Hang Gliding and Paragliding Volume 44 / Issue 1: January 2014 | Page 14

ASSOCIATION
T

he fall USHPA board of directors meeting was held in Renton,
Washington, from October 10-12,
2013, with President Rich Hass presiding. The event, held over a three-day
period, included a special election and
a disciplinary hearing on day one. On
day two, committees formed to work
as groups on existing projects and new
initiatives. The meeting was concluded

both the staff and Risk Management
committee will review site-insurance
applications. Mark Forbes reiterated
the importance of reducing professional
liability claims, as claims to date have exceeded projections, resulting in premium
increases. He emphasized that we as an
organization need to pay particular attention to pilot safety, pilot training, and
tandem instructional flights, if we intend

Fall 2013 Board Meeting
on day three with the board’s adoption
of changes, and elections of officers for
2014.
USHPA treasurer Mark Forbes reports USHPA is in good financial shape.
The 2014 operating budget is in line
with revenue projections and on budget.
The current budget is $1.5M revenue
with $1.5M in expenses and a net deficit
of $4882. The complete financial report
can be viewed by visiting the USHPA
website in the members section, under
the financials tab.
Safety continues to be a high priority
for USHPA. The board considered a
number of ways to address safety issues
and their effect on the association’s
ability to provide third-party liability
insurance as a membership benefit,
and professional liability for Rogallomember instructors. The board learned
the professional liability policy covering
Rogallo members is likely to increase by
at least 25% in 2014. To help offset this
increase, the board raised the price of
the temporary 30-day membership from
$3 to $5. The cost of site insurance will
increase by $50 per site in 2014, while
leaving the tiered pricing system for
multi-site discounts the same. In 2014,

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HANG GLIDING & PARAGLIDING MAGAZINE

to retain insurance. The board also discussed the importance of the insurance
program for securing flying sites.
Congratulations are in order for
a number of newly elected directors.
At the commencement of the board
meeting, Josh Pierce was elected to fill
a regional director vacancy in Region 5,
and the board elected Bill Belcourt to fill
a regional director vacancy in Region 4.
Every fall, the board elects five members to serve as directors-at-large. This
year, Bill Bolosky, Dennis Pagen, Steve
Rodrigues, Jamie Shelden and Ryan
Voight were elected to serve in these
positions.
The board elects its officers at the fall
meeting. This year, the board re-elected
Rich Hass, president; Ken Grubbs, vice
president; Bill Bolosky, secretary; and
Mark Forbes, treasurer. We are fortunate to have such dedicated members
of our flying community volunteer on
behalf of the pilot community.
The board held a disciplinary hearing, following an investigation of a
number of complaints regarding the
conduct of two members in Region 2.
USHPA bylaws provide for suspension
or termination of membership by board

action when the board makes a goodfaith determination that the member has
failed in a material and serious degree to
observe the rules of conduct governing
this corporation, as promulgated by the
board, from time to time or has engaged
in conduct materially and seriously
prejudicial to the purposes and interests
of the corporation. At the hearing and at
a subsequent special hearing, USHPA
acted to suspend the membership of
Emily Hutchinson for a one-year period
and permanently terminate the membership of Ward Carter.
Competition rules and events were
a hot topic at this year’s board meeting,
and a number of issues were considered
and adopted by the board.
USHPA will develop and host an
online competition series for USHPA
pilots.
The selection of National Champions
will be changed to allow any FAI
Category 2 sanctioning to be part of the
national series of competitions and the
Champion will be selected by taking the
best (X) number of tasks flown in any
Nationals event. “X” was to be defined
by the Competition Committee by the
end of 2013 and was not available at the
time of publication.
USHPA will obtain FAI sanctioning
on behalf of the organizer for national
events.
Open-class paragliders will be allowed to compete in USHPA sanctioned
events in their own class; however, they
will not receive NTSS points or validity
points.
Hang gliding competitions sanctioned for 2014 include:
May 18-24: Flytec Americus
June 1-7: East Coast HG Championship
Aug. 3-9: Big Spring Nationals
Sept. 14-20: Santa Cruz Flats