I arrived at TSC on weds 3 days before the scheduled start of the National Regatta. Already I began to hear mutters that the dedicated Dabbie course had again become an issue. I was was informed that it was unlikely that we would have sufficient support to justify a seperate course as a few Dabbie sailors had defected to 4.7’s as a result of their worlds.(which is their right and I have no problems with)Apparently, despite what was outlined in the NOR, we needed “30 entries” to justify our own course !I informed the organizing committee that
- Lets see how many enterred
- Where the magic 30 came from was a mystery to me.
- Why were they reneging on a prior agreement
It turned out that we had 27 entries and I requested that we be given our own course. Apart from the Oppies, there were 14 Laser entries,2 420’s, 4 mirrors and a few Hobie Dragoons.
The truth of the matter lies in the organisation. Despite all the distractions I think our turnout was reasonable. It is apparent to me that the organising committee has not done their job and do not have sufficient infrastructure or personnel to handle this regatta. Attention is being given to classes who have not shown their support,by even pitching up ,which has also caused a strain on resources.
A delegation by the organising committee came to see me a few hours before the tune up race and basically admitted that they did not have the personnel. In the interests of getting the show on the road I gave in and consented to Lasers sharing our course.
Somehow I believe we have been setup and we need to guard against this happening in the future.
Owen