2021 505 North American – Annual General Meeting (AGM)
Wednesday, September 29 @ 15:00 PDT
Officers and Attendees:
President – Reeve Dunne
Vice President – Paul Von Grey
Treasurer – Jeff Nelson
National Measurer – Russell Miller
Information Officer – Dave Kirkpatrick
Secretary – Chris Pittack (absent but via phone)
There were 40 participants that joined the meeting including the officers.
Reeve Dunne (Class President) opened the meeting with a brief summary of the year.
- The class continues to show strength given the global pandemic and limited number of events
- Very happy to have a North American Championship in 2021 at all
- Thank you to the Newport fleet for hosting NA’s and their hard work in preparation
- Special shout out to Sail Newport, Duane and Amy for help organizing
- Executive Committee:
- Jeff Nelson’s term expired but has agreed to sit another term
- Paul Von Grey’s term expired and will step down
- Blaine Pedlow was nominated and unanimously voted in as PVG’s replacement
Jeff Nelson (Treasurer) provided an update on the class’ financial standing.
- The class’ financial standing remained strong in 2021
- Revenue and expenditures both slowed due to fewer events
- Currently 100% of class revenue is generated via dues
- Class collected some $8600 in dues in 2019 while receiving approximately $3600 in 2020
- Reminder to class to please pay dues even though you are not attending a national events
- Annual Dues Auto Renew
- Plan is to change Clubspot to auto-renew/charge members annual dues every January
- January 2022 – class wide e-mail will go out announcing the change
- Young Team Subsidy for NA’s
- Goal: new sailor recruitment/support of younger class sailors
- 2020 $1000 anonymous donation to young team went unused
- $1000 “young team subsidy” (YTS) will be made available for teams attending 2022 NA’s
- Group consensus was that the selection process for YTS for 2020 NA’s was good and should be utilized again in February 2022
- Straw poll indicated class preference for BOTH sailors being of college age
- Financial Overview:
- Beginning Cash Balance: $19,467
- Dues/Donations: $ 4,546
- Expenses: $ 1,069
- Ending Cash Balance: $22,943
- Ending Cash Balance does not include $1000 west coast container subsidy yet to be paid
Paul Von Grey (Vice President) provided an update on executive committee meetings
- Leadership committee was focused on championships where possible. NA’s, ECC’s & PCC’s.
- Planning was limited given the Covid-19 pandemic but highlighted that the leadership team made very conservative decisions to keep the fleet safe and the brand strong.
- Reminded the class that participation in PCC’s, ECC’s and/or NA’s requires class membership dues be up to date. Also reminded folks that this is written into the class constitution.
- Dave Cahn Award –
- Dennis Surtees Award –
Russell Miller (Measurer) provided an updated
- No new hulls measured in 2021
- No reweigh or certificate replacement requests
- 2021 NA’s measurement went smoothly – thank you to Duane and Amy
- 5 out of 30 boats at NA’s needed some measurement attention
- Thank you to regional measurers
- Call for measurer practice sails – regional measurers can hone their craft
- Regional Certified Scales
- Discussion on class to provided east coast and west coast certified scale?
- Consensus – certified scales are easier to rent than buy and maintain
- Aaron Ross has possession of west coast scale
- Reminder that the boat owner is responsible to keep their boats class legal
Dave Kirkpatrick (Information Officer) asked for increased digital engagement and utilization of the new platform.
- New website up and running – need to increase engagement on social media including faster regatta reports and video footage
- Utilize the new platform to drive engagement and promotion
- Podcasts are very popular
- Requested that the team work more closely with US Sailing on timely regatta reports
- Asked for everyone’s help in generating content and traffic
2022 and 2023 North American Championships: Ethan Bixby and Mike Holt provided updates on Clearwater and Santa Cruz
- 2022 NA’s in Clearwater, FL
- Clearwater is considered the best place to sail in Florida
- Venue is casual, relaxed and has received multiple enthusiastic endorsements
- Race course is a short, very pleasant sail from launch point
- Mid-winters will be held Feb. 12 and 13
- Practice days will be Feb. 14 and 15
- NA’s will be held Feb 16 (measurement day) thru 20
- 2023 NA’s in Santa Cruz, CA
- World Championships will in Santa Cruz in 2023
- Pre-Worlds will be considered as NA’s
- Sail numbers must match hull number for both events
- IF sail number is different than hull number boat must file an application with the Race Committee
Regional Reports:
Region One: focused on acquiring new sailors and called out that the region had a couple new people join the fleet
Region Two: reported that they were excited and looking forward to mid-winters and NA’s in Clearwater. Also called out that 2021 NA’s were the largest 5o5 event in North America this year. Lastly, the region was focused on retaining its members while continually looking for new sailors to join the fleet.
Region Five: mentioned that covid had slowed the frequency of sailing down slightly but the Santa Cruz and San Francisco (Team Norte) contingents were practicing thru out the pandemic. The Northern Region representative also mentioned that there was fleet forming on/near Lake Tahoe but details remained light.
The Southern Region noted that while regatta activity was down Team Tuesday was going STRONG. Mr. Hamlin mentioned that working from home seemed to have brought out more participants. Mr. Hamlin personally donated 4 boats for people to use. Mr Hamlin also reiterated that a permanent mark, consistent and repeating schedule and loaner boats were the keys to driving participation. Lastly it was asked whether ABYC would consider hosting 2024 NA’s? Paul Von Grey will send out an online survey to membership to gauge interest.
Region Six: reported that the Bellingham fleet continued to overachieve. Of particular note was the annual DJOD regatta in Bellingham which included 13 boats from all over the PNW including Oregon. While the Seattle Fleet seems to be taking a breather the camaraderie and enthusiasm in Bellingham is infectious with several Seattle boats now being kept in Bellingham. The region also noted that with 2023 Santa Cruz Worlds not that far away several young teams have purchased boats and are preparing for 2023. The Bellingham fleet welcomed 3 new boats to their ranks as well as a new loaner boat. Lastly the region called out that 50% of the sailor out of Bellingham are under 30 years of age.
New Business:
It was noted that due to travel restrictions no Canadian boats attended NA’s this year. US members wanted to recognize their brethren north of the boarder for making every effort to attend. We look forward to seeing them again in Clearwater in February.
Craig Thompson has be granted an Ovington distributorship and wanted it to be known that if anyone is looking for a new boat to please contact him directly.
END OF MEETING