WEYMOUTH: Boat ‘consortiums’ can bid for Olympic work

Worried skippers had feared that they might miss out on 2012 Olympic contracts for everything from marshals to press craft because one tendering clause required owners to have at least five boats.

A Weymouth Harbour Board meeting was told that such ownership was virtually non-existent because most skippers were single vessel owners.

Now the London Organising Committee of the Olympic Games has poured oil on troubled waters by telling Weymouth and Portland boat owners that their five-boat guideline can be met by local skippers banding together to form a co-operative or a consortium.

The council has also tried to help the situation by pledging the services of its economic development officer, Gareth Jones, to help set up such groups of local boat owners so LOCOG criteria can be met.

Relieved Weymouth and Portland Licensed Skippers Association secretary Dave Gibson, who is also director of the Professional Boatman’s Association, spoke at the board meeting just four hours after the deadline closed on applications for tender documents.

He said he had been “gobsmacked” at the contract specifications because none of the Weymouth and Portland boat owners would have been able to apply.

He added that fortunately LOCOG had “back-pedalled a bit and will take joint bids which we are doing”.

Board chairman Councillor Roger Allen said that LOCOG had now said that informal consortiums of five or more boats would be “looked at sympathetically”.

Councillor John Birtwistle disliked the impression of getting “crumbs” from the LOCOG table and said Olympic bosses ignored local expertise and knowledge at their peril.

Vice-chairman Councillor Peter Farrell said: “I am very positive on this. Like it or not, there is an EU bidding process and we must not bully LOCOG. Our skippers can meet what is wanted as a consortium or a co-operative.”

Councillor Grant Leighton said that matters appeared to have been resolved and that “we need to be throwing out an olive branch not a boxing glove”.

Members agreed that the board and the council write to LOCOG urging mutual co-operation to ensure local skippers got an equal chance to tender for Olympic contracts.

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