knoxville’s sailing center january/february 2015 work ... 2015 no. 503 2 cyc’s 2014 annual...

January/February 2015 Knoxville’s Sailing Center

Work Hours Conundrum? Did you get all of your work hours last year?

When you got your CYC bill in November

were you steaming like a mug of hot spiced

cider because you have to pay for

uncompleted work hours? You are not alone,

but there is hope!

Some members, and especially new

members, may feel at a loss when it comes to

volunteering. Those that have not been

around the club for a long time may not

realize that CYC is truly a volunteer operated

club with a “To Do” list that never ends. The

options for volunteering opportunities may

seem overwhelming and confusing as to

where you fit in. Well, never fear. Your

talents and skills are prized by CYC. The

only trick is matching them up with the needs

of the club.

The first thing to do is to know thy self.

Look within and identify what your talents

and skills are. Then apply those talents and

skills to CYC. Work parties are but one of

the many ways you can contribute. Look at

the many committees and pick one that you

think you would enjoy. Do you like working

with people? Try volunteering on the social

events committee. Do you like to talk? How

about the phone committee? Do you like

working with your hands, but want to do so

on your own time? Don’t just look at the pre

-scheduled work parties. Contact the Rear

Commodore (Terry Schmidt) for projects that

you can work on independently. Do you like

to garden? A quick walk around the CYC

grounds will show there are nearly infinite

opportunities for improvement. Well, you

get the idea. Figure out what you like to do

(which is usually something you are good at)

and take the initiative to make CYC an outlet

for it.

(Continued on page 15)

January/February 2015 No. 503 2

CYC’s 2014 Annual Meeting was well attended as a voting majority listened to club

updates and voted for next year’s Board of Directors, before retiring to an excellent

pasta dinner. In case you missed all the action, following is a brief summary of the

reports.

The 2015 Board was voted in by acclimation, followed by a formal installation of

officers ceremony conducted by Commodore Sandra Ford-Johnson. With only three

board members returning for 2015, there will be a number of new faces.

2015 Slate of Officers

Commodore

Sandra Ford-Johnson [email protected]

1st Vice Commodore

Michael Cox [email protected]

2nd Vice Commodore

Ron Mitchell [email protected]

Assistant Treasurer

David Valone [email protected]

Member-at-Large Education Sam Ruple

[email protected]

Member-at-Large Social

Andre’ Terry [email protected]

Rear Commodore

Terry Schmidt [email protected]

Secretary

Dan Tankersley [email protected]

Treasurer

Bryson Bosson [email protected]

mailto:[email protected]










It has been a relatively quiet year….which is

a good thing. Some of the highlights of the

year:

The West Dock is 99.9% complete. There

are only a few small tasks left to be com-

pleted by Advantage Docks.

Yes, the CYC website is still down. The

old site has had so many problems that a

new site is under development and

should be up and running sometime in

January 2015, so stay tuned….

CYC held it first open house this year to

introduce all CYC has to offer to the gen-

eral public. It was such a success we plan

to hold two open house events in 2015.

Many thanks to the Board members for all

of their hard work. And a SPECIAL

thanks to Dwight Guinn and Eric

Nicholls. These were the go-to guys who

provided expertise in the Knox County

Tax issue (Eric) and invaluable institu-

tional knowledge. They are always there

and willing to help.

Rear Commodore’s Report: Richard Love

1st Vice Commodore’s Report: Jason Williams

With several new members to CYC, we now have some new

PROs. Also, there are plans to hold a race seminar next spring.

If you haven’t attended one of these seminars, please plan to

do so.

The pontoon boat has reached the end of its useful life and is in

need of replacement. If you know of a suitable boat that might

serve as a replacement, please contact either Mike Cox or Jason

Williams.

Many thanks to

the volunteers

at the work

parties. It takes

more that 15

h o u r s p e r

member to run and maintain the club, and

many put in well more than the 15 required.

There were too many projects completed this

year to list every one, but some highlights

included…

multiple repairs to the breezeway and

clubhouse exterior;

repair of the backflow preventer and

broken water pipes in the bathhouse that


Commodore’s Report: Sandra Ford-Johnson


resulted from the polar vortex;

and repair/replacement of fire safety

equipment that was pointed out by the

Fire Marshal.

If you are not able to make the work parties,

please consider “adopting” a part of the

club. As an example, Smith’s Shed was

adopted by a member whose schedule did

not permit him to attend any of the work

parties. Instead, he has adopted the building

and is responsible for its maintenance. There

are a number of other facilities at CYC that

could be “adopted.”

