Commodore Resigns

This is the result of the officers reducing the Association to just the few who use the C25-250 forum (http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/default.asp).
They have stopped communicating with members through their newsletter and now are trying to stop the Mainsheet which is the only means of contacting all the PAYING members. They have lost nearly a third of their membership and now want to use the dues for their own purposes and are now threatening to raise those dues while removing the expense of the Mainsheet.
In the thread "Commodore Resigns" (http://www.catalina-capri-25s.org/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=16664).
Steve Milby, a long time member and former Commodore writes,
"There was a year or two when the officers decided that their expenses to attend the national regatta should be paid by the Association, and the animosity that it generated almost destroyed the organization."
This is the same situation now led by the Vice Commodore Bill Meinert, whose goal is to dominate the so called "Nationals" where 4, yes 4, boats compete for the title of "National Champion".

It's sad to see the association reduced to a shell for a few.

All Differences Aside

The fires in Southern California affected a few of the members of the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association. Specifically the members of Fleet #7 in San Diego including Former Commodore Jim Baumgart who had to evacuate his family and tells of the fear and the heroic efforts of his family to get to a safe area.
There has been loss of life and over 2000 homes destroyed.
Our hearts go out to all the people of that area and hope they can get back to normal in a reasonable amount of time.

Bill Meinert Speaks Out Against Catalina Yachts

Bill Meinart, the newly elected V.P. of the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association is well on his way to taking the voice of the assoc. members away by the elimination the Mainsheet Magazine and has taken a strong negative stance against Catalina Yachts.

He recently wrote to the other Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association Officers;

"In the last 8 yrs with the asociation, to date I cann't recollect a single thing Catalina Yatchs has done for us, I could be wrong, but they really have never supported us in the past.

Bill MeinertVice Commodore
Sailing Longwind #1408"

(Spelling mistakes are his)

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Farewell To The Association

As much fun as it is to post photos of the humongous Frank Hopper (see photo below) we need to examine the harm he and Duane Wolff have done to the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association

Frank Hopper, Past Commodore wrote in his farewell;

Had this forum remained as merely an adjunct to the Mainsheet magazine and an unofficial means of communication the Association would have become moribund. Now we are the most vital and best example of what a Catalina association can be, that is because people worked to change the by-laws and recognize that the community on the internet and the power of the internet was the future of the Association.

What Frank Hopper and the other C25-C250 & Capri 25 Officers have done is to make sure the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association ONLY serves the participants of the Association Forum.
By going to the Association Forum, Members page anyone can see that fewer than 100 members use the Association Forum on a regular basis. That leaves 600 FULLY PAID Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association Members out in the cold.

When Frank was Vice Commodore, he went on record saying that only users of the Association Forum had any business being members of the Association.
What Frank and his compatriot Duane Wolff have done in destroying the Association is to empower 4-5 members to manipulate the Nationals and put unearned silver on their mantels.
The Mainsheet Magazine cannot cater to all the needs of the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association membership and no one has ever claimed that it would. What the Mainsheet does do is reach EVERY PAYING MEMBER four times a year. By disenfranchising the Mainsheet Frank Hopper and rest of the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association Officers have disenfranchised 600 of 700 PAYING members.
Frank Hopper and the other Officers may have done irreparable harm to the Association and the new slate of officers are hand picked to continue this trend.

Putting Bill Meinert in as V.C. is maybe the most egregious as he has manipulated the Nationals with Duane Wolff for the past two years and now has the authority to continue that trend.

Thats enough for now. Latter we will dscuss the destruction of the Fleet structure and total demise of the TellTales.

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Oh My &@D!!!

They need a bigger cockpit!!


Past Commodore of the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association, Frank Hopper

Gee! What A Suprise!

The club our illustrious Commodore belongs to will host the 2008 Nationals.
Quite a legacy Duane and Frank have the Assoc. with.
More after the holiday.

Interesting Thread on the C25 Association Forum


"Locked topics and erased posts question..."

Steve Milby is trying to gently point out the Officers travails over the last few years and how they used their office to manipulate the Nationals to their advantage.

I will just say this and let the dialogue on the Forum continue on it's own.

I have always had a single minded approach to the governance of the Assoc. I want to see every member included in all activities of the Assoc. As you know the Assoc. was in turmoil when Ed Jacubas and I tried to restore the Assoc. We worked to figure out who was still a member, which fleets existed, which fleets wanted to continue and we worked hard to give them a voice. I saw the features in the Mainsheet as a way to not only promote our boats but to build community among the membership.
It is a fault of mine that I have taken it personally when those goals have been either disregarded or IMO outright attacked.
Don't get me wrong the forum and web site have taken great strides under the current administration but the best guess is that 20% of the membership makes use of these assets. That leaves a vast majority of paid members out in the cold.
All I have ever asked is that we use every opportunity, i.e. the Mainsheet and the Telltales as well as the forum to let all the members participate in the elections, have an open bidding process to determine the Nationals and use every effort to build the fleet structure. We have not seen a TellTales since Sept. 2006 and, IMHO, the Mainsheet has not tried to bring the fleets and members together let alone strive to tell the wonderful cruising stories that are being made.

Thanks John G-

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4 BOATS !!??


Are you KIDDING!!???

600+ members left out in the cold.
Good job.

Comments From Edgewater Yacht ClubFleet Captain Mike Dills


Not withstanding the protestations of Mike Dills,

The Edgewater Yacht Club Fleet Captain Race Chair - Cleveland Race Week, the C25-C250 & Capri 25 Officers are indeed using the Edgewater Yacht Club to put unwarranted silver n their mantles.
Fleet Captain Dills writes “The events, real or imaginary, surrounding the selection of Edgewater Yacht Club to host the 2006 and 2007 Nationals is, as it should be, of little or no interest to us.” Of course latter in his comment to this blog he writes; “We host, on average, four or five "National" events every year."
He goes on to say;
"To suggest that Edgewater was in anyway part of a conspiracy or that somehow Duane Wolf managed to cook the bid with Edgewater's complicity couldn't be further from the truth.” And then he adds this wonderful admition “We receive far more bids than we accept.”


So…. Fleet Captain Dills which is it?
You are impartial and have no say in who attends the regatta OR you made the choice to allow Duane Wolf and his surrogate Bill Meinart to participate above other worthy bids.
The C25-C250 & Capri 25 Officers are struggling to get enough boats to contend and while it is amusing to watch Duane and Bill fail it does not mitigate the fact that they manipulated the Association and you made the Edgewater Yacht Club party to it.

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Fiduciary Duty (Repost)

We suggst everyone from the Edgewater Yacht Club read this.

Frank Hopper, Commodore of the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association has ignored his fiduciary duty to represent the entire membership of the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association by restricting the bids for the 2007 “Nationals to just the few 100 members that visit the Association Forum, leaving more than 600 members out of the democratic process to participate in the one “National” event of the year.
Frank Hopper has manipulated the bid process so the “Nationals will be awarded to Duane Wolff’s surrogate Bill Meinart who intends to use the Edgewater Yacht Club for his and Duane's own agenda.
This is a terrible misuse of the office and the paid members continue to be left out of the Catalina 25-250 & Capri International Association’s most important events.

FOUR (4) Boats !!??

Are they The C25-C250 & Capri 25 Officers KIDDING!!
They manipulated the years Nationals and the elections just make fools of themselves.
Unbelievable.

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