CODA Bylaw amended at AGM, November 16, 2021. Annual Dues for CODA members has increased to $50 per annum.
CODA Bylaws as amended by special vote of CODA members June 2019
- The order of Business at the Annual General Meeting shall proceed as follows:
- Minutes of the previous general meeting
- Business arising from the minutes.
- Reports of the Officers.
- Reports of the Committees.
- Determination of location of the next CODA National Championships.
- Nomination of the Officers.
- Election of the Officers.
- New business.
- Adjournment.
- Membership dues shall be set at each Annual General Meeting.
Membership dues for the year shall be as follows:- Junior Membership – $50.00
- Sustaining Membership – $50.00
Membership dues are payable on January 1 annually and include boat registration and sail number changes.
- Fiscal Year.
The fiscal year shall be from the Calendar year ending December 31st.
- Secretariat.
The address of the secretariat shall be determined at the Annual General Meeting.
- Registry of Boats.
A registry of boats shall be maintained by the Registrar. It shall be available for viewing at all reasonable times. - Application for Membership.
Application for membership shall be made on a suitably prepared form submitted to the Registrar. - Regional Vice-Presidents (Representatives).
There shall be one Vice-President (Representative) from each region as member of the Executive Committee of the Association. Representation on the executive shall be by approval of the Annual General Meeting. Each Region represented shall have at least 5 members in good standing of the Association.
- The term of office for officers shall be two (2) years.
- No officer shall hold the same position for more than four (4) consecutive years.
- Three (3) officers of the executive shall constitute a quorum for an executive meeting.
- Notice of time, place and agenda of executive meetings shall be given to executive members ten (10) days in advance.
- The presence of ten (10) voting members of the Association shall constitute a quorum at a general meeting.
- For the purpose of calling a general meeting according to Art. 9 of the constitution, a quorum shall be 20% of the current membership. Between January 1 and March 31 of each year for the purposes of calling a general meeting, current membership is defined as the membership as of December 31 of the previous year.
- Notice of time, place and agenda of a general meeting shall be given twenty (20) days in advance. Email can be used, using the current membership registry.
- The Annual General Meeting should be held at the time and location of the Canadian Championship.
- In order to participate in any Provincial or Canadian Championship Regatta, sailors must be a member of CODA, or, if not residing in Canada, of another National Optimist Association.
- Organizers of CORK and the Canadian Optimist Dinghy Association (CODA) have agreed that CORK shall collect a levy of $3.00 per registered sail at the Optimist event to be forwarded to CODA.
- Mail-out ballots will be permitted for the purpose of changing CODA By-laws. A 2/3 vote will be required with a minimum of 20 percent of the membership.
- Selection of Sailors for Teams Attending World and Continental Championships
CODA is responsible for the selection of sailors to the teams (each an “International Team”) representing Canada at the IODA World and Continental (European, South American and North American) Championships (each an “IODA Event”). International Teams will be selected based on the results of one annual regatta, namely the Canadian Optimist Dinghy Championship (“CODC”) held in the season prior to the year in which the International Teams will attend the IODA Event.
a. To be eligible for selection to an International Team, sailors must meet the following eligibility requirements (“Eligibility Requirements”):
i. Be a member in good standing of CODA
ii. be 11 years of age or older at the time of the International event;
iii. have finished in the top 60% of the fleet at the CODC or in the event that Canada is the host nation of the North American Continental Championship, in the top 80% of the fleet at the CODC to be selected for that event;
iv. meet the eligibility criteria set by IODA from time-to-time; and
v. comply with the Residency Requirements defined below.*
*The term Residency Requirements means:
- Canada must be the sailor’s primary residence for no less than six months prior to the CODC used for the selection of International Teams; and
- Canada must continue to be the sailor’s primary residence from the time of that CODC until the IODA Event; and
- The sailor must intend to live in Canada for no less than six months following the IODA Event they are selected to attend.
Members who believe their personal situation warrants exception from the Eligibility Requirements, including the Residency Requirements, may file a written request (the “Exemption Request”) to the executive committee of CODA describing why they should be exempt from one or more of the Eligibility Requirements.
The Exemption Request may be submitted at any time prior to the CODC used to select teams attending IODA Events the following year, but must be received no later than September 15 in the year of that CODC. The CODA executive committee will create a review committee (the “Review Committee”) to assess the Exemption Request and make a final decision. This committee will be composed of members of the executive committee of CODA and one impartial third party. The Review Committee will have absolute discretion to approve or deny the Exemption Request based on the facts provided by the sailor and other information obtained by the Review Committee during their assessment. The Review Committee’s ruling will be final, without any right of appeal and will be provided to the applicant within four (4) weeks of receiving the Exemption Request and in any event no later than September 30th of the year of the CODC used to select teams for IODA Events in the following year.
Canadian citizenship is not an Eligibility Requirement however it is expected that sailors resident in Canada will be active CODA members as evidenced by their participation in club training programs in Canada, attendance at clinics sponsored by CODA and racing in local, regional, national and international regattas. The executive committee of CODA will have the final authority in determining whether or not a sailor meets the Residency Requirements.
b. Team members will be selected from those sailors that meet the Eligibility Requirements based on their order of finishing at the CODC subject to the number of spots allocated to Canada by IODA for each of these IODA Events and further subject to requirements set by IODA (e.g team gender requirements).
c. Exceptionally, the Executive Committee, directly or via the ITC may exercise its discretion to fulfill any International Team composition under the following conditions:
i. When the International Teams have not been filled based on 20(b); or
ii. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, for any exceptional reason judged valid by the Executive Committee and Selection Committee ( for example an injury preventing an eligible sailor to attend the CODC after being registered).
d. Any sailor selected to fill a spot under 20(c) must demonstrate that he/she has ranked in the top of half of other international events (including CORK or USODA qualifiers) in the year of the CODC.
e. For each International event, the Executive Committee or the Selection Committee will set commitment conditions to be met by each member of an International Team which may include but not be limited to acceptance deadlines, the amount of deposits and commitment to training prior to the IODA Event.
- Sailors competing in CODA sanctioned events shall compete either in the Championship Fleet or the Green fleet for novice sailors. Within the Championship Fleet, scoring shall be broken down into the following categories:
-Red fleet (for sailors that have reached the age of 13, 14 or 15 by the first day of scheduled racing at the event and who are not older than 15 years old as of December 31st of the year of the event);
-Blue fleet (for sailors that have reached the age of 11 by the first day of scheduled racing at the event and are younger than 13 years old as of the first day of the event);
-White fleet (for sailors that have not reached the age of 11 years old before the first day of scheduled racing at the event);
-Overall (all Red, Blue, and White sailors scored as one group)
Where possible, the Green fleet will race on a course which is separate from the Championship Fleet. Rules governing participation in the Green Fleet are promulgated by the Executive Committee and posted on the CODA website.
