President’s Report December 2020

It’s early December and everyone is waiting to hear when we will be able to get our vaccine for COVID 19 and return to the new normal.  A survey has been conducted of the sailors who normally attend the winter CAN AM Series in Florida. The response indicates that under the current conditions only one sailor plans to travel to Florida this winter. As of this date there has been no announcement of cancellation or postponement the first CAN AM events which are scheduled to be sailed in late January.

Since our virtual Annual General Meeting there have been a number of activities which Canadian 2.4mR boat owners should be aware of. First, our transition of the Treasurer and Secretary positions on the Board is moving along seamlessly. The change in signing officers has been accepted by our banking authorities and the new Secretary has been given tools to carry out his duties. Again, I would like to thank Brian Robinson of Victoria for agreeing to be Class Secretary for 2021 and Aaron Wong-Sing for adding Treasurer to his duties as well as Webmaster.

We will be holding a Zoom Meeting in early February to finalize our 2021 Summer Regatta Schedule. Information on how to join the meeting will be circulated in January.

Internationally, the 2021 2.4mR World Championships are set for Tonsberg, Norway (approximately 100 kilometers from Oslo) August 7-15 2021. There has been some Canadian interest in attending these championships and we are awaiting the Notice of Race and details from the organizing committee and the International Class Association.

Also Internationally, the Executive Committee has formed a Norlin M3 One Design subcommittee to review the issues surrounding the class’s management of the M3 One Design rule within the overall class. Brian Todd of Nova Scotia, a member of World Sailing’s Paralympic Sailing Committee, is a member of the committee. He is the only non-European on the committee, which surprisingly does not have a member of the class Technical Committee.

I have been appointed a member of a recently formed ICA Marketing subcommittee, whose mandate is to raise the profile of the Class internationally.  At the current time, the subcommittee is working to update the current International Class website and to develop a fresh new website. It is also planning to circulate a questionnaire to all member National Class Associations to obtain a better understanding of their members and their needs.

The International Class Association will be conducting a Special General Meeting lieu of their Annual General Meeting in mid February 2021. The constitution currently requires the AGM to be hosted at the World Championships. It is my intention to submit a proposal that going forward AGM’s be held virtually as the current practice makes attendance costly for many.

We always want to hear from our members and from friends interested in 2.4mR sailboats. Please send your inquiries and comments to [at][dot]

 

2021 2.4mR Calendars

Fran Burstein will be publishing a 2021 calendar of 2.4mR sailboats with photos from the 2019 – 2020 CAN AM winter Series. The anticipated cost of these calendars will be $20.00 CDN plus postage.

Quantities will be limited so if you are interested in purchasing one or more please contact Peter Wood at [at][dot] before November 7th. Please specify the quantity you would like.

Peter

Summary Report of the 2020 Annual General Meeting

Reported by
Peter Wood
Canadian 2.4mR Class President

The 2020 Annual General Meeting was held as a virtual meeting on October 15, 2020. Turnout was high, with more than 60% of the class members in attendance. The following are highlights of the meeting:

  • Reports from the various regions indicated than despite the COVID 19 pandemic, there was 2.4mR sailing activity in the regions of Canada where the boat is popular. Some members reported boats being stuck in the United States due to the closing of the border between the two countries.
  • Class Membership increased to 32 members in 2020. The class membership year is April 1 to March 31 of the following year.
  • Financially the class had a small surplus in 2020 of $ 179.50
  • Annual Dues were set for 2020. Dues will be $ 40.00 for Full Members and $ 20.00 for Associate members.
  • There was a frank discussion of the activities of the Executive Committee of the International 2.4mR Class Association.
  • The 2021 Canadian 2.4mR Championship Regatta was awarded to the Royal Victoria Yacht Club and will be held September 10 – 12, 2021
  • The schedule for the 2021 CAN AM Winter Series was announced. The first week of races will be January 25 – 30 with the second series to be held Feb 20 – 21. The final series will be held March 29 – April 3rd. All events will be hosted by Charlotte Harbor Yacht Club.
  • It was agreed to host a scheduling Zoom meeting in January 2021 to co-ordinate the race schedules of the various fleets.
  • The election of class officers for 2021 was by acclamation. Peter Wood of Ottawa was reappointed President, Brian Robinson of Victoria was appointed as Secretary, Bruce Millar of Victoria was reappointed as National Measurer, and Aaron Wong-Sing of Ottawa was reappointed as Webmaster. Retiring Secretary Audrey Kobayashi of Kingston was thanked for her service to the class.
  • Looking into the future, the Class has agreed to hold future Annual General Meetings as virtual videoconference meetings

Victoria Fleet Championship September 2020

Submitted by Louise Anstey

The Victoria Fleet held its socially distanced Fleet Championship on September 19-20.  On Saturday, the fleet enjoyed a 5-7 kt S breeze that shifted through the day towards the SW.  Sunday offered a lighter ESE wind with fog to obscure the weather mark in the first two races.  A new experience for this 2.4 fleet!  When turning downwind from the weather mark, it was the same problem: where is the leeward mark?  Well…..just picked an appropriate wind angle, set the jib and soon the start boat came into view.

Fleet members’ comments described the weekend very nicely, so here are a few of them.

  • From Mark Brown – Great Regatta, 10 challenging races, nobody “walked away” with the races, a competitive fleet, and no collisions or protests. Hard to best that outcome. We are lucky to have such competent and generous members of our fleet and club.
  • From Bob Britten – What a super way to wind up our summer of sailing!
  • To say that the conditions were challenging is an understatement – by the end of several races I felt “brain dead” – but overall I had a super time!
    Simply fantastic one-design racing!
    Thanks very muchto Bruce Millar and Louise Anstey for organizing the weekend and, of course, to Kirk Palmer, Dave Richardson, Ken Pohl and Tim Knight for giving up their weekend so that we could have fun during ours!
  • To summarize the event, Doug Bell writes: Such a pleasure to sail in our fleet. Competitive but friendly, respectful, helpful and fun.

Final result: 1st Bruce Millar, 2nd Louise Anstey, 3rd Bob Britten winning a tie breaker over Doug Bell

Victoria 2020 Fleet Champion, Bruce Millar, holding the Chatham Island Trophy (COVID model)