Dear Mr. Reed:
You made your case for yourself, but it appears you did it without doing any real investigation, nor being impartial to begin with. Sailing World and US SAILING have been attached at the hip, per se, for a very long time. The readers of Sailing World and the members of US SAILING are almost one in the same. I would have expected a more thorough investigation on your part, before jumping onto a shaky bandwagon.
Earlier in this thread, you listed all of the things US SAILING does during a year. Did you investigate how those things are funded today? Let me tell you. US SAILING requires that EVERYTHING they do pay for itself. The 1300 Trained Sailing Instructors? – they paid for their own certification at no loss to US SAILING. Those 1700 Offshore Rating Certificates? – the boat owners paid for them at no loss to US SAILING. Those 18 National Championships? – the entry fees and sponsorship paid for them at no loss to US SAILING. Hosted its 4th annual One Design Sailing Symposium? – the participants paid and the sponsors contributed at no loss to US SAILING. And on and on this goes. The judges and race officers pay a fee to get certified, and their fees offset the cost of running the certification program.
US SAILING holds a monopoly in the U.S. It is granted to them by the USOC (United States Olympic Committee) and in turn the U.S. Congress grants this authority to the USOC. The best a monopoly can do is get somewhere around 38,000 members (in a sport that has many times that amount)?
Let’s dissect why. The organization was founded by clubs and yacht racing associations for the purpose of making standards. Those standards were racing rules, and rating rules. The service this organization was created for was to provide a standardized platform so boats could move from place to place in the country and not have to learn a different standard. Look at other business models who provide standards in the U.S. Try Underwriters Laboratories. They write volumes of standards on many different products, the perform testing in their laboratories (I’ve been to them and in some cases it is really fun to see the stuff that didn’t work). Their clients ultimately are you and me, but UL charges their direct clients, who are the manufacturers of those goods for their service. You do not have to “join” UL in order for the safety in your home or office. According to your article, everyone in the U.S. must become a member of UL. It doesn’t make sense, does it?
Where is the hard hitting journalism?
US SAILING is a standards organization today. Its clientele are yacht clubs, yacht racing associations, commercial for-profit sailing schools, not-for-profit sailing schools, Olympic sailing, cruising sailors, and the racing sailor (for ratings, handicaps, safety regulations, and access to the Olympics). The individual members are providing nothing more than a gift in the name of supporting their sport. There are 5 Vice Presidents, one each for the Competition, Administration, Education, Olympic and Cruising Divisions. Did you investigate where the influx of income would go? Would all of the money coming in through the racing sailors, be spent solely on the racing sailors? Or would it be spent on the 4 other divisions of US SAILING that do not require membership of their constituents?
Did you get the projections of income? Did you get a projection of what programs would be developed? Where are they planning on spending this new hoard of money (not generalities, but specifics)? President Capron’s article said that they would lower the dues based on the number that join up. Did you see that table? What are the breaks in dues, at what number of member increase? Did it make mathematical sense? Do some of your own math. How many individual sailors do you think will be forced to join? 100,000? 250,000? or 400,000? Come on, you have to have some idea being the biggest sailboat racing magazine in the country as to what your market penetration is. Use some of your internal data. Then multiply those numbers times $60. What do you get? $6,000,000, $15,000,000, or $24,000,000 respectively. With their current budget at $7,500,000, and then “servicing each of the members at $15 each, the additional revenue in year one would be $4,500,000, $11,250,000, or $18,000,000. Look at these numbers, look hard at them. What in the world would US SAILING do with this type of money?
Presidents Capron’s only real explanation was that some of the money would service the new members. Let me break that down for you (since you clearly didn’t investigate). Once every four years they give you a rule book that retails for $15. The accident insurance doesn’t mean much, because everyone who has health insurance or Medicare won’t ever use it (I expect that sailors are a bit higher on the socio-economic scale that most have health insurance). They describe one of the benefits of membership is their weekly newsletter. I was on the US SAILING Communications Committee, and actually was the one who came up with the name “e-USSAILING” for the weekly electronic newsletter. But in reality, it is available to members and non-members for free, that doesn’t make it a “member benefit.” Being eligible for national championships is something for those few members who sign up for that game (there’s plenty of national championships that US SAILING doesn’t have anything to do with, Stars, J/22, Tartan 10s, Thistles, Lightnings, etc. and none seem to be a step above the other in relative importance in the overall scheme of things).
