BURNHAM OVERY STAITHE SAILING CLUB

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held on Sunday January 4th 2009, in Burnham Overy Staithe

Village Hall

The Commodore, Jerry Clark, opened the meeting at 1100 with 31 members and one junior member

present.

1. Apologies for absence were received from: P Beachell; D Cooper; Caroline Dawes; D Edwards; M

Hall-Smith; C Hargreaves; I Mackechnie-Jarvis; A Smith; P Smith; R Warner & C Wathes.

The Commodore thanked Mel Beck for organizing the excellent Prize-giving Supper of the previous

evening, and her helpers. Paul Goakes proposed that Mel and Peter be `taken out` for a meal at the

Club`s expense by Jerry and Meg. This proposal was approved to general acclaim.

2. Matters arising from the minutes of the 2008 AGM (which had been circulated to all members).

The commodore remarked on three items. First, that after last years meeting it had been

realised that Simon Bell was not eligible to serve as an OSSC rep on the Harbour Trust, as his

membership had lapsed. Paul Goakes agreed to fill the vacancy, and has helped the Trust by

providing much needed expertise in Civil Engineering. Second, we again hosted a day of

sailing for the local school children. Third, the suggested delayed starts for children and slow

handicap boats were not needed, although the slower boats were finished after one round on

occasion.

3. Commodores Report. The weather was disappointing for most of 2008, from the postponement of

the Easter Egg due to snow to the generally wet and cool Summer. However, the whole

programme was completed, by sailing several postponed races in September, and with

reasonable turnouts. A successful innovation was to replace the evening `disco` in August by

a lunchtime barbeque, combined with the Regatta Prize-giving. This will be repeated in

2009. The safety Boat launching trolley was replaced during the year, thanks to Ben Goakes,

who spotted a bargain due to a cancelled order. Our plans for the forthcoming year will be

affected by the death during 2008 of Audrey Earle, who for many years ran the Regatta

Committee with Peter Beck. Peter has suggested that OSSC should play a more formal role

in the Regatta, rather than just providing safety cover. The necessary changes will be

considered later in this meeting in the context of the committee elections and under AOB.

4. Treasurers Report. The Treasurer presented the 2008 accounts (copy attached to these minutes).

The year saw a small profit, despite inevitable increases in fuel costs for the safety boat and

the purchase of the new trolley: the largest single expenditure. He recommended that the

subscriptions remain unchanged for 2009. Adoption of the Accounts was proposed by Paul

Goakes and seconded by Chris Geering. Passed nem con.

5. Report from Harbour Trust Representatives. Paul Goakes outlined some of the current activities of

the Trust and its plans for action in the coming year. In particular, the rules for use of the

Harbour are being revised. Our reps will endeavour to ensure that the new rules are clear,

that they conform with the rules of the road at sea and that they do not disadvantage members

of OSSC, whether racing or cruising. A later draft should be available for general feedback.

In the practical area, there are plans in hand to survey the harbour and to improve the bouyage,

and also for maintenance work on the cockle path and bridges. The main question from the

floor asked about measures to counteract silting of the harbour. The answer was that

dredging has been considered, but is likely to be either too expensive and/or vetoed by Natural

England. Problems with maintaining a clear fairway have also been a concern of the Trust .

6. Election of the Committee. Before the elections, the Commodore explained that, after performing

most of the main functions in OSSC for about 50 years, Peter Beck had decided to hand on

several of his roles. The Committee had therefore determined the main roles required to run

the club, and sought to match roles to volunteers. The proposed committee list therefore

included these roles. In addition, Chris Geering wished to leave the committee, but was

willing to continue as Harbour Trust Representative. The rest of the committee were willing

to continue. The committee wished to maintain the same strength, and had asked the

Commodore to invite Jane Heath to also stand for election. Acceptance of the changes to the

committee structure was proposed by Owen Bentley, seconded by Andy Turner. Passed nem

con.

With no other nominations, the following were elected.

Commodore; Jerry Clark, Proposed by Paul Goakes seconded by Chris Geering. Elected

nem con.

Committee as listed below, proposed by Jerry Clark, seconded Jamie Mulholland. Elected nem con.

Vice-Commodore/Secretary; Ashley Deakin

Sailing Secretary/Regatta Secretary; Andy Turner

Membership Secretary/Treasurer; Peter Beck

Bosun; Paul Goakes

Social Secretary; Claire Wathes

Web Site; David Cooper

Training/Youth Sailing; Ashley Deakin

Committee members; Owen Bentley; Ben Goakes; Jane Heath; Alex Scoles;

Andrew Storer

Harbour Trust Representatives; Chris Geering & Paul Goakes

NWNSA Representative Andy Turner

7.AOB. Chris Geering was thanked for his services to the committee over many years.

Regatta: Peter Beck proposed that the Regatta Committee should become a sub-committee of OSSC,

with the recommendation that the Regatta Account should be kept separate, at least until the

current balance (c£5000) is exhausted. The Regatta has been funded more by donations than

entry fees, and has also in the past contributed to the cost of the OSSC safety boat and motor.

The expenditure is on prizes, currently only 50% covered by entry fees, and insurance. Agreed

nem con.

Andy Turner will arrange a meeting on the weekend of 17/18 January to consider plans for the 2009

regatta.

There was a discussion of plans to repeat the school childrens` day in 2009. Main points were that

there would be advantages in dealing with smaller groups by using more than one day, and

also in having more boats on the water. The arrangements are made with the PTA rather than

the School.

Problems with handicaps for races were raised by Simon Dawes. The Commodore reported that there

had been a lively discussion of handicaps in a recent Committee meeting. Andy Turner said

that there had been some subsequent action, largely in making allowance for non-use of

spinnakers and the use of small sails in other classes than the Laser.

Ben Goakes suggested arranging a speaker from the RYA to talk about the revised racing rules

(effective from 1 Jan). After Discussion, the Commodore was asked to contact Wells SC

regarding the possibility of a joint meeting.

The meeting closed at 1146