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Cool Heads and Cooperation Keep Us Racing If you haven’t read it yet, please go to letters and read the letter from Bruce Campbell. He presents a very apt letter of appreciation to those involved in what could have been a very serious problem for racing sailboats on Puget Sound. LCDR Diana Wickman and her cohorts joined us for a meeting held by 48° North a couple months ago, to get the Coast Guard and the race committees from various yacht clubs together to make sure everyone was on the same page for the upcoming season; deadline dates for permits, safety boats… Safety boats quickly became the main topic, because if you don’t have enough safety boats, you don’t get a permit, you don’t race. This problem had come up earlier in the year at TYC’s Vashon race. Of course, we’ve been racing for decades on Puget Sound and all has been well with the powers that be. LCDR Wickman, however, had just taken over the reins up here and wanted to make sure all was going by the book. The book said one safety boat for every 25 competitors. Naturally, those at the meeting were stunned. That meant that for a regatta of 150 boats, you’d need six safety boats! That’s a requirement that even the largest yacht clubs can’t fulfill. This could have really developed into a turf war except for the fact that both sides were willing to listen to each others concerns, practical abilities and resources. The Coast Guard wanted the safety boats; the sailors contended that, if you’ve got 100 boats racing, you’ve basically got 99 safety boats, as we’re all dedicated to helping each other with any crisis. Another meeting was set up. Meanwhile LCDR Wickman looked into the safety history of racing on Puget Sound, while racers discussed how they could deal with matter of meeting safety requirements so that racing could continue. When everyone got together again, as Campbell says in his letter; “The commander proved to be as good as her word. When we met again, she had revamped the proposal to recognize the responsibility that all racing sailors accept, that they are their brother’s keepers.” This was, and is, fantastic. What could have been an impassable situation was avoided by consideration of each side for the other. LCDR Wickman’s willingness to listen, and efforts by those like Bruce Campbell and Jamie Reese, who presented well the racer’s realistic and safety concious position, made this happen. We thank everyone involved in this solution for their efforts, and gladly echo Bruce Campbell’s words, “It was a lesson in cooperation that will stay with me. It seems most problems can be overcome by trusting others to do the right thing. Thanks to all who kept their cool.” |
