RACE
MANAGEMENT & SAFETY
- Bob Bowden
Too often, safety is not
a concern in Race Management until it is too late. Consider these two
scenarios - both are actual events that happened at SAYRA member clubs:
Club A allowed its equipment
and facilities to be used by a local organization for a regional one-design
centerboard event. The local organization had excellent 
boating
and race management knowledge and prided itself in the fact it could
run a regatta with only two or three people; the Signal boat and one
mark boat. About 50 competitors came (several were Juniors) and the
racing began. It was early Spring and the water temperature was 58 degrees.
A storm blew through the course with wind gusts over 40 and nearly all
boats capsized. There were no safety boats and it quickly became an
"every man for himself" situation. There were several cases
of hypothermia and many unhappy competitors and Junior's parents. All
were very lucky that no soul(s) were lost, due to hypothermia but the
event was a shambles and the Club's reputation suffered.
Club B has integrated safety
into its Race Management program. It has trained members and normally
assigns three safety boats to every open regatta. In addition, they
have an ambulance and EMT personnel on site. At an annual one-design
open event, one of the competitors suffered a heart attack while on
the course. A safety boat immediately removed the victim from the boat
and transported him to the EMT where the paddles were applied and the
sailor revived. He returned the next year to race again !
Now the question, what if
the victim at Club B had been racing at Club A ?
There is another very good
reason for integrating safety boats into the Race Management team. It
makes the PRO's job much easier ! You no longer have to worry about
using the race management team to substitute as rescue boats. You can
concentrate on running a good race while the safety boats take care
of the competitors. How many times have I heard: "Mark 1, can you
go over and take care of that capsized boat ?" Get two capsizes
and you're out of business. I've also heard "Signal, this is Safety
1. We have a capsize at mark 2 and we're in control." And, the
racing continues without interruption.
Integrating safety into your
Race Management program is as simple as 1-2-3:
1. Safety is a mindset. Impress
on your Club's Leadership the importance of a regatta safety program.
2. Order the Safety, Rescue and Support manual from US Sailing. This
book has all the information you need to understand the basics of regatta
safety.
3. Allocate the equipment and people to implement a safety program.
This is a good opportunity to get those club members who normally shy
away from racing or race management involved in something very worth
doing.
Need more information? Contact
me at BowdenRHB@AOL.Com. I'll
be glad to help you as needed to get a regatta safety program started
at your Club.
Safe Sailing!
