Jimmy Fund Regatta canceled

The 2007 Jimmy Fund Regatta, event number four in a five event series has unfortunately been cancelled due to lack of sponsorship.

“The Jimmy Fund supports the fight against cancer at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, helping to raise the chances of survival for children and adults with cancer around the world. Since 1948, thousands of events, coupled with the generosity of millions of people, have helped the Jimmy Fund save countless lives by furthering cancer research and care at Dana-Farber.” (Jimmy fund website information)

The organization lists about 60 events planned yearly including the Jimmy Fund Regatta. The regatta has been taking place for two years now and is normally held September 8 and 9. The Jimmy Fund Regatta is hosted by Newport Shipyard and managed by Sail Newport, a non-profit public sailing center.
The event includes competitive sailing, off the water fun and parties and an awards ceremony. Boaters are asked to support the work of the Jimmy Fund by raising money above and beyond the entry fees. The highest fundraiser in the Sail for Jimmy will be recognized with the Frank McCaffrey Memorial trophy, which honors a beloved Newport sailor who succumbed to leukemia in 2001.
It’s a pity the regatta has been canceled for lack of sponsorship.

Melges 24 - French Association

The Melges 24 French Association has created a new Web site that looks very modern and professional.
They mention the Web site has several intents: (1) to create a link between all the different members of the French Association;(2) to promote they sport and the Melges 24 towards the general public and the media; (3) and finaly to valorise futur sponsorships and parteners who would like to promot their products through the Melges 24.

The Web site is designed to be very interactive as sections are designed for the publi to post videos and photos, post articles, make comments, etc. One section of the site is called "mister melgesmaniac" where people can post any kind of thoughts they like on the Melges 24.

All in all, the new French Association Web site looks really nice and appears to be practicle as well. It gives a more modern image to sailing towards those who do no know much about it. On the other hand, I doubt people who have no interest in sailing will visit the site just for fun. It stays a pretty specialized Web site.

Melges in Australia/Asia Pacific

As I was reading more articles about Melges 24 in the Asia Pacific region, I found the answer to my previous question. The Australian builder Northshore holds the license to build Melges 24’s and 32’s in both Australia and the entire Asia Pacific region.
Sail World magazine asked Northshore CEO Heath Walters why he thought the Wisconsin based company offered them the license to build the Melges. He answered: ‘…They were looking for an iconic name in boatbuilding. Which Northshore obviously is. It’s been operating since 1973. So Melges Boat Works were very interested to take that on. We’re a well known brand name in Australia. And we’re known for our quality boat building.’
Walters reports strong interest in the smaller Melges 24. The first two Australian built boats have been brought by owners based in Perth and Geelong. Northshore has three more boats on order and production booked till July. He specifies the interest in the Melges is nation wide as a few boats have already made base in Victoria, Melbourne, Perth, Sydney and Brisbane. They will be coming together for the inaugural National Championship planned for Geelong 2008 with ten Melges 24’s.
Interest is spreading rapidly across the wider Asian region as well. The first yacht was just shipped to Korea and there has been a strong response from Japan. There are currently 12 second hand Melges in Japan and Northshore has been selling rigs and equipment to these owners. Enquiries have been coming in from South Africa who has a new fleet which is quickly increasing.
In order to keep all Northshore boat owners in contact, Heath Walters just launched a website/chat room at www.club.northshoreyachts.com.au

Melges 24 in Japan

After Australia and South Africa, Melges 24 is spreading rapidly in Japan. The class is growing thanks to the rapid increase in awareness and interest Japanese sailors are bringing to the Melges 24. As a result the Japanese Class Association is now going through a resurgence of interest and has therefore announced its regatta schedule for the 2007 season. The regattas will be used to strengthen the existing fleets but also to spark off new interests around the country. The class is becoming so successful, the Japanese Class Association plans to organize a Japanese National Championship towards the end of the year.

A Japanese Melges 24 Website exists for more information about the class. Unfortunately, it is in Japanese so I was not able to find more information on how they promoted the boat around the country. But it is clear that this business relies greatly on word off mouth promotion and having new sailors try out the Melges 24 in new countries is Melges Performance Sailboats best ally. By starting off in Japan, the Melges 24 may spread throughout Asia becoming one of the largest fleets around. World Championships were already held for Optimist in China a few years back, why not some time soon for Melges 24?
If indeed the fleet does expand, Melges Performance Sailboats may need to find a new builder-partner around Asia to be able to implement the demand in boats or will Melges rely on its Australian builder Melges Asia Pacific to do so?

Boat donations

When browsing the Internet I realized there are quite a few Web sites dedicated to boat donations.
Some suggest donating a boat to help fund medical causes, charities, nonprofit organizations offering relief and assistance, schools and universities for fundraising or their sailing programs.
Most, if not all programs, offer tax deductibles in return of boat donations under the IRS Code 501 (c)(3). The IRS – the Internal Revenue Service – falls under the United States Department of the Treasury, and allows to deduct the estimated amount of the donation from ones taxes. I tried looking at the IRS Web site to get specific details, but it is all very technical and complicated – I didn’t understand much from it!

