RTIR cancelled

[misterhino]

The postponed race has now been cancelled.

No great surprise there, but not well managed.

 

[flaming]

What would you have done differently?

 

[misterhino]

I am a lawyer and I always say it is easy to win other people’s cases, but;

more realistic planning of the postponed race, the press release reads as if the club never really had a plan as to how to run the rescheduled race.

offering a full refund Rather than assuming all entrance would want to roll the entry over to the next year. Although it is not in the press release the club office tell me that there will be a £15 handling fee for those who wish to withdraw.

 

[flaming]

Reading the various press releases it always seemed to me that the plan for the rescheduled race was that Covid would be well under control by then and a near normal event would be possible. Remember they made that call in March.

Not sure you could describe that as an unreasonable hope. Optimistic maybe, but not unreasonable at the time. Most people were talking of things being back to normal "later in the summer" at that point. Cowes week was still insisting they were going ahead etc.

I have a lot of sympathy with any organisation that, through no fault of their own, are now faced with a potential large admin cost just to give people their money back. That's bad enough for a profit making business such as a holiday firm or airline, but worse for a club. Not sure what a reasonable fee might be, but given that the entry list basically hadn't changed since it was first postponed I suspect that the vast majority of boats entered are the perennial "every year" entrants and the vast majority will roll over. I know we will.

 

[awol]

I do hope the club rethink the unannounced £15 retention for withdrawal if it is, indeed, their intention. Other events, e.g. the Scottish Series, managed to refund all fees and took the opportunity to encourage early registration for 2021. I would assume full advantage has been taken of the furlough and other UK government enlargement of the nation's debt schemes.

 

[Sandy]

I consider the use of the word postponed as wholly inadequate. A bit like the Southampton Boat Show statement

Following the COVID-19 guidelines regarding large scale gatherings, British Marine will be postponing the 52nd edition of the Southampton International Boat Show until September 2021.

There is no way that two events could be held in the same calendar year and if everybody's diary is as full as mine they know that if they, or RTIR, pop up and say lets do it this weekend it is a non starter.

 

[Catalina36]

I last did it in 2018 and the number of entrants was about two-thirds what it had been when I'd done it some years earlier. I suspect that the entry fee having risen by about 50% in the meantime might have had something to do with that. It's become a very expensive way of sailing round the IoW.

 

[Stemar]

I'm curious. Can a retention like that be legal?

If I organised an event and sold tickets or entries, then cancelled it, offering a refund less £15 I'd expect a goodly number Dear Sir, unless within 7 days... type letters. I'd also expect any small print giving me the right to do so to be held to be an unfair condition.

 

[dom]

The organisers might get away with a small administrative charge but it is the wrong thing to do, certainly from a PR and financial perspective (most entrants will happily roll to 2021), and I would say a moral perspective. Some entrants won't be able to compete next year for any number of reasons and they should not be penalized.

 

[TernVI]

I last did it in 2018 and the number of entrants was about two-thirds what it had been when I'd done it some years earlier. I suspect that the entry fee having risen by about 50% in the meantime might have had something to do with that. It's become a very expensive way of sailing round the IoW.

It's the way it goes.
Events get some sponsors in, which sounds like free money, but it always seems to become a trough for 'event management' comapnies and costs the competitor more as time goes on.

 

[flaming]

I do hope the club rethink the unannounced £15 retention for withdrawal if it is, indeed, their intention. Other events, e.g. the Scottish Series, managed to refund all fees and took the opportunity to encourage early registration for 2021. I would assume full advantage has been taken of the furlough and other UK government enlargement of the nation's debt schemes.

The race itself is largely run by volunteers or people paid for a day's work rather than employees. I don't think you can furlough a volunteer... Other than bar staff I don't think the ISC has a significant number of full time employees.

It's the way it goes.
Events get some sponsors in, which sounds like free money, but it always seems to become a trough for 'event management' comapnies and costs the competitor more as time goes on.

Some truth in that, but the reality is that for the large events such as RTI, Cowes etc there is now an expectation of things like almost instant results, online entry, SMS declarations (remember the declaration barge?!) a flag for everyone's backstay etc etc. Those things aren't free and in a year where all the functions will have been put in place but no racing happens, that's a tough situation for the club. And don't forget that every year a considerable sum is donated to charity.
I do have a lot of sympathy for the situation they find themselves in.

Also, the RTI currently does not have a title sponsor.

 

[Sandy]

While a much smaller event, and not a race, the Eddystone Charity Pursuit event refunded everybody without blinking an eye.

Having just checked their website they still hope to run it this autumn and use the word postponed.

 

[wiggy]

I am a lawyer and I always say it is easy to win other people’s cases, but;

more realistic planning of the postponed race, the press release reads as if the club never really had a plan as to how to run the rescheduled race.

offering a full refund Rather than assuming all entrance would want to roll the entry over to the next year. Although it is not in the press release the club office tell me that there will be a £15 handling fee for those who wish to withdraw.

I was entered into the RTI’s original date but the new date In September didn’t suite, I contacted the Island Sailing Club and got a full refund.