Hello Membership,
I hope your summer has been enjoyable and you are enduring our current heat wave.
There has been an issue that this year’s board has taken on and I wanted to share it with you.
Since about 2012, the University of Texas Sailing Club has been a member of the Austin Yacht Club. It took about 2 years to get an agreement with UT and AYC to be approved. That newly formed UTSC had strong leadership and were honored to be a part of AYC. A five-year renewable contract was created that has been signed each year by both parties. During those five years, leadership changes and lack of consistency has allowed conformance to the rules slack and responsibilities to decline. As a result, the last couple of years the relationship has suffered. Boat rescues, lack of communication with the AYC office and careless UTSC activities have occurred. It is clear that the AYC/UTSC agreement needs to be reassessed and corrective actions taken to avoid an end to the relationship between the two clubs.
At the August Board meeting, the board will be discussing an updated 2019-2020 one-year contract with UT RecSports and a Memorandum of Understanding that would put the UTSC on formal probation, restrict the UTSC guest policy and allow AYC time to appoint a committee to review the current issues, complaints and possible solution. This committee will consist of past commodores, Johannes Brinkman and Jim Tillinghast, myself and 2 or more AYC members in good standing.
The mission of the Austin Yacht club is, “to be a premier sailing club with an emphasis on sailboat racing and related activities, with a membership characterized by broad social, economic and sailing experience levels, sustained by individual participation, volunteerism and Club-generated revenues.”
The mission of the UT Sailing Club states, “it is dedicated to providing an organized sailing program, improving the sailing ability of every member, and promoting recreational sailing.”
I believe these two missions can work together to form a supportive community that benefits sailing and nurture future racers.
Let me know your thoughts and concerns.
Happy sailing,
Annie Lancaster
2019 Commodore
