The Sea Sprite Association’s Board Of Directors met Thursday evening on November 14, 2013 to review the year and to plan 2014. Present were Dana Menillo, Herb Browne, Bob Catani, Chad Brown, and Carter Hall. Bob Russell sat in as well (after all, he owns our meeting place McBride’s in Providence!). Dejan Radeka was out of town. We discussed issues in the following areas and made the following recommendations.
Financial
The SSA is in excellent financial health. Our income of $1915 came from 58 membership fees, $105 in donations, and a cancellation credit as well as $ left from last year. Our expenses totaled $699, which included a one time charge for 2012 loans, prepayment of some of the web access fees for 3 years to reduce the yearly rate, and assorted administrative costs. That projects to a balance at t the end of the year of $1216. Ongoing average yearly costs are expected to be about $500.
Dues will remain at $25 yearly. We will continue to minimize expenses, but will ensure continued and reliable website presentation and web access. There may be other media/projects as well useful to promote sea sprite ownership. For the next 2 to 3 years our major goal will be to build to 6 years of operating money in our account to protect the organization should a leadership / administrative void develop. At that point, we will review expenditures in light of our stated mission (see website).
Membership
We have 58 members registered, with 27 boats from Ri, 8 from Mass, 5 from Conn and Maine,and 1-3 from 10 other states including British Columbia and Oklahoma. There are 48 SS23’s,4 SS28’s, 1 SS30, and 5 SS34s. The number of boats built is hard to ascertain, and it is even harder to know how many still exist. Perhaps 700 SS23s and 120 of the other SS’s were constructed, and perhaps 500-600 are still afloat. So perhaps our joining participation rate is around 10%.
A robust discussion ensued about how and to what extent we should work to increase membership. It was decided that access to the entire Association website, including the Forum, will remain open without restrictions. We will add to the website one or 2 discrete suggestions that if the website enhances in some way a boat owner’s sailing experience, one might consider joining the SSA. We will also do just one email blast, in conjunction with a website posting, in the early Spring reminding owners about the benefits of membership. Our ad philosophy (see below) should also add members.
Organization
It was felt that between the Forum, the website various sections and postings, and the April dinner, the Association is doing a good job promoting the interests of its disparate and wide flung members. Suggestions for improvement are welcomed. We will pursue an ad structure aimed at helping members (see below). Members are encouraged to promote not only the sea sprite class itself, but also membership in the SSA.
The website is working well, and appears to be enjoyed by many. We will employ a simple stats program to keep track of visitors (no personal specifics). We will keep the old domain registered (seasprites.com), for old links and current hits to the old site direct visitors to the new. This winter we will pursue building our on-line technical library (Carter will put out a call for help), further delineate the difficult-to-determine class history, and record on the web site restoration projects.
Round tables are encouraged. For example, the Bristol racers plan 2 to 3 meetings to share their racing techniques. Groups around the country are encouraged to do the same. Topics might include Long Cruises, Short Cruises, Doing A Rehab, Rendezvous, Spring Prep, etc.
Ads
The Board decided to minimize advertising on the site, and to support the SSA through membership dues rather than advertising revenue. Our approach will be to select (very) few vendors, and ask that they give our members a discount. For example, Jamestown Distributors might be willing to give our members 10% off. They will make money selling their wares, our members make money on the discount (would it be nice not to pay the local Marina full fare for bottom paint?), and the SSA would bring in income through membership dues. Carter will explore this potential this winter with several vendors.
Your questions and Ideas are welcomed! Contact Carter Hall at seaspriteassociation@yahoo.com.
Board Of Directors
Sea Sprite Association