aBout Us
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when rips was born
It all started in a living room in early 2004 when the Foleys and Sutherlands decided that a CANADIAN RACE WEEK with competitive round-the-buoys racing and superior race management was long overdue on the west coast. An organizational meeting in February 2004 kicked things off - SNSYC was the Club of Record and, along with CFSA, supplied equipment, a signal boat and rallied many volunteers; a Kiwi Race Officer (John McKlennan) took charge of the racing scene and the Canadian Navy sponsored chase boats and drivers ~ and thus RIPS CANADIAN RACE WEEK was born.
Some organizational aspects have changed:
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RIPS Yachting Ltd, a non-profit organization, was incorporated with five (5) Trustees ( ALEX & SUE FOLEY, TIM LOTT and DAVID & LYNN SUTHERLAND)
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COOPER BOATING and BOSUNS YACHT SALES & SERVICE are THE major sponsors providing signal & chase boats plus drivers
Now into the eighth year, these valuable assets have remained steadfast:
- strong volunteer commitment;
- long-term sponsorship;
- major support from our Yachting Affiliates;
- excellence in race management, and,
- most importantly, the racers who keep coming back for more!!
paul ulibarri international race officer
PAUL epitomizes the RIPS MOTTO
"Where fun happens naturally because race management is priority #1"
It is truly remarkable that PAUL ULIBARRI is coming up to his fifth term as RIPS Principal Race Officer. His exemplary bio in brief:
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OLYMPICS IRO - Savanna (1996), Sydney (2000), Athens (2004), Beijing (2008);
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RACE OFFICER - for approximately 200 World, Continental, National, Buoy, Long Distance, One Design, Match and Team racing championships;
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ORGANIZATIONS - CYA Race Officers Sub-committee Chair, BC Sailing Race Management Director, ISAF Race Management Sub-committee member, and,
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VICKI'S HUSBAND
An excerpt from PAUL's interview with Temple Murray, RIPS 2010 Newsletter Editor:
Temple: Your race committee is so competent and cohesive, any insight into the obvious success of your team?
PAUL: I think it's teamwork, working together to provide quality racing, everyone focusing on the management of the races. They are into it and usually anticipate what the short, fat, bald guy wants to do before he does. We also have a lot of fun, eat a lot of cookies and belly up to the bar with the sailors after racing. This RC team consists of sailors and so relate to the competitors, on the water and socially.
Temple: How long have you been a race officer?
PAUL: Over 40 years. I’ve run races for individuals, their children and their grandchildren. The job has taken me to every Continent, to some awesome venues and has given me the opportunity to meet some really nice folks.
Temple: Did you race prior to becoming a race officer? Is that how you got into race management?
PAUL: I was an engineer and lived on Lake Washington in Seattle. It seemed the place was full of people on summer weekends, drinking my beer. I decided to start a yacht club so they would pay dues to buy the beer. Yacht clubs are supposed to have sailing, and none of us sailed. We read an article about this boat called a Hobie Cat. Looked like fun so we bought a bunch from some guy called Hobie Alter, (who now lives on Orcas Island) and he made me a dealer. That was my first time on a sailboat. We sold so many of the things that three months later, I quit my job and became a full time dealer as well as a sailing competitor which some how led to race management. Next thing I knew I was running races for a thing called RIPS.
Temple: Final thoughts?
PAUL: Yeah, race management isn’t stressful but when I started I was 6’4” and had hair.
the man
in action
