Industry Partners:

CONFERENCE CALL July 9, 2007

Attendees: Robin Munden, Mort Weintraub, George Hinman, John Fisher, Dan Nowlan, Paul Zabetakis, Jim Miller, Phillip Lyon, Bruce Bingman, John Siegel, John Mendez, Luiz Kahl, Talbot Wilson, Richard du Moulin.

1. Minutes of May 15,2007 Meeting approved.
2. Report by John Mendez, Exec.Director
   1. US-IRC agreed with US Sailing that new certificates would be issued at half price after Sept.30 for use in 2007. This should help entries in fall events such as the Annapolis IRC event , Manhasset Fall Series, etc. Chesapeake Bay Fall regatta
   2. US-IRC email list now has 1400 names.
   3. Gulf Stream Series scoring is up to date; next event Marblehead-Halifax.
   4. To broaden the reach of IRC, US-IRC needs "ambassadors" throughout the US; Jim Madden has indicated interest in seeing more West Coast/Southern California activity.
   5. Sailing World Handbook will be produced well before Key West in order to have more impact for the upcoming year.
3. Report by Dan Nowlan, US Sailing
   1. Year to date there have been 386 revalidations, 107 new Certs, 72 amendments, 43 trials, and 30 applications in process. Revalidation rate is 85% (good); last year (Bermuda centennial) it was 70%. Worldwide, most rules experience about 75%.
   2. Measurement process seems to be going smoothly; no complaints.
   3. Staff is doing well - new employee Nathan Titcomb - nathantitcomb@ussailing.org
   4. Measurer training - will focus on training when the new rule is out, new software available. USS and US-IRC will coordinate schedules to find best dates (USIRC Midwest trip, USS Annual Meeting,).
4. 2007-2008 US-IRC Schedule - Exec. Director will pull together a draft schedule.
   1. Schedule will include visits to Chicago and Detroit in September/October
5. Report by Bruce Bingman on Sportboat Initiative
   1. Based on the written report distributed prior to this conference call, and the work done by Bruce B. and Christian Jensen with assistance from Mark Mills and Dan Nowlan.
   2. Recommend that sport boats receive standard IRC ratings (not Sportboat ratings) and be segregated into one or two Sportboat classes, based on performance ratios rather than size alone. Distinguish between "sporty boats" and higher performance "sport boats." Noted that IRC evaluates large versus small boats well, but that big SA/displacement variances are not as easily dealt with. Therefore where possible race organizers should have two divisions for sport boats separated by performance factors rather than simply size.
   3. Advance and effective promotion of Sportboat classes in IRC events is needed to boost participation.
   4. Bruce will clean up his policy paper for John Mendez's review and eventual posting on the website.
6. Discussion of Endorsed vs. Standard Certificates
   1. John Mendez reported his view that USIRC made a mistake by originally promoting Endorsed over Standard certificates. Barry Carroll, Mark Mills, David Aisher and others pointed this out over the past three years. It was agreed that US IRC would make public statements encouraging the more widespread use of Standard Certificates, reserving Endorsed for major championships. Dan Nowlan (and Mike Urwin previously) are confident that for most boats, accurate Standard certificates can be calculated. "One off" boats may have to be measured, however.
7. Discussion of Dual Scoring
   1. This subject was raised by Jim Miller, and has also been practiced in Ireland (Echo and IRC).
   2. In smaller local events dual scoring PHRF and IRC (standard encouraged) may help introduce competitors to IRC and allow larger class populations.
8. Next Meeting - chairman will revert with a recommended date.

Respectfully submitted,

Richard du Moulin, Chairman