C34IA 2006 Officer Meeting Notes

[Stu Jackson]

March 14, 2006

International Catalina 34 Association Year 2006 Annual Officers Meeting

Dear Catalina 34 International Association Members, Officers and Board Members;

The Annual Meeting of the Catalina 34 International Association Officers was held via telephone conference call on Monday, February 27, 2006, 9:00 P.M.  Eastern Standard Time, 6:00 P.M. Pacific Standard Time.

The 2006 International Officers are listed after these meeting notes and were duly elected by a majority of Board (Past Commodores and Fleet Captains) in accordance with our Constitution.  Participants in this teleconference included all Officers listed except for Steve Lyle, Technical Editor, and Dave Sanner, our new Webmaster, appointed by Commodore Jon Arck.

MEETING NOTES - Officers Reports and Discussions

COMMODORE – Jon Arck - Fleet 1

1.   Introduction of New Officers - Jon introduced Dave Sanner (Fleet 1) as the new webmaster.  Dave was unavailable for the meeting because of a new baby due to arrive momentarily.  Jon noted that he would be working out the details of the transfer from Phil to Dave, and would be helping with the Tech Notes and some other functions during the transfer.

2.   Next National Regatta – A National Regatta will be held this year in San Francisco. The dates are September 22-24, 2006, with a four race schedule, one on Friday, two on Saturday and one on Sunday.  Dave Davis reported that Chris Owen of Fleet 1 is the Chairman of the Race Committee.  The venue is the Golden Gate Yacht Club, right on the waterfront on San Francisco Bay.  Dave Davis and George Bean will coordinate to publish the Notice of Race to Jim Moe for publication in the May issue of Mainsheet magazine,.  George will make announcements on the C34 Website Forum Message Board.  George will encourage out-of-towners to join the local fleet participants.  Dave Davis noted that this is sixth Nationals to be held in San Francisco.

3.   Other
a.   Jon reported on his visit to the Miami Boat Show, noting that there was no evidence of Catalina's recognition of the 20th Anniversary of the C34 production.
b.   Jon recommended attention to the April Oakland Boat Show and suggested that local C34 members attend and promote with appropriate activities.


VICE COMMODORE – Gene Norris

1.   Plans and Comments – Gene was introduced by Jon as the new Vice Commodore. Gene's experience includes service as Fleet Captain for two terms in Fleet 12 in the Chesapeake fleet.  He thanked Tidewater Marine for turning him on to the C34IA and appreciated his ability to give back to the organization.  Gene's activities for the upcoming year are
a.   Followup with new San Diego Fleet.
i.   Forward Fleet Formation package
ii.   Followup with San Diego fleet officers
iii.   Encourage San Diego Fleet captain to write a Fleet News for Mainsheet and submit it to Jim Moe for publication
iv.   Publish updates in Mainsheet Officers messages
b.   Potential fleet formation in St. Petersburg Florida area.
i.   Stu to send Gene a list of members in the 337xx area code

2.   Fleet Formation Chain of Command – Stu noted that Fleet Formation is the responsibility of the Vice Commodore, while written articles from Fleet Captains,  Fleet Officers and Board members should all go through and directly to Jim Moe.

3.   Vice Commodore Flag – Jon will check with Gene Regan, former Vice Commodore and arrange to send it to Gene Norris.


SECRETARY  Stu Jackson   Fleet 1

1.   Report on Membership – 695 members down from a high of 730 two years ago, out of 1749 C34 boats built, as reported to us by Catalina Yachts.  Membership remains steady around the 700 mark, although with new boats built at the rate of one a week, we would expect membership to increase by 50 a year.   Stu noted his observations that when older boats are sold they either are private sales or to a yacht broker.  In either case it could well be that the new owners of older boats are not being advised of the existence of the C34IA.  We are also noticing an increase in new visitors to the Message Board of the Forum.  Accordingly, we will implement two activities:  one, Stu will prepare a "New Forum Members Welcome Note" (Stu noted that much this text is already available as part of his secretary's standard letters); two, Jon, Stu, Phil and Dave Sanner will continue to work on automating the "new members have been added" feature of the Forum portion of the website to give Stu the ability to contact new Message Board members directly from their email addresses.  Phil noted that he had recently provided Stu with administrative functions on the website.

2.   Other
a.   Stu thanked Bill Jenks for his contributions as Past Commodore and Treasurer as well as his preparation of the Catalina 34 Handbook; Phil Imhof for his service as Association Editor, Treasurer and Webmaster; and Jim Moe for the great February 2005 Mainsheet issue which highlighted C34s, with a cover photograph and a long destinations article from Martin Johnson in England. 
b.   Stu noted that he should have provided Bill with a ballot for the 2006 Officers slate in Bill's role as a Past Commodore.  Bill noted that this is one of the items he raised in his review of the Constitution in the draft of his C34 Handbook.  Agreed that Stu and Bill would continue to work on the Handbook.
c.   C36 CD-ROMs – At the request of one C34IA member, Stu has been discussing the ability of C34 and C36 IA members to be able to purchase each others CD-ROMs.  Avoidance of duplication of information on the CDs makes sense, as there are many similarities between our two boats.  Stu will followup with the C36 officers.


