The One-Design Class Council met at the Hilton
Netherland Plaza Hotel in Cincinnati, OH on March 14-15, 2003. Chair
Patty Lawrence and Secretary Clark Chapin were in attendance.
1.
Call to Order
Chair Patty Lawrence called the meeting to order at
9:36AM. The attendees are listed in Appendix 1
2.
Approval of minutes from Fall 2002 – Clark
Chapin
The minutes were approved as posted on the web site.
3.
Reports
3.1.
Chair – Patty Lawrence
Patty welcomed the attendees to the meeting.
3.2.
Secretary – Clark Chapin
Clark Chapin solicited people to select topics for
the Class Management Handbook, write a section or topic, and send it to
Clark who will format it for the handbook itself.
3.3.
Inshore Director – Lee Parks
Lee Parks reported on the new newsletter as well as
the new insurance program. Office space is still limited, but improved.
4.
Other Issues
4.1.
Insurance – Steve Prime
Steve described how one-design classes can
participate in the Burgee Program for insurance coverage, which can be
important if a class is running an event at a venue at, say, a state
park, where there isn’t an established sailing club. The Burgee Program
is mainly property damage and injury coverage. Officers and Directors
coverage is also available. Several classes have already signed up.
Overseas protection is also available for International Classes. A
lively discussion ensued. Steve pointed out that for sailboats under
26 feet, most homeowners insurance provides liability coverage.
4.2.
Weather Conditions
Jerelyn Biehl discussed the Snipe Class
instructions for race officers concerning conditions to conduct races.
Included are minimum wind strengths, water, waves, temperatures, etc.
4.3.
Kinetics
In a general discussion, the conclusions were:
Classes are generally able to police themselves.
On the water judging works well to discourage infringements.
A new edition of the old kinetics video would be appreciated by both
judges and competitors.
The clause in rule 42 that prohibits “exiting a tack faster than the
boat began it” is often difficult to judge.
4.4.
Class Renewals
Lee reported the following membership status:
|
|
March 2003 |
March 2002 |
|
2003 Members |
97
classes |
107
classes |
|
|
38
classes |
29
classes |
|
1991-2001 members that have not renewed |
22
classes |
33
classes |
|
1975-1998 members that have not renewed |
61
classes |
|
|
Bad addresses |
38
classes |
|
The Executive Committee will begin contacting
non-renewing classes.
4.5.
One-Design Awards
Patty introduced winners Jerelyn Biehl, Nelson
Stephenson, and Nat Siddall.
The Council discussed the balloting process.
Suggestions included standardizing the nominations and improving award
promotion. A subcommittee of Jerelyn Biehl, Stan Betts, and John
Burnham were appointed to revise the nomination process.
4.6.
SNAX
Jerry Callahan, who has done an outstanding job of
editing the Sailing Newsletter Article eXchange for several years has
asked to be replaced as the SNAX Editor. A search for a new editor is
underway.
4.7.
Fanny Pack Life Jackets
Patty asked about experience with “fanny pack” life
jackets. Some places have banned them. They don’t work well for some
people, they are difficult to put on after inflation, and they don’t fit
everyone. For some uses, a fanny pack is better than no PFD at all.
5.
New Business
5.1.
One-Design Survey
A new survey of one-design classes is being
prepared. The objective is to learn more about the classes. A summary
will be presented to the Council.
5.2.
Class Autonomy
Ding Schoonmaker reported the effect of our
previous action regarding class autonomy. ISAF is preparing a contract
for the Olympic classes that will cost them most of their autonomy. The
existing contracts will be terminated when the new contract language is
approved. Several International Classes are concerned that the new
ISAF-mandated requirements will conflict with their class rules.
5.3.
Membership Benefits for One-Design Classes
Patty Lawrence discussed how US SAILING can provide
benefits for member class associations while attracting new members.
Jack Gierhart, the US SAILING Marketing Director, said that the new
survey is designed to help gather ideas for benefits.
Concern was expressed that the move to the ISAF
Classification Program will result in a loss in membership for those US
SAILING members who became members solely or largely to obtain a
competitor classification. The Council supported the concept that the
ISAF classification process include a requirement that a sailor is a
member of is MNA (Member National Authority).
For clubs, becoming a member allows them to gather
credits for each new individual member they sign up. The credits can be
used to purchase US SAILING goods and services. It is not clear if a
similar approach for classes would be helpful.
5.4.
Crew Bulletin Board
The Council discussed a central bulletin board for
people seeking crewing positions. The bulletin board should contain the
geographic location and some sort of indication of the skill level. To
expose more people to sailing, people should be able to sign up without
becoming members, but to contact a prospect, a US SAILING membership
number should be required.
5.5.
ODCC Seminars
The following suggestions for seminar topics were
made:
·
Communications (Web page development or newsletters)
·
Sail Measurement
·
Safety
5.6.
Class Management Handbook
Jack Gierhart suggested having electronic versions
of portions of the CMH on the ODCC page and publicizing it to the
classes through E-US SAILING and the ODCC list server.
6.
Adjournment
The meeting was adjourned at 11:00AM on Saturday
March 15. The next meeting of the Council will be on Thursday
October 16, in St. Louis, MO.
Clark Chapin
Secretary
