Class Politics US National Association Meeting in Corpus

gouvernail

Super Opinionated and Always Correct
There is no US Laser Class Association. Way back when Lasers started spreading around the world, the rest of the county associations were little more than a joke so the North American Class which was the only REAL sailing association stood as it had begun.

But time and sailing politics has changed a lot

We are an Olympic Class boat now and the US and Canada are now the only countries who seriously compete and who have no national Laser associations.

Perhaps the old way is outmoded and we should be discussing the possibilites.

I AM NOT SUGGESTING WE HAVE A BIG FIGHT AND CONSUME OUR LIMITED RESOURCES ON STUPID POLITICAL WARS!!!

I am suggesting that full consideration of every sensible option should always be performed. Many people who care most about our organization and sailing will likely show up at the national championship of the (currently non existent) US Laser Class Association.

Perhaps we should set up a US Association and a Canadian Association.

What would we do with District 6?

How would the financial situation be set up? Membership funds? Newsletters? ILCA dues? World's berths? What funding ,if any, would we give to the North American Association?

At the very least, I believe we should plan an evening meeting in Corpus Christi. The meeting should be held early in the schedule of events so we have time to sort out what we learn and perhaps have a second meeting or make plans or decide who will research and report and to whom and when and why.

or maybe not.

Of course I would like to see five or six sailors who are between 15 and 25 years of age who would decide they need to run things and they would step up and do that.

I would love to help by occasionally answering questions about class organization and management stuff but mostly I would love to just show up and sail in events organized and run by sailors who are 15 to 25 years old!!!

Almost everybody who is currently involved in the management of sailing in the world has done way more than his or her lifetime fair share. Most of us who are involved in the management of sailing STARTED WHEN WE WERE AGE 15 to 25!!! The youngsters of today are better equipped to manage than we were and we are there to help if they have problems.

We need to get the young people into the jobs they should be doing NOW!!!

It is time to pass the torch and I would love to pass all my remaining fuel, matches, and sticks to the new kids who would decide to take over and run a US Class Association.
 
I'm slightly confused by this topic... there is a North American Class meeting scheduled for this Friday night and I was sure I saw it advertised on the US Nationals website (though can't find it now). Certainly there is an agenda for said meeting, you can see it on the class website at this link.

We are holding said meeting at the US Nationals instead of the NA's (where it would have been done) because of me... I can't go to the NA's (I claim to have a very good reason, especially since it means missing a regatta at what I'm told is a fantastic venue) and I couldn't convince anyone that my presence is really unnecessary.

Also, I'm not completely sure of your proposal... are you saying we become like Europe and do away with our current Districts system? So, a Canadian District and a US District which are in the NA Region like in Europe (where each country is a District)?

Tracy
 
Meeting?? There is a meeting scheduled??

Who me?? Pay attention??

I haven't even pre registered or found a place to sleep yet and I am supposed to actually pay enough attention to know there is ALREADY a meeting scheduled??

Oh well....

Mostly I just wanted to rattle the kids about taking over the management of the game from us old farts!!

And...I do think we need to explore the possiblilties related to proper international representation for Canadians and US Sailors.

The fact is the boat is now an Olympic boat. Now the Olympics are the big deal. The fact is the sailors on the north and south of the US / Canada border have some different needs and may need proper representation by their own country associations.

Or maybe it doesn't matter.

Certainly I doubt anybody who is not currently a class officer cares enough to actually take any actions that may force them to actually do something.

But...Just the location of this rescheduled meeting should scare the hell out of the Canadians. The meeting of THEIR Association is being held 1500 miles from the home of the nearest Canadian sailor. and the meeting is not being held at the North American Championships in a year when the NA Champs are being sailed in Canada.

I am not accusing anybody of being improper, malicious or anything of the sort but, I cannot believe the US controlled class management has any real reason to bust its chops for the Canadians.

And...

I do not believe the US dominated class management can in good conscience bust its chops for the US Sailors.

For those reasons alone I believe the best interests of the Canadian and USSailors can only be best served by separate "somewhat selfishly" run Canadian and US associations.

But of course somebody would have to step up and run those two associations and we have difficulty finding the manpower to properly run a joint effort...sooo.. maybe I am just beating up my fingertips and rubbing off keyboard labels .

Or maybe I am bringing up a discussion that is way way overdue.

Don't know...but it is my 399th post on the forum anyway.
 
Just in case>>>

My belief that a US national and Canadian national Association could better serve the sailors of each country has nothing to do with ANY individual or group of individuals who currently donate their time to run an association whose goal it is to serve both countries well.

I don't even know for certain that I would investigate and find that I still believed that two separate associations could do better than one.

I do believe it is important to constantly think about and consider these sorts of things.

AND...
What better time than with some of those who probably care most in the evenings after spending the day racing sailboats??

There is a HUGE difference between "You guys are screwing up" and "I sure would love to sit down with you and try to figure out how to do things even better."

Finally and most important>>>
If I didn't think most of you Forum readers were people who would love to keep doing things better and better I would not spend my energy communicating with you.
 

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