January 2005

1. NAME

1.1  The name of the Club is the Open Dinghy Club and the burgee of the Club shall be a triangular pennant, red with a gold chevron, bearing the letters O.D.C in dark blue.

2. OBJECTIVES

2.1. The objectives of the Open Dinghy Club are to promote and facilitate the sport of sailing by providing facilities for recreational sailing, occasional organised racing and associated social activities.

3. MEMBERSHIP

3.1 Any person, whether or not the owner of a dinghy or catamaran, who is keen and interested in the recreation of sailing is eligible as a candidate for membership.
3.2. Every candidate for membership shall be nominated by one full member and seconded by another full member, and his or her name and address and any other particulars the committee may require shall be sent to the Membership Secretary.
.3.3. Members and Honorary members may be elected at any meeting of the Committee. Candidates may be interviewed by the committee and elected by ballot, the result of the ballot being notified to the candidate by letter. This procedure shall not apply to change of membership category (e.g. Associate to Full member etc.)
3.4. The Club may in general meeting elect honorary members.

4. MEMBERSHIP CATEGORIES

4.1. Full Membership – An adult member who wishes to sail and associated family (the full member’s partner and any members of the full member's immediate family aged 17 years or under).
4.2. Associate Membership - A member who wishes to sail, is between 18 and 25 years of age and in full time education.
4.3. Social Membership - A member (and his/her family) who wishes to maintain contact with the ODC but does not wish to sail.
4.4. Honorary Membership – Membership granted as a gift by the Club.

5. DISCIPLINARY ACTION

5.1. Every member on joining the Club undertakes to comply with the rules of the Club, and any wilful refusal to do so, or any conduct which in the opinion of the Committee is unworthy of a member or otherwise injurious to the interest of the Club, shall render a member liable to expulsion by the Committee.
5.2. Before expelling a member the Committee shall give him an opportunity of explaining and defending his conduct or resigning his membership. In defending himself he may be accompanied and assisted by a friend. The vote on a resolution for expulsion shall be by ballot and shall only be carried if not less than three-quarters of the members of the Committee present vote in favour of the resolution.

5.3. Should the member not accept the decision of the Committee he may be request that a General Meeting of the Club be convened to consider the matter, a decision being reached by secret ballot. The decision of this meeting shall be final.

6. ENTRANCE FEE AND SUBSCRIPTIONS

6.1. The entrance fee shall be determined at each Annual General Meeting upon recommendation by the Committee.
6.2. The annual subscription in respect of each category of membership shall be as agreed at the Annual General Meeting, and shall be payable on election to membership or, for those renewing membership, within 1 month of renewal notices being issued (this will be done by post shortly after the AGM).
6.3. Members who do not pay within the allocated month will be sent a written reminder by recorded delivery post and a £5 supplementary charge will be made to cover this cost and inconvenience.
6.4.Any Member who does not renew within two weeks of receipt of the written reminder will be considered to have left the ODC, and will be considered a non-member with the following consequences:

• If he still has a boat in the compound it will be removed to the field (such a move will be undertaken with due care but the ODC will not accept any responsibility for the safety and security of the boat). Once in the field the boat will be subject to parking charges at the discretion of the kiosk owner. If it is not removed by Compound Cleaning weekend (usually in mid March) it may be disposed of at the discretion of the ODC Committee.
• If he had a caravan pitch it will be forfeit and reallocated to the next on the waiting list.

6.5. Members who offend as detailed in the above paragraph may rejoin the club as new members with the committee’s approval, paying the current joining fee and waiting for a boat space and/or caravan space allocation in the normal way.
6.6. No member shall exercise any rights or privileges of membership until his full subscriptions have been paid.
6.7. A member elected after the 1st October who pays his subscription for that year in full, shall not be required to pay a subscription for the following year
6.8. A member aged between 18 - 25 years and in full time education will be considered to be an Associate member and shall pay a reduced membership fee.

