ILCA OHIO DISTRICT

Winter Meeting Summary

March 5, 2005

Fleet Representation:  Cowan, Pymatuning, Leatherlips, Mansfield, Buckeye

·         Treasurer’s Report

·         Old Business

2005 District Championship Host Club

Mansfield has had a formal request to host Districts for the past two years and was awarded Districts at the February 2004 winter meeting.  At the June 27, 2004 summer meeting a concern was raised regarding sailability and appropriateness for a District Championship.  Mansfield (T. Varley) and Pymatuning (B. Werley) were asked to come to a point of view on hosting before the winter meeting.  Bottom line this was discussed at length to the merits of Mansfield or any other smaller Ohio lake for hosting a District Championship.  Net, it was agreed Mansfield will host Districts this year on June 25/26.  Tom and Chris Clark (Mansfield Commodore) expressed they have in place a qualified race committee and dock space to host ~25 boats.  They will work to ensure a block of hotel rooms are available.  Tom has also opened up Varley Valley for camping.  Tom/Chris were asked to begin communicating venue details as soon as possible.

·         New Business

a.       Official District *Governor’s Cup Regatta Schedule

May 7/8                  Pymatuning - Spring Classic (Caley)
June 11/12              Leatherlips – Windshift (Andrews)
June 25/26              District Championship - Mansfield (Varley)
July 16/17               Indian Lake – Stumpbuster (Young)
Sept 24/25               Mansfield – Barebones (Varley)
Oct 8/9                   Buckeye – Snowball (Fisher)
Oct 22/23                Cowan - Fall-In (Brock)

*4 races are scored, districts must be sailed but scoring optional

 

b.       Other Ohio Regattas

June 18/19              **Ohio Race Week (Edgewater is a non-active fleet)
July 3/4                   Pymatuning Independence Day
Sept 10/11               ***Atwood - Harvest Moon (Atwood is a non-active fleet)

**Ohio Race Week – there has been discussion over the past year about Lightning participation in this regatta.  The event will give us an individual start if we have a ~3-5 boat entry.  However, several concerns were raised as they limit club parking to one vehicle per boat, no camping, overall club friendliness/accessibility, and this is scheduled the week before Districts.  With that said, there still may be some interest.  Jim Taylor has advocated for participation, hence we will look to Jim’s leadership to get a critical mass for participation.
***Atwood – Atwood has seen a declining participation for the past several years.  Last year the District voted not to count Atwood towards the Governor’s Cup beginning 2005.  With that said, anyone interested in participating, could still sail.  It is a multi-fleet regatta and they will likely give Lightnings a start if a few boats participate.

c.       Future District Championship Sites
There was much discussion on the process for choosing a District host club as well as appropriateness of smaller versus open bodies of water.  Over the past few years Districts have been rotated to:  2004 – Cowan, 2003 – Indian Lake, 2002 – Pymatuning, 2001 – Pymatuning, 2000 – Hoover, 1999 – Cowan.  There was also discussion on hosting Districts at non-active ILCA clubs such as Cleveland, Port Clinton, St Mary’s and even during Cleveland Race Week.  Net, it was decided that George Fisher, Dean Caley and Mike Brock will develop a proposal, to be shared at this year’s Districts, outlining principles and guidelines on how Ohio will approach selection of future Championship sites.  Comments/suggestions/thoughts are welcomed.  Provide feedback to George, Dean or Mike.

 

d.       Saturday, June 4, 2005 – One Day Boat Handling/Crewing Training Clinic (Hoover or Leatherlips tbd)
George Fisher proposed conducting a one-day on and off the water racing/crewing clinic for the purpose of maintaining high interest level, encouraging participation, keeping up to date on rules, tuning, etc.  The date will be June 4^th and conducted at either Hoover or Leatherlips.  The details of the venue will be worked out by George and Mike Brock.  We encourage people to bring their boats, crew and especially those club races who need some encouragement.  More to come on the details in the next 4-6 weeks. 

 

e.       Proposal to Reduce Individual District Dues

Individual district dues are reduced for 2005 from $7 to $1.  Basis is budget is stable.

Fleet captains are responsible for collecting and submitting individual dues to the District treasurer at the beginning of the sailing season, otherwise dues will be collected at district venue.

 

f.        Ohio District Website - http://www.ussailing.net/ILCAOHIO/
James Taylor has made a significant contribution this past year in getting the district “webified.”  Now to keep it a fluid/dynamic site, he needs stories/pictures.  Please submit directly to Jim (taylorjp@fuse.net, james.p.taylor@ae.ge.com).

 

g.       District Leadership
Eric Brandt is scheduled to assume Commodore responsibilities in June.  However, due to personal commitments he has asked to delay this one year.  Mike Brock will stay on as Commodore until summer 2006.  We need to identify an individual willing to work with Eric beginning 2006 as Secretary/Treasurer.

Mike Brock