Minutes of the International Women’s Keelboat Championship Organizing Committee (IWKC) October 13, 2000

[webnote: these minutes are in draft form and have not been formally approved by the IWKC committee]

A meeting of the IWKC Organizing Committee was held at the AGM in New Orleans. In attendance were Denise MacGillivray, Sandy Grosvenor, Ron Ward, Cory Sertl, Vicki Sadaro and Barbara Farquhar. In addition the following submitted input prior to the meeting; Carol Cronin and Nancy Haberland.

Annapolis YC, 2001- The meeting started with a presentation (web note: this link to slightly modified presentation for a more international audience) from Sandy Grosvenor (2001 event co-chair). She outlined the Annapolis Yacht Club’s plans for the 2001 event. She provided visuals of the host club’s site, outlined the charter boat plan, mentioned the event’s two web sites and introduced the Outreach program to the group. Sandy and others encouraged the scheduling of J/22 events and the Thompson Cup (Women's Match) around the RIWKC to help increase participation and to hopefully make more J/22’s available for charter.

2 Web Sites - The official event web site - www.ussailing.org/riwkc The host club event web site deals with all the host club specific information, charter boats, housing, club contacts, and Annapolis area information- www.annapolisyc.com/rolexkeelboats.  There are reciprocal links on both sites.

Charter boats- Boats available for charter will be listed on line, putting competitors and owners in touch directly. We anticipate the owner and competitor to work out a charter fees between themselves. Suggested pricing has not been finalized, though we anticipate charter fees in the neighborhood of $1500. Event chairs are working with sailmakers to obtain group pricing (RIWKC Competitors) for a set of J/22 sails. Many boat owners are willing take a set of regatta old sails in lieu of a charter fee. This alternative will be suggested to boat owners. Assistance in obtaining a charter boat will be provided for foreign competitors if needed. Some concern was expressed over charter boat fees and the cost of this event to competitors in general.

Outreach Program - headed by Sue Mikulski. Sue’s committee is heading up both the pre-event clinics and the Next Step program.

The pre-event clinics will use top local sailors to head up the clinics. Some potential clinic locations were identified in addition to those on Sue’s list. Cory Sertl mentioned her hometown, Rochester NY, where an annual Women’s clinic takes already takes place. Also mentioned was Monterey Bay, CA as a site for a West Coast J/22 clinic and a J/22 clinic in conjunction with the J/22 Midwinters was discussed. The group determined that clinics should be held in J/22’s when and wherever possible. J/24’s, Sonars, etc were deemed acceptable alternates.

The “Next Step” is a junior mentoring program that brings junior women sailors to the event and is designed to expose them to the top women sailors in the world.

Reviewed Terms of Reference and voted in the proposed changes that were circulated prior to the annual meeting (see attached copy/those circulated before the meeting).

Regatta Conditions - A newly formatted Regatta Conditions were handed out for review and approval. What started with a few revisions turned into a newly formatted “Regatta Conditions”, thanks to a lot of hard work by Sandy Grosvenor. There are many proposed changes in both the format and in content. The committee briefly reviewed these at the meeting. We will study the proposed changes discuss via email.

Future of the Event - Discussed the 2003 event. It was agreed upon that it is ideal to plan, whenever possible, four years out(two events- through 2003).

Committee voted to keep the J/22 for the 2003 event.

We are happy with our decision to sail J/22’s for 2001 and are eager to hear what boat the Women’s Olympic Match Racing (WOM) will land in. We discussed sailing this event in the same boat as the WOM, but are hesitant to reduce crew numbers any more if the WOM ends up in a three person boat. We determined that some competitors are making boat buying decisions based on the boat being sailed at this event. Some sailors are currently making the buy or charter decision for 2001. Knowing if the event will be sailed in the same boat for more than one time allows competitors to make more informed “to buy or not to buy” decisions. Keeping the boat constant for two events, will allow some teams to purchase boats. This may relieve some pressure on the host club by reducing the number of charter boats needed.

We will revisit the venue for 2003 at the spring meeting. Goal is to have the venue lined up so we can make an announcement at the 2001 event or sooner.