The 89th UIM General Assembly chaired by President Dr. Raffaele Chiulli and Secretary General Thomas Kurth, assembled over 130 National Federation delegates who had travelled from around the world to Fujairah, UAE. Over seven days the members of the UI Council and Executive Committee as well as all Commissions, Committees and Working Groups reviewed and analyzed the season’s international racing activities, elaborated the changes to be implemented in the new season and prepared the 2017 international racing calendar.

Inauguration of the UIM/ FIMC Youth Training Centre One of the highlights of the week was the official inauguration of the brand new FIMC-UIM Youth Training Centre at the Fujairah International Marine Club by UIM President Dr. Raffaele Chiulli and UAE dignitaries Sheikh Saif Bin Hamad Al Sharqi, FIMC Chairman, H.E Dr. Saeed Harib, Secretary General of Dubai Sports Council and President of the UAE Marine Sports Federation and Mr. Ibrahim Abdulmalik Ahli, Secretary General at the General Authority of Youth and Sports Welfare. In his address to the General Assembly, Raffaele Chiulli paid tribute to the Crown Prince of Fujairah, H.H Sheikh Mohammed Bin Hamad Al Sharqi, patron of the UIM/ FIMC Youth Training Centre, and to Major Ahmed Ebrahiem Alblooshi, FIMC Managing Director, for having established the first Youth Training Center of the kind in the UAE, symbol of their determination to make of the Fujairah International Marine Club a hub for water based sports and activities.

“The UIM Propstars Program offers the next generation access to the powerboating sport under expert guidance; the opportunity to be trained and to be prepared for competing in the junior classes and further up to the UIM senior classes, all by learning the secrets of safe, responsible and environmentally friendly racing. What Fujairah accomplished with this Training Centre is a significant step, and I warmly encourage all our member federations to follow the great example shown by the Fujairah International Marine Club” Elections and new Members An important item of this General Assembly agenda was the elections, to determine the composition of the five Expert Committees dealing with safety and technical aspects of Powerboating, with Offshore racing, Pleasure Navigation and Circuit Disciplines for the next four years. Fred Hauenstein (USA) and Ivan Motta (SWI) were re-elected as UIM Administrators. For COMINOFF and COMINTECH new Presidents were elected: Jean-Marie Van Lancker (BEL; COMINOFF) and Mikael Lundblad (SWE; COMINTECH). The Americans Fred Hauenstein and Bob Wartinger were re-elected to the COMINSPORT and COMINSAFE presidency respectively, while Peter Bardenheuer (GER) was appointed by the UIM Council as acting President of the Pleasure & Navigation Commission until the next UIM General Assembly in October 2017. The UIM General Assembly welcomed Thailand and India as new Member Federations and granted Sri Lanka the upgrade to full membership, for a total of 59 affiliated countries.

In the final vote of the day, the Powerboat Federation of Montenegro was awarded the hosting of the 90th UIM General Assembly in October 2017, in Budva.

The UIM General Assembly ended with the announcement of the date of the UIM Awards Giving Gala which will be held in Monaco on Saturday 4th March 2017. This year, three new special trophies will be awarded: the UIM “Sport for All “award, the “UIM Best Driver of the year” and the “UIM Best Junior Driver of the Year”.