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MINUTES OF US
SAILING OFFSHORE TEAMS,
OFFSHORE ONE-DESIGN & LEVEL CLASSES COMMITTEE CHARLOTTE,
NORTH CAROLINA MARCH 24, 2001 1. CALL TO ORDER: The meeting was called to order at 0930 on Saturday, March 24, 2001. Committee Members Present: Chairman Ken Morrison, Barry Carroll, Don Genitempo, Gene McCarthy, Jim Richardson and Talbot Wilson. Members Absent: Dobbs Davis, David Kilponen and Nelson Stephenson. Guests: John
Winder (Newport to Bermuda Race), John Burnham (Sailing World), David
Irish (Mumm 30 Class), Bruce Bingman (Mumm 30 Class), Bruce Campbell (PIYA),
Paul Miller (USNA), Rolf Steitz (USMMA), Dan Van Heeckeren (Mumm 36
Class) and Dan Nowlan (US SAILING Offshore Director) 2. MINUTES: The minutes of the meeting of October 13, 2000 were accepted as published. 3. CHANGE OF COMMITTEE MEMBERSHIP: Ken Morrison welcomed Gene McCarthy to membership on the Committee. Gene joins the Committee as an “Olympic Athlete” to meet this new requirement for the committee. Gene qualifies as an Olympic Athlete from having sailed in the 2000 Star World Championship. Gene is also heavily involved in offshore racing on Lake Michigan and has been active in North American Offshore Level Classes competition in the past. We regret to announce that Geoff Stagg has resigned from our committee. Geoff originally joined our committee as an “At Large” representative for offshore one-design classes. Now that we have several offshore one-design class representatives on the committee, Geoff feels that his services are no longer needed. 4. TEAM
EVENT REPORTS: The only offshore team events scheduled this year are the Admiral’s Cup in England in July and the Southern Cross Cup held in Australia in December. The only time the US has ever entered a team in the Southern Cross Cup was in 1988. Due to the distance and timing involved, the Southern Cross Cup is not very attractive for US owners. ADMIRAL’S CUP: The Admiral’s Cup Management Committee consisting of Ken Morrison, Don Genitempo, Talbot Wilson and David Kilponen, has been working very hard for the past 18 months to field a successful Admiral’s Cup Team for this year. The boats designated by the RORC for this year’s event included the IC 45 (formerly Corel 45), the Farr 40 OD and the Sydney 40. Only the Farr 40 OD class is actively sailed in the United States at the present time. The Farr 40 OD Class had a very successful selection series resulting in heated competition between Jim Richardson’s BARKING MAD and Philippe Kahn’s PEGASUS. The final result was that PEGASUS was selected to represent the US this year. Our AC Management Committee identified Sal Giordano’s former Corel 45 as a potential candidate for the IC 45 position and Ken Read had put together an outstanding crew for this boat. However, Mr. Giordano made a qualified commitment on the basis that the Management Committee must first guarantee that the team would have a top Sydney 40 with a top professional crew for the final team position. We were able to find a top Sydney 40 named MK CAFÉ and owned by Karol Jablonski from Poland. Mr. Jablonski had provided the USA Team the ILC 40 MK CAFÉ in 1997 when we last won the Admiral’s Cup. Chris Larson had a top professional crew lined up for this boat; however, we were unable to find any American sailors or sponsors who would provide the funding for this boat’s program. As a result, the Management Committee came to the conclusion that we would be unable to field a competitive team this year and announced this fact by a US SAILING press release issued on March 13, 2001. This week we were contacted by the Commodore of the RORC who asked if we would enter the Admiral’s Cup this year if the decision was made to have two boat teams consisting of an IC 45 and a Farr 40 OD. We are currently trying to determine if the boats and crews are still available on that basis so that we may respond to his inquiry. We will not know the results of this action for a few more weeks. 5. ISAF/ORC
REPORT: Don Genitempo
reported the following: ISAF Has approved the ORC request to conduct a world championship offshore team event. The ORC is examining the feasibility of using current international offshore team events as the vehicle for this world championship. Meetings are currently scheduled with the RORC and the Yacht Club Costa Smeralda on this subject. The ORC has obtained ISAF approval to develop an IMS 600 class that initially would use a GPH rating band from 595 to 615. There is a great deal of interest in this rating band class in Europe. There is also the potential to promote this rating band in the US. The IMS 50 class is alive and well in Europe and action is being taken to assist US 50’ owners in forming a similar rating band class in the US. Initial meetings were held at Key West and at the SORC with this group. 6.
