glrfcentral Posted January 30, 2017 Share Posted January 30, 2017 Following a telephone conference call with the Miami Outgames regatta chair and the Miami Outgames sports director, we would like to find out what days you, the rowers, prefer for the regatta. The issue: The location where the regatta will take place is Virginia Key, which is a marine stadium open to the ocean. The local Floridians love to zip around on their various pleasure craft on any given weekend, zooming in, around, and back out of the marine stadium. The first weekend of the Outgames includes a major US holiday, Memorial Day. That means an unbelievable amount of pleasure craft. Although the course itself can be closed during the competition, the wake from the pleasure craft outside and surrounding the course would make the regatta a choppy mess. Additionally, after the competition is completed on the first day or after practice, the course would be reopened to the public and all manner of pleasure craft would dash about, most probably destroying the buoyed lanes. The solution: Hold the regatta during the week when there will be a lot less boat traffic. We have proposed three time periods during the week of the Outgames. Please elect your preference. The more people who participated in the poll, the better representation we will have. If we only get a few votes, the organizers will probably do whatever they feel works best for them. GLRF has indicated that given the probably small participation, between 120 - 170 competitors, the regatta could be held on just one day. However, the regatta organizers are concerned about the multiple entries by individuals and also the possible restricted availability of boats, all of which may force the event to spill over to two days. We also know that some of the rowers may be planning to move on to Washington DC to participate in the Stonewall Regatta on 05 June. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adtan Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 Just to be sure, these are the dates we are discussing: Tuesday (30 May) Practice, Wednesday (31 May) Competition, Thursday (1 June) Competition Wednesday (31 May) Practice, Thursday (1 June) Competition, Friday (2 June) Competition Thursday (1 June) Practice, Friday (2 June) Competition, Saturday (3 June) Competition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adtan Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 I guess the major trade-off is between less motorised boat traffic around the course (week days) versus rowers and (competent) volunteers being available (weekend+Memorial Day). The original dates proposed by World Outgames are: Sunday 28 May 2017 through Wed 31 May 201711:00 AM - 5:00 PM Do we know if among the rowers that have already registered, have they made travel arrangements that would prevent them from participating if the dates changed? My preference would be for in order of preference: 1) maximising the amount of rowers able to participate 2) making it as easy for the local organisers to host the regatta (not requiring the competent volunteers to have to take time off work)3) Less motorised boat traffic I think the original option should still be present, if one of the options already includes a Saturday:Saturday (27 May) Practice, Sunday (28 May) Competition, Monday (29 May) Competition Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jalfano Posted January 31, 2017 Share Posted January 31, 2017 I don't like any of the options you list. We should stick with the original dates. Many of us want to move on to Stonewall. Only the first date you list would even make that possible and we'd have to fly there Friday and race Saturday. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
glrfcentral Posted January 31, 2017 Author Share Posted January 31, 2017 Just to be sure, these are the dates we are discussing: Tuesday (30 May) Practice, Wednesday (31 May) Competition, Thursday (1 June) Competition Wednesday (31 May) Practice, Thursday (1 June) Competition, Friday (2 June) Competition Thursday (1 June) Practice, Friday (2 June) Competition, Saturday (3 June) Competition yes, you got it. I don't like any of the options you list. We should stick with the original dates. Many of us want to move on to Stonewall. Only the first date you list would even make that possible and we'd have to fly there Friday and race Saturday. I agree with you Joe but due to the holiday pleasure boat traffic, we don't have a choice. Stonewall Regatta is June 4th, which is Sunday. I guess the major trade-off is between less motorised boat traffic around the course (week days) versus rowers and (competent) volunteers being available (weekend+Memorial Day). The original dates proposed by World Outgames are: Sunday 28 May 2017 through Wed 31 May 201711:00 AM - 5:00 PM Do we know if among the rowers that have already registered, have they made travel arrangements that would prevent them from participating if the dates changed? My preference would be for in order of preference: 1) maximising the amount of rowers able to participate 2) making it as easy for the local organisers to host the regatta (not requiring the competent volunteers to have to take time off work)3) Less motorised boat traffic I think the original option should still be present, if one of the options already includes a Saturday:Saturday (27 May) Practice, Sunday (28 May) Competition, Monday (29 May) Competition The Saturday to Monday was our (Adrian and me) suggested best possible dates for the 2017 Miami Outgames regatta. It maximizes the greater weekend availability of rowers in North America, as well as referees and volunteers. Unfortunately, that option is completely off the table because of the holiday pleasure boat traffic. Even if we ran the race without buoys, and the race course was closed during the event to outside boat traffic, the regatta organizer has said the wake from the speeding boats external to the course would make the course impossible to race. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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