| Author | Message | ||
     Scott Corder New member Username: Scott_corder Post Number: 5 Registered: 01-2005 Rating: N/A |
Minutes from 2005 Winter Class Meeting Feb 5, 2005 Strictly Sail Expo Chicago IL Called to order at 11:15 am Everyone introduced them selves, 15 sailors were in attendance representing 10 boats. OLD BUSINESS Class Commodore Scott Corder presented reports on membership and finances. In 2004, the Class received 31 paid regular memberships and 4 paid associate memberships. These numbers are down slightly from past years. It was agreed that the Class must to do a better job of reminding owners to send in their dues. The need for a Class Membership Director was discussed and Walter Kawula (Truant) volunteered to assume these duties. A motion was made and seconded nominating Walter as Membership Director. A unanimous vote confirmed his new role. Walter was immediately provided with a CD and printouts of the Class data-base. The Class remains financially solvent. Income in 2004 from memberships and bank interest was $686.80. Expenses in 2004 were $775.44. These included web hosting fees for two years, US Sailing Class membership dues and trophies. Annual expenses typically run about $650.00. As of the meeting date, the Class currently has approximately 1800.00 in its treasury. Scott described some one-time expenses that may be coming soon as the Class executes some badly needed web-site upgrades. These expenses will not be costly, but they underscore the need to pursue a steady pace of paid memberships. A review of the Class web site followed. Scott reported for interim/emeritus web master Russ Fender that the bulletin board software needs to be updated to a current version. Russ is eager to perform the software update but wants to do it with whoever becomes the new web-master. Obviously, the Class is eagerly searching for someone to assume the role of Web Master. Ben Fischer, a long time crew-member on George Darrell’s Paradox out of Chicago indicated a willingness to help out. A unanimous vote confirmed Ben’s new role as Class Web Master. A huge thank you goes to Ben for volunteering. We look very much forward to the results of his transition with Russ. Scott then displayed a very attractive glass trophy that the Class had commisioned thanking web-master and former Class Commodore Russ Fender for his tremendous service to the Class. Scott will work to deliver this trophy to Russ as soon as possible. Scott reviewed the 2004 North American Championship in Chicago. Those results were already posted on the web site. Scott Çorder and race Chairman Carl Petersen then handed out trophies for the 2004 Fleet 1 Lake Michigan Season. 4th was George Darrell’s Paradox, 3rd was Chris Sundberg’s Stimulator, 2nd was Greg Young’s Spectra and 1st with all bullets was Dick Daniel’s Entropy. Scott Corder then reported on Fleet/racing activities in Fleet 2 Lake Erie. The Class has knowledge of at least 10 boats in the area with six paid memberships in 2004. They competed in at least four events in 2004 and are anticipating a similar schedule in 2005. Potential events include the Mills race in early June, the Commodore Perry Regatta in June, the Islands Race on July 4 and the Snow Flurries Series in early October. NEW BUSINESS Class sportswear was discussed. Consensus opinion was that the Class should abandon any hope of making minimal money on sportswear and instead find a way to conveniently provide this option to members. It was agreed that it is probably best to pursue a source of monogrammed sportswear that offers immediate response to members and that minimizes any burden placed on the Class or its officers. Options such as Land’s End logo services were discussed. Aside from some initial set-up costs, the Class could then offer embroidered merchandise via a direct link on the Class web site. All merchandise orders would then be handled by Land's End or whatever resource the Class selected to provide this service. It was agreed that Greg Young and Scott Corder would research this further and report back. Geoff Harris reported that he had an excellent resource for screen printed T-shirts. He has purchased items from Kim Downing of Wood Boat Magazine in Iowa. Geoff agreed to forward contact info to the Class officers. Scott Corder then reported that he is having great difficulty finding a resource for screen-printed “battle flags” like the Class obtained several years ago. He pledged to keep trying as these would be a great item to develop pride and enthusiasm in Fleet 2 Lake Erie. The drop in paid memberships led to a discussion of Class mailings. In recent years, the Class has relied on the web-site to communicate with its members. It was agreed that post card mailings could be a cost-effective way to remind owners of annual dues – and also a way to remind members of annual racing schedules, etc. A design could be done that would potentially allow individual Fleets to add regional information to the back. A single mailing each year is likely to increase paid membership numbers and would likely cost very little to produce. Scott Corder volunteered to pursue a 2005 mailing. As promised by the Rules Committee in 2003, final wording was circulated concerning the use of carbon fiber spinnaker poles. The wording was approved by unanimous vote. This wording will be published in the web-site and the By-Laws will be updated to reflect this change as soon as possible. Race Chairman Carl Petersen then presented options for a Fleet 1 Lake Michigan 2005 racing schedule. Lengthy discussion followed with the following result: Event 1 will be the Chicago NOOD Regatta June 17-19. This event will constitute a part of the 2005 season IF eight boats agree to attend and race. If eight boats do not agree to attend this event, the Chicago Verve Cup Aug 19-21 will be part of the series instead. It should be noted that these two events are very similar and lengthy discussion was had regarding which event would attract the most Class members given schedule conflicts and other issues. It was agreed that Class Racing Chairman Carl Petersen would work to confirm which boats could (and would) attend the NOOD regatta within 45 days of the Class Meeting. An announcement will then be made at that time regarding which event will be part of the 2005 Series. Event 2 will be a Class event in Holland MI on July 9-10. Unanimous support was found for this event given past experiences at this location. Event 3 will be the Milwaukee Grand Prix on Aug 6-7. Again, past experiences made this an easy choice. Scoring for the 2005 Fleet 1 Series would be based on each boat’s best finishes in 2/3 of the completed races. If a single event completed more than 5 races, each boat at that event would count its best five finishes at that event. Five Class boats are required to race at each event for it to be counted in the Series. In the absence of any members from Fleet 2, no further discussion of 2005 Fleet 2 racing activities took place at the meeting. Selection of a site for the 2005 North American Championship was next on the agenda. After some discussion of encouraging other regions to offer alternative sites, it was agreed that the 2005 NA Championship would take place on Lake Michigan. The Holland event on July 9-10 was unanimously approved as the site of the 2005 NA event. The meeting was then adjourned at approximately 12:30 pm. Four regular and four associate 2005 membership applications were collected at the meeting. These minutes are submitted to the best of the recorder’s memory. Scott Corder Commodore |
