Got this email this morning and could not really give him an answer.
"Dear Rick,
I have been asked by the Shark fleet to find out what NAMSA has to share with us. I have been a proponent of the organization but I have had nothing to report. Last year the annual meeting was not held and I was so looking foward to it. Do you have anything for me?
Jerry Pattenaude"
For starters, I hope we can get as many of the Board to come to the NAMSA Tradewinds Regatta in January. There I think we should do at least two things:
1) At registration, have a NAMSA sign up as well. And hopefully have some sort of literature to hand out to them at the sign up
2) We must have an annual meeting. Last year we blew it off for lack of attendance.
It would be nice if each Board and/or Committee Chair could give a report. If not at the meeting, send me a letter prior to the meeting.
At this point, it would be nice to know what the following folks are doing:
Rick White, Pres.
Jake Kohl,
Tim Johnson, Secretary
Robert Earl Blackington, Treasurer
Kirt Simmons, (Canadian Advisor):
Peter Wright, Associates Charter Council Assistants (Canada)
Caleb Tarleton, Associates Charter Council Assistants (NAHCA Advisor)
Miles Moore, disAbled Sailing Committee
Jay Roth, Insurance Committee Chairman
Andrea Livingston, Youth Sailing Committee Chairperson
Sean McQuilken, Youth Sailing Committee Youth Advisor
We also need to address the possible need for any additional committees that would help us get going in the right direction.
Thanks for your reponses,
Rick
Rick-
It might help if there was a meeting in the middle of the USA instead of Key Largo. For some its not worth the time or expense to travel there. Although I am thinking about participating if you allow boats over 21'LWL.
To some NAMSA is a "FLA organization looking for money to support their events". A direct quote from an Fboater at the nationals this year. I didn't approach him about joining but he had been contacted. Another quote was "WHY do we need another org?" I asked them to think about it.
I asked on the NAMSA web site for grapics that could be put on my mainsail and got the response I will get back to you... I thought sailing my F25c around with a sticker on the main might generate some interest but no decal was provided and I ended up getting a bad vial of insulin and almost didn't make it back to Texas.
Maybe NAMSA should be changed to NACSA [C=catamaran].
Its very difficult get people motivated to participate in something other than a Hobie event here. I have been told the last two years its "Hobie Only". There's a race tomorrow thats open but they don't any boats other than Hobies [arrogantly said by the lady]. "You would be sailing by yourself". Why don't you come out and help [grunt work]?
thats all I have because I haven't thought about namsa since April, until your email today.
thom
For those interested,
Rick and I have worked on and off to attempt getting insurance coverage for a variety of exposures (regatta sponsorship, directors & officers, General Liability). Due to the small size of NAMSA, it is unlikely that we will find things more competitive or tailored for sailing than the US Sailing policies. Of course, these are relatively expensive for a fledgling group like ourselves, which may reduce operating capital for what is needed - marketing and services.
While insurance is one route, there may be other options we can explore to reduce our risk, and therefore insurance requirements until we grow to a point where we want to "take the leap". For instance:
1) NAMSA could be structured as an LLC or something of the sort. I am unfamiliar with the intricacies of this type of business arrangement, but I do know that it isolates the personal assets of its members from those of the corporation. Since NAMSA has few assets, this could shield the directors/officers in a small way. Nigel Pitt had someone do this for the organizers of Spring Fever up there in GA.
2) Act in advisory capacity. We may not need to officially sanction events yet (but that is up to the directors), but we could offer expertise or guidance on:
a) How to organize, plan, set-up, market and run a successful regatta
b) RC and PRO training
c) Sailing and racing training classes that we would recommend
These items could be accomplished at a low cost, through a newsletter, secure internet site, or even a seminar if the idea really took off. I'm sure the organizers would be happy to recommend us to others if we were helpful in their running of a successful regatta.
In addition, as we grow, we could offer:
a)A forum or master schedule by area. The current NOR on this site is a good start, and I like the calendar on www.1design.net because of it's calendar format. I'm sure the logistics may be difficult, but we do have quite a bit of talent in this group
b) negotiating power for regatta supplies - T-shirts, trinkets, etc. for the registration packets as well as actual race supplies (bouys, class flags, etc.). Hey, how about designing fleet/class flags? I'm sure if we had one guy making T-shirts for an area (and the organizers submit their own designs), we could score some volume discount for the members..
c) Provide information (to US Sailing and memebers) on provisional ratings, Portsmouth, etc. that everyone seems to be asking about on the open forum index..
I think that this would establish our involvement in the sport while reducing our actual liablity until we can get running with enough assets and participation to do our own thing.
Your thoughts?
Hi Jay,
Don't think you got my latest email -- got bounced I believe. Could you drop me an email generically so I can resend what I sent the other day.
It is about the insurance thing. US Sailing invited the Intl Wave Class Assn insurance to cover events for any Wave Sanctioned Event for about $300 for the year.
Seems there is not much difference in the eyes of US Sailing whether it is NAMSA or IWCA.
On the other stuff, we have lost our spark this past year and need to get this group back together again, somehow. As you said, we have some very talented folks with some great ideas.
With Tradewinds coming in January it could be a great venue to get as many of us together as possible. I hope to have more time at the next one (I will only be in charge of the running the races, not the whole thing) and hopefully we can have a good meeting -- hopefully Saturday after racing.
Rick