US SAILING

Women's Council - 2004 Spring Minutes



WOMEN’S SAILING COMMITTEE MEETING
March 13, 2004

Adams Mark Hotel
Mobile, Alabama
1600 Hours

MEETING AGENDA

 

Call to Order and Welcome:

The Chairman quoted a citation….found in the US SAILING archives in Portsmouth… from the 1966 Nathanael G. Herreshoff Award to Allegra Knapp Mertz, the 10th recipient and first woman so honored:

…. . for her enthusiasm in promoting greater participation by women in yacht racing,
and for promoting the observance of rules, safety, and good sportsmanship in yachting.
By her personal example she has demonstrated that women can compete with great flair
and with success in the keenest competition.

It was noted that what "Leggie" Mertz represented 40 years ago is a good part of what the
WSC is about today.

Attendees (Area):
Chairman, Susan Epstein(A);
Secretary, Betsy Beddow(F);
Scheduler, Charlie Arms(G/H);
NWSA Rep., SueCorl(A);
Women’s Champ. Chair, Faye Bennet(C);
Jr. Women’s Champ Chair, Shannon Bush(F);
MR Working Party Chair, Debbie Schoenherr(E);
Web liaison, Joan Thayer(A);
Karen Smith (F);
Betsy Altman(K);
Bruce Cook (B);
Karen Reisch(D);
Cristen Schifino(A);
Camille Schifino(A);
Karen Marriott(F);
Hortensia Sampedro(D);
Carol Barrow(A);
Gail Bernstein(F);
Fred Hagerdorn(K);
Staff Liaison, Liz Walker(A).

2003 Minutes :
October 2003 minutes accepted as corrected: Charlie Arms’s name added to list of attendees.

Olympic:
Fred Hagerdorn offered an overview of the U.S. Women’s Olympic Team.

Congratulations were extended to the winners of the U.S. Trials: Carol Cronin, Liz Filter, and Nancy Haberland in the Yngling; Meg Gaillard in the Europe Dinghy; Lanee Butler Beashel in women’s Mistral; Katie McDowell and Isabelle Kinsolving in the women’s 470.

The WSC recognizing the need for both monetary and moral support for our athletes, brainstormed and decided to have a US SAILING banner, signed by all women present at the Meetings in Mobile, to be sent to Athens. **

Status of Championships and Cups:
Most events are scheduled two to three years out, and the Notice of Race for each 2004 event is already posted.

2004 U.S. Junior Women’s Championships
(Leiter and Ida Lewis) have their NORs posted. On-line registration will be tried/used for the Jr. Championships. Events are "booked" out to 2007.

2004 U.S Women’s Championship
(Adams Cup) is scheduled for Hawaii in J24’s. Will investigate possibility of Rochester Yacht Club’s hosting the event in 2006.

2005 Rolex International Women’s Keelboat Championship
3rd week in September in J22s at Annapolis.

2004 U.S. Women’s Match Racing Championship (USWMRC):
 The USWMRC for the Allegra Knapp Mertz Trophy, an ISAF Grade 3 event, will be held in Sonars at New York Yacht Club, September 29 - October 3. Hunt and Kris Stookey are Local Event co-Chairs. A preliminary NOR was posted March 4th.
 

Voted (m-s-c): The winners of the Sundance Cup and the Bettina Bents, both ISAF Grade 4 events, will receive automatic invitations to the 2004 USWMRC, as well as a host entry, and the 2003 Champion.

2005 USWMRC will be held at Ft. Worth Boat Club.

Voted (m-s-c): to accept the bid from Newport Harbor Yacht Club to host 2006 USWMRC in Gov’s Cup 21s.

A bid from Rochester Yacht Club was considered for a future USWMRC, or for a future Adams Cup.

Edgewater Y.C. (North Coast Women’s Sailing Assoc.) in the Cleveland area was suggested as possible host for the ’07 or ’08 USWMRC.

Match Racing Events (Grade 4):

          Sundance Cup @ Ft. Worth Boat Club March 16-20 with 10 teams registered;
          Rolex Match @ St. Petersburg Yacht Club, April 7-11;
          Bettina Bents @ Newport Harbor Yacht Club, June 2-6.

Message From the Sailor Athlete Council:
 Betsy Altman asked that current members of US SAILING register as athletes. She discussed the importance of the Sailor Athlete Council, as well as the importance of being registered to vote for its members.

ISAF:Boat U.S. Santa Maria Cup Women’s World Match Racing Championship
will be held @ Annapolis June 7-12 in J22s. U.S. women skippers have qualified for six of the sixteen available slots!

National Women’s Sailing Association (NWSA):

NWSA…our partner in representing women sailors in the U.S…. reports the organization is back in the black and membership is growing.

NWSA’s Women’s Sailing Conferences are so successful they are seeking more venues, so as to introduce more women to various levels of the sport.

Copies of a recent Boat U.S. article about NWSA's Mystic Whaler cruise was handed out, as was information about the June Conference in Marblehead.

The complete NWSA report is found below.

Old Business:

"Links Central", a list of links to a variety of web sites of interest to women sailors was compiled by Kathy "Kat" Irwin. They will be linked from the US SAILING Women’s Sailing Committee web page.

The WSC is in need of another volunteer web liaison.

Adjourned at1720 hours

**Post Meeting Note:
The Executive Director provided a US SAILING banner. After receiving several "gender bias" comments, the chairman of this committee unilaterally decided that all in attendance at the Meetings should have the privilege of writing messages of inspiration to accompany our Olympic Sailing Team in Athens.

The signers were required to pay a minimum $5 each for the privilege of putting their spirited words on the banner. At Meetings’ end $1000 was handed to the chairman of the Olympic Sailing Committee with the instruction that our Olympians use the money for celebration!



National Women’s Sailing Association Report
to the Women's Sailing Committee

March 13, 2004

2003
The 3 and 6 day October cruises aboard the Mystic Whaler were a great success. A free lance writer on the cruise wrote an account of the cruise that was published in BoatUS, March issue, centerfold.

A November cruise to the Grenadines was held.

Financially, NWSA ended the year in the black.

 2004
 A two day diesel workshop will be held at Mack Boring Technical Institute in Union, NJ
May 22-23, 2004

The April 2004 BVI Flotilla was cancelled; however, those who had registered were steered to a women’s program at Offshore Sailing School.

Third annual Women’s Sailing Conference in Marblehead, MA., will be held June 5, 2004.

Expect 150 women for a daylong program of on the water and off the water seminars.

Raffles, silent auction.

Guest speaker will be Doris Colgate, founder of NWSA and CEO and co-owner of
Offshore Sailing School..

The model for NWSA’s conferences, the Women’s Sailing Convention, held its 15th annual event at the Bahia Yacht Club in Corona del Mar February 7th.   310 women attended on a gorgeous, summer-like day.

June 12,2004 will be our first AdventureSail® of the year in Boston, MA. NWSA will partner with Courageous Sailing Center to host the Big Sisters of Greater Boston and their Little Sisters.

In October, it is planned to repeat the 2-leg cruise on the Mystic Whaler up the Chesapeake.

November 2004 a cruise in the Grenadines is planned.

NWSA is a 100% volunteer driven organization. Membership hovers at 300+ members and the plan is to increase that number throughout the year.

Respectfully submitted,

Elizabeth S. Corl
Secretary, NWSA