6-1-2020
Dear WMYA Family:
The 2020 Western Michigan Yachting Association Annual Regatta has been cancelled this year.
The Board of Directors of the Western Michigan Yachting Association have met several times in the last 2 months- again via a Zoom meeting Saturday, May 30, 2020, to discuss the upcoming annual Regatta- our 91st- scheduled for this August at Torch Lake.
The decision to cancel the event this year due to Covid-19 Virus was done through a vote of the Board of Directors, which was unanimous. Simply stated, the current situation of virus containment as well as overall safety and crowd management would be currently untenable at an event of the magnitude of the WMYA regatta. To both the racers, and the crucial support staff of numerous volunteers, safety is paramount, and the BOD, led by Torch Lake and current WMYA Commodore Dan Lorimer and Regatta Chair Kris Hallett, didn’t feel that given the current circumstances to which we all must adhere to in an effort to stop spread and contagion, we couldn’t guarantee safety at such an event with a dense population of participants coming together temporarily from many unique localities.
The WMYA would like to thank Torch Lake Yacht and Country Club and its membership base- it certainly has worked hard in its preparation of this annual event. Torch’s team has stepped up inviting not only preparing for the WMYA Event this year, but it is on the schedule for the 2021 WMYA E Invite as well as the 2021 E Scow Nationals, and the 2022 A Scow Nationals. We all can look forward to racing or spectating those events in the not-too-distant future. The WMYA rotation is at Spring Lake next year, and the BOD elected to keep the normal rotation and not attempt to alter the schedule to accommodate these hopefully temporary disruptions.
I’m sorry to share this information, but the BOD agreed that we should not postpone the decision any longer based upon the information we have today. The decision was painful to make, but not difficult to support. Please direct any questions you have to the BOD representative from your respective clubs, or contact me directly at BrettCHatton@gmail.com
As usual, stay safe, keep your loved ones safe, and we all will look forward to crossing tacks with our family and friends in the future.
Warmest Regards,
Brett Hatton
Executive Secretary
Western Michigan Yachting Association
_______________________________________________
91st Western Michigan Yachting Association Championship Regatta
Hosted by Torch Lake Yacht and Country Club.
Kris Hallett – co-chair
Amy Keller – housing, AmyLKeller@frontier.com
WMYA 2020
Aug 5 – 9
at
Torch Lake Yacht Club
We are presently proceeding with plans for hosting this event as scheduled. Given current conditions, we will continue to monitor the dynamic situation and keep you updated.
In the meantime: Stay safe and stay healthy!!