Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the

Open Dinghy Club

Sunday 13th January 2008 at 2.30pm

The Warren Room East Preston

Attendance 17

Apologies: Roger Prew, Keith Bartlett, Pete Roberts, Rob Driver, Jane How, Phil Steel, Peter Fiske, George Schlich

1 Matters arising from the minutes of the 2007 AGM

There were no matters arising and the minutes were accepted - proposed by John Hailstone, seconded by Phil Wicks.

2 Commodore’s Review

Vic gave an overview of the club’s activities over the past year and a mention of what there is in hand for the coming year.

Once again we have had a very successful season, on most of the events that have taken place at our sailing club.

The one major setback we experienced, was the theft of our small rib. The theft was one of a number of such incidents in the area, and the police have not been able to recover our rib, nor any of the others, nor to apprehend any criminals. Fortunately the insurance covered a major proportion of the replacement rib and engine. Fred will cover the actual figures in his treasurer’s report later on.

As a result of this incident we had a visit from the local crime prevention officer, who gave us some advice, as to how we might slow down or prevent such a theft happening again. We have implemented a number of the police suggestions, which hopefully will make it more difficult for thieves to break in and steal our ribs. As the police stated, if a criminal is really determined, they will break in, however if there are sufficient deterrents in place to slow them down, then that is as much as you can do.

Consistent with the cost of security and the value of our assets we believe we have implemented enough additional protection to the sailing club. However we do intend to complete an improvement to the fencing, by erecting weld mesh to the East side of the boat compound to the north of the sail lockers. This work should be completed, before the compound clean up weekend in March.

On the financial side of running the sailing club, despite the cost of replacing the small rib the balance sheet remains healthy. Fred will run over the accounts and the committee’s proposal for membership fees for this coming year, in his treasurer’s report.

During the early part of last year, we received a demand for three year’s backdated business rates from Arun District Council, which was around £8,000. In simple terms the reason for the three-year demand, was that we dropped off the Arun District Council’s radar screen and had not been receiving invoices. Prior to three years ago we were able to claim discretionary rate relief. Although the conditions for claiming rate relief had become more stringent, Vic was pleased to be able to inform the meeting that we have been successful in obtaining one hundred percent relief, backdated for the three years.

On the social scene, thanks to Terry Nowell we were able to organize a very successful events programme. Terry will fill in the detail, in his social secretary’s report. Events specifically aimed at raising funds for the R N L I were also very successful, and we were able to send a cheque to the R N L I for £674. Unfortunately Terry would like to stand down this year and he will be proposing Jane How, as social secretary for the coming year, later in this meeting.

Vic drew to the meetings notice that as the club was 35 years old, this was the 35th AGM, and he congratulated Alan Welman as being the only person to have attended every single one!

Alan took over as compound officer last year, and organized the implementation of a number of major projects. These included: roofing the new washing up area, purchasing and installing new beach launching mats, upgrading the men’s urinals and implementing new measurers to improve security of the rib boathouse. Alan will give the meeting an update of plans for this coming year, together with his thoughts on managing the compound clean up weekend, scheduled for March 29th and 30th.

The caravan stowage for six vans has worked very well and has provided the club with additional revenue. The planning approval was for a limited period of three years and for six vans only. This is our second winter period, so we will need to re-apply in the first quarter of 2009 to extend planning consent. Bob Murdoch will update the meeting with any other caravan issues in his report.

In the absence of Pete Roberts and Rob Driver, Vic covered racing and safety issues.

We had a good season for racing, unfortunately the experiment of using a committee boat to supervise races at sea, was not a total success. We think this was a combination of the wrong type of committee boat and unreliable engines. This year we will revert to shore based management for time keeping and use one of the safety boats to start the races at sea. The exception to this arrangement will be the regatta, when we will call upon one of our club members with a suitable rib to allow it’s use for race management at sea.

Racing will commence on Sunday 27th April and the last race is on Sunday 5th October. The regatta is planned for the weekend 19th-20th July. Pete Roberts has already issued a final version of the race programme.

Good ship to shore communications is required for both racing and safety boat cover. During last season we bought new radios and this has allowed this aspect of safety boat cover to improve. The problem we now face is that we have good radio equipment, but some members have a problem with using the kit. To help overcome this problem we will be arranging some radio courses, as soon as possible.

On the safety front, Vic thanked Rex Wilton for continuing to provide maintenance cover on the safety boats. Apart from replacing the small rib, we have experienced high costs in fuel and prop replacements. Props have been damaged when approaching the shore or on the flint reef, just off the sailing club. Making members aware of the reef’s position, and shallow running of the engine (small rib only), appears to have helped reduce the incidents of damaged props, towards the end of the season. However we have invested in a new form of prop, which has a plastic insert, which should reduce the cost of repair to damaged props.

Phil Shaw suggested that lowering the skeg of the rib would offer more protection to the propeller. Vic agreed to follow this up.

