Attention Thistle Boat-Owner Members:
The Constitution & Bylaws Review Committee has produced edited versions of those documents. The Governing Board has just now approved the new Bylaws.
The Boat-Owner Members must now address this proposed Amendment to the Constitution that has been submitted by the Governing Board.
The Amendment to be voted on at the Annual Meeting in May states that:
‘the 2022 Edition of the Constitution will replace the current Constitution,’ [the whole thing.]
Your assignment is to compare the 2022 Constitution to the current TCA document, talk with your fleet members, and instruct your Fleet Captain how you would like your vote recorded regarding the new 2022 Constitution. According to TCA requirements, there can be no amendments to this document.
To pass the new Constitution, 3/4ths (three-fourths) of the Boat-Owner Members must approve the motion to replace the current Constitution with the new one.
It’s easy, you vote either Yea or Nay.
Please recognize that for either practical or historic reasons, some topics are addressed to a degree in both documents. For this reason, you will find that you need to look at both in order to get the full picture of how the TCA has and will continue to operate. One study method is to ask yourself a question about the class and then look up how it is addressed in both documents. Things in the Constitution are harder to change while the Bylaws are easier to adjust. It was and is a practical way to run an organization that we did not change.
Reason and benefit of the amendment:
Our assignment was to clarify and update the language of our Constitution to better describe what we now expect the TCA to be and to do. We strived to define purpose and intent of the TCA, to simplify language, resolve ambiguity, remove archaic wording and requirements, and add clarity that would result in good governance and organization. Minimal changes are included as outlined in the accompanying document. The essential tenants of the TCA are not changed, preserving a one-design sailboat racing class for Corinthian teams with a stable national structure. We have listened to many current voices and tried to sustain the intentions of the sailors who came before us.
The team for this project was: Kevin Arrow, P.Pres, Kyle Finefrock, P.Pres., Alison Gillum, 1st VP, J.D. Reddaway, and myself. We took the task seriously, one line at a time. We met by zoom about 15 times for an hour or more and spent many hours individually reviewing and exchanging thoughts about all this. We engaged a half-dozen Thistle reviewers for feedback.
There are a few things we have left for another day. We hope you will approve the new Constitution.
Bylaws – This document was approved by the Governing Board, but the new Bylaws do not take effect until the end of Nationals, and only if the new Constitution passes.
Thomas Hubbell
Past-President, Thistle Class Assoc.