7. OFFICERS

7.1. The officers of the Club shall consist of a Commodore, Vice-Commodore, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, Compound Officer and Social Secretary, and other such officers as the Committee shall deem necessary.  The Officers shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting and shall hold office until the next Annual General Meeting. A retiring officer shall be eligible for re-election to his office if he has served not more that two consecutive years in that office.  He may, however, be nominated for any other office as in 7.2 below.
7.2. No candidate for election to any office (other than the retiring officers) shall be proposed unless his name and that of his proposer shall have been received by the honorary Secretary 14 days before the Annual General Meeting.
7.3 In the event of insufficient candidates being proposed the two-year rule (as in 7.1 above) may be waived.

8. COMMITTEE

8.1. The committee shall consist of the officers and not more that 6 members of the Club elected at the Annual General Meeting to hold office until the following meeting.
8.2. Candidates for election to the committee shall be those members of the committee who shall offer themselves for re-election and who have served on the committee for not more that two consecutive years; and such other members whose nominations proposed and seconded, shall have been received by the Honorary Secretary 14 days before the Annual General Meeting.
8.3. If the number of candidates exceeds the number of vacancies to be filled, the election shall be by ballot at the Annual General Meeting.
8.4 If a casual vacancy occurs, the Committee may co-opt a member to fill the vacancy until the next Annual General Meeting.
8.5. In the event of insufficient candidates being proposed the two-year rule (as in 8.2 above) may be waived.
8.6. The Committee shall be accountable for the management of the affairs of the Club according to the rules, and shall apply the funds to the objectives of the Club.
8.7. The Committee shall make such byelaws, rules and regulations as they think fit to ensure the effective management of the Club and its premises.
8.8. It shall be the responsibility of the Honorary Treasurer to keep a complete and accurate account of the Club's finances.
8.9. At committee meetings a quorum shall be five members.

9. PRESIDENT AND VICE-PRESIDENT

9.1. A person who has a particular interest in the Club and its activities shall be invited to act as the President.
9.2. The office of Vice-President may be awarded in general meeting to a member who has made a special contribution to the Club.

10. HONORARY AUDITORS

10.1. Two members shall be appointed by the committee each year to audit the accounts of the Club.

11. VIEWS OF YOUNG MEMBERS

11.1. The Committee shall take whatever action is necessary to ensure that the views of young members are considered in the management of the Club.

12. GENERAL MEETINGS

12.1. An Annual General Meeting shall be held on a date between January 1st and March 1st, to be decided by the Committee.  The Honorary Secretary shall give each member at least 28 days notice of the meeting and of the business to be dealt with.
12.2. Items additional to the agenda may be brought up under any other business, provided that notice is given to the honorary Secretary 14 days before the meeting.
12.3. The Committee may, on giving as much notice as the circumstances permit, call a general meeting of the Club for any specific business, the nature of which shall be stated in the summons convening the meeting. Discussion at that meeting shall be confined to that business only.
12.4.The Committee shall call a general meeting within 28 days on the written request of 12 members.
12.5. At a general meeting a quorum shall be 25 full members.
12.6. At a general meeting each member over the age of 18 shall have one vote. In the case of an equality of votes the Commodore or Chairman of the meeting shall have a second or casting vote, which shall be cast to maintain the status quo.

