ILCA OHIO DISTRICT

Winter Meeting Summary

March 3, 2007

The 2007 Ohio Lightning District meeting was held on March 3rd, in Columbus, Ohio. Twelve people attended, representing Pymatuning, Leatherlips, Mansfield, Buckeye and the new Cleveland fleet.

Eric Brandt kicked off the meeting by handing out an agenda and the new rules to be voted on in St. Pete. Of note we discussed the following

Topics:

Schedule -

Pymatuning, Spring Classic May 19-20

Leatherlips, Windshift* June 9-10*

Cleveland Race Week June 23-24

Ohio "open" Districts,

Pymatuning June 30-July 1

Indian Lake July 14-15

NA's Annapolis Aug 18-24

Mansfield Sept 22-23

Buckeye Oct 6-7

Cowan Oct 20-21

Schedule other

Indiana, Burl Harmon Race May 5-6

Great regatta to start your season. 26 boats from 6 states last year. Excellent facilities, competitive fleet, and hoosier hospitality! There is again interest from our district to support their event as they will support our events, both districts and Cowan.

Pymatuning, Spring Classic May 19-20

We will have a district meeting prior to dinner on Saturday night 5:30-6pm, on the patio. We would like to discuss the schedule and gauge potential participation at some events.

*Mentor Harbor June 9-10

MHYC welcomes the Lightning fleet to join them for their ne design regatta. With a short sail to the race course, a beautiful clubhouse (bar & restaurant) and swimming pool, this could be a fun new event for our district and region. Eric will look into moving the Windshift dates to accommodate if we have interest.

Cleveland Race Week June 23-24

We are welcome to participate again if we can get a fleet. We will gauge interest at the Spring Classic.

New Business

Junior sailing/racing and participation - see attached proposal and please respond to david_vieregg@progressive.com with comments and ideas.

2008 Ohio Districts will be held at Cowan Lake

New Cleveland Fleet - George Auer represented the new 4 boat Cleveland Fleet.

They have paid their Class dues, have a total of 4 boats between Cleveland Yachting Club in Rocky River and Edgewater Yacht Club. This is great news for our class and district. Bill Buckles will represent at the Worlds.

New rules - the 2 new rules are about the use of VHF radios and Sail numbers/graphics

See website for more information

Fleet Dues - Leatherlips, Buckeye, Mansfield, and Cowan still need to pay. (Cowan paid in St. Pete durring the southern Circuit)

Class Membership Dues - George Fisher echoed the importance of all of us supporting and getting others to support the class by paying our class dues. The new class leadership and the class provide many benefits to our members.

Websites - please check out these websites for more information

www.lightningclass.org

www.ussailing.net/ilcaohio

If you have questions or comments regarding anything about our district please don't hesitate to email me. Thanks

Lightning Junior Sailing/Racing proposal

I would like to submit a "strawman" proposal to our district membership and participating yacht clubs in order to increase junior participation in our class.
As I survey the class we have 2 junior regattas, Junior North Americans and Junior Worlds. The class is currently purchasing 2 boats for charter, training and campaigning by a junior team. I also see the increased participation by juniors in the Thistle class and the Interlake Yachting Association (ILYA) junior racing program as they push towards Bay Week. With these thoughts rolling around in my head I thought we could come up with a way to build the participation of juniors in our class. Below is that proposal, with a couple of options. By no means is this a finished product, so please provide comments and ideas via email to david_vieregg@progressive.com. I would also like to gauge participation by asking you to sign up those juniors that may be interested.

What – a Junior regatta on Saturday morning of Spring Classic and Cowan.

Why – to get juniors to participate (ages 6-16/18)

Teams – depending on numbers, experience, age at least 3 teams of 3 junior sailors, 2 junior sailors, 1 adult-owner representative in the middle. Juniors can put their own teams together, additional kids could be placed on a team. Teams of 4 could be used.

Who - Junior sailers (maily Lightning class "kids" but all are welcome to join a team). under 16, under 17, under 18, Please choose which age you would think would fit best. If use 2 junior sailor team w/owner representative - adult is their for safety, not tactics or input.

Where/When - PYC Spring Classic and Cowan Lake.

Saturday Morning

9 am Skippers/team meeting

9:30 - 11:30 3 back to back races

How - 3 short races

ain & Jib only or spinnakers (depending on weather/experience)

Example; if have Juniors age 7-10 Main & Jib – 3 short triangle races

Could start slow – Main and Jib only first few events – could evolve to 2 fleets if participation warrants (3 boats main & jib/ 3 boats spinnaker class)

Trophies – each participating junior gets a trophy

Entry – a nominal fee (i.e. $10) is paid

Future – Junior regatta, with 3 races at each event (Spring Classic/Cowan) becomes tradition and interest from other districts juniors in the region helps to build interest and participation.

A stand alone junior weekend regatta with coaching/clinic etc. all centered around

Lightning sailing, gains notoriety and participation of all junior sailors as an event not to be missed.

Concerns/Questions

Boats

owners will have to "lend" boats, junior parents should donate

Participation – are their enough juniors to pull this off?

Does this hurt/distract from main event? Can enough main event races be held Sat afternoon?

others????

Name Age Club Boat Number Position

Hanna Vieregg 10 PYC yes 15288 crew