USTRC Committee Meeting Minutes

USTRC Committee Meeting Minutes 12/14/09

Call began at 4 pm PST/7 pm EST Attendees: Glenn Oliver, Buttons Padin, Joel Hanneman, Tom Duggan, Ted Ferrarone, Frank Ustach, Danielle Richards, Bruce Cook - A quorum was present (8 of 14)

Old Business –  2009 Championship Summary & Lessons-learned o Need Dedicated PR – end of day results and reporting – need the host club to have someone doing daily write-ups. o Disappointment from some sailors in terms of less on-shore activities o Sail Groove made a significant contribution in term of real-time coverage via the web – Chris Love – was arranged for by US SAILING. His only compensation was room and board…maybe a ticket to out-of-town events. o Beverly YC ran a great event, few logistical problems, Tabor Academy resources were a fantastic support. o May not have participation by Sandra Atkins in 2010 so need to have options for event format determined well in advance; less response time for changes.

New Business –  2010 Championship Status o The host contact with Seattle YC was signed and returned to US SAILING just after the AGM. This is 6 months after BYC became 2009 host (May 2009); leaves less time for event planning, search for sponsorships, etc. o Hosts, Jen Glass (Morgan) and Ben Glass know about team racing so planning should not be impacted by late start o Draft budget is due just after new year. SYC has draft NOR; should be released mid-January o Laser Performance will be providing 18 boats and Seattle YC will make 6 to 12 club boat available to supplement the racing fleet. Event should probably stay with 24 total plus a couple of spares as more boast does not always equate to more racing. Target event will be 24 boats with 16 teams. o Seattle YC wishes to have a team in the event. Past policies allow for this but we need to make sure club knows that there will be an expectation the team is competitive since event is slated as a qualifier for world championship.

 2011 ISAF World Team Race Championship qualifier o World Champs is tentatively Scheduled for 8/23 - 8/27/11 in Ireland. Opportunity exists to set 2011 USTRC for late July as qualifier but the committee noted that teams have needed more than a month to raise funds to underwrite their regatta expenses. USTRC Committee Meeting Minutes 12/14/09

As such, although it would be a full year ahead of the actual championship, using 2010 USTRC as the qualifier provides an acceptable alternative. Need to decide and make NOR accordingly. o Intended boats are TR 3.2s, similar to a Firefly, but they have not been made yet. o 2010 USTRC will be world champs qualifier, (Buttons motion, Tom Second) unanimous o Discussion on allowing foreign teams to compete was tabled for further discussion. The issue is that the event will be the US world qualifier and a potential exists for a foreign team to knock out a US team from advancing in the racing rounds. The decision on allowing foreign teams to participate in the 2011 USTRC will be made during a mid-January committee conference call.

 2011 and Future Hosts o No bids presently for 2011. Have feelers out at Sarasota and Chicago YC/Chicago Match Race Center. Southern YC has also been contacted. o Houston YC may be interested. o Glenn and/or the Event Host subcommittee will follow-up with clubs noted o Larchmont YC has indicated a desire to bid for 2012

 The following agenda items were tabled due to time limitations o Present Boat Selection Limitations o Championship Event Structure o Nominal Event Budget o Future Boat Selection o Competitor Selection

 Subcommittees o Many problems to tackle in next 12-18 months. Whole committee can't focus on complete package; inefficient. Want to set subcommittee to work on specific issues, develop suggested solution with alternate and bring back to full committee. o The following subcommittees were started with identified members; Other missing members will be polled for choice of committee o Competitor Survey (questions, implementation) . Buttons . Ted . Joel USTRC Committee Meeting Minutes 12/14/09

o Boat Selection & Sail Replacement . Danielle . Suggest two additional members o Event Hosts 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015 . Tom . Glenn . Bryan o Competitor Selection . None yet, suggest 3-5 members . Active competitors should probably not participate on this committee. In certain circumstances it may be prudent to allow active competitors on this subcommittee, but primarily for information gathering. Even involvement in defining the process might lead to a perception by outsiders that they are gaining an advantage over non-members sailors. More discussion may be warranted. o Event Sponsorship – advising host clubs to opportunities and approaches to generate local sponsorships . Buttons . Frank . Third member??

*Next Meeting tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, January 13th at 4 pm PST/7pm EST