MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE NATIONAL SQUIB OWNERS ASSOCIATION HELD ON 21ST JUNE 2005 AT HOWTH YACHT CLUB, HOWTH, IRELAND
Present
The Chairman, Peter Marchant welcomed 60 Members to the Annual General Meeting (AGM).
Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from Paul Austin, (Hyde Sails), Mike Barsby, Richard Sullivan & John Good.
Minutes of the 2004 AGM
The Minutes of the AGM held on 23rd June 2004 at Holyhead Sailing Club (copies of which had been circulated) were approved and signed.
Proposed: Malcolm Blackburn
Seconded: John Bibby
Matters Arising
There were no matters arising.
Accounts for the Year ending 30th April 2005
The Hon Treasurer's written report was circulated together with the accounts for the year ending 30/04/05. The Hon Treasurer apologised for not being able to attend the Meeting but the Hon. Auditor (Andrew Porteous) gave an outline of the accounts to the Meeting. In summary, the bank balance and accumulated reserves were healthy. The income was very much in line with 2004 but there will be a saving in 2005 by reducing Squibble to two issues. Squibble is a major cost (equal to 56% of our expenditure) but removing an issue should provide a small surplus in income next year provided the mould fee income remains steady. However, it is likely that there will be a proposal for an increase in subscriptions at the 2006 AGM.
The Accounts of the NSOA for the year ended 30th April 2005 were adopted.
Proposed: David Wines
Seconded: Steve Allso
The Chairman thanked both the Hon Treasurer and the Hon. Auditor.
Subscriptions
It was agreed that subscriptions for 2005 should remain the same as for 2004.
Proposed: Tony Saltonstall
Seconded: Gerard Dyson
Report on the Three Resolutions passed at the EGM held on 1/10/04 namely:-
Gunwale Measurement
Jib-furling
Additional Sailmakers
Malcolm Blackburn addressed the Meeting on behalf of the Technical Committee. He reported that following the EGM the Technical Committee had done extensive work on the above three resolutions. All three resolutions were approved by the RYA in March 2005 following a meeting Malcolm Blackburn and Tony Saltonstall had with the RYA.
The gunwale and the jib-furling rules have now been changed in the Squib Rules and are now on the RYA website.
Malcolm explained the tendering procedure for adopting additional sailmakers. Six sailmakers tendered which was narrowed down to three very creditable sailmakers
The Technical Committee had since made a decision in the best interests of the Squib Class and this recommendation was now before the elected body of the main National Committee for their approval. Once this has been received, the membership will be informed and the proposed sailmaker(s) will be in a position to produce new sails ready for the next sailing season.
The Chairman thanked Malcolm and Tony for their hard work ensuring the Resolutions of the Membership were approved by the RYA.
Election of Officers
Chairman: Peter Marchant
Hon. Secretary Louise Bibby
Hon. Treasurer: Richard Sullivan
Hon. Technical Adviser & Measurer: Tony Saltonstall
Hon. Publicity Officer: Mike Barsby
Hon. Auditor Andrew Porteous
Hon. Membership Secretary Adrian Fluker
Election of Committee
The following who were elected for a period of two years at the 2004 AGM continue in office for a further year.
Mike Barsby Rutland Sailing Club Fleet
Louise Bibby Royal Anglesey YC Fleet
Max Evans Felixstowe Ferry SC Fleet
John Good Royal Yorkshire YC Fleet
Colin Norman Medway YC Fleet
David Pearce Waldringfield SC Fleet
The following who were elected for a period of two years at the 2004 AGM continue in office for a further year.
Gillian Guinness Howth YC Fleet
Fred Campbell Royal North of Ireland YC Fleet
Peter Horton Lowestoft & Oulton Broad Fleet
Richard Hinsley Burnham Fleet
Chris Pope South Caernarvonshire YC Fleet
Neil Young Royal Tay YC Fleet
The following who were elected during the year resign and offer themselves for election for a further two years.
Peter Jackson Weymouth SC Fleet
David Wines Plymouth Fleet
The Chairman explained that Mike Barsby had offered to take on the role of Hon. Publicity Officer on a temporary basis so any offers for volunteers for the position would be gratefully received. The Chairman explained that if more people came forward to volunteer for small jobs, it would greatly facilitate the running of the NSOA.
