MINUTES OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE OF THE NSOA HELD AT THE NAVAL CLUB, HILL STREET, LONDON, ON MONDAY 10TH NOVEMBER 2008 AT 1700 HRS
Present: David Wines - Chairman
Lou Bibby - Secretary
Andrew Porteous - Treasurer
Sally Everett - Membership Secretary
David West - Publicity Officer
Pete Richards - Editor of Squibble
Malcolm Blackburn - Chairman Technical Sub-committee
Mike Barsby - Chairman Marketing Sub-committee
Jill Fleming - Irish Forum
Max Evans - Chairman Championship Sub-committee
Peter Jackson
Peter Horton
David Pearce
Pete Marchant
Apologies: Tony Saltonstall, Gerard Dyson, Sean Clarkson, Steve Warren-Smith
The Chairman welcomed Pete Marchant, who had replaced Richard Hinsley as the Burnham NSOA representative, to the meeting.
Minutes of the last meeting held on Monday 12th May, 2008 at The Naval Club, London.
The Minutes were unanimously approved and duly signed by the Chairman.
Matters arising
Sail makers
Jill Fleming reported that the Irish Forum were currently content with the existing 3 sail makers.
Deck Mould
Tony Saltonstall reported that Parkers had commenced work on the new deck mould at a price not to exceed £5,000 plus VAT.
National Championship - Lowestoft 2008
The Chairman asked for it to be Minuted what an excellent event the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk YC had held, with many thanks to Jenny Riley and her team, and particular thanks to David West whose sponsorship was enormously beneficial.
40th Anniversary Regatta - Burnham
The Chairman asked for it to be Minuted that an excellent event had also been held this year under the flag of the Royal Corinthian YC. Thanks to Adrian Fluker and his team for running a superb birthday party regatta for the 40th birthday of the National Squib.
The Gull Trophy
The Committee expressed thanks to Jenny Riley for sourcing a new trophy for Third Place Overall at the Nationals - the Gull Trophy, and to Waveney and Oulton Broad SC for kindly donating the 1920’s silver trophy. Lou Bibby undertook to organise a silver band for the base of the trophy ready for engraving the prizewinner’s names.
Sub-committees
It was confirmed that, as agreed at the last meeting, details of the role and membership of the various sub-committees would be published in the December edition of Squibble - ideally with photographs of the respective Chairmen or their Squibs.
Action - Max Evans, Mike Barsby, Malcolm Blackburn and Pete Richards.
Car Stickers
Instructions on how to fix the new car sticker had been posted on the website.
Irish Forum
The Chairman thanked Jill Fleming for flying over to attend the Meeting and said how much her attendance was appreciated by the NSOA.
Jill reported that there is a problem in identifying whether competitors and helmsmen have paid their subscriptions and are current members of the NSOA.
In the discussion that followed it was pointed out that members currently enjoyed a period of grace, during which time they were still listed on the website to enable them to complete or update their membership details online. During this period they still received Squibble and the Handbook, despite the fact that their subscription was outstanding. Sally Everitt said that there could be a problem as the database may not have been updated for the month, however, she was always happy to be contacted by phone to provide the most up to date information. Sally said that she was working with Sean Clarkson on a new system for the database to highlight whether or not individuals had currently paid and when the final cut off period should be.
Pete Richards said event entry forms should make it clear that if an individual certified that they were a paid up member of the NSOA, and it was subsequently discovered this was not the case, they would be penalised by disqualification from the event.
It was agreed that it was important to place the onus on the Membership to pay the subscription and complete the necessary admin. rather than overloading our already overstretched volunteer workforce.
A suggestion was made that the NSOA committee should meet in Dublin in 2009 and Jill felt that it would be an ideal opportunity to meet all the other Irish representatives and Fleet Captains. In view of the fact the Championships were to be held in Dun Laoghaire in June 2010 - it was unanimously agreed to meet over the w/e 14/15 November 2009 at the Royal St. George YC.
Championship Sub-committee Report
Max Evans reported that the following forthcoming National Championship venues had been agreed:
2009 - Weymouth
2010 - Dun Laoghaire
2011 - Plymouth
Offers to host the 2012 event had been received from Royal North of Ireland YC - Belfast, Holyhead SC, and Royal Victoria YC - Isle of Wight. It was also understood that the Royal Dart YC might be interested. The Championship Sub-committee would make a recommendation to the General Committee in May so that it could be included in the Notice of AGM in June. Although no decision had been made it was unlikely that the venue would be Ireland as the Class would have travelled to Ireland in 2010. The aim is to spread the Championship around the Country to encourage Squib racing and ideally there should be a strong home fleet to help host the various popular social events. Max said it was important to split the locations between the North and South of the Country, provided that certain criteria laid down in the Nationals Blueprint could be satisfied.
Pete Marchant asked for it to be Minuted that Burnham would like to be considered as a National Championship venue in the future.
Kinsale would also like to be considered as a potential venue.
During discussions it was agreed that a Club that had previously hosted the Nationals only required a 3 year notice period to organise sponsorship etc whereas a Club that had not hosted a Nationals would ideally require a 4 year lead-in period.
