WHA......?! Sorry for the late arrival on the thread. I must be Rip Van Winkle.

John Williams having a crisis moment at this juncture is earth shaking and left me speechless yesterday.

Seems we are at an important crossroads. Go with the evil you know or head down an uncharted path. Not an easy decision and it needs to be made collectively, making it an even bigger challenge. Wow.

I'm not sure which way I lean yet. But a point on the "break away" path, if I may. It doesn't have to be communicated as a turning the back, cold shoulder, blowing off US Sailing. It can simply be stated that this other organization meets more needs or exceeds the current benefits offered by US Sailing for the multihull community, so we're just comparison shopping and buying from a different store, so to speak. It doesn't have to be a rejection of the "old" store. Just an affirmation that we've found a better deal someplace else. A place we decide to build ourselves. Doesn't come across so negative that way. Don't burn your bridges if you don't have to.

I have to think this thing through, because as a sailing business US Sailing is currently critical to my being able to be in the business of teaching sailing and renting boats. Without US Sailing's Burgee Program I would have to pay astromical business insurance fees. And the US Sailing instructor certification is required to obtain and maintain the Burgee Program insurance package. So I need their training programs, too.

Will my Burgee Program insurance cover non-US Sailing regattas I may organize should a replacement multihull organization separate from US Sailing? Or will I have to buy even more insurance to cover those events? Will my business have to be a member of both US Sailing and a separate multihull organization? Dual memberships will certainly drive up business costs.

What if US Sailing cuts my business off by removing coverage in the insurance program for multihull businesses like mine and won't certify my instructors any more in retaliation against the splinter organization? And what if the splinter group can't provide me those things? Do I go out of business?

On an individual level, would our yacht and sailing clubs turn us out as members/ostracize us if we support a splinter organization? Would US Sailing MAKE them turn us out of their membership/ostracize us if we're not US Sailing members? We don't have any other physcal place to sail here if we lose our membership at the club.

So many questions! My head spins.