TCA Publications Working Group 2025

• The first and most convenient for the Corinthians is to prepare the email version in ClubExpress as you did for your recent test. However, while this does keep everything within our current system, it is a fairly complex task, although it may get easier once a template exists. We should also recognize that we may nor be able to recruit members who have the aptitude or enthusiasm to carry this out in the future.
• A second option Joe tested was to take an email developed in Gmail, where inserting images seems to be allowed, and to send it to the membership using another delivery system. We mentioned MailChimp, but, Joe, I think you tested an alternative. This may simplify the preparation, but does mean we share our email list with a third party.
• I  have been trying out a third option, but have not yet succeeded, but it should work. As an example, go to the web site and select Awards (top right) and then Awards - Annual Presentations. A window opens with three links, but I envisage that the contents list for Mainsheet could be about 10 headings - all links. If you click the first link, a PowerPoint presentation opens. Selecting a different year gives a different PowerPoint. I have been trying to take my Contents list from the Mainsheet and set it up as links to the articles. I have stored three articles in CX and linked them to the Content list in a CX email. It works halfway - clicking a link in the CX email downloads the file rather than opening it. The awards PowerPoint presentations open, so I must be doing something wrong. I was trying this option as it may be simpler to format the documents in PowerPoint or PDF rather than working with the CX approach.

1. Premises:
   1. On 9 November 2025, the Corinthians Board and Afterguard approved the budget for 2026
   2. This budget included the quarterly production, printing and mailing of the Mainsheet in 2026
   3. John Butler presented a memo suggesting the Mainsheet and Jibsheet be consolidated into a single montly publication with elements of both.
   4. A wide-ranging discussion ensued. The idea of eliminating the printed version of the Mainsheet to save ~$3K / year was suggested.
   5. A motion carried to form a Working Group to investigate options and bring proposals to the Board Afterguard
   6. The PWG met by Zoom as a result Dick Marsh undertook to produce an updated format Jibsheet with more eye-=appeal and greater information content to be disseminated by email.
   7. Prototypes of the revised Jibsheet are currently being refined and will be used for the December Jibsheet.
   
2. At todays meeting the PWG agreed that
   1. The concept of a fee for a printed Mainsheet was, given the above premises, not to be pursued at this time due to its impact on the annual membership renewal process.
   2. The next Jibsheet would be published as a test in the new format.
   3. The next Mainsheet would be published as usual but with some update in content and presentation as feasible in its current format.
   4. This process would allow the PWG to have the additional time to develop and finalize a plan for discussion with the Board & Afterguard at the next meeting.
   5. The options of “print on demand” , reduced cost printing, separate fee for printed, copy etc. will be investigated.
   6. A message will be sent to the Membership in a separate email, in the next Mainsheet, and on the CX website member landing page. Joe Rocchio agreed to draft a message for comment.
3. 7. Hank Recla and Joe Rocchio agreed to personally contact the ~65 Members who now receive a printed Mainsheet because they did not reply to David Shinkfield’’s query on print vs email distribution. The paper vs email issue would be discussed with them.
   8. A discussion on John Butler’s suggestion to combine the Jibsheet and Mainsheet into one document led to the decision to continue the current Mainsheet and Jibsheet publication schedule while testing improved formats for next issues and then assess Member evaluations. This would inform PWG recommendations to Board & Afterguard.

Please Take Note: Publications Update

The Corinthians Association relies on two publications to keep Membership informed and involved: Mainsheet (quarterly) and Jibsheet (monthly).
For many Members these are their primary ties to the Corinthians.
Time brings changes in demographics, technology, common practice and we need to adjust.
At the direction of the Board and Afterguard, a Publications Working Group is engaged in a reevaluation and potentially in a redesign of these publications.
Goals:
· Drive down costs to membership fees
· Increase attractiveness, readability, information content, ease of use, and accessibility.
So?
· The next issues of Jibsheet and Mainsheet will begin to present updated formats to meet these goals.
· Member comments are solicited.
Printing is the major cost driver of publications to serve the relatively few Members who request printed copies of Mainsheet. So if you see a printed (vs electronic media) copy Mainsheet as essential to your membership please let us know.
Send your thoughts to: xxx@yyy.zzz

Memo from the Master

Ahoy Fellow Corinthians!
 
