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Water Ways Ray Pendleton |
Hosting regattas
is big businessA couple of weeks ago, I was invited to attend a short meeting at Sen. Fred Hemmings' office.
At this meeting, besides the senator and I, was Marsha Wienert, state tourism liaison for the Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism, and Todd Apo, Ko Olina Resort and Marina's vice president of corporate operations.
Precipitated by a recent discussion between Governor Lingle and a political counterpart in Japan, the meeting had been called to discuss the potential of creating new competitive regattas between the sailors of Japan and Hawaii.
Apparently our governor had been impressed with the enthusiasm her counterpart had shown regarding past, and hopefully future, yachting events. And, of course, the economic and social impact of such events couldn't be ignored.
My participation in this meeting included providing input on Hawaii's past, present and future sailing events, and offering suggestions as to how Japan's sailors might become more involved.
For me, the meeting was aptly timed, as I have been peripherally involved for several months in the planning of a new sailing regatta -- Waikiki Yacht Club's Waikiki Offshore Championships -- that may eventually fill the gap left by the now-defunct Kenwood Cup International Offshore Series.
As I explained to those at the meeting, the Kenwood Cup had been precisely the type of event that encouraged not only the participation of sailors from Japan, but from those of every nation.
It had begun in 1986, with sponsorship from Japan's Kenwood Corporation, as a biennial contest for both team and individual entries to "race the winds of paradise."
The number of entries varied, but up to its last contest in 2000, there were never fewer than 29 or more than 49 boats in the race's eight regattas, and not only was Japan always represented, but its team won the coveted Kenwood Cup in 1990.
In that year, of the 49 boats from five countries entered, the race attracted 35 foreign-flagged yachts (20 from Japan) and it was estimated that the owners of those vessels spent upward of $500 per day over a 21-day period, for a total of $367,500.
It was also calculated that the 420 crew members aboard those boats spent an additional $150 a day over the same period for food, lodging and entertainment, for a total of $1,323,000.
Better yet, an estimated 2,500 friends and family members of those visiting racers were figured to have spent over $5 million while they were here.
Even locally owned boats were credited with nearly a half-million-dollar boost to our economy through race-related-expenditures during those 21 days of racing.
Of course, the Kenwood Corporation itself couldn't be left out when calculating the economic impact of the race that bore its name.
It spent more than $1.2 million dollars that year alone on direct costs related to administrative expenses for the race series, and it held its sales convention in Waikiki, where Kenwood dealers and their families added another $1 million or so to our economy.
The final tally for direct and indirect expenditures for the 1990 Kenwood Cup amounted to over $19 million.
With luck and a little kokua from the governor and DBEDT, Waikiki Yacht Club's new Waikiki Offshore Championships may produce a similar economic windfall to the state.
See the Columnists section for some past articles.
Ray Pendleton is a free-lance writer based in Honolulu.
His column runs Saturdays in the Star-Bulletin.
He can be reached by e-mail at raypendleton@mac.com.