Bart, who is this Navy guy who is now a CP
instructor? Cmdr. Vandenberg is the Director of
the NA's sailing program, and he isn't a CP
instructor. In fact, I don't see anyone in the
list that is associated with the NA.
I don't know about the keelboat side, but in the
small boat training side, there are many
opportunities for the instructors and host site to
be critiqued.
S.

"Bart Senior" .@. wrote in message
...
: "NotPony" wrote
:
: Bart,
: What's your gripe with US SAILING? Sounds
like a
: personal issue.
:
: You have made the correct assumption Steve.
:
: There are lots of reasons I don't like US
Sailing. My blood
: boils when I think about it. They should change
their name
: to bogUS Sailing.
:
: The main issue is a grievance I made to them a
number of
: years ago. US Sailing would not address my
complaint, give
: me a hearing on the matter, schedule a meeting
on the subject,
: or give me the refund I demanded.
:
: They never put anything in writing. If you
check bogUS Sailing's
: By-Laws, there is NO process for instructors to
file grievances.
: It is the singular exception in the grievance
process.
:
: Foolish me! I never thought their management
would want to
: stifle the whole thing. Being a military man, I
did not adapt
: well to civilian life at first. I had come to
expect much better,
: a standard of excellence. I should have taken
more aggressive
: action immediately, but I honestly expected
better of them.
:
: Perhaps at first, bogUS Sailing simply didn't
know how to handle
: my complaint. Later it was probably easier to
ignore me and
: hope I'd go away. Certainly their were forces
within US Sailing
: that wanted to bury the incident and protect
some of the people
: involved.
:
: Here is a brief summary of what happened and how
it started.
:
: I was taking a Coastal Passage Making ( CP)
Instructor
: Certification Course. This would simply allow
me to sign the log
: books of the students I was teaching in this
subject.
:
: During this course, I was harassed, put down,
pushed off balance,
: non-stop for a week simply because I stood up
for my rights on
: the first day. They were unable to bully me
and I think that ****ed
: the lead Instructor Trainer (IT) more than
anything.
:
: It was a clear cut case of bias, and blind
stupidity. One "student"
: happened to be the Naval Academy's Sailing
Program Director.
: He was taking the same course I was taking. From
my perspective
: though, he was another CP Instructor Candidate.
:
: Here is what was going on behind the scenes.
:
: US Sailing wanted to gain credibility. If the
Naval Academy joined
: their training program it would be a big boost
for them. So they
: greased it for this fellow--he was pre-selected
to become an IT, and
: the two ITs running the course, kissed his ass,
made it easy for him,
: didn't evaluate him, and offered him cigars.
Meanwhile I was badgered
: and humiliated, constantly put off balance,
after I simply demanded
: fair and equal rights.
:
: He didn't want or ask for special treatment, yet
he received special
: treatment. I wanted to be treated fairly and
was blasted like a
: target in a shooting gallery and not treated
fairly.
:
: It started with a simple lottery for selecting
berths on the yacht,
: and I was punished for drawing the best
remaining berth.
:
: The IT announced he was taking the best cabin
and told us to
: decide amongst ourselves how to divide up the
other berths.
: We gave the one woman aboard the V-berth, and
the rest of the
: group decided to use a lottery format. I was
lucky and drew the
: aft port cabin. The Navy guy got the
comfortable dinette berth
: and the last guy drew the uncomfortable berth.
:
: After making a big deal about letting us chose
our own methods
: of assigning bunks, the lead IT now told me I
should cede my bunk
: to the Navy guy--even though he had announced
loudly that he was
: perfectly happy with the dinette berth he drew.
I declined the
: suggestion. We drew lots--the matter was closed
as far as I was
: concerned.
:
: Next I was taken aside privately in the
clubhouse, this time by both
: IT's. They sat me down in a tiny room isolated
from the others.
: This time the second instructor started
pressuring me to cede my
: bunk to the Navy guy. I pointed out we were
both students. He
: agreed. I stated I had equal right to the
cabin, drew it in a fair
: lottery. He stated I could make that point. He
still said I should
: give up my cabin but did not give me any valid
reason to do so.
:
: I refused to give it up. I fault myself for not
going on the offense
: at this point. Frankly I was confused about why
they made an issue
: of it. We followed the lead IT's suggestion to
chose our own
: method. It worked for us, so why did they care?
