Attendance
Attendees: Nancy Zangerle – President (holding District 12 proxy), Paul Scalisi – Vice President (holding District 4 proxy), Reid Stava – Technical Committee Chairman (holding District 7 proxy), Eric Faust – Executive Director (non-voting), Mark Toso – District 1 (holding District 3 proxy), Tim Winger – Representing District 6, Rob Whitley – District 8, Kelly Holmes – District 14 (holding District 18 proxy), Eric Sanderson – District 19, Michael Whitfield – District 20 (holding District 21 proxy). Attendance represents a quorum.

Call to Order
N. Zangerle called the meeting to order at 0805.

Introduction of Attendees
Each attendee gave a brief introduction.

2005 Minutes
The Minutes of the 2005 meeting were reviewed.
Motion: After brief discussion, E. Sanderson made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. The motion was seconded and approved.

President’s Report – N. Zangerle
N. Zangerle thanked all attendees for their time and acknowledged the many people who have helped and contributed throughout the past year, particularly the District Governors. N. Zangerle then recapped the IJCA World Council Meeting, noting that due to a Constitutional change, the USJCA had four votes at the meeting, based on membership. The international Technical Committee was expanded to nine members, four of which are from the USJCA, and has a new Chairman in Lorne Chapman who is working to make the rules process more transparent. The IJCA is also working with J/boats to develop a logo usage policy that may include licensing agreements for the NJCAs. The World Council has also instituted several rules changes that are now being submitted to ISAF for approval. The IJCA membership dues will be $13 for 2007. The 2006 Women’s Open Championship was successful and will likely be held in Monaco in 2008. The IJCA is planning to hold a 30th Anniversary celebration in 2008 and is looking for ideas regarding appropriate events. The USJCA Executive Director is now providing administrative services for the IJCA in a cooperative agreement that was negotiated earlier this year where the IJCA covers some of the overhead costs for the USJCA. The agreement may be adjusted to reflect the actual usage of the Executive Director’s time. The books are being kept separate and the agreement is for administrative services only. The IJCA is also working to enhance the measurement database with the goal of making certificates available online.

District Reports
Each District Governor in attendance gave a brief report on the activities in his area. Other District reports were printed and distributed for review.

Executive Director’s Report – E. Faust
Review of U.S. Class membership for 2006 shows the Class will most likely end the year with approximately 970 members. The decline in D8 membership is partially due to the redistricting of the Hampton fleet out of D8 and into D6. An overview of the Class finances shows that the USJCA is on track to meet its budget numbers and will end the year with a small positive net income. The USJCA still maintains its 501(c)(3) status that allows Class volunteers to deduct relevant expenditures from their personal income taxes. Royalty tags sales have been strong and remain an important revenue stream, but the USJCA does not realize full profit from all of these tags because of the international rebate program by which the U.S. gives a credit for exported sails to the country to which they are shipped. Yearly publications include an International yearbook, a USJCA magazine that is in production for distribution during the fall and a wall calendar that was produced for sale to the membership. For participation, the U.S. Nationals and Midwinters were well attended early in the year and activity in certain areas of the country remains strong.

Financial Chairman’s Report – E. Faust
D. Anderson was not in attendance, but had developed a functional budget for 2007 which was distributed to the group. The financial reports project year end net income of around $6000, due in part to the cost savings from the IJCA cooperative agreement. D. Anderson has proposed that approximately $3000 of this be spent on marketing and promotion. N. Zangerle proposed that the approval of the 2007 budget be tabled until the end of the meeting so that additional adjustments could be added as the meeting progressed.

Old and Unfinished Business
There was no old or unfinished business.

New Business
2007 Regatta Status Reports
E. Faust gave a brief report on the status of the 2007 major regattas including the 2007 Midwinters in Tampa, FL, the 2007 Nationals in Jacksonville, FL at the Florida Yacht Club and the 2007 North Americans at the California Yacht Club in Marina del Rey, CA. U.S. Pan Am Games Trials are scheduled for February in Tampa, FL with four person teams and small jibs only. The 2007 regional championships were discussed. All the regionals were scheduled with the exception of finding an appropriate date for the Northeast regionals in District 2.

2008 Events Planning
P. Scalisi gave a status report for the 2008 Nationals on May 15-18 at the Richmond County Yacht Club in New York and mentioned that the hosts would like to impose a cap on entry. After discussion, it was decided to not cap the number of participants for the Nationals and that entry be open to all Class members.
E. Faust noted that Tim Oelschlager and Fleet 1 in Minnetonka, MN were interested in submitting a proposal to host the 2008 North Americans. The proposal will be distributed and voted on via email.
The Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa is interested in hosting the 2008 Midwinters. A proposal will be solicited and will be distributed via email for approval.

Great Lakes Championship Proposal
N Zangerle stated that the Canadian JCA was interested in making the Great Lakes Championship a Worlds qualifying event for both countries with a berth awarded by the IJCA in order to attract Canadians to the regatta. No action was taken on this proposal.

