I enjoy volunteering at sailing regattas. This isn’t only due to my wishing to give back to the sailing community or because of my philanthropic nature. My primary consideration is that when I’m a volunteer then I’m participating in a fun event, just not as a racer.  This means that I’m not going to be pushing poor Zanshin to her limits, potentially breaking or damaging the boat. It is also an admission that I’m a cruiser and not a racer, I’d  most likely always end up somewhere at the bottom of the rankings. My competitive nature would make that both chastening and depressing.

Instead, I’m happy to be a volunteer. I get to see the action close-up and get a free polo shirt or two. In addition, volunteers get all the girls (well, maybe not…). We do get free lunch and often free booze as well, so it’s not all bad.  My old regatta pages have been mangled or destroyed by my previous hosting company, but I’m slowly building up a list of them again. All of the regatta links are heavy on pictures and light on words. The only Regatta that I’ve participated in as a racer was the Newport-Bermuda race in 2022 and that was a lot fun, but rather strenuous.

Racers don’t usually see what goes on behind the scenes at these events. A surprising amount of serious work is involved in organizing a regatta, and without volunteers they would not be possible; or at least no affordable. And as one can imagine, organizing volunteers is like trying to herd cats.  At least we volunteers are worth every penny we get paid!