Attendance
Attendees: Nancy Zangerle – President (holding District 12 proxy), Paul Scalisi – Vice President, David Anderson – Finance Chair (holding District 15 proxy), Eric Faust – Executive Director (non-voting), Mark Toso – District 1, Stuart Challoner – District 4, Angelo Buscemi – District 6, Rob Whitley – District 8 (holding District 10 proxy), Kelly Holmes – District 14 (holding District 18 proxy), Doug Schenk – District 19 (holding District 20 and 21 proxies). Attendance represents a quorum.

Call to Order
N. Zangerle called the meeting to order at 0905.

Introduction of Attendees
Each attendee gave a brief introduction.

2006 Board of Governors Meeting Minutes
The Minutes of the 2006 meeting were reviewed.
After brief discussion, P Scalisi made a motion to accept the minutes as presented. The motion was seconded and approved.

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.

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 deferred her report, since all relevant subjects will be covered in subsequent agenda items.

New Business
2008 Regatta Status Reports
The Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa will be hosting the 2008 Midwinters on February 10-13. The intention behind this scheduling is to allow sailors to compete in the Midwinters and then attend the St. Petersburg NOOD regatta immediately after while only taking one week off from work. This scheduling will be evaluated to determine if it is beneficial to regatta attendance.
P. Scalisi gave a status report for the 2008 Nationals to be held May 15-18 at the Richmond County Yacht Club in New York. Planning is going well with arrangements for a launching crane and a street closure to allow for easier access to the water. The banquet on Saturday night of the regatta will be a 30th anniversary birthday party for the J/24 Class. Expected turnout is in the range of 50-70 boats.
A report from Tim Oelschlager and Fleet 1 in Minnetonka, MN was reviewed regarding the status of the 2008 North American Championship to be held September 8-12. These are experienced regatta hosts and planning is progressing well. The plan is to host the annual U-Gotta Regatta/District Championship on the weekend immediately prior to the NAs to allow sailors to compete in two events during the week.
E Faust stated that District 15 would like to change the rotation schedule of the 2008 Great Lakes Championship since they will be hosting the North Americans and do not want to strain their volunteer base. It was decided that the District Governors from Districts 7, 12 and 15 should be asked to decide where the 2008 event will be held.
N Zangerle noted that the Women’s Open Championship will once again be held at the Beverly Yacht Club in Marion, MA. The regatta dates are June 26-29, 2008. There will likely be two Worlds berths available at this event.
E Faust stated that in a conversation with District 10 Governor, Jeffrey Siewert, it was indicated that the 2008 SE Regionals should be held in Miami.
K Holmes noted that the SW Regionals are scheduled to be held on April 19-20 at the Fort Worth Boat Club.
E Faust stated that the 2008 NE Regionals are scheduled to be held in District 6.

2009 Events Planning
Proposals from Fleet 86 in Tampa and Flat Earth Racing in Miami to host the 2009 Midwinters were presented. As in previous years, the discussion revolved around the lack of a supportive host yacht club in the Miami area with an active J/24 fleet. By contrast, there is a strong J/24 fleet at the Davis Island Yacht Club and the club is very welcoming to our sailors.
K Holmes made a motion to, “Accept the proposal from Fleet 86 to host the 2009 Midwinters at the Davis Island Yacht Club in Tampa Florida.” The motion was seconded and unanimously approved.
N Zangerle stated that the Class should ask Fleet 86 to be flexible with the timing of the 2009 Midwinters with respect to the NOOD regatta based on the participation at the 2008 event.
A report on the 2009 U.S. National Championship from District 20 Governor, Michael Whitfield, was reviewed. The regatta is scheduled to be held at the San Francisco Yacht Club on September 23-27. The host District was approved at the 2006 Board of Governors Meeting.
N Zangerle noted that the 2009 North Americans are scheduled to be held at Valle de Bravo, Mexico. The current schedule will have the regatta on February 2-7, 2009. It was decided to ask the Mexican Class if they would consider moving the dates so as not to conflict with the Midwinters.
N Zangerle reported that she has spoken with the organizers of the 2009 World Championship to be held on May 14-22 in Annapolis, Maryland. Planning is progressing well. The PRO and Jury Chair have been approved by the IJCA and work is underway to procure a title sponsor for the event. The USJCA should capitalize on this event and should expect increased participation and membership in 2008 as teams try to qualify for the Worlds.

