For a behind-the-scenes look at long range planning that must be done for a race, Regatta Director Julie San Martin and her committee sent All at Sea a report on work well underway for one of next season’s early regattas:
Hurricane season has begun. Many racing boats in the Caribbean are now either on the hard, out of the territory, or ready to do one or the other. The Caribbean regatta organizers, on the other hand, are hard at work getting ready for the 2009 spring racing season.
On St. Croix, Yacht Club Commodore Vicki Bandola has accepted chairmanship of the sponsorship committee, adding to her responsibilities as on-shore manager. Meetings are scheduled, volunteer committee members solicited, and tasks assigned.
Merchandise chairwoman Millie Johnson has developed a short list of designs for regatta merchandise, which must be ordered and shipped before the end of the year. Optimist and Logistics chairwoman Karen Stanton has begun reminding the gang of six of what they should be doing. Fleet Captain and race committee chairman Kim Jones is busy getting daughter Sydney off to the Beijing Olympics and the summer sailing program running smoothly. Publicity chair Kelly Simon is working on a new website, with the help of her husband and four month old daughter Anna.
Regatta Director Julie San Martin is talking to the racers, both local and faithful visitors, about what they’d like to see for courses. And, as usual, deciding who will be happy and who will be upset because their advice was not followed. There will definitely be technological upgrades, particularly in results reporting.
“This year, not only did we lose internet connection, our electric utility decided to turn off power for routine maintenance – during the last hour of registration. It was our technology theme for the weekend – nothing worked the way we planned.” laughs San Martin.
The St. Croix International Regatta, like other Caribbean regattas, is staffed by volunteers. One of the difficult tasks all organizers face is motivating these volunteers during the critical summer planning period. The spring season seems a long, long way off and summer is really great sailing weather!
Photo courtesy of St. Croix International Regatta. www.stcroixyc.com
