Representatives of International Sailing Federation (ISAF), the International Kiteboarding Association (IKA) and the Virgin Kitesurf World Championships (VKWC) met in London on Tuesday to discuss the future of the class Championships.
The positive and productive discussions between the parties included the exciting investment being made by Virgin in this growing area of the sport, and all bodies are working together to conclude a long-term agreement to govern the future management and operations of the Championship. In particular, there is common agreement that the future arrangements need to ensure a flexible and commercial approach to developing the professional tour, whilst ensuring and safeguarding the fairness of competition and the interests of the riders.
Until a long term arrangement is in place, the upcoming Fuerteventura Kitesurfing World Championships will go ahead as planned by, and contracted with, the VKWC, as an IKA sanctioned event and with permission from ISAF for its "World" designation. ISAF and IKA will also be in attendance to provide support to the event promoter and assure riders of the fairness of competition.
It remains the hope of ISAF that kiteboarding will be included in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Sailing Competition, and the co-operation and planning between all organisations will further progress the class toward that goal.