The duty attendance levels, started out very well, but as the year progressed, began to drop off. Once again we will monitor non-attendance very closely and persistent offenders may face a fine or lose their boat space. This year we will replace the rating sheet with a sign on and sign off sheet, and ask for information on engine hours and faults found. We wish to give safety the highest profile and are investigating how we might develop a broader range of training, which would cover powerboat handling, radio usage and first aid. Rob has listed who he thinks can be O.O.D. and issued a rota, which is at the back of the hall. If you could fill in you preferred dates we will endeavour to get the duty safety rota out by the end of February.

Over the last year the boat waiting list has shortened significantly, this is due in part to Mike Sewell squeezing more boats into the compound and a few less members.

Once we have completed our new membership enrolment we will review the membership levels, verses boat space availability and decide upon a PR campaign if required. There may be an opportunity to publicise the club in the local press after our open day to be held as part of the East Preston Festival week on Saturday 7th June.

Vic then mentioned the sad loss of two of our long-term members. Philip Boocock who passed away very suddenly in August and Ray Morfield , who died in October after a short illness. Our best wishes go to their families. Ray’s son Rob will continue to sail at the club and will attempt to maintain his father’s expertise amongst the mono fleet.

On the I.T. front George Schlich has helped update the web site. Vic thanked George for his help in this area. We should now be able to post up to date information on the web site and would encourage members to use this facility to obtain the latest dates etc. for any upcoming events

With regard to The Kiosk, Phil Steel and Jane How have taken over the kiosk and car park lease with effect from 1st January this year. Phil’s first job is the refurbishment of the inside of the kiosk. Once this is complete I am sure Jane will publicize opening hours and the food selection available. We wish Jane and Phil good luck in this new venture.

In Summary, the club remains vibrant in all areas of its activities. Vic thanked the committee for all their hard work ensuring this remains the case. However we welcome any constructive input, which you may feel would benefit the way the club is run.

3 Treasurer’s Report

Fred Young presented the statement of accounts for the past year. He reported a ‘déjà vu’ situation, being virtually the same as last year. We had a small operating loss due to the investment we had made in equipment etc, but this was offset by the healthy Balance Sheet situation.

He highlighted the following items:

Income – There were fewer members than last year which affected Subscriptions; there was a different mix of small and large cats etc which affected Boat Fees; the Kiosk rent is now linked to the boat space rent; the interest figure was not comparable year against year as we had moved banks, and there was a timing difference.

Expenses- the rent reflected only three quarters; we had to meet insurance excesses of £250 on both the rib and the fence, and the payout on the outboard motor was based on market value.

Our donation of £674 to the RNLI was drawn from the profit from social events, together with a contribution of £100 from the band, which was a very nice gesture.

He pointed out that the £500 we normally paid into the Sinking Fund would not be paid this year. This fund was set aside for the long-term replacement of the Safety Boats, and we had already spent a great deal on that matter already this year.

On the Balance Sheet side, we were in a strong situation. Nonetheless we only had to see the possible Council Tax we might have been faced with to appreciate the importance of keeping good reserves. Vic added that, in deciding we were exempt from Council Tax, the council had checked that, over the last 3 years, we did not breach their rule that our reserves had not exceeded our annual expenses.

The net worth of the club is now about £31,850.

The acceptance of the accounts was proposed by Phil Shaw and seconded by Alan Woods, agreed unanimously.

A vote of thanks was extended to the club’s honorary auditor Stuart Holmes, who had turned the accounts around within a week.

Looking forward to 2008, Fred detailed the following proposed subs increases that amounted to £5 or 5%, whichever was greater:

Subscriptions

Standard member: £5 increase from £100 to £105

Boat fees:

Monos: £5 increase from £70 to £75

Large cats: £5 increase from £115 to £120

Small cats: £5 increase from £105 to £110

Caravans:

Rent: 5% increase from £635 to £665

Electrics: increase from £75 to £80.

The acceptance of the subs increase was put to the membership (proposed by Phil Wicks and seconded by Ray Thorn) and carried unanimously.

Vic thanked Fred for all his hard work as a committee member.

4. Social Secretary’s report

Terry Nowell reported on an extremely successful social programme:

We started the year with good promise – winter walks with good sunshine.

Filled in the Spring with a Skittles Night and a Barn Dance, enhanced with live music. This was very successful and many people said that we should repeat it. A big thanks to all those that helped, but especially Fred and Sue (Young) and Fred’s daughters who formed a great Skittle Alley reset team.

Thanks also to Bob and Sue Murdoch for organising another great Party in the Park, and in addition thanks to Honda UK for their generosity in supporting the event.

We used the same band for the End of Season Dance, and despite the clash with the Rugby World Cup Final this event was highly successful.

The live band also enhanced the dance event and the band themselves very kindly donated £100 of their charity fee to our RNLI charity. It was generally commented that we should try and use a good live band again if possible.

The bonfire and fireworks display was very well attended, and supported by a very busy barbecue.

