or1980v2pt1

The 75th Session of the International
Olympic Committee held in Vienna
on October 23, 1974 adopted a
decision to stage the Regatta of the
Games of the 22nd Olympiad in Tallinn—the
capital of the Estonian Soviet
Socialist Republic.
The heads of the International
Yacht Racing Union (IYRU) had approved
the idea of holding the Olympic
Regatta in Tallinn as far back as in
May 1974 (in case Moscow was chosen
as the Games' host city), considering
that the city's sports organisations
have extensive experience in holding
major international sailing competitions
(the International Baltic Regatta
has been held there 18 times).
Tallinn Bay is very convenient for
holding sailing regattas. It was also
taken into consideration that there
were no strong currents or tides in the
bay. The average wind velocity in July
is 5.5 m/sec. Two islands provide
good protection against sea waves.
The average depth of the bay in the
area of the sailing regatta is 35-40 m.
The bottom is mainly sandy and the
shores low.
The climate is also favourable: the
mean July temperature is +17°;
monthly precipitation does not exceed
50 mm.
The racing routes were from 2 to
10 km from the harbour.
Taking into consideration that the
preparation for and holding of the
Sailing Regatta are complex venture,
the OCOG-80 adopted a decision to
form in Tallinn the Olympic Regatta
Organising Committee (OSR-80 Organising
Committee) with the status of
a public organisation. In essence, this
committee was one of the commissions
of the Organising Committee
and functioned under its guidance.
The 52 members of the OSR-80 Organising
Committee were top officials
in sports and public organisations and
in the ministries and departments of
the republic that took part in the
preparation of the Regatta. It was
headed by Arnold Green, Vice-
Chairman of the Council of Ministers
of the Estonian Soviet Socialist Republic,
Vice-Chairman of the Organising
Committee for the Games of the
XXII Olympiad. Eighteen public commissions
responsible for different
types of work were formed under the
OSR-80 Organising Committee.
The main aim of the OSR-80 Organising
Committee and of these commissions
was to groom Tallinn for the
242
Games and hold the Regatta at a
high organisational and technical
level.
A section formed in Tallinn in
August 1975 under the Organising
Committee for the preparations and
staging of the sailing competitions
was reformed in 1978 into a department
in connection with the increased
volume of work.
The most important tasks of the
Department in Tallinn were:
— preparations for the Sailing Regatta
in conjunction with the Department
of Sports Programmes of the
Organising Committee and the USSR
Yacht Racing Federation, in accordance
with the Olympic Charter and
IYRU Rules;
— supervision over the reconstruction
of the existing facilities in
Tallinn and construction of new
facilities needed for holding the
Regatta;
— creating necessary facilities for
receiving and servicing competitors in
the Regatta, officials, guests of honour,
journalists and tourists;
— staging the cultural programme
and holding protocol functions.
At the final stage of the preparation
(from January 1980) and during
the Games the functions of the department
of the Olympiad-80 Organising
Committee in Tallinn expanded to
include 11 sections.
In the framework of the overall
direction of the Games adopted by the
Organising Committee an operational
Centre for Staging the Regatta was set
up in June 1980. It consisted of
workers from the Department in Tallinn
and from the republican ministries
and departments. It was made up
of 12 services (directorate for sport, a
technical service, etc.) and five reception
centres for those who arrived to
the Olympic Regatta (at the airport,
railway and marine terminals and at
the hotels). The Operational Centre
was directly subordinated to the chief
of the Operational Headquarters of the
Games in Moscow.
During the Games the Operational
Centre tackled all the questions connected
with conducting the regatta
and servicing the competitors and
other members of the Olympic family.
A total of 8,200 people from the
republic's 15 ministries and agencies
took part in providing for the competitions
of the Olympic Regatta and
servicing the competitors, officials,
guests of honour, journalists and tourists.