Dave and I announced in our New Years message that we would send out by the end of January the class registration and dues request. We also stated that dues would be unchanged from last year. All that is true!

We have worked some updates on the J/30 Class registration and dues system. We sent the email late on 18 January to everyone who is listed in the class database. The updated 2011 registration/renewal and dues process is now fully functional.

Here are some of the things we've incorporated:

• Everyone does an online update of their class database record
• Pay by Credit Card via PayPal (no paper required), or
• Pay by Check and mail it in with printed invoice
• For Fleets that collect National Dues, print invoice and pay respective district treasurer both National & District dues
• Pay voluntary "Associate Membership" dues for crew (owner can pay, or link can be emailed to an associate/crew)
• Pay multiple co-owners with single transaction
• Similar to last year - update/validate your record, but don't pay dues - Why would you select that?
• New this year - we added a field to enter your US Sailing membership number. If there is a number in you field, once you pay your J/30 dues, you are sent a link to the US Sailing site where an automatic 20% discount is applied to your US Sailing dues. If you don't enter a US Sailing number, or this is your first time registering with US Sailing, you'll need to fill in the form on the US Sailing site with your information.
• New this year - The fleet database now displays to the left of your name a J/30 logo to indicate 2011 dues paid and a US Sailing logo if you entered your US Sailing number. The fleet database is accessible from the main menu by mousing over Fleets then clicking on Directory
• New this year - Not really new, but more prominent. The J/30 Class members only section is accessible to those who pay current year dues. This forum section contains information on special benefits for J/30 Class members.

Let us know if you have any problems or questions on the dues and registration process. If you did not receive the automated email from bill@j30.us for the registration and dues please let Dave and me know.

This website is awesome. So full of information and US Sailing dues was so easy. Thank You.

No option for credit cards without using paypal? I don't trust those thieving bastards.

We've used PayPal successfully for processing credit cards over the past 2 years without any problems. It's less expensive than the J/30 Class having its own merchant account. Plus we don't have the liability of keeping credit card info stored on our servers.

As an alternative, you can go through the registration process on the J/30 site, print out your registration form and mail a check per the directions on the form.

Gotcha. Much cheaper. I will probably mail a cheque. It is just a principal thing for me more than anything as PayPal has a long history of security and privacy issues and poor customer service that I don't wish to get involved in. Nothing specific to this site.

I bet I can't even send you a Canadian cheque though. I wonder if your banks will cash it. Hmmm.

Let me contact Carl Sherter, the class treasurer to find out if the bank that has the J/30 Class accounts will accept a "Canadian Cheque". Hold off sending anything until I get a reply.

Scott - here's another solution. Have Dominique pay dues via PayPal for both you and himself, the same way he ordered the J/30 flags. I'll mark your record as paid manually when this happens.

That's funny--I trust PayPal for my credit card info over giving it to random vendors found online or eBay. Never had any problem. I have considered switching my small business merchant account to them since they are cheaper than my bank though it would be less convenient. Also, from recent experience, credit cards handle foreign exchange, but typically add a 1-3% surcharge to each transaction. In my case Visa was cheaper than MasterCard.

Hey Bill, would it be possible to hand you $25 when I see you next?

Wes - most definitely!