Don't beat up on the new guy, but has the association ever considered the one design sail program that the J/44 association uses/used (not sure if they still do it)? It could be a good compromise to the Main sail issue at hand as well as promote future one design sailing for the association.
Here's the Deal: The association purchases a pre determined amount of Class Legal Mains (start small and grow with interest/success). The Mains are to be used for 2-3 years and then they can be sold back to the general membership as excellent cruising or Beer Can racing Mains. The program then goes full circle. The mains initially benefit the racing members and then will eventually benefit the non racing members when they are sold back. The Mains can be utilized at sanctioned one design events for those boats that do not have a Dacron Main (first dibs) or for those boats that don't necessarily have a racing quality main. This would promote participation in the class at both ends of the racing spectrum (Those that don't use Dacron and those that don't race because of the condition of their Main). It's a pretty cool concept and a reasonable compromise.
I know the initial push back will be the cost for putting the program in place. Those are the details that need to be worked out. I personally would not mind investing in a program that promotes growth as this one could. Bottom line, if this idea is dead on arrival due to cost, then cheers to the BOG for making the right decision this past week.