Proposed: Peter Horton
Seconded: Max Evans
There was a unanimous vote in favour of the new Committee.
Future Championship Venues
2006 - Royal Victoria YC - Isle of Wight
The Chairman invited Steve Warren Smith to speak on behalf of the RVYC. Steve circulated a pre-Championship leaflet and informed the Meeting that a special £80 ferry fare had been arranged for the event. He confirmed the dates as 1st-8th July 2006 to tie in with neap tides and that the Race Officer was Ian Lalow.. Tony Saltonstall added that it is a great venue with a very friendly host club and thoroughly recommended everyone to attend. Steve informed the meeting that there was a dedicated website for the Championships - www.squibnats.btinternet.co.uk. where further information would be available including accommodation details.
Future Championship Venues:-
2007 Abersoch
2008 Weymouth
The Chairman reported that applications had been received for 2009 (Belfast) & 2010 (Holyhead) and the National Championships Committee were reviewing the applications.
A Dartmouth fleet representative asked the Chairman if he could have further information on running a championship as Dartmouth would be keen to host an event in the future.
Any Other Business
A question was asked whether a standard jib-furling device could be purchased from a chandlery. Malcolm Blackburn said he had written an article in the Spring Squibble on how to assemble the device, purchasing items from a chandlery but if there was sufficient demand he could easily produce a kit for Squibbers to purchase.
Schedule of Races
A question was raised as to whether there was any movement to increase the number of races per day at the Nationals and introduce another discard. There was an opinion that it was a lot of time off work to sail just 6 races. The Championship Committee were continually reviewing this issue but it was decided to hold a straw poll just to give some further feedback to the Championship Committee. On a show of hands the majority attending the Meeting did not wish to change the format. Howth YC had offered further races to the competitors but there was not sufficient interest to warrant holding an extra series of races. The point was made that there would not be interest in extra races that did not form part of the Championship . A further point was made by the floor that as the Class Membership is getting older, many competitors don't wish to do 2 races a day and if this was changed the Event would lose many regulars who attend the Nationals to see old friends and enjoy the respect of racing with old adversaries. Furthermore, the Nationals are the premier event of the Squib class and it differed from area championships where competitors expected lots of short races packed into 2 or 3 days.
A member suggested a compromise of 9 races during the week with 2 discards over the week's holiday The point was made that each year our fleet has the best supported National Championships compared to all the day keelboat classes and alot of the dinghy classes as well. However the question will be debated again by the Nat. Championship Committee and kept under review by possibly having a survey on the website. It was suggested that a compromise would be the sensible way forward as changing to 2 races every day would definitely damage a successful formula.
Squibble
The Chairman announced that John Deane had finally retired as Editor of Squibble. The Chairman thanked John for his many years of hard work making Squibble our popular class magazine. (John Deane was later presented with a ship's decanter at the prizegiving dinner as a thank you from the NSOA).
The Chairman appealed for a volunteer to come forward to edit only two editions of Squibble a year. He stressed the fact that it was important for new people to come forward and put something back into the Class.
Death of Aubrey Allso
Tony Saltonstall asked if the Meeting could stand in silence for a minute to remember a very valuable member of the Squib Association. He asked that our greatest condolences be passed on to Aubrey's family. Steve Allso thanked the Meeting for their support.
40th Anniversary of the Squib Class - 2008
Gillian Guinness asked Adrian Fluker to inform the AGM of the plans to celebrate the 40th Birthday of the Squib. Adrian confirmed that Burnham are planning an Anniversary regatta, probably in the 1st week of August 2008 where a new Squib was to be given away as a Raffle Prize. Further details would be published in Squibble and on the website but it was important that this event did not detract from the Weymouth Squib Nationals in June 2008. The Chairman reassured the Weymouth Fleet that the two events were very different and Weymouth was such a popular venue for a National Championship that they would not be adversely affected.
Overseas Regattas
Adrian Fluker reported that possibly as part of the 40th Birthday Celebrations the Regattes Royale, Cannes, would be happy to host a Squib Class.
Date of Next Meeting
The next meeting will take place at Royal Victoria Yacht Club, Isle of Wight on Wednesday 5th July 2006.
There being no further business, the Meeting closed at 19.30 hours.
Lou Bibby
Hon. Secretary - 16/7/05