Dated: 19th of January 2024 – 5:17pm – UTC+1:00

This message is to advise members about a change of location for the 2024 European Championship.

This year’s European championship, which was originally planned to take place on the Ile de Porquerolles in late September and early October 2024, will now take place in Sanxenxo on dates as close as possible to the original dates planned for Porquerolles. A copy of the offer from the Asociacion Española Seis Metros to host the event, in conjunction with the Real Club Náutico de Sanxenxo, is attached below. A Notice of Race (NoR) will be issued as soon as possible.

In planning for an event at Porquerolles, ISMA has been well aware of the need to publish a Notice of Race and started discussions last year with members of UF6mJI (the French Fleet) to agree suitable wording. UF6mJI were liaising with the Yacht Club de Porquerolles (YCP), and we agreed we had enough detail to pass the text to the YCP by the middle of December. YCP responded with a proposed NoR on 8 January, at which point UF6mJI commented: “this document only partially reflects the work that we have carried out together and for which YCP has always been informed”. ISMA identified a number of issues to be resolved which were passed to YCP on 12 January.

In subsequent exchanges, it became clear that YCP were unable or unwilling to make the changes requested or to discuss the matter further. In an e-mail sent at 1451 on Tuesday, 16 January, the President of YCP said: “We regret to inform you that we will not be organizing the 6 mJI European Championship scheduled to take place in Porquerolles from September 27 to October 2, 2024. Following all our exchanges, and unable to respond favourably to all the technical requests made to ensure the quality of welcome required for this event, we will not be able to ensure the organization of this event.”

The ISMA President was unable to contact the President of YCP until a telephone call on the afternoon of Wednesday, 17 January. In that call, it became clear that YCP’s decision was final and there was no room for further discussion.

Since YCP’s position became clear, ISMA officers have worked to identify urgently the safest alternative option, matching as far as possible the dates planned for Porquerolles to avoid further programme disruption. They have concluded that the most practical and certain alternative is to accept the offer from the Spanish Fleet.

Best wishes

Tim Tim Russell                         Louis Heckly
Executive Secretary ISMA         President ISMA