Minutes from the Nov. 10, 2012, Y-Knot Board of Managers’ meeting at the Clifton Park/Halfmoon Library, Clifton Park, NY, are submitted for consideration as follows:
In attendance were George Painter (YMCA Camp Chingachgook Director), Keith Edwards (YMCA Camp Chingachgook liaison), Don Miller (Vice President), Scott Stewart, Dan Kennedy, Mark Carnevale (President) and Dan Byrnes (Secretary).
The minutes from the Aug. 21 meeting were read and approved.
For the Treasurer’s report, Keith handed out the Y-Knot Sailing Financial Summery for 2012, as of Nov. 8, 2012. The total number of Regatta participants including volunteers was 39, Keith said, which along with our average number of sailors and volunteers for sailing dates were up this year. We had an average of 17.9 people participating in our regular sailing days.
Mark asked for clarification about the distinction between membership dues and donations. Last year Y-Knot had counted all membership dues as donations. This year our summary reports $3,475 of membership dues, even though there is no membership per se.
George explained that we used to send out appeals, and we’d invite people to be a member. Members sail for free. But now everyone sails for free.
So the numbers this year reflect people giving – they give whatever they are comfortable with.
We lost almost $1,900 this year, Keith said, and so we need to bring in more donations and membershps for next year. We expect a few more donations to come in this year.
We don’t see the silent auction income from the Sailabration dinner. Keith will look into it.
Regarding the new waterfront area, Keith said the old waterfront building is currently being dismantled in preparation for the new dock construction project. George said the project is full steam ahead and will be updated on the Facebook page. We will dredge the bay the week after Thanksgiving.
The dedication ceremony will be Monday, June 17th,, 2013 followed by a barbecue in the Pavilion. George encouraged us to get a really strong Y-Knot turnout.
Anybody with construction ability can volunteer – bring warm clothes. Volunteers can contact Keith for dates.
George said it’s going to really change how we do our sailing days and open up community sailing. Now we’ll be able to do sailing days whether there are kids in camp or not. Also community sailing will be able to operate simultaneously while the camp is open. It’s been a 7-year project and now we’re going to start dredging after Thanksgiving and the whole project will transform our waterfront.
Regarding Y-Knot merchandise, Rick has developed Euro-style decal to go along with a caribiner and a tote bag. Regarding merchandising, the Board had been talking about raising funds by organizing the sale of things such as hats, shirts, key rings and other gear.
The Board discussed a number of options including PayPal accounts and an on-line store all the way down to publishing a PDF and asking people to print it out and send in a check. For the potential income, with the number of particpants we have, the Board decided it wasn’t worth the effort to try to put merchandise sales into the Y-knot web site.
George suggested we could deveop a new display case at new water front and a Y-Knot store in the new waterfront headquarters.
Regarding new equipment for the new dock, we are looking at 3 different types of hoists and wondering which would be best for lifting sailors into and out of their boats. George said every place he goes to Montreal, Halifax, Toronto, they all have diferent types of lifts. What is a state of the art lift system? Dan Kennedy volunteered to do some research.
Heavy air sailing on Lake George destroyed 3 mainsails this year. This leaves us with 8 usable sets for 6 boats. Keith will look, into getting 2 repaired, but the 3rd one is too damaged to repair.
There have been chafing problems Keith when people put the booms all the way out. Keith has been working to get the sails reinforced in that area, so the 012 sail will get a test patch in htat area for a cost of about $150.
New guidance to be shared with the on-the-water team: Don’t let sheets out so sails gets caught against the spreader.
Re Board organization, Don is in his 6th year. What is the Board’s thought about him not taking a year off? George said the Board can be very flexible on this matter. The Y has changed this Board’s requirements in by laws to make it three 3 year terms. Or there could be other options. Don says he will stay on for another year.
The next meeting will be Tues., Jan. 16, at the Clifton Park YMCA, at 6:00 P.M.
Submitted by Dan Byrnes, Feb. 20, 2013.