2011 Annual Meeting – draft minutes

Sound Rowers and Paddlers

Annual Meeting December 3, 2011

 

Draft Minutes

 

President Tyler Peterson opened the meeting at 10:00.

 

Present: Tyler Peterson, Steve Wells, Janice Oldenburg, Traci Cole, Michael Lampi, Steve Chapin, Otto Loggers, Jordan Hanssen, Vern and Janet Heikkila, Bill Jaquette, Shane Baker, Don Kiesling, Barbara Gronseth, Peter Turcan, Todd Silver, Howard Lee, Jeff Knakal, Greg Gilda, Debbie Natelson

 

1. Draft Minutes from December 2010 were approved with one edit.
2. Treasurer’s Report: Bill Jaquette handed out the current Statement of Accounts and highlighted that dues and race fee receipts are slightly down. However, expenses also are down. There was a net increase in our checking account of $1873. Bill also provided a spreadsheet showing trends in dues, race fees and expenses for each year since 2006. Dues are slightly down, and race fee income is more variable. Race expenses are largely permit costs, food and ribbons.

 

We discussed our state tax obligations, if any. Bill will research the question.

3. Insurance report: Vadim was not present, and there are no known issues.
4. Race Reports:

LaConner – the new post-race venue at Shelter Bay is less costly and works well.

Jetty Island – no incidents to report. Snohomish Search and Rescue are getting better prepared for shallow water assistance.

Lake Whatcom – great turnout.

Commencement Bay – no incidents.

Rat Island – smooth waters and no incidents. Local fees have gone up. The State Parks fee may be imposed this year. Steve plans to increase race registration for singles to $10. Providing blue ribbons for all participants in several eights is a cost driver. The date conflicts with Masters Regionals, but US Rowing sets the date after we set our calendar. Steve is hoping to coordinate the date with Bill Walker’s downwind race at Port Angeles on Sunday after Rat Island.

Manchester – numbers are down. This was the first race scheduled after the start of the State Parks fee.

Elk River – participation has been down for 2 years. 2012 will be the Heikkila’s 17^th year as race directors. They are considering retirement as race directors after this year. They are considering a different course for the long course race.

Round Shaw – choppy waters caused several capsizes, though no incident reports were filed. Camping is now prohibited on the lawn. One option is to camp at the State Park on Lopez and paddle over to Shaw for the race.

Bainbridge Marathon – a Hudson quad was swamped by passing yacht wakes and their bilge pumps failed. We discussed if flat water shells should be allowed to race. We agreed that race directors should indicate on the club website which boats are or are not suitable. This will provide advance notice of possible disqualification.

GXS – race went well. No shirts were provided this year. The date had many conflicts so turnout was lower. The August date remains preferred to ensure good weather and water conditions.

Orca Challenge – did not happen. Last minute cancellation. Will be discontinued.

Budd Inlet – good race. Well managed. Race director made a wise decision to shift 4s and 8s to a short course. Peter Plimpton would like help with 2012 race.

Lake Samish – very big turnout. Some flat water racers were caught flat footed by the short time between the pre-race meeting and the race start. This could be avoided by starting the meeting earlier. There was no reference to Sound Rowers on the shirt (or any other place on the program and materials).Rather than drop the race from our calendar, we agreed to give the race directors our feedback and allow one more chance for them to acknowledge Sound Rowers. We might also set up our own tent adjacent to race registration to recruit memberships. The race directors have always been prompt in submitting results and race receipts.

Mercer Island – one elderly sea kayaker chose the long course and finished hours after all others. In the future, race directors may specify a minimum speed that must be maintained to be included in race results. This will allow results to be tabulated in a timely manner and impose less on race volunteers.

 

Given the swamped flat water quad at Bainbridge and the slow kayaks and SUPs, we will add a general note to our website about necessary sea worthiness of boats and maintaining a minimum speed. Traci will draft a note for Board review.

 

Lake Sammamish – the King County Marine Patrol lost our race permit and decided to remove turn buoys from the course. Next year, we may not place flags on existing buoys so additional buoys will be needed. LWRC can loan us buoys. Coordination with the Greenland kayakers went very well.

 

5. Race Director’s Feedback:

• Coast Guard permits have been emailed to Tyler. Tyler will contact Coast Guard for 2012 permits.
• Tyler received an email from Wendy Becker at Snohomish County inviting applications for grant funds for outdoor recreation events which bring people to the county. Peter Turcan will apply.
• We have a proposal from Peter Marcus for a new race at Bellingham. March 3 is proposed. Peter organized the race last year and had about 50 entries. Water conditions are possibly 3+ in difficulty. PFDs are to be worn by all. We approved this race for 2012 as a 3+ event.
• Olympic Outdoor Center at Port Gamble has inquired about hosting a race event on Hood Canal. Tyler invited volunteers to serve as race director. If interested, Tyler will provide contact information.

