Board of Managers Meeting: April 2010


Present were Steve Mintz, Mark Carnevale (President), Spencer Raggio, Trish McKluskey, Don Miller (Vice President), Keith Edwards (Camp Chingachgook liaison), and Dan Byrnes (Secretary). Dave Whalen participated by Skype.

Spencer suggested a procedural move that we dispense with the committee reports and just move those topics under old business and new business topics as appropriate. This is really the committee here—this committee is every committee.

Regarding the Treasurer’s report, Keith said there were a couple of good donations that Aimee was processing.

Re: Fundraising, Keith said that George is planning to send out a fundraising brochure–as an eBlast. As of last year, Nyack no longer has a fundraising component in the Tappanzee Challenge weekend. Mark is planning to go and will be able to tow a boat. Steve will try to make it.

Don, Steve, Mark, and Dan will meet at Mocha Lisa’s to do detailed planning session for promotion to sailors using racing as a hook.

Re: boat repairs, Keith tested out the trailer and it travels. Next he’s going to try moving a boat–adjusting the bunks, etc. The trailer is registered and inspected. The trailer was donated by B.J. Henry, a retired engineer from G.E., and it will be a very valuable asset to Y-Knot.

We discussed the Regatta Policy for Loaning & Transporting Boats was discussed. Y-Knot will cover Regatta entry fees, transportation and overnight accommodations. Meals are excluded. Do we need a limit on overnight accommodations? That’s hard to do since some destinations are modest, and others are more expensive: Burlington, VT, vs. Toronto, Ontario, Canada, for example. When Halifax hosted the Mobility Cup, they arranged a dorm wing for sailors and discount rates for a local hotel. We need to keep an eye on expenses, because it does increase wear and tear and other expenses such as boat insurance that do accrue to Y-Knot for travelling. Sailing boats in other venues does cost money in addition to travel out-of-pocket. People who travel with a boat for a Regatta and don’t need financial assistance are encouraged to share in paying for Regatta out-of-pocket expenses. When boats are loaned for an out-of-town event where none of our sailors will attend, we need more stringent conditions, including asking the host yacht club to help reimburse out-of-pocket expenses. The Regatta Policy for Loaning & Transporting Boats will be posted on the web site once it is approved.

Mark moved we vote on the policy and it was approved.

Regarding the waterfront, there are 8 to 12 different organizations that will review the plans and approve them in a roundtable format. It might be at the camp, and it might be at Albany. Mark said he’d like to attend.

Re: North Country Access, Keith says they can pay for mileage, provide two rooms and they can use 2 Martins. We need to send up 2 companions, because they don’t have any experience with the Martins. They don’t have lifts, so people would have to be mobile enough to get themselves into the boats. The date is July 16.

Mark, Keith, Scott and Don made it to the New York State Therapeutic Recreation Association 15th annual conference in Saratoga Springs, March 22. Keith made a terrific slide show presentation for the event.

The Ti Race organizers have invited Y-Knot to bring Martins out for the sprint race which runs from the start in front of Yankee marine up to and around Dome Island. Mark will take the lead to invite sailors for this event. It takes 15 minutes to get down to the starting line. We need to have the tow ready to leave for Yankee at 8:30 A.M.. so boat call would be 7:30 A.M. Lake George Ticonderoga Race Open to all sailors on Lake George, the Lake George Ticonderoga Race consists of four fleets. A short Sprint Race, and three long-distance races. The URL is http://www.lake-george.com/tirace/. Questions can be directed to Kyle LaVoy, [email protected] or by calling 518 796-9428.

We discussed the passing of well known Canadian sailor, Mark Landry, who had in the past won the Y-Knot Regatta. We will look into Y-Knot making a contribution to the memorial fund.

We discussed paying $40 to list Y-Knot on the Washington County tourism web site, but decided it wasn’t a good fit.

Trish and Mark proposed doing a tri-fold brochure for stuffing in tourism literature racks. Spencer said he’d look at doing something for a tri-fold format.

Don put the first sailing date on the NYS Developmental Disabilities Web site.

Next meeting will be May 18 at the Clifton Park Library. The meeting was adjourned.