Dear Flying Dutchman Sailors,

I hope you all had a good start of 2024 and I wish you all a Happy Healthy and Beautiful New Year!
I wish for all of you that you have enough free time to spend on sailing and that it is not going to be too much of (20)24/7 to you!

It looks like an interesting sailing season for the Flying Dutchman with both a Worlds and a European Championship in one year!

So we will soon have the Worlds in St.Petersburg. Of course there is always a bit extra on organizing a Worlds overseas but it all looks very promising!
The problem with the container fares that we were so afraid of sort of disappeared and with our container support the transportation costs became quite reasonable. Again Frank Nooijen has done a great job in organizing the shipment of the containers and he really deserves a big compliment from all of us for putting so much time and effort on the job.
At this very moment it is not yet clear if we will have competitors from Oceania. I hope they can decide to come to St.Petersburg. It would be very good for the competition.

And at the end of the season we will have the Europeans in Cadiz Spain where a big fleet is expected and we will have a great welcome by the Spanish and the City of Cadiz! After the Championship the boats can stay in Cadiz for the winter as we will have the Worlds in Cadiz in spring of 2025. In between these two big events races are planned. So easy to join them as the boats are already at the spot. All together a very interesting format!

On the registration of the membership we will introduce a “digital” membership. As a transition we will have both the old-fashioned membership sticker as well as the digital for 2024. We want to do it this way in order to get experience with it and be able to remove problems that might come up easier.

I wish you all great sailing in 2024!

Regards

Peter van Koppen
President IFDCO

Dear Sailors,

please find here the meeting minutes of the Annual General Committee Meeting 2023.

>> Link to meeting minutes as pdf

Best regards
Meike

Dear FD Class colleagues worldwide,

We are pleased to inform you that the 2024 European Championship and the 2025 World Championship will be hosted in Puerto Sherry, in the Bay of Cádiz.

The scheduled dates for the European Championship are from October 20 to October 27, 2024, while the exact dates for the World Championship in March 2025 are yet to be determined.

In preparation for the period between October 2024 and March 2025, we are organizing a race calendar to take advantage of the boats staying in Puerto Sherry. This calendar will include:

1. European Championship from October 20 to October 27, 2024.
2. An International League consisting of races in the months of November and December 2024, as well as January and February 2025. The February 2025 race will coincide with the Eurocup.
3. World Championship in March 2025.

The exact dates for the International League and Eurocup will be confirmed this December, and specific dates for the February 2024 World Championship will be announced shortly.

Additionally, we are in negotiations with relevant authorities, including the Regional Government of Andalusia, the Provincial Government of Cádiz, and the City Councils of Cádiz and Puerto de Santa Maria. The aim of these negotiations is to secure financial support to assist in the transportation of boats from around the world to Puerto Sherry, with the goal of attracting the participation of a greater number of boats.

It is worth noting that the pleasant temperatures in Cádiz during those months, coupled with the excellent facilities of Puerto Sherry in terms of boat space, accommodation, dining, entertainment, etc., make this event a secure choice for the realization of the mentioned competitions.

We will continue to keep you informed as new developments arise. However, if you have any inquiries, please feel free to contact the Class Secretary in Spain, Enrique Egea, at egeaesp66@gmail.com, who will be happy to assist you.

Thank you in advance for your attention and cooperation.

Sincerely,

Pepe Ruiz
ESP 99