MINUTES OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE OF THE NSOA HELD AT THE NAVAL CLUB, MAYFAIR, LONDON ON MONDAY 11TH MAY 2009 AT 16OO HOURS
Present: David Wines - Chairman
Lou Bibby - Secretary
Andrew Porteous - Treasurer
Peter Marchant
Mike Barsby
Malcolm Blackburn - Technical subcommittee
Max Evans - Championship subcommittee
Peter Jackson
Colin Norman
David Pearce
Peter Richards - Editor Squibble
Apologies: Gerard Dyson, Sean Clarkson, Jill Fleming, David West, Sally Everitt, Steve Warren Smith
The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for coming at the earlier time of 1600 hours.
Minutes of the last meeting held on Saturday 7th March 2009 at 2 pm at Alexandra Palace.
The Minutes were unanimously approved and duly signed by the Chairman
Matters Arising
Deck & Hull Mould
The deck mould has been made and paid for and a new Hull Mould has been ordered at a price not to exceed £5,700 including VAT. Work is expected to commence on the mould in May, but it was agreed that once completed the new mould would not be used until recommended by the Technical Sub-committee. The Chairman agreed to ask Tony Saltonstall to confirm progress on the new mould.
Action: Malcolm Blackburn, David Wines, and Tony Saltonstall.
Travellers’ Trophy
Following the proposal raised at the last meeting - Gerard Dyson and Pete Richards have worked very hard to produce a programme for a Travellers’ Trophy to be awarded for events held in England, Scotland and Wales. The aim of the new competition is to encourage Squibs to travel to events they might not normally attend.
It was agreed to introduce the Travellers’ Trophy with immediate effect.
Details of qualifying events and the rules would be posted on the website and in Squibble.
The Travellers’ Trophy would be awarded in October at the Inlands at Rutland, the last qualifying event, and Mike Barsby kindly agreed to collate the final results following this event to make this possible.
The Chairman thanked Gerard and Peter for their excellent work in getting the proposal off the ground, and it was unanimously agreed to approve the expenditure of £250 to cover the cost of a suitable trophy and the construction of a box for its safekeeping.
Action: Gerard Dyson, Pete Richards, and Mike Barsby.
Ownership of Moulds
All the moulds were now clearly marked as the property of the NSOA. Andrew Porteous said they were insured against fire in the sum of £15,000.
Keel Mould
It was agreed that the NSOA interest needed to be registered on the keel mould.
Action: David Wines
Buoyancy Aids
Malcolm Blackburn stated that he had looked into the matter of the current Class Rules regarding personal buoyancy. He was satisfied that the current rules were satisfactory but pointed out that individuals were always free to exceed the required level if they wished to do so. It was agreed that this was an important area that needed to be monitored and kept under regular review. The Chairman of the Technical Sub-committee noted this requirement.
Action: Malcolm Blackburn.
Disposal of Flares
As promulgated on the website, HM Coastguard will receive out of date flares for disposal.
Mould Fee - no 868
The Chairman reported that the moulding fee for Squib no. 868 had been received. He asked that a vote of thanks to Peter Marchant and Rob Coyle for their assistance in the matter be Minuted.
Irish Forum
Jill Fleming had requested that the 2010 National Championships in Dun Laoghaire be called the European Championships, to assist with securing sponsorship. A precedent had been set in Dundee in 1998 but it was believed that had not been approved by the NSOA, or any other authority.
In general discussion it was pointed out that the championship trophies all referred to the “National Championship”, however, notwithstanding this the Committee were supportive and sympathetic to the idea and potential advantages of in future naming the event “The National Squib European Championship.”
Malcolm Blackburn pointed out that he suspected strict rules controlled the ability to call the event a European Championship, and it was unanimously agreed that he should contact the RYA in order to get a definitive ruling which could be passed to Jill.
Action: Malcolm Blackburn
Hon Treasurer’s Report
Andrew Porteous circulated and explained the draft end of year accounts. Sally Everitt, who had unfortunately been unable to attend the meeting, had collected some £10,000 worth of subscriptions, but it had to be noted that a substantial number of members had either not yet paid at all, or had failed to pay the new subscription rate.
The latest membership figures were 474 full members and 123 associate members. It was noted that quite a few Irish members appeared to have not yet paid.
It was unanimously agreed that the Membership must take responsibility for paying their subscriptions, rather than place on Sally the burden of having to chase them. It was agreed to include a further reminder with the 2009 Handbook.
Action: Peter Richards, Sally Everitt
Marketing Sub-committee
Squibble:
Pete Richards reported that the printers were standing by to print the next edition with a view to getting it to members before the National Championships. Pete urgently required good quality photos particularly for the centre spread and front page of the magazine.
Dinghy Show
Sean Clarkson and Toby Taylor had produced an excellent report of the 2009 Dinghy Show. The Alexandra Palace Dinghy Show had provided an excellent opportunity to promote the National Squib Class, and to meet prospective owners. The assistance in manning the stand provided by the volunteers from the Weymouth Fleet in their smart matching shirts had worked particularly well, and it was hoped that another fleet might be persuaded to volunteer to provide similar support next year. The stand position had been very good – with lots of room around the boat, and the added advantage of being close to the bar!
In discussion it was agreed that backed up by the excellent advertising campaign which had been run in Yachts and Yachting, the Dinghy Show provided a superb means of showing off the boat and bringing it to the attention of potential owners across a wide spectrum of the sailing public.
It was unanimously agreed to have a Squib Stand at the 2010 Dinghy Show if the excellent team of Toby Taylor and Sean Clarkson, with Mike Barsby’s assistance, were happy to continue.
