"Today, its authority comes instead from an act of Congress (the Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act of 1978) and a much broader charter to serve America's sailors directly." I think this is where the wheels come off your argument, you're collecting membership fees under guise of the "broader charter" and not dealing with the beach cat community in good faith. It appears to me the old prejudice against multihulls persists.

In any case, the manner of electing the board and officers smells. It is hard for me to rationalize that very closed system with my understanding of the law of the land i.e. one man one vote. The whole thing smells.

"The Act requires that active athletes (defined as amateur athletes who have represented the United States in international amateur competition within the last ten years) must hold 20 percent of the voting power of any board or committee in an NGB". I think this deserves a closer look.