Dixie District Fleet Captain’s Meeting
December 13, 2008
at the home of Dixie District Treasurer, Todd Johnson

Attending:  District Commodore Nabeel Alsalam; Treasurer Todd Johnson; Fleet Captains Thompson (Fleet 50); Phelan (by Phone) (Fleet 192); Potvin (Fleet 253); Constants (Fleet 329); Meiser (Fleet 508); and Parry (Fleet 513); Jason Werner (Fleet 329); Jamie Brickell (by phone) (Fleet 329); Russ Roberts (Fleet 50).

Discussion and decisions:

Location and Date of Dixie District Championships 2009: will be hosted by SMSA at Solomons Island, June 13-14, pending confirmation in 2 weeks after Dave Meiser obtains SMSA board approval.

2009 Regattas/Events and dates:

  • April 18/19      SSA Spring Regatta
  • May 2              Rock Hall Opening Day regatta
  • May 2/3            Doc Gilbert Memorial Potomac Cup
  • May 16/17       No Gas - SSA.
  • May 30/31       PRSA Spring Regatta
  • June 20            SSA Summer Series 1
  • June 20/21       Rock Hall Invitational (Downriver race: June 19)
  • July 11             SSA Summer Series 2
  • July 18/19       Team Racing Competition at Havre de Grace (pending)
  • July 25/26        ACCs – Tom’s River NJ (not a Dixie District Regatta)
  • Aug 1               SSA Summer Series 3
  • Aug 1/2            Sweet Corn Regatta – Susquehanna (pending)
  • Aug 4 – 7         WJMs – Sodus Bay New York (Lake Ontario)
  • Aug 8 – 14        Lightning NAs – Sodus Bay
  • Aug 22/23         Duck Challenge – Havre de Grace (pending)
  • Sep 12/13         President’s/Leukemia Cup – PRSA
  • Sep 19/20         SMSA Small Boat Invitational
  • Sep 19/20         SSA Fall Series 1
  • Oct 17/18          Frigid Digit – SSA
  • Oct 24/25          Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup – Susquehanna
  • Oct  24/25         Borderline
  • Nov 7/8            Hampton Fling (pending confirmation from HYC)

ACCs Location and Date.  July 25/26 – Tom’s River NJ.

District Allocation for NAs –Emphasize to your fleets the need to pay 2009 ILCA dues early, to increase the number of slots at the NAs available for Dixie District boats.  Note ILCA is projecting a 20% to 25% drop in paid memberships for 2009, due to the crumbling economy.

Purnell Cup:  Jason Werner is the 2008 Purnell Cup winner!  Congratulations, Jason!

Matt Potvin mentioned that he had, early in July 2008, canceled the 2008 Sweet Corn because it was too close to the WJMs and NAs, and that he had requested that the Purnell Cup scoring be changed to include the Pennsylvania Governor’s Cup in place of the Sweet Corn.  Nabeel agreed to investigate to see whether or not retroactive revision of scoring is possible.  

Commodore’s Follow-up Notes:  I cannot find evidence in my email archives that Matt asked me to make the change, and while reviewing the rules I noticed that we are supposed to have the “District Series” set by April 15.   While I agree that making the change would have made sense even if it was in July, it was never advertised or posted on the website, so I don’t feel we can make the change now and after the fact. 

While reviewing last year’s minutes, I noticed that we apparently agreed to a new rule to require a skipper to sail 6 of the 8 Purnell regattas to qualify for the award.   Presumably, that would have translated to 5 of 7.   Unfortunately, we failed to get that requirement posted to the website, and again I don’t think it would be fair to impose it after the fact. 

Let me know if you disagree with my views on these two issues or have other suggestion regarding what we do this year.

Also, I would like the current fleet captains to indicate whether they want the 6 of 8 (or 5 or 7) qualification rule to be advertised and posted for the 2009 year.   The motivation for the rule apparently was to further tilt the scoring toward participation in many Dixie regattas relative to performance in big Dixie regattas.

Road Warrior:  We agreed to establish a new award for the skipper and his crew – Trevor Prior this year – who sailed the most Purnell Cup regattas.  We recommend a set of hats or items of similar cost, inscribed with “Dixie District Road Warrior.”  This tradition will continue into 2009.   We also agreed that in the event of a tie awards would be given to all of the tied teams. 

2009 Purnell Cup Regattas:

  1. Potomac Cup
  2. Dixie District Championships
  3. Rock Hall Invitational
  4. Duck Challenge
  5. SMSA Invitational
  6. Frigid Digit
  7. PA Governor’s Cup
  8. Hampton Fall Fling

Treasurer’s Report: One item of expense, $7.00 for mailing, balance $1,217.03.  We agreed that we should add a second signature to the checking account, since the account is solely in Todd’s name right now.  We agreed it should be the new Commodore’s name.

Lightning Labs. Fleet 50 is considering hosting a Lighting Lab at the Washington Sailing Marina in April or May, with Allan Terhune.  An alternative idea is to hire a coach to conduct a series of training sessions during Wednesday Evening Sailing.  We should discuss this with John Faus, ILCA Coordinator.  Tommy Allen would also be a good choice for a coach.  Any training should include a discussion of the basic Racing Rules.  Another idea is to hold a Rules Seminar at PRSA in February or March.

Commodore’s Follow up:  I have asked PRSA if they’d be willing to host a Rules Seminar for beginners on some Saturday in March.  If they agree, I will organize it and advertise it around the District.

ILCA Yearbook Reports: are due now; get them in by the end of the year.  Include pictures!

Team Racing:

  • This year the Susquehanna/Havre de Grace Team Competition will be at Havre de Grace probably on July 18/19 and will probably be opened up to other 3 boat teams from other fleets.

 

 District Officers for 2009: Nominated, and passed with unanimous approval:

  • Jason Werner: District Commodore
  • David Thompson: District Secretary
  • Todd Johnson: District Treasurer

Open Discussion: Recruitment and Sustainment of Fleet Membership

Chuck Parry asked for ideas on how to successfully recruit and retain fleet members.  The following ideas were presented:

  • Hold a recruitment open house
  • Ensure there are plenty of social activities, not just racing
  • Host a Coast Guard seminar for non-sailors
  • Buy a cheap boat for general use by club members
  • Make sure the fleet members stay active – flush those that aren’t.
  • Promote the social aspects of district regattas
  • Look at keelboat racers who are thinking of downsizing

Recognition of achievement:  Nabeel was recognized for his three years of dedicated service as District Commodore.

Group Photo for yearbook: The assembled participants had their photo taken on the porch.

Adjournment: at 10:30 AM

Respectfully submitted by

David Thompson,
2009 Dixie District Secretary