Mobility Cup comes to Nova Scotia

[robertd]

This is a wonderful day for Sailable Nova Scotia. It is now official that Sailable NS in conjunction with the Dartmouth Yacht Club will host Mobility Cup '07. This is an incredible opportunity for our little group to build a lasting legacy. ;D ;D ;D

A lot of work is to be done between now and then but it will all be worth it in the end.

[CoolBreeze]

I've made a sub-board in "Upcoming Events" for this awesome event....

[robertd]

Thanks Rob;

That board will be well used.

[brianpickton]

Good job Rob, you can't begin planning these things too soon.

[brianpickton]

There is lots going on with respect to the Mobility Cup, I'm told. Why no posts?

[robertd]

I'll take a stab at this.

The boat show was quite successful as I was able to get the assistance of the Binnacle to supply all boating equipment necessary for both the Mobility Cup and for the Sailable program. Along with that I am trying to get the Lunenburg Foundry to donate a few brass sculptures that we can use for prizes etc. And yesterday I spoke to my minister and mentioned that the Church may take a role in doin some fundraising events on behalf of Sailable NS.

On top of all that Atlantic Boating News has been doing a wonderful job in providing Sailable NS with space in their magazine to advertise the Mobility Cup.

[robertd]

Minutes from the February 27, 6-8p at the Sport NS

In attendence: Co-chair Trendal Hubley-Bolivar, Co-chair Kevin Penny, Co-chair Paul Tingley, Kelly Sulis, Linda Scott, James Stewart, Ron Duggan, Eugene, Noreen Guptill, Kevin Murphy, Dennis Atwell, Peter White, Adrian, Ryan Stapells, Kristin Smith

Regrets: Grant Gordon, Robert Fraser, Mary Ridgewell, Trevor Zinck, Judy Lugar, Alex Teeft, Emma Cooper, Frank Denis, Rona Leahy, Judy Simms, Tom Gerenser, Amy Schwartz, Connie Hitz, Carolyn Kelly, Brian Awad, Rob Dunbar, Brian Pickton, Karen Smith, Curtis Bullock, Colleen Diggins

Record of discussion:

What are the benefits of Mobility Cup for Halifax? Future plans for Sail Able include a summer program with 2 instructors and 4 boats (2 Martin 16's, safety boat and the Freedom).
Mobility Cup coming to Halifax was decided by a national committee, who started a national program called ablesailnetwork.ca.
The Martin 16 is the boat of choice by all other disabled sailing associations across Canada and has a proven track record.

Organization committees and their mandate.

We have 3 co chairs for the event. With the unique requirments of this regatta, there are alot more variables, so we have more co-chairs to help spread the work...plus one co-chair will be away alot in the next 6 months.

PR - we have a communications plan organized by Jerry Lockett from the DYC. The big press release date will in mid-May. We should have a Martin 16 on hand for that. The boat show was a good event for exposure. Pinkdog productions is considering doing a documentary.

Fundraising - is well underway and is the biggest priority right now. Currently we are busy doing grant applications and have a mailout for each yacht club to consider sending to it's members. We want to approach more corporations and you can see some companies on the powerpoint presentation attached. If you are interested in contacting any of these companies or any others...please contact Paul Tingley ( [e-mail]), Funding coordinator. Silver sponsorship is most popular choice so far ($1000-$1500).

***Volunteers are needed for the NSYA Wine and beer tasting event on Friday, May 4, 7pm - 9pm, Maritime Museum of the Atlantic. Partial proceeds go to the Mobility Cup***

Registraton Team - need a web site administrator asap. the mobilitycup.org site needs to be updated. We also need to start thinking about information for the registration packages such as information about the city, transportation, and accommodations. Clothing is also something that has to be discussed and plan. Considering T-shirts, sweatshirts, and other merchandise for both competitors and volunteers. Identification tags must also be created for the individuals involved. You'll also be collecting freebies for the regatta package that everyone will receive when they arrive at the Dartmouth Yacht Club. Logistics also has to be working for the physical set up of the registration table

Transportation & Accommodations-competitors are responsible for finding their own accommodations and it is our role to provide them with a list of possible places to stay and rates. Also looking into and outing for the competitors. Interested in using billets for some of the competitors due to lack of accessible in the city. Transportation is very important for a successful Mobilitycup


Volunteer Recruitment and Management-in order to remain organized, all e-mails regarding the mobilitycup organizing will be filtered through our Gmail account ( [e-mail]) will need volunteers to keep the contents of this address organize. Communication Is the Key!

Venue Management, race committee, safety teams, and harbor teams will require volunteers during the actual event. See powerpoint for more info.

Food and Beverage-volunteers will be required to assist during the breakfast, lunch and evening events

Ceremonies & Entertainment-budget permitting, we are looking at having some entertainment during the evening events (band, guest speakers)



A lot of work is well underway but there's still much more to complete as we only have six months until the event. If you're interested in volunteering for any of the committee's, e-mail the [e-mail] account and let us know.

[brianpickton]

Hi Rob,
On another note I hope to have the Rocket at DYC during the Mobility Cup. I was thinking that it would be good to try to get Dale Keith out for a Monday or Wednesday night race, as well as any of the other Sail Able guys that might be interested. What would ou think of that?

[brianpickton]

Call for Bo’suns and Bo’suns’ Mates

With the International Mobility Cup coming to DYC we are also going to see the arrival of many Martin 16’s, including the high tech sip-and-puff boats for the regatta. While the last IMC saw 21 boats attending we expect this one to be bigger and better than ever with crews coming from as far away as New Zealand. The reason we expect this to be bigger and better than ever is because of the proximity of so many boats along the eastern seaboard as well as New Brunswick, Quebec and Ontario. While we think realistically we might see up to 25 boats, the Regatta Committee is capping entries at 30 to keep things manageable at the club.

Even so, assembling even 20 boats in time for racing is going to be a challenge. What is needed is a small crew of volunteers familiar with boat rigging to help extract the boats from the containers, get them rigged, launched and moved to the dock site that the competitor’s will sail them from. The current plan is to have the boats arrive and be unloaded on Friday August 24, when initial set up will begin. I am told that the extraction process is quick and should only take about 3 hours. The bulk of the rigging will take place on Saturday and Sunday, with the boats being disassembled and repacked the following weekend. During the week we will need 1 or 2 people available each day in order to take care of minor equipment repairs. The other thing that has to happen is that we have to make sure that we have all of the safety equipment required on board as well. I want to acknowledge the good folks at The Binnacle for so graciously agreeing to supply the Mobility Cup with safety materials and any other boating equipment needs that might arise during the event.

Early reports indicate that this event is going to have national press coverage. It is an opportunity for us to demonstrate to the rest of the country what Down East hospitality is all about. I would like to extend an invitation to everyone in metro interested in helping to make this event to contact the SailAble folks via their web site. In addition, if you are interested in helping with this particular need you can contact me directly through this web site.