Hi Jack -

You and Kaos both echo some of the things going on in my head and that the MHC has already discussed in three meetings in the last year. I have to disagree a little, though on the seperateness of the disatisfaction of multihull sailors and the mandatory membership issue.

Multihull sailors' feelings on Olympic events run the gamut from an unfounded outrage expressed by people who never gave a flip before, to genuine frustration from those who've been "playing the game" but not getting anywhere... and everything in between. Everyone I know has a slightly different take on why it is bad, and some even think it is good. It has been extremely difficult to coalesce a coherent position on the MHC; I and the others on the Council are not complaining - that is just the nature of a representative body and I personally enjoy the work.

But now add to that current sense of disatisfaction the requirement to pay money to the very organization that has put the burr under your saddle. I have been a member since 1998, which is when I decided that my obsession with the sport required me to support the governing body. My level of volunteering has increased year after year. But I was racing cats for years before I ever became aware of US SAILING, happily showing up at regattas and parties while completely ignorant there was a "governing body" beyond the two class associations I belonged to. There is a tremendous number of people like that who will now show up at a race and be told to join US SAILING or leave the boat on the trailer. I just checked and half the F18 fleet that sailed out of our club last weekend are not members. The mandatory membership rule is going to impact that population.

In addition, there is a large contingent of USSA insiders (who aren't multihull sailors) that are using the multihull issue to make the case that the reorganization was bad and that the Board cannot be held accountable by the members anymore. When the House unanimously recommends something to the Board and it is disregarded without consequence, one could legitimately claim the Board is ignoring the membership with impunity.

So, while I appreciate your point and understand your perspective, I have come to feel differently - the Olympic issue has become a part of the mandatory membership issue, all of which relates to a concern about how USSA is currently functioning.

In the last MHC conference call, we adopted the position that we would not support mandatory membership until additional incentives were developed to replace what we feel are eroded benefits. We recognized that, as irrational as it might be, giving someone some stickers and a free magazine with their membership card made them happy to join. Talking about some free accidental death coverage while you're driving to a regatta doesn't do the trick. I told Jim Capron that the Board should consider adding back in some simple, tangible stuff for a couple of years and phase in mandatory membership at a time when morale is a little higher. I think he's wasting his time going around the country and speaking at yacht club dinners selling membership to people who are already members for all the right reasons. It should be telling that despite these talks, some big YAs have formally written to protest, not just the idea of mandatory membership, but the manner in which the Board is handling it.

Anyway - imagine the scene at the 2009 Hobie 16 Championship registration table... having come out of that class I think I can accurately say that the majority of skippers are not members of USSA, but in the new rulebook, they'll be told they have to be. How HCANA handles that remains to be seen - I expect that they're talking about it right now, just like the Race Management Committee at my YC is, trying to figure out what to do. Leave enforcement to the fleet in the form of boat-on-boat protest? Make it an issue at the registration table? Tacitly agree to ignore it with a wink and a nod? Or do you sit down with a fleet of people who are likely to have heard the slightly inaccurate mantra "US SAILING doesn't support multihulls," and explain to them why things have changed and sell them on joining with a smile? Better wear some dark clothes that don't stain easily - I've found it difficult to dodge every tomato. <img src="http://www.catsailor.com/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif" alt="" />

ps - Kaos, people hate to be told to either volunteer or stop complaining. I never say that anymore; haven't for a few years now. It isn't reasonable to state the absolute that if you aren't part of the administration of the sport, you have no right to criticize that administration. You and I can make meetings; not everyone can. Those who do, I think, are obligated to listen to those that don't. You are spot on, though, when you say that a break-away association, whether NAMSA, the MHC or the new IMC, is going to need people as a primary resource.