I. Purpose
The primary purposes of ALCA are:
(A) To promote and develop catamaran racing under uniform rules and regulations.
(B) To have fun.
(C) To be good sports.
II. Fleet Charter / Dissolution of ALCA
(A) The ALCA membership shall not be less than 5 boats
(B) If membership falls to less than 5 members, the ALCA shall be declared to be inactive. As such, all funds in the Treasury shall be frozen except for the settlement of any outstanding debts.
(C) If the ALCA is inactive for 3 years, the Association shall be dissolved. Any and all funds remaining in the Treasury and any equipment owned by the ALCA shall be donated in the following order of preference: an active Hobie Fleet in Division 10, Division 10 [if active] or the HCA .
III. Meetings
(A) Meetings shall be held on dates to be determined by the officers.
(B) Meetings shall be governed by the “Roberts Rules of Order”.
IV. Voting
All voting shall be done by dues-paying members only with one vote each.
V. Officers
Officers shall be fleet members, elected annually by the membership of the fleet, and shall take office immediately upon election to fill the positions of Commodore, Vice-Commodore, Treasurer, Secretary and Statistician.
VI. Duties of Officers
(A) Commodore – The Commodore shall be the executive officer of the fleet and shall preside at all meetings. The Commodore shall be responsible for all official fleet correspondence and his/her address shall be the official fleet address.
(B) Vice Commodore – The Vice Commodore shall assist the Commodore in his/her duties and shall preside at all meetings in the absence of the Commodore. The Vice Commodore shall see fit in carrying out the ALCA purpose of developing Catamaran racing.
(C) Treasurer – The Treasurer shall collect, safeguard, disburse all monies and report on all receipts and disbursements at each meeting.
(D) Secretary – The Secretary shall keep accurate minutes of meetings and take all correspondence. The Secretary shall also be responsible for updating the by-laws as determined necessary by the fleet officers.
(E) Statistician – The Statistician is responsible for reviewing the fleet scoring protocols at least annually and revising as necessary, with input of (minimally), the fleet officers and/or the open fleet membership. They shall be responsible for keeping accurate records of all scoring of races for the fleet and disseminating the results at the after sailing venue each week. He/she shall also forward the results to the fleet webmaster for posting on the ALCA website.
VII. Dues
Any changes to the dues will be proposed by the ALCA Officers and will be determined by the majority of vote of total votes cast at the beginning of the racing season. Membership runs from the start of the racing season to the start of the next racing season.
Individual membership runs from receipt of signed form with appropriate monies until the start of the next racing season.
VIII. Racing
(A) Rules – All races and regattas shall be conducted in accordance with the IYRU, US Sailing and the Hobie Class Association Rules as published by the International Hobie Class Association. Questions concerning minimum weight and whether a person or persons meet the requirements as prescribed in the Hobie Class Rules will be settled using a scale calibrated by a known weight.
(B) Schedule – The racing schedule, including but not limited to, the length and dates of racing series, the number of races held, the number of fleets, the number of starts, the starting time(s) and the order of starting sequence will be determined by the majority of vote of total votes cast at the beginning of the racing season.
(C) Safety – It is mandatory that life vests shall be worn at all times while racing or waiting to race. An infraction will result in a DSQ.
It is the responsibility of the skipper of each boat to determine if water or weather conditions are safe for their individual ability to sail. ALCA does not guarantee that a chase boat will be available on any given night of sailing.
It is the responsibility and duty of each skipper to assist any boat in “peril.” The assisting boat will receive its relative position in the race for a score or its average score of the season (after throw outs). Scoring method will be determined in a manner chosen by the weekly Race Chairman or Statistician.
(D) Racing will be run by volunteer Race Chairmen as follows:
- Members of ALCA who wish to volunteer for weekly Race Chairman will sign up for periods of two consecutive weeks and will acquire the racing equipment from a fleet equipment manager (see below).
- The Race Chairman is responsible for providing a pontoon boat (his, hers or someone else’s for running the weekly races.
- The Race Chairman is responsible for staffing the race committee as he or she deems necessary and will use all forms provided by the Statistician for tracking attendance and results of the races.
- The Race Chairmen is responsible for following racing rules as in section (A) and, adhering as best he/she is able, to the racing guidelines provided by the officers.
- At the end of the two-week period, the current Race Chairman will arrange transfer of the racing equipment to the next Race Chairman.
- If any of the racing equipment needs replacement or repair the Race Chairman will notify the Fleet Equipment Manager.
- The Fleet Equipment manager is a volunteer of the fleet who will assume this responsibility and, if necessary, will store the equipment during the off season.
- Racing will be cancelled if there is no Race Chairman for a given week.
(E) Cancellation or Postponement – It shall be the responsibility of the weekly Race Chairman to cancel or postpone any races. He/she will notify the Fleet Secretary of the decision who will then communicate the information to the fleet.
(F) Committee Boat and Race Course – The Race Chairman will set the race course each week. If there is a need for a skipper to work on the Committee Boat, volunteers will be solicited and scoring adjustments will be made for those races worked by a skipper [see scoring (Item G) following].
(G) Scoring – The Statistician is responsible for reviewing the sailing scoring protocol, at least annually, and revising as necessary, with input of (minimally), the fleet officers and/or the open fleet membership.
(H) The latest, most up-to-date Portsmouth numbers will be used. Officers will be responsible for Portsmouth ratings and any disputes over such. Scoring results will be announced immediately following each Tuesday night of racing at the designated meeting place or as soon as possible on the website.
(I) Protest – The Committee Boat must be notified immediately after a race, if you intend to file a formal protest. A written protest must then be submitted to the weekly Race Chairman. A three-person protest committee shall be formed as needed for filed protests.
(J) Trophies – The officers will determine the number of trophies to be awarded.
(K) Awards – The following awards are to be given at the trophy presentation.
1, Most improved new skipper – Award will be based upon statistical analysis done by Statistician. New Skipper is defined as having been in ALCA fleet(s) 2 years or less.
2. Most improved old skipper – Award will be given based on statistical analysis done by Statistician. Old Skipper is defined as having been in ALCA fleets(s) for more than 2 years.
IX. By-Law Changes
By-laws may be amended by majority vote of total votes cast. Any proposed changes are to be issued at least two full weeks prior to the vote with absentee ballots available upon request from the fleet secretary.
Amendments
- ALCA, by the majority vote of total votes cast, can amend IYRU, US Sailing, and the Hobie Class Association Rules as published by the International Hobie Class Association
- The Barging Buoy is an extension of the Committee Boat
- The Start/Finish line is an obstruction at all times and cannot be crossed unless starting or finishing.
- Shorten course will be determined by the Committee Boat personnel. Boats will sail designated course until passing between Committee Boat and Finishing Mark, or between gates as designated.