A contingent of hardy souls braved a cold and blustery Spring day to meet at Bristol Yacht Club Saturday, May 7th, to enjoy one another’s company, to review the SSA performance of 2021, and to brainstorm for the coming season and beyond.
Here are the minutes from the meeting:
Minutes Of 2022 SSA Annual Meeting
Date: May 7, 2022
Location: Bristol YC, Bristol, RI
In Attendance: Stuart and Beth Cutler drove up from Deep River, Connecticut, and Ian Cozzens and his crew Joe came over from Edgewood YC. From Bristol were Bob Catani and his crew Adam, Evan Ide, Dom Messerli, and Carter Hall. Trish Sellon, director at East Bay Sailing Foundation, also attended.
Meeting was opened at 3:45 pm
State Of The Organization….Where We Are Now
The SSA is well-defined with clear organizational structure. We are formally recognized as a non-profit organization by the state of RI and by the federal government. We have simple but effective by-laws governing the organization. Our leadership group currently consists of a Board Of Directors, a commodore, a racing chair, a webmaster, a historian, and a forum guru.We have an active website promoting communication with postings, a forum, technical support, and classifieds.
The membership is supportive and widespread. Over the past 10 years, 252 sailors have paid dues for at least one year. That number includes about 50 owners of SS28/30/34’s. We are spread out across the US in 30 states, Canada, Alaska, and even England (RI has 63 registered members, Mass 44, Maine 23, and Conn 17. States having one boat include Col, Okla,Ala, Del, Ill, Ind. There are 5 boats in Canada and one boat in England).
The website is active and vigorously used. Site visits have been averaging 100 visits per day for several years, down from around 160 in the early years. Total visits since its inception are (holy smokers) 434,000!!. The Forum is active, with archives dating back 25 years. Racing remains very active, with a one-design fleet in Bristol and PHRF participation in many local yacht clubs around the country.
We have $6,000 in the bank, a number reaching our goal of covering admin costs for 8 years.
2021 Financial Summary
Annual dues have been held at $25 for the past 12 years. At the end of 2021 we had $6,182.45 in our bank account. Expenses for the year included a donation to Herreshoff of $300, admin costs of $130 (yearly internet access costs of $140 paid every 3 years comes due next year), racing net costs were about $120. No costs incurred by annual meeting and dinner because there was none due to covid. Income was derived solely from dues paid by 55 members totaling $1,375.
BOD Election
Our By-laws direct an annual election of BOD members for a one year term by a majority of active SSA members present at the Annual Meeting. RI requires non-profits to have no less than 3 BOD members. Our By-laws require no more than 6 members. Paul Sollito and Dana Mennillo have retired from the Board. Bob Catani, Jon Goff, Dejan Radeka, and Carter Hall wished to remain on the board, and Bob Rude along with Evan Ide were new candidates. The resignations from Paul and Dana are accepted with many thanks for their years of service on the Board. The 6 candidates were unanimously elected for a one year term.
Awards
The following annual awards were given for 2021;
Amon (Winner of BYC Wednesday evening races)………………..Bob Catani
Nancy Belle (Best racer on Narragansett Bay)………………………Bob Catani
Browne Bowl (Sportsmanship on the SS23 race course)………..Evan Ide
Denise Trophy (Contribution to the SSA)……………………………….Bob Rude
Thoughts
The organizational, leadership, and administration structures in place are sound. The by-laws need no update at this time. To continue organizational structural development, we will be adding administrative positions of Treasurer and Secretary.
Gear sale (hats, shirts, pennants) was embraced. Current methods (Amazon, TeamOne Newport, simple contracts directly) were discussed. Need to carefully define income sources for non-profits an issue to be investigated.
Dom reviewed racing plans for 2022 and how to encourage participation, particularly in ‘Round The Hog.
Carter reviewed the history of larger sea sprites (SS28/30/34) in the SSA dominated by owners of SS23’s. In the later years of SS construction by Ryder, all four boats were being constructed side by side at his boatyard in Bristol. Although coming from different designers, the boats look the same, and their construction use similar techniques. All the boats have been welcomed members in the various iterations of the SSA through the years. On the new BD there are four SS23 and two SS30 owners.
Stuart began a lively discussion about rendezvous’s and how to create them. Ideas about harbors and destinations, shore activities, and how to promote and coordinate participation, were entertained. To be continued.
Meeting was closed at 6:00 pm
Many thanks to those in attendance. More to come regarding the newly created positions of Secretary and Treasurer.
Have a wonderful, fun-filled summer out on the water sailing our lovely craft!!!