Sailing Events
SAILING PROGRAMME for 2008
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Social Programme 2008
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Wednesday 19.30-23.00
Friday 18.00-21.00
Sunday 12.00-15.00
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DEE SC – THE FUTURE
As the Club begins to prepare for the 2007 season, there is a need to consider how the Club can better organise its operations. Accordingly, the Sailing Committee will not meet on Tuesday 7 November 2006 but instead there will be an
OPEN FORUM MEETING
At the Clubhouse
20.00 hours prompt
Tuesday 7 November 2006
All Members are invited. It will be useful if the President, existing Flag and other Officers, Fleet Captains and representatives of the Captaincy Team attend. It is known that a number of ideas are being canvassed among various Members (some of whom are not presently represented on the existing Committees) and it will be helpful if they would attend in order to express their views.
This is a major exercise to set the Club on a potentially successful future course. It is unlikely that all issues will be dealt with in one meeting and there may need to be further meetings of the Forum and/or ad hoc sub-groups formed for specific tasks.
The General Committee, which is the only executive body established under the Club Rules, will give careful considerations to proposals emanating from the Forum. Where appropriate, matters can be referred to the Members of the Club in General Meeting, either at the next AGM in February 2007 or, if need be, at a specially convened EGM.
There are no restrictions on matters to be raised – a full “brain-storming” session is required. However, to get the most out of the meeting on 7 November, it will be useful if Members with ideas to raise could email them to openforum@dee-sc.co.uk or phone or post them to Michael Johnson, Rear Commodore (Sailing). Either bullet points or more detailed comment will be welcomed. Suggestions will be published (anonymously) below.
There needs to be some structure to the meeting of the Forum on 7 November and, whilst there will inevitably be some overlap or interaction between them, the following are the main categories under which ideas will be discussed:
I hope we can have a positive, open minded and constructive debate – the Club’s future depends upon it.
Ian McLean
Commodore
October 2006
Suggestions for discussion
Re-invigoration of sailing activities
- More Saturday sailing and training days please, preferably with rib and tractor support
- Try and get RYA training centre approved and run race training and power boat level 2 courses
- Saturday fun sailing on the tide
- Small reduction in storage charge for dinghies to improve size of the fleet
- A structured training scheme to develop people from beginner to serious enthusiast, who can then go on to secure the club's future (the Dart 16 would be perfect for training)
- A notice board could be placed outside the club stating "how to join this club", who to contact, fees etc
- When newcomers turn up, assign an instructor straight away so they knew exactly how the club works, who they need to talk to and how they are going to learn the sport
- The result from events like the dart open could be placed in the local papers with contact details for the club - might promote some interest
- Wayfarer fleet suggestions:
- Continue to organize cruises and training events on Saturdays and some Sundays. – Some Sat events do not have to be formal club events ( i.e. listed in the sailingprogramme )
- For cruising / training events listed in the sailing programme ensure that the clubhouse is open, there is a tractor available and rib cover - especially on training days
- Run tractor / rib driving training to enable a Saturday rota to be set up.
- Run a couple of cruises in conjunction with the micro cruiser fleet ( the latter setting the destination/ course due to water depth restrictions )
- Establish a cruising programme with destinations and include some "2 tide" expeditions. ( e.g. Point of Ayr )
- Hold a Wild Life Cruise
- Hold a weekend cruise with the object of getting to Chester and back
- Establish some "racing for Beginners" and then encourage them to join the main Sunday fleet ( the point has been made that people do not understand the basics of racing and are frightened of the close proximity of boats )
- Hold some cruises on Sundays including round Hilbre and out to sea
- Provide a reward system for active sailors who perform the rescue duties - eg scoring average points
- Training weekends away at either Bala or Abersoch when there is no water to sail at Dee - could also be a social activity
- Invite professional sailors/experts to run training days so more advanced sailors can improve their technique - the F18s already do this, why don’t the others?
