Todd... you continue to amaze.... with all your libertarian BS posting... WHY do you think you are entitiled here...

NOBODY is going to give you a beach or ramp to go sailing. Nobody is going to organize a beach or launch for you either... not the least is US Sailing (which essentially is a big club with some paid staff).

Fact of life... Trade winds has AN INSURANCE PROBLEM.... The property owner will NOT GIVE YOU access to their property because there is a slight chance that events could go really wrong and they could be held liable.

So... you have at least two private insurance company options. US Sailing worked with one company to design the package to cover the full game of sailboat racing.... Then the other company matched the package. (its america! and US Sailing did the job)

Tradewinds Leaders just have to pick one now...

Oh... it will cost you money...approx 1000 bucks.... with 100 boats... that 10 bucks a boat... or 5 bucks a head.. basically the price of a beer. Barb and Chip paid for that coverage in the past... THANK THEM!!!

Every body wants to get paid..... it's America.... Or do you want to change the system? Your libertarian philosophy should be supporting the property owner not free loaders.

Dave... sailboat racing is not like bike racing because of the numbers involved .... cost per head is much less.

MI..

the point of showing you ramps used by single handers is... ramps and cranes are the way many single handed cat sailors get access to the water.... If I don't like the launch.... I drive somewhere else and pay more money for one that I like. Its AMERCIA. You may think ramps suck.... the Bristol A cats deal with it. The point..It's not impossible.. its just a choice.

RE US Sailing don't give a damn... is just bs propaganda.. and you are simply ignorant of the facts.

First..
Do you really think that US Sailing (or any organization) should be running around telling property owners on the waterfront that they ... SHOULD MAKE THEIR PROPERTY AVAILABLE to some one else? Really?

Sailing Clubs are formed.... the members pool their money, purchase property and run the club the way they want. Paper clubs form.... pool their money buy insurance and gear and move around the area and run events.

Stop whining for gods sake nobody is going to do this work for you.

To your exact point about US Sailing and what they do...

I have never owned a Hobie class boat in my life.... I have bashed Hobie policy choices of the distance past more then anyone. So... they call me up last fall... Can you make a Junior NA's happen in Annapolis with their JO's and just before the Olympic games? Me, Ugh... there is a reason we have never had a catamaran event much less NAs in Annapolis proper... we have no club with a beach.
Them... What can you do? It would be good for the sport.. Ok... I agree it would! ... how much time before you need a decision.... Welll it's November.... not much time.

So, our group convinced Annapolis Yacht Club to say Yes... so happens. it was AT THE US SAILING MEETING, THEN we got US Sailing to convince their board that this new to them event would work (two previous years of JO's). We used the AYC name and US Sailing as the national organization to approach a private property owner with beach front to say yes. The Hobie Class Association then made the money to the property owner and the legal and admin details work. It turned into a spectacular event (despite light wind and brutal temps)

The point of the story... It was a partnership between the professionally run YC in my area, their volunteers, the unpaid but true pro's of the Hobie class Association, the actual pro's at US Sailing running the JO program, and the local team of cat sailors from the paper Hobie YC and catsailors from 3 other Yacht Clubs with their equipment.

MI... that is how it works in the real world... Notice the role that US Sailing plays.

Tradewinds decided to move the event to a different property owner (who manages the liability on his own)... If you don't like the new venue and dates.... ORGANIZE and take the insurance option. It's not a big deal... Rick White decided to move. The whole... Loosing beach Access thread was a red herring.

Loosing Beach Access is a LOCAL issue... there is no need for any national organization to butt in...

On the Chesapeake... you loose beach access due to erosion.... The property owner does not like to loose the ground to erosion... so they usually put in rip rap... no more erosion... and no more launch site... The town of Cambridge owned the waterfront park we launched and raced from....(yes we did all of the insurance stuff through CRAC)... CRAC, the Cambridge Yacht Club and the town engineers solved the problem by using their rip rap to build a a little launch harbor.... Families love the beach for the protected swimming and we have our beach access... as a bonus... they added a water tap for us as well.. Priceless!
The key (as is usually the case) was good communication and a great working relationship with the leaders of the town/YC members.