The Board recently approved a contract for a

third party to maintain the club grounds

beginning 2015. In addition to mowing and

landscaping, they will winterize and de-

winterize the water lines to the docks and

bath house and repair any leaks that my

occur. This will allow us (the members) to

focus on the clubhouse and docks.

To use an analogy, CYC and its clubhouse is

treated like a bus station. People come and

use it, and then go. It needs lots of

maintenance. Concord Yacht Club is made

up of volunteers, and it takes ALL of us to

keep it running.

(Continued from page 3)

Member At Large, Education: John Tyner

It was another busy year for the Educational

arm of CYC. Concord Sailing Center (CSC)

provided three weeks of sail camp to over

100 kids this summer. The sail camp

reunion regatta was also a big success with a

good windy day. Jeff Gamey was

instrumental to making it all happen. A BIG

THANKS to Jeff.

High School sailing was well represented at

CYC with 3-4 schools participating, and

hosting 2 high school sailing regattas.

The UT Sailing Club continues a strong

presence at CYC through joint ownership of

training fleet boats, providing instructors for

youth sailing programs, and other CYC

s e r v i c e

p r o j e c t s .

B e s i d e s

training at

CYC, they also

h o s t e d 2

SAISA regattas at CYC. In addition, CSC

provided a for-credit UT Learn to Sail class

attended by 15 UT students.

With all of the sailing programs expanding,

we will be asking for more help from our

membership, including serving on the CSC

Board. If you are interested, please let us

know.


Thanks to all the people that helped with the social events over the

past year. We are also still looking for someone to help with the

Christmas decorations this year. If you have a creative decorator

flair, we need you!

Finally, the last party of the year will be on FRIDAY, December

5th. Please mark your calendars and plan to attend.

Member At Large, Social: Cathy Miller

Secretary’s Report: Carol Rech

Welcome New Members! Our membership currently stands at

198 with 32 openings. Special thanks go out to Lauren Ballatin

for her help, as well as to Catherine Trapp for managing the

phone committee and Jennifer Cross for coordinating the

clubhouse reservations

There were lots of numbers shared, but bottom line, CYC is

solvent and doing well financially. For details regarding the

financials of CYC please refer to the financial statements. One

notable item is that current balance of the clubhouse loan is now

only $47 thousand.

Regarding the Audit, CYC got a clean bill of health and Tom Dorsey was noted for a job well

done.

Treasurer’s Report & Audit Committee: Bryson Bosson

Financial Report on following page...


Treasurer's Report, Tom Dorsey: Cash Balance at Beginning of Year 2012: $442.854.58

Cash Balance at End of Year 2013: $345,224.26

2013 Notes: Total Cash (Excluding Bond Fund) at 12/31/13: $397,448

Less Bond Fund: ($55,000)

Less Property Tax Reserve: ($124,840)

Less Bank Hold ($68,24I )

Available Cash: $149,367

Club House Loan: 11/14/06 maturing 08/14/16 @ 5% interest (interest reduced July 2012

Loan Balance $68,241 at 12/31/13 (Community Bank of Tennessee)

Interest expense for 2012 was $6,477.60

Bank has placed a hold on funds in the amount of the loan. The hold is reduced as payments are

made.

Bonds Payable: $49,220

Bond Fund: $55,000 (Held in Certificate of Deposit)

Property Tax as of 10/31/13: $153,521 (including interest, penalties and charges.

Form 990, dated 5112114 was filed for 2013

Sales taxes of $6,775 were paid on taxable sales of $73,245

West Dock Improvements: $109,078.23

Waste Discharge System: $23,392.69 (Reimbursed $17,755.32 by state)

Form 990 (2012) filed 5/13/13

2014 Notes (through October):

Total Cash at 10/31/14: $ $363,832

Less Bond Fund: ($55,000)

Less Property Tax Reserve ($150,689)

Less Bank Hold: ($47,568.63)

Available Cash: $110,574

Club House loan: 11/14/06 maturing 08/14/16 @ 5% interest (interest reduced July 2012)

Current Balance: $47,588.02

Interest expense in 2014 to date:

Bank Hold:

Bonds Payable: $49,220

Bond Fund: $55,000 (Held in Certificate of Deposit)

Property Tax as of 10/31/14: $203,908.32 (including interest, penalties and charges.)