The big news is Annual Cruise date
 
Fair winds and following seas!
 

November News

Upcoming Events

Members, please login to

• For the Corinthian Wide articles, 
• I have prepared a write up of the Annual Meeting and included a photo of the Board and Afterguard.
• I am now working on the Awards and plan to show photos of each awardee with a description of the award itself.  I plan to follow a similar layout to the one we used in the Winter 2024 copy. If anyone wants a copy, I can send you one.
• Fleet News
• Chesapeake Bay.
• I have chased up Janice and Kathleen to get the write up about the Fall Cruise.
• I also plan to attend the Holiday Party in December, so I will prepare an article on that. 
• Mystic
• I need to decide whether to add a short article about Bill's presentation about his Lake Champlain cruise. We need to avoid duplication.
• Nothing from LIS or NE yet.
• Master's Message
• I will remind Rick in mid December asking for his Master's Message.
• Officers
• I am updating the list of Directors and Afterguard members using Mary's minutes from the Annual Meeting
• New Members.
• Mike and I will work together to get a list of the new members joining during the last quarter of 2025. I think it was a great suggestion to add new members' photos in the New member section, and I will work with Mike to make that happen.
• I would welcome everyones thoughts on whether we include both the bios of New Members as well as the 12 month history.
• Notes from the Corinthian Board.
• Mary writes articles for this section when there is an important issue to present to the membership. Depending on our recommendations after our Monday meeting, I think the future of Corinthian Publications may be a good subject.

• He revised the Jibsheet format
• Added photos and text to make more informative and attractive to readers
• He then created the new publication by making png images of the layout and then inserting these images sequentially into the body of an email
• New Jibsheet email was sent from Dick Marsh's email account to the TCAmail mailing list
• The test was successful and a good looking informative publication resulted

• I found the the hosting service account I use for publishing several websites included in the services provided a mailing list management tool
• This is the same hosting service used by corinthianscruise.org website
• I set up a new domain to run tests of the mailing list tool: thecorinthians.info [https://thecorinthians.info/
• I set up a test email list that includes members of the Publications Working Group
• Dick Marsh, as a member the mailing list was able to send emails to the mailing list members
• The test mailing list can be used by putting in the To field: tcamail@thecorinthians.info

• A process has been established that readily enabled a revised Jibsheet publcation to be created and then distributed in the body of an email to Members on a mailing list.
• Further efforts are needed to
• 1. Streamline the process and simplify as much as possible
• 2. Investigate document production techniques that will provide good reading experience across devices: phones, tablets, desktops / laptops
• This will likely require moving away from use of png.
• 3. Provide for Members to be able to click a link to download a pdf document to their device
• An archiving system should be set up so Members can readily access published editions and view or download current or past issues
• Configuration and control issues need to be identified and appropriate processes put in place

• Expand to Mainsheet
• Consider a new publication to provide annual summary of the organization's people and events

• There are many paths that could be followed to achieve this goal
• This is just one - but it is effective, low cost, and low overhead.

• Format revised
• Added photos and text to make more informative and attractive to readers
• Then created the new publication by making png images of the layout and then inserting these images sequentially into the body of an email
• New Jibsheet email was sent from Dick Marsh's email account to the TCAmail mailing list
• The test was successful and a good looking informative publication resulted

• I found the the hosting service account I use for publishing several websites included in the services provided a mailing list management tool
• This is the same hosting service used by corinthianscruise.org website
• I set up a new domain to run tests of the mailing list tool: thecorinthians.info [https://thecorinthians.info/
• I set up a test email list that includes members of the Publications Working Group
• Dick Marsh, as a member the mailing list was able to send emails to the mailing list members

• A process has been established that readily enabled a revised Jibsheet publication to be created and then distributed in the body of an email to Members on a mailing list.
• Further efforts are needed to
• o streamline the process and simplify as much as possible
• investigate document production techniques that will provide good reading experience across devices: phones, tablets, desktops / laptops
• provide for Members to click a link to download a pdf document to their device
• An archiving system should be set up so Members can readily access published editions and view or download current or past issues
• Configuration and control issues need to be identified and appropriate processes put in place

• Expand to Mainsheet
• Consider a new publication to provide annual summary of the organization's people and events

• There are many paths that could be followed to achieve this goal
• This is just one - but it is effective, low cost, and low overhead.

