MINUTES OF THE GENERAL COMMITTEE OF THE NSOA HELD AT THE ROYAL ST GEORGE YACHT CLUB, DUN LAOGHAIRE
ON SATURDAY 14th NOVEMBER AT 1830
Present: David Wines – Chairman
Peter Richards – Editor Squibble
Malcolm Blackburn – Technical Sub-committee
Fran Blackburn – Championship Sub-committee
David West – Publicity
Derek Jago – Irish Forum
Ian Roberts – Royal.St George Yacht Club
Apologies: Lou Bibby, Andrew Porteous, Gerard Dyson, Sean Clarkson, Mike Barsby, Jill Fleming, Peter Jackson, Tony Saltonstall, David Pearce, Peter Marchant, Colin Norman, Steve Warren Smith, Max Evans, Peter Horton, and Dawn Russell. .
The Chairman thanked those who had battled the elements to attend, and extended a warm welcome to Derek Jago, Chairman of the Irish Forum who was attending as the Irish Rep, and Ian Roberts, the manager of the R St.G YC 2010 Squib Championship Committee. He also welcomed Fran Blackburn, the newly appointed chair of the Championship Sub-committee, who was duly unanimously co-opted to the Committee.
Minutes of the last meeting held on Monday 11th May 2009 at 1600 at The Naval Club
The Minutes were unanimously approved and duly signed by the Chairman.
Matters Arising
1. Travellers Trophy
The first running of the Travellers Trophy had been completed and the trophy awarded at Rutland during the Inland Championship.
2. Keel Mould
The Chairman reported that steps had been taken through Tony Saltonstall to register the NSOA interest on the keel mould.
3. Irish Forum
Derek Jago reported that he had taken over as the Chairman of the Irish Forum. Jill Fleming would continue to attend meetings as the Irish Forum Rep. The Chairman asked Derek Jago to pass on to Jill best wishes from the Committee and all NSOA members for a speedy recovering following the further recent back operation she had undergone.
4. Fleet Captains
It had not proved possible to hold a meeting of Fleet Captains during the Weymouth nationals, but it was agreed that the national championship probably provided the best opportunity to hold such a meeting, and the idea would be re-visited prior to the 2010 championship.
Minutes of the 2009 AGM held at Weymouth Sailing Club
The Minutes of the 2009 AGM had been posted on the website. The Chairman informed the meeting that further to the AGM Minutes he was delighted to report that Jenny Riley had agreed to succeed him as Chair NSOA, and after informing the Committee this had been announced at Rutland. He was also delighted to announce that Chris Stonehouse had agreed to succeed Lou Bibby as Hon Sec. Both appointments would take effect at the 2010 AGM.
2010 National Championship – R St G YC Dun Laoghaire
Ian Roberts gave a detailed brief on the planning and preparations for the 2010 National Championships, including an outline of the sailing and social programmes
He confirmed that details of ferry prices and deals would not be available until the New Year. A special room only rate of 95 euro per day had been agreed with the Royal Marine Hotel. Breakfast will be available at the Club. Discussion took place about the Entry Fee which had been set at 220 euro. Ian explained that this price reflected the current exchange rate. He indicated that he would be happy for people to enter and defer their payment in the expectation that the exchange rate would change in their favour. They had not yet secured a main Sponsor and were concentrating on securing sponsors for each day.
Discussions followed in which the Committee took the opportunity to cover a number of points. It was stressed that overall prizes needed to be engraved to reflect what they had been awarded for. Fran Blackburn explained that the engraving of daily prizes was not critical, other than event and year. Also that for 2010 the daily prizes have been amended to be the first 10% less 2, plus the first 2 silver and first two bronze with no cascading down the fleet. This formula to be reviewed for 2011. David West discussed and agreed who would be responsible for daily reports and the media. Finally a plea was made to ensure that shirts offered as part of special championship clothing were long enough to ensure that they stayed tucked in.
Ian agreed to write an article on the event for the forthcoming edition of Squibble.
The Chairman thanked Ian for his excellent briefing and said how much everyone was looking forward to the event.
Hon Treasurer’s Report
Andrew Porteous, had reported that the NSOA funds continued to be healthy, and there were no matters concerning the accounts to which he wished to draw to the attention of the Committee.
Hon. Membership Secretary’s Report
Sally Everitt’s report was circulated. It included lists of outstanding subs, including those who had not paid the correct amount. Most had been contacted and Sally was sending reports to appropriate fleet captains to seek their assistance in chasing up non-payers.
Action: Sally Everitt
Marketing Sub-committees Reports
Squibble – Pete Richards reported that the next edition of Squibble was in hand and would be sent to the printers with a view to getting it to members before Christmas.
Action: Pete Richards
Dinghy Show 2010 – The Chairman reported that a meeting had been held at Rutland with Toby Taylor, Mike Barsby, and Sean Clarkson to discuss plans for the 2010 Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace. Toby Taylor had once again kindly agreed to lead and take charge of the display. Mike Barsby was developing the budget, which had already been set and approved by the Committee. Sean Clarkson was in charge of the slide show/video arrangements which would be used. It was Lonton and Gray’s turn to provide sails for the display boat, which would be a new Squib (from the new Bruce Parker factory) fitted out and provided by Tony Saltonstall.
