Dear sailing family and friends,

As we approach the end of the year, I would like to reflect upon a highly productive 12 months for World Sailing and extend my very best wishes to all of our friends, partners and sailors around the world.

We have emerged from a very challenging period even stronger and the return of sailing around the world is a sure sign of progress.

It was a great privilege to interact with so many people within the sailing world at this year’s Annual Conference, the first to be held in person for three years. I feel we are very much on the right track to achieve our objectives and I must thank you all for your contributions.

We have all been working hard at World Sailing this year to deliver on our promises to grow the sport, to prioritise diversity, accessibility and increase participation. The steps that the organisation and the sport has taken are very pleasing and show the potential for sailing to set a positive example across the entire sporting sphere. This has meant that the new governance model was essential to our progress, and I am delighted that the vote on these proposals was so strongly supported. The Board and Executive Office are committed to implementing these changes for the benefit of sailors everywhere and I thank you all for your support throughout the process.

The coming year holds great promise for the development of our sport. Preparation for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games will start to ramp up with plans for a test event already in place, and the Sailing World Championships return in August in The Hague, The Netherlands.

It is also a pivotal year for our Back the Bid campaign, but regardless of the outcome we will continue to create more opportunities for para sailors around the world.

As ever, even with our accomplishments in 2022, there is always much more to do, and this challenge creates exciting opportunities as we move into 2023.

I am very proud to be President of World Sailing and we will all start the new year with renewed focus and enthusiasm for the task ahead.

Wishing you all good health and happiness in 2023. Safe travels and happy sailing.