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1.
Roll Call. Executive
Committee members Sarah Alger, Charley Cook, Don Durant, Bruce Eissner,
Louise van Voorhis Gleason, Fred Hagedorn, Craig Healy, Linda Kessler,
Dave Rosekrans, John Ross, Mike Schoettle, Pat Seidenspinner, Larry
White were present. Also present were Executive Director Terry Harper
and, at the invitation of the president, board member Greg Fisher. 2. Approval of Minutes. ·
Motion: A motion to
approve the minutes of the Executive Committee meeting of March 25,
2001, as amended, was seconded and passed. ·
Motion:
A motion to approve the minutes of the Executive Committee
meeting of April 22, 2001, as amended, was seconded and passed. 3.
Budget Report. The
goal is to begin the budget process in early June with staff and
volunteer leaders. 4.
President’s Remarks.
The president has begun
recruiting committee chairs to be named in October. Input is welcome.
The “Skipper’s Meeting” on the US SAILING website has been
launched. To date, numerous comments have been received. At present, the
topic of greatest interest is the prohibition on charging fees for
protests. The ExCom reiterated that the right to protest is fundamental
to racing, and when a fee to file a protest is allowed, sailors are
potentially denied one of their fundamental rights. President
Rosekrans noted that discussions have been initiated by Susan Epstein,
chair of the Women’s Committee, with the Women’s Sailing
Association. They are
drafting an alliance to enable them to continue as an independent
organization, yet become more closely tied to US SAILING as an
affiliate. President
Rosekrans noted that this is an exciting effort that should be good for
women’s sailing, for US SAILING, and most importantly, for the sport. 6.
Treasurer’s Report. At
the request of Stephen Jeffries, Terry Harper reported that revenue is
below budget as of April. Club membership is down significantly vs.
last year, but is increasing. To date, the renewal response is higher
than last year. Race Administration revenue is below budget. Expenses
also are below budget by about $275,000, partly because the rulebook
expense, which was budgeted to fall in April, will actually appear in
May. A new supplier for merchandise has been identified and this new
line is being placed on the web store. 7.
Executive Director’s Report. 7.a.
Membership Report. Membership renewals are still ahead of last year, but the gap is
closing. Although acquisition programs were eliminated from the
budget, since expenses for the year are running under budget, some small
initiatives have been undertaken, and acquisitions are ahead of last
year as a result. 7.b.
Terry Harper reported on a NGB/USOC Best Practices Seminar he
attended. A primary topic of discussion was ideas for collaborating on
production of events for television with the goal of producing revenue. 7.c.
A letter from Miller Sports Cruising World regarding US
SAILING’s keelboat memberships was discussed. ·
Motion: a motion was
seconded and approved to decline the request. 8.
2001 Rolex Osprey Cup ISAF Grading Form. Charley Cook
presented a ·
Motion:
a motion to approve the grading form was seconded and approved. 9.
ISAF Visit to the US. Charley
Cook noted that there is interest in holding the 2004 ISAF mid-year
meeting in the United States in early May, and asked if the ExCom would
be interested. About 75 delegates plus spouses typically attend the
meeting. John Ross and Pat Seidenspinner agreed to explore finding a
sailing organization to sponsor this event. ·
Motion: a motion was
seconded and approved that USSAILING extend an invitation to ISAF to
hold its 2004 mid-year meeting in the US. 10. Inclusion
of Paralympics in the Bylaws. Fred
Hagedorn reported that USOC has pulled back its proposals to include
disabled sailing in its bylaws until its next meeting in October 2001.
He also noted that the Olympic Sailing Committee and the disabled
sailors feel that US SAILING should move forward and incorporate
paralympic sailing into US SAILING at this time. ·
A motion was seconded and
approved to draft the appropriate changes in the US SAILING By-laws to
incorporate the Paralympics into all references of the Olympic and Pan
Am Games in the US SAILING bylaws and to include a representative of
sailors with special needs on the Board of Directors. All such changes
should be made such that there is no impact on funding for the Olympic
or Pan Am programs (including development). 11. Olympic
Sailing Committee. Fred Hagedorn noted that
several events have been identified for in-competition testing.
A proposal that testing should only occur for those sailors who
have identified themselves as actively pursuing an Olympic berth has
been submitted to the US Anti-Doping Agency. Fred Hagedorn also noted
that the USADA is only testing US sailors at these events. Bruce Eissner
asked that Bill Waggoner, chair of the Sports Medicine committee, be
kept apprised of this issue. 12. Store
Rebate Program. Mike Schoettle
proposed a small pilot program that would offer selected sailing
organizations that put links on their sites to US SAILING’s online
store a 5% rebate on any merchandise sold.
·
Motion: a motion to test
a web-based merchandise rebate program with no more than 5 yacht clubs
was seconded and approved. 13. Unfinished Business. 13.a. Website
collaborative. Mike
Schoettle noted that a group called America’s Teams has submitted a
preliminary proposal to host the websites of Olympic NGBs and some other
sports. CBS Sports Line would become the internet service provider for
the NGBs, and could take on considerable responsibility for structuring
the websites. The content would continue to be the responsibility of the
NGBs. America’s Teams
would help the NGBs develop sites that are as robust as possible. Mike
Schoettle noted that this might be worth looking into, assuming that US
SAILING’s control of our website would not be at risk. ExCom agreed to
continue exploring this proposal. 13.b.
Committee membership ·
Motion:
a motion was seconded and approved to approve the committee list
as distributed. 14. New Business 14.a.Sailor’s
Advisory Board. Fred
Hagedorn noted that the Sailor’s Advisory 15.
Executive Session.
Adjourned at 9:40 pm |