Good evening sailors
The
subject of insurance and Division VI is something I was waiting until now to
cover.
The
insurance for 2023 came out to $400 a day to cover insurance premiums for our
events. I am expecting a 10%-15% increase again this year.
As
Division VI clubs we have a decision to make. (Austin Cats, TCDYC and Bolivar
as San Antonio is inactive.) I have been speaking with Jason Sanchez with Hobie
Class Association North America (HCANA). For those that may not know, Division
VI was originally HCANA Division VI. The split came when they would not allow
open class racing and only Hobie production boats to enter their
regatta's.
HCANA split
from Hobie, the manufacturer, and is no longer beholden to them. HCANA now
allows open class racing and is looking to promote all kinds of catamaran
sailing nationwide.
We
have an opportunity to join back with Hobie NA.
The
question is what is the benefit from doing so? The first is a financial
benefit. Insurance coverage is paid through HCANA membership fees and removes
the burden of us having to cover insurance premiums for our events through event
fees. This is the insurance that covers the club’s liability for holding an
event, not the individual liability coverage for the participants.
TCDYC
has been using donated funds to keep entry fees low at our regattas. If we did
not do that, we would have to charge $100 - $120 per entry or more to cover
regatta cost. I am going to put a basic budget for a regatta at the bottom of
this email.
The
cost of insurance will just keep increasing and I do not see Division VI
surviving the cost for the long term. Can we keep it going for the next couple
of years? Yes, but eventually insurance cost will be to a level that is not
sustainable. If we keep using club funds to supplement insurance costs, we will
eventually empty out all of the club’s bank accounts. Spreading that cost
across a national organization is much more feasible.
HCANA fees
are $55 a year for membership and paid for by the individual skipper. If a
skipper is not a member of HCANA, then we would collect a $25 event fee for
that person to be forwarded to HCANA. This is a temporary HCANA membership fee.
That leaves each individual skipper the choice of becoming a member or not. This
would also apply to any sailing clinics or “fun runs” that we organize. If an
individual attends two events they have basically paid for an annual
membership. So not reason not to become a member.
The
second benefit from joining back with Hobie NA is our other events. We would be
able to hold sailing clinics and fun sails and be covered under the HCANA
policy. Sailing clinics are a great way to bring new folks to catamaran
sailing. Our numbers a dwindling and we need to introduce new folks to the fun
of beach cats. Under our current policy, the events are not covered and would
increase our premium if we added them.
So
here is a quick budget for a regatta so everyone can understand the numbers and
does not include the cost of t-shirts, RC boats, marks, flags, fuel for RC
boats, etc.
We are
all aware of the rising cost of, well everything. I expect Insurance fees for
division VI to increase $50-$100 for a two-day event.
2023 simple
regatta budget. This does not include any club overhead cost. There are also
some other cost, just trying to give everyone an idea of the cost associated
with producing an event.
2-day regatta
- 3 classes
Trophy
cost @ $30 each - 1st-2nd for two classes and 1st-3rd for one class.
Insurance
$800
Div VI
dues $25
Trophies
$ 420
other
Expenses $ $60
Total
Cost $1305
Entry
fee $50
10
boats $500 = loss of $805+
15
boats $750 = Loss of $555+
20
boats $1000= Loss of $305+
Entry
Fee $100
10
Boats $1000 = loss of $305+
15
Boats $1500 = net gain of $195 (maybe, if no other expenses or extra classes)
20
boats $2000 = net gain of $695 (maybe, if no other expenses or extra classes)
Keep
in mind, the more boats you have the more classes and/or more places, the
higher the trophy cost. I typically use 15 entries as a basis for calculating
entry fees for events.
For
2023 TCDYC used donated funds to keep regatta fees low. We ran all our regattas
at a loss. This just not a sustainable model. For Redfish Reach our trophy cost
was much higher than what is above. This year cost will increase.
The
environment at HCANA has changed and the hard line Hobie Cats only folks are no
longer there. To give you an idea of how far away from that stance that
they have gone, we have a green light for the Nacra 50th Regatta
planned for 2025. This regatta will exclude Hobie brand catamarans and only
open for Nacra catamarans.
The
next question I know I will hear is what would change for the sailors. First
off if you look at the numbers above, entry fees for regattas will double or
triple from what most of the clubs charged last year. Making the change to
HCANA will remove that burden and will enable for the clubs under Division VI
to keep events affordable.
The
individual sailors would either join HCANA or pay the $25 per event temporary
membership fee.
The
change in would also allow the clubs to actively promote beach cat sailing
through sailing clinics, fun runs and other events that are not cover with the
Division VI insurance. We can add it, but the cost is prohibited.
In the
past I have been a “hard-liner” against being involved with HCANA, but I have
changed my mind due to their changes in leadership and policy. Over the last
few months, I have been in talks with HCANA with the goal of keeping open class
catamaran racing alive and the ability to promote beach cat sailing through fun
events.
If I
did not think this is a win for Texas beach cat sailors, I would never have gotten
to the point of posting this.
This
message is being posted to the TCDYC Facebook page as well as the Austin Cats
email group, the Division VI email group and the TCDYC email group.
I
would like to direct any questions or comments to the TCDYC Facebook posting. I
am trying to reduce redundancy.
Thank you.
Roger Howard
Commodore
Division
VI
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