From the Vice Commodore

Promotion in the Snipe class after the abolition of restrictions related to SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus

by Zbigniew Zibi Rakocy

The world and our whole life after the pandemic will no longer be the same! In other words, our old habits and routines will fade away. The new will come, but we don’t have any idea what it will be or what it will be like, not to mention how the world and the sports sailing will change. We don’t know how the current situation will affect traveling around the world or other aspects of our sport. Today, everyone is full of fear for what we might lose.

I am, however, optimistic about these changes. I believe that we must make the most of this period to be the first with new ideas to face these new challenges. We should now work hard to make our future lives better and easier than before.

At the last Skype meeting, I was appointed by Commodore Louis Soubie as Chairman of the Promotion Committee. I am now getting organized an appointing for our Committee some Snipe sailors from all the continents. I intend to recruit people offering ideas and involvement that will enable us to promote our class during the period of the coronavirus restrictions and the upcoming recession. I would also like to make use of our present ideas and work in the future, after this difficult time. I would like the Board and Promotion Committee to be active in all possible areas. We need to be particularly proactive players in the press, TV and social media. One of the golden principles I follow in my life is that we should get any kind of publicity, no matter whether it is good or bad. In the period when people are confined at home and browse the media, each piece of information about our class might attract the attention of sailors from other classes. After all, our boat is quite cheap. On the other hand, it is pretty demanding in terms of technical and sailing knowledge. Yet, this boat is cut out for the time of crisis and post-crisis. We must emphasize the fact that the atmosphere during our regatta is unique and we need to communicate it to everyone around us.

Therefore, I would like to ask experienced sailors and masters, and there are a lot of them among us, to submit articles, share opinions and good advice on snipe-related issues. We will be publishing them in place of regatta reports and results, which are now not available. We have SnipeToday (thank you Pietro and Carol) and Snipe Bulletin. We will appreciate any photos or videos, both actual and retrospective. I hope that in this way we will gain new supporters and get to know each other better.

Today, it is really difficult to plan any actions for the future. Sponsors and organizations supporting sport and sailing are currently in temporary suspension and are waiting for the economic situation to develop. All expenses for sports promotion are cut down by companies. But the coronavirus will pass and we must have a plan of action for a later period.

My goal then will be to gain a strategic sponsor for the class. This would enable us to do more in terms of promoting the class in the media.

Additionally, I want to make training children and young people one of our main goals.

Owing to the work of Pietro and Carol, SnipeToday.org is doing very well. But we should not be limited to this channel of communication. Our activity in the electronic media must go further. We should create thematic groups on WhatsApp and be active on Instagram and Twitter. There is already a WhatsApp group in Europe, where NS’s join together and exchange views.

I would like to be more involved in joint activities and promote smaller countries as well as countries that have not had fleets for some time. There are boats and clubs there but they are not active.  We need to get to them and rebuild their fleets.

To conclude, let me formulate a request to everyone who reads Snipe Bulletin and wants to promote our class: please send an interesting photo or video to my address, and we will do our best to include it in our publications.

See you soon on the water and remember our motto: Serious Saling, Serious Fun.

Zbigniew Zibi Rakocy

SCIRA Vice Commodore