CYC Home

2010 Annual Meeting Report: Club is Steeering a Course in Difficult Times

Tuesday, November 16, 2010

By Peggy Johnson

The clubhouse was full for the Annual General Meeting. The first order of business was election of Officers and Directors:

Biographies are available on this page.

Here is 2010 in review and 2011 in Prospective, presented by John Rahn and Wayne Balsiger.

CYC is going places, but we are steering a course in difficult times. 2010 was a year full of challenges that we had to face, and we will continue to do so into 2011. Other clubs have problems, too, and only those that innovate and adapt will survive. We have collaborative initiatives with SYC, TSF, SBYC, SSP, and STYC.

Finances. Financial updates were communicated frequently in 2010. CYC gave out a survey, and the results and comments received were very helpful and have been extremely useful as we plan the future of CYC. The town meeting was lively with 70 people in attendance! See this page for a summary.

Racing. Despite the financial hardship, CYC continues to perform outstandingly. The club ran about 345 races in 2010, as usual. Large regattas hosted by CYC included the Thistle Districts, PSSR, the third NOOD in Seattle (with SYC), PSSC, and the J/24 North Americans, with entries from Japan, Argentina, Canada, and the Dominican Republic. We began racing kite boards. We also sponsored and ran OktoberFest (with Sail Sand Point) for the Juniors, and the August Fridays at Shilshole. A huge thank you to Jerry Diercks for overall race equipment management and organizing,, and another huge thank you to Bill Blodgett and Darrin Towe for regatta coordination.

Our sailors continue to compete internationally. Our Team Racing team, led by Rusty Lhamon and Joe Burcar, did quite well, one place out of qualifying for the Hinman Cup this year.

Facilities. Facilities maintenance issues and improvements were reviewed. CYC Shilshole has a new roof. Multiple layers of composite shingles were removed and replaced from the angled surfaces, and a new membrane installed on all of the flat surfaces. The drains were upgraded and new flashing was installed during this process. We learned more than we wanted to know about hazardous material removal, as well as how to safely remove the nests of protected species from a roof via the US Wildlife Service. It was a challenging project, but it came out better than we had hoped, and will ensure that the facility is well protected for years to come.

We removed the glass and re-sealed the windows near the exit on the lower level. We also repainted the window frames and door jams in the process. This area receives a considerable amount of moisture due to its southerly exposure, so it was important to re-seal the entire area.

CYC received new chairs for the clubhouse. Matching blue and aqua chairs were brought in to replace the older, clunky wood chairs and the old plastic and metal chairs that we've had for so long. The clubhouse looks so much more appealing, with a more integrated mariner's theme. This will make the club more attractive to those who are interested in renting the room for a party or reception. See a photo and read more here.

Various additional standard maintenance issues were addressed: annual bilge inspections were performed, the bilge alarm system was inspected, new anti-rust paint for the hull above the water line was applied, we stained and sealed the lower exit steps, we pressure washed the outside of the club, the active hull anti-corrosion system was inspected, a new door was installed for the men's head, and a new life ring was installed on the lower level-but we don't think that means you need to test it!

The lake sailing program at Leschi. Throughout 2010, we worked the problem hard. There are no easy solutions, even if CYC were in a position to buy or build at Leschi now. For a recap, please see the charge to the Long Range Planning Committee and the Committee Report.

Office and staff. We are reworking the office software, moving to Regatta Network and QB, eliminating FoxPro and Sailwave. This should save many staff hours.

Bartenders and Race Committee. The CYC staff continues to provide outstanding service, at the bar and on the water. But going into 2011, CYC will have to rely much more on participation by its membership in staffing its functions.

Membership. Since 2000, membership (total and S2) fluctuated up or down a bit each year but roughly grew until 2005. From 2008 to 2009 to 2010, total membership dropped from 531 to 461 to 433 (drops of 70 then 30). In the same time span, S2 membership dropped from 269 to 239 to 218 (drops of 30 and 21). So in 2009, there was a large drop in membership, but the good news is that in 2010, the drop was not as great.

By far, the three largest groups of membership, by age, are: 40-50 years old, 21%; 50-60 years old, 25%; and 60-70 years old, 16%.

Here they all are:

Under 21 5%
21-30 6%
30-40 7%
40-50 21%
50-60 25%
60-70 16%
70-80 7%
80-90 11%
over 90 2%

We need to reverse the downward trend in membership. We will have a membership drive that is more than an open house in February. At the same time we need all CYC members to promote membership among your crew, other fleet members and among friends. The next time you start a conversation with someone, talk about sailing. It is no surprise that sailing participation is down in the U.S. 70% from 1979. I've talked to a number of people that used to sail. We need to get them out again.

We did not raise dues this year. This is the third year with S2 dues not increasing. For S3, those under 30 years old we lowered dues to $299. We only have 6 S3 members. We need to get new members especially young adults. We are starting a junior program and young adult sailing program.

Volunteers. To keep our club going and make it through these difficult economic times, we need to involve more volunteers. We need volunteers for the membership committee, the Junior program, the sponsorship committee, the race committee, the cruising committee, and…. get this….. the volunteer committee. We also need volunteers in the office and as bar assistants. If you cannot commit to the concept of a committee, which may not be "regular" work, there are miscellaneous jobs that need to get done around the clubhouse. Just call and say, I have a few hours on Saturday or Sunday or whenever, is there a small, one-time job I can help with? You might here, "We need the light bulbs changed in the awards display." Or, if you call up and say "I have a couple hours Saturday, and I am mechanically inclined. How might I help?" you might hear, "Do you want to put oil in the whaler's engines, fill them up with fuel, and check the spark plugs? Then we'll be ready to go for PSSR!" You can have a huge impact with just a couple of hours of effort. What better way to give back to all we get from Corinthian Yacht Club? If you are a racer, look for ways during non-race times. If you are a cruiser, maybe you can help out on the race committee boat as a scorer during races.

Social Program. We plan to have more social events in 2011. We would like the club open on more Friday nights and we would love to have more education events throughout the year, not just cruising in February. Ideas? Contact the office. Speaking of Cruising…. Mike Irish, our new Fleet Captain - Cruise, is planning some delightful cruises this year. The club will try to get you a ride even if you don't have a cruising sized boat. Is anyone able to, or interested in….. joining the cruising committee?

In Summary: Things are changing this year. We are moving forward faster than we have in the past. With your help and work and fun by all, we all look forward to a successful 2011 at CYC Seattle.