- One cat fleet for Dart 18s and Fastcats
- starting and racing together
- scored separately when turnout is good
- scored together if few compete in a series so prizes are meaningful
- cats rated slower than 1.18 (i.e. slower than Dart 18s) racing against fast dinghies
- Formalise Saturday sailing, for cruising and adult training
- schedule rescue and tractor service
- train people to use the tractor and allow it to be used by volunteers
- Formalise adult training, using the Dart 16s - i.e. allocate a rota of experienced sailors, ribs, and boats
- cover basic sailing and racing
- allow Dart 16s to be booked by adults for their own use
- Run more events that are open to the public, in the summer months and have the follow-up in place:
- Saturday sailing
- use of club Dart 16s
- adult Training
- Promote the Club - local press, schools, scouts, sea scouts, sailing clubs
- Have two cat fleets at most, ideally split according to personal handicap
- Working Parties - are necessary but unpopular:
- takes more time to repaint Dawpool than we spend using it - is there a low maintenance alternative?
- can we get orange buoys instead of painting blue ones orange?
- can we outsource some work?
- Encourage Round Hilbre series
- More inter fleet races
- Saturday racing
- Promote Evening racing
- Reinforce guidelines for RO's to make first race short & sharp, start second well before HW course length to suit conditions and if necessary shorten to ensure enough time for third race
- Follow up Open Day with invitation to those who showed interest to
return for a longer sail
- A series or mini-series where we race against the whole club (like the club championship) on handicap?
- would be more for fun than anything
- would remove probs of just a couple of boats out per fleet on a Sunday
- maybe we could do it for the least popular series, like the warm-up series
- Start the racing season on time
- Appoint a Rescue team manager (devolve responsibility from the Captain)
- Use the inflatable buoys more often to break up the monotony of the regular courses
- Use personal handicaps
Re-invigoration of social activities
- Wayfarer fleet suggestions:
- Hold shore based sailing activities when tides are wrong
- More inter action between the Cat and Monohull sailors
- Hold a follow up day to the Open Day
- Recognise that we can and are attracting members from further afield
- Recognise the different needs and expectations of those who travel 50 odd miles to the club . e.g. Should there be a bunk house or should an area of the top field be reserved for use as a members camping area at weekends? ( Would help attendance at social events if somewhere to put head down overnight )
- Get rid of all the scrap metal, trailers and boats in the top field and make better use of the facilitiy
- What has happened to the club merchandise? ( pullovers, ties, burgees etc. )
- Each fleet to organise a social activity for the rest of the club at some point during the year
- Extend invitation to the kindred clubs for large social events
- Monthly social activities
- Build on the social Saturday sailing, for adults as well
- Provide regular, affordable (ie for a family) post-racing food, without having to rely on the goodwill of members' wives
- Out-source the Sunday catering
- Sell sandwiches and tea/coffee at the bar
- Junior members' evening - like Wednesdays for the snooker, but for under 18s (table tennis? video games?)
Maintenance and management of the Club’s assets needed to undertake its waterborne activities
- Boat ID - issue boat sticker with unique ID annually for all boats paying storage fee
- Improve the bottom of the slipway onto the beach
- Numbered boat park spaces assigned to the boat owners
- Employ a boatman
- Could our 'boatman' provide a trailer maintenance service (for a price of course!) e.g. wheel bearings etc? Add to that a boat and sail repair service, if only as a drop-in and collection where they take it to a local sailmaker etc
- Reduce the size of the RIB fleet from three to two
- Contract out the winter maintenance
- Buoyage in the approach channel(s) equipped with solar panel controlled lights so that entry to the moorings can be made safely in the dark
- Haul out facility from the moorings to the boat park
Maintenance and management of the Club’s land based premises
- Is a perimeter fence feasible? Or some kind of beefing up of security for the boat park?
- Perimeter fence - to reduce capital expenditure why not price up in 3 stages as a rolling capital improvement programme?
