If you’ve ever been out racing your boat and wondered about what it must take to organize and manage a regatta, a U.S. Sailing Race Management Seminar January 21 at Fishing Bay Yacht Club is here to answer many of your questions. The seminar is led by US Sailing guru and Chesapeake Bay legend John McCarthy, who has been leading courses through U.S. Sailing for the last 10 years and is a national judge.
We spoke briefly with McCarthy about who should sign up for the course, and what they might get out of it. Here are his responses.
“U.S. Sailing puts on these seminars to improve the consistency and the quality of race management around the country,” he says. “And over the last few years, we’ve really accomplished that. You can do a race in Annapolis, Hampton, or even Southern California, and you’ll see race management practices that are very similar.”
And the race management on the Chesapeake Bay is second to none.
“There are similar race management clinics being held in the Annapolis area, but I’m the only certified instructor on the Southern Bay. So I feel a big responsibility to provide the product and service to the area, letting people in southeast Virginia have a little easier access to a course rather than having to drive three or four hours.”
So what exactly will the seminar cover? “All the things race committee needs to do to get things right,” McCarthy says. “This is a very complete approach to race management. We cover everything from preparation to running a regatta. Getting everybody ready to go out, with notices of races and sailing instructions, to getting the right equipment ready. Then, the RC needs to do a proper job on the water, so we cover setting starting lines, types of courses, and how to execute starts properly. There’s even a section on ‘doing the race,’ that is, shortening courses, abandoning races, how to set up properly for the finish, and even how to get people set up on shore to score everything, manage protests, and what not. The very last slide shows you how to relax and have a beer.”
The course itself is perfect for anyone who needs certification or wants to re-certify. And McCarthy is an instructor of the highest level, and is recommended up and down the Bay. For $60, students will learn from the best what it takes to be a phenomenal race officer.
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