Kim Andersen, new President of the World Sailing, with the new leadership of the International Federation (Laura Carrau)

Kim Andersen has been elected President of World Sailing during the General Assembly meeting in Barcelona today, in the framework of the annual congress of the international sailing federation. The Spanish Ana Sánchez new vice president of the international federation the president and seven vice-presidents, including at least two men and two women, have been elected by the National Member Authorities with the right to be represented in the general assembly. The new board of directors of the International Federation is as follows:

President, Kim Andersen
Jan Dawson (NZL)
Torben Grael (BRA)
Gary Jobson (USA)
Quanhai Li (CHN)
W.Scott Perry (URU)
Ana Sanchez (ESP)
Nadine Stegenwalner (GER)

The president of the sportsmen 'committee joins the board as a permanent member. In addition, the presidents of honor of World Sailing, SM King Harald V of Norway and SM King Constantine have the right to attend and participate in the meetings of the board of directors, although they have no vote. The new meeting will be held as such during the next four years, until the next general meeting in November 2020.

Along with the election of the President and the Vice-Presidents, the General Assembly has confirmed that the ten Olympic classes (events and equipment) used at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games will be proposed to the International Olympic Committee for Tokyo 2020. The World Sailing Council will consider applying for an eleventh Olympic medal, as well as the type of event.

The headquarters for the 2017 and 2018 annual congresses have also been decided. Mexico will host delegates next year, and Sarasota (Florida, United States) will host the conference in 2018. The General Assembly has marked the end of the 2016 annual congress of the international sailing federation. During nine days of meetings, over a thousand delegates have participated in a variety of forums and committee meetings to discuss and share best practices in order to advance the sport of sailing.