Personal Property Tax Notice Received for 2014 ($159)

2013 Sales Tax of $6,902 on taxable sales of$74,611 filed 1/1212014

2014 Fees and dues: Pay in full, 50/50 (12/31 and 3/31) or quarterly (12/31, 3/31, 6/30, 9/30)

One invoice will be issued in November.

Annual report filed and payment made on March 24,2014.

Form 990 (2013) dated 5/12/14 was filed for 2013 Annual Meeting Reports,

Continue - Following Pages


Tax Appeal Status Report: Eric Nicholls

The Concord Yacht Club has two actions

pending before the Tennessee State Board of

Equalization (SBOE). The law firm of

Holbrook Peterson Smith is representing the

Concord Yacht Club in these actions.

Through October 2014 the legal fees total $

29,000.

The first action was the appeal filed in

September 2010 of the property tax levied by

Knox County for tax year 2010. The appeal is

based upon Tennessee Code Annotated, 67-5

-203 which provides that “all property of…

any county…that is used exclusively for

public, county or municipal purposes shall

be exempt from taxation.” The total due

through tax year 2014, including interest,

penalty and charges is $204,000.

After the 2013 Annual Meeting the CYC

board directed that the CYC attorney

contract the Knox County Law Director to

negotiate a settlement of the property tax in

dispute. The offer to negotiate was rejected

by the Law Director based upon a 2007 Knox

County resolution which prohibits

negotiations by the law department when

there are taxes owing.

The second

a c t i o n

p e n d i n g

before the

SBOE is an

a p p l i c a t i o n

f o r t a x

e x e m p t i o n

under Tennessee Code Annotated 67-5-212.

That section provides exemption from tax of

the real and personal property owned by

any educational institution that is occupied

and actually used by the institution for the

exempt purposes for which it was created or

exists. The application was submitted in

May 2014 upon advice of the CYC attorney.

In June the SBOE requested additional

information in order to process the

application. CYC submitted the additional

information in August 2014.

In October 2014 it was learned that the

Administrative Law Judge, responsible for

hearing the tax appeal case, has suspended

further action on the appeal until a decision

is made on the application. Both the appeal

and the application remain unresolved at

this time.

Sea Scouts: Don Busby

Sea Scouts love it at CYC. There are currently 17 kids in Ship 300

with most meetings held on Sundays. The Scouts do some

weekend sailing trips as well as some longer out of town trips to

places like Florida. One outing in the works for next year is a

possible trip to the Florda120 in Pensacola Bay. They also hope to

get more involved in club racing.

Sea Scouts is open to boys and girls between the ages of 13 and 21. (Continued on page 8)


Besides work on ranks, Sea Scouts focus on safety, seamanship, knot tying, swimming, and

other related activities. There are also opportunities for scholarships for Sea Scouts.

A special thanks to all of the members that have helped and supported Ship 300 activities over

the past year.


Long Range Planning Committee Report: Sandra Ford-Johnson

The diagram of Concord Yacht Club’s long

range site development plan which was filed

and approved a number of years ago was

shared for members to see some of the large

scale projects that may be in CYC’s future.

Immediate plans for any major site

improvement/expansions have been put on

hold pending the outcome of the property

tax / leasehold issues.


The Annual Fall Regatta was held the fourth

weekend of October. This event marked

the end of the 2014 CYC High Water

Racing Season. The breeze was light and

variable on the first day, but we were able to

conduct two races. On the second day, the

wind failed to appear so races were

cancelled. Ron Mitchell took first place for

the Non-Spinnaker Keelboat Fleet and

Frank Larimer took first place for the

Spinnaker Keelboat Fleet:

Non-Spinnaker

1st Place – Ron Mitchell

2nd Place – Sam Ruple

3rd Place – Chuck Meyer

Spinnaker

1st Place – Frank Larimer

2nd Place – Jeff Gamey

Photos courtesy - Vlasta Kunc


On the first Saturday in November, three

competitors braved the elements to battle it

out to crown a 2014 Club Champion.

Temperatures were near 40 ºF, with breeze

10-15 mph out of the NE with gusts in the

20’s. This year, the club championship was

an open event, meaning that any member

was able to compete for the designation of

Club Champion. This year’s competitors

were: Johnny Ballatin, John Tyner and John

Storey. We were able to get three races in

overall and the winner of all three was John

Tyner. Congratulations, John!

Photos courtesy - Vlasta Kunc


The CYC Executive Committee has made

the decision to terminate work hours for

Sunday library duty. Consequently, the li-

brary will not be manned and will become an

open collection for all members to utilize on

their own schedules. This will allow more

work hours to be available for other CYC

work projects.