2010 Nationals Location
M Toso stated that the Marblehead, MA fleet is interested in hosting the 2010 U.S. Nationals and has already gained approval from the host club.
After discussion of other possibilities, S Challoner made a motion that, “The Marblehead fleet be awarded the 2010 U.S. National Championship.” The motion was seconded and approved.

2010 North Americans Location
D Schenk stated that District 19 is interested in hosting the 2010 North Americans. The possible locations would be Seattle or the Columbia River Gorge.
P. Scalisi made a motion that, “District 19 be given tentative approval to host the 2010 North American Championship, pending the receipt of an acceptable official proposal to host.” The motion was seconded and approved.

Rules and Specifications
N Zangerle gave a brief report on the rule changes approved at the 2007 World Council Meeting. A full list of these changes can be found in the IJCA meeting minutes. Most of the rule changes were to clean up the existing rules and were not substantive in nature.
N Zangerle then described a “trial program” that was approved by the World Council to allow for variable length forestays. The intention is to determine if a change to the Class Rule that disallows adjustable forestays would be beneficial.
P Scalisi made a motion that, “The USJCA will not participate in the IJCA trial program and would not allow adjustable forestays at Class sanctioned events, particularly at World Qualifying events.” The motion was seconded and approved.

Technical Committee Update
A report submitted by Reid Stava regarding Technical Committee issues that was reviewed by the group.

D&O Insurance Update
N Zangerle reported that she had followed up on a directive from last year’s meeting regarding D&O Insurance for the USJCA. She indicated that she was unable to locate D&O Insurance at a reasonable cost and that each member of the Board of Governor’s should look at his personal insurance coverage to assure proper coverage. M Toso suggested that an umbrella policy would be a cost effective way to protect your assets.

Growth and Promotion
N Zangerle described a demographic survey that she developed and which is available on the IJCA website. Once the survey has been finalized, the USJCA will ask its members to visit the website and complete the survey. The collected information will be valuable in planning and obtaining sponsorship for regattas. In order to collect data from crew members as well as full members, D Anderson suggested that a computer could be set up at regattas on which people could fill out the survey.

Financial Report
D Anderson indicated that as was seen on the International level, sales of royalty labels was down this year. This would likely leave the USJCA experiencing a loss on the year of around $3000. Again, the cooperative agreement with the IJCA acted to save on overhead costs at the rate of 25%. D Anderson also presented a functional budget for 2008.
K Holmes made a motion to, “Accept the financial statements as presented.” The motion was seconded and approved.
P Scalisi made a motion to, “Accept the 2008 budget as presented.” The motion was seconded and approved.

The meeting was then moved into a closed executive session for personnel discussions.

Review of Premium Membership Programs
The existing system was reviewed and it was agreed to continue to offer premium membership levels for 2008 at the same price points as last year. N Zangerle mentioned that flags are a popular item in Europe, and that the USJCA should look into offering them as a membership premium particularly if they can be customized. Also, there is a possibility of using an updated logo to help boost premium membership sales. E Faust indicated that he would look for flag manufacturers and solicit price quotes.

