News SAYING THANKS FOR THE 420 WORLDS AT SAIL NEWPORT

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SAYING THANKS FOR THE 420 WORLDS AT SAIL NEWPORT

20
Nov 2018

Larry Law, Volunteer President of the US International 420 Class Association, has put into words what the many officials teams, coaches and parents from around the world felt before, during and after the 420 Worlds this summer at Sail Newport - as published on Sailing Anarchy.

This news belongs to
2018 420 Open, Women and U17 World Championships
ALL EVENT INFORMATION

In the entire world of sailing, it went largely unnoticed that a unique international event occurred right under our noses this past summer.  For the first time in 21 years the International 420 Class (the original 420 performance dinghy) held its annual World Championship in the United States – the last time was 1997.  

In August 167 teams (334 sailors, as well as 40+ coaches, and an untold number of equipment containers, team leaders, support personnel and parents) from 19 countries across the Globe – North America, South America, Europe, Asia and from as far as Australia, Japan, and New Zealand – traveled to Sail Newport in Rhode Island for the annual 420 World Championship.

It was obvious to the US I-420 Class Board that the resounding success of the event was due in large part to the leadership and dedicated team at Sail Newport – and the wonderful facilities known to most of us as Fort Adams State Park. 

In addition to many sailing programs run through Sail Newport there are countless class associations/programs that utilize this Diamond in our Midst to host events – everything from the Volvo Ocean Race stop-over to the likes of the Snipe Women’s World Championship, 400-boat Optimist regattas – and yes the I-420 Class World Championship with amazing precision and efficiency.

From the first pre-planning discussions almost 2 years in advance, to the on-site visits and discussions in the year leading up to the event, and then the actual event execution and management, it was obvious that Brad Read and his staff had their hands clearly on the wheel in every aspect of running an event.   

Every conceivable aspect of the planning, organization, resource allocation, logistics, implementation and management was impressive from start to finish.  And while no event is without drama and problems, Brad’s team was ready with flexible creativity and the talent to move past any hurdle in a professional and timely manner.

So while Sail Newport has remarkable facilities and my team from the US I-420 Class (Michael Rudnick, Steve Keen, Justin Law, the I-420 Parent group) were a very important part of the planning and execution team – the fact is that the folks from Sail Newport were irreplaceable in terms of making this happen. 

I hate to mention only a few at the risk of missing some, but there are obvious names/persons that should be called out.  Of course Brad Read for his ability to bring together and provide a successful framework under which to succeed; Regatta Manager Matt Duggan and his right hand man – Nick Mauprivez – for the daily hands on management of every aspect of event support implementation; Emily Greagori for her expertise in catering and social events; Kim Hapgood for facilities support; Kim Cooper for communication coordination and PR; and of course Hannah Lasorsa who managed to assist in every aspect of team logistics, registration, measurement and site support.

This group however, misses so many more people that were required to make the event happen.  The great team of people on Race Committee, On Water Race Management, Scoring, Safety, volunteers for measurement and site set-up and breakdown – the list is endless – all recruited and organized by Sail Newport.  To say the least without Sail Newport and the remarkable group of talented and dedicated folks that Brad has surrounded himself with, our World Championship would not have been possible………………….and for that we wanted to provide this LOUD and SUSTAINED SHOUT OUT to Brad and all our friends at Sail Newport who were involved in everything from soup to nuts.

Truly a Diamond in our Midst and a remarkable asset for the sailing world.

Check out the Results.

Source: Larry Law / Sailing Anarchy

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