From the Commodore
(From the Snipe Bulletin – Summer 2021)
Hello friends,
Despite our best wishes, at this time of the year it already seems that our 2021 is going to be tainted by COVID from start to finish as 2020 was.
If we are lucky, we will be able to do some of the events of the second semester, in countries where the summer is beginning, but we will be far from having a normal year.
Throughout this pandemic, nautical activity has survived thanks to the constant effort of those who step-by-step, and sometimes failure-by-failure, have tried time after time to organize local regattas. The immense value of this effort is difficult to measure, but it is valued by every sailor who has the possibility of crossing a finish line. Those of us who cannot do it, we just look at the photos and hope for better days.
This unfortunate situation that we have to live as a species, has greatly harmed us all, but it has also taught us. Not only to behave in the face of illness, but to appreciate the immense value of our freedom in general and of our activity in particular, things that perhaps we previously took for granted many times.
At SCIRA we have been working all these months looking for the best way to deal with this year’s situation.
In 2020, when we were the first class to cancel the entire international calendar, we received a lot of criticism, public and private, but we were convinced that the situation required that for the protection of our members. It was not an easy decision, nor a hasty one, but an informed and painful one. The other classes ended up doing the same sooner or later. We were the first, and the one who goes through the glass first always gets hurt …
2021 is different. With the vaccine being distributed in so many countries, it seemed hasty to cancel a complete international calendar without knowing the degree of immunity in the middle of the year and we have decided to analyze event by event. We have proposed a method and a structure to do it, and we are working on that. Unfortunately, the Master Worlds and the South American have been canceled, but several national championships have been raced and we still dream of the European, the WH&O and many others.
But this is not all. At SCIRA we have carried out a very large cut in our expenses, and we had the support of our members, you, who in 2020 have paid their dues with a scope of 83% compared to 2019, despite having hardly sailed. This speaks of us as a Class, you as members and SCIRA as a leader, and as a family. I can only say: thank you!
At the same time, some proposals for the rules have been presented, authorities have been replaced, and we are carrying out a process of renovating the image of the Class. Not only from our web page but possibly in the coming months we will have a big surprise for you. This is not the channel to report it. You will need to wait ! Believe me it will be very good.
Both I and all the members of the Board are very excited about the changes to come and how they may impact the future of the class.
They will not be immediate, they will take some time, because we want to do them well. I will most likely not see them as your Commodore, but I will surely enjoy them as a member when they are finished.
Finally, and hoping not to be repetitive, I repeat my request to support the small businesses that live off the Class, especially the small boat rigging, and sailmakers. They are not only ceasing to sail, but to work. If you can, help out by buying their products. Sooner rather than later you will use them.
I say goodbye wishing you a very good summer, and a not very cold winter, depending on where you are in the world.
Stay safe!
LUIS SOUBIE – ARG 31701 Commodore
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