Ler en Español
13 November 2024 - Every organization needs strong professional administrative skills to succeed, and the Offshore Racing Congress, founded in 1969, has been fortunate to have several talented Secretaries in this important role.
The first ORC Secretary was Susan Green when the headquarters was at the Royal Ocean Racing Club in London, followed by Joan Matthewson during the tenure of John Roome as Chairman starting in 1981. In 1998 when ORC moved from RORC to the offices of the International Sailing Federation (ISAF, now World Sailing) in Southampton during the Chairmanship of Hans Zuiderbaan it was Judy Garrett Jenkins who filled this important role.
In the spring of 2002 the registered office of ORC was moving from its base in Southampton and was in need of a new Secretary.
At that time ORC had (and still has) close relations with the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda in Porto Cervo, Sardinia. A strong bond developed between ORC and YCCS during their many years of cooperation in the 1980’s with the organization of the biennial Sardinia Cup international offshore team races, along with ICAYA (the former name of IMA, the Maxi owners association). Their cooperation deepened with the launch of the IMS World Championship in 1998, whose first edition was in Porto Cervo in 1999.
So with the permission of Gianfranco Alberini, who was Commodore of YCCS, and the blessing of HH the Aga Kahn, its founder and President, Vivian Rodriguez was hired to add to her existing duties at YCCS.
Vivian was perfect for this job, having experienced a very international life and fluent in multiple languages. Born in Puerto Rico, she grew up in Colombia, then as a teenager moved with her family to Denmark, then by herself to Italy, spending the winters in Turin and the summers in Sardinia. While in Sardinia she managed to earn the trust and respect of the sport’s top talent in race event management based in Porto Cervo.
A few years later in 2005 Vivian left YCCS and accepted an offer at nearby YC Porto Rotondo, remained there a few years, before devoting herself completely to ORC business, including taking over its financial matters then handled by Ken Weller.
Over the next several years as the ORC grew from being a small staff led by a handful of volunteer committee members to being the world’s largest internationally-recognized rating system, it was through Vivian’s organizational talents that this team was able to grow and thrive.
Her organizational pièce de résistance has always been the ORC dinners at the ORC Annual Meetings held in the Fall of each year that have usually coincide with the annual conferences of World Sailing held in numerous locales around the world. Vivian’s signature style and elegance at crafting these gala dinners has always attracted an impressive list of guests that represent the political leadership of the sport who enjoy spending a truly unique evening sharing good food, good wine and great conversation.
As such these dinners have been a very good promotional tool for enhancing ORC’s recognition and reputation among both yachtsmen and the managers of our sport.
After decades of outstanding service, Vivian has now decided to pass the reigns to another outstanding talent: Pascale Queriot. Vivian met Pascale as a neighbor in Sardinia, and they became friends before working together for ORC. In 2009, on the way to the Annual Meeting in Busan, Korea, Vivian broke her ankle, and asked Pascale to join her to help.
Since then Pascale has been always alongside Vivian at all the successive AGM’s to learn about the organization and its personalities. Pascale brings not only Vivian’s high standards but also a more modern digital approach to helping organize the Management Committee and a growing staff spread across many countries and cultures to work effectively and efficiently.
In Singapore last week, the ORC Secretary title was passed from Vivian to Pascale, who will now officially take on this important role as a primary officer of the organization alongside the Chairman, two Deputy Chairmen, the Chief Measurer and the Treasurer.
The ORC Management Committee and Staff credit Vivian as being an important part of ORC’s growth and success during her tenure, and hope our paths will cross again somewhere in the sailing world.
