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Originally posted by Steve Milby

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Originally posted by Peregrine

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Originally posted by shnool

John... would you happen to have the results of the 2014 nationals?

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<font face="Comic Sans MS"><font size="2"><font color="navy">This is all they sent.
https://www.facebook.com/events/817434708296262

That no one traveled to compete hardly makes the regatta a "Nationals".
</font id="navy"></font id="size2"></font id="Comic Sans MS">

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Since 1983, we had a National Regatta every year except one, but we didn't have a National Regatta at all in 2012 or 2013 because the Vice Commodore failed to find a host club to sponsor it, and we wouldn't have had one in 2014 if the folks at Wayzata hadn't volunteered to host it late in the game, and we don't appear to have a host club lined up yet for 2015.

The by-laws used to provide that the organization of the national regatta was the duty of the Vice Commodore. Some Vice Commodore apparently didn't want to be burdened with that responsibility, and persuaded the officers to change that bylaw to relieve him of it. That's tantamount to covering one's behind in anticipation of one's future failure. Now, supposedly, nobody has that responsibility. The Vice Commodore insists that it isn't his duty, but he still kinda sorta posts all the notices relating to the regatta on this forum. I don't know what conversations have taken place between the Commodore and Vice Commodore, but I think it's a safe bet that Russ assigned that duty to someone, and that it was probably the Vice Commodore. If that's true, then denying that it is his responsibility, based on the changed bylaw, is disingenuous. If you want a job to be done, you have to asssign that duty to someone who will take the responsibility to do it. You can't have a rule that gives an officer a ready-made excuse for his failure.

Other changes have been made in the bylaws that have contributed to the problem. Art. VII., paragraph A declares that "The National Championship Regatta is an annual event hosted by a Fleet and that is sanctioned and sponsored by the Association. It is not an
Association event and, therefore, is not guaranteed to occur every year." Let me paraphrase that for you. "The National Regatta is hosted by a Fleet, so, if it doesn't take place, or is a failure, it's the Fleet's fault, not ours."

Art. VII establishes a method for soliciting bids from prospective sponsors. Originally, the National Association was free to solicit bids from <u>anyone</u> who <u>wanted</u> to sponsor it. Somebody apparently thought it would be a nice idea if our fleets were given the first opportunity to sponsor it, and, if no fleet stepped up to the plate, then it would be offered to anyone who wanted to sponsor it. The problem with that is that, our fleets rarely, if ever, agree to sponsor the regatta. Most of our national regattas have been sponsored by local clubs of all sorts, at the urging of an eager member. The result is that the delay in offering the regatta to non-fleet sponsors reduces their time to plan the event. Local clubs often begin planning their events a year in advance, and it is often late in their organizational process to plan a major event, like a national regatta. Moreover, local clubs often see the sponsorship of a national regatta as a daunting task, and they need to consider it awhile and discuss it among themselves before they are willing to make a committment to sponsor it.

I don't care who sponsors our national regatta. I'm thrilled to see anyone sponsor it, regardless of whether it's the sailing club of an individual member, or a Catalina 25 fleet.

It has never been an easy task for past Vice Commodores to find a sponsor for the national regatta, but they always managed, until the by-laws were changed in ways that provided obstacles to them, and until they provided the Vice Commodore a ready excuse for failure. As long as these foolish provisions and excuses for failure are eliminated from the bylaws, there is virtually no hope for the future of the national regatta. These obstacles need to be eliminated.

There was a momentum established by the long chain of C25 national regattas. That momentum was accompanied by a degree of excitement among the members each year. That excitement was a key factor in helping to find a sponsor for the event each year. Members either wanted to race their own boat in it, or crew for someone else. That momentum has been lost, and I don't know whether that momentum and excitement can ever be regained, but they certainly won't be regained under the "guidance" of the current Vice Commodore, and under the current bylaws.

If you haven't heard the results of this year's national regatta, it's not the Vice Commodore's fault. It's because "This is all they sent me."
Blame "them," not "me."

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Originally posted by Derek Crawford

His intentions are far more honorable than yours.
John, are you so much of a narcissistic personality that you cannot accept the fact that not one person on this Forum agrees with you. Just stop irritating and/or angering everyone and just shut up, or even better, leave the Forum - we really do not need you and your negativity here.

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Originally posted by Derek Crawford

John you are so delusional it is becoming a tragedy that you have become so mentally unhinged that an intelligent discourse with you is now impossible. Please try to accept a small portion of reality and drop this whole matter - it's not going anywhere.

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Originally posted by Commodore

I received a complaint about this post.
The complaint is not from one of the principles who have posted or replied.

I think "2014" has run it's course, so spend some time outdoors and go sailing.

Russ Johnson
Commodore

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Originally posted by islander

Complaint? Wow this is like watching a train wreck.

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Originally posted by shnool

I think the train wreck is watching the death of an association. Nothing good is happening with any of this, just my $0.02, from a former owner, and former association member, now part of the admiralty.

For the record, the S2 association isn't very far behind, again, just my opinion.

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Originally posted by Stinkpotter

I don't see anything dying here... In the past year, some 250 different users posted to the forum. About 50 of them were new to the forum during the year. No telling how many others are lurking out there, but the Admiralty, including folks like Bill Holcomb, Derek Crawford, Frank Hopper, Stew Jackson, Steve Milby, and yours truly have hung around for some reason... The association seems about the same now as about 17 years ago when I first arrived--primarily a web-based support group with some camaraderie thrown in. My recollection during those years, with the exception of one National Regatta on Lake Erie that a few boats traveled to, is that each "Nationals" was basically a local event, and five boats was considered a success--hardly like J-24 or C-22 Nationals, but for obvious reasons. In the sailing Mecca of San Diego, it was two boats--one was disqualified by the other for letting somebody other than the owner (our Commodore at the time) take the tiller so he could do something with a sail. So the "National Championship" was won by a single, silly DQ.

From what I've seen over the years, this is the most active, congenial, supportive model-based association in sailing. Many owners don't participate (or even know about it), but neither do they participate in the Ford 150 Owners' Association (or similar). For them, the passion isn't there...

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