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Thank you for volunteering with us this summer!

Our Volunteer Signup Form will be available by the second week of February 2025.  Let us know about yourself, any certifications you have, what your preferred jobs might be, and the events and days you wish to volunteer for.

After submitting the form, you will receive an acknowledgement email.  You can use the link in the acknowledgement email to go back and update your requests at any time!

Volunteer Assignments

By early Spring, the planning team looks at all applications to best match volunteers availability, skills, and preferences to the required roles for each event.

Volunteer assignments will be communicated well in advance of each event. We will also share information about accommodation bookings, meeting times and event schedules in a Volunteer Welcome Package.

Accommodations for Out of Town Volunteers

CORK has arranged for pre-paid accommodation at Queens University for out of town volunteers. Queens Residences are close to downtown and Portsmouth Olympic Harbour and offer two separate rooms with a double bed in each room and a shared bathroom in the centre.  The CORK office will be pre-booking all rooms at Queen’s, so please notify us at sail@cork.org with any questions or concerns.

Volunteer Benefits

-Coffee and morning snacks!

-Lunches from Wheat Kings Bakery!

-Souvenir T-Shirt!

-One dinner for each event (sometimes on site, sometimes off site)

Volunteer Communications

We will communicate with Volunteers through WhatsApp – in order to join the WhatsApp group, volunteers must download the app and scan the QR code onsite.

Volunteer Hours

Daily volunteer briefings usually happen around 8am to 830am in an on site meeting room.  Most volunteer shifts are from 8:30AM to 5PM but may vary dependent upon the racing schedule (course start times), the volunteer position you have been assigned to and the weather.

Most roles are done for the day when the racers are back ashore and equipment is locked up, but Race Officers, Finish Boat Leads, Jury and Scoring can end up working well into the evening.

What to Bring to CORK

  • Personal medications – If you have special conditions, such as epilepsy or heart conditions, or have allergies and carry an Epi-pen, please let others around you know of these or any other medical concerns so they may properly assist in an emergency
  • Sun block (SPF 15 minimum, SPF 50 recommended)
  • Weather-appropriate clothing. Remember it is cooler on the water and in the wind. A windbreaker or foul weather gear is suggested.
  • Re-usable water bottle(s)
  • Hat and sunglasses
  • PFD/Life Jacket (CORK has a limited number to loan)
  • Work/sailing gloves are useful if you are hauling anchors.
  • A change of clothing
  • Appropriate footwear; Black soled shoes are to be avoided, as they will mark a boat’s deck. Sandals or open-toed shoes are not recommended on water, especially if you’re handling anchors on a mark boat

On-water volunteers are normally in an open boat and will not leave the course until the completion of the day’s events, with the exception of emergencies.

For this reason, the items above are very important. Keep your belongings in a waterproof bag, or place your bag in a plastic bag if it is not waterproof.

Washroom facilities are basic and only available on signal boats. They are available to all on-water participants, but it may take some time to move from your location to the signal boat.

On-shore volunteers may experience the same exposure conditions as on-water volunteers except they can find shelter when not actively working.

Volunteer Positions

On-Water

  • Course Race Officer Directs and controls all personnel and boats on the race course.
  • Deputy Race Officer Assists the Course Race Officer.
  • Signal boat – Timer Timing race activities and keeping the race committee informed of the sequence of events.
  • Signal boat – Flags Raising and lowering flags on poles at the direction of the timer/ Course Race Officer.
  • Signal boat – Recorder Recording of activities and sail numbers as required.
  • Pin Boat At the direction of the Course Race Officer, positions herself at the end of the start line and observes the starting sequence to record and report sail numbers as required.
  • Finish Boat At the direction of the Course Race Officer, positions herself at the finish line and records sail numbers crossing the line.
  • Mark Boats At the direction of the Course Race Officer, positions herself to position and move anchored floating marks as required during racing. Each boat has a Lead and an Assistant.
  • Safety Boats The safety boat fleet will monitor the fleets from launch until boats are back ashore, and, if required, render assistance . Each boat has a Lead and an Assistant. Safety boats may be moved from course to course as required.
  • Jury Directed by the Protest Committee Chair, certified judges will provide on water evaluation and/or monitor the fleets during races; their work will continue ashore handling protests and requests for redress.  For keelboat events, the Jury does not usually go on the water, but does handle protests and requests for redress.

On-Shore

  • Equipment & Boats Maintain, store, hand out and receive all equipment used by the regatta personnel, along with maintaining boats. This equipment includes everything from pens and flags to anchors and chain. Runs from 8:00 AM until all equipment is returned for the day.
  • Site Services  Lay out and mark storage areas for fleets and ensure competitors store boats and equipment in designated areas. Direct parking and traffic flow.
  • Communications  Stationed in the communication centre or in the regatta office – open each day from before the boats launch to the end of sailing. Uses VHF marine radios to maintain communication with all activities and maintains the radio log.
  • First Aid  Works out of the First Aid Station—open each day from before the boats launch to the end of sailing. Provides first aid to competitors, volunteers, and coaches.
  • Ramps  Assists competitors at the boat launch, stores boat dollies, retrieves dollies and assists competitors when moving boats.
  • Registration  This role services the registration desk before each regatta, where all competitors check in and receive their registration package. Information from registration forms is entered into the database on a daily basis, before and during the regatta. The registration desk typically operates the day and evening before each regatta starts and the first morning of each event.
  • Information—The information desk will provide regatta-specific, and general Kingston information. Staffed by a person knowledgeable of the Kingston area and local events.
  • Media  Works with the media, writes and distributes stories and distributes results from the day’s sailing to various news organizations. CORK media includes: Website: www.cork.org – Instagram: corkkingston
  • Ceremonies  Assist with preparing for awards ceremonies. Award ceremonies are usually held in the late afternoon on the last day of the regatta.
  • Scoring  Using the finish boat recording sheets, results are input into a computer which calculates the score for each boat. Results are uploaded to RacingRulesofSailing.org.
  • Social  Assists with after sailing events, such as socials and BBQ’s.