TREASURER -  Bill Jenks

1.   Treasury Status – Bill distributed his financial report.  The report was structured like a Balance Sheet showing past year activities and projections for the coming year.  The 2005 balance was a loss of $960 compared to a loss of $2,033 for the earlier 2004 year. Bill reported on the loss of income from the theft from the post office.  His projections include a loss of $2,000 from this theft.  Projections for 2006 is an operational loss of $3,825, which would leave a projected balance of only $5,152 in the treasury, compared to a balance of $12,000 for 2003, $10,000 for 2004 and $9,000 for 2005.  Stu noted that he has checks not yet sent to Bill of $1,907, of which $1,094 are for replacement checks for the theft, $813 for renewals since the theft.  This wouldn't change the projections.
a.   Bill reported that he had already sent one note out to all of the members whose checks were stolen.  About a third have responded, based on Stu's receipts, including Catalina Yachts.  [In an earlier conversation, Stu had  agreed with Bill to advise Bill when checks are being sent so Bill can check his post office as soon as possible.]
b.   Agreed that Bill would send a second note out to all of those who had their checks stolen. The note will include a thanks to those who have already sent their replacement checks, and a reminder to those who are still working on their replacements.
c.   Bill and Jon will draft a note to be published in Mainsheet to encourage Fleet members to join the C34IA.  Draft to be sent to Officers for review and comment.

2.   The Balance Statement was accepted as submitted.

3.   Insurance Coverage – Insurance rates are prohibitive for the regatta. 

4.   Fleet Support – Extensive discussion about the advantages of Fleet Support occurred.  Recent growth of fleets (#3 Barnegat Bay NJ, #8 Emerald Coast FL and #13 Lake Lanier GA) reflect interest in local people assembling for mutual pursuits related to C34s and personal group activities that are supported by financial aid by the Association as part of its Constitutional responsibilities: Article I I, Item 8, "Charting local fleets to promote maximum participation in Catalina 34 International Association and Fleet activities," and Item 1, "Promoting cruising and social activities."  Bill and Jon to draft a note to be published in Mainsheet to encourage Fleet members to join the C34IA, noting the many Fleet functions are performed "with the support" of the C34IA financially; Fleet Captains should be encouraged to mention this in their reports.  Fleet members should be encouraged to join the C34IA.

5.   C34IA Dues – Because of the increase in the cost of Mainsheet, and projected possible future increases, and to keep the treasury solvent to maintain ongoing fiscal responsibilities for fleet support, regatta support, new fleet support and expenses including the website, dues will increase to $25/$45.


CHIEF MEASURER - George Bean - Fleet 1

1.   Plans and Comments – George reported that Fleet One will hold a National Regatta in September.  George expressed his concern about insurance coverage.  Dave Davis noted that his understanding is that there are two sides to the insurance: land and ocean.  Land would be covered by the Golden Gate Yacht Club, ocean by individual boat owners.  Jon will check on US Sailing Insurance for individual regattas.  Insurance rates have been growing exponentially in the past few years.  George and Dave Davis will prepare a Notice of Race for publication in the Mainsheet May 2006 issue.

2.   Racing Rules – Dave Davis and George will work to develop a Racing Rules for the Catalina Handbook.


WEBMASTER  Phil Imhof

1.   Plans and Comments – Phil reported transforming to Dave Sanner, effective the first of March 2006.
2.   Reissue of CD-ROM – I reported that we have new copies of the CD and have at least a year's supply.  Phil advised that a new CD would not be able to include the entire contents of the Message Board.  Agreed to hold off on updating for another year.  Stu reported that the C36 Association has updated their CD-ROMs which are available to C34 members.  Since many of the same systems are on both boats, it would not make sense to duplicate information.  Agreed to offer the C34 CD-ROMs to C36 owners at $10 per unit.
3.   Emails – Phil has set up gMail addresses.  He noted that instructions are on the Forum under Officers.  Store and Map Forum functions – Phil reported high interest in the mapping function, and noted that the store is available.
4.   Pictures on the Message Board – Phil has kept the file size small for dialup users, so PDF file sizes have to kept within a certain size.  More space is available and pictures could be improved.
5.   Tech Notes Online on the Forum – Phil advised that access is limited.  Details of administrative access to be reviewed offline with Jon and Stu.


