The YACHT reports in issue 23/2017, which is from today with the subscribers and from Wednesday, November 2nd at the kiosks, in detail about the duel for the chairmanship of the DSV presidium.
It is the first time in the recent history of the association that a duel has been fought in the run-up to Sailing Day. While a consensus candidate has always been found in advance in the past decades, there are now two candidates:
- MonKüppers, Vice President for Popular Sports and since the resignation of Andreas Lochbrunner in the spring, at the same time acting DSV President;
- Oliver Kosanke, chairman of the Mühlenberger sailing club and vice in the Hamburg regional association of the DSV.
The attempt to probe between the two failed because either Küppers or Kosanke wanted to give up their claim to leadership. Both would actually complement each other ideally in the Presidium: Kosanke is considered an expert in finance, Küppers could advance the important area of popular sport. But as Vice-President none of them may serve under the other. That is why the Sailors' Day has to decide who should direct the fate of the association in the future.
Originally, Jürgen Jentsch, a third party, had even considered running for the top position, but could no longer stand up at all.
Now the honorary office lives from the active participation of its members as possible. Therefore, several applicants are generally welcome. However, this only applies to a limited extent for associations. Because there is no "election campaign" before the actual decision in Munich at the end of November; the candidates are not or hardly known personally to many delegates.
In the case of the DSV, there is another special feature: it is in the midst of a conversion that has been necessary for a long time, the centrifugal forces of which are considerable. If it came to a close result at the sailing day, the new president would be weakened from the start - which is why many interested club chairmen find the impending showdown extremely unhappy.
Because there is enough tension in the association. A look back helps to understand them.
At the beginning of the year, considerable conflicts arose in the DSV presidium, which is still in office. The foremen of the association reacted more and more sensitively, the more the restructuring process that had started stalled and the faster the costs got out of hand.
The developments, which from the outside still seem frightening even after some time, culminated in Andreas Lochbrunner's premature departure from office. However, he did not leave voluntarily; his resignation had been preceded by a veritable conspiracy by the vice-presidents.
The YACHT documented the processes in issue 9-2017. You can read the events of the winter again under the following link:
Article on the background of Andi Lochbrunner's resignation from YACHT 9-2017
The report, which was based on internal documents and detailed interviews with the association's management, was not without responses. In a hastily written letter to the clubs and the German Olympic Sports Confederation, MonKüppers tried to correct the YACHT's alleged "misinformation". Here is the original wording.
The alleged "wrong conclusions" could not be refuted by the representation of the DSV. On the contrary: The Presidium and the office only got further entangled in their own statements, as YACHT online demonstrated in a statement.
One of the controversial issues at the time was, among other things, the financial situation of the association - which is still one of the central construction sites today. Vice Dietmar Reeh, who has been responsible for imbalances in the DS management for a long time, himself spoke of a "crisis" "in which we are currently already" in a correspondence to a presidium meeting. Reeh concluded literally that the "liquid funds of the association are not enough" to cover the change process that has been set in motion.
In fact, it was feared in February that the DSV would have to borrow at least 1.2 million euros in order to meet its obligations and investment plans this year. That is why the Presidium had the same amount of funding approved at a meeting of the Sailing Council in the spring - this, too, a novelty in the history of the association. Here is the report from YACHT online before the meeting and after the approval of the million dollar loan, which was preceded by intensive discussions.
In the meantime, the Presidium has significantly reduced the financial requirements - on the one hand through cost-cutting measures, on the other hand by postponing investments. As things stand at the moment, there will only be around 0.6 million euros in debt instead of the 1.2 million euros applied for - a large part of it for originally non-budgeted costs for lawyers, auditors and severance payments.
How the two candidates for the presidency assess the situation, what priorities they want to set and what sets them apart, you can read in the new edition of YACHT - from November 2nd in stores or order directly online here.
But not only the chairmanship is up for election. Other positions will also be filled. Dietmar Reeh (law) and Udo Scheer (finance) are not running again; With your departure, you will clear the way for a far-reaching new beginning. Furthermore, the delegates of the sailing day also have to vote on the future of Torsten Haverland (performance sailing). Here are all candidates at a glance.
