Bad Seeds

Since the previous discussion has drifted away from the marina to more general Hoofer concerns, including the direction/ deteriotion of the Club and the issue of declining lessons and ratings, we'll throw in our two cents.

Some commenters were correct that the database can be examined by instructors and BOC for all sorts of data, including ratings (see edited database entry at right). Yet, despite the fact that some 100+ individuals can spend their nights looking through the database, downloading it, and shoving it up each other's arses, that data is not available to the public. Why? because some of it is supposedly protected by FERPA as part of students' educational records. Some of it, mind you, not all of it, but data for non-students isn't released either.

Hiding behind FERPA allows Hoofers and the UW to hide malfeasance such as ratings that were not earned, ratings that disappeared (e.g. were removed maliciously), libelous comments by instructors, damning statistics, etc. Greater transparency would benefit the vast majority, maybe even Hoofers itself; only those individuals who got their ratings on the sly and a few others who are up to no good benefit from hiding this data. Are sailing lessons in a public club part of one's educational record? They don't seem like the same thing as grades you receive in class, which definitely are not public record.

For those unfamiliar, the image above is one person's entry from the database, with personal info & details altered so the individual can't be identified. Notice the comments and ratings sections (also changed to protect the guilty). The info isn't always 100% complete but can generally be used to tally ratings.

Having personal info in there, e.g. phone number and address, also allows unscrupulous male instructors & BOC to stalk cute female club members, like a UWPD police captain did a couple of years ago to a terrified woman using a restricted law enforcement database. And he's just the one they caught--other cops undoubtedly do the same thing and get away with it. If police officers are willing to do that, you can bet Hoofer employees are too. Is there even a rule against a male instructor using the database to track down a girl he'd like to jump..?

No wonder certain webmasters and others pushed to have everyone's photo and personal info in a big database. If I were an undergraduate woman, I certainly wouldn't provide my address when I join HSC. That is, if someone managed to talk me into joining in the first place.

The Hoofer Sailing Club Peter Tong Marina

NOTE: We're starting a new post to continue comments on the "Marina" plan. Be sure to read the previous post and comments too, which are directly related since Dave supports the plan.

Goodbye Hoofer Sailing Club. Hello Peter Tong boat rental operation. What we know as the Hoofer Sailing Club will soon be known as The Tong Family Marina, a Union-run operation.

This idea is the brain-ejaculate of two people: Mark Guthier and Dave Elsmo. It is the natural devolution of a desire to replace the old Hoofer piers, into a broader plan that will give the Union more control over sailing. And who the !@#$ are the Tongs? Peter Tong is an old rich guy who has so much money he doesn't know what to do with it (a grossly overcompensated board member and former president of WARF). Director Guthier picked up his scent and now Mr. Tong has agreed to part with $1 MILLION DOLLARS to get his name on a big bronze plaque somewhere around the sloop pier.

A comment on the previous post has some good links with details on the project, but it is not yet set in stone. The design can still be altered--if enough people complain. NOTE that the webpage linked in the previous paragraph is dated just a few days ago--Aug 14.

That webpage claims that "The Project will transform the lakefront with improvements in safety, accessibility and sustainability and will benefit thousands of Hoofer Sailing Club members each year." Do we have thousands of members now..? Nope. That's another distortion. Nor will it improve safety or anything else, but it will transform the lakefront. By "restoring" the lakefront, what they actually mean is "get rid of all those ugly boats."

Do you think for one second that, after putting $3+ million into "Hoofers" the Union will still let students run it?

To add insult to injury, that webpage also says, "Badgers' memories of the lakefront are some of their most cherished at the Union." That's absolutely true, yet Mr. Guthier wants to crap on those memories by remodeling the entire lakefront! If you want to build us new piers Mr. Guthier, fine, but why take a dump on everything that Hoofers is and was?

Tong and his family want to make this donation for exactly two reasons:

(1) They have so much money they don't know what to do with it and/or need a big tax write-off, and

(2) They want the Tong family name on a bronze plaque.

MR. TONG: WE DON'T WANT YOUR MONEY OR YOUR RIDICULOUS "MARINA", YOU SLEAZY CROOK.

