Minutes from the Nov 1, 2012 Lake Ontario Contessa Association Meeting

Posted: Nov 5, 06:50 PM

The meeting was held in the chartroom at the National Yacht Club. It was the first time I’d even been there. It was very nice!

In attendance were:

John Flanders and Lesley Flowerdew of Free ‘n’ Easy
Jordan Harkness of Vixen
George Gurr of Branwin
Paul Beaven of H.M.S. Affinity
Oliver Bertin of Whimsy
Adrian Lebar, formerly of Kefi but continues to be boatless.

The first thing we discussed was the name of the association. We discussed whether it should be the Great Lakes Contessa Association, The Lake Ontario Contessa Association, the Great Lakes Contessa 26 Association, the Lake Ontario Contessa 26 Association… eventually, after a lot of talk, we came to a group decision that the name could be changed at a future date to accommodate any needs, so we agreed that the Lake Ontario Contessa Assocation was a good name for now. The fact that a potential acronym is LOCO Association did not escape my notice. Maybe it’s because I don’t have a boat.

Next we discussed membership. Until now, John has been handling membership, but he and Lesley will be out of the country for the winter, so he thought someone more local might be a better choice to handle membership. I volunteered, since I run this website anyway. It seemed like a natural fit.

Subsequently, the new address for membership, or to generally reach anyone regarding the association, is association@co26.com. I’ll check this address on a regular basis.

We discussed a fair number of technical issues with membership: forums vs mailing lists, etc. No decisions have been made on this front, but I would like to point out that anyone who uses the forums can subscribe to a thread and have it email you when someone responds. It’s pretty easy.

Another question we pondered but did not answer conclusively was whether or not to include Contessa 32 owners. Everyone’s thoughts are greatly appreciated.

Programming was our next topic of discussion. It was generally thought that 3 major events for 2013 was a good start for our fledgling association: a long-distance cruise (say, to Niagara-On-The-Lake or Picton, maybe), a fun race, and a local cruise. Jordan volunteered to facilitate the program idea-gathering process. Note that he didn’t volunteer to be in charge of programming! He’ll ensure we have a general outline of programs for 2013 by mid-December. Actual dates are hard to pin down until other events from other sources (specifically racing schedules) are known.

Oliver suggested two speaking nights, where we might be able to have speakers come in and share information with the association. Possibilities include finding someone who worked at JJ Taylor when our boats were being built, and also having someone come in and give a talk about the technicalities of racing, since most of us aren’t racers.

Jordan finally asked how often we should meet, and it was generally determined that once a month was plenty.

Then I begged a ride off Oliver (not only don’t I have a boat, I didn’t have the car either!), and we all made our way home.

While it didn’t happen at the meeting, Adrian is moving (and seconding) that someone else be in charge of taking minutes next time!

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