13. BOATS AND BOAT SPACES

13.1. Vacant boat spaces are allotted at the discretion of the Committee and priority will be given to those members who most frequently sail their craft and utilise the Club's facilities.  Boat spaces already allotted are to be reviewed annually.  If, in the opinion of a majority of the Committee a boat space is not being used in accordance with the Club's main objective, the recreation of sailing, the space may be forfeited. Before authorising such forfeiture, the Committee shall give the member an opportunity to explain why his boat has not been used.  If the Committee decides to uphold the forfeiture, a period of at least 21 days shall be allowed to the member for the removal of the boat.
13.2. Boat spaces that become vacant will be reallocated in accordance with the principles above, making due allowance for the owners position in the waiting list. The waiting list will hold details of all members’ requests for spaces (including the date of each application). No non-member will be allowed to request a space.
13.3. All boats must be kept in a seaworthy condition with sound buoyancy tanks or bags.
13.4. ALL boats, including second boats kept in the same space as a bigger boat, must be identifiable by the boat sticker issued for the season. This must be affixed to the boat in a position where it can be readily seen when the boat is secured and covered in the compound.
13.5. All boats must be insured and must carry 3rd party cover of at least £500,000.
13.6. Boats kept in the compound must be securely tied down and must be kept within the boundary of the allocated space. Any boat that violates this requirement may be moved at the Compound Officer’s discretion. If the owner and correct space for the boat can not be identified (by a boat sticker) it may be moved to the Car Park. In this case fees for occupying a parking space may become due to the Kiosk Manager.
13.7. In order to maximise use of all available space in the compound, the Compound Officer has discretion to move boats and, if necessary, allocate a new space to any boat within the compound.  The owner of the boat will be informed and should be present if possible. However, if the boat is not displaying an identifying sticker this will not be possible.

14. CARAVAN SPACES

14.1. The waiting list for caravan spaces is open to members and non-members. When a space becomes vacant allocation will be made by the committee from the list, taking into account the aims of the club in the furtherance of recreational sailing. Priority will be give to those who are active sailors.

15. SAFETY

15.1. Safety is of paramount importance and must be a prime consideration in all Club activities. All members should be aware of dangers afloat and ashore (particularly in the shallows where boats are being launched and recovered) and should take action to reduce any perceived risk.
15.2. All full members shall be required to assist on a rotation basis in manning the safety boat, and shall be governed by instructions issued by the Safety Officer.
15.3. All members must ensure that they and all crew wear life jackets or buoyancy aids when afloat.
15.4. It is strongly advised that all boats carry an anchor with at least 100 ft of warp, a compass and a knife (and flares if sailing out of sight of the safety crew).
15.5. Members should assist the Safety Officer, safety crew of the day, and Committee, co-operating with any reasonable request that may ensure the safety of the Club or any of its members.

16. PROTECTION OF CHILDREN

16.1. As the ODC is a family club the safety and protection of children on the premises is generally the responsibility of their parents, guardians or other another adult given this responsibility by the parent or guardian.
16.2. If any event is organised by the club for children and it is likely that parental supervision will not be available for he duration of the event the organisers are to ensure that they understand and make provision for the protection and safety of the children. The Leisure Services of Arun District Council can give guidance on this issue.

17. REMOVAL OF PROPERTY

17.1. A “borrowed” split pin or shackle may be all you need to get your boat sailing but the removal of parts from boats in the compound can make them dangerous and un-seaworthy. The removal of any item from another member’s boat without their explicit consent will be considered a disciplinary offence punishable by expulsion.

18. NEW RULES, AMENDMENTS AND ALTERATIONS

18.1. Notice of any alteration or addition to the rules intended to be proposed by a member shall be given to the Honorary Secretary in writing 28 days before the Annual General Meeting at which it is to be brought forward.  Full particulars of the proposed alterations or additions shall be set out in the notice convening the meeting.
18.2. All proposed alterations and additions and any amendments to them shall be put to the vote at the meeting. Provided that on a show of hand, or if requested, on a poll, a majority of two thirds of the votes shall be in favour of the proposed alterations and amendments, then it shall be carried.
18.3. Any cases occurring but not provided for by these rules shall be referred to the Committee whose decision shall be final.

19. TRUSTEES

19.1. Four Trustees of the Club shall be elected at the Annual General Meeting, and shall hold office until the next Annual General Meeting. For their term of office, the Club's assets are vested in the Trustees.
19.2. For their term of office, the Trustees are jointly responsible for performing the Club's obligations under the terms of the 2002 Lease on the Club's premises.