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Executive Meeting March 9th, 2026

Executive Meeting

March 9th, 2026

 

Present: Aaron Holland, Chris Murphy, Paul Cone, Wheeler Sutton, Dave Hudson, and Warren Duckworth (non-voting member)

Parliamentarian: Joy Martin

Secretary: Dianne Duckworth 

Treasurer: Sarah Paisley

Meeting called to order at 8:02 PM ET

Minutes: February minutes- motioned, seconded and approved

  • Secretary’s Report: Dianne Duckworth
  1. Membership
    1.  Membership Numbers: January 2026- 283, February 2026- 392 (+109)
    2. February 2024-351(+41) and February 2025- 380 (+12)
    3.  As of 3-5-2026 (+29) March 2024 +36 and 2025 +21
  2.  Chevrons will be sent to any District or Interdistrict regatta that is listed on the website calendar

2) Treasurer’s Report: Sarah Paisley

  1. Feb. 2026 P&L: Total Income- $9357.60; Total Expenses-$2693.25; Net Income:$6664.35
  2. February 2026  Balance Sheet: Total Assets $165802.72
  3. October 2025- February 2026 P&L: Total Income: $51024.64; Total Expenses: $28342.62; Net Income: $28682.02
  4. Operating Account Balance  $38,648.60, G&P Account Balance $130,933.12  $102,000 is Endowment
  5. TCA laptop does not have Microsoft 365/office currently, I need Excel or something similar that Quickbooks will export reports to, Microsoft 365 is $105.99/year. I had generally been using my work laptop to do TCA stuff too, but I no longer have that job or that laptop, so I’m using the TCA one again now. 
  6. Aaron moved for a vote to purchase Microsoft for $105.99/year for the TCA Computer. seconded and approved.
  7. BalanceSheetOct-Feb2026.pdf

