A meeting of the Board of Directors of the US Sailing Association, Inc., was held in St. Petersburg, Florida at 8:00 a.m., Thursday, October 18, 2001.  President Dave Rosekrans presided, and Secretary Sarah Alger recorded the minutes. 

1.      Roll Call. All members of the Board of Directors were present except for James Appel, Glen Brandenburg, Dean Brenner, Roger Brown, Brad Buell, John Collins, Greg Fisher, Craig Healy, Mark Hermann, Bill Keith, Bill Munster, Mark Reynolds, Bill Ross, Eric Wallischeck and Larry White.

2.      Remembrance of Fallen Comrades. Dave Rosekrans read a letter written by the Commodore of the Manhattan Yacht Club in New York City after observing the debris from the World Trade Centers.  A moment of silence was observed. 

3.      The Star Spangled Banner. Our national anthem was sung by soloist Alice Marie Slayton. 

4.      Welcome.  Pat Seidenspinner, past commodore of the St. Petersburg Yacht Club, welcomed US SAILING to St Petersburg.

5.      President’s Remarks. Dave Rosekrans reported on the status and progress of the search for a new Executive Director for US SAILING. After Terry Harper decided not to renew his contract, the first step taken was to hire William Placke as interim Executive Director. Next a search committee was formed. Chaired by Mike Schoettle, the committee includes John Ross, Louise Gleason, Robert Hobbs and Dave Rosekrans.  A professional search firm, Russell Reynolds, was hired, which has a broad experience in hiring for non-profits and sports organizations. A job description was developed and disseminated broadly.  The result was an initial list of 125 candidates, which was winnowed to 19. Seven of the most promising candidates were interviewed, and the list was ultimately reduced to two candidates. As of this date, both have been interviewed by the Executive Committee, which plans to reach a decision during the AGM.

6.      Ratification of Executive Committee Actions.

·         Motion: a motion was made, seconded and approved to ratify the actions of the Executive Committee from October 12, 2000 through October 9, 2001, as reflected in the minutes and other materials previously distributed to the Board of Directors. 

7.     Introductions of First Time Attendees.  Dave Rosekrans asked new attendees to stand and introduce themselves. He announced that a Newcomer’s Breakfast will be held on Friday at 7 a.m. before the Board Meeting. 

8.      US SAILING Center of Martin County. Terry Bischoff reported that the new US SAILING Center of Martin County has been built and is open for business. He invited all to come visit.

9.     Executive Director’s Annual Report. Bill Placke stated that he is extremely honored to be working with US SAILING’s staff, Executive Committee, and volunteers as the interim Executive Director.  He characterized 2001 as a year of change that has encompassed a number of accomplishments, particularly in Training, Membership, Olympic, Offshore and the web site. He believes that the most notable accomplishment occurred on July 18, the day the staff decided to reaffirm their “obsession” with serving the membership of the organization, focusing on membership satisfaction and retention. Training for the staff and building a strong connection between staff and volunteers is required to achieve this. He invited John Burnham to the podium, who discussed a new initiative: US SAILING C.R.E.W. – a commitment to optimize volunteer-staff relationships. C.R.E.W. seeks to provide a common set of rules for staff and volunteers to work by. John invited every volunteer to join the staff in making a commitment to C.R.E.W. Bill Placke suggested that US SAILING strive to be a national governing body that is known for its high quality of service to members.

10.  Treasurer’s Report.  Stephen Jeffries reported that a breakeven year is predicted and that extraordinary expenses of $160,000 resulting from the departure of the executive director and search for a new director have been absorbed without utilizing US SAILING’s line of credit. The line of credit is presently at zero and expected to remain so. He noted that the budget includes a recommendation to fund the rebuilding of the organization’s infrastructure that involves using credit. A term loan of three years is included in the cash management report. This is a departure from past years, when capital expenses were required to be funded from the operating surplus. 

11.  Council and Committee Reports

11.a.    Budget Committee. Donna Hobbs referred the board to the Budget Report that is in the Financial Report and invited members to attend the Budget Committee meeting at 2 p.m. to discuss the budget.

11.b.    Bylaws Committee. Ted Everingham proposed the initiation of amendments to the Bylaws, which were mailed to the board 30 days ago as required by the Bylaws. The bulk of the changes are intended to satisfy the requirements of the Ted Stevens Amateur and Olympic Sports Act of 1998. Certain amendments are intended to bring the language of the Bylaws in line with current titles, terminology and accepted usage. They will be proposed for adoption at the Annual General Meeting on Saturday, October 20, 2001.  In addition, a resolution was proposed that rescinds the resolution adopted on March 25, 2001 that would cause Rule 69.1 appeals to be sent to the Article 14 Review Board.  The resolution proposes that such appeals will continue to be heard by the Appeals Committee but will take precedence over all others. 

·         Motion: was made, seconded and approved to initiate the 2001 proposed Amendments to the Bylaws. 

·         Motion: a motion was made, seconded and approved to rescind the motion of March 25, 2001 and initiate a bylaw change that Appeals will be considered in the order received, except that appeals of decisions involving Rule 69.1 will take precedence over all other pending matters.

11.c.    Olympic Sailing Committee. Fred Hagedorn introduced a request to replace US SAILING Regulation 3.60 on Anti-Doping, in its entirety. This has been endorsed by the Sports Medicine and the Bylaw Committees and recommended by the Executive Committee. A motion to vote on the regulation change will occur at a later Board meeting this weekend.

11.d.    Communications Task Force. Janet Baxter reported that the Communications Task Force has considered the organization’s #1 goal of improving communications, and she reported on the recommendations of the task force. She proposed that funds be included in the budget for hiring an additional staff person or consultants, printing a directory, establishing a US SAILING presence at boat shows, and supporting the web site.

12.   New Business. There was no new business.

13.  Announcements.

13.a.    ISAF Issues.  Charley Cook requested that volunteers consider the policy memo regarding ISAF that has been distributed.

13.b.    Offshore. Bruce Eissner invited everyone to the Offshore demonstrations that will be held during the AGM. 

13.c.    Rules.  Dick Rose reported that the Rules Committee is opening discussions on the dispute resolution process for sailing and requested input on how to improve the protest process.  He also suggested that the organization look at the rules for outside assistance – by coaches, parents, etc. – and requested ideas on how to address this issue. Finally, he solicited input on systems for assigning sail numbers so that a comprehensive description of this process can be included in the Rule Book.

13.d.    One Design Committee. One Design will be discussing how sailing organizations can obtain 501(c)3 designation. 

13.e.    Race Management Committee. Tom Farquhar announced that the Championship of Committees regatta will be held on Saturday at the St. Petersburg Yacht Club and has been fully subscribed.   

13.f.     Herreschoff Award.  Dave Rosekrans announced that this year Andy Kostanecki is the winner of US SAILING’s most prestigious award. 

The meeting was adjourned at 9:35 a.m. The next meeting of the Board of Directors will be held at 8:00 a.m. on Friday, October 19, 2001, in the Grand Ballroom of the Hilton Hotel, St. Petersburg, Florida.

Respectfully submitted,

 

Sarah Alger
Secretary
US SAILING