If you really are a former Hoofer sailor yourself, then you know why.

At least, we don't want it for the marina as currently planned, if that includes getting rid of the Techs, scows, keelboats, or Lakelab.

David Elsmo Must Go!

NOTE: Guest editorial posted under a pseudonym to preserve the author's anonymity (retaliation is rife in Hoofers, as some are all too aware). Its opinions don't necessarily reflect the position of this blog. It has a few minor edits/corrections.

In my lengthy tenure as a sailor, a club member and a board member, I have seen abuse of power like nowhere else. When I first met David Elsmo, he had just been appointed as “Head Instructor” and the problems with nepotism and power grabbing began immediately.

Selective enforcement of rules, selective rehiring of instructors, and shenanigans at our instructor outings were rampant. From the get go, he appears nice. But if you don’t fall into line with him, you are culled out.

He took to coaching the Sailing team, and was a heck of a coach. Then he gave himself more authority as Head of instruction, a new and paid position. None of us batted an eye. He continued his power grab, year after year grabbing more power and granting himself more authority; this got lost between boards. Under Commodore Nick Grundl is where the club realized we had a problem. Dave took liberties such as appointing his own “Fleet Instruction Supervisors” to take instruction oversight away from Fleet Captains and board members.

Nick had to repeatedly redefine Dave's job description, and censure him; check the meeting minutes. [Editor's note: see 2013-05-01 BOC minutes.] He had nothing but contempt for club members, club traditions, and club history. Around the union remodeling, he cozied himself with club “Advisors” and began a fundamental redesign of the club without permission of the board. He appointed himself “Sailing Program Manager”, threw out dozens of prominent members, then promoted himself “Sailing Program Director.” Without board approval.

Then he got the Commodore election moved, again without board permission, so more sailing team members could be in town for the vote, while he was their coach. Now he has the authority to fire any board member for any reason, even the commodore.

Many of us have been threatened, robbed, or had false citations issued to us. David is a tyrant. He needs to go. Many dozens of club members and donors are now in exile, or won't come back till he is gone.

And now club members are dying... and ratings are still being handed out as favors, to unqualified members. This is dangerous! Also, there are disturbing rumors about Dave's hiring practices that suggest an even deeper problem. DAVE MUST GO!!!

-Serk

Kiddieland

Now that C-Cup is behind us, and a great one it was (except perhaps for Friday), we turn our attention to important things.

The photo at right shows Decoy during Commodore's Cup 2013. Note the elegant group on board--responsible, well-dressed men and women enjoying an evening cruise prior to the Commodore's Ball. Some appear to have a beer or cocktail in hand, yet there's no rowdiness, no stupor, no people stumbling overboard, no drownings, no disaster. And not one of them is wearing a lifejacket. That's because lifejackets are for babies. They simply are not necessary on Lake Mendota most of the time (not unless your skipper is incompetent). Alas, they are required by the Union's new rules. Why?

Now look at the other four photos, taken in 2018. Like some kind of adult day care-on-the-water for retards, every single person is wearing a lifejacket. This is despite clear skies and light wind. The crews are all awfully white too, but I digress.

Note also that no one has a drink in hand--despite an activity that would clearly be enhanced by a good buzz. This is because a single beer can cause you to become stupid and wander into traffic or fall off a boat. At least, that's what Dave Elsmo and Union management seem to think. Or are they trying to cover their asses for the drowning that occurred on their watch?

Drinking beer doesn't lead to drownings. What puts people at risk is HSC's favoritism-based practice (dating to Jim Rogers) of awarding J, O'Day, and keelboat ratings to popular individuals who aren't qualified for them. People like Michaela Rabas, for instance. Now, Dave Elsmo and Union management are trying to throw the blame by punishing us.

Think about what management is saying by disallowing any alcohol on the keelboats and by forcing everyone to wear a lifejacket at all times:

We're signing people off to skipper big boats they're not qualified to sail (much less teach on), so you'd better stay sober and wear your lifejacket if you want to live.


It is gross negligence of UW-Madison administrators to say that.