- Outdoor power supply in locked box for members to use for boat maintenance
- Washing down place with drains for dinghies, cats and keelboats
- On security, rather than building a boat shed, we could get a couple of containers on site with key code access where people could put their sailing gear in lockable units - then improve the security fencing around the club
- The website could benefit from some nice photography - the club is positioned in one of the most scenic places in the northwest, the website should reflect that and draw people in
- Poster outside the club advertising that it can be hired as a venue (with a phone number)
- Refurbish the club inside and out - a defined main entrance is needed so visitors know where to come in
- Advertise the club as a venue that can be hired
- Have a flat fee for hiring the club - no extras for bar staff/late license
- Storage facilities for sails / rudders / etc, for people with limited storage at home
- Workshop facilities, with shared tools etc (vice, rivet guns, drills etc,) so that people could repair & service items at the club
- Replace kerb stone speed bumps with proper speed bumps
- Use the facilities to generate revenue:
- use the club for more than sailing - complementary activities might include birdwatching, paragliding, water-colour classes, photography, angling, walking club, cycling club
- sell ice creams from the lawn at weekends
- sell tea and cakes to the public throughout the weekends
- charge for secure parking
- offer a vehicle recovery service on the beach for a fixed fee of £25 that goes to the club funds
- offer pleasure cruises on Dawpool
- Redecorate - completely
- modernise the appearance
- lose the coal fire and ancient curtains and furniture
- Make the bar area multi-use, suitable for family seating, training, catering, etc - use sliding walls to make it adaptable
- Bar - sell bottled beers instead of draught, to avoid wastage and reduce cellar costs
- Boathouse - surely it can be done more cheaply? (the way the estuary is silting up we will only have ten years use as it is)
- Boat park - provide fixed tie-down points to secure boats
- Revise the 'boathouse project' to something far simpler or which can be completed in stages, eg changing rooms, then kitchen, then boathouse
- Rather than ask members to do outdoor maintenance work in the winter, a far better use of volunteer labour would be internal decoration/maintenance of clubhouse. This would:
- maintain the asset
- make club more attractive to new members
- more comfortable for existing members to spend time in
- boost bar turnover
- make the clubhouse more attractive to hire out and generate revenue
- Build the boat shed
- A complete rebuild of the clubhouse interior
- better changing rooms
- better kitchen
- some storage
- proper office
- Bin the boat shed
- Make the club a 'Nice place to be'
- Re-furbish the clubhouse - make it a desirable venue for hiring
- Improve the kitchen facilities
- Make a new back door so that the kitchen isn't used as an extension of the workshop
- Appoint a kitchen manager
- Well protected compound, possibly with CCTV protection and an alarm to the police should security be breached
- Some kind of accommodation, however basic, perhaps male and femail bunkhouses
- Rent the clubhouse to a restaurateur to run as a commercial enterprise Mondays to Saturdays
- Demutualise the club and sell it for use as multi-water sports club and gym
- Invest in gym equipment and air conditioning and open the club as a fitness club six days/evenings a week (except Sunday - that's for sailing)
Succession to the Offices of the Club
- Have a who’s who section on the website with pictures and in the club
- Reorganise some offices - eg the captaincy, have a:
- Bosun who looks after and maintains the equipment the club uses
- Coxswain who organises the rescue and tractor duties
- Rogues gallery of Officers on Notice Board
- Identify several possible successors for each role and invite them to stand for election (by way of an 'official' letter from the President)
- clearly outline the remit, time scale, induction process etc without being too bureaucratic
- each prospect should also know who else has been invited and that it is an invitation to stand for election, not an offer of the role
- Flag Officer buddy system
- members who may have held the role in the past should 'officially' be invited to mentor a new flag officer
- identify an understudy to each flag officer role (perhaps one of the unsuccessful candidates in previous elections)
- Re-define flag officers' roles
- Remove the onerous nature of the roles and dissolve the political and clique-driven culture
Add your suggestions - email them to openforum@dee-sc.co.uk
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