Check out this exclusive interview with seasoned International Race Officer, Shannon Bush. She offers a valuable perspective on the journey to becoming an International Race Officer, detailing the challenges, responsibilities, and volunteer commitment required in the role.
Meet Shannon Bush, an International Race Officer, National Judge, and World caliber Etchells Skipper
How this all got started
TCO: Tell us a bit about your personal sailing history, how did you get started?
SB: So, my real introduction to sailing started at Texas Corinthian Yacht Club (TCYC), just outside of Houston. I was probably around 7 years old when my dad first put me in a Sunfish. I have vivid memories of my life jacket being one of those bright orange foam belts with a white stripe; you know the “really safe ones”! I started in Sunfish, because, at that time, no one had even heard of an Opti. It was not until the late 1980’s to early 1990’s that Opti’s started to make their debut on the Texas coast. Back then, the typical progression in sailing at TCYC moved from Sunfish to Solings. When the opportunity came up to crew on a Soling, I jumped at it. I quickly wanted to move on from crewing and start driving, so I bought my first Soling and raced it for about a year before a hurricane destroyed it along with the entire US Soling Fleet #1, all in slings at the end of the TCYC pier. It was at this time that the Club made a decision to make the move to Etchells.
TCO: Can you tell me where you first sailed Etchells? I’ve read that you are the most accomplished female skipper in Etchells class history.
SB: The Houston Yacht Club had about 13 to 15 Etchells in the 1990’s, then it dwindled down to about 5 or 6. I thought the fleet was dead, until someone said that there was this really cool event in Miami during the winter, when no one races in Texas for obvious reasons, then there is the Coral Reef Cup in March, you should go check it out. I was amazed — there were 60 to 90 boats racing under very strict One Design rules, meaning the only way to make the boat sail faster was through sheer brain power! So, there I was, sailing alongside Americas Cup people, college All Americans, Rolex Yachtsmen of the Year, multiple world class champions, and there was little Shannon just super happy to be coming in at mid fleet. I quickly caught on and got some professional crew, and we started to become way more competitive.
TCO: At that time, wasn’t the Etchells a predominantly male fleet?
SB: Absolutely, at one point there were three women drivers in North America. Now I am the only one. I think worldwide there is one in Ireland and one in Australia that I know of. There are a lot more women crew members, with many teams going to 4 people. The Etchells is a weight-driven class and small female crews are in high demand.
TCO: Before we continue, I want to highlight for our audience that you’re recognized as one of the top skippers in the Etchells class, regardless of gender. You placed 9th overall in consecutive Etchells World Championships in 2013 and 2014, and most recently finished 11th in the 2023 World Championships in Miami. Congratulations on excelling in one of the most competitive one design classes in the world!
Becoming a race officer
TCO: At what point did you decide to become a Race Officer and when was it?
SB: In between the Sunfish and the Soling I decided, why not try a Laser, so I got a Radial (now the ILCA 6) and went on the road for about a year. In 1997 I qualified to represent Team USA at the ISAF World Championships in Dubai. I was off to Dubai thinking I was all that and a bag of chips with the US Team. I remember sitting below mid fleet and thinking about how terrible the Race Management was performing. I thought, “you know what, I am the only one married, the only one with a child, probably the oldest one by 15 years and thought to myself, I need to start giving back to the sport.” I can recall it vividly, and that’s where this journey started.
TCO: I did some research, and it looks like you received your IRO certification from World Sailing in November 2023. What are the steps that you had to go through in order to get your certification?
SB: Yes, it was last November that I got certified. I attended an IRO seminar in 2018, and unfortunately did not pass – it is an intense test. I needed to get into a mindset to retake the exam, but I was competing in the Etchells Worlds in 2019 (which over-lapped with the IRO seminar) and then, well you know what happened in 2020! Because of the lovely COVID pandemic, I lost, virtually a complete IRO application, as they have a shelf life of about 4 years, so I was required to re-sit the exam AND the seminar. For this, I had to wait for World Sailing to offer the exam again, which didn’t happen until 2022.
In preparation of retaking the exam and starting over, I got hooked in with Coconut Grove Sailing Club and ran most of their major regattas for 3 years. I was also fortunate to travel overseas a couple of times as a race officer.