6. 2012 Race Calendar – the draft calendar circulated by Shane was adopted. The 2012 Annual Meeting will be December 1, 2012.
7. OAR Northwest was represented by Jordan Hanssen and Otto Loggers. They thanked us for our generous sponsorship 5 years ago which was a club donation plus matching contributions from individual members. They described the evolution of their business model to a new emphasis on inspiration, education and data production (water quality, whale communication and sleep deprivation). OAR Northwest will now include annual expeditions. In April, they will circumnavigate Vancouver Island, and their departure from the Seattle Aquarium is an opportunity for Sound Rowers to paddle along side and gain visibility. In December, they will launch their row from Africa to Venezuela. Their 2012 goal is to reach 10,000 people. They will have the world’s most technologically advanced rowboat(!) capable of live video broadcasts to classrooms. Their expedition is also a fund raiser for Right To Play.

They proposed that Sound Rowers again provide a $1500 grant in return for which they commit to bring their ocean boat to three S/R races. We decided to award $2000 with the expectation they will attend four races with at least two of their team members in attendance. Payment is in advance if they agree to make the appearances. They agreed.

6. Race Posters and Schedule Cards – JL Darling again volunteered to donate setup and printing of our race calendars. We will acknowledge Rite in the Rain paper on our website.
7. Ribbons – the blue ribbons cost a lot and we hand out many (esp. to dragon boats, OC-6 and rowing 8s). We decided to abandon use of the blue florette ribbons and use simple blue ribbons to match the red and white style. We rejected the suggestion to switch to generic ribbons and will continue to print race-specific ribbons. We considered providing decals for wins comparable to decals on bombers for missions, fighters for kills and football helmets for whatever they do. No decision was made about this concept.
8. We will renew our organizational membership in the Washington Water Trails Association. Our website is now linked on their site. We donated two club memberships for their online auction, and both were sold.
9. Tyler presented a possible new logo for Sound Rowers and Paddlers. The design works well on stickers, clothing. We adopted the logo with added color (blue ring) and reduction in size of the central propeller. The word that comes at the lower part of the ring should be upright. Tyler will buy 200 4” decals at about $0.74 each, and decals will be handed out with membership payment. The deals will also show our club URL. No new banner will be ordered. The logo will be set up at JL Racing at club expense ($50), and individuals may then place orders for small quantities and not pay the setup cost for embroidery.
10. WordPress Blog – there have been very few submissions and yet the site has over 3000 hits. People are encouraged to post articles about their experiences at races.
11. Membership Roster – the roster of names is now online. It shows current memberships. Don Kiesling will maintain the membership roster, and $500 of the stipend previously paid to the blog editor will now be paid to Don. Membership will be calendar year only beginning in 2012. Those who joined for 2012 in 2011 are grandfathered.
12. Club address – Tyler will check with Coast Guard and Secretary of State to ensure they have our current address on file. The club will use the Bay Shells LLC address. The website will be updated to show this address.
13. Boat Classification – We had an OC2 paddled with kayak paddles rather than with a traditional single blade paddle. Question was raised about their classification. We decided that any hybrid craft that fails to meet the specs for an established class will be placed in another class. A note to this effect will be added to the boat classification page on our website.
14. Facebook – Tyler was authorized to initiate a Sound Rowers page on Facebook.
15. Tyler will ensure we are registered as a nonprofit with the Secretary of State. The deadline in the end of the year.
16. Election of Officers -

Treasurer – Bill Jaquette was recognized for many years of faithful and diligent service as club Treasurer. Jeff Knakal was elected to replace Bill.

President – Tyler Peterson was re-elected for another term.

VP for Racing – Shane Baker was re-elected for another term

VP of Technology – Traci Cole was re-elected. However, she will be incommunicado from the end of June to mid-August. Don Kiesling and debbie Natelson volunteered to cover for Traci.

VP for Legal – Vadim was re-elected.

At-Large Board Members – terms filled by Don Kiesling and Michael Lampi are expiring. Janet Heikkila and Don Kiesling were elected to fill these positions.

The Board will meet following the Commencement Bay race.

 

19. Race Profiles on Web – Traci asks all race directors to review and approve the page for their race. Please also provide a physical address for the race site, so folks can use mapping sites for specific directions.

20. Other Events – USAK Nationals will be at Green Lake on same day as GXS. Shane is hosting a fun race around Fox Island on New Year’s Eve.

 

 

 

 

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