabilized the declining trend in the participation in our championships despite the failure to attract more women this year. That said it is still not easy to establish a stand alone Open World Championship however there is a renewed interest in the class.

2.4 The class has to face the challenge that there is only one manufacturer making longboards that comply with current class rules.

2.5 The class is represented on the IWA board by John Ellis (IWA Treasurer) and Paul Leone. The classes are now working positively together to move the sport forward and develop new initiatives.

2.6 The Raceboard website has been transferred to the same servers as those used by all the other classes except the IFWC. The front page now includes a "breaking news" section which is updated with daily reports and images during championships and as often as necessary at other times. News stories supplied by others are most welcome. The Raceboard site can be found at http://www.raceboard.org/

3. Financial Statements

3.1 Raceboard class accounts are integrated into the overall accounts for the IWA which also include the income and expenditure of all other member classes.

3.2 Last year saw a revenue of Euro 8000 and an expenditure of Euro 2644. The surplus remains with the IWA and is used to support the ongoing work of the class's administration and development.

3.3 The return to the racers comes in the form of well organised events and better deals for accommodation and food. 

3.4 There being no other questions from the floor, this item was closed.

4. Class Committee Election

4.1 Current class Committee members include Peter England, Gyorg Partos, Augusta Garcia, Didier Flamme, Sam Wong, John Ellis and Paul Leone as chairman. The whole committee was advised of the election and asked whether they wished to be considered for a further term of office.  Peter, Gyorg and Augusto did not proffer their nomination.  Those therefore standing for re-election were Paul, Didier, Sam and John. 

4.2 Peter Krimbacher (AUT) and Piotr Hlawaty (POL) asked to stand for election.

4.3 Peter Krimbacher (AUT) introduced himself to the meeting by saying that he had been involved in the racing scene for many many years first as a competitor and then as a coach. He is very concerned about the continued evolution of the sport and the effort to establish a strong overall structure for the sport.  He is closely involved in one of the consortia putting forward equipment for evaluation by ISAF in the upcoming windsurfing trials.

4.5 Piotr Hlawaty, although is not an active racer is an active organiser. He is 53 and a member of the sport committee of the Polish Sailing Federation.  He graduated as a civil engineer and eight years ago became a member of the Sopot Windsurfing Club which he is now the commodore. He has recently been responsible for its complete reconstruction to an extremely high  standard.

4.6 Sam Wong proposed that the new committee be voted in 'en blocque'. Dave Gilchrist seconded this proposal. The vote in favour was unanimous.

2003-2005 committee members elected 

5. Class Committee Recommendations & 2004 Regatta programme

5.1 Mexico now includes the Raceboard Worlds so Raceboarders of all ages may take part. It was agreed that everyone should race in one fleet provided that separate results are produced for established divisions (i.e with stand-alone scoring for the Masters 7.5 and Unlimited Championships).  As a result, the AGM agreed that it would be possible for a Master to win both the Open and the Masters 7.5 titles.  Racers hoping to race in the 'open' worlds were reminded to bring a 7.5 m sail.

5.2 It was agreed that the 2004 Masters Worlds would be held in Neserva, Bulgaria.

5.3  There is a possibility that the 2004 Open Worlds could take place in Turkey; Eilat, Israel; or Greece. However, after the postponement of the 2003 event, organisers will need to be convinced that a stand alone event is financially viable.

6. Any other business

6.1  The class website will be developed to include a 'subscribe' facility to enable a dedicated Raceboard mailing list to be built.

6.2 Future development of the class

6.2.1 The class has not evolved in the last 10 years. If it is to survive, it must now face the challenge of developing and changing its class rules.

6.2.2 There is one longboard being tested in the Olympic Board Selection in Cadiz and Torbole as well as one Formula board and 4 other hybrid boards with either centerboards or fore fins.

6.2.3 The Chairman requested the AGM to consider whether it should adapt its class rules to suit these new hybrids and suggested this should be discussed at a meeting during the World in Mexico at the end of the year.

6.2.4 Rod Davis asked  what is the minimum order from Fanatic/Cobra for new Fanatic Cats? RR agreed to find out.

6.3    There being no other items the Chairman closed the meeting welcoming Peter Krimbacher and Piotr Hlawaty to the Committee.  He also stated that this Championship in Puck had been very positive for the class and was confident that the Worlds in Mexico would also be successful.  He concluded stressing that the Raceboard Class had still a significant role to play in our sport and looked forward to the evolution of the class in the coming years.

2003 Income & Expenditure