2021 IDNIYRA Spring Ballot News

2021 U.S. Nationals at Black Lake in Michigan. Photo: Gretchen Dorian

2021 IDNIYRA Spring Ballot

At noon (Atlantic time), Saturday 15 May the Spring ballot for election of IDNIYRA Officers will go live. Eligible voters will receive an email invitation to the ballot, which will remain open until noon (Atlantic time), Saturday 29 May.

 

The ballot offers candidates for five positions: Jody Kjoller for Commodore, David Frost for Vice Commodore, Robert Cummins for Past Commodore, and Deb Whitehorse for Secretary and Treasurer. A simple majority is required for election and write-in candidates are allowed. As allowed by the IDNIYRA Constitution, the same candidate is offering for the positions of Secretary and Treasurer. The Governing Committee has found this practice to be quite effective for the management of IDNIYRA.

 

The ballot also includes two proposals for amendments to the IDNIYRA Constitution published in the December 2020 Runner Tracks. The first proposal clarifies the process to propose changes to the official specifications and protects the right of members to do so. The ballot modifies the published proposal slightly as will be explained in the rationale portion of the question. The second proposal reduces the lead time for submission of proposals to the Annual meeting from 90 to 60 days in recognition of our use of modern communications methods. A two thirds ‘yes’ vote is required to approve these measures. The Governing Committee recommends the approval of both.

 

Warren Nethercote KC 3786

Commodore IDNIYRA

First Results of Autumn 2020 Ballot


Previous: IDNIYRA & IDNIYRA EU Autumn 2020 Ballot

The Autumn 2020 IDNIYRA and IDNIYRA EU combined ballot closed at 2345 November 22, 2020. Two-thirds of ‘yes’ votes are required for a Question to pass. The results are as follows:

 

Fifty-six percent of eligible members participated in the ballot. Abstentions were allowed on individual questions.

 

Question 1: EPIC Agreement Amendment. 132 yes / 84 against (61.1% yes, Question 1 fails)

 

Question 2: RMA Amendment. 184 yes / 46 against (80.0% yes, Question 2 passes)

 

Question 3: Technical Specification A16, Hull Cross Section. 169 yes / 52 against (76.5% yes, Question 3 passes and comes into effect May 31, 2021)

 

A report with the breakdown of votes by continent will follow once those results are received from the voting software contractor.

 

The members support to the governance of the DN Class is appreciated.

 

Attila Pataky (M-100) Commodore IDNIYRA EU

Warren Nethercote (KC 3786) Commodore IDNIYRA


UPDATE: 25 November 2020:
IDNIYRA and IDNIYRA EU Autumn 2020 ballot Results by Continent

Here are the results for the Autumn 2020 ballot broken out by continent.

Question 1: EPIC Agreement Amendment
Votes tallied: 216
Abstentions: 30
Continent NA EU Total
Yes – I am in favour of Question 1 69 63 132
No – I am opposed to Question 1 48 36 84
117 99
Question 2: RMA Amendment
Votes tallied: 230
Abstentions: 16
Continent NA EU Total
Yes – I am in favour of Question 2 95 89 184
No – I am opposed to Question 2 28 18 46
123 107
Question 3: Technical Specification A16, Hull Cross Section
Votes tallied: 221
Abstentions: 25
Continent NA EU Total
Yes – I am in favour of Question 3 91 78 169
No – I am opposed to Question 3 25 27 52
116 105

As reported yesterday, 2/3rds ‘yes’ votes were required for a measure to pass. On that basis, Question 1 failed and Questions 2 and 3 carried.

Warren Nethercote Commodore IDNIYRA
Attila Pataki, Commodore IDNIYRA EU

Update on IDNIYRA and IDNIYRA EU Autumn Ballot

2020 North American Championship, Fort Peck Reservoir, Montana. Photo Gretchen Dorian.

We have an electronic ballot underway to consider three questions: an amendment to the EPIC Agreement; an amendment to the Regatta Management Agreement; and a change to the OFFICIAL SPECIFICATIONS. The ballot closes on November 22nd. As of 0900 AST Wednesday 11 November 177 of 422 eligible voters had voted (79 from Europe and 98 from North America). Another 49 members have opened their ballots but not yet voted. How people voted is not available to us until after ballots close on November 22nd. The voting software indicates that all ballots sent to IDNIYRA EU members were received. One ballot for a North American member was undeliverable, but we have been unable to make contact with the member to correct the email address.

