Here’s what BOISW will look like at various alert levels

Posted on October 12, 2021

What will Covid mean for CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week?

With Covid restrictions around NZ changing almost daily, the BOISW committee has been looking at what it might mean for CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week in 2022.

As always, we’re working hard to put on the best sailing event we can for you. That said, restrictions in place at the time could mean adapting, shortening or in the very worst case – cancelling the event altogether.

Fingers crossed we’ll be looking at a very different situation in a few months time, as vaccination rates increase. But here’s what BOISW will look like at various alert levels:

At Level 3 or 4 – sorry, we can’t go sailing

With boating not permitted in Levels 3 or 4, a cancellation of the event would sadly be our only option. In that case, we would absolutely refund your entry fee in full, so you can still get your entry in now.

At Level 2, we’ll sail but not party

With restrictions on gathering sizes at Level 2, the shorebased side of BOISW would be a no-go. That means no gathering at Regatta HQ for food and drinks, and no beach party.

On the plus side, we can still go sailing, so we’d be focusing 100% of our energy on putting on the very best sailing regatta we could for everyone who still wants to come along.

At Level 1, it’s game on! As long as we’re all sensible.

As with the last regatta, both sailing and shorebased events can go ahead in Level 1, provided we all comply with guidelines like scanning in, social distancing and good hygiene.

What if regional borders are still in place?

There’s a possibility we could see a similar situation to the one we recently had, where Auckland is at Level 3 and Northland at Level 2.

Northland’s alert level will determine if we can go ahead or not, and provided we have sufficient entries from within the region, we’d still hope to go ahead with the regatta if possible. Unfortunately that could mean many people outside the region wouldn’t be able to take part. We’ll have to cross that bridge if we come to it, but we’d absolutely refund your entry fee if you can’t make it.

Will vaccine passports be necessary?

It’s looking more likely that larger events like festivals will require you to be fully vaccinated, and that’s something we are preparing to have to comply with too. We don’t yet know what that will involve, but we’ll keep you updated as we learn more.

All we can say at the moment is – please get vaccinated if you haven’t already. Not only are you protecting your friends and family, you’ll be helping to protect all your fellow sailors at BOISW, and our vulnerable population here in the Far North. Vaccination may well be a requirement to attend CRC Bay of Islands Sailing Week in 2022, so best be prepared and do it now.

It’s our 20th anniversary – are you in?

We know there’s still a lot of uncertainty at the moment, but entries are still coming in, and we’d really appreciate yours. After all, BOISW is nothing without the support of sailors like you.

Remember you’ll get a full refund if you can’t make it for Covid-related reasons, or if we have to cancel.