Protocol for Championship Prizegiving

By Craig Leweck, Scuttlebutt
With nearly 90 years of history, the International Snipe Class is rooted in many classic traditions of the sport. Among them is celebrating prizegivings where old, famous, and coveted trophies are awarded.

Having raced in the class for a few decades, I was well practiced in the skill of pulling blazer jackets out of duffle bags and tugging a pre-knotted tie over my head. There’s just something about well-dressed people getting completely nuts at the end of a regatta.

But casual societal trends threaten to minimize this final night, so the Snipe Class International Racing Association (SCIRA) established guidelines to maintain standards. I am good with standards. My kids went to Catholic schools. I was the standards police. Here you go:

These moments are special and solemn and cannot be debased: we must honor the winners of yesterday and those of today.

To ensure consistency at all SCIRA major event ceremonies, and guarantee that minimum standards of dignity and protocol are adhered to, a standard format for Awards Ceremonies at SCIRA major events has been agreed.

For the Prize-Giving Ceremony Guidelines… click here.
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To look back, here is the Dress Code for SCIRA Officer written by Commodore Bruce H. Colyer in 1978:

After serving in SCIRA Executive Officer positions for over 20 years, I personally advise the following…

• Always have a dark blue blazer with your appropriate officer’s patch.
• Always have a gray pair of slacks (this is old, old time yachting dress protocol that is accepted worldwide).
• Always have a white dress shirt with collar and preferably a dark tie (yacht club type).
• Black socks are acceptable worldwide.
• Black shoes are acceptable worldwide.
• I always cheated by having a modern day shirt (to fit with acceptance of times and places ) to help me escape from the white collar shirt and tie protocol to a comfortable and refine gray slacks, blue class blazer, black shoes, and socks.
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Sixty year old Hall of Famer Paul Cayard wrote about this topic back in 2015… click here.