It made no sense
: to me, put me off balance, and was the beginning
of my confusion
: over the whole event.
:
: Can you believe this sort of nonsense would
happen? I laugh when
: I think about it. You just can't make this
stuff up!
:
: The Lead IT was English. You know how the
English love their
: royalty. I think he viewed the Navy guy, who
was an O-6
: (Navy rank of Captain in the Reserves) as
royalty. That was
: exactly they way he was treated--like royalty.
:
: Starting from that point the lead IT had it in
for me. He made the
: course into a daily hell for me. Any task I was
assigned included
: harassment, distraction, disruption, and rude
patronizing comments.
: How could I focus on the tasks at hand when I
was constantly
: fighting down the urge to push the guy
overboard? I'm an easy
: going guy. To set me off it takes a lot, and I
was constantly being
: push to the edge of my tolerance.
:
: It seemed clear to me from the start the lead IT
meant to flunk me
: one way or another. His strategy worked. He
did put me off and
: my performance suffered. Right off the bat, I
blew two backed in
: docking approaches when he made sudden
distracting motions at
: the most critical instant of the maneuver. The
slips were a little
: tight--no sweat going in forward, but a narrow
alleyway, and a
: wide transom meant it had to be perfect to make
it in.
:
: When I fought back, he piled on me harder. I
spent much of my
: time thinking about where the next shot would
come, rather than
: the task at hand.
:
: I could go on and on with you tons of examples.
I was dinged
: for not motoring down the exact center of max
ebb of the Golden
: Gate while the other boat sailed within a
biscuit toss of the rocks on
: the south side. Another time I brought the boat
into the dock as
: perfectly as it could possibly be done. It was
a beautiful thing. So
: what happened? I was dinged for shutting down
the engine before
: my three hands on the dock, holding me in
position had cleated us
: off. Talk about overkill. Three dock lines and
the boat was stationary!
: There was no forward motion, no current, and no
wind. Where was
: this coming from? A book? I felt sure this guy
have never docked
: under sail as it is not a big deal. I've sailed
larger boats into slips in
: such light conditions.
:
: It was do this, do that, how come you haven't
done this, while the
: other guy had no pressure, a crew to help him,
and GPS navigation
: I was kept off balance constantly. The bottom
line is I was set up
: to flunk. And that is what they did to me.
:
: The fellow who was head of the Naval Academy's
sailing program
: became an IT shortly after he completed the
course. He later
: changed my status to passing. That was nice of
him, however, as
: I thought about it, it ****ed me off further! I
guess US Sailing
: thought I'd be satisfied. No. The root problem
remained and was
: never addressed.
:
: I have seen all sorts of things like this happen
in other IT clinics.
: I have little respect for the US Sailing IT's
because they have no
: quality control function to check
unprofessional, or incorrect
: behavior of the IT's. Without a feedback
process that eliminates
: and culls, rude, poor performing, or unfair
IT's, the training program
: will remain mediocre at best.
:
: US Sailing's Training Program is run by a few
sailing schools, who
: put their own people in positions of power and
together they control
: the training program for their own financial
benefit and to satisfy their
: own egos and agendas. Some IT's are protected
by virtue of the
: relationships they hold with the sailing
schools. People so entrenched
: cannot be dislodged. The cure is to turn them
over and create a
: standards based process with performance
feedback and the real
: possibility that an IT will be removed and
replaced with someone
: better and more qualified.
:
: What is left for me to do regarding bogUS
Sailing? I'm thinking
: about writing some editorials. US Sailing does
not deserve our
: support. They do not deserve the
quasi-governmental position
: they have, and they do not deserve being granted
an unfair
: competitive advantage over the American Sailing
Association.
:
: I have been looking for an independent film
topic and it suddenly
: occurred to me, my story would make a great
topic for a film.
:
: The film "Open Water" cost only $120,000 to make
and grossed
: $52 million. Panasonic makes a nice HD video
camera for
: about $10k. I think my story would be a winner.
Most people don't
: understand sailing, but they do understand,
assholes with power,
: bias, harassment, and conflict.
:
: There is a lot more to my story. It would make
a great screenplay--
: easy to shoot, small cast, one or two boats and
few props. The
: stupid close-minded Englishman would make a
great character study
: that you would love to hate.
:
: What would be a good title for the movie? My
idea for a title is
: "Contempt" or maybe "Five Sailors, One Asshole,
and a Cover-Up".
:
:
:
:
:
: