Thank you to all who attended our recent Annual General Meeting. One of the items discussed, and actually voted on (thanks to Lee Grant for his guidance on how to actually do that) was that our membership fee structure needs updating. A full member has been set at $55 for a number of years now but there have been some changes to how our class is funded that has necessitated an increase to $100 for racing members to avoid funding deficits. Basically, until 2011, the CJCA received sail tag royalties for all sales manufactured in Canada, regardless of where the sail was to be sold. The CJCA did very well for many years under this arrangement as Quantum basically built all their North American sails in Toronto, and our class received royalties for all these sails. In 2011 the IJCA changed this policy and now all sail tag royalties flow directly to the IJCA, with the sail tag revenue conceptually flowing back to member countries based on membership. Coincidentally, the timing of this more or less coincided with Quantum Toronto leaving Quantum and becoming Evolution, so we actually lost this source of revenue on both fronts.
The other relevant data point is that our national Class has traditionally purchased a minimum of 151 IJCA memberships regardless of the number of actual members (usually around 110, although down t0 86 last year) to maximize our allotment of World Qualifying spots. We would like to continue to do this in 2013, given this year’s membership (as of July 2013) will determine our spots at the 2014 Canadians in Newport. By doing so, the CJCA will have 16 spots, rather than 10 and it was felt at the AGM that we should find a way to secure the 16 spots, especially since 25 boats attended the Rochester Worlds in 2012. It was also agreed however, that it would be irresponsible to run a deficit to fund these additional spots.
Two solutions were identified to increase CJCA funding. First, we need to reinvigorate memberships. Nobody likes to chase or be chased on this front so please join early and encourage your boatyard neighbours to do so as well. It is now easier than ever to join online through the membership section of this website. The CJCA executive council will monitor the progress this spring and work with the district governors to increase memberships. Also, crew memberships are considerably down in numbers. Please encourage your regular crew members to join the class as well as this will definitely help us get to 151. Crew memberships are only $25.
The second solution that was agreed to via motion, is the introduction of a new membership type: Racing Member ($100). Starting in 2013, a boat’s helm will be required to be a racing member to participate in the CJCA national championship and district level world qualifying events, and the additional revenue generated by this increase of $45 / racing member will be directed to funding World Qualifying spots. The other membership levels do not change. Although a significant increase percentage wise, it was felt that in actual dollars this represents a modest increase and should be easily supported by all racing boat owners when compared to the investment we make in racing our boats and the important role the CJCA plays in ensuring high quality world qualifying and district events, in addition to the other core benefits the class provides.
Please contact your district governor if you have any questions or concerns regarding the above. Also please join or renew your membership for 2013 as soon as possible.