Statement from Mr. Gianfranco Fini – Commodore of Casa de Campo Yacht Club
My interest, ever since the conception of Casa de Campo Marina and I became Commodore of Casa de Campo Yacht Club, has always been to develop Sailing in the Dominican Republic, all the while
the Marina grows, and elevating the quality of the races to a higher level in each edition.
I always kept in mind to create a solid platform, in order to carry out events of greater demand and
quality. Because of that I was able to bring international races like the Rolex Farr 40 World
Championship in 2010, giving an opportunity for the local sailing to meet and
work with international professionals, while at the same time it became a major national event,
which benefit the destination, Casa de Campo and the Dominican Republic.
After several successful regattas with the fleet of boats in the country and after
several contacts with other teams in other islands, accustomed to participating in regattas in the
Caribbean, with the intention of including the local races, I dedicated myself, since last year, in
developing the first international sailing week in the country, never before accomplished. We also
had to consider that the Dominican Republic is out of the international circuit of regattas that take
place annually around the Caribbean and its distance from other islands, it all made the task more difficult.
However, with my colleagues, we developed a promotional campaign, with visits and product
presence in international fairs such as the Annapolis Boat Show and the Fort Lauderdale Boat
Show, with the presence of advertising in magazines devoted to Caribbean sailing,
inviting international sailors with attractive incentives, social networking presence, and finally,
using all possible means to transcend the event.
However, the inconvenient mentioned above became present; the project was not able to
attract the number of international teams that from the beginning was expected. For this reason, I
and my staff feel it as disrespect to the sponsoring brands to go ahead with an event that does not
meet the objectives which it was created for. I also believe that Casa de Campo, Casa de
Campo Marina and the Central Romana Corporation should also not protect a project
whose results do not meet the level of quality requirements.
Therefore, in view of the impending situation, the Marina Casa de Campo and I, as Commodore of
Casa de Campo Yacht Club, home organizer of the event, have decided to cancel the regatta Casa de
Campo Sailing Week in this edition of 2012, expecting that the efforts done so far and the effort
that will continue, can result in an international quality event that is the pride of the Dominican
Republic in a future opportunity.
Gianfranco Fini
