Welcome to the Regatta Promotions Sailing Marketing Blog

Points East Magazine now has a monthly article in the racing pages. Each month, he will be sharing sailing tips, race management tips, and other interesting points in the article. Check out the new June Issue this week for this month’s article on how volunteering at regattas can help your racing knowledge and expertise.  Points East Magazine is a free mag available at your local chandlery, sail loft, marina or boat yard.  Check it out!

Here is the latest from US Sailing. This may not be the final result of the new membership rule set to be added to the 2009 rules but it looks like the leaders are narrowing in on making sure they implement some type of mandatory membership. There is still time to put your two cents in so if you feel strongly feel free to make a comment below or to inform your local representative today.

“Version as of May 15:

46 Person in Charge; Membership Requirement
A boat shall have on board a person in charge designated by the member or organization that entered the boat. See rule 75.

US SAILING prescribes that the person in charge and each person who steers the boat shall be members of US SAILING or their own national authority. However, any person may steer the boat for reasons of safety. This prescription does not apply to races that are primarily intended to teach racing or bring new sailors into the sport, or to races for which US SAILING has granted a written waiver.

Recall that at the meetings in Newport last March the Board asked for input from the membership…and we got it!

The Regional Sailing Associations (RSA’s) have responded with volumes of feedback, including the expected negative criticism and personal whines, the hoped for constructive criticism, and a thoughtful balance of understanding and support.

Additionally, Jim Capron, Charlie Leighton, and other Board members have personally met with groups at regattas, yacht clubs, and other sailing gatherings across the country. They listened to concerns, gathered suggestions, and made clear the intent of the proposed prescription.

With this valuable input from those who will be the “users”, the RRC has further worked the Rule 46 prescription to its current version above.”

There was a lot of buzz regarding the latest poll that we had up on the site that had to do with the change to the 2 boatlength circle rule 18. The unanimous winner was that NO, the rule should not change, 3 boatlengths is just too hard to judge. We had some great comments on this blog, if you want to read what others had to say about it. I tend to agree with many that say 3 boatlengths will be very subjective and that it will create more problems than solutions. It sounds like this will be a new prescription change to the rules, so while out sailing this summer, start thinking in that direction to get geared up for 2009.

This is Regatta Management and Marketing done at its best for both amateur and pro sailors alike. Now if we could just do this in the U.S. it would be great!

Today is the first day of spring and for boaters in the North that means one thing. Preparation! Time to get the boat ready for another season. As the saying goes winning is 90% preparation 10% execution. Stay tuned over the next four weeks or so for the best tips for preparing your boat for battle. Our tips will include helpful information for both sailors and race officers that want to improve their performance.

Today’s tip is for Race Officers. Check you inventory now before its too late and your using a bed sheet to make an “S” flag. Our Race Committee Supplies page has a great check list to make sure you have everything you need to run a race. Obviously check the big items. Do you have all the code flags. Inflate your marks and check for leaks. Organize your anchors and tackle with each mark. Horns, VHF, GPS, extra batteries etc… are all items you can check now and reduce the amount of running around with a week to go before your big event.

Race Officers, need some missing equipment? Want to upgrade your flags and marks? Check out our race committee supplies page where you will find links to an on-line store with all the flags and marks you might need. You can order right on-line or give us a call and help you pick just the right product.

Hint: Purchase the larger tetrahedron marks with a clear pouch on each side to put an image of your club burgee or your title sponsor. This will help recruit sponsors and make your event look more professional.

At USSailing.org president Jim Capron attempts to answer a few question about a new prescription in the 2009-1012 rules. The prescription will require the owner and skipper of each boat to be a member of US Sailing.  Not sure if we agree this is a good idea but we want to hear from you. Will this rule once again provide a stumbling block for building participation in the sport of sailing? Is this prescription in the rules a good idea? Vote now at our weekly poll question on the left side of this page.

Below is Mr. Capron’s comments.Newport, RI (March 16) - US SAILING wrapped up its Spring Meeting in Newport, R.I., this morning and the more than 120 committee members in attendance are returning home with new ideas and fresh energy. As President of the national governing body, Jim Capron (a lifelong sailor from Annapolis, MD) presided over the three-day meeting. One of the more prominent issues discussed over the weekend was a possible new requirement for racing sailors to be US SAILING members. To bring more light to the ongoing discussion, we asked Jim Capron to answer a few questions on the issue.