The library cabinet doors will be unlocked

(yet to be arranged) and members will use

the honor system to checkout and return

books. Instructions will be provided in the

library area to describe the checkout and

check-in procedure. Please be respectful of

the procedures and the two-week checkout

policy. Books of value will have a placehold-

er provided on the shelf and will only be

available by contacting Steve Litherland for

checkout.

Book donations are still solicited and wel-

comed and will be added to the collection

when appropriate.

The Practical Sailor magazine subscription

will be maintained on a monthly basis and

copies of the current month

along with and last two

years will still be available

in the library area. Original, in color, issues

will only be available by contacting Steve

Litherland.

The November Practical Sailor issue

features:

boat review of the CSY 37

SSB radio magic

calling MAYDAY on SSB

easy on spray shine product comparison

top whipping twines

painting water tanks

digital ship logs and engine antifreeze

comparison.

Remember, if you have questions or are in-

terested in checking a valuable book or origi-

nal Practical Sailor magazine issues, contact

Steve Litherland at 483-5917 or [email protected].

Your purchases on Amazon-Smile can help

benefit our 501(c)3, Concord Sailing

Center. It won’t cost one penny more than

your usual Amazon purchases.

Instead of going to Amazon the usual way enter through www.Smile.Amazon.com and chose

Concord Sailing Center as your favorite organization. All of the same items are available at

the same prices but when you purchase most items, Amazon will send .5% of the purchase

price to our sailing programs. What at easy and simple way to put a smile on more faces

this year!

http://www.Smile.Amazon.com


They say that travel broadens your horizons, so I

spent some time on the road this year and not just

for business. Firstly, a brief tour of other sailing

schools made me appreciate the amazing network

of volunteer support we have here at CYC for

our sail camp. Thank you to the long list of

people who contributed their time this year. If

you’d like to participate, please let me know.

There’s always room for more hands.

I also took my sailing on the road to two out of

town regattas this year. The first was the

LotsaLasers Regatta at Harbor Island Yacht Club

in Nashville, TN. Winds were excruciatingly

light, but turnout was still good with a 14 boat

fleet that ran the spectrum from grizzled veterans

to juniors and non-Laser sailors in borrowed

boats. The RC was a hard-working group who

reset the course every time the wind switched

120 degrees (which it did every 20 minutes or

so). In fact, the wind switched so often that

several boats forgot whether they were

approaching the windward+offset or the leeward

gate and had to make several turns to undo their

“string”.

Finding pressure was the order of the day and

this proved a matter of luck more than skill. My

favorite incident was the fourth general recall of

race 3 when (yet again) I found myself boxed in

at the boat end of the start in 1kt of wind. With

15 sec to go I was half a length over the line and

head-to-wind gently bouncing off the side of the

committee boat. Clearly it was time to bail out.

Circling the boat I snagged the anchor line on my

rudder. After clearing it I continued to round the

boat and caught a random puff that slingshot me

around the boat on a beam reach and straight into

first place on a rhumb line to the first mark. In

the end I finished 2nd overall with an 8-2-2-2

series, losing out to superstar Mandy Hofmeister

(1-7-1-1).


One Sailor’s Road Trip Roundup Contributed by Jeff Gamey

Tight quarters before the start in light airs at LotsaLasers 2014.

And yes, that’s yours truly on the wrong side of the line.


From hot and windless to cold and breezy, the

second regatta was a return to my childhood

racing Wayfarers in the Old Brown Dog Regatta

at Catawba Yacht Club in Charlotte, NC. After

30 years away, I was back crewing for an old

friend, Al Schonborn. Saturday was a blow out

with 20kt winds gusting 35kts and rain (and

snow overnight). I still got out sailing in a

Pearson Ensign during a temporary lull, but the

wind picked back up and we blew out the main

sail and limped back in after an hour. Instead,

most of the day was spent in front of the fireplace

reminiscing about the old days and playing rules

games. A home-smoked BBQ dinner topped off

the evening while singing golden oldies to a pick

up jug band. The fun and camaraderie was just

like I remembered it as a kid.

Sunday was better weather for dinghies with

winds 10-15kts gusting 20kts and building

through the day. After a rough start, which


My 17yr old self racing Wayfarers with my dad in 1979.

This photo still decorates my wall at home.

Racing today with skipper “Uncle” Al Schonborn

(left) and regatta chairman Richard Johnson (right).

