WORLD COUNCIL MEETING

October 5, 2006

Charleston Harbor Resort & Marina

 

 

 

World Council Members Present:

Richard L. Tillman (President), Richard L. Tillman for Jean Bergman (Past President), Andres Santana (Vice President), Terry Beadle (Secretary), Patricia Manning (Treasurer), Todd Edwards (Chief Measurer), Richard L. Tillman (ISAF Representative), Paul-Jon Patin (Advisory Council Representative), Paul-Jon Patin for Eduardo Cordero (Advisory Council Representative), Ned Jones for Chip Johns (Builder Representative), Joel Furman (Membership Chairman), Bobby Stanton for Karen Stanton (US VI), Clinton Edwards (USA), Malcolm Smith (Bermuda), Alex Roose (Curacao), Alex Roose for Greta Dekker-Bruning (Holland), Guillermo Cappelleti for Raul Rachitoff (Peru), Sebastian Mera for Raul Aguayo (Dominican Republic), Oliver Rene-Corail for Dr. Henry Pied (Martinique), Donnie Martinborough (Bahamas), Sipke Stapert  (Bonaire), Stephen Smeulders for Richard W. van der Wal (Aruba), Carlos Abisambra for Monica de Escallon (Colombia), Paul-Jon Patin for Eduardo Cordero (Venezuela), Oskar Johansson for Dr. Richard lament (Canada), Andres Santana for Robert Rogers (Guatemala), Joaquin Pacheco (Uruguay).

 

Roll Call:

President Tillman called the meeting to order at 7:05 p.m.  Roll call was taken and it was determined that a quorum was present.  Each recognized NSCA was entitled to one vote.  The USA with 1507 members was entitled to three additional votes, making their total four votes.

 

Minutes of the Previous Meeting:

The minutes of the last meeting were approved as published in the Windward Leg.

 

Presidents Report:

President Tillman summarized the key points in his report (see attached Presidents report).

 

Vice Presidents Report:

Vice President Santana summarized the key points in his report (see attached Vice Presidents report).

 

Treasurer’s Report:

Treasurer Manning distributed and reviewed the Treasurers report (see attached Treasurers report).  The 2006 report contained finances through the end of August.

 

Some discussion took place concerning the costs of the Directory and ways to reduce it.  The Directory cost the Class $6,500 whereas the previous Directory cost the Class $5,600.  Some restrictions may be necessary to control the cost of the Directory.

 

Treasurer Manning also mentioned that the cost of the website is not shared by ISCA.  A motion was passed to have ISCA pay 25% of the website cost.

 

There was also considerable discussion about the need for a new website with added functionality.  Clinton Edwards is preparing a bid to be given to ISCA President.

 

A motion was passed to have the Treasurer’s report accepted.

 

Advisory Council Report:

Chairman Patin presented the items discussed in the Advisory Council meeting (see attached minutes of the Advisory Council).

 

A motion was passed to have the word “rope” deleted from the last sentence of Rule 3.7.1.  This change should have been made when the rope bridle was eliminated.

 

A lengthy discussion on digital compasses took place.  No action was taken.

 

Chairman Patin also mentioned the problem of bending masts and the action being taken by Vanguard and Stephen Smeulders.  Vanguard will supply 10 modified masts to the local Curacao dealer for testing at the 2007 South Americans in Curacao.

 

The recent improvements made to the Worlds Guidelines manual were also discussed.

 

He also mentioned a concern over citizenship and the need to add it to the Worlds Entry Form.

 

There is also some concern over membership at Worlds qualifying regattas.

 

Chairman Patin also mentioned that Chile was not ready to host the Worlds.

 

He also emphasized the importance of how we market the Class.

 

Membership Committee Report:

Chairperson Furman provided a membership report (see attached Membership report).  The International Sunfish Class is presently endowed with a total of nineteen (19) Recognized National Class Associations for which dues have been received for 2006, to wit; Aruba (21 Members), Bahamas (32), Bermuda (20), Bonaire (20), Canada (20), Colombia (35), Curacao (33), Dominican Republic (20), Ecuador (20), Guatemala (22), Holland (21), Martinique (28), New Zealand (5), Peru (20), Puerto Rico (20), US (1507), US Virgin Islands (20), Uruguay (5) and Venezuela (20) totaling 1889 Recognized Members.  Non-Recognized NSCA's include Antigua (5)(2004), Argentina (5)(2005), British Virgin Islands (5)(1994), Central America (15)(1993), Chile (20)(2002), Ireland (20)(2000), Italy (20)(2004), Mexico (5)(2001) and St. Maarten (20)(2003) totaling 115 Non-recognized Members.

ISAF Committee Report:

President Tillman has not been able to find someone to fill the ISAF Representative position so he took it upon himself to be the ISAF Representative.  Some discussion took place about the duties of the position.  This position needs to be filled.

 

Election of World Council Officers:

The following slate of Officers were elected:

Andres Santana              President

Paul-Jon Patin                Vice President

Terry Beadle                 Secretary

Patricia Manning           Treasurer

Todd Edwards               Measurer

 

There was some discussion about Paul-Jon Patin wearing two hats, that of Vice President and also Chairman of the Advisory Council.  President Tillman polled the group and the group indicated no problem with this.

