Cancellation of the Around North Island Race

The Around North Island race has been cancelled, we found out too late and were not counted in the entry list, see my letter to the squadron.

13/01/10
Ben Allen
Ph 0274547748
Ph 4824403

Hi Barry,

I am writing this letter to express our dissapointment in finding out today about the cancellation of the around North Island Race.

We started preparing for this race after finishing and winning our division in the Simrad series overall in September 2009.

Our plan was to do the around White Island race in lead up to the around North Island Race (which we did, coming second on handicap),

We have done quite a bit of work in the lead up to this race preparing the boat, including amongst other things, arranging a four person crew, trip planning, having a new main made specifically made, and making modifications to the prod arrangement at the bow as well as arranging for solar panels to be fitted in custom made stainless steel brackets (its basically what we think about when we go to sleep at night). The boat came out of the water yesterday (Jan 11th) to begin a lot of this work. Our category 2 inspection was booked in for the 18th of January as everything came together for our entry which we understood was due before the 25th January.

After today Dad has had to make a lot of phone calls cancelling the work that has already started as well as, cancelling the Cat 2 inspection.

From the 19th Dec to the 3rd Jan we were holidaying on Great Barrier Island, away from computer access.

The thing is Barry, we do feel ripped off, and as if the rug has been pulled out from under our feet because;

a) I was a bit surprised that there wasn’t a registration of interest for this race, especially if there was an anticipated lack of interest, this would have given RNZYS a very clear indication of who to contact in the event of a possible cancellation. Without an ROI, RNYS could not get a clear indication of how many boats intended to enter the race. The only way then would have been to wait until the 25th to see how many boats actually decided to enter. By moving the closing date for entries to the 11th and not communicating this effectively, our entry was effectively closed down before we intended to submit it.

b) The closing date for entries had been brought forward from the 25th to the 11th of January (we found out today). This change had occurred during the busy holiday period (December the 18th, I understand), when people are unlikely to be checking for amendments to the notice of race on their computers. We certainly didn’t, and the opportunity to enter is now closed to us. We wonder if there are others out there who are still intending to enter.

c) Even today on the front page of your website it states that the race entry is for the 25th of January and there is nothing obvious stating the cancellation of the race or amendment to the entry date. Its not until you open the Notice of Race and the separately download the amendments do you discover the changes. Something I suggest few people would be doing on a regular basis in the months leading up to this race.

I am sure you are no stranger to the degree of preparation that is required when undertaking such a passage. So I am giving you this feed back in the hope that next time;

There is a registration of interest put out when the notice of race is put out, and all boats on that ROI are updated of any significant changes that are made to the NOR.

I would also expect changes to the website to occur simultaneously to any amendments to the Notice of Race so that mixed messages aren’t being sent out.

Regards
Ben Allen (skipper of Mix T Motions)


Jim Allen (owner of Mix T Motions)