Executive Meeting August 11, 2026

Executive Meeting

August 11th, 2026

Present: Aaron Holland, Chris Murphy, Paul Cone, Wheeler Sutton, Dave Hudson, and

Warren Duckworth (non-voting member)

Secretary: Dianne Duckworth

Absent: Treasurer: Sarah Paisley

July 2024- #535 and July 2025- #494

Trophy appraisal was completed before the banquet.
1. I had them in order according to the last appraisal done in the 1970’s
2. Had copies of each trophy from the past appraisal for the appraisers to take notes and made copies of the deeds I have on file
3. Once I receive the new appraisal report I will assign a new number to each trophy according to the new list of order for the trophies. A copy of the deed will go with the trophy.
4. The secretary will maintain original copies of deeds with the appraised trophies and a copy will be sent to Paul to be placed in the Trophy Bible.
5. I hope to include cleaning instructions for each trophy to be placed with each trophy.
National Trophies
1. Received Check for the 2026 trophies in the amount of $2,850.00
2. Order for keepers will be done in September.

July 2026 P&L: Total Income- $2,082.60Total Expenses-$5,478.13 ; Net Income:$-3,395.53

July 2026 Balance Sheet: Total Assets $154,750.99

October 2025- July 2026 P&L: Total Income: $65,323.24 Total Expenses: $53,692.95; Net Income: $11,630.29
Operating Account Balance $23,442.09, G&P Account Balance $135,68.12 $102,000

2026 Nationals – debrief w/ Marty as soon as a meeting can be set up/debrief with Key Management
2027 Nationals – collaborating with Paul Cone; PRO-Mark Foster is signed up; Tommy Glenn regatta chair?
1. Going to start conversations about managing T-storms, getting some floating docks near the hoist if possible, beach launching.
2. Coordinate with Dave Hudson on expedited measurement
3. Women’s & Junior Nationals?
4. Zero pushback so far on shorter format
2028 Nationals – further conversations with Conor Ruppen suggest Mentor Harbor is looking good.
2029 Nationals – Tom Hubbell/Chautauqua?
2027 MWE and 2027 MWW – everything seems to be on track
Nationals Trophy observations
1. Growth & Promotion calculation rewards (sometimes temporary) numerical changes over fleet building effort-Maybe 3rd VP can help decide on fleets engaged in active promotion, or we could use a longer term calculation of growth
2. Old Goat-defined as 50+, creates some ambiguity when someone wins both Milnes & Old Goat
3. There was some interest in a trophy for the 70+ age category

Bagpipe and website
1. Next deadline is September 1
2. Lots of photos from Nationals
3. Eugene Nationals 1969 article coming.
4. Website running good. Traffic was up for Nationals.
5. Website refresh coming with new officers
6. Do we know who owns https://thistlebase.org/?
2026 Nationals
1. Tracking EYC debriefing
2. Have the trophy bible; have yet to review; plan on digitizing it
3. PNW District would like to create a perpetual
Builder Committee Update

Met in person at Eugene Nationals on 7/28/26.
Storage of molds and tooling is a key concern. How to get them from Saratoga to the builder? How will they be stored onsite at the builder when not in use? Box trailers seem like a good idea, but need to cost and acquire.
Doug Laber is willing to consult.
Some basic math around costing needs to be done. Creation of a guide for how to build boats? Deposits for boats to be built?
Next meeting TBD.

3 U26 reimbursements from Nationals – Sarah working on getting checks to them
Class promotion idea – promotional video discussed
Need recommendations for regional Growth and Promotion reps (probably want 5 – Southeast, Atlantic, Great Lakes, Pacific Coast, and Central) to make it more personal

DRM Committee Update
1. Met in person in Eugene- meeting went well- working on finalizing a plan
2. Plan to go over with judges to be sure it works with the TCA
3. We need to reopen the survey with the Eugene participants to get more info.
Nationals measurements seemed to go well.
1. We measured: Hull weight, “J”, “X”, “T”, selected sails, CB thickness, mast weight, main halyard sheave distance to gooseneck and safety equipment.
2. Thoughts for next year’s Nationals? Safety equipment seems popular. I will be developing a random selection of items to measure which will be assigned in some combination to some number of boats. The items will be more likely to be easy to measure and perhaps easy to fix on-site. This is purposely vague at the moment as I have not done the analysis of this year’s data.

Endowment Committee
1. Business License – John Howell and Sarah Paisley are working on “Articles of Association” to be approved by lending firm
2. Boats to be used this fall
3. Discussing a budget
Thistle Next Generation Committee- missed it, sorry
Membership promotion will hopefully be continued next year

Complete duties in document-Warren Duckworth to continue with Green Book and add your duties for the year
1. Each ExCom member to complete what they did in their office for 2026
2. Prepare for transitions
Childcare Committee was formed at Nationals
1. Chair- Carol Kitchin with committee- Kathy Buckenmeyer, Amanda Osteen and Sarah Hesse- Dianne will send insurance information from CHUBB to Carol
Coach TCA Rebrand-
1. Jerry Pignolet has passed the torch of Coach TCA to Stan Smith
2. Jerry Pignolet will work on refining Coach TCA
3. U40 roundtable- Carrie Ruppen lead the discussion and will have a report for ExCom

Seeking Long Term Plan (Strategic Plan) recommendation
1. Spoke with Nicole Shedden-she will send a list of members interested in helping with the Strategic Plan and moving forward

Bagpipe Financial Impact
1. Require opt in for print copies via email to Dianne
2. Phased approach – keep settings until July
3. Inform membership of change
4. Incorporate DG’s for information distribution
Use of AI for meeting notes
1. Need to develop AI Use statement
KEMP watermark update- Awaiting updates