Mumm 30 Owners Meeting

Thursday, January 28, 1996

Key West Hyatt, Florida

ATTENDEES:

Geoff Stagg called the meeting to order at 5:40 p.m. A motion was made to accept the minutes of the meeting from Annapolis, was seconded and passed. Discussion was opened on the current status and philosophy of the class with Stagg reiterating the importance of owner drivers. Charlie Lawrence stated that ownership of boats shouldn't be limited to Categories 1, 2 or 3. Greg Johnson suggested having an entry form designation of the owner. Stagg thought that was a good idea. He was able to monitor the driver situation in Key West from a chase boat, and said it was all "squeaky clean".

Discussion on rules issues concerning participating owner/ drivers continued. Jim Mitchee brought up the fact that he has a Category 1 driver for his boat, and Jim Dorsey said he wanted the boat raced when he's not there. Would that be grounds for DSQ? Geoff replied, "yes", then said that it should be discussed by the owners. Jeff Udell pointed out that drivers would get tired in tough conditions, and might want to be relieved for a leg. Kip Meadows said that the concept of a true owner/driver is the beauty of the class. Charlie Lawrence said he bought the boat on a one design premise; if the owner is not going to drive, it should be designated before the regatta who will drive. He doesn't want to compete against amateur world class sailors, but the pro's aren't the ones who are winning this regatta. A motion was made to designate a driver if it's not the owner. Charlie Lawrence further qualified the motion by adding that the owner must submit the driver's name to Farr International two weeks before the regatta, and the driver must be a Class Association member. The motion passed. A second motion was opened to allow an opposite coast (US West to East Coast or vice versa) owner to charter and drive a boat. The motion passed.

The next item on the agenda was the regatta schedule. Geoff Stagg suggested having 2 or 3 National events per year, plus regional Championships. The other option would be to follow the Mumm 36 US Circuit for the rest of the 1996 season. A show of hands vote indicated that eight of the owners present would attend 4 out of 5 circuit events. The owners voted to keep the Mumm 30 schedule as is, running concurrent with the Mumm 36s.

Jack Lefort asked if the San Francisco regatta could be classified Category B for sponsorship, as it is not a circuit event. It was mentioned that Rob Ruhlman's mainsail had a Sailing Inc. logo, which is not allowed under the class rule, which states that all circuit events must comply with Category A. Rob was not aware of this, and will remove the logo. Barry Carroll mentioned that the issue has come up in the Mumm 36 Class, which does allow for advertising, that some boats are better at attracting sponsors, and those boats are able to campaign more. Jack Lefort made a motion to make the Mumm 30 Cup in San Francisco a Category B event for individual sponsorship. Geoff said that the Class Management was trying to get a sponsor for the class, and that he would fight tooth and nail to avoid Category B for all events. Nick Malakis asked if the class would be stepping away from the nonprofessional status with the sponsor issue. Charlie Lawrence concurred that allowing advertising would create a problem with the perception of the class. A vote was taken on Lefort's motion, and did not pass.

Additional rule issues were brought to the table. Will Keyworth (from the self proclaimed Team AARP) thought there should be an age limit on the Mumm 30. Stagg said he noticed that Instigator sailed better when they were hungover. On to more serious matters, Brad Read wanted to know if he could move deck hardware. Jim Andersen answered that hardware that is measured at the factory cannot be moved, and purchase systems cannot be reduced or increased, it is all very clearly outlined in the class rule. Barry Carroll explained that the class management strongly discouraged taking the boats to speed shops for extensive fairing of the fins, they all left the factory within tight tolerances. All that is necessary is wetsanding, possibly some long boarding. The idea behind leaving the deck hardware in its original position is to avoid unfinished holes from moved gear that ruin the deck. He also pointed out that the Mumm 30 was very heavily planned, drawing on the experience of the Mumm 36 one design class, the spar maker, the hardware manufacturer, the designer, and extensive sail testing by Farr International.

Nick Malakis wondered if the number of crew/ weight is OK? Dave Irish said that 6 crew is fine. Geoff Stagg mentioned a few rule offenses that he had witnessed on the water, which included an extreme mainsail pumping situation, one boat with no Mumm 30 class logo on the mainsail, and another boat with a Mumm 30 logo put on with magic marker.

Geoff went on to announce that there would be a separate prize giving for the Mumm fleet on Friday, January 19 at 5:30 p.m. at the Key West Hyatt poolside. The Sailing World boat test to be held on Saturday the 20th between the Mumm 30, Melges 30, B32 and Cheetah was brought up as well. Stagg said that he would like an amateur configuration to further illustrate the non professional status of the boat, and asked Jack Lefort, the current point leader for the regatta, if he and his crew would be available for the test. Jack needed to check on logistics. Kip Meadows offered his boat for the test, if it was needed.

Kip brought up the fact that he had done the Ft. Lauderdale - Key West Regatta on his boat, and didn't have enough battery power with just one battery, and wanted to know why he only had one, while some of the other boats had two. It was pointed out that the extra battery is an option. Kip asked to exchange his battery for ballast without re weighing the hull. Barry wanted to know if he could get the battery weight from Kip before the SORC. Bill Lockwood suggested weighing the battery at the SORC. It was agreed that any owners who wanted to exchange internal ballast for an extra battery would be weighed and the certificates (if a valid weight exchange was agreed upon by the Class Measurers present) would be changed.

Organizing a crane to launch and pull the Mumm 30s for the SORC was brought up next. Bill Lockwood mentioned using a negative drop forklift for launching. Charlie Lawrence had experience with the J-35 class using a crane out of Miami, and he volunteered to help. Charlie and Bill will work with Renee Mehl to hire a crane. Barry Carroll cautioned against using a fork lift or poorly jack standing the boat, as it will damage the hull.

Farr International is starting a file of PHRF certificates for Mumm 30s, and Renee asked the owners to send in their certificates. They are available for anyone who has a PHRF Rating committee meeting. Other Class Association matters included paying the Class Association fees. All boats must be up-to-date before participating in the SORC. Invoices will be sent out to all the Key West Race Week participants for the original 7 sail button levy. The Class Rule states that the original 7 buttons would be $30.00, and each additional button (for a maximum of three per year) is $30.00. The next owners meeting will be at the SORC.

Neil Harvey from Lewmar sailed on a Mumm 30 for the week and had some comments about the deck hardware. If anyone is having problems with the non-self tailing winches, they should talk to Neil. There has been a problem with the pawls not having any oil on them. The genoa cars have been breaking a part, particularly on the port side of the boat. This is a warranty item, that would be fixed on all the boats.

Geoff Stagg mentioned that Farr International and Carroll Marine would be collaborating on another project, building a 45' one design along the lines of the Mumm 30 - easy to sail, no runners, non-overlapping headsails and an owner/driver rule.

A show of hands for SORC participation indicated that four owners present in Key West would attend the SORC. The meeting was adjourned at 6:55 p.m.