Why do you feel it’s important for US SAILING to get more sailors to join the organization?
Active competitive sailors expect a level playing field through standardized rules, offshore rating certification, trained and certified race officers, judges, and sailing instructors, and much more. All these services are provided by the national governing body, US SAILING. There is also a consensus among the Board of Directors that, in fairness to everyone, those who participate in the competitive aspect of our sport and benefit from these services, should be members of US SAILING.

How would US SAILING get more competitive sailors to join?
For several years, the leadership at US SAILING (the Board of Directors and numerous committees) has discussed the necessity and fairness of getting sailors to be members of the organization. The most likely method of obtaining membership would be through a new US SAILING Prescription for the 2009-2012 Racing Rules of Sailing that would require US SAILING membership of racing sailboat owners and skippers. This possible requirement is currently being reviewed.

Why is US SAILING doing this now?
Frankly, we are one of the few national authorities for sailing in the world for which membership of all competitive sailors is not required. We are also one of the few U.S. sports’ national governing bodies for which membership is not required, either directly or through clubs or regional associations. The majority of national governing bodies of U.S. sports require membership, such as figure skating, skiing, and tennis.

So, what is the next step?
A lot of details still have to be refined. The Board will make a decision in June on US SAILING Prescriptions for the new rule book. We are also looking at new membership structures to make it easy for members to follow any new requirements.

The one thing that volunteer race officers and many sailors overlook is the helpfulness of using a wind log sheet. Not sure what one is? We have one for free download in our Race Committee Supplies section of our web site. Download any of our forms here.

What is a wind log sheet?
The wind log sheet provides for a way to organize the wind direction data over time to see patterns that may affect the race. Our wind log sheet is perfect for PROs and volunteers that are on a stable boat with space to keep records but what if you are on a smaller sailboat in the race. Try drawing a grid on the bulkhead or in any easy place you can write with a pencil. Pencil is great on gelcoat it will wipe off with a little water and elbow grease.
How does it work?
The left most column is for the time. I suggest reading the wind every five minutes as soon as you reach the race course. For each five minute interval write the wind speed in the next column and then use the next 8 columns for the wind direction. For the first wind direction entry put the compass direction into one of the middle columns, this is for visual reasons. At the next five minute interval write the data in the next row down but when entering the wind direction make sure that if it has changed to change the box you write the bearing. For example if the wind direction moved 5 degrees to the right use the box that is one right of the box you used to write it last time(but obviously in the row below the first entry). If you have a persistent wind shift you will see a diagonal line on the page. If you have an oscillating wind shift you will see a zig zag line down the page. And if you have consistent breeze you will see a straight line down the page.

What are the benefits?
For a PRO (principle race officer) this data and how it is organized can help him or her quickly recognize what the wind is doing and provide the guidance for setting the course, line and time of start.
For a racer this data will help him or her make quick and informed decision on what end of the line to start, which side of the course to sail towards, when to tack or jibe and many more decisions that make for a much longer blog entry.

Why don’t many of us use this technique?
Simple, we are lazy and undisciplined. We think we can check the wind every once in a while and understand what it is doing and keep track of it in our head. However, it is my experience whether racing or running the race, the many distractions that we encounter on the race course create a situation where we forget or don’t actually know exactly what is happening with the wind. We then make a decision on what we think is happening and not based on what is ACTUALLY happening. As a PRO or a skipper you have many decisions to make, what type of beer to bring, when the crew can eat lunch, should you use the green marks or the orange, etc.., etc…Therefore delegate! Ask one of your crew or volunteers to keep the wind records. This person’s task is to take the wind readings on the exact time you two agree. If this means asking you to stop the boat and interrupt your plan for a minute or so then so be it.
Do you use this technique/tool? Have a better idea for the same application. Let us know about it.

Announcing Tip day Thursday! No we are NOT sitting here with our hand out! Tip day means every Thursday we will be bringing you a tip from either our team at Regatta Promotions or from a guest expert. The tips will cover specifically race management, event management, regatta promotion or sailboat racing techniques and tactics. Our experts include National Champions, Inter-collegiate All-Americans, Certified Race Officers, professional sailors, sailmakers, local heros and local zeros. We all have something to learn from anyone and everyone. Hopefully, we will bring you some of the best tips that will make your sailboat racing more fun and more successful. Check back every Thursday and don’t forget the weekly poll updated every Monday.

This week’s tip is a very simple one that we should all know but often don’t follow. Next week we will be talking about wind and how to organize the patterns for both race committees and racers alike.