Some things, like sailing friendships, never change.


included a good swamping from a surprise gust

on a windward beat, we hit our stride and

finished the day with an awesome broad reach

plane under spinnaker down to the final mark of

the race. By this point the wind was a solid 20kts

and we were the only ones still flying spinnaker.

Al’s experience racing Wayfarers in UK,

Denmark and Norway definitely paid off here

(speaking of travel benefits), and we looked like

real pros until we snarled the halyard during the

drop. Sic transit gloria. In the end we finished

1st overall with a 2-1-1-1 series in a 10 boat fleet.

In addition to broadening your horizons, travel

also makes you long for home, and these trips

have definitely re-inspired my local racing. I

hope to see you all on the water, whether at home

or away.

We are fortunate to have one of the most beautiful locations in Knox County, and there’s no

better place to hold your personal event. If you want to rent the clubhouse for a private party,

please keep in mind that:

Your rental only provides access to the Commodore’s room (the large room). Members have

full access to all other areas of the club, including the bathrooms, kitchen and outer room.

If you are a member and see that someone is having a private event, please be courteous

and minimize your use of the aforementioned areas if possible. Remember, you might want

the same courtesy some day.

Rentals are good only for the day that you have reserved the room. If you want to decorate

for an event the day before then you MUST rent the room for BOTH days. Remember,

though, that your day rental is for the ENTIRE day. You access the room at any time during

the day of the event to decorate (and of course clean up).


The March Work Parties will take place

every Saturday during the entire month.

There will be an opportunity for everyone

to help pitch in and get the clubhouse,

bathhouse, and grounds ready for the 2015

Sailing Season.

Tasks will include, but not limited to:

Replacing the west side of the

bathhouse. (Siding, painting and

insulation.)

Volunteers for painting and cleanup.

Taking the Bunker AC out and pressure

washing the coils.

Floodlights at the corners of the patio

at Bunker.

Bunker whiteboards cleaned... Any

other “Bunkerisms”.

Summer slip East amputation.

Rebar removal along East shoreline.

Inspection, housekeeping, repairs of all

outbuildings.

Electrical work on dock(s).

Water lines to the docks need a visual

prior to turning the water on. Repairs

likely prior or immediately after the

water is turned on.

Remember, the 15 hours of work required

of you membership is a minimum. Many

members put in many, many more. Find

your niche and I am sure you will find that

you will have put in way more than the

required 15 hours…and not even realize

that you did it.


BOARD MEMBERS Commodore

Sandra Ford-Johnson [email protected]

1st Vice Commodore Michael Cox

[email protected]

2nd Vice Commodore Ron Mitchell

[email protected]

Rear Commodore Terry Schmidt

[email protected]

Secretary Dan Tankersley

[email protected]

Treasurer Bryson Bosson

[email protected]

Assistant Treasurer David Valone

[email protected]

Members at Large Education

Sam Ruple [email protected]

Social André Terry

[email protected]

CONTACTS Luff Letter

Bill Wickman [email protected]

Clubhouse Reservation Jennifer Cross

[email protected]

Harbormaster Gary Grimac

[email protected]

Phone Committee Catherine Trapp [email protected]

www.concordyachtclub.org

Current Membership Count: 177 Active-140, Young Active-6, Senior-23, Associate-2, Student-6

Membership Openings: 53

Honorary-11, Inactive-29

Board Meetings: 2nd Tuesday of Every Month

CYC Clubhouse— 7PM (Members Welcome)

November/December Resignations

Rusty & Nancy Field

Barbara Layton


November/December New Members:

Elizabeth Ann Rowland Occupation: Attorney

Adult Children: Matthew, Amanda & Elizabeth

No Boat & No Sailing Experience

Looking to: Cruise & Day Sail

Ronald & Helen Campbell Occupation: Ronald, Physician & Helen, Attorney

Boat: Purchased Tom Lillestolen’s O’Day Mariner 19

Looking to: Day Sail

Christopher Joyner Occupation: Finance Manager

Children: Kenlee, Lochlynne

Boat: O’Day 24

Looking to: Day Sail

Dan Tankersley (865) 548-4092 / [email protected]

You’ll notice in the membership count above our current membership total

appears to have dropped significantly from the last reporting. The drop is due to

removing Honorary members from the count and not due to a “mass exodus” of

members. Removing Honorary from the reporting provides an accurate picture of

our total “active” members who pay dues, use the club, and are allowed to keep

property on the grounds. Commodore, Sandra Ford-Johnson














http://www.concordyachtclub.org


knoxville’s sailing center january/february 2015 work ... 2015 no. 503 2 cyc’s 2014 annual...

Documents