World Council Meeting Update
N Zangerle gave a report on the recent World Council Meeting in Riva del Garda, Italy. Minutes of the meeting will be made available on the IJCA website. One piece of pertinent information to the USJCA is that the IJCA dues will increase for 2008 to $15 per member.
The IJCA also approved a proposal to allow one additional all-woman team from each NJCA to participate in the 2008 and 2009 World Championships.
M Toso made a motion that, “For the 2008 Worlds, the additional berth granted by the IJCA for a women’s team from each NJCA will be distributed based on resumes submitted to and voted on by the USJCA Executive Committee. For the 2009 Worlds, this additional berth will be distributed to the top-finishing, not previously qualified U.S. team at the 2008 Women’s Open Championship.” The motion was seconded and approved.
The meeting participants were encouraged to contact potential women’s teams to solicit resumes to participate in the 2008 World Championship. An announcement will also be placed on the USJCA website.
At the World Council Meeting, the IJCA also approved a proposal to allow one “youth” team from each NJCA to participate in the 2008 and 2009 World Championship. All members of the team must be under the age of 25 in the calendar year in which the World Championship occurs.
K Holmes suggested that the youth berth be allocated based on resume submissions to the Executive Committee. The USJCA contact the intercollegiate sailing association to attempt to solicit resumes for potential youth teams to participate in the 2008 World Championship. K Holmes said that he would take on this action item on behalf of the Board of Governors.
D Schenk made a motion that, “In order to promote youth participation at the 2008 Worlds, the USJCA will grant $1000 to offset travel expenses to one youth team, selected by a vote of the USJCA Board of Governors, that meets the age limits and other criteria established by the IJCA.” The motion was seconded and approved.
P Scalisi made a motion that, “For the 2009 Worlds, the Board of Governors establish criteria for the selection of the youth team: The helmsperson must be under the age of 25 and a Class member in 2008, and the team must compete in at least one regatta at the District level or higher in 2008 at which all but one of the crew members must be under the age of 25. Teams that meet these criteria will be eligible to submit resume applications to the USJCA, which will be used as the basis for allocation of the youth team berth by a vote of the Board of Governors.” The motion was seconded and approved.
D Schenk made a motion that, “Teams that meet the Board of Governors’ criteria for application for the 2009 Worlds youth team berth be offered a grant of up to $250. The total budget for these grants shall not exceed $2000 for the year 2008.” The motion was seconded and approved.
Registration and Allocation of Unfilled Berths for the 2008 World Championship
D Anderson made a motion that, “Teams that have earned berths to the 2008 World Championship must pay their entry fees to the USJCA office by December 1, 2007 or forfeit the berth for allocation based on the Rules for World Qualification. Any of these teams that do not submit proper documentation of their intent to participate in the 2008 Worlds by January 1, 2008 will forfeit the entire entry fee. Teams that obtain a berth by pass-down or by resume application will have 15 days from the date of notification to pay their non-refundable entry fee to the USJCA office.”

Allocation of 2009 World Championship Berths
After much discussion on the subject, M Toso made a motion that, “Based on the expectation of 30 total berths, the following shall be the allocation of USJCA berths for the 2009 World Championship: 2008 U.S. Nationals (2 berths), 2008 North Americans (2 berths), 2008 Midwinters (2 berths), Northeast Regionals (1 berth), Southeast Regionals (1 berth), Southwest Regionals (1 berth), Great Lakes (1 berth), Western Regionals (1 berth), Each District Championship or Series (16 total berths), USJCA President (1 berth). In addition, one at-large berth (i.e. for any USJCA member) will be available at the 2008 East Coast Championship (1 berth) and a berth available for District 18, 19, 20, 21, 22 members only will be available at a West Coast regatta to be determined (1 berth). Berths will be allocated and passed down according to the USJCA World Qualifying Rules.” The motion was seconded and approved.

Election of Officers
The proposed slate of officers is was Paul Scalisi as President, Reid Stava as Technical Chairman and Nancy Zangerle as Finance Chairman. No other nominations were recorded. R Whitley made a motion, “To elect the slate of officers as proposed.” The motion was seconded and approved.
It was decided to keep nominations open for an additional period in order to find suitable candidates for the positions of Vice President and Governors’ Representative. Nominations will be sent to the Class office, and a vote will be taken by email to finalize the election.

2008 Board of Governors Meeting
P Scalisi suggested that the Board of Governors meeting should be held in a geographically central location. It was decided that the date for the 2008 Board of Governors meeting would be October 18, 2008 at a location proximate to the Dallas/Ft. Worth airport.

Adjournment
At 1630, R Whitley made a motion to adjourn. The motion was unanimously approved and the meeting was adjourned.