• We need to reach as wide a number of Corinthians as possible. Current experience shows that a significant number of Corinthians do not read JibSheet to Mainsheet or access our website. 
• We need to encourage members to prepare articles on more general sailing topics as well as event write ups.  Fleets should nominate members to handle communications and contribute material.
• Hank suggested that the LSC approach may be a useful model - a regular emailed newsletter which includes a link to their more formal magazine, The Little Ship.
• There was a long discussion about preparing an email newsletter on ClubExpress. CX does not seem to be user friendly for this and alternatives may be necessary. Joe referred to MailChimp as a possibility, which offers free distribution of 500 copies, limited to 1000 copies per month. (I used Mailchimp for many years in my previous volunteer job.)
• There seemed to be a sense that the Mainsheet was a more professional newsletter than newsletters for other sailing groups. 
• Including photographs of people, parties and gatherings in our publications seems to encourage interest.

• The Winter edition of Mainsheet, typically issued in early January will include the normal articles, and will also incorporate the JibSheet content. The document should be distributed in both PDF and email format. This should allow the documents to be read on large screens and phones. Dick and David will work together to make this happen.
• We agreed to have another Zoom meeting - hopefully shorter - to address the issue of mail or electronic delivery. Issues.  
• Should we cancel all mailing of publications: should we charge a nominal amount to those asking for printed copies: how will we advise the membership of the change: are we concerned that some members may resign if we cancel mail delivery. 
• For information, printing currently costs $4000 per year - $7.50 per copy per member.
• This meeting should enable us to present a recommendation to the Afterguard on 11th December. 

• Enhanced features: Digital editions can include print‑friendly pages plus links to additional resources and photo galleries—features that aren’t possible in print.
• Community-driven content: The magazine relies on your members’ cruising stories, technical articles, regatta reports and photos. We’ll continue to work closely with association editors and officers to gather submissions.
• Hosted by Catalina Yachts Store: Holly Hannah’s Catalina Yachts Store will host the magazine download. Access will be restricted to members.

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Here is another great copy of Mainsheet, the Fall edition.
 
We have made some changes to the Mainsheet this Fall, so please read the changes below carefully.
·         If you read the Mainsheet on your iPad, desktop or laptop, please click here for a PDF copy
·         If you read the Mainsheet of your phone, please continue reading. The content has been formatted for your phone.
 
We have some great articles.

• The Corinthians Annual Cruise took place in Maine during August. Joe Rocchio has described all the key events creating a great memory for all participants. If you did not join the Cruise this year, perhaps this will encourage you to join next year!
• Bob Osborn and his yacht Pandora is always off on long voyages. This year, he was attacked by orcas off Gibraltar. Read his article about the attack, the fear of Pandora sinking and the damage to his rudder. Bob, we are glad you reached Spain safely.
• This year, Master John Butler recreated the Fleet Challenge, held on J22s in Annapolis. The Mystic Fleet took line honors, so congratulations to Ted Corning, Jessica Woods, Harry Staley and Joyce Bolton.
• We have four new members this quarter. For each new member, we have listed the Sponsor. These Sponsors identify potential new members and persuade them that joining the Corinthians is a great opportunity, identifies the two endorsers and hopefully continues to encourage each new member to take full advantage of Corinthian membership. We owe these Sponsors a debt of gratitude for growing the Association. Check out your sailing friends and become a Sponsor yourself.

• What is the purpose of our publications?
• Do Jibsheet and Mainsheet currently serve this purpose?
• Is combining JibSheet and Mainsheet into one document a good idea? And what is driving this?
• Do we need one document or two?
• Is there an alternative approach, perhaps using email flyers and the web site?
• Should documents be produced monthly or quarterly? 
• How much work would this involve and who will do it? 
• Will our current Layout Editor be prepared to do this monthly?
• Decision on print copies or electronic only.
• Making documents "phone friendly".