Wartinger Stays on COMINSAFE as UIM Publishes Full Sintra Election Results

The UIM has published the full results of the elections held at its 99th General Assembly in Sintra, Portugal, on Sunday 25 October, naming the elected members of all five international commissions and the five Administrators who join the UIM Council for the 2026-2030 term.

Bob Wartinger, whose 36 years as COMINSAFE president ended with the election of Fabrizio Boffi, stays on the commission as a member. The two men beaten in the other contested presidencies do not return to those commissions, each having stood for the presidency alone. Vahur Joala of the Estonian Powerboating Union, beaten to COMINSPORT by Pelle Larsson, is not among that commission’s eight members, and Mikael Lundblad, who lost COMINTECH to Luis Miguel Ribeiro, is not among COMINTECH’s, although he keeps his seat on COMINOFF.

COMINSPORT

COMINSPORT is responsible for the UIM’s international sporting rules, the international racing calendar and record homologation. Six of the eight members return, with Fred Hauenstein and Pascal Reide joining the commission. Joala, who stood for the presidency alone, does not take a seat.

COMINTECH

COMINTECH oversees technical rules, the testing of boats and equipment, and homologation procedures. Ribeiro takes over as president, and the commission splits evenly between four returning members and four new ones. Lundblad, who contested the presidency only, is not among them.

COMINOFF

Jean-Marie Van Lancker was re-elected president of the offshore commission after his challenger, Denis Dillon, withdrew his application. All four sitting members who stood again were returned. Dillon, a COMINOFF member in the outgoing term, is not among the eight.

COMINSAFE

COMINSAFE, the UIM’s International Medical and Safety Commission, has the smallest membership at four seats, contested by eleven candidates. Wartinger moves from the presidency to a member’s seat. Pascal Reide, a COMINSAFE member in the outgoing term, now sits on COMINSPORT.

Pleasure Navigation Commission

Sijbrand Booij of the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Motorboot Club was the only candidate for the presidency and succeeds Dillon, who returns to the commission as a member. Seven members are listed where eight candidates stood for eight seats. Rifat Basharov of Russia, the eighth candidate, does not appear in the published results.

Administrators

Five Administrators were elected, the maximum available, from a field of eight. Frank Dettmering of the Deutscher Motoryacht Verband is the only new name. Davor Hundic of the Croatian Jet Ski Association, Petr Pylaev of Russia and Karolis Ramoska of Lithuania were not elected.

Kuwait

None of the six candidacies from the Kuwait Sea Sports Club and the Kuwait Water Sports Club appears in the published results. The candidate lists had marked all six, covering COMINSPORT, COMINOFF and COMINSAFE, as subject to the General Assembly’s decision on the membership of Kuwait. The results documents do not record what the Assembly decided.

Officials Holding Two Seats

Three officials were elected to two commissions each. Max Gamarra sits on COMINTECH and COMINOFF, Jerzy Wojewoda on COMINTECH and COMINSAFE, and Kathy Van den Hende on COMINOFF and the Pleasure Navigation Commission. Ribeiro combines the COMINTECH presidency with a COMINSPORT seat, and Hauenstein, the UIM’s Senior Vice-President, returns as an Administrator and takes a seat on COMINSPORT.

Commission Presidents

The presidencies were decided earlier on the day of the Assembly, with Larsson winning COMINSPORT and Boffi and Ribeiro unseating two sitting presidents.

PBN’s guide to the candidates sets out who stood for each post.