UIM General Assembly Elects Council Members, Commission Presidents and Members
Hosted by the Portuguese Powerboat Federation, the 99th UIM General Assembly brought together more than 100 delegates at the Pestana Hotel & Resort in Sintra. Chaired by UIM President Dr. Raffaele Chiulli, the Assembly focused on statutory elections, its Governance review program, and the future development of the Powerboating Sport.
Commission meetings held on-site preceded the annual General Assembly, to finalize the sporting and technical regulations across the various UIM disciplines, as well as the safety specific provisions for the 2027 season.
The General Assembly welcomed three new UIM Member Federations from Greece (Powerboat Hellas), Turkey (Turkish Motorcycle Federation) and Kyrgyzstan, who had hosted the first ever UIM F1H2O World Championship Event in Central Asia earlier in the year, and ratified the Membership status up-grade of the Black Pharaoh Club from Sudan to ‘Corresponding Member’.
Statutory elections were on the agenda for five seats on the UIM Council and to determine the composition of the five International UIM Commissions for the term 2026-2030. Four of the five UIM Council members whose four-year mandate had come to expiry were re-elected: Sami Abu Shaikha (Qatar), Carla Chaghoury (Lebanon), Paulo Ferreira (Portugal) and Fred Hauenstein (USA), while the President of the German Federation DMYV, Frank Dettmering, obtained the fifth seat.
Jean-Marie Van Lancker (Belgium) was re-elected President of COMINOFF, whereas in the four other Commissions new Presidents were elected: Pelle Larsson (Sweden) for COMINSPORT, Luis Miguel Ribeiro (Portugal) for COMINTECH, Fabrizio Boffi (Italy) for COMINSAFE, and Sijbrand Booij (Netherlands) to chair the Pleasure Navigation Commission.
The General Assembly approved the UIM’s positive financial results for 2025 and the Treasurer underlined his satisfaction by announcing a favorable outlook for 2026 and the years ahead.
The traditional ‘Open Forum’ on the previous day gave external partners and the UIM Championship Series Promoters in charge of the organization and promotion of the UIM F1, E1, Offshore Class 1 and Class 2, Aquabike and MotoSurf World Championships the opportunity to present a summary of the 2026 season and to share their plans for the future.
The ‘Open Forum’ also focused on the growing environmental engagement the UIM, its Member Federations and local organizers could express through the use of specific tools developed by the ‘Sports 4 Nature’ platform, such as the Nature Action Tool, which supports progress in protecting racing venues and reducing environmental impacts. UIM Green Partner ALENS had calculated the Assembly’s carbon footprint, with emissions offset to make the event carbon neutral.
As outcome of the UIM Goal & Vision Workshop conducted earlier in the year, a summary of the ‘Global Growth and Commercial Transformation Program’ for immediate implementation was revealed to the Member Federations in a final presentation, to illustrate the determination of the UIM Council to strengthen the UIM’s international profile and commercial development.
Closing the General Assembly, President Chiulli said: “I congratulate the elected UIM Council members, Commission Presidents and Members, and warmly welcome our new UIM Member Federations. I thank every delegate for their contribution and extend my sincere appreciation to our host, the Portuguese Powerboat Federation, for their great hospitality. We leave Sintra with clear priorities for 2027 and a shared commitment to advancing our sport.”