A budget of £1,000 incl. VAT was agreed, as was Sean’s recommendation to hire a projector to enable video and power point presentations.
Lou Bibby undertook to book the same stand position for 2010.
The Chairman asked for the NSOA’s grateful thanks to Toby and Margot Taylor, Sean Clarkson, Mike Barsby, Tony Saltonstall, and the many others involved in the 2009 Dinghy Show to be Minuted.
Action: Lou Bibby
Fleet Captains
It was agreed that the best place for Fleet Captains to meet would be at the Nationals rather than the Dinghy Show.
Pete Richards undertook to try and arrange a meeting of the Fleet Captains attending the Weymouth Nationals so that he could brief them on the requirements for event reports, interesting articles, and good quality photographs for Squibble.
Action: Pete Richards
Squib Website
Thanks once again to Sean Clarkson for an excellent report - annexed to the Minutes. Further thanks were in order for Will Bibby who had been assisting Sean in getting the database up and running on the website.
Advertising
In his absence it was unanimously agreed that the first class advertising campaign which David West had implemented in Yachts and Yachting was an excellent means of promoting the Class and should continue. In concert with the new all colour Squibble, the Yachts and Yachting advertising campaign was visual evidence of how the increased subscription rate was being used to improve the service to the Membership. In general discussion about the merits of advertising it was pointed out that although difficult to quantify, increased moulding fee receipts could be a reflection of the success and benefits of the recent advertising campaigns.
A suggestion was made to advertise in Yachting World - along the lines that “it doesn’t have to cost a fortune to own a keel boat”. It was pointed out that advertisements place ideas in peoples minds ready for when decisions are made.
It was agreed that the new advertsing budget to April 2010 should be £3,500 inc. VAT.
Mike Barsby reiterated the ongoing requirement for good quality action photos of Squibs racing for the next advertising campaign (and Squibble), Mike Barsby undertook to liaise with David West over the way ahead.
The Chairman asked for his thanks to David West for the excellent Yachts and Yachting advertising campaign, and all the time and energy he is spending with Yachts and Yachting and other areas of the yachting press to be Minuted.
Action: Mike Barsby, David West.
Advertising on Squibs
Malcolm Blackburn explained that it had come to light that Category A advertising code no longer existed and the new ISAF rules were the default position. Under the new ISAF rules areas for advertising include the bow of the boat, and the rest of the hull and sails can be a free for all.
The RYA have recommended that we put limitations in our class rules to ensure that any advertisements on the boat chosen by the owner are prohibited, which would effectively retain the status quo.
Following discussion, and on the recommendation of the Technical Sub-committee, it was unanimously agreed to amend the Class Rules to ensure that we retain the meaning of the current Class Rules.
Action: Malcolm Blackburn
Sailcloth
Malcolm Blackburn reported that ongoing monitoring showed that recent batches of sailcloth received from the manufacturer continued to meet the higher quality/specification which had been demanded. The situation would continue to be monitored.
Action: Malcolm Blackburn
Championship Sub-committee
Max Evans reported that Dartmouth had been confirmed as the venue for the 2012 National Championship.
The Royal Victoria YC were very keen to host 2013. A bid had also been received from the Royal North of Ireland YC. It was agreed that the Royal North would have to fully satisfy the requirements of the Championship Blueprint before the Class could consider returning. Lou Bibby reported that she had received a phone call from Peter Wallace advising that the jetty had been rebuilt and the facilities had been improved. SCYC was keen to host the event again in 2014, and Kinsale was considered to be a strong contender for 2015. Holyhead YC have also lodged their formal interest in hosting the next available National Championship. It was agreed that all bids should be submitted in the normal way to the Committee and the due process would be followed in selecting the next potential Championship venues.
National Championships - Weymouth 2009
The Sailing Instructions were being reviewed by Fran Blackburn. Entries were likely to exceed the magic 100.
It was agreed to publish items that will be scrutineered at the Nationals. It
was very important to have a level playing field at the Nationals. Boats must be presented for scrutineering complying in all respects with their Measurement Certificate – including, where applicable, properly fitted weight correctors in accordance with the weight shown on the Certificate.
It was further agreed that random checks, including weighing, would be conducted during the week.
Peter Jackson undertook to promulgate notice of scrutineering and weighing requirements on the Weymouth Championship website.
Action: Peter Jackson, Malcolm Blackburn
It was agreed in the future it would be good to offer an early bird discount for entrants.
Action: Jill Fleming
Notice of AGM 2009
The Agenda had been circulated and was unanimously approved.
The draft accounts were circulated ready for the AGM.
A change to the Class Constitution was circulated - to avoid the prohibitive cost of mailing the Membership with the Notice of AGM every year - it was agreed to post all such Notices on the NSOA website unless a Member took the positive steps to ask to be posted a hard copy of the Notice.
The Chairman said he would not be demanding a poll but would hopefully achieve the necessary ¾’s majority on a show of hands.
It was noted that both David Wines and Lou Bibby were due to stand down in 2010 having served 3 years and 7 years respectively.
Any Other Business
Mike Barsby reported that only 6 squibs were now required for the Special Olympics to be held at Rutland in 2010. He thanked all those who had offered their boats.
Next Meeting
It had been agreed last November that the next meeting in November 2009 would be held at the Royal St. George YC in Dun Laoghaire - a date (probably 14th November) and time to be arranged with Jill Fleming.
Action Lou Bibby/Jill Fleming
Meetings 2010
March - Alexandra Palace
May - The Naval Club
June - AGM - Royal St. George, Dun Laoghaire
November - The Naval Club
There being no further business the meeting closed at 1930 hours.