 

Clinton Edwards (USA), Alex Roose (AHO, HOL) and Stephen Smeulders (ARU), expressed strong reservations about 1 person holding multiple senior officer positions. Subsequent to the election, these three asked for the resignation of the newly elected V.P., Paul-Jon Patin, from his Advisory Council chair position. The Advisory Council chair expressed a willingness to step down. Dick Tillman conducted an informal poll of the council. The majority felt he did not need to resign, so he chose not to resign.

 

Old Business:

Annual Dues – The financial condition of ISCA was discussed and no action was taken on this item.

 

Requirement for all NSCA’s to have an email address - The requirement of all NSCA’s to have a current email address was stressed again.  This is becoming increasingly important as we grow.  Please email the Class Office of any changes in your email addresses and/or your mailing addresses.

 

Guidelines Manual for World Championships – The current draft will be updated with all the comments received and sent to all World Council members for their review and comments.  Several suggestions were made and discussed.

 

A motion was made and passed to adopt the Worlds Guidelines manual.  Some discussion took place and it was decided that the manual should be updated following each World Championship.

 

New Business:

Venues for the 2007, 2008, 2009 and 2010 World Championships – President Tillman asked for Worlds hosts.  The tentative venues are as follows:

     2007 – Buffalo Canoe Club, Canada

     2008 – Brandt Beach, NJ USA

     2009 – Bahamas

     2010 – Curacao

 

Honorary Lifetime Memberships – Cindy Clifton was nominated for a lifetime membership because of her dedication to the Class.  The nomination was voted on and accepted.

 

Return of Deposit & Entry Fees for Cancelled Participants – Secretary Beadle asked the council how to handle the return of fees to cancelled Worlds participants.  A discussion took place.  A motion was passed to return the boat charter fee, less a 10% service fee, and to return the entry fee to the six competitors that notified the Class Office early enough so that it was able to find a replacement competitor.  The two competitors that did not show up and did not inform the Class Office will not receive a return of their boat charter fee nor their entry fee.

 

Appoint  NSCA Area Representatives - Secretary Beadle asked the group to consider appointing Area Representatives for the various portions of the country in order to better communications with the various NSCA’s.  Some discussion took place, but no action was taken.  The Council needs suggestions from the NSCA’s on how to improve the communications.

 

Reconsider Constitution Rule 7.5.1.1 – May 1 Date - A motion was made, discussed and amended to add a penalty fee of 10% for each month that the membership fee is not paid.  The amended motion passed.  The following sentence will be added at the end of Article 7.5.1.1: “Membership dues paid after May 1 will incur a late fee of 10% per month.”.

 

European and South American Representative Positions - President Tillman asked the council for volunteers to act as the European and South American Representatives.  No volunteers came forth.

 

Define Masters Age Categories - A group was appointed by President Tillman to define the various Masters age categories and title them for standardization purposes.  The group defined the following:

     40-49          Apprentice

     50-59     Master

     60-69          Grand Master

     70-79     Great Grand Master

     80-Up    Senior Master

A motion was made and passed to accept these age categories and titles.  They will be added to the Class Notice as published in the annual Regatta Schedule.

 

Review the Vision, Mission and Values Draft Prepared by Chris Williams - Chris Williams explained why the draft is important.  Another draft was prepared by Andres Santana, Eduardo Cordero and P-J Patin and titled “Strategic Planning”.  Andres explained the draft.  These drafts will be sent to all council members. President Tillman asked the council members to review and comment on them.

 

President Tillman also suggested that an Executive Committee be formed to meet monthly by phone or email to make decisions that are important to the Class.  Meeting annually slows down the progress of the Class.

 

“Sunfish Masts” - This item was handled by the Advisory Council as reported by Chairperson Patin.  Some additional discussion did take place and mainly echoed that report.  For additional information see the 2006 Advisory Council Report.

 

Content of Publications - This item refers to the language and content of our various publications.  Secretary Beadle received some comments from members about the caption under a picture depicting some class members “…enjoy legal adult substances in Amsterdam….”.  A note was made that we need to be more vigilant about the content of our publications.  We are a family organization.

 

Insurance - Vic Manning investigated securing insurance for the Class and its officers.  Manning gave a very comprehensive presentation on his results.  In summary he said that it is very expensive ($6,000 to $10,000) and requires our Class to meet a long list of requirements before an insurance company will even quote us a price.  He asked the council members to look into adding additional liability coverage to their existing insurance policy.  Other options were also discussed.

 

Pan Ams – Class Membership - Rick Rich Jeffries wrote:  The only requirement we have is that the sailor must be eligible to represent his country in the Olympics as judged by their National Olympic Class. Requiring class membership to be eligible to race is up to the National and International Class Associations.  If it is in your class rules, then each nation must enforce their rules. We do not want to have to police these rules at the Games.

 

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 10:25 p.m.

 

Respectfully submitted,

 

 

Terry A. Beadle

ISCA Secretary