The Chairman thanked Max for his report and said the Royal Dart YC, who would be hosting the South Coast Championships in September 2009, were viewing this as preparation for hosting a future National Championship.
Observance of the Rules
Discussion took place about the standard of Rule observance in the Class at major events such as the National Championship, and the Inland Championship. Based on incidents and observations at the 2008 Nationals at Lowestoft, and the 2008 Inlands at Rutland, there were concerns that some competitors were not observing the Rules, particularly during mark rounding.
Max Evans outlined proposals to help address the problem at Weymouth in 2009 by the provision of an on the water observer who would be afloat in one of the RIBS and clearly identified by flying a distinguishing flag.
Lengthy discussion followed on the value and exact role of providing such an observer. The role of such a person was a contentious issue. It was agreed, however, that there was a problem which needed to be addressed, but at this time not one which would justify the implications and considerable cost of engaging on the water umpires. It was also agreed that to help tackle the problem it was most important to encourage competitors to protest – something which the Committee felt there was a reluctance within the Class to do.
David West felt that the known presence of an experienced observer on the race course would assist the Mid fleet Club who sometimes felt bullied by some of the top boats.
Peter Jackson said that Weymouth SC had access to a suitably qualified person who could possibly fulfill the role. It was agreed the observer should be available to be called as a Witness, and for that reason the role could not be carried out by the same individual appointed as Chair of the Protest Committee. Ideally the observer should be equipped with a video camera so that video taken each day could be shown later that evening at the club.
It was agreed to provide up to £250 to cover the cost of providing an afloat observer at Weymouth. Max Evans and Peter Jackson would liaise to define the role and authority of the observer.
Action: Max Evans and Peter Jackson.
2009 National Championship - Weymouth
Peter Jackson said the Notice of Race was about to go on the website. Weymouth were suffering from a lack of sponsorship and therefore it was proposed in view of increased costs, including diesel costs and duty, to increase the Entry Fee from £160 to £180. Peter pointed out that there had not been an increase for 6 years, and that although they hoped to get an entry of 100 boats, with increased costs they required 80 boats to break even.
The Chairman said that it was unfortunate in the current economic climate that Weymouth were proposing an increase in the Entry Fee particularly given the excellent event which the RN&S YC had so successfully run at Lowestoft this year - despite having to cap entries at such a low number.
After further discussion Max Evans proposed that the increase be accepted, and this was seconded by Jill Fleming.
As per the Blueprint it was agreed that there would be a 10 minute signal before the first start of the day, but the starting sequence would remain as 5 minutes not 10 minutes.
Craning would commence on Friday 26th June at 9 am and continue on Saturday 27th June 9 am - 5 pm at Portland. There would be a competitors briefing at 7.30 pm on Saturday. The AGM would be held on Wednesday 1st July with the Midfleet Club AGM held on Thursday 2nd July.
It was confirmed that the final dinner on the Friday evening would be in one room with everyone served together in one sitting. The prize giving would take place after dinner upstairs in the Ballroom which was where the band, dancing etc would take place.
Malcolm Blackburn said the Daily Prizes needed to be listed in the NoR or the S.I.’s as per the Blueprint.
Rutland - Inlands 2008
The Chairman wished to Minute thanks to Mike Barsby and his team for an excellent and very exciting weekend at Rutland. Despite the fact entries were down from 58 to 48 the event was once again a great success. The dates for the next two years would be the 1st w/e in October.
Treasurer’s Report
Andrew Porteous circulated the latest balance sheet and reported that six months have passed since the last set of accounts. He pointed out that Sally Everitt had been doing an excellent job in chasing up and collecting subscriptions including nearly £1,000 of arrears.
Following the increased subscription rate approved at the AGM in June, and on the basis of 450 Members, Andrew reported that the likely income from subscriptions for the year ending 30 April 09 will be £11,250. Overall he predicted that in the year ending 30 April 09 there would be a surplus of income over expenditure of just over £1,500.
Noting that work had commenced on the new deck mould, and in view of the requirement to replace the hull mould in the near future, Andrew recommended keeping the reserve fund intact. He added that once it was known when the hull mould would need replacing, and the cost this would involve, there may be scope to revisit the budgets for the provision of services to the Membership, marketing/publicity etc. Malcolm Blackburn undertook to contact Parkers to discuss the timescale in which the hull mould would need replacement, and the estimated cost this would involve.
Action: Malcolm Blackburn
Membership Secretary’s Report
Sally Everitt reported that she had sent out letters requesting that Members amend their Standing Orders. As a result she had received 20 resignation letters mainly from non-Squib sailors who had forgotten they were still members of the NSOA.
It was agreed to flag up the change in SO’s in Squibble urging the membership to sort out the change rather than increase Sally’s workload. There was a form on the Website which could be downloaded if Members had lost their letter from Sally.
Sally was warmly thanked for the excellent job she is doing as Membership Secretary and the many hours of effort she has devoted to this very important job.