When it came to test time again, I remember having to leave the ILCA 6 World Championships at TCYC, fly out to Long Beach, complete the IRO seminar and take the test. Thankfully I passed, and my appointment finally came through in November 2023! There was no way I was going to miss this opportunity after all the delays. It took a full year since I turned in the application, took the seminar and received the approval notification.
Regarding the steps involved to become an IRO, the World Sailing website provides a comprehensive manual detailing what you need and how to complete the application. The required events are categorized into World, Continental, and National levels. You need to document the number of competitors, the number of fleets, whether the events are for men, women, or mixed, and the number of races at each regatta. It’s a significant amount of work!
In the three years leading up to my exam, I accumulated extensive experience as a race officer. These included multiple Hinman Team Races, the Youth Worlds, and various World Championships, thanks to Coconut Grove Sailing Club. During those three years, I accumulated experience at numerous Continental and World Championships, which were great additions to my CV and application. To put it in perspective, two years ago, I had completed approximately 35 to 36 events, just to give an example of how much time can go into getting certified.
the technical stuff
TCO: When is it mandatory that a regatta has an IRO?
SB: Most World Championships will normally require an IRO. The ILCA fleet will sometimes request them for their bigger events. In December, I have been invited to go run one of their circles at the Asia ILCA Championships in China. I don’t believe that ILCA North America has any requirements for a particular level of certification.
Unless you are well known, many other fleets will request my CV, and those of other Race Officials, before inviting us to officiate at their regattas. They do this to review our qualifications and the events we have previously managed. Continental Championships used to require an IRO, but I believe that has changed now. However, World Championships and any events under World Sailing will still have at least two IROs present.
TCO: Can you explain to us what the difference between a Course Representative and Course Race Officer is?
SB: Sure, the Race Officer is essentially what you might call the Principal Race Officer (PRO). In Italy, there were five circles, so the Race Officer would oversee all five. Each course had a Course Rep, who served as the link between the PRO, typically stationed “in a room with no windows,” and the Course Race Officer, who maintained direct radio communication with the team running the races. The primary duty of the Course Rep is to closely monitor the Race Committee to ensure nothing goes wrong and, most importantly, to make sure the Race Officer doesn’t miss anything critical.
To take it a bit further, US Sailing recognizes three levels of race officer certification: club, regional, and national. The Club Race Officer knows the basics on running successful regattas and typically manage Beer Can Races and club-level events. This doesn’t mean they lack the expertise or knowledge to become National Race Officers; some simply choose not to pursue that certification. Nevertheless, they excel in their roles.
A Regional Race Officer is someone who has invested time in traveling to regattas, possibly venturing out of state, and not just staying in their hometown to run regattas. A National Race Officer is someone that is qualified to take a hockey puck, your wind stick, a radio and parachute into any venue in North America and run a successful race. They must be confident in their ability to lead, even if they don’t know their team or the local waters. They need to be confident going into any situation. This level of responsibility and versatility can deter many people once they hear some of our stories. Some of the tales are so extraordinary that when I shared one recently, the listener could only respond with, “Does that really happen? There’s no way that happens!”
TCO: How many certified IRO’s are there in North America currently?
SB: We counted them the other day, and we came up with 7 total. There are 6 in the US and 1 in Canada.
TCO: Is there a class of boats that you focus on, or a class that you prefer over others? Do IRO’s specialize in certain classes?
SB: I have found myself hooked in with the dinghies. I don’t race offshore, and I don’t want to put myself in a situation where I accept an offshore race management job and being under qualified. I have worked as a Race Official a lot with the Sunfish, Finns, Snipes, Viper, VX, and ILCA. World Sailing has the ILCA class tied to my name as a fleet that I am working with, which is a great thing for me. The relationship that has been built with the ILCA class has taken me all over the world running regattas.
Regarding IRO’s specializing in certain classes, they absolutely do. I have been working quite a bit with Hugh Leicester from AUS. Together, along with 2 other men from China and Europe, we have been identified as “the ILCA people.” That is true with other IRO’s and other fleets as well. This does not mean that you are only going to be running races with those class boats, for example in Italy at the Youth Sailing World Championships, I ran the Nacra 15 fleet. So, maybe they will start to tie me into that fleet?
A Day in the Life of an IRO
TCO: What are some of the more challenging situations that you have encountered on the race course?