TECHNICAL EDITOR Steve Lyle; Associate Editor & Ron Hill - Fleet 12

1.   No report

2.   Tech Notes Online – Noted that November 2005 and February 2006 are not posted.  Jon to ask Steve to send electronic file data to Ray Irvine for posting.


MAINSHEET EDITOR Jim Moe

1.   Plans and Comments – Jim repeated his requests for timely submission of articles including Officers and Fleet Captains.

2.   Scanning of Tech Notes for Tech Notes Online  & Coordination with Technical Editor
a.   Additional effort should be made to improve the quality of the Tech Notes Online.  Based on last years Officers Meeting, direct conversion should be made.  Ray Irvine, Fleet 1 Captain has volunteered to do this.
b.   Jim very clearly stated that NO, repeat, NO publication of ANY material of any kind can be made on the website before it is published in Mainsheet.  This has been clear since the start of publication.

3.   Mainsheet Costs - Jim noted that the Mainsheet costs are most likely going to continue to rise with the switch to all color production.

4.   Association Editor Coordinator
a.   All material for publication in Mainsheet magazine should be coordinated and sent to the Association Editor for publication.  This includes the material developed by the Technical Editor.  Jim will discuss with Steve.
b.   Stu requested that Jim to continue to work with Steve to make technical material available for publication on the website, after publication in Mainsheet, of all new (not older) Tech Notes Online from now on and other material published, like material in the February 2006 Destinations section and older material.  He noted that the reason is to capture the color photographs, since the current scanning procedures lose the quality of the originals.
c.   Note was made that the November 2005 and February 2006 Tech Notes have not yet been posted online.



SUMMARY – Motions Made

1.   C34IA Dues
a.   To raise dues FROM $20 one year $36 two years TO $25 one year $45 two years
i)   Motion carried
ii)   Reflects need to support increased cost of Mainsheet magazine

2.   Fleet Support
a.   To provide Fleet Support in the amount of $20 per Fleet member as in past years
i)   Motion not carried
b.   To provide Fleet Support in the amount of $15 per Fleet member as of April 1, 2006
i)   Motion carried
ii)   Mention needs to be made of the theft problem; would like to have done more
iii)   Feedback should be encouraged from Fleet Captains to advise the C34IA Officers as to how the money was used for attracting new members to the C34IA, and reporting C34IA Fleet Support in their Mainsheet stories

3.   2006 National Regatta Support
a.   Motion to provide $100 per boat up to 15 boats
i)   Motion carried
ii)   Noted Fleet 1 will be charging from $70 to $90 for entry fee

4.   To prepare ballots for Constitutional Amendments for
a.   Joint signatures for checking account to add Commodore
i)   Accepted with modifications to have commodore "...appoint an acting treasurer among the existing officers until the post is filled."
b.   Honorarium for Secretary
c.   Next step is for the secretary to prepare the ballots for issue to the Board (Fleet Captains and Past Commodores)

Jim Moe left at 7:50 p.m.; Gene Norris left at 8:35 p.m.  Meeting adjourned at 9:25 p.m. (All times West Coast Standard)

2006 International Officers

2006 Commodore Jon Arck (Fleet 1) (925) 942-0888
2005 Commodore
2004 Vice-Commodore
#1346
jonarck@kelarc.com

PAST COMMODORES Dave Davis (#707)(Fleet 1)   (650) 948?3461 
Davis_707@yahoo.com (Dave Davis)
Bob Bierly (804) 453?5335 (C380)
bojabierly2@aol.com (Bob Bierly)

2006 Vice-Commodore Gene Norris
Former Fleet 12 Captain
#1255
e_norris@verizon.net

2006 Secretary Stu Jackson (Fleet 1) (510) 208-1906
1999-2005 Secretary
#224
mraquaq@aol.com

2006 Treasurer Bill Jenks (360) 832?8760
2005 Treasurer
2003&4 Past Commodore
#1484
Jenks@mashell.com

2006 Chief Measurer - George Bean  (408) 473-5068 (office)
2003-2005 Chief Measurer
#1476
george.t.bean@lmco.com (George Bean)

2006 Mainsheet Editor Jim Moe  (763) 786?6609
2004 & 5 Mainsheet Editor
#976
jmoe@att.net


2005 Webmaster Phil Imhof (631) 8928-6661
(non-voting)
2004 & 2005 Webmaster
2003 & 2004 Treasurer
2001 & 2002 Association Editor
#430
Excalibur@mssa.org

2006 Webmaster  Dave Sanner (775-588-6699)
Fleet 1
(non-voting)
#611
c34webmaster@gmail.com

2006 Technical Editor  Steve Lyle (585) 425?9853
2004 & 2005 Technical Editor 
#75
Slyle1@rochester.rr.com

2006  Associate Technical Editor Ron Hill (540) 891-5297
(non-voting)
2004 & 2005  Associate Technical Editor
Past Technical Editor
#788
ronphylhill@adelphia.net