Lou Bibby had booked the same stand site as 2009.
Action: Toby Taylor, Mike Barsby, Sean Clarkson, Tony Saltonstall
Squib Website – Sean Clarkson had provided a report on work he had been carrying out on the website. In addition to general maintenance, adding results/reports/articles/pictures etc, he had made all the required changes to the membership related data pages so that they work correctly on the new server. All are now functioning in their original form- fleets/boats/committee etc Currently work was in hand on the member login area prior to bringing the membership system fully up and functioning again when a section would be added to highlight unpaid subscriptions. Sean also identified planned future work.
Action: Sean Clarkson
Advertising – David West circulated copies of the series of 7 ads which would be run in Yachts and Yachting. The first, featuring Dun Laoghaire and the Royal St George YC was in the December 2009 edition.
Technical Sub-committee Report
Squib Production - Malcolm Blackburn reported that Bruce Parker’s new factory was up and running and the first boat was due shortly. A further three Squibs were currently on order.
Hull Mould - Bruce Parker had reported that work was required on the hull plug, which was now about 9 yrs old. Tony Saltonstall had agreed to inspect the plug to ensure that the work was to the NSOA requirements and Malcolm briefed on the procedure which would be required to certify the new mould when it was completed.
Sail Measurements – Malcolm briefed on the RYA’s new sail label scheme and reported that the Technical Sub-committee believed the volume of Squib sails requiring measurement was too small to warrant adopting the scheme.
Certification – Following on from the Nationals where certificates and boats were checked to ensure the weight and correctors were as stated on the certificate, a further few boats were rectified at Rutland for errors and certificates re-issued. It is intended to continue the pressure on owners. Longer term it may become opportune to reduce scrutineering at events to “Post race” only. Malcolm reported that Dun Laoghaire might be an opportunity to add post race scrutineering as there were facilities to allow this. In discussion the Chairman pointed out that it would not be possible to do so at Plymouth, or he thought Dartmouth, without incurring considerable extra expense as neither venues had permanent on-site cranes which could be used for weighing.
Furling jib –use when racing – Malcolm reported that it had not yet been possible to take forward the planned examination and trials into the pros and cons of permitting the jib to be furled during racing. He also intended to write an article for Squibble on the subject.
Action: Malcolm Blackburn.
National Championship Sub-committee
Fran Blackburn reported on the Championship Sub-committee Meeting held at Rutland.
Boat weight and correctors – the Sub-committee identified the need to stop boats arriving without correctors and recommend, subject to the agreement of the Technical Sub-committee, that if a boat presented for weighing is not as per the certificate it should be sent to the back of the queue.
Crew Fees – the Sub-committee did not favour the proposal put forward at the AGM to raise a charge against crews, but recommended that they should be encouraged to join the NSOA as Associate Members.
The Committee unanimously agreed this recommendation.
Eligibility of Helms – Following an issue which had arisen at Weymouth the Sub-committee had agreed a change to the wording of the Notice of Race as follows – “The number of crew, their names and the one designated helmsman shall be declared at the time of registration”.
Bad Starting – the main problems had been identified as visibility of the ends of the line, and also biased lines. The Blueprint was being amended to reflect that yachts should be used for both ends of the line with flags at the top of their masts. Recommendations would also be included for mid-line buoys and square lines.
Minimum Wind Speed for Racing - the Blueprint will be amended to reflect that the minimum wind speed in which a race may be started is 5 knots.
Courses and Course Sizes – the new courses with a long first beat and more shorter rounds did not work in the light wind conditions at Weymouth. The Blueprint will be amended to include that in light winds the RO should be advised to increase the lap size and be prepared to shorten. This means bringing the leeward mark back closer to the start line not increasing the length of the first beat.
Daily Prizes – following issues raised at the AGM the Sub-committee believed the best solution was to ensure that prizes were split more evenly across Gold, Silver and Bronze fleets. The Blueprint was also being amended to recommend that a daily raffle be held at the daily prizegiving to spread the sponsor’s goodies evenly through the fleet.
Action: Fran Blackburn
Future Championship Venues
Brief discussion took place on the selection of the Championship venue for 2013. RVYC, Holyhead SC, and SCYC were all understood to be interested in hosting the event. It was agreed to hold fuller discussions at the March and May 2010 meetings.
RNIYC had made a bid to host the event in 2015 . It was agreed that in future the Irish Forum would be responsible for recommending the venue to the NSOA when Ireland hosted the event.
Irish Forum
Derek Jago said he was delighted to be attending the meeting and standing in for Jill Fleming as the Irish Forum Rep. There were no matters which he wished to raise.
The Chairman thanked him for all his help in making arrangements for the meeting to be held at the R St G Y C and for the help that he provided with transport for some of the Committee.
A.O.B
No items were raised.
Next Meeting
The next meeting will be held at Alexandra Palace on Saturday 6 March 10 at 1400 hrs.
Future Meetings
The Naval Club, Mayfair, London - Monday 10 May 10 at 1600 hrs.
The Naval Club, Mayfair, London – Monday 15 Nov 10 at 1600 hrs.
There being no further business the meeting closed at 2030.