Nick Thompson recently
won the Laser Worlds and said that this was the best event he has ever
attended. Everyone who Pam and I talked with agreed, and what made it even more
remarkable is that it was actually four Worlds held back-to-back. The
organizers handled everything from a life-threatening medical emergency
to cooling the hot pavement for tired barefoot sailors. Linda, Dan, Andy, and their
team did a superb job and have shared how they did it and what they learned. The things that Pam and I feel made things extra special we've highlighted in green.
By Linda
Green and Andy Barrow
Attitude
· No egos. Everyone
pitches in when needed.
· Flexibility. Listen to
feedback and make changes as necessary. "No" is okay, but openly
explore all options first.
· Understand that ILCA's
documents are negotiable. They will work with you, but know that they are also
negotiating!
People
· Organizing committee
members should be accessible to competitors and race committee.
· Charter support
personnel should be immediately reach-able during race days.
· Having a floating
"Chief Troubleshooter" is a great way to unload the event chair and
identify a go-to person for issues and support. Choose him/her wisely!
· Know the strengths and
weaknesses of your team and be willing to make adjustments.
· Very few volunteers are
able to,or willing to commit to the entire series of events. Recognize
that and plan on replacements.
· Overly zealous
volunteers can burn out quickly. Feed them, hydrate them, appreciate them and
tell them that often.
· Keep volunteer
commitments to small segments of time to avoid burn out.
Venue
· Parking competitor boats
close to launching helps everyone.
· It is not necessary to
give everyone a designated spot for their boat. They will self-organize.
· Put wash-down hoses far
away from the launch area. Otherwise they clog up the launch/recovery area when
they stop to wash down.
· Having the accommodation
on the same property is a win-win-win. Organizers save money on transportation,
competitors like the extra time it gives them, and the host resort loves
it and will give you bonuses for the business.
· Having kids help with
launching is one of the biggest helps to competitors and the race
committee. Launches go smoothly and trollies are organized after launch.
· Outsource when possible.
Use a destination management company for things like airport transport. Pass
registration information directly to them - don't hold and forward. Same for
the hotel.
Racing/Race Committee
· Keeping the same
experienced race committee team throughout the event was a huge help and
contributed to our success.
· Jeff Martin's gas horn
system worked very well. Loud horns are very important. Cannons don't work as
well.
· Using What-App to
communicate between race committee members (and scoring office) was a huge
success. Scoring was done as competitors were coming off the water, which
allowed them to get protests and scoring inquiries submitted in a timely
fashion.
Infrastructure
· Understand the
limitations of your infrastructure (in our case, the ramp) and have a clear
plan for dealing with it. Change the plan as feedback comes in.
· Make sure medical support
is close, and you know what you are going to do in the event of an emergency.
· Make sure medical
support exists for little things (scrapes, bumps, cuts, etc.)
IT
· A flexible web site
system that can be quickly changed is very useful. You need to be able to
submit scoring for immediate publishing.
· We added the
registration spreadsheet to a database the allowed us to quickly create the
badges for competitors, as well as the files for upload to the scoring system.
· High speed internet is
critical for the press - they will be uploading lots of video files.
· Track web site traffic!
It will help in your discussions with your sponsors when they ask if they got
the exposure you promised.
· Sailwave scoring system works fine. You don't have to
use the ILCA recommended system (it's out of date now anyway). We can share our
scoring files and processes.
· Social media needs to be
managed at the venue, not from a distant, outside service provider.
Support Boats
· Make sure the committee
boat is well stocked with spares and tools.
· Keep at least one
support boat in reserve for backup and for running people and materials out to
race area.
· Pin and Signal boats
don't have to be keelboats. It's negotiable.
· Pin and signal boats
need LOTS of anchor rope (at least 150 meters for the pin boat) and good anchors.
Communication
· Keep an email list (or
use a newsletter system) to allow email communication with all competitors and
all volunteers.
· The official bulletin
board needs to be large, and doesn't need to be locked (but it does need to be
covered).
· Daily weather forecasts
are useful to the race committee and competitors.
Details (they matter)
· Using badges for
identification of on-the-water status is much faster and easier than
sign-in/sign-out, but it is more expensive.
· Playing music during
launch changes the whole attitude of the people who are launching boats.
· With our hot weather, it
was important to keep the ramp wet (to cool it) and to give out that last
bottle of cold water.
· Take care of the athletes.
They are priority #1. Feed them, hydrate them, give them space to gather.
· Keep opening ceremonies
simple and fun; keep closing ceremonies simpler and more fun. The same applies
to the mid-week social.
Things we wish we could've done
·
Twitter from the water, including mark-rounding
and other interest items.
·
Results on a monitor, rather than printed.
Printing takes time and wastes a huge amount of paper.
·
Set up a weather station near the racing area.
Sponsorship
· This is a business and
your relationship with local sponsors should be the same as any other sponsor.
· Communicate with your
sponsors. Let them know how their product/service is being advertised.

























