Present:       Pete Marchant - Chairman

                   Lou Bibby - Hon Secretary

                   Sally Everett - Hon. Membership Secretary

                   Malcolm Blackburn - Chairman Technical Sub-committee

                   Max Evans - Chairman Championships Sub-committee

                   Pete Richards - Editor of Squibble

                   David Wines

                   Fran Blackburn - Championships Sub-committee

Apologies:  Tony Saltonstall, John Good, Richard Hinsley, Chris Pope, David Pearce, Peter Horton, Andrew Porteous, Gillian Guinness, Fred Campbell, Steve Warren Smith, Sandy Bremner, Mike Barsby, Colin Norman, Ted Tolliday, Robert Marzetti.

Minutes of the last Meeting held on 13th November, 2006

The Minutes were approved and duly signed by the Chairman.

Matters Arising

Registering the Squib Name Internationally - Malcolm had spoken to the RYA (Andrew Leeks) who was of the opinion the name was protected by virtue of the copyright being held by the RYA. Andrew to confirm this with the RYA’s legal department. Malcolm to chase up for definitive answer.

Booms - There were 23 illegal booms in existence.  All had been notified & were in the process of being registered with the RYA as previously agreed.

Masts - Malcolm reported there is a problem with the Superspar masts in terms of weight and centre of Gravity. Further tests would be conducted on the Superspars Masts.

[Since the Meeting further tests have been completed and it is clear that by adding a 2kg piece of tube starting about 1metre above the foot of the mast the Superspar mast will comply with the rules. This is very similar to the spec originally used. The technical sub committee are working with Superspar to ensure future supplies measure and make parts available for any non-compliant masts in use. The current opinion is that they will all need weight added to correct the weight & low centre of gravity. There are about 15 new masts in circulation that definitely will need rectification and possibly some of the earlier masts needed checking.  SCYC scrutineers will be checking masts at the Nationals.]

It was agreed the problem needed sorting asap as not only was it against the strict one design rules but also it prejudices any rival commercial mast builders.

It was agreed to ask the Technical sub-committee to conduct further research & make their recommendations to the General Committee ready to be voted on at the May Meeting.

An article had been written on this point for the May Squibble and it was only fair to remind Members/competitors that it is their responsibility to ensure their boat measures and conforms to the one design rules.

Hon Treasurer’s Report

Andrew Porteous had emailed the committee with a financial update - in summary:-

The bank mandate had finally been sorted & Andrew was now a signatory.

Cash at the bank - £15,500 (after the main post subscription rush).

Expenditure so far - £1,000 new website design, £1,000 - sailboat exhibition & £1,700 - 2007 Squib Handbook.

Advertising revenue was due for 2007 Squibbles & Handbook & possibly more income from mould fees.

In conclusion - normal income/expenditure for this time of year.

Hon Membership Secretary's Report

Sally Everitt was welcomed to the Meeting.  She reported that having spent some considerable time she was now up to date with the database & subscriptions.  There were 344 paid up full members - some 160 were missing due to the problem of paying in Euro's.  Sally asked if a fixed Euro rate could be approved for the Irish which would enable them to pay by standing order thus greatly facilitating Sally's job.  It was unanimously agreed whatever it takes to make it easier for the Irish to remain members of the NSOA. The rates were agreed: full member  22.50 euros & associate membership - 15 euros.  Sally had spoken to quite a few Irish Fleet reps & will now go ahead & send out a separate form to the Irish to set up their Standing Orders for the NSOA Euro account.

Sally said she had sent out the 2007 membership stickers & the database would be ready for sending out the 2007 Squib Handbook over the Easter Holidays.

Marketing Sub-committee's Report

Pete Richards reported that this subcommittee hadn't met/corresponded recently but he could report that:-

Squibble (no 115) had gone out on time before Christmas to an enthusiastic reception.  The deadline for the May Squibble was late April - as always Pete is desperate for good copy & photographs for the magazine.  At the moment the only reports likely to be received were SCYC Easter Open Meeting & the W&OBSC Winter Series.  The early copy deadline was due to the Notice of AGM being included in the Squibble mailshot - Pete said it would make his job as Editor easier not to have to worry about the Notice of AGM deadline (28 days clear notice before the AGM).  There was lengthy discussion about publishing the Notice of AGM on the website but it was felt an Association rule change would be required for this - it was agreed to amend the rules accordingly so in future the Notice of AGM would be on the website & Class Captains could download it for Class noticeboards for those without internet access.