ONE-DESIGN & LEVEL CLASS REPORTS: a. Mumm 30: Bruce Bingman reported for Nelson Stephenson. There now are approximately 225 boats worldwide. The World Championship was held in Miami last November and 41 boats entered. Italy took first and second while the United States took third and fourth. The U.S. national circuit this year will include Key West Race Week, SORC, Annapolis NOOD Regatta in May, Newport Gold Series in June, the Verve Cup in Chicago and the Lewmar Cup in Annapolis. b. 1D35: A written report from Dobbs Davis is attached. The class now has nearly 50 boats sailing in the US, Germany, Japan and the UK. c. Farr 40 OD: Jim Richardson reported that the class had another very successful year. There are now 115 boats worldwide. There are over 50 in the US and 20 in Australia. Growth continues in Europe with boats in Italy, France and the UK. The class had a very successful winter circuit with 44 boats from 14 countries racing in Miami, Key West and SORC. Jim Richardson’s BARKING MAD won the winter circuit. The class continues to grow because of the direct involvement of the owners who set the class rules. They object to any outside involvement from ISAF, particularly when it comes to their rules for competitor classification. There is an indication that ISAF may be considering requiring that their competitor classification actions be made available for ISAF scrutiny and appeal through ISAF channels. If this occurs, the Farr 40 OD class may request withdrawal of their status as an ISAF recognized class. d. IMS 40’ Level Class: Steve Loeb was invited to join our committee, but has not yet taken any action to accept our invitation. It was reported that the US SAILING Offshore Office and the ORC Chief Measurer have been assisting them in resolving some scoring problems. e. IMS Level 50’ Class: See Don Genitempo’s ORC Report above. 7. OLD BUSINESS: None 8. NEW
BUSINESS: None 9. ADJOURNMENT: The meeting was adjourned at 1030 hours on Saturday, March 24, 2001. Report from the 1D35 Class to the Offshore Classes and Teams Committee US Sailing Spring Meeting March 2001, Charlotte, NC New growth: New boats sales in the class has tapered from last year's brisk pace. Although interest within the US and abroad remains moderately strong, there has been some mismatching between buyers' demand and production capability at Carroll Marine, and the turnover of good quality used boats to new owners has satiated most of the domestic demand. Carroll Marine is, however, committed to continue to support production of the 1D35, but has said that production must be batched in groups of three boats, and preferably five or more. As yet, there are three boats committed to production now, with one being the first-ever class-legal boat with wheel steering. It's thought that this feature will, like the Farr 40, open up interest to a broader market. As in last year's AGM report, there are nearly 50 boats now sailing in the US, Japan, Germany, and the UK, with increased interest and inquiries coming from Northern Europe. New boat sales are currently dealer and broker-driven, so there is currently discussion to amend this structure for more central control so as to promote more aggressive pursuit of potential new boat owners. 2001 Racing Season: The 2001 national-level Season Championship Series has been expanded from years past from six events to eight, with the addition of the SORC and another West Coast event to the schedule. The schedule includes: Yachting Key West Race Week in January (20 boats entered); Acura SORC (15 boats entered); Annapolis NOOD in early May (17 boats expected); New England Championships in Marblehead in late May (10 boats expected); Verve Cup in Chicago in August (15 boats expected); Big Boat Series in September (12 boats expected); West Coast Championships in San Diego in October (14 boats expected); and the National Championship regatta in November in Miami (20-25 boats expected). In addition to these, there are three regional series, including the West Coast (San Diego NOOD, Yachting Cup, North Sails Race Week, San Francisco NOOD, Big Boat Series, and the West Coast Champs); the Midwest (Chicago NOOD, Chicago-Mac Race, Harbor Springs, and Verve Cup); and the East Coast (Key West, SORC, Annapolis NOOD, Marblehead, Newport Gold, and Sail Newport Regatta). Interest remains strong among the dozen or so teams that attend the national circuit events, and a special Road Warrior Trophy has been created to honor those that attend all events on the circuit. San Diego remains as the strongest single regional fleet, with 8-10 boats regularly competing in regattas throughout Southern California. Class Structure: At the Class Association meeting in Key West, a new class structure was ratified, wherein most of the administrative power lies with a Board of Directors, composed of owners nominated and elected from each of six geographic regions, an At-Large position, and a non-voting class manager position. This amends the previous structure by giving boat owners more direct control in the class. However, industry representatives remain empowered to advise on rule changes through a Technical Committee. Future challenges: As reported in the last AGM report, future challenges for the class remain to provide high-quality one-design competition for class members, increasing international sales and presence, and promoting regional fleet growth in the US to develop more localized one-design sailing. With its combination of high-performance design, strict one-design control, and strong class management structure, it's felt the 1D35 would be a viable candidate for any international offshore team competition. With headroom requirements now relaxed, international IMS certificates can now be issued, and it's hoped this will spur more international growth in areas where IMS is strong, such as northern Europe, the Mediterranean, and Asia. Once having made an IMS toehold, further growth should allow for proper one-design competition. In areas where IRM is strong, the 1D35 should be also quite competitive, with a rating this year of 1.008. A UK-based 1D35 won its class in last year's Rolex Commodore's Cup, competing under IRM. An inhibition to international sales has been the relatively strong US dollar, which makes competing products financially more attractive to the local markets. The 1D35 Class remains as the only offshore one-design class to offer a Category C advertising option for its members at all class events, with the provision that one less non-Group 1 crew member be allowed on board. The class has remained firm in its position not to adopt Recognized Status with ISAF, since the owners and class managers feel their interests can be better served without relinquishing control to ISAF with little or no value-added benefit from being affiliated with that organization. Respectfully submitted, Dobbs Davis 1D35 Class Coordinator
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