Dear Members of the Canadian Shark Class Association.

It has been a great season of sailing with participation in all regattas remaining strong.  Unfortunately, as a result of the active participation in racing events taking up a large portion of our spare time, Jeff Mitchell and myself have not fulfilled the mandate that was set for us at the Annual General Meeting in March, 2003.

In March 2003, the members present at the AGM passed two resolutions relating to measurement.  The first was that we assemble and post on the website for the information of the members, previous rulings given by the Chief Measurers and the specifications committee relating to specific boats or generally.  This involves Jeff reviewing several boxes of files containing a collection of notes and papers of past measurers and assembling the information into a coherent and presentable format.  Jeff is continuing to work on this.

The second resolution required us to assemble a list of areas of the rules that the Specifications Committee determined required clarification and to provide that list to the Members and to ISCA for its consideration.  That process began at the meeting with the clarifications that Jeff made as part of his specifications report relating to fibre glassing the Hull/Deck joint, the required procedures and corrector weight locations if required and on the use of compression posts to support the mast step.  Subsequently, a further clarification has been issued about Hand Rail locations.

While these steps have by no means met the mandate put upon us they are steps in the right direction.  The ISCA Specifications committee is undertaking  a review of the entire class rules  to identify  clarifications and changes required  Which will be presented for membership review and approval.

We ask for your continued indulgence while we work through this significant task.. 

I am also happy to report that during the entire season there was not one protest or significant issue relating to rules interpretations or violations.  I would also like to commend one sailor who, immediately upon request, relocated the hand rails on his boat to comply with the clarification that was issued.  It is that spirit of cooperation that makes our class so successful. 

Look for more postings under this section for further updates.

John Brunt

CSCA President