 

On Friday 13 November those who have not yet voted will receive an automated reminder to vote from the voting software. The reminder will come from invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com To help avoid rejection of the notice as junk mail you can add invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com to your contact list. If you did not receive an invitation, or a first reminder (on 6 November 2020) and think that you should have received one, please contact Deb Whitehorse secretary.idniyra@gmail.com for North America or Attila István Pataki for Europe. We can check whether a ballot has been sent, your voting eligibility if one was not sent and, when appropriate, we can add you to the voters list.

 

Warren Nethercote, Commodore IDNIYRA

Ballot Administrator

IDNIYRA and IDNIYRA EU Autumn 2020 Ballot

Charlie Blair US4387 at the 2020 North American Championship in Ft. Peck, Montana. Photo: Gretchen Dorian

This is the announcement of a combined ballot for members of IDNIYRA and IDNIYRA EU, although North American and European results will be available separately.

At their Spring 2020 meeting the IDNIYRA EU National Secretaries supported sending six measures to a ballot of the members.  Three of the six will be on this combined ballot.

  • Changing Article II of the EPIC Agreement to add considerations of environmental friendliness to reasons for changing the Official Specification.  The IDNIYRA EU National Secretaries supported this proposal.  The IDNIYRA Governing Committee believes that environmental friendliness should be located in the Regatta Management Agreement. The current proposal may restrict construction materials currently in use.  The IDNIYRA Governing Committee recommends rejection of this proposal.  This is Question 1 on the ballot.
  • Changing Paragraph 10 b) of the Regatta Management Agreement to add “Skippers who finished in the first 3 places in the Gold Fleet of the preceding continental or higher regatta” to Gold Fleet assignments.  The IDNIYRA EU National Secretaries supported this proposal.  The IDNIYRA Governing Committee and the scoring committee recommend rejection of this proposal because it addresses one unique occurrence of an unranked sailor finishing in the top three of the Gold Fleet and may reduce the opportunity for advancement from the Silver and Bronze Fleets. This is Question 2 on the ballot.
  • Changing Paragraph A 16 (Fuselage) of the Official Specification to introduce a ±2 degree tolerance to the 90 degree corners (‘rectangle’) of the fuselage.  Both the IDNIYRA EU National Secretaries and the IDNIYRA Governing Committee support this proposal.  This proposal has been further developed by the Technical Committee and is Question 3 on the ballot.

Further work is required on the other three proposed changes to the Official Specifications and they will be submitted for a future ballot once technical issues have been resolved.

Members of IDNIYRA and IDNIYRA EU who were in good standing as of September 1, 2020 are eligible to vote and can expect to receive an electronic ballot invitation at their email address on file with IDNIYRA or IDNIYRA EU.  The ballot will be open from 2345 Atlantic time, 1 November 2020 to 2345 Atlantic time, 22 November 2020.  To pass, a proposal must receive at least 2/3rds yes votes.  Any measures passed will come into effect on May 31st, 2021.

Note to voters: All election notices are sent from invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com   To help avoid rejection of the notice as junk mail add invitations@mail.electionbuddy.com to your contact list.

2020 Election of Officers and Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws

2020 Election of Officers and Amendments to Constitution and Bylaws

 

Late on Friday May 15th, IDNIYRA members in good standing will receive invitations to participate in an electronic ballot. The ballot will be open until May 29th. Your participation is encouraged. Should you expect a ballot but not receive one by May 16th please contact Deb Whitehorse. 

 

Our annual election of officers is presented as questions 1-5 on the ballot. Question 6 revises IDNIYRA By-law ‘General, paragraph 2,’ to align financial responsibilities for IDNIYRA regattas with current practice and strengthen financial accountability. Questions 7 and 8 revise our Constitution and By-laws to eliminate confusion and duplication between the North American governing documents and the international agreements. Areas of the Constitution and By-laws which are not covered in the EPIC Agreement or Race Management Agreement will remain in the original documents. The Governing Committee recommends support for Questions 6, 7 and 8.

 

The Constitution and By-law amendments proposed in Questions 7 and 8 can be pre-viewed in the most recent Runner Tracks, available at the following link:

Runner Tracks May 2020

 

Warren Nethercote, KC 3786

Commodore IDNIYRA