What do the membership dues fund?

Hey, how much does it cost teams to race in the actual Alter Cup? (not the qualifiers)
I know the individuals racing have to pay for insurance which is pricey (although not having insurance would certainly be pricier). They have to pay for their own accomodations (unless a local is nice enough to house them). So what does USSailing actually provide other than their name- and the requirement that you must be a member to sail in it?

What do I get out of it?


p.s. that was slightly sarcastic.

How/why does it cost 500/boat? What does that 500$ pay for?

imho USSA should focus on those few activities that require national scope and ignore everything else to keep costs low.

What USSA should do:

1) Represent the USA at the international level. The primary purpose of this representation should be to policially constrain the power of IYRU.
2) Assure that a common set of rules are used across the country(this was why NAYRU was founded, originally each area had its own set of rules)
3) Provide trained appeals judges.
That's it. I think USSA should be able to accomplish this with a staff of 2 and a budget of <$1M.

What USSA should NOT do:
1) Run any regattas (including championships). Regattas are run by clubs and sanctioned by classes. By sponsoring regattas USSA is in direct conflict with its own constituents. The USSA ladder events are pale imitations of the real championships most competitors care about such as the <insert classs here> National Championships.
2) Teach sailing. Clubs and classes have great training programs. Once again USSA is competing with its own constituents, and doing a comparatively poor job of it.
3) Create a unified schedule. This is (and should be) a class and/or YRA issue.
4) Fund any sailors or sailing events out of membership dues. This includes ladder events, olympic events, olympic sailors, handicapped sailors, etc. If USSA wants to establish a seperately funded subsidiary that's fine, just don't use the dues or any facilities/equipment that is derived from dues. I find it offensive a mandatory tax I pay to race sailboats is used to pay other people to race sailboats.
5) Train judges and/or race committees (this should be the job of the YRA).
6) Fund the development of a handicaping system. The VPP/IMS/Americap debacle was disgraceful. USSA using hundreds of thousands of extorted dollars to purposely undercut establshed classes.

Now, there is a caveat that I'm not sure is well known (I just found it on the website by accident yesterday). Technically, all clubs that have a GA program are required to charge the "differential fee" to non-members.

There has to be something else included under this umbrella. It is completely unfathomable that is costs $1,900,000 to train and certify judges and ROs, "administer" handicaps and publish rules.

Mike