I was on the US SAILING General Services Committee for a bunch of years, and in those days we fought for the members. We wanted to make sure that there were benefits to membership that more than equaled the cost of membership. Back in those days, the dues were $40 and it included a Sailing World subscription. I think that was only 7 years ago, maybe 8. Then in a money grab, as you know, US SAILING dropped their deal with Sailing World and dropped the deal for their membership. Let’s say they were paying Sailing World $10 per member per year for the magazine (I don’t know the details of what they paid), but it must be close. So, in effect, they should have reduced the dues by $10 per year because they didn’t provide the magazine any longer and didn’t replace it with anything of value. By that time I was no longer part of the General Services Committee, but I was there when this was done and no one on that committee suggested reducing the dues due to the loss of the magazine. Right at that point, members were no longer a priority of the organization. They were there to be taken advantage of. Now, lets do the math. $40 dues at that time, less the $10 for the magazine subscription, then bring it forward to today which is $60 equals a 100% Dues Increase in the Past 8 Years and you get less for that money. It is as bad as Gasoline prices.
Let’s dissect President Capron’s explanation of where the money would go:
“We are currently considering special programs for high school and college sailors, lower cost membership for sailors starting careers and families, and group rates for clubs, classes and associations.”
What is a “special program for high school and college sailors?” The ISSA and ICSA do a great job of servicing those sailors currently. Last I heard, they weren’t looking for US SAILING’s help. And they do a great job of assembling their own programs to service their own membership. Explain to me what these programs are that he is proposing, and are they really a benefit for the sport of sailing? Give us some details.
What is “lower cost membership for sailors starting careers and families?” Did you see the table on the costs and the implementation dates? What did it look like? Did it make sense to you? And just how is this a benefit of mandatory membership? This isn’t a benefit, this is a market pricing decision.
What is “group rates for clubs, classes and associations?” Did you see the table on the costs and the implementation dates? What did it look like? Did it make sense to you? And just how is this a benefit of mandatory membership? This isn’t a benefit, this is just a market pricing decision.
What is “We want to make it easy to comply with the new rule.” Where’s the benefit here? That is nothing.
What is, “We would also be looking to reinvest in our race administration programs, expanding race officials training, and creating products to help organizers run better racing.” Looking? You mean they don’t have a set plan of attack now? First they want our money, and then they’ll figure out what to do with it? Really Mr. Reed, go back to your journalism classes and learn how to investigate before taking sides with an issue.
Mr. Reed, you are the New Guy - Part II
US SAILING through its sponsored insurance program is not the only insurance program available in the U.S. for yacht clubs. In fact, there are plenty of insurance companies and agents across the U.S. very interested in and talented at writing yacht clubs, available across the United States. You should know that in order for clubs to access the insurance through US SAILING that the club is required to join US SAILING. That the club must require the “differential entry fees” that charge people who are not members of US SAILING more money to race, than those who aren’t members. This has nothing to do with insurance, as members of US SAILING or nonmembers are equally likely to sue the sponsoring club. This is just a US SAILING scheme to persuade people to join. It is not written into any insurance contract, it is a contract between US SAILING and the club. US SAILING’s Regatta Liability program boosted their premium to $500 this year from $300, a whopping 60% increase in one year. By the way, the competition unrelated to US SAILING provides Regatta Liability Insurance at $315. What service is this to yacht clubs that US SAILING orchestrated? All of the other benefits US SAILING gives an individual requires the individual to spend more money (clothing, RIBs, Sailing World, Boat Shows, etc.) to get a discount. Not quite a benefit if people don’t need or want those products in the first place. It's like when your wife goes out and spends $500 on a dress and save money because it was 50% off. That logic doesn't work.
Under the old bylaws that served the organization well for 100 years, required that ideas be vetted through a variety of committees and move from the clubs and yacht racing associations, Council of Sailing Associations, Offshore Committee, Inshore Committee, Olympic Committee, General Services Committee and to then to the Board of Directors. I have looked through the various committee minutes on the website. I do not see where the volunteers (excluding the Board of Directors) brought this idea forth. To the contrary, this idea looks like it was developed at the Board of Directors level and is being pushed down on the organization. If you had any history with US SAILING, you would know that something like that is blasphemous and rubs against the whole purpose of how the organization was founded. And being from the East Coast, you of all people should be familiar with the phrase “Taxation without representation.” The representatives in the lower committees of the organization did not vote on this. My representatives have not voted on this, nor was it put forward to them to consider at the US SAILING Spring Meeting in Newport, RI.
