Proposal to change PR 13.d
Right now PR 13.d reads "Special Clothing - Host colleges may require special clothing (wet or dry suits) for any regatta, providing advance written notice is given to each competing college"
Myproposedchange would be "Special Clothing - Host colleges may require special clothing (wet or dry suits) for any regatta. This requirement to compete must be posted in the sailing instructions for the regatta on Techscore (http://scores.collegesailing.org/)no less than 2 weeks before the first scheduled report time of the regatta. The requirement shall also specify whether the host is requiring only dry suits, only wetsuits, or an option to choose either."
I'll give a little background on this proposal and why I think it should be changed. This past spring we went to compete at the Thompson trophy at USCGA. On the Wednesday before the regatta, I logged onto Techscore. I entered my roster into each division and I read the posted sailing instructions. There was nothing about dry suits in the sailing instructions. In fact they are still posted herehttp://scores.collegesailing.org/s16/thompson/notices/sailing-instructions.pdf. On Friday we fly up to the regatta. On Saturday I log back into Techscore to make a division change. Now there is a notice of race posted. This was not posted when I looked at the regatta on Wednesday. The notice of race does have a clause about dry suits. You can read it herehttp://scores.collegesailing.org/s16/thompson/notices/notice-race.pdf.
When we arrive to the regatta on Saturday, Brian Swingly announces that dry suits will be required. Our team goes out sailing, most without dry suits. Brian has his regatta volunteers searching for sailors on the water without dry suits and sending those sailors back to the dock. I tell Brian that he did not provide advance written notice. He says that he posted in the notice of race and that he sent an email to all head coaches. I ask him when he posted the notice of race and he says he posted in earlier in the week. Techscore does not have a time stamp when notices are posted, so there is no way for me to know. Even if he posted it Friday night that would still technically be in advance. He sends our team and a few other teams to the dock because they are not wearing dry suits. I then spend the next 90 minutes driving to a sailing store, where I buy dry suits. As soon as I return, thedry suitrule is lifted and competitors may compete without dry suits.
I suggest to my sailors that they should apply for redress. But they feel out gunned, because they would be battling a coach who is also the regatta chairman. I have no problem requesting redress for my sailors. But I don't think that I can do that because I am not a party or a boat. Ironically, the sailors, who are a party and a boat, did not receive the advance written notice email detailing thedry suitrequirement. It went to the coaches, who are not a party or a boat.
Hopefully myproposedchanges can make this rule more clear in several ways. By posting the requirement for special clothing on Techscore, every competitor will have access to this information. There will no longer be any email mistakes. All "parties" and "boats" will be able to see the requirement. By forcing the requirement to be in the sailing instructions competitors will know exactly where to look for the information. There will no longer be any notice of race or sailing instruction conflict with this requirement. A 2 week time period will give plenty of time for someone to find and buy adry suit or wetsuit. One week would probably be a little too short. Ideally I would also like for Techscore to have a timestamp when anything is posted on a regatta notice board, but this probably is a different proposal.