| Chair | Robert J. Schmidt, Jr. (SYC) |
|---|---|
| Members | Members |
| Randy Fitzpatrick-Wainwright (FYC) (2025)-AL | Steve Nolte (GYC) (2027)-MS |
| Judd Chamberlain (2027)-AL | |
| Anne David (2027) – LA | John Morrow (GYC/StABYC) (2026)-FL |
| William Zehner (FWYC) (2027)-FL |
The Gulf Yachting Association was founded to promote interclub sailboat racing between member clubs.
The GYA Race Management Committee is chartered under Article VII, Section 7 of the GYA Bylaws. The duties of this committee are to “promote excellence in race management within the GYA, administer the competition for the GYA trophy for excellence in race management, investigate reports of improper race management as set forth in the Regulations for Sanctioned Events (available at www.GYA.org), and provide assistance and advice on race administration.”
GYA Race Management Award. This trophy is awarded each year, at the Annual Awards Banquet, to the GYA member club exhibiting the most outstanding race management at an event during the previous year. Recent events that have won the award for excellence in race management include:
| Tom Davis (BucYC) | 1983 | Spring Regatta |
| Tom Davis (BucYC) | 1983 | Spring Regatta |
| Stewart Barnett (SYC) | 1984 | Finn Nationals |
| Walter Chamberlain (BWYC) | 1985 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
| Allen M. Douglas (StABYC) | 1986 | Flying Scot Midwinters |
| Edgar Santa Cruz (BWYC) | 1987 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
| Walter Chamberlain (BWYC) | 1988 | USYRU Hinman Cup |
| Ken Kleinschrodt (BucYC) | 1989 | Azalea Trail |
| Rick Adam (PCYC) | 1990 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
| Jim Foster (BucYC) | 1991 | Azalea Trail |
| George Brothers (MYC) | 1991 | Area D Mallory Semis |
| Harry Chapman (BWYC) | 1992 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
| Bobby Bailey (GYC) | 1993 | Junior Lipton |
| David Bolyard (PontYC) | 1994 | Junior Lipton |
| Nick Blakeney (BucYC) | 1995 | Mobile Bay Youth Championship |
| John Cramer (PontYC) | 1998 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
| Bobby Bailey (GYC) | 1999 | Flying Scot North Americans |
| Tom Batty (BucYC) | 2000 | Junior Lipton |
| E.H. Walet, III (PCYC) | 2001 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
| John Morrow (StABYC) | 2004 | Flying Scot Midwinters |
| Bobby Bailey (GYC) | 2005 | GYA Offshore Challenge Cup |
| William Brundige, Jr. (PYC) | 2006 | GYA Offshore Challenge Cup |
| Chip MacMillan (PYC) | 2007 | WFORC |
| Clinton Edwards (BWYC) | 2008 | Candler |
| John Morrow (GYC) | 2009 | GYA Offshore Challenge Cup |
| George Hero IV (SYC) | 2010 | Flying Scot Mid-Winters |
| John Morrow (GYC) | 2011 | GYA Offshore Challenge Cup |
| James Sanchez, Jr. (SYC) | 2012 | GYA Junior Lipton |
| Clinton Edwards (BWYC) | 2013 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
| George Hero, IV (SYC) | 2014 | GYA Junior Lipton |
| John B. Morrow (GYC) | 2015 | GYA Offshore Challenge Cup |
| Michael G. Hage (GYC) | 2016 | GYA Offshore Challenge Cup |
| George Hero (SYC) | 2017 | J22 Midwinters |
| Clinton Edwards (BWYC) | 2018 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
| Michael G. Hage (GYC) | 2021 | GYA Offshore Challenge Cup |
| Danny Killeen, Jr. (PCYC) | 2023 | GYA Lipton Challenge |
All GYA clubs are encouraged to submit regattas run at their clubs for consideration for this prestigious award. While it is certainly a great honor for a club to win this award, all clubs who enter generally find that they “win” just by entering. First, the fact that race committee members know that they are entering the competition tends to bring out the best effort in all involved with the event. Secondly, the ballots that the skippers submit are a great source of information that the club can use to improve their performance in future regattas.
Process to request Review for Race Management Excellence Trophy
1. Submit a “GYA Race Management Award Submission Request” via the GYA Website (https://gya.org/pubforms/rmaward/rmawardrequest.php)
a. Request must be submitted 30 days prior to the start of the event. (The event list will only display events that are 30 days from the day of submission)
b. All fields are required to be completed
c. Submitter, PRO and Regatta Chair must all be members of a general GYA Member club.
d. The event must be on the GYA Schedule on the GYA Website.
e. NOR and SI’s, approved by the Organizing Authority, are required at the time of submission.
2. The submission will be forwarded to the GYA Race Management Committee for review.
3. If possible, a member of the Race Management Committee may attend the event to also submit a review.
4. If/When approved the system will return an URL to the questionnaire you will distribute to your competitors and race committee officials to complete, a QR code (or instructions to create one) will also be distributed.
a. The respondents will have 5 days following the event to submit answers to the questionnaire.
b. Each crew member will be encouraged to respond, they will be required to enter the sail number and crew position of the yacht they crewed on. (if more than the number of crew positions for a particular yacht is received, the responses from that sail number will be deleted)
5. On the 6th day the questionnaire will be disabled, and the Race Management Committee will begin their review of the data received.
6. Prior to the GYA Winter Meeting held in January, the Race Management Committee will choose the winner of the award, the award will be presented at the GYA Winter Meeting.
Standardizing Sailing Instructions. Recently the race management committee finished revising the sailing instructions that are used for the GYA Lipton Regatta. This revision incorporates both changes requested by previous year’s Lipton race committee as well as changes resulting from the update to the Racing Rules of Sailing. Race committees are encouraged to use these sailing instructions as a basis for writing sailing instructions for their own events, especially Capdevielle regattas.
Click here for ISAF Sailing Documentation and Rules.
Click here for US Sailing Regatta Management.
Find a Race Officer – US Sailing Site
Information Dissemination. The RMC has developed an introductory seminar to acquaint prospective personnel with information about race management practices as well as providing refresher material for those that are currently active. The seminar is available here for download:
GYAIntroRM-slides.pdf The slides for the seminar in Adobe Portable Document Format. The notes pages for the seminar.
We hope that any interested club will use this material to train it’s own members.
In 1999 US Sailing implemented a certified race officer program to replace the currently recognized Senior Race Officer and Club Race Officer designations. The new program will certify race officers at three levels:
- Certified Club Race Officer
- Certified Regional Race Officer
- Certified National Race Officer
Constructive comments and suggestions are always welcome! Let us know how we can help improve the quality of racing within the Gulf Yachting Association.