Panam Sailing — Pan American Sailing Federation (PASAF)

What is Panam Sailing?

Panam Sailing is the continental association for sailing in the Americas. Its formal name is the Pan American Sailing Federation (PASAF). A report of its General Assembly by Fred Hagedorn, published by Sailing Scuttlebutt, states that “The quadrennial General Assembly of the Pan Am Sailing Federation (PASAF) was held on August 2, 2019 in Paracas, Peru”, that the business included “the adoption of an updated Constitution”, and that “The use name will now be Panam Sailing.”^[1] The same report records an Athletes Commission of eight elected members and that “Two athletes, a male and female selected by the Athletes Commission, have been added to the Panam Sailing Executive Committee.”^[1] It lists the president and vice-presidents elected, the vice-presidents grouped by North America, the Caribbean and Bermuda, Central America and Mexico, and South America.^[1] The account of the 2019 assembly rests on that single report.

The association is distinct from World Sailing, the sport’s world federation. A World Sailing (then ISAF) Council submission of November 2014 stated that “ISAF and the current continental sailing associations are separate and independent organisations”, and noted that “There is currently a Pan American Sailing Federation, and a South American Sailing Confederation, but there is no North American equivalent.”^[2] The association’s own site could not be retrieved in readable form, so its legal form and its current description of itself could not be checked.

What does Panam Sailing govern or do?

Panam Sailing writes no racing rules; sailing in the Americas runs under World Sailing’s rules. Its documented function is qualification for the sailing events of the Pan American sports system. US Sailing’s notice of athlete selection procedures for the 2025 Junior Pan American Games, dated 31 October 2024, states that “The Notice of Race of a Qualifying Regatta shall be reviewed and approved by Panam Sailing before the event”, that “Panam Sailing shall confirm to Panam Sports and NOCs the places qualified by the NOCs no later than February 28, 2025”, and that Panam Sailing confirms the allocation of universality places and reallocates unused quota places.^[5]

The qualifying regattas named in that notice were held in Porto Alegre, Brazil, Cancún, Mexico, and St. Petersburg, Florida, for the ILCA 7 and ILCA 6 dinghies, three boats each per regatta, between January and February 2025; in Cancún and Mendoza, Argentina, for the iQFOiL windsurfing events; and in Brazil and Cancún for Formula Kite, two boats each per regatta.^[5] The same document records that “In Sailing, the gold medalists in individual events will qualify directly to the Lima 2027 Pan American Games.”^[5]

Anti-doping, world rankings and the Racing Rules of Sailing belong to World Sailing; no document retrieved names Panam Sailing as a signatory of the World Anti-Doping Code.

When was Panam Sailing founded and where is it based?

No founding date for the Pan American Sailing Federation could be confirmed from a retrievable primary source. The earliest dated reference retrieved is World Sailing’s 2014 Council submission, which records that the federation already existed at that time.^[2] The use name is dated: the report of the General Assembly of 2 August 2019 in Paracas, Peru, published by Sailing Scuttlebutt, records the adoption of an updated constitution and the use name Panam Sailing; whether the formal name changed could not be confirmed.^[1]

The association’s seat could not be established. Its constitution, which would state a legal address, could not be retrieved, and its own site at panamsailing.org returned no readable content. Its officers are drawn from across the continent: the 2019 report names vice-presidents for four regions (North America; the Caribbean and Bermuda; Central America and Mexico; and South America), and describes the assembly as quadrennial.^[1] A World Sailing submission of 2017, from the UAE Sailing and Rowing Federation, described the continental associations’ position at that time as “part of the regional games committee as a sub committee” of World Sailing.^[3]

How is Panam Sailing recognised?

World Sailing’s constitution does not create continental associations as a class of membership. The constitution as at 1 October 2021 lists its membership classes as full members (member national authorities), associate members, international class association members, affiliate members, World Sailing members and honorary members; Council seats are filled by seventeen geographic groups of national authorities set out in Schedule A, not by continental bodies.^[4] World Sailing’s 2014 submission recorded that “Continental Associations are ISAF Affiliate Continental Members or Affiliate Members”, and the 2017 submission sought to have them “recognised as a separate entity that answers direct to the Board”.^[2][3] A current World Sailing instrument naming Panam Sailing could not be retrieved, and the outcome of the 2017 proposal is not stated in the submission.

Olympic recognition belongs to World Sailing; Panam Sailing holds none of its own. The continental multi-sport tie is the Pan American Games of Panam Sports, the next edition scheduled for Lima from 23 July to 8 August 2027.^[6] Panam Sailing’s responsibility for the sailing qualification is stated in US Sailing’s selection notice for the 2025 Junior Pan American Games.^[5]

What does Panam Sailing organise?

No senior Pan American sailing championship run by Panam Sailing could be identified in the documents retrieved; its documented role is the qualification system for sailing at the Pan American Games and the Junior Pan American Games, with qualifying regattas run by national organisers and approved by Panam Sailing.^[5]

The report of the 2019 assembly carried the association’s figures for the Lima 2019 Pan American Games: 26 nations and 168 athletes, which it called “an all-time high in participation”, and an increase in the number of Olympic qualification places attached to the Games to 10 in 2019, from 4 at the previous Games.^[1] For the 2025 Junior Pan American Games, the qualification ran through regattas in Brazil, Mexico, the United States and Argentina, and the individual gold medallists there qualify directly for the Lima 2027 Pan American Games.^[5]

On 4 October 2026 the Lima 2027 Games were upcoming.^[6]

Who are its members?

The members are national sailing authorities of the Americas. The report of the 2019 General Assembly states: “With 21 member nations attending, the meeting had 62% of its MNAs in attendance”.^[1] A current membership list or count from the association itself could not be retrieved. The officers elected in 2019 included vice-presidents for North America, the Caribbean and Bermuda, Central America and Mexico, and South America, and the assembly added two athlete representatives, one male and one female, to the Executive Committee.^[1]

The South American Sailing Confederation, named in World Sailing’s 2014 submission, is a separate body.^[2] National authorities such as US Sailing select their teams under the Panam Sailing qualification system for the Pan American events.^[5]