2007 Worlds Registration
In order to maximize the participation for USJCA members at the World Championship, N Zangerle made a proposal that the U.S. qualifiers for the 2007 Worlds pay their entry fee to the U.S. Class office 120 days prior to the Worlds, in this case by November 1. If the qualifier subsequently declines to attend the Worlds a refund will be available on the paid entry fee on the following schedule: Nov 1-10 = 75% refund, Nov 11-20 = 50% refund, Nov 21-30 = 25% refund, After Dec 1 = no refund. In addition each qualified helmsperson must make a final commitment to either participate in the Worlds, or forfeit his berth to the next eligible helmsperson. Confirmation of this intention must be made to the USJCA Class office including a list of team members, charter boat confirmation or outline of plan to haul boat to the regatta site and accommodation plan or hotel confirmation. Qualified helmspersons who fail to follow this procedure will forfeit their berth to the next eligible helmsperson, but could qualify again at a subsequent date.
Motion: K Holmes made a motion to accept the proposal. The motion was seconded and approved.

2009 Nationals Location
As per the 2005 Board of Governors meeting, the 2009 U.S. Nationals are proposed to be held in District 20. M Whitfield indicated that he would work on finding an appropriate host for the regatta and submit a proposal for the event at a later date.

North Americans long-range rotation plan
After 2008, the next North Americans in the U.S. will be in 2010 since Mexico will host in 2009.

Rules and Specifications
N Zangerle gave a brief report on the rules changes approved at the 2006 World Council Meeting and the status of the some of the rules that were being reworked by the IJCA technical committee. A full list of these changes can be found in the IJCA meeting minutes.

USJCA Constitution Review
N Zangerle stated that the IJCA had rewritten its Constitution and implemented Bylaws and suggested that the USJCA should review its Constitution to make sure there is no conflict between the documents. Mark Toso volunteered David Smith to assist and Rob Whitley agreed to help.

Technical Committee Update: Reid Stava
R Stava gave a report on Technical Committee issues. R Stava had attended the 2006 World Championship in Australia and noted several different interpretations of the rules that occurred there. The Technical Committee will be working on a new process that will be tested in the coming year to measure the mast and keel positions on boats. The IJCA is also exploring the production of keel measuring templates that will be offered for sale to various NJCAs and Districts. In addition, R Stava said he was working with Haarstick Sailmakers to develop a sail measurment template. This template could be shipped to regatta sites to assist in measuring sails.

National Ranking System
N Zangerle asked the group if the USJCA implement a system for ranking sailors in order to increase interest and participation. M Whitfield described a process used in Australia that calculated a ranking based on a sailor’s five most recent regattas. E Faust described the Grand Prix system used by the Laser Class. The group then discussed which regattas would be used for ranking purposes. After some discussion, N Zangerle said she would investigate the idea further and report her findings.

Review of Premium Membership Programs
The existing system was reviewed and it was agreed to continue to offer premium membership levels for 2007 at the same price points as last year.

Boat Donation Program
N Zangerle described a potential program by which the USJCA could use its 501(c)(3) status to accept donated boats and use them for entry level charter boats. The program would entail matching people with donation worthy boats with those desiring to race J/24s. Several other sailing organizations are operating such programs and N Zangerle had contacted one of them to see if one would be able to administer the program on behalf of the USJCA, which they declined. After some discussion it was decided that the USJCA would need to obtain significant liability insurance before proceeding with this type of program. The Board agreed that the USJCA should make it a priority purchase appropriate directors and officers insurance and then make a decision on whether to institute a boat donation program. N Zangerle asked that the Board stay in touch with her to give feedback and ongoing opinions about this proposal.

Growth and Promotion
There was general discussion of promotional topics including the following:
30th Anniversary Regatta Promotion – With the IJCA planning to hold a 30th Anniversary celebration event in 2008, N Zangerle suggested that the USJCA should maximize the promotional opportunity by working with sailing publications and website to develop articles and publicity in order to build interest in the J/24. It was suggested that the Class contact Brad Read at Sail Newport to discuss the possibility of hosting a 30th Anniversary regatta in 2008.

New Women’s and Youth Regattas
With the success of the 2006 Women’s Open Championship, N Zangerle proposed that the USJCA should hold a Women’s National Championship and indicated that the Beverly Yacht Club would be interested in hosting. M Toso suggested that the regatta could be held consecutively with a J/24 Youth National Championship for sailors under 23 years old.

Inter-District competition
The idea of a Championship of District Champions, where the top team from each District would compete in a regatta, was discussed. An inter-district team race championship was also mentioned.

Election of Officers
The proposed slate of officers is was Nancy Zangerle as President, Paul Scalisi as Vice President, Reid Stava as Technical Chairman, Todd Warnygora as Governor’s Representative and David Anderson as Finance Chairman. No other nominations were recorded.
Motion: M Whitfield made a motion, “To elect the slate of officers as proposed.” The motion was seconded and approved without discussion.
Any other business
Motion: T Winger made a motion to approve the presented 2007 budget with the amendment to add an additional line item expense for directors and officers insurance.

2006 Board of Governors Meeting
N Zangerle suggested that the Board of Governors meeting could be held in the location of the U.S. Nationals in the year prior to the regatta. For 2007, this would mean a meeting at the Richmond County Yacht Club in Staten Island, NY. It was decided that the date for the 2007 Board of Governors meeting would be held on the second or third weekend in October, depending on which date had the fewest conflicts. Further discussion and a final confirmation on the date and location for the meeting will be carried out via email.

Adjournment
At 1630, M. Toso made a motion to adjourn. The motion was unanimously approved.