Volunteer at a regatta
A regatta is run entirely by members who put their hand up. Below is every job that needs filling, what it actually involves and how many people it takes — so you can pick one that suits you rather than being volunteered into something you’ll hate.
Dry feet
Shore duty
Most of these need no sailing experience at all. Mentors are available for anything you haven’t done before.
Regatta coordinator
Manages the event details and the other volunteers. Mentors available if it’s your first time.
Greeter & guide
In the parking lot, directing visiting sailors to the right ramp and to allowed parking.
Ramp aide
At the ramps helping guests unload, load, board and bail off. One per ramp — and you must be willing to get damp.
Registration & check-in
Taking registrations and money, checking in pre-registered boats, handing out information. Documents and cash box provided; you set up before the doors open.
Sales
Selling event or club items during registration or at an assigned time.
RC & support boat prep
Inflating and deflating marks, loading and unloading racing equipment. Usually a meet-up beforehand to check what the marks need.
Protest receiver
At the clubhouse as boats return, taking protests filed under the racing rules.
Protest committee
Collecting, hearing and acting on protests filed by competitors.
Wet feet
On the water
Both of these put you out for the duration of the racing, and both are the fastest way to understand how a race is actually run.
Race committee assistant
On the RC boat under the direction of the principal race officer: recording scores, raising and lowering flags, sounding the horn, watching the start and finish line, driving, anchoring and moving marks. You’re aboard for the whole race, and you can commit to one day or two.
Support boat assistant
Assigned to a powerboat for course prep and changes, righting capsized boats and retrieving wet sailors. GPS and VHF knowledge is appreciated; cameras very welcome. Aboard for the duration, one day or two.
Through the year
Race committee duty
The monthly club races run on a roster: one member takes race committee for the month, with alternates on standby. It works out at roughly one turn a year each, and it is the reason club racing happens at all.
Take a turn as an assistant at a regatta first — a day on the RC boat watching someone else run the sequence teaches you more than any amount of reading. Then put your name down for a month.
Alternates are listed alongside the roster, so nobody is ever stuck on their own.