St. Mary’s College of Maryland, a public liberal arts college with a varsity sailing team that had been ranked in the top ten of the nation since 1991, is always seeking boat owners interested in donating their vessels.
Though the college is a highly competitive pole, most of its fleet is reserved to recreational sailing as half of St. Mary’s student complete at least one of the sailing classes and are entitled to use the boats and kayaks during the afternoons. The college seeks boat donations to implement their fleet.
The College itself created a program called “Sail Into Life” that brings sailing to economically disadvantaged youth and is a Special Olympics training site.

Donations of boats to St. Mary’s College are made to the St. Mary’s College of Maryland Boat Foundation, Inc., which serves as the fundraising organization for the college.

Fundraiser for teen sailing program

<19/02/2007

February 9, 2007, The Hudson Reporter
“Liberty Yacht Club hosts fundraiser Monday for ‘City Sail’ program for teens”

Monday 12, 2007, a fundraiser for the “City Sail” program was operated by the New City Kids Organization in Jersey City.
The goal was to raise $30,000 for the program’s docking, maintenance and related expenses. To do so, people were invited to gamble at the Liberty House Restaurant’s “Casino Night.”

New City Kids Organization is a subsidiary of New City Kids Church. The religious group started a summer program to initiate teenagers from 14 to 18 to the joys of sailing on the Hudson Rive. The program runs every Tuesday afternoons from July to August.
If the weather is too bad to go out on the water, the kids are taught nautical terms and theory on how to operate a boat.
Most of the children who join the program have never been on a boat before and all end up loving it, the article said.
Pastor Trevor Rubingh said he had the idea of creating such a group on a sailing trip on the Hudson River a few years ago with clergyman Tony Hinchliff.
The two men managed to get access of boats from the Manhattan Sailling Club for their program and Paul Duggan, a local sailor, was to be the sailing instructor.

The City Sail fundraiser idea was proposed by Jim O’Connor, the commodore of the Liberty Yacht Club, a nonprofit organization formed in July 1998 to promote leisure boating on the lower Hudson River.

The $30,000 to be raised will help the City Sail program with maintenance fees for the boat being donated to them by the Liberty Yacht Club, and will enable them to have their own slip a the Liberty Marina.

http://www.hudsonreporter.com/site/news.cfm?BRD=1291&dept_id=523586&newsid=17834581&PAG=461&rfi=9

Melges 24 being promoted in South Africa

Two second hand Melges 24's - one from Great Britain, the other from France - have arrived in Cape Town, South Africa, a country where the class is still inexistent. The new boat owners wish to see the class grow in order to create a competition pole around the region.

To promote Melges 24’s, the boat raced at the 2007 Sanlam Around the Isle Race and won the keelboat class. Additionally, as part of the promotional activities, the owners created a program to push young South African sailors who show potential to get to know the boat and have the young sailors sail on them in a near future.

I have not found more information on the specific program directed to the young sailors yet though I am continuing to search.
The company Melges 24 must be very pleased by this new wind of promotion. The fact that these two boat owners would like to create a Melges 24 class around South Africa is great publicity for them. Eventually, other sailors will be tempted to try and buy one of the boats themselves. By getting the two Melges’ on the water during the regatta, and especially winning their class race, was a great way to get the name of product out there and of displaying it. People got to see the product in action.
Also, what appears to me as the smart part of the promotion action is to have young sailors try the boat. In time this will create brand loyalty and create new sales.

Melges24 is already a very popular boat around the world, but South Africa was still untouched. The fact that two independent sailors, not related to the company decided to promote the boat is great publicity, good for the company’s image, and good for their sales. South Africa is a new market for them.

To read the article, please click here (http://www.melges24.com/displayarticles.asp?year=2007&id=1134)
For more information on Melges 24's see the official website. (www.melges24.com)

Regatta Schedule

The next international regatta will be in Monaco, France, for the Primo Cup from February 9 to 11.
The next regatta in the US will take place in St. Petersbourg, Fl, from February 16 to 18.

An introduction to Melges 24

The Melges 24 is an international racing sailboat introduced to the American sailboat market in 1993. This keelboat is typically sailed with a crew of four as a high performance sportboat category. The Melges is a unique boat by the way it’s designed and the sensations it brings. It has the particularity to be a fast boat that glides over the water.

The Melges 24 class is part of the largest class of boats sailed competitively around the world. Over 600 boats are registered, with half in the U.S. and the rest are spread around Europe and Asia.

The international scene of Melges 24 regattas is very widespread as it is a very popular and appreciated boat. Sailors travel around the world to attend regattas at an international level. They start by doing local, regional, national, European and finally World competitions.

The organization around the regattas is very specific. Each country has its national federation that organizes the races within its country. An international association regroups Melges 24 members under the International Melges 24 Class Association.

Finally i need to add that watching a regatta is simply beautiful…