In response to Steve Wells' email:

 

I have really enjoyed being a guest rower at a few recent SR regattas.  Great people, a hearty workout, and tasty post-race vittles.  As a newbie to open water races, the short course and level 1 options were perfect for me.  I really hope Olympia Area Rowing will accept the baton from Steve Wells and keep the Budd Inslet regatta operational.

My cheap advice is simply to schedule races as best suits the availability of the venue / park, tidewaters, organizers, volunteers, and safety launches.  Trying to avoid conflicts with "regular" regattas is going to drive you crazy -- it's just not possible to avoid them all.  Threading a needle in the middle of a 7.8 earthquake is probably easier.

 

Regarding the insurance and governance issues, I think Steve is asking some great questions.  I don't claim to have all (or any) of the answers.  But I've witnessed "paralysis by analysis" in other volunteer organizations -- and I hope that can be avoided in this discussion.