July 21, 2010
Huntington Lake, CA
2010 State of the Class and Annual Meeting Minutes
First of all, a huge “thank you and well done” to Adam, Brooke, Jason, Lance, and a host of others for putting on such a fantastic Class Championships last week at Huntington Lake. For those of you that have never been there, you’d be hard pressed to find a more beautiful setting with better wind, than being up 7500 feet in the Sierras. It had it all: fantastic weather, winds 10-18 knots, great camping for everybody (and the requisite white-gas campground fire that made for Rob and Leanne’s near-death experience), cold beer, good times, and undoubtedly the tightest group of competition that the Class has seen in a long time. There were no horizon jobs – even over a 12-mile course. Coupled with the High Sierra Regatta, it made for a fantastic week of sailing.
It is also worth noting that this is Andrew’s sixth, yes – sixth, Class Championship, which is a Class record. Also kudos go to Eric Kownacki’s win at the HSR, their 3rd place at Nationals, Ron and Leanne Fish’s 2nd place finish, Sean Purdy’s (age 11) 6th place finish, and Bob Wright’s 7th place finish, including a bullet for Race 3. This is notable because Bob, after buying “Tinker Toy” just before Nationals last year, has gone from finishing DFL last year to taking home some crystal this year. Nine Fleets were represented, and there was not a single protest. Well done to all who made the trek. The only casualty was IV McNamara, who was rear-ended by a semi on the way home to Tulsa. He and his crew Jay are OK (thankfully, Olivia and infant daughter Louise were flying home), but the boat did not fare as well.
The State of the Class is that we continue to be in great shape, even with the down economy. We have two new Fleets in Kansas City (Fleet 11) and Klamath Falls (Fleet 27), and the LA-basin is starting to show some activity with the Bob Wright and John Wagner leading the charge at ABYC. We currently have 64 Regular Members, 128 Associate Members, and $8642.21 on the books. Our membership numbers have remained steady compared to last year (which is a slight victory, in my book), and we continue to operate on a yearly basis in the black. Boats have been put up for sale, but there have been buyers. In this economy, our great little boat continues to show as a good value.
The Annual Meeting was extremely well attended and the minutes are as follows:
Roll Call of Fleets (9 Fleets represented).
Board Officer Reports for past year:
Membership numbers – 64 Regular, 128 Associate (no change from last year), Fleet 11 (KC), and Fleet 27 (reconstituted Klamath Falls) our newest Fleets. An Ohio Fleet is hoped for - when they can get find a fin-keel third boat.
Financials - $8642.23 on hand with an $1160.20 operating profit,. Our largest expenses in the past year were $1300 for website/webmaster hosting, and $456 for our new digital scale. Newly-required IRS forms were filled with the IRS (thanks Fred for keeping us legal).
Up to three Junior teams (meaning less than 18 years of age) will be sponsored by the Class Association for each Class Championships.
Vernon Green is our new Class Newsletter editor. First issue should be coming out shortly.
Weighing program – the data and its possible applications were put out at the conclusion of the awards ceremony. This was to keep this possibly contentious issue clear until the regatta was complete. You can view/download the exact same packet by visiting the home page. The new digital scale was also displayed for the Membership. The Membership was strongly advised to keep things civil and to think of the good of the entire Class, not just how it might effect your own boat. Jim Martinez, owner of “Loose Nuts” and the lightest boat at 1371 pounds, stated that he would be more than willing to add weight to his boat if the Class so desired to go to a higher weight. The Membership was overwhelming in favor of the weighing program. After a prescribed discussion period on the website forum, an e-vote will be taken before the end of the calendar year, so that new procedure will be put in place before the 2011 Class Championships.
Fleet 17 at the Oklahoma City Boat Club will be hosting the 2011 Class Championships. John Barnett, owner of “Tomorrow” gave a superb video presentation of what the city and the club will offer to those who participate: a beautiful clubhouse, two hoists, two ramps, on-site camping overlooking Lake Hefner, free breakfasts hosted by the Boy Scouts, etc.
New/Upcoming Items:
Weighing program completion.
Measurer’s Ruling formally allowing composite backstays/checkstays. This has never been illegal in the past, but there has been enough questions from the Membership concerning its legality that the Board decided to issue a formal MR to formally recognize that it is allowed and fully compliant with the Class Bylaws. However, the MR will stipulate that the shrouds and forestay will remain wire.
New spinnaker cloths. The Airex 600/650 debate will be reviewed for possible inclusion of both cloths. Data is currently being collected.
Carbon spinnaker poles. This was an item that was brought up at last year’s Annual Meeting that was quite frankly, hijacked by other issues as the year went forward. IV McNamara brought this up the Annual Meeting. Data will also be collected on this issue, so that we can take a good hard look at this as well.
Pop-Up Items from the Membership:
Rob Avery, our resident Canuck and fellow member of the Colored Boat Club, invited the Class to upcoming events at his home waters of Vancouver, and planted the seed for hosting the Class Championships in Vancouver in 2013.
Election of New Board Members
The following slate of proposed 2010-11 Board members was offered, seconded, and voted in unanimously:
President – Adam Mazurkiewicz (Fleet 12 – Central California)
Vice President – Brian Genovesse (Fleet 19 – Eugene)
Secretary – Lyle Mayer (Fleet 19 – Eugene)
Treasurer – Fred Luvisi (Fleet 2 – LA)
Western Regional Director – Ellen Schmidt (Fleet 7 – San Diego)
Eastern Regional Director – John Ritter (Fleet 39 – Chesapeake Bay)
Builder Emeritus – Tom Schock
Consultant and All-Around Great Guy – Andrew Kerr
Past President – Derek Martin (Fleet 7 – San Diego)
Adjournment – where soon thereafter massive amounts of food and beer were consumed, and soon thereafter massive amounts of raffle prizes were won (mostly by IV McNamara, although it was equally great to see the Junior team from Eugene win the airline tickets)!
Finally, I would like to say how honored I have been to serve as your President these past two years, and how much I have appreciated your support, ideas, critiques, and counsel over the last four years that I have served on the Board. All Board members hope they leave the Class just a little bit better than when they found it, and I hope you feel as good about our Class and its future as I do. I will continue to serve as Past President and will shepherd the weighing program through to its hopeful conclusion this fall/early winter.
I also hope that you will continue to support the newly-installed Board with your thoughts and ideas, and that you too might consider serving in whatever capacity you are comfortable with, when you might be asked to join in the leadership of our great Class. We all must do our part.
God bless you and thank you to all that make up our wonderful Class Association!
Derek Martin
Has-Been President