Sailor Athlete Council Conference Call Minutes

8-26-04

Attending:  Susannah Carr, Dean Brenner, Lee Parks, Mark Reynolds, Louise Gleason, Cory Sertl, Hal Haenel

1.  ISAF update:  Cory Sertl mentioned some of the nominations for the ISAF 2005 term.  They include Dave Irish, Robin Wallace, and Charlie Cook, among others.  US SAILING makes these nominations, but the process is not transparent.  Janet Baxter assesses people’s interest, looks for qualified people.  Dean is going to ask Janet more about how list is formed, and SAC will work on increasing the transparency of the process.  ISAF chooses which nominations to accept.  Generally, the nominations need to include registered sailor-athletes, women, and people with international experience.  Registered sailor athletes are well represented on this year’s list of nominees. 

2. Hal Haenel wants SAC input about the next slate of boats for the ISAF meeting.  Charlie Cook and Dave Irish will be instructed by US SAILING’s Board of Directors on how they should vote.  Dean will send an email to all registered athletes requesting their input about which classed should be included. 

3.  US SAILING structure and feedback:  Dean got back 5 responses out of the 30 questionnaires he sent out.  In general, consensus has been:  huge support for a much smaller board.  2 big issues were people urging caution about influence from the marine industry and people suggesting that US SAILING should be pushing community access to the sport.  Dean will send out another email this week.  Additional comments regarding new structure:  proposal needs to address quorum and rules for passing resolutions; 1 year term for Board President is too short; SAC, not coaches, should be the people to choose additional sailor athletes for the Board. 

4.  SAC nominations and elections:  Hal Haenel recommends that Bob Bellingham be elected to SAC.  There have been 20-25 candidates nominated for 6 spots.  To facilitate voting among sailor-athletes, SAC requests a 150 word bio from each candidate.  SAC decided not to share the sailor-athlete email list with candidates.  Mark Reynolds will create a web page capturing all of the bio information in one place.

5.  Integration of new council members:  Important to make sure that new council members feel welcomed and see that SAC is organized.

6. Role of SAC within sport:  Dean solicited additional follow-up comments regarding SAC’s role within the sport and among sailor-athletes.  The Committee is deciding how much it should solicit opinions from outside the registered sailor-athlete community.