SB: There are a lot of different scenarios that you are going to come across at every venue. You are not only running a race for the competitors, but you are also managing the race committees, you are managing parents and coaches, so as you can imagine, there are a lot of balls to juggle. To look back to one single situation is difficult. You just need to confidently make decisions that are the best, and safest for the athletes and Race Committee. In the end, no matter what critical decisions you have to make, it will affect everyone differently. Sometimes you will need to take some punches, but in the long run you need to be confident and stand your ground. Every regatta is going to have its unique challenges that will need to be addressed individually.
One thing that I think all athletes, coaches, and parent needs to understand, is that Race Committees and Race Officers are volunteers. There are a very small percentage that get paid, but the rest of us are volunteering our time and money to try and make the sport better and give the athletes the chance to compete on a level field. After numerous conversations over the years, I am certain that not everyone is aware of this fun fact.
One thing that I think all athletes, coaches, and parent needs to understand, is that Race Committees and Race Officers are volunteers.
TCO: There have to some memorable places that sailing and being and IRO have given you the opportunity to both race at and be an official. What are some of your favorite venues to travel to?
SB: The ILCA class sent me to Thailand about 2 years ago and that might have been one of the coolest places and clubs I had worked with. It was hosted by the Royal Varuna Yacht Club, seriously one of the coolest clubs I have ever been to! The facilities were beautiful, the staff was amazing, boats sailed right off the lawn and the beach. The signal boat was a red Chinese Junk, it was just crazy!
Going to some of the World Championships can undoubtably be a challenge to physically get to, but I remember going to Mar de Plata, Argentina, that was unbelievably difficult to get to, but what a fantastic place! Domestically, Chicago always puts on great events and, I really like Miami because it is such a challenging place to sail, not to mention the people are great.
TCO: When travelling to some of these great places, do you ever have time to get to see the areas, or is it pretty much all business?
SB: No, not really. A lot of people already think that it is a vacation, but we are there to work. Especially, when you travel overseas, on average it takes about 2 days to get there and another day to just get your legs back under you after jet lag. I do try to get out and walk around to see the local sights, but as far as going sightseeing, I have not had the luxury of being able to do that for an overseas event. Correction, there was one time! I was at the Opti North Americans in the Bahamas a couple of years ago. There were a few Americans on the jury, and we had a late flight out the day after the event was over. We came up with the idea to buy passes to all the water rides at Atlantis! It was a full day, but that was actually pretty fun!
TCO: With your duties as an IRO keeping you busy, do you still have time get on the water to race?
SB: I took a year off this last season. After the Worlds in April, I was not having a good time at all and spending a ton of money and time, not having fun. I just needed time to clear my head, I was having a hip replacement after the Etchells Worlds in Miami, trying to focus on sailing with my normal crew, it just got to be too much! Hindsight, I questioned why I entered the regatta in Miami in the first place. I took the year off, thinking that I would be back and refreshed and ready to get at it again. And now with my daughter getting married in February, it looks like I might be taking another year off!
TCO: What would you say to people interested in becoming an IRO, a judge, or an umpire?
SB: The sport needs volunteers at every level to continue the success of the sport locally, nationally and on the international levels. I’ve always said that racers make the best race committee because they understand what is going on or what should be going on. If you’re interested in “giving back to the sport,” I highly encourage you to volunteer, at any level. It’s a huge challenge, but if you like it, take a seminar. Both on-line and in-person courses can be found on the US Sailing website (search “find a seminar”). I got involved at an event at my home club and loved the front row seat. My first Race Committee job on the national scene was timer, which I still travel the world as a timer, and the person who cleaned the shotgun after every day from the start gun. It is important to know every level of being an official. I have worked from the bottom tier up to an IRO, to a US Sailing National Judge, and now working on my World Sailing International Judge certification. If younger people do not get involved, there won’t be volunteers to run your races…think about it. As much as we would all like, we all cannot be professional sailors or coaches!
Shannon, thank you for taking the time to speak with me, and thank you for all the time that you and the other officials donate to the sport of sailing! As you mentioned, at times it can be an underappreciated position, but if it was not for all your personal time, money and dedicated efforts, the sport would not be at the level that it is now!
-Ty Christopher Olsen, August 10, 2024