Dinghy Show

Thanks were minuted to Peter & David White who had set up the NSOA stand this year.  Pete's 40 year old Squib 38 looked immaculate & it was good to see the new sailmaker Lonton & Gray's sails on display.  It was agreed it is impossible to quantify the benefit of attending the Dinghy Show but having a small keel boat there does provide a visible presence for the NSOA & offers a serious alternative to the myriad of dinghies on offer.  This perennial issue will be reviewed at the May NSOA meeting and no doubt will be raised at the AGM.

Advertising

To be discussed at the May Meeting - however, it was felt it would be more beneficial to try and persuade a Yachts & Yachting Reporter to attend the SCYC Nationals & hopefully obtain some decent editorial rather than running a series of advertisements.  Furthermore, in 2008, the Squib's 40th Birthday would be a good opportunity to try & get further editorial cover.

Website

The new look NSOA website was now on line & despite some early teething problems was now running smoothly.  Gerard Dyson was in charge of posting items/checking the Forum etc - Pete would ask him to write an article for Squibble on "how to use the website".  Gerard was also enabled to remove any offensive content from the Forum.

Pete Richards would endeavour to organise a meeting with Mike Barsby & Dave West re: publicity & marketing.

Technical Sub-committee

Malcolm Blackburn reported that the RYA were now appointing & paying for someone to assist us in the re-write of the Squib rules in ISAF format.  David Chivers was due to start on the Squib rules once he had completed the Etchell class rules.

Sailcloth

Malcolm reported that the sailmakers had been looking at ways of making the sails last longer thus addressing members’ concerns.  Malcolm explained the difference between soft & hard finish cloth - the problem with a hard finish is that the brown sailcloth looks distressed very quickly. Dick Batt has offered to make a jib impregnated with the hard resin & will ask a fleet to use both the trial jib & a new soft jib at the same time & see how they last/perform during a season.  Malcolm will write an article for Squibble & the website so Members were made aware that this issue was being investigated.  At present, greater quality controls were being implemented on the current sailcloth which coincidentally is better than it has ever been.

National Championship Sub-Committee's Report

Max reported that future National venues were agreed until 2009 & he had written to all prospective host clubs for 2010 & also to some new Yacht clubs who were keen to host the National Champs. Royal Dartmouth unfortunately were not in a position to host the event due to problems with launching & then storage of boat trailers.  They hoped to host a Southern Championships first & would then review the situation.  The Royal St. George YC & Kinsale YC were keen to host 2010 - Max was awaiting a further reply from Kinsale & the subcommittee would hope to make a recommendation to the main committee in May.

8 race format - Max reported further to his article on the website that Gerard Dyson had written to the Hon. Sec. asking for the subject to be formally discussed at the March NSOA meeting.  The Championship sub-committee had discussed the subject fully & were happy to experiment at SCYC because it is an ideal venue due to the race area being so close to the moorings. This would then have been discussed at the  NSOA AGM on the Wednesday of the SCYC Nationals.  It was agreed there had been strong views on the website about changing the existing format but due to the lack of committee members at this Meeting, it was decided to postpone the vote until May. In the meantime, Max would write to all Committee Members to try and obtain a definitive answer & then make a recommendation to the Main Committee at the May meeting.  If no satisfactory response is received then it was agreed to stick with the 2 races on two of the days as per the SCYC Notice of Race.

SCYC Nationals - Progress Report

Notice of Race was on the website - the marquee had been booked so there was no limit on numbers for the Friday night prizegiving dinner/dance.  There would definitely be gold/silver/bronze fleets with prizes for each fleet.

Irish Forum

At the moment there was nothing to report but it was agreed to ask Fred Campbell for a brief report if no one was able to attend the Meeting.

Any Other Business:-

Publication of Minutes on the Website

It was unanimously agreed once the Chairman had approved the Minutes they should be published on the NSOA website.

40th Birthday Anniversary Regatta - June 2008

Adrian Fluker had posted Notices on the website - however, because it is not an NSOA event it was not an Agenda item. 

Date of next Meeting

14th May 2007 - Royal Thames Yacht Club at 5 pm.