2009 Rule Changes

[Gregg Henning]

Hi All,

I wanted to give you an update on discussions with the board.  At the Annual General Membership Meeting, we discussed several different possible rule changes.

See minutes for details.

In short, GPS oriented speed will be put on a ballot for a vote.  We believe this will pass with no issues.

Carbon Rig.... The board is very supportive of the effort going on but is waiting for more testing.  With the tour of the Carbon Mast and 11 others that will be recieved approx. December 2009 we will begin to get more information and be able to make a more educated decision.  Stay Tuned!  Per class rules, 75% of the board must agree to put this on the ballot.  We are very close.

Allowing different sail materials... the board feels that this is premature until we have solutions for the rig.  Adding different sail materials will most likely increase loads on the rig, therefore the board does not feel that this should be put out to vote at this time.

Backstay Preventer....  Again the board feels that the rig solution is the correct way to go and staying with the initial design of the boat with out a backstay is the direction to continue.

The board is planning on holding the ballot until we have more testing on the rig to minimize expense of multiple ballots.

Questions or comments are always welcome.

Best Regards,

Gregg Henning
#149
Goombay Smash
U20 Class President

[André Labelle]

May I suggest we plan on allowing laminated jibs.  Mains and spinnakers are the problem, not the jibs.  Heck even an outdated class like the J24 did this change.  Dacron jibs are more expensive than laminated in the long run.

[Gregg Henning]

Andre',

I think that we are trying to keep the rate of changes to a minimum.  If you make to many changes at the same time, it is difficult to evaluated issues in the future.  Let's get past the Mold issue and Spar issue first.

Thanks,

Gregg

May I suggest we plan on allowing laminated jibs.  Mains and spinnakers are the problem, not the jibs.  Heck even an outdated class like the J24 did this change.  Dacron jibs are more expensive than laminated in the long run.

[Jim Pearson]

Hi Greg,
I appreciate your effort as an executive. It is a thankless job and only a true love of a class would cause anyone to want to be on it.
It appears to me that the most frustrating thing in this Class is not the Moulds, Spars or sails but the process for change that is used. The owners of boats can make proposals for change year after year only to have them turned down by an executive made up of I believe four boat owners. Example in case, eleven or so have ordered Carbon Spars. That is 11 to 4. Maybe it would have been voted down. We will never know. We never got a chance to vote. Owners never get a chance to vote except on trivial matters. Important issues appear to just get turned down by Executive. Change is difficult but delaying decisions can sometimes be more costly.
Regards
Jim Pearson

[Gregg Henning]

Jim,

There were 10 people in the decision making process to put rule changes on the ballot or not put on the ballot.  It takes 75% of the the board to approve an item to be put on a ballot per class rules.  If it is put on the ballot then it takes 2/3's the membership to approve. 

As President, I have to follow those rules the class has put forth. 

I understand your position and I have heard this before.  Maybe the rule change that needs to be looked at is the 75% of the board approving for a rule change to be put on the ballot.  Just a thought. 

Thanks for your input...

Gregg

[Jim Pearson]

Hi Greg,
I belong to an Association that deals with our business. I act as President of that Association, Negotiating contracts and dealing with different Levels of Government. Changes can be put forth by any member with a seconder and it will be put to a vote by the membership. Our Executive's job is to put forth a recommendation on proposal but final decision ultimately lies with the membership. This seems to eliminate a lot of frustration of members which I believe is happening in our class. Just a thought
Regards
Jim Pearson

[Gregg Henning]

Jim,

I agree that this is an efficient way of handling things as I work with many organizations that handle in just that manner, however that is not how the class rules read at this time, so we would need those rules to be adjusted as I indicated before pertaining to the board needing 75% of the vote to go to ballot.  I do not have the luxury of changing the rules by myself.

Best Regards,

Gregg