Three sheets to the wind!

JULY 17: We've added a pic of former two-timing commodore Mills Botham being carried around by his frat brothers (or pledges?). Boy are they gonna score some favors for that. There are plenty of former commodores here for the 40th Anniversary C-Cup, back (or still lingering) to enjoy their free lifetime membership. Hoofers is like high school--it's mainly about being popular and getting ahead at the expense of others.

ARE YOU AWARE that you and your friends suck? Well, fear not... you can make better friends in Hoofers, for just $40! (we didn't write that, the BOC did--see flyer at right.)

The 40th annual Drunkfest, a.k.a. Commodore's Cup, is coming up July 16-21. We'll have:

• Fine food such as hot dogs and Kool-Aid.
• The Sardine Race - abuse what's left of our Techs.
• Treasure Hunt - who can find the scow pier first!
• The NO Talent Show - self explanatory.
• Greased watermelon - try to grab your teammates by their greased bodies. No teeth, fingernails, or cavity searches please.
• Human Battleship - try to hit the boobs with the balloons.
• Poodle Jousting - bring your pet along and tie him to the forestay!
• And did we mention Kool-Aid and lemonade?!

Come party with recovering alcoholics, older singles, and Hoofer leaders. What we're wondering is: will people be required to wear their lifejackets in the sardine race..? That would cut down on the number of bodies you can cram into a Tech.

So sign up for C-Cup in the office! Team assignments will be random, with the cutest girls put on teams with the most desperate guys, e.g. club officers and keelboat instructors. (Do you believe that? You should.)

Note: NO ALCOHOL is allowed on any boats, but feel free to get jackhammered on shore before boarding.

Commodore's Cup is open to MOST PEOPLE†.

LGBT INDIVIDUALS AND RELIGIOUS GROUPS WELCOME!

†Except people we don't like, who will be harassed and prevented from participating (and we'll keep your registration fee too).

Transmorfing HSC

We kick off summer with a look at finances and instructor pay. A commenter noted on our previous post that the latest issue of On Wisconsin quotes Sailing "Program Manager" Dave Elsmo boasting that HSC sells more than 300 memberships a year. Three hundred? The club used to have 800-1000 members in a typical year. Elsmo added that, "the number of students involved at any given time is much higher than that." Sure it is--the club is giving away well over a hundred FREE membership every year, but membership is still way down from a few years ago.

Worse, the club is still paying people to teach sailing, as if teaching sailing were a job.

HSC instructors shouldn't be paid because there's no need for it, and hiring should be based primarily on prior evaluations, which would help to weed out the cronyism and nepotism that infects HSC. To facilitate this, all students should be required to fill out evaluations after every lesson. All first-year instructors would be probationary and evaluated as the season goes along because they won't have any prior evaluations. Unfortunately, this will never happen because the "club" as envisioned by Jim Rogers and now Dave Elsmo is a jobs program for buddies of current employees, with no accountability.

The same article goes on to quote new instructor Ed LeBlanc as saying, "The worst thing you can do is take a swim." Was Ed raised in a bubble, or is he trying to insult swimmers? On hot days, we used to capsize our Techs just to go swimming! Harvey didn't like that, of course, nor lowering the main to do it, but in a light wind you can go swimming off a Tech and just hold on to the painter. The larger boats including the sloops and keelboats are excellent swimming platforms. The water is much cleaner out in the middle of the lake than by shore.

An article in last summer's issue of On Wisconsin noted that the sailing team manages to squeak by on just $65,000/year. Sixty five thousand dollars?! So that a few undergraduates can travel around the country racing dinghies for fun? This includes an annual spring break "training trip" to Florida. We've noticed before how big their budget is. It should be slashed immediately.

One wonders where the increasing instruction costs combined with decreasing membership and all those large, frivolous budget items will lead. If nothing else, they create an incentive to rip off customers*.

We didn't actually go and dig out the latest budget due to lingering hangovers, but I think the club could save another $50,000 by firing Dave Elsmo.

Next time, we'll look at Hoofers' ASA instructors and why the ASA program sucks.

*Customer: a paying "club" member.