Attendees:

Steve Howard, Commodore
John Ebell, Club Development Officer
Tom Walsh, Any One Meter Class Coordinator, Equipment Manage
Walter House, Victoria Fleet Captain
Carl Mott

Budget

On behalf of Pete Katz, Steve presented the check register (starting balance, transactions, ending balance), and the proposed budget.  (budget attached below)  The budget included an increase in dues of $10/member, making dues $30/member in 2023.

The budget is cash balance neutral.  Because of the 2023 Victoria Region 2 Regatta, we will earn some money (from AMYA and race entrant fees), easing the budget shortfall we experienced in 2022.  It allows us to explore Wix as a web hosting service.  As Craig Huzway is our new webmaster, it is not expected we will spend this money and it will be added to our end of year balance of funds.

What must be noted is that members of the club are not volunteering things as much as was historically done.  Things like trophies are purchased as opposed to members getting together and etching the glasses and thus saving money.  Similarly, expenses for club equipment were previously just donated but are now expensed in the budget.  Since we are providing these services to the membership, $20/year dues does not really allow for the increase in costs.  

The budget also recognized the decline in membership and the impact to revenue.

Hence the increase to $30/year dues.

A vote was held unanimously approving the review of the check register and the proposed budget.

Annual Awards Presentation

Steve presented awards to the captains who were present at the meeting:

• Victoria fleet

  • John Ebell - First Place

  • Walter House - Second Place

  • Tom Walsh - Third Place

• Open One Meter fleet

  • John Ebell - First Place

  • Mike Rickels - Second Place (absent and will deliver pondside)

  • Tom Walsh - Third Place

• DF65 fleet

  • Mike Rickels - First Place (absent and will deliver pondside)

  • John Ebel - Second Place

  • Steve Howard - Third Place

A salute to all for a season well run!

Bylaws

No changes were proposed or made to the bylaws.

Pond / Lake Status

The committee discussed the state of the ponds.  An initial work day was approved, and the possibility of a third pond discussed:`

1. Confirm Melford Pond is not full of weeds and do any pond side work necessary to prepare for the season.  We need to consider a work day at Columbia Pond as well, to ensure both venues are viable in 2023.

2. Have a fun sail to allow members to get on the water and tune their boats in preparation for the season.

Reports of Fleet Captains

Victoria

The big news is that we will be running the Victoria Region 2 Championship Regatta with Walter leading.  It is set for May 6, 2023 and has already been registered with AMYA.

DF65

We were victorious in 2022, so we will also be running the 2023 DF65 Capital Cup.  There is a bunch of discussion about the scoring rules, so this is something we will bring up with Kyle Russell soon.

Any One Meter

We also discussed running the ODOM Region 2 Championship Regatta.  Primarily, this would be a MMYC event, as we are not confident there are other ODOM skippers in the region.  It is a good way to recognize our membership and have some fun to see who is 1st, 2nd, and 3rd.  This is not budgeted for, but as an AMYA event, it should be a net gain to the club.  Tom Walsh will investigate interest among the MMYC skippers first before making his decision to help us run the event.

Report of Membership

Steve presented the membership report OBHO Pete Katz and John Ebell.  We had 28 paid members in 2021.  This declined to 19.5 (one junior member at $10) for 2022.  All told, the club is still very active and doing well.  We all need to do more to recruit new members.

Old Business

The equipment manager gave a status of club assets.  Most of the repairs made in 2022 will last for years and the equipment budget expenses should be lower this year.  Tom will work on the starter box to see if the wiring leads can be extended, or at least label what wire goes where on the board.  This will save Craig about a half hour trying to rewire the box after we changed its batteries!

New Business

There was a discussion on a committee for a venue search.  This is a very difficult proposition.  There just aren't that many ponds in the region where our members live and within commuting range to a pond.  Tom presented a possibility of adding Leisure World's pond to our venues (near Bethesda).  The maintenance crews for the golf course clean weeds pond side and this may be one of the best assets the pond offers.  Tom Walsh will lead the group headed to visit Bob Steware (a resident there) and see about using this pond in 2023.

A tentative schedule for events in 2023 was reviewed.  A discussion was held to improve membership satisfaction on race days by re-ordering the fleets.  A lot of members have both Vic and DF65, but not One Meter boats.  The proposal was to switch the One Meter and DF65 classes, so those with a Vic and DF65 but not One Meter don't have to wait for the One Meter class to finish before racing their DF65.  Additionally, the DF65 needs wind to move it along and that tends to be in the noon hour timeframe.  All email votes received also approved of the change, save one.  A vote was held to swap the fleet order.  It passed unanimously.

Using Race Directors, we have found that we are finishing 7 races per class faster than prior years.  Instead of waiting around and killing time between fleets, a proposal was made to change the start times of the fleets.  Vic starts at 10:00am.  DF65 starts at 12:00pm.  One Meter starts at 2:00pm.  This likely will complete all racing by about 3:30pm.  The big advantage here is people can leave earlier, and we can also join together at a local bar/restaurant and have social time together.  This seems like a big deal to some members and the idea is really something the members present want to start next year.  Columbia Pond has Neo Pizza and Tap Room, which is excellent.  We need to find a place in Melford (hopefully a restaurant on property, or maybe RIPS).  This proposal was approved by a unanimous vote.

A new schedule for racing is now published that is final for 2023.

One of the concerns discussed is that we are a very competitive racing fleet.  This can be and is often intimidating to new members.  We need to strive to be more inviting to new members, teach them the rules, teach them to tune their boats, and enhance their experience when joining the club.  This applies to all current members and we hope being more inviting will increase membership in 2023.

Trophies were discussed.  We are seeking volunteers to acquire glasses, laser etch graphics, and ultimately lower the cost.  Please let us know if you volunteer to help here.

We are now seeking volunteers for the following:

• Victoria Region 2 Championship Regatta
  We are hoping folks from our non-One Meter fleets will help out here.  Walter is in the lead and will be coordinating.

• DF65 Capital Cup
  We are hoping folks from our non-DF65 fleets will help out here.  Kyle Russell is in the lead and will be coordinating.

• Race Directors
  We need monthly volunteers to run racing.  Remember, this is a guaranteed 2nd place for every fleet you normally race in.  A good bargain.

Election of Officers

All email votes were in favor of the slate of officers below:

Commodore: Steve Howard

Secretary: Mari Spina (a late addition and very welcome indeed)

Treasurer: Pete Katz

Victoria Fleet Captain: Walter House

One Meter Fleet Captain: Tom Walsh

DF65 Fleet Captain: Kyle Russell

Club Development: John Ebell

Scorer: Mike Rickels

Webmaster: Craig Huzway

Equipment Manager: Tom Walsh

The slate was motioned and seconded and passed by a unanimous vote.  Thanks to all who serve and help make the club a stronger organization.

Meeting adjourned