From Art's Letter:
Performance Catamaran has announced their support by offering 6 new SL16 Catamarans to NAYMA for their use. This is a huge financial commitment to children.
The first year plan is to bring these new SL16’s to venues across the US and provide round robin racing and clinic opportunities to local children already acquainted with sailing. Those kids that sail catamarans with their dads, Lasers, CFJ’s or 420 sailors . We all know them at our clubs or they can be found sailing at yacht club sailing foundation events on any given weekend. We expect to offer each venue the opportunity to purchase at manufactures cost 1-3 boats if they agree to use them in their sail training programs.
(emphasis added)
If that's not promoting a specific class; trying to sell a specific boat, then I'm George Washington.
Look at the homepage of the SL16 Class (direct link off the NAYMA site - arrow points to the "www.sl16.org" URL):
![[Linked Image]](http://www.catsailor.com/bb_files/105030-Shenanigans.jpg)
I call shenanigans. You can call it what you want, Tad, but Art is crusading the cause of the SL16 under the guise of the "North American Youth Multihull Association". There's a name for that kind of deception - fraud.
For tax purposes, I'd like to know the EIN and name of the 501(c)3 organization for which contributions are being solicited. If they intend to collect over $25,000, I'd like to see their IRS Form 990. I'd like to see their taxonomy (the IRS reason they are tax exempt). I'd like to see their mission statement, goals and how they expect to achieve them.
Just so everybody is aware, some of the people in ISAF are not happy with the tactics used by Sirena-Voile (the European mfg of the SL16) to promote their product. For one they keep referring themselves to “preferred”, they are a preferred nothing. They are just on the ISAF equipment list. They are trying desparately to achieve ISAF recognized class status - a request that was rejected the last time they went to ISAF because they couldn't prove their presence in 4 countries on 2 continents.
I prefer to look at a situation with my eyes wide open. There's been (and still is) a political s**t fight between ISAF, Hobie and Sirena-Voile on what gets chosen for the ISAF Youth Worlds. If Art wants to do a promotional roadshow in the United States for the SL16, fine. Just call a spade a spade, Art. Don't blow smoke up my rear end and call it the "North American Youth Multihull Association" - because it isn't. Not yet, at least.
