Happy New Year! I hope that your 2008 plans include being involved in a lot of match racing!

I’d like to bring you up to date with what has been going on in the world of women’s match racing.

Women’s Match Racing Event in the Olympics: As you know, in November 2007 the ISAF Council selected Women’s Keelboat - Match Racing as one of the ten events for the 2012 Olympic Games. Since November, a Working Party has been appointed by ISAF and is working out the details of event format, country qualifying, and equipment selection. They will soon be making a recommendations to the Executive Committee.

Nations Cup 2009: ISAF announced that Porto Alegre, Brazil will host the Grand Final of the 2009 ISAF Nations Cup in March 2009. Between September 2008 and January 2009 each ISAF Region will hold Regional Finals (see www.sailing.org/nationscup for details).

Introductory Match Racing Clinics: In 2008 WIMRA will continue to partner with North U to run introductory match racing clinics to expose more sailors to match racing, particularly in areas where there is not much women’s match racing currently. Two of the areas we will be focusing on this year are Asia and Africa with clinics likely in Korea, Japan, and South Africa. (If you know of an area that would be interested in hosting a clinic, please contact your Regional WIMRA Governing Council member www.wimra.org/organization.asp or me.)

WIMRA web site: New events are being added to the calendar nearly every week, so please keep checking and contact the organizers if you are interested in attending the regattas. The WIMRA web site will be adding some new features in the coming months per your suggestions, including the addition of "Ask The Experts" and "Crew Wanted" sections.

WIMRA Membership: The WIMRA Secretary/Treasurer sent out a reminder last week regarding your 2008 WIMRA dues. I encourage those who did not yet pay your dues to visit www.wimra.org/ and pay your dues online.

WIMRA General Meeting: The 2008 WIMRA General Meeting will be held during the ISAF Women’s Match Racing World Championship at the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron in Auckland, New Zealand in April.

I look forward to see you all on the water sometime in 2008!

Liz Baylis, WIMRA Executive Director