Thistle Class Association_Profit and Loss g&p oct25-feb26.pdf

Thistle Class Association_Profit and Loss Jan2026 Operating.pdf

ProfitandLossFeb2026.pdf

3) First VP’s Report: Chris Murphy

  1. Midwinters
    1. The recent MWW were by all accounts a smashing success. Thanks to Paul Cone and his team.
    2. MWE was successful, thanks to Tommy Glenn and team for all their hard work organizing.
    3. Next year’s MWW/MWE?  Fort Walton has already said they would like to host MWE
  2. Nationals
  1.  Planning for Nationals 2026 in Eugene appears to be well advanced, with the team meeting regularly.
  2. The site selection committee is considering two sites for 2027 Nationals – North Cape YC and Chautauqua. 
  3. The site selection committee will evaluate the options and come back to the Governing Board with their recommendation.
  1.   Corrinne Sackett new RVP for GL – will reach out.
  2. Interdistricts 2026: All district championships appear to be on track
  1. PCCs in Eugene Memorial Day Weekend
  2. SE Interdistricts are April 11/12 at Lake Lanier
  3. Great Lakes in Chicago June 27/28
  4. Central Southern Interdistricts are mid June in Little Rock
  5. ACCs will be in Westport July 11/12
  • Second VP’s Report: Paul Cone
      1. Website
        1. Has been migrated to a new host via Jerry Pignolet.  Need to approve ongoing hosting costs.
        2. Aaron moved for a vote of $240 to pay for the new website host via Jerry Pignolet. It was seconded and approved.
        3. Will send an email about website updates and email forwarders
      2. Compass Raffle
        1. 138 tickets sold for $690 in tickets sold + additional $50 donation
        2. Used ChatGPT to draw a winner from the raffle sales report.
        3. Ticket purchase by Annin Ramsing-Nissen was drawn.
      3. Nationals
        1. Some questions around sponsorship (Greg) and how social media will tie into that (Greg and Marty).  
        2. Aaron is working out sponsorship guidelines for the Organizing Authority.  Stuff leading up to the event is the OA.  Stuff during the event is split between the OA and the Class.
      4. Social media
        1.  Marty is ready to post so we’ll give him the keys.  Will connect with him on the 15th.
        2.  Aaron, Joy, Wheeler and Paul will set up a meeting with Marty soon.
      5. Builder Committee
        1. Meeting tomorrow 3/11.  Meeting again with former Gig Harbor staff on Thursday 3/12. 
        2. Checking into plans to be written up on “How to Build a Thistle.” Will check with Alex Venegas
  • Third VP’s Report: Wheeler Sutton
      1. Pushed a reminder email to the RVPs and DGs for the U26 program, reach out to eligible sailors in their regions for Interdistricts and Nationals
      2. Starting to spread ideas around RVPs/DGs to get new sailors involved
      3. Sourcing ideas from RVPs and DGs around how they are growing Thistling in their regions (potentially a bagpipe article highlighting some ideas)
      4. Next steps on Growth and Promotion Fund Policy document
        1. Should be added to a 3rd VP shared folder – tbd on next steps
      5. Idea from Corinne Sackett to reimburse U26 Vakaros rental fees at Nationals?
        1. Might be good to initiate discussion on a long-term solution here (after amendment is passed)
        2. Aaron moved after a discussion to reimburse U26 Vakaros rental fee at the 2026 Nationals. approved
        3. Next steps: add to NOR – will email Joy
  • Chief Measurer: Dave Hudson
  1. Corresponded with Allen Boat Works about the status of mast building. Waiting to hear back.
  2. Nationals at Eugene
    1. Working with Chip Balough on Nationals measurement. Leah Murray, from the Seneca fleet, has volunteered to be part of the measurement committee and is working on a Bagpipe article about making the measurement process go smoothly, from the competitor’s point of view.  Here is the proposed list of items to measured at Nationals:
  • Hull weight + CMR 43 corrector weights;
  • “J”;
  • Mast weight + CMR 60 (mast corrector weights) If we do mast weight, we will need to provide weight for owners to remedy the defect since it may be difficult to source near the venue;
  • Distance between gooseneck and main halyard Sheave 23’-2” +0” -2”;
  • Sails (not stamped);
  • CB thickness;
  • “X”;
  • CMR 69 traveler track height (Not TH) Min. 2” above sheer.
  1. Digital Thistle PlansContinuing to work on John Howell’s “B” dimension question and tracking down information about digital plans with Ollie Kunz. 
    1. Basically, the digital plans he created are probably not suitable for any official, accurate measurements of the hull at this time. (Insert long discussion of how Thistles were lofted 80 years ago and how that could be replicated in CAD).
  2. Digital Race Management Committee
    1. The DRM committee has met twice via Zoom and discussed the issue of cost, size of events where it can be useful, effects on R/C and regatta NORs. 
    2. We also discussed how the widespread adoption of OCS detection could affect the format of events. The Jurassic Park question: Just because you can run a 100 boat fleet on one starting line, may not mean you should! This is a far-reaching question about the future size of Nationals and whether we maintain the championship/President’s fleet structure.
    3. We plan to gather more information/data after the two MW events and the Orange Peel regatta. We also would like to re-activate the survey after those two events, and finally, we are considering a Zoom “Town Hall” event open to all to gather more opinions. We have proposed the week of April 20th for that. We can discuss this at the next EXComm.
  • Past President’s Report: Warren Duckworth
      1. Endowment Committee- No meeting since last Ex Comm meeting
      2. Thistle Next Generation
        1. No meeting since last Ex Comm meeting
        2. Thistle Boat Grant – I will be contacting the 4 requests for boat grant, to see if they would participate in the Boat Caddy program.
      3. Membership promotion – Dianne has provided the latest memberships to me along with lapsed members for the past few years. I will be calling the fleet captains to discuss memberships.
  • President Report: Aaron Holland-
      1. Connecting with sailmakers and other classes to identify guidelines for sponsorship
  • Old Business
  1. 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
  2.  Use of AI for meeting notes- Tabled for now to let Paul Cone time to research
    1. Need to develop AI Use statement
  3. KEMP watermark update- still researching
  • New Business: 
  1. Re-open the Vakaros survey
  2. Discussion about town hall zoom to collect opinions about DRM issues
  3. Discussion on G&P fund usage for U26 Vakaros rental reimbursement at Nationals and a need for a long term solution.
  • Executive Session: Entered at 9:26 PM and ended at 9:30 PM
  • Next ExCom Meeting: Tuesday, April 14, 2026, at 8:00 PM (ET)
  • Adjourn: 9:33 PM EST 

 

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