Lastly the Boxing Day event went very well – mince pies and mulled wine.

We did not run the events with the intention of making profits – the target was to break even, but we did end with a good contribution to charity.

Terry said that the beginning of the year had given him visions of balmy summer afternoons and evenings when we may have had some music and a barbecue perhaps on the race days, since many members just show up for a race and disappear straight afterwards. But his, and other ideas, were sadly ruled out by the weather. Perhaps something to look forward to in the future.

Terry closed by saying that he had enjoyed his role on the committee, and thanked everyone who had given him such enormous support during the year.

Vic thanked Terry for all his hard work as a committee member.

5. Compound Officer’s report

Alan Welman reported on the considerable amount of work that has been carried out during the year:

During the Compound Cleaning Weekend

New mats to the beach, secured to the concrete with special brackets

All the Tamarisk and bushes had been cut back to level

New doors had been fitted to the Kiosk

New shelves had been fitted to the catamaran locker

New urinals fitted to the gents toilet

Wash up area had been completed, with a new roof, shelving, lighting and painting

The clubhouse has been tidied up, and the outside creosoted

Compound had been tidied

Since the theft of the safety boat

New security system for the safety boat, heavy duty chains and padlocks fitted

New security fence to east end of front compound

Security lighting and dummy CCTV fitted

Special thanks to Sue Murdoch for organising cleaning of toilets

Projects for 2008 included:

Remove wall to east end of rear compound, and fit new weld mesh security fence

Fit new window frames to toilet block

Fit additional plastic roof panels to toilet block to stop leaks

Refurbish winch box and overhaul as necessary

Fit new felt to joints on roof of the clubhouse

Vic thanked Alan for all his hard work as a committee member.

6 Safety Officer’s report

As Rob Driver was unable to be present this has been covered in Vic’s report.

7 Boat Space Officer’s report

Mike Sewell reported that we have 92 boat spaces in the compound at present (15 of them rack spaces), although since quite a few people store smaller boats under their cats, there are actually rather more boats than that.

Since last year we have put up another rack, using the space next to the gate to the beach.

At last year’s AGM he reported that there were 5 people on the waiting list. But today there are only 3. So, the long established trend of waiting for about a year for a boat space has now virtually gone, and anyone joining the club right now will possibly get a space at the beginning of this season.

We had a strong drive last season to try to get all the clutter removed from the compound – rubber dinghies, canoes etc and Mike thanked everyone concerned for their cooperation over that. Some of those people raised the issue ‘Well I am not taking up much space’, and that is true. But the problem is that once we allow one person a privilege, where do we stop? The only way we can sensibly address this problem is right at the beginning i.e. zero tolerance.

We will be repeating that policy this year.

Mike thanked everyone for being so co-operative.

Vic thanked Mike for all his hard work as a committee member.

8. Membership secretary’s report

In Keith Bartlett’s absence, the secretary read his report:

‘Firstly I must offer my apologies for not being able to be here today - I can assure you that Vic has extracted suitable penance from me!

Membership of the club stands at 116, a decrease of 10 over last year. With the reduced waiting list for berths, we will be embarking on a membership drive during 2008.

Finally a big thank you to Fred, for agreeing to receive all the membership post whilst I am away, and to Vic for sending out Membership Renewal Forms.’

9. Caravans

Bob Murdoch reported that there was a list of 14 people waiting for a caravan space in the field. One had become available at the end of last year, but he had not yet had final confirmation of acceptance from the person to whom it had been offered.

He expressed his thanks to Alan for the big improvements in the wash block facilities, and gent’s toilets.

Vic thanked Bob for all his hard work as a committee member.

10. Election of officers

The secretary read out a prepared statement that the rule of the club is that officers serve for two years, which can be waived if insufficient candidates are proposed. In particular, the Commodore has served for seven years, and while he is very happy to continue it would be very acceptable for anyone interested to join the committee as Vice Commodore, with a view to becoming Commodore next year.

In the absence of any volunteers to join the committee, a proposal was made that the committee be re-elected en bloc (less Terry Nowell, see below). This was proposed by Phil Wicks, seconded by Phil Shaw and passed unanimously.

As Terry Nowell is stepping down as Social Secretary, Jane How has been nominated as his successor. She was proposed by Terry Nowell, and seconded by Pete Roberts. The proposal was unanimously accepted.

11. Any Other Business

Phil Shaw proposed a vote of thanks to the committee for all their hard work, which was seconded by Phil Wicks, and supported unanimously.

The meeting closed at 3.37 pm and members took tea and cakes before departing.

Minutes of the AGM will be posted on the website (www.opendinghy.co.uk) and in the clubhouse. Any member wishing to have a copy please contact Mike Sewell (01273 890366) or mike@mcsewell.fsnet.co.uk

ODC AGM, 2008

AGENDA FOR THE

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING

Sunday 13th January 2008 at 2.30 p.m.

THE WARREN ROOM EAST PRESTON