Travel Regatta Events
What are the Coaching Costs?
Who pays for it?
Can we bring our coach(s) with us to travel regattas?
What is the Hatteras Sailing Travel Coaching policy?
Estimated costs of travel coaching for Fishing Bay Junior Regatta
Based on distance to Fishing Bay which is a mean value for the 2022 travel regatta plan
Proposed Travel Coaching Policy of Hatteras Sailing
- Parents are responsible for trailering, bringing, rigging, de-rigging, launching the boats of our travel sailors
- Coach Boat may travel if the boat is not already scheduled for work on Hatteras
- Coaches may travel if requested by the club
- Coaches may travel if the club can cover the cost of coaching
- Coaches are not required to travel
- Coaches are given an opportunity to agree or disagree to the board-approved travel coaching policy
- Coaches will be paid for an 8 hr work day for each sailing day of the regatta
- Travel time is not counted against weekly hours
- Travel mileage will be reimbursed according to the Annual IRS mileage rate
- Coaches are responsible to manage their time during travel regatta events keeping in mind that they are being paid for an 8 hr day
- Coaches may be asked to tow the coach’s boat
- Coaches will not be asked to tow the club’s sailboats
- Coaches will be provided the same accommodations as the sailors
- Coaches will not be staying in the same room/tent with sailors
- Coaches are not required to take the provided accommodations, and may arrange other accommodations a their own expense
Question from Brent Liner:
Who sets the regatta schedule?
—> the travel regattas are on the events calendar and can be found here: https://hatterassailing.org/events/
Where do I find the regatta schedule?
—> Historically, the program director makes a proposal to the board pre-season and the board will approve the summer travel schedule. This summer is a little out of the ordinary because our Program Director (Meg) was not available.
—> This year, Jay Phillips, Chairman of the Board, put the schedule together. Meg shared that schedule via the official channel on May 23rd.
Nancy
I believe the coaches are who work with the kids day to day and know them best. The kids need someone “on the ground” in regatta days. I firmly believe that the coaches need to be there.
1. Can we take the coaches to travel regattas?
The coaches need to be present and should go to each regatta. They have worked day to day with the kids. Mak and Ian have a lot of regatta experience and knows how these events are run and will be best at guiding the kids through them.
2. Is the above travel coaching policy reasonable?
Yes it is.
3. Do you agree to the proposed travel coaching policy?
Yes I do.
One thing I do want to add is us regatta parents need to pay an extra club fee for regattas. Maybe figure out what these costs are and find an amount that is reasonable for each travel kid to pay. For kids that are on regular non regatta sail and travel team to pay $60/session doesn’t seem reasonable. We also wouldn’t mind sponsoring a kid who couldn’t pay this extra fee or plan a couple fundraisers for this. I don’t feel like this is an unreasonable expectation.
Historically, Hatteras Sailing scheduled one travel regatta per summer month and ~ 4-6 total regattas per year including the 2 that Hatteras Sailing Hosts.
Near Travel vs. Far Travel
Travel regattas which do not require overnight stays can be considered Near Travel. Manteo, Ocracoke, and Colington would be examples of Near Travel regattas. Hampton would be Far Travel because a minimum of one night stay is required.
Travel regattas that do require overnight stays can be considered Far Travel events. Two nights is more reasonable for even a Hampton Regatta. Skippers meetings are typically at around 8:30am in the morning.
Brent:
1) I would like to know if the long term plan is for the racing parents to pay the coaching costs or if the the club will cover through sponsorship/fund raising?
2) I think the policy is reasonable, if the coaching costs are built into the budget.
3) I would like for the policy to have the coaches supervise sailors in fundraising, if fundraising will be part of the funding.
4) I am of the opinion that this naturally leads to a Travel Policy for sailors, focused on expectations, costs, and possible fundraising?
1) I would like to know if the long term plan is for the racing parents to pay the coaching costs or if the the club will cover through sponsorship/fund raising?
==>MEG: I would like this to be a goal as the club grows more successful at regatta events and growing winning sailors.
2) I think the policy is reasonable, if the coaching costs are built into the budget.
=>>MEG: It is not required to take a coach to a regatta. Many parents campaign their kids without coaches. Only the most well funded and successful clubs travel with paid professional coaches. I think we can get there, but we are not quite there yet.
3) I would like for the policy to have the coaches supervise sailors in fundraising, if fundraising will be part of the funding.
=>>MEG:Agreed
4) I am of the opinion that this naturally leads to a Travel Policy for sailors, focused on expectations, costs, and possible fundraising?
=>>MEG: Agreed. Would you like to draft that policy, or shall I?
Brent, I agree and believe that the travel events need support of sponsors, parents, kids fundraising efforts, etc. Otherwise we have to tradeoff the hours at the regatta for hours the coaches could be spending coaching and doing work in Buxton… for example. Head coach would have to take 2 weekdays off to be able to go to the regatta on the clubs dime…. but also there are tradeoffs that they are not working on the boats, doing charters, private lessons, evening coaching, etc and taking off to keep hours down during the week… and really is not in the budget. Because the first week for head coach took lots of planning time, the club has a pretty large deficit this week… and no line of credit to cover it. So right now it comes from my companies budget and sits as an account receivable until the club has money to pay for it….
All travel regatta participation is optional.
Club 420 is a double-handed boat. There is only one Club 420 Summer Sailing class at Hatteras Sailing because we have 5 boats and 9 sailors. That does not mean that all the 5 boats will be invited to travel or compete in regattas.
Travel regatta participation is only by invitation if the coaches feel that you are “able” to finish the races and have a good experience at regatta.
Last year, Jay did invite all sailors to participate in the Manteo regatta and the Hatteras Sailing Regattas as a first regatta experience. These are less challenging regattas and do not require overnight travel.
Final Comment from Meg:
I think travel experiences are good experiences for kids. It is character building to mix with other kids from other locations, demographics, and cultures. For me, the relationship building that the kids get during regatta events is one of the best aspects of sailing as a sport. Particularly since I’ve chosen to homeschool and raise my children on a relatively isolated island, I find it necessary to expose them to the broader world several times per year. Once you start competing in sailing, like in other sports, you build friendships with other kids from other locations. While clubs and yacht clubs do practice together and travel together, sailing is not a traditional team sport. So these kids end up all feeling like they are on the same team and make lifelong friendships. If you continue in the sport, these same kids will probably be your team mates in college or professionally some day if you stay in the industry.
For all those reasons, I would like to see our program grow into a program with enough funding to support travel for sailors who earn positions on the travel sailing team.
Since we launched in 2020, we have had an ‘invite only’ policy for race team. You can find wording that has been published since that time: https://hatterassailing.org/registration/#opti-race-team
Historical Context:
https://islandfreepress.org/watersports/hatteras-sailing-launches-invitational-sailing-team/
https://islandfreepress.org/watersports/5-hatteras-youth-participate-in-junior-olympic-festival/
REVISION TO PROPOSED POLICY: Meg found a typo in the proposed policy regarding coaches accommodations…Here are the revisions made by Meg.
– Coaches will be provided the same accommodations as the sailors
– Coaches will not be staying in the same room/tent with sailors