We've all put up with a lot over the Covid19 debacle, but this crosses my red line. Just got an announcement from the Long Beach Boat & Ski Club (event host) that the 2020 Catalina Water Ski Race has been cancelled after 71 consecutive years of competition. Apparently 'decision-makers' in Long Beach City politics are continuing their no festivals/no special events policy indefinitely (the ski race was scheduled for Saturday, July 25). I guess in their minds, all that water between the Queen Mary and Avalon Harbor is just too congested and doesn't meet the new 'social distancing' requirements. What a shame. If the City of Long Beach's goal is to erase every great tradition it once had, it's right on point.
You've Got To Be Kidding...Catalina Water Ski Race Cancelled
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LB247XS
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Mayor Garcia is a P.O.S. he and GAVIN are buddies . I got an idea move the race to Huntington Beach. The boats can launch in Huntington Harbor and 2nd st. [emoji2957][emoji2957].
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RPM RACING
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Actually it had more to do with the Maya Hotel not being able to guaranteed to be sold out than the City. It appears that Maya held "firm" on the contract for a guaranteed sell out rather than work with the LBB&SC give that participation was most likely to be down due to no international participation due to Covid 19. Really bummed for everyone involved.
The reason given for the cancellation of the 2020 Catalina Water Ski Race in the press release announcement issued by the Long Beach Boat & Ski Club on 5-22 was "the race has been ccancelled due to COVID19 governmental restrictions........it was recently confirmed that the City of Long Beach is prohibitiing large events and gatherings indefinitely." If in fact the race was scrapped primarily due to a disagreement over a hotel room booking contract, that's an even greater tragedy.
skiracr
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There is another thread with one of the club members that's a big part of the race explains the problems with the event...
Ragged Edge
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Below is what I posted in the other thread.
1) I want to make it clear that the Hotel Maya was and is being very accommodating in this situation. We (LBBSC) spoke with them back in April on when would be best for them to know we could not run the race this year and their response was the sooner the better so they could try to resell the weekend for other smaller events/activities such as weddings that do not need a City of Long Beach Special Events Permit. They were not putting any pressure on us to make a decision but we (LBBSC) want to keep our good working relationship with the hotel and have the contract rolled over to next year, July 24th, 2021. Making the decision two months out is our choice.
2) Besides the socializing aspect of the event, the fact that if the City of Long Beach/County of LA/State of California get to the point where they would allow sporting events the size of the CSR to take place, would we (LBBSC) be able to accommodate the ridiculous social distancing rules that would be required for things like race registration, drivers/observers/navigators meeting and trophy presentation? The answer is no, there is not a space big enough at the Hotel Maya, we would need something the size of the LB Convention Center.
We (the LBBSC) felt we waited as long as we could to see if common sense would finally prevail at the state/county/city levels, unfortunately no such luck.
1) I want to make it clear that the Hotel Maya was and is being very accommodating in this situation. We (LBBSC) spoke with them back in April on when would be best for them to know we could not run the race this year and their response was the sooner the better so they could try to resell the weekend for other smaller events/activities such as weddings that do not need a City of Long Beach Special Events Permit. They were not putting any pressure on us to make a decision but we (LBBSC) want to keep our good working relationship with the hotel and have the contract rolled over to next year, July 24th, 2021. Making the decision two months out is our choice.
2) Besides the socializing aspect of the event, the fact that if the City of Long Beach/County of LA/State of California get to the point where they would allow sporting events the size of the CSR to take place, would we (LBBSC) be able to accommodate the ridiculous social distancing rules that would be required for things like race registration, drivers/observers/navigators meeting and trophy presentation? The answer is no, there is not a space big enough at the Hotel Maya, we would need something the size of the LB Convention Center.
We (the LBBSC) felt we waited as long as we could to see if common sense would finally prevail at the state/county/city levels, unfortunately no such luck.
