The CYC Board of Directors will ask members at the Annual Meeting on Nov 28 to approve broad changes in the club’s bylaws to attract new members and accommodate an increased “sense of community” deemed necessary for the club to survive.

The changes would simplify membership categories and for most adult members would reduce dues by almost 30 percent while cutting initiation fees to half the amount of annual dues. Current dues and initiation fees are considered impediments to membership.

The dues-reducing bylaws changes, if approved, would be offset by increases in race fees (not included in the bylaws) to more accurately reflect the cost of racing. Racing members, however, would pay about what they do now in combined dues and weeknight race fees.

Also at the annual meeting, with social time at 6:15 p.m. and the program at 6:45 p.m., members will vote on new officers and directors, There also will be a financial presentation, a brief review of 2011 accomplishments and a discussion of the challenges ahead and plans for 2012.

Ballots are being mailed to members, and they are being asked to deliver or mail them to the club if they can’t attend the annual meeting. The ballot package also will include an explanation of the bylaws changes and bios of candidates for officer and director positions. There are links to both of those documents at the end of this article.

In the explanation of the bylaws changes, the board said it had been “dealing with the realization that CYC cannot continue to survive by merely putting on sailboat races – as a mark-setting service entity.”

The consensus at the recent series of Monday-night “restart” meetings was that the club needed to create a sense of community around sailing and give people positive reasons to join the club, such as more active social and educational programs, a broader junior program and a more family-friendly clubhouse.

Among factors discouraging new members has been a perceived high dues level of  $628 for full members, with the only alternative being an associate membership not available to people who owned boats, no matter how small.

Under the bylaws changes, dues for adult members between 30 and 69 most of whom now pay $628, would drop to $420 or $35 per month. The boat ownership restriction for associate members would be modified to disqualify only people who own boats 23 feet and longer.

“The board has tried to make the basic dues fees cover the clubhouse and its activities and greatly lessen their contribution to supporting the racing program,” the board wrote in its explanation. “The board believes this lower amount, along with significantly increased planned activities at the club, should rebuild the sense of club community, will attract many new members from the Shilshole moorage community and others interested in sailing, even if their primary interest is not racing.”

The membership categories would be simplified to include three principal categories: adults, associates and juniors. The adult category would be subdivided into age groups with graduated annual dues: 19-24 ($120), 25-29 ($240), 30-69 ($420), and 70 and above ($240).

Annual dues for juniors 18 years old and younger would be $50.

The bylaws changes also would create a business membership category at $1,500 a year that allows a commercial organization to become a sponsoring member.

To read the board’s full explanation of the bylaws changes, click here.

To see a copy of the club bylaws, including proposed amendments, click here.

To read the bios of the candidates for director and officer positions, click here.