Marketing Sub-committee Report
Mike Barsby reported that Sean Clarkson had circulated a report of all the work he has been doing on the Website which was much appreciated by all the Membership.
David West, in charge of the advertising, had done an excellent job and had raised considerably the profile of the Squib during the 40th anniversary year. David West had circulated his report to the Committee with various recommendations regarding the advertising budget for 2009.
Dinghy Show - Mike said that Toby Taylor had offered to run the stand in March 2009. Tony Saltonstall had offered No. 11 which it was planned to display on a Derek Higgins trailer. It was hoped to display the boat at an angle to help the set of the sails and to reduce the requirement for steps/platform, however, this would be subject to meeting the current Health and Safety requirements laid down by Alexandra Palace. Lou Bibby, who was storing the old steps which can be resurrected if required, undertook to pass the Health and Safety information to Mike as soon as it was received.
Toby had proposed that Fleet Captains should be invited to attend the show so that the opportunity could be taken to discuss ways of marketing and promoting the Class. It was agreed that this was a good idea and that they should be invited to meet at the NSOA stand at 1300 hrs on Saturday 7th March so they could meet one another and members of the NSOA Committee. Lou undertook to book a meeting room so that if sufficient Fleet Captains attended there was somewhere suitable for a meeting/discussion to be held. Mike Barsby undertook to liaise with Toby Taylor over the organization and an agenda for the meeting.
It was pointed out that the NSOA Committee would meet at 1400 hrs on the same day, and any Fleet Captains or their nominated representative who wished to stay to attend would be welcome to do.
Peter Richards agreed to write an article in Squibble encouraging Members to come along and discuss ways to promote the Class and circulate the Brochures that needed to go out amongst the different Clubs and Fleets.
Action: Mike Barsby, Toby Taylor, and Pete Richards.
Squibble
Pete Richards reported that he had found a cheaper firm of printers in Bolton who would produce Squibble in full colour for considerably less than the current firm. It was unanimously approved for Pete to use the new firm. Once again Pete asked for good colour photos of Squibs and articles to fill the Magazine. The deadline would be 15th November for a pre-Christmas delivery.
Advertising Campaign
David West reported that Yachts and Yachting was now a monthly magazine and there was an option to re-run all 12 advertisements which had been shown over the past year in the forthcoming January edition.
He pointed out that although the value of advertising was unquantifiable in terms of new members it attracted to the Class, it was vitally important to maintain a presence in the yachting press. David pointed out that as part of the advertising campaign run in Yachts and Yachting good lines of communication had been developed with the magazine which had resulted in the publication of some excellent articles and good coverage for the Class.
After lengthy discussion it was reluctantly decided that the cost of re-running all 12 ads in the January edition of Y and Y could not be justified given the current Class financial situation which had resulted in the recent requirement to increase subscriptions. However, it was agreed to maintain the advertising budget for 2009 at a similar level to 2008, and that the excellent series of adverts which David had run in Y and Y during 2008 would be followed up by a new series focusing on “where Squibs are sailed”.
In further discussion on advertising and marketing it was agreed that it was important to show off the Squib and fly the flag.
It was resolved to formally adopt the excellent logo produced by Mike Barsby which appears on the front cover of Squibble as the official logo of the Squib Class. Mike Barsby agreed to produce a new letterhead incorporating this logo, and Pete Marchant undertook to investigate the provision of a large flag and a banner (at a cost not to exceed £100 each) to be flown and displayed at the host club during the National Championship, and at the Dinghy Show etc.
Action: Mike Barsby and Pete Marchant
Website
Sean Clarkson had produced an excellent report detailing all the work he had carried out to the database and work done on the website. As a result of a query raised by Jill Fleming about the necessity and advisability of buying up a number of domain names to protect them from use by others it was agreed that this subject would be revisited at the March meeting.
Technical Sub-committee Report
Malcolm Blackburn circulated his report - see attached.
Keel Measurements – The rules on the RYA website have now been changed to add the new measurements approved at the AGM.
Sailcloth Trial – the extensive trials of two jibs, one made of Polykote, and one made in Polypreg (the current cloth), had been completed. The recommendation of the Technical Sub-committee was that the Class should continue to use the current, higher specification, Polypreg cloth supplied by Contender and continue to monitor adherence to the specification by reviewing the results of Hyde testing and the manufacturers test data from each batch. The Committee unanimously approved the recommendation.
Buoyancy – following the sinking of a Squib during the Inland Championship at Rutland - it was recommended that Bryan Riley’s article on testing buoyancy tanks should be reprinted in Squibble. It was agreed that it was individuals responsibility to ensure that their tanks are maintained correctly and are airtight. If the tanks leak there is a real danger that the boat may sink in certain conditions.
Any Other Business
East Coast Championships will be held at Lowestoft - 8/9 June.
South Coast Championships will be held at Dartmouth - 12/13 September.
In view of the length of the meeting it was agreed to start the 11th May 2009 meeting, which will be held at The Naval Club, at 1600 hrs.
The next meeting will be at Alexandra Palace at 1400 hrs on Saturday 7 March 2009.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 20.50 hrs.
LCB - 25.11.08