US
Multihull
Championship
 An official bid for 2010 has not been received.
 The cost of leasing boats is increasing and some of the principle of the Hoyt Jolly fund was used for the 2009 boats (leasing). Continued use of the principle is not recommended by the Championship Chair nor the Championship Director.
 Greatly valued by the multihull sailors.
 The cost of leasing boats may lead us to new ways to cover expenses as well as how we manage the regatta.
 The Championship does not attract national sponsors so we must work on marketing to support each year’s championships.
 Stronger communication between this committee and US SAILING is very much needed.

And your point is...

How interested and committed are the sailors in all of the USSA Area's to supporting the championship and their regional qualifiers?

This answer probably goes a long way to addressing the funding short fall. I agree that the Alter Committee should not draw down the principle.

Where do we stand?

A quick check around the eastern half of the country
Area A & B Not Scheduled
Area C Scheduled Octber, NOR in draft from
Area D North ?? TBA
Area D South Scheduled and NOR Published
Area E Scheduled and NOR Published

In Area C, it's been hard to generate lots of enthusiasm for the event (attendance is up and down) The best way to describe the attitude is that "It's our duty to run a qualifier"

We have yet a new plan with West River Sailing Club running it this year using, the Pumpkin Patch Regatta as the Area C .

Everyone knows that in all things in life, drawing down principal has the potential to cause long-term demise, but what we really need are solutions.

Mike

Well... a simple solution is to just charge the 20 participants what the cost of the event is over and above the fund contribution.

Getting each OD class in each area to strongly support the multi-class championship/Qualifier with 5 boats of each OD class competing and a funding campaign based on this kind of sailor support would be another.

Getting support for any solution... Priceless

Getting a national sponsor would be a great idea, but seems to be an elusive goal.

Mike

That's because most people suck at marketing.

I'm confused, didn't someone here say that marketing actually requires sucking?

$5 from regatta entry fee to be contributed toward Area qualifier entry from that region?

So my regatta fee (should I enter) would be $35 instead of $30 for whatever event, and $5 would be passed on to the Area qualifier to offset the cost?

I'm going to bite, I guess I'm just way to curious with this...


Where are you going with this?


Multi-hull sailors have declined in certain areas of the US to support the Alter cup?

It costs too much money?


Just complaining about the way things are being run?


I'm not trying to be an butt, I'm just curious to where you are going with this.


It seems that some of these issues have been covered before?

yes. But it's raining and I can't get into the garden.

I'm not the Chair and haven't been in some time, but I can lend some perspective. When I got the job from Jamie Diamond years ago, it had been a bad year for US SAILING investment funds. We were told our fund (the Hoyt-Jolley Fund, primarily established with a large donation from Bill Jolley) had lost money - we still elected to conduct a championship and we used principle from the fund to do so. We tried that year to remove the fund from US SAILING control - we felt the money should be put into some sort of fund that we had direct control of so we could move to more conservative preservation investments when the committee felt it was prudent. We sat down with the US SAILING folks and they explained that sometimes investments lost money, and if we pulled out we were only locking in the loss rather than maintaining a longer term outlook. We reluctantly accepted the fact that many different restricted funds were lumped together and invested by the national organization, and we dropped our effort. We then saw several years of growth - we earned more in interest than we spent and the principle grew. Last year, however, the market saw a sharp downturn and we lost some money. The committee again decided that it was important to conduct a championship, voted to proceed, and requested the Board approve the expenditure even though principle would be spent. The Board unanimously agreed.

In the mean time, the relationship between the volunteers that run (and the clubs that host) the event and the staff at US SAILING deteriorated somewhat. For context, it is important to understand that there are competing philosophies in US SAILING - one is the volunteer-guided vision of a service organization where hired staff serve the membership, and the other is a staff-guided vision of an organization that uses volunteers to accomplish some tasks. These visions, IMO, are mutually exclusive.

The report Mark is quoting was written by two people at US SAILING that have never been to, seen, or participated in our championship. They believe there is a communication problem primarily because, during my tenure as chair, I sometimes found the direction or restrictions I was given to be detrimental to the event, unfair to the host, or not applicable to a given situation. So I quietly insulated the volunteers from that which I felt could be disregarded. With the help of some great people, we enjoyed several very good events that made money and brought recognition to the hosts and suppliers of the boats, while at the same time the restricted fund grew.

Since that time, there have been two other chairs and committees that have struggled to maintain the event under growing financial and administrative demands from US SAILING. I do not speak for those two men, though I did and do still volunteer on the committee. If there is a perceived slant to this post, it is my own for which I am fully responsible.

There are still people volunteering within US SAILING that are defending the multihull championships, both for youth and adults. For me, they are worth defending because they are unique - they bring together diverse people from many different classes to compete together on provided boats. Nothing else in the US does that. Guaranteed, if you make Alter Cup or the Youth Championship for the Stevens Trophy, you are going to be racing someone you have never met before because they're from far away or they're from a class in which you don't compete. I feel the events are important to our discipline and should be preserved in some form. As Mark implies above, that starts with interest at the local level. That interest has flagged in recent years and it is now showing at the national level. This is what has made the events vulnerable. We're currently, right now today, on the brink of losing them both. Neither event has a plan for 2010 in place. The authors of the report have suggested that the events "take a year off" to get organized.

If there is no Alter Cup, there is no reason for me to belong to USS.

Is there anyway to take the "fund" away from USS?

Every OD cat class is looking for a sponsor for their NA's..

My hunch is that the qualifiers and championships have to be well supported by us sailors before we have a shot at sponsorship.

Here's a relevant question with regard to sponsorship..
In your Area.. What event do you want to direct the press to focus on.

For example... when the Tybee lands in your town... you want the local TV and press to give you some love.
A North Americans, with sailors from around the country... ditto.
Excluding those events...

How would you market the Area racing scene to media outlets.?

Where should the Area Qualifier fit in the strategy?

No.

Agreed. If the counsel applied themselves to creating a marketable event it would not be to hard to find sponsors. Look at what the Extreme 40's have done in 3 years and use them as an example.

As it exists today most Multihull events are held in obscure locations at obscure times of the year.

Run it in Chicago on the day prior to the Chicago-Mac race, 200 yards off Navy Pier. God forbid there should be a press packet or a cool website for the event...

Then the only thing left is to "piss on the fire and call in the dogs."

There is still a healthy Cat sailing community, it's time we heeded the "CAts not wanted" message from USS and go off and do our own thing.

I am not sure how can this be relevant but its always been my petpeeve and request.

At Gulfport Yacht Club in Gulfport FL, we race twice a month in Boca Ciega Bay, if you google it you will notice its a landlocked body of ocean entramped by a few briges etc. There is a municipal beach, which is where the 2008 Alter Cup was held.
Before every race I always ask the RC to try to setup as close as possible to the beach, the answer is always "we'll see what we can do".
The way I look at it is, no dont see what you can do and make it happen. Its only more exposure for all of us, its a win win situation. But seing how im usually the NKOB compared to the rest of the fleet not a lot folks pay attention to my request.

Until the entire attitude that beachcat sailing must be done in a traditional fashion is dropped I dont see how this sport and its future will look any better than it does today.

Um, no. What will actually lead to success is people stepping up and pulling together. All the negativity on these forums is a giant waste of brain space. Do something constructive...

Mike

+1, and attend your area qualifier.