About Us

the International Eight Metre Association

The International Eight Metre Association (the IEMA) exists to promote international interest in the Class, the building and sailing of 8 Metre Yachts. The IEMA is governed by the executive committee, which controls and manages the affairs of the eight metre class.

8 Metre Yachts

8 Metre Class Yachts have through the years, always been designed by the best yacht designers of their time. This goes for the classics as well as for the modern yachts. The International Rule, by which the 8mR class is governed, also covers many other classes, like the very active 6mR Class and the 12 Metre Class, which was used for a long time in the America’s cup.

This lead to fantastic innovations and developments, which are also used in the 8 and 6 Metre yachts. But the development was pushed in all international rule classes and spread from one size to the next. The IEMA liaises with these other international rule classes and ISAF to promote development in the class.

The Beauty of the 8

The beauty of the 8mR class is that most of these racing yachts, unlike many collector cars, are still actively raced and used today. The regattas are a Concours d’Elegance, where spectators come and try to fathom the beauty of the designs and the differences and strong points of each yacht. All yachts race on the same course and start and finish on the same line.

Even with a time spanning more than a 100 years in design development, nothing has altered in the competitiveness or beauty of these yachts. The IEMA ensures that all yachts comply with the current class rules and can race fair on the same start line and racecourse. We race as one class, we embrace our past with her older designs and we keep an open vizor to the future and the new developments this brings.

The IEMA

The IEMA helps to promote National and International regattas for the class. There are area’s with very active fleets for example in the UK, North America, Norway, Finland, France, Switzerland and Germany. They hold race series that provide a national champion. Next to this, a fleet can apply to organise the Eight Metre World Cup where all eligible yachts are welcome to try and win the World Cup.

We have regular participation of about 24 yachts, with some peaks of 40 yachts on the start line. One of our goals is to get 40 yachts on average on the start line of the annual world cup regattas. Therefore, we invite you to talk to your nearest fleet, or call our liaison manager, if you need any help with the best ways to get your 8 metre yacht to the next regatta. We are here to support our members and the class.