In the past, the volunteers in all of the committees developed ideas, and all ideas were moved from the “bottom to the top” in US SAILING. My representatives had a say in anything and everything US SAILING did. Now, there is no need for volunteers at US SAILING. They have been swept aside, their thoughts and ideas are not valued. The new bylaws provide for this new “top down” management. We all are now being dictated to, and besides being a wholesale change in the way the organization worked, it is an extremely fine example of how the new organization is NOT working as an organization. The board of directors can do just fine without any input from the volunteers who do the work for the organization.
And don’t get caught in the trap that the membership votes for the board members under the new bylaws. The reality is that the board members to choose from are hand picked by the Nominating Committee, so there is no real choice. The nominating committee will only pick those who agree with the mandatory membership. So where is the representation through voting? It doesn't exist.
Take a look at US SAILING Regulation 14.02 (CAPITAL LETTER EMPHASIS MINE):
“B. As fiduciaries, DIRECTORS OWE TO US SAILING THE DUTY OF CARE AND THE DUTY OF LOYALTY. The duty of care requires fiduciaries to be sufficiently well informed about the affairs of US SAILING and the qualifications of any officers, professionals, committees or others on whom they may rely to enable them to make honest, prudent, and good-faith decisions within the areas of responsibility of the Board. THE DUTY OF LOYALTY REQUIRES FIDUCIARIES TO KEEP THE INSTITUTIONS INTEREST PARAMOUNT, SUBORDINATING THEIR PERSONAL INTERESTS TO THE INTERESTS OF US SAILING and the sport of sailing.”
Does this look like Board members are allowed to speak their own mind? It looks like that must comply and not step up and speak their independent mind. What is dictated to them, is what they must follow.
Since you are young and haven’t been around long, US SAILING got along just fine for many decades with membership as its only source of revenue. 10 years ago they made the fateful decision to “diversify their income” because they thought it good to have different revenue streams. They picked “sponsorship” as the main new revenue stream. Well with 38,000 members, going to auto makers, clothing makers, etc. they must get laughed right out of the office of the corporation. By forcing 3-10 (or more) times people to join, they can deliver a number to sponsors that will get a sponsor to talk to them. Which brings me back to one of the points, just who hatched this plan? No committee minutes show it, did it come from the Executive Director? It seems like an obvious answer. And why, why, why should an initiative like this come from the Executive Director? Paid professionals had no place to do things like this in the volunteer led organization of the past.
How ridiculous are you going to feel when someone is protested for not being a member, and is disqualified from an event? Many sailors are getting sick of the frivolous protests occurring. What will your editorial look like when (not if) this occurs? You're going to have to stand there and say it is great that the rules of US SAILING are being enforced and it is too bad for those who get protested out for not being a member of US SAILING. Did you realize that this is your intent? This will happen.
Many U.S. Citizens are getting sick of the “tax creep.” All of the taxing bodies come along with a “Oh, it only costs $5 a month, that’s nothing.” But when you add up everyone who is coming at you with that same explanation, at the end of the day, you have to work longer, harder and sail less. Most skippers would much rather buy a round of drinks or another entry fee for another event for $60 than be required to send $60 some place to get a rule book, that they can buy for $15. Getting back to “tax creep” today they are targeting helmspersons, tomorrow they will target anyone who steps foot on a racing sailboat (and they have stated that as their goal). Kiss the beer can races goodbye in the future.
The organization originally serviced the racing sailor. Today it has diversified its services and the racing sailor has taken the back seat in the organization. Name me the top three new programs developed in the past three years that have had serious value to the sailboat racer (and now I am not talking about the lame benefits, I am talking about things that make sailboat racing better and more attractive)? Good luck on finding the answer to this one.
So the bottom line becomes that a volunteer committee who write the rules, and turns them over to staff at US SAILING (well, actually to ISAF but this is getting long enough) to publish, and comes up with a price of $15 for a rules book, is the only real tangible benefit someone gets for $240 paid over four years. I expect even you Mr. Reed, to furrow a brow over that math.
There is no plan from US SAILING that says, “This is what we will do if we get this many more members this year, and we will do this if we get this many more members, etc. They don’t know what they are doing, their plan is not available and it is very clear that this is poorly planned.
By the way, who was your source to get a balanced perspective before you wrote your editorial? Mr. Reed, you need to pull back the layers of the onion and let your eyes sting a bit, quite a bit.
Sincerely,
Paco Sanchez
P.S. Please refrain from using profanity in your periodical. Again with your short history, you probably didn’t know that your bulletin board used to ban people who posted profanity on it.
