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So why are you bringing up crap from several year's ago?
I brought it up because someone on this forum was wondering whether O-100 was still alive. No one was calling this "crap", just you.


Your answer to whether the O-100 was still alive was rather lengthly and provocative. You said "I'm sure this post will raise a storm of comments from SHBCC." so obviously you knew what to expect. Since I am the only one replying, I think you put way too much stock in the fact that anyone would care to reply.
What was specifically done to impede the O-100 by any officer? You make a lot of blind accusations.


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We have an objective 150 - to get 150 boats registered on the beach - we are at 135, so we're getting close. There are 10 new members this year, and we have been over 130 boats for the last 8 years. I guess the "old guard" must be doing something right - just because it is not what you want doesn't make it wrong.


Do the 135 include the boats that you schlep to the beach each spring and where the mast is never even raised for the season. Do the 135 include the junk boats and junk trailers on the parking lot? The club is a great solution for anyone who doesn't want their junk in their front yard. 150 members is a great goal (especially if you want to call yourself the "largest catamaran club in the world" - as I saw on one brochure in the past) - but it's not a real metric for success and it's not a metric for the vitality of the club as a sailing club. Maybe it's a good metric for a social club or for a retiree club, where people just want to "hang out", but if you want measure success for a sailing club, look at least how often members take out their boats, keep a log book, look at race participation, whatever, just define a metric that reflect some aspiration instead of something that just measures whether you're going to meet your budget.


Your kidding, right?? Maybe we should put barcodes on the boats and scan them every time they leave the beach and return. Have you ever ran a club with 300 members from diverse backgrounds with greatly varying interest levels in sailing? We provide the venue and many opportunities for all members to sail and participate in fleet events. Whether they choose to do so is beyond our control. All we can do is provide the best opportunity we can. Hundreds of hours are invested in planning and executing the operation of the club every year. Very few realize the personal sacrifice made by the officers to benefit the members. Since only a small percentage of members enjoy racing, does it make sense to expend a great deal of the club's resources on a single day event in which only a small percentage take part in? Many fleets do not have a "home beach" and the "Big Regatta" is their only chance to host an event. SHBCC has events almost every weekend in the Summer; this requires a great deal of work, and perhaps this is one of the reasons an O-100 type event is not looked upon as the primary reason for the club to exist. It's like a gym membership - how many people sign up and pay and never go? Does this make the gym a "bad gym" or a "social gym"? NO. There are still people who show up every day to work out. Those who do not lose out.

I don't know what metric we could use to define the club numerically. Our goal always has been and will continue to be to provide a safe venue for sailing and to promote and encourage sailing and boating generally. We welcome all members who agree to abide by the rules. Our best indicator is the smiles on peoples' faces when they come back to the beach after flying a hull in a 15 knot SW wind. We all sail for different reasons, remember that - what is important to you may not matter to someone else. As for the comment that our primary goal is to reach our budgeted numbers, this is true to a certain degree. Maybe if we sailed in Fantasyland, we wouldn't have to worry about revenue - but unfortunately, there is rent, insurance, utilities etc. to pay and we must keep our eyes on the numbers, or the club might not be sustainable for future sailing seasons. We need $XXXXX to just pay the fixed expenses. Without a stable fiscal platform, we wouldn't even be able to host a 5 boat regatta.