The new JRA website has increasing the society's international appeal, and I know David has been trying to encourage members self-identifying their geographical region. The problem with the current structure is that away from the website, regional members have no connection to the society.  David's idea to identify members in North America, Europe, etc that someone in San Fransisco has no connection  to someone in Halifax: they are not going to the same rally.  Also, different regions will use different source suppliers for building and repair materials, as well as have their own regional preferences for design.

I'm a member of an organization here in Canada, the Canadian Power and Sail Squadron (CPS), that exists as a parent organization, with numerous chapters (called "squadrons") for each local region, with probably 100 or so regional squadrons in Canada.

I think a similar squadron model that might have some benefits for the JRA. 

Encouraging local squadrons would allow regional members a greater connection with the organization and encourage participation.  Each squadron could have a nominated and elected squadron commander (& a flagship?) who would be the JRA point person for that region and could organize the local rally and give a presentation, rigging demos or meetups at sailing clubs. A squadron could have it's own page or section of the website.  A squadron would encompass smaller sailing regions rather than a continent, like California Bay Area USA, Stavanger Norway, Halifax Canada, etc, gathering JRA members within a day or two sail radius.

I suppose local members can just organize their own rally and make an announcement on the website, but I think regional squadrons as local sub-societies would allow regional members to feel like greater participants in the JRA and allow the JRA to reach more people in a more personal way.  I'm not too sure how CPS does the sub-society thing on paper, at a minimum each could be a simple committee of the JRA.