Melbourne to Hobart - Taking it to the next level...

5:37 AM Tue 20 Jan 2009 GMT

'Magnificent image of the two flyers just after the start - pic C Terri Dodds - MELBOURNE TO HOBART (M2H)' ORCV

As we all know, there is no such thing as a five-minute job on a boat! Alas, it is true also for the organising of them as well.

For the 2008 Christmas ocean races, the ORCV really did hoe new ground for the way in which the races were organised, run, promoted and supported. One only needs to look at the volume of foot traffic watching race tracker on the LCD screens at the Elizabeth Street Pier marquee, or the three million hits the new website attracted during the race period, for evidence of effort and achievement.

Naturally, as with any event, there are sponsors to thank. We would be severely hampered without the generous support of Heemskirk Consolidated for the M2H, Kidder Williams for the M2L, and TasPorts for berthing and inshore racing, as well as The Entire Group for the Cock of the Bay.

Some think this is what it is all about, but there is plenty else to consider beforehand - MELBOURNE TO HOBART (M2H) - ORCV

In these difficult times, they have resolutely stood by their commitments and done so with a smile and desire to assist wherever possible. This passion for racing allowed the ORCV to push ahead with the changes and bring about the larger and more colourful events we all enjoyed.

All the entrants, along with their sailing and support crews, are to be praised for getting behind the new systems and ensuring they all complied with the requirements. However, it is the ORCV 'crew' and those of the affiliate organisations that deserve special mention at this time, nearly all of whom are volunteers!

The sensational new website, yacht tracker and on-line entry system are the direct result of the IT Committee, which comprised of Don Fraser, Simon Dryden, Neville Rose and John Weatherly.

Don alone, must have given 800+hours into the creation of the new toy and would have been very proud of the quality of information it provided, especially when other races were having enormous difficulty in doing the same.

Like anything that works so well, he and the Race Director sitting in the Hobart race control room, must have had the dry mouths of anxiety when the server repeatedly hit over 99% of capacity, due to the volume of interest.

Knowing them, they'll have a full lecture pad of improvements they'll want to implement.

In the lead up to the events, Dennis Livingston and Guy Dwyer were the front-of-house faces for skippers and crew, happily answering all questions about the system, being the help desk and carrying out all the tasks that resulted from these interactions and transactions.

Nic McGuigan created the new look sailing instructions and notices of race that walked people through all the different aspects of what was going to occur.

Tim Godbert created all the graphics for the website, posters and launch kits. These along with all the uniforms and flags arranged by Chris Gibbons ensured the whole affair was colourful and most importantly, recognisable. For those who were in Hobart, the 'pathway' from the 'Taste of Tasmania' to the Elizabeth Street Pier was well and truly all about Heemskirk M2H.

Melbourne to Osaka winners and still at it - Jock and Hamish MacAdie - MELBOURNE TO HOBART (M2H) - ORCV Click Here to view large photo

By the time Boxing Day arrived, things really did move into the next gear again, as the involvement of all the affiliates was about to be seen. Remember, once underway, it is a 24hour commitment - there are no hotels at sea! In order to finish, first you have to start, but you'll need the radio room, race HQ, a manned finish line, the escort boat and the welcoming crew to ensure you get that all-important first beer.

So whilst Ian Court from the ORCV Committee was ensuring all the VIPs were comfortable an understood the pre-start procedures, Dennis Livingston was being ably assisted by Alistair Heart from RMYS to get a start line set.

Mornington Yacht Club provided Steve Bardsley for the Division C finish, while the larger boats of the fleet headed on to Blairgowrie Yacht Squadron. Here, Michael Trumble and Gerard Clarke and their happy crew of volunteers welcomed all the boats, got them moored and ensured they all were 'fed and watered' appropriately. This included food being available from 06:30hrs on the 27th, which was race day morning.

After starting the Tassie Trio at midday, Dennis then quickly marched off to Tullamarine for the flight to Launceston. Ed Vincent, Anna Fitzallen and their TYC volunteers enjoyed the truly magnificent surroundings of the ORCV van (an old ambulance) parked over the other side of the Tamar River at Low Head to mark the fleet off as they came in, get the boats secured and then had the crews partying on 'til all hours in the new clubhouse.

A five-person team consisting of Don Fraser, Jennifer McGuigan, Peter Clancy, John Curnow and the Race Director, Simon Dryden, controlled the M2H West and East.

Commodore Peter Geeves and GM Dave Willans headed up the Derwent Sailing Squadron crew. Naturally, they got to shine on January 2nd, when over 60 boats appeared for the start of the King of the Derwent. Like all things though, this was just the focal point. Over 40 volunteers performed the finish line, escort boat and welcoming committee duties.

They had also set up the Race Centre with the flat-screen TVs, computers and assisted the many and various members of the public and family of crew who had a myriad of questions and requirements to be addressed.

Some of these volunteers started their four-hour shift not knowing the 'on' button from a mouse, but left as experts and were back for the next shift ready to do it all again. Of course, having the open, transparent and real-time system also meant that the phone rang a lot with people sitting in bed wondering why a boat was off course or going home in the case of 'Mocean'.

Peter stayed behind in Melbourne and did four radio skeds a day for the three races. An awesome achievement for sure and it mean the Race Director wasn't directly fused to the HF radio as well.

Peter not only completed all of this, but also managed the only medical emergency during racing with absolute aplomb. Someone who would have been taking in this information with great interest would have been Julie-Ann Hobbs, who along with her Handicapping team had the results table separated by one point for the leading boats.

In terms of promotion, Jennifer McGuigan ran media liaison. We know the message got out there as we fielded many calls from friends all around the country letting us know they had heard or seen updates.

John Curnow was in Melbourne busily writing articles for the ORCV home page, that were also posted pronto by the Sail-World.com team, who also posted them on Yachting Australia's site.

John was on the phone to Simon Dryden at all hours getting updates and processing emails to ensure information was not only interesting, but also current.

So finally then, the changes to the way things have been organised and run has ensured the full team effort has taken the events to the next level. We look forward to raising the bar again this year as a result of the fantastic teamwork, with even more entrants along with more new elements and activities to make it bigger, more colourful and action packed.