Nov 21, 2021 GMM Minutes

November 21, 2021 GMM Minutes

Start Time: 6:07

End Time: 6:32

Location: Virtual

Attendance:

Reports

Commodore (NW)

The club has been extremely busy this year, we are back at 2019 numbers. Not all activities are running, but most are and there is a lot of energy and excitement.  We are fortunate here, in calls with DBW, we see that some clubs are still struggling. We can be proud of where we are -- thanks to all the volunteers. This Quarter we submitted a grant do dbw -- thanks to Peter kuhn and adam and min who worked through this process. Carolyn Brown (secretary) and Tony Toe (vice commodore) have stepped down from excom and have been recognized with an honorary membership for their time and service. Also thanks to all the chairs for some it has been strange but for others quite busy.

Vice Commodore (CHP)

Thanks to Tony who is stepping down. Also thanks to volunteers who helped with increasing lighting around the club when we put out a call to increase safety. We had an overwhelming number of people help out with that. Not much to report other than that we are hoping to get open house going again next year but need to watch as the covid situation unfolds.

First Vice (JC)

Next year’s dbw grant request includes 2 more quests. The rest of the fleet is doing well. We have had several clinics to repair boats. We are all in this together, please keep up with repairs.

Second Vice (AR)

I want to acknowledge and thank Eric Lee who was rear commodore for windsurfing and is stepping down. Randi Shapiro and Dave Gidarian are stepping in as rear commodores. We have a new senior Alex who created a guide for new windsurfers. We are closing the season, lessons have closed as of the end of October. Have been stretching the budget: got a bunch of on consignment and end of season equipment. More boards are on order but coming slowly (including 6 new foils -- discounted). Making sure equipment is great and available.

Third Vice (RA)

Not a whole lot going on: Daisy has been out getting standing rigging and compression post but should be back soon. Sea Horse lost a rudder and had a bad fix, it has been sent back and is being fixed again.

Rear Commodore

(EL windsurfing instruction )

Thanks to all the people who put time in to teaching windsurfing lessons. Thanks also to Randi and Dave for taking over.

(JB dinghy instruction -- read by BH)

I'm a numbers guy, and my report is usually a lot of statistics on number of students, lessons, ratings, etc. comparing this year to last year. I track this stuff because I think it is a good indicator of how our programs are working, and it has highlighted problem areas for us to address. Comparisons to last year are, of course, useless, but comparisons with 2019 make good sense. I will compare August 1 through November 15 of these years.

In general our sailing instruction programs are all up and running, some at even higher volumes than pre-COVID.

1. We are teaching a lot more dinghy lessons than in 2019 (25% more). A slight increase (6%) on Saturdays, but a huge increase on Mondays (167%, yes, that's correct) and on Thursdays (33%)
2. Enough instructors are coming down to teach most days. In the past, we often did not have enough instructors on weekdays, but that's usually not a problem now. I do have to do a shout out to Eric Wittig, who does a lot of dinghy instruction on the J80, and in doing that covers days where we are short of instructors.
3. We are having problems with our basic keelboat program, as we don't have enough instructors on Wednesday evenings to meet student demand. We're working on this, but the season affects it negatively, as many instructors don't want to teach after dark, which is 5pm now. I'm working with a group of keelboat instructors to try to fix this.
4. There will be a Senior Study Group this winter, and Emmi Lee is coordinating it. We haven't yet decided its shape (in person classes versus Zoom), and we're going to look at the overall situation early next year before we decide.
5. 8 of our more experienced instructors took the certification classes for US Sailing Dinghy Level 1 Instructor. We wanted to look at how other organizations teach sailing, and take what we can from them to improve our own program without substantially changing our overall approach.
6. On the ratings side, 25% more members earned the Novice rating so far this year than in the entire year of 2019, but 18% fewer earned the Junior rating.  3 members earned a Senior rating, and no members earned a Cruise rating this year. I am encouraged that people are taking advantage of the Novice rating, and I know it will be difficult to get a Junior test before the winds pick up in March. But we will be setting up workshops and special testing sessions next year. So hang in there, and continue to practice your skills.

I'll end by thanking all of the instructors and testers. I've seen quite a few newer members teaching, and I encourage all of you who are rated to try it out. It's a rewarding experience, you'll be helping fellow members along the way, and you'll learn a lot. I am also getting great suggestions for improving our program from some newer members, so think about how we can do better.

Port Captain (absent)

No updates

Secretary (BH)

No updates.

Treasurer (absent)

Report attached to bottom of this document)

Comments/Questions from members

Randi Shapiro: I am mostly familiar with the windsurfers, boat sailors please introduce yourselves. I am a relatively new windsurfer, Dave is a more experienced windsurfer and has been teaching for many years. We are looking to increase the number of students who go from novice to junior and beyond. 

Mariya Reyazantseva -- Please share stuff with her for the newsletter (good day, stories, etc). Also please tag us on instagram, facebook and other social media.

David Fraser: Who is on Excom after the departures mentioned today.

NW: Carolyn Tony, Eric stepping down,  Randy and Dave stepping up. Mostly we have positions double covered so people stepping down aren’t leaving positions uncovered.

Peter Mui Berke: facebook page/instagram account who has access. 

NW: A few people including  Mariya who is our social media chair and a few others. If you want to post something, send it to Maria.

Treasurer’s Report