Commodores Report to the Annual General Meeting John Fothergill 26 - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Commodore’s Report to the Annual General Meeting

John Fothergill 26 March 2017

The best inland sailing club in the UK

New Club Manager: Matthew Lea

• Matt started at the end of February
• Nick Clarke stepped into the breach as interim

manager and will support Matt for another week – thanks!

• Rigorous selection process with a strong field of

candidates

• Four years’ experience as Head of Centre at the

Mepal Outdoor Centre

• Sails a Foiling Moth

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Planning

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Planning and taking stock: Background

• RYA research
• an RYA Vital Signs Survey
• an RYA Club Member Survey (Pilot - 52 clubs invited to take part across

England)

• the Annual RYA Club Membership Census
• Meetings with RYA
• Gareth Brookes (Regional Representative)
• RYA Affiliated Clubs’ Conference (Midlands)
• RYA Race Officials’ Conference
• Rutland Sailing Club Council Planning Day (11th March 2017)

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Planning Day, 11th March

• Aims
• To identify and prioritise the aims of the Club for this year and for the next three

years.

• Publish findings to members, discuss at Council, etc. for guiding our strategy
• Important areas for consideration
• Membership
• Improving Quality
• Resources
• Invitees
• Members of Council and Sailing Committee (to include Fleet Captains)
• Other representatives of members of the Club
• Senior Club staff
• RYA Regional Representatives: Gareth Brookes

The best inland sailing club in the UK

• Agenda
• RYA Club member survey (Gareth Brookes)
• Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats
• Members (Fiona Tylecote)
• Quality and Resources (Flag Officers)
• Conclusions
• Some “headlines” follow ….

Planning Day

The best inland sailing club in the UK 3.3 13.9 21.2 13.9 16.6 12.6 18.5 5 10 15 20 25 Less than a year 1 to 3 years 4 to 6 years 7 to 10 years 11 to 15 years 16 to 20 years More than 20 years

How long have you been a member of this club?

The best inland sailing club in the UK 35.1 23.2 24.5 5.3 4.6 0.7 6.6 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 Dinghy sailing Dinghy racing Yacht sailing Yacht racing Windsurfing RIBs/Sports Boats Other - Please give details

What is the main boating activity you take part in at your club?

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Planning Day: Management - Governance

Key Points

• Council works hard on behalf of

the Club.

• A lot of focus has been on

“keeping the Club going” (necessary) and on racing.

• Need to develop and focus more
• n “members”

Possible responses

• New Council members asked to

join to represent

• Younger
• more diverse
• member interests

Planning Day: Communications

Key Points

• Better communications
• Website
• use of social media
• “Mail-chimp”

Possible responses

• New website launched
• New focus on Facebook media
• Developing informal guidelines

for use of mail-chimp

Planning Day: Friendliness

Key Points

• Club can be rather unfriendly –

especially if you’re not active in a fleet or group.

• Can be “racing” focussed even

though most members don’t race

Possible responses

• Focus on wants of new members and

pathway to engagement

• Ensure all members can feel part of a group
• Empower fleet/group captains to be more

inclusive and act as Club representatives

• Re-introduce programme of social activities at

Club level. Could include non-sailing (e.g. walks and cycling in winter), talks and courses (e.g. Day Skipper)

• Make better/more appropriate use of

volunteers

• Misc.: e.g. consider layout of dry bar seating

Planning Day: Cost and membership

Key Points

• Sailing should appeal to all ages

and abilities – we should be inclusive.

• Costs are particularly off putting

for young adults – likely to get worse in near future

• Threats of members moving to
• ther clubs if we don’t ensure

we are value for money

Possible responses

• Ensure we have appropriate “products” for

each group (especially by age) – e.g. pay and play for young adults (25 – 35 years)

• Need to particularly focus on retention of new

members.

• Need to ensure a seamless pathway from

Sailing School to membership

• Encourage members to bring in new members
• Look at Club facilities for kids/teens
• Communicate social sailing activities better
• Consider ways of sweating our assets to

increase income

Planning Day: Resources

Key Points

• The water is seen as a huge

asset for the Club.

• We have good on-site facilities

and support services

• We need to bring some of our

processes and systems up-to- date

Possible responses

• Address niggles – e.g. Club Wi-Fi

– site drainage, etc.

• Plan for better use of IT

Planning Day: Sailing/Racing/Training

Key Points

• Sailing School well praised for

quality.

• Production of Club racing results

is slow

• Few boats available for Club

members to use (especially for

• lder teenagers/post university)
• Lots of minor useful comments

Possible responses

• Ensure a pathway (perhaps with

assistance of Sailing School) from non-sailing all the way to high- performance sailing.

• No cheap “have a go” options
• Low numbers of racers, is Sunday

racing offering correct?

• Need some ‘rookie’ racing – or

ways in for new racers

• Better support/training for CROs

Planning Day: Catering

Key Points

• Efficiency – especially during

busy events

• Mixed feelings about quality
• Need for more flexibility

Possible responses

• Better communication between

management and catering

• Consider new opportunities (e.g.

Sunday lunches)

• Need more off-the-shelf

standard deals for large events

Planning Day: Open Meetings

Key Points

• Recognised as prestigious venue

for open meetings and good for Club reputation (e.g. with RYA)

• Busy-ness puts strain on Club

members (parking, changing rooms, launching, Clubhouse)

Possible responses

• Encourage members to join in
• pen meetings
• Methods to reduce impact on

catering, seating areas, etc.

• Have (another) look at parking,

etc

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Club Sailing

The best inland sailing club in the UK

• Great variety – but perhaps not well communicated
• Good junior programme
• Social Sailing (and “Sail Pro”)
• Ladies That Launch
• Saturday Social Sailing
• Informal Sailing on Fridays
• Sailability, etc.
• Club Racing
• Thursdays – popular with good post sailing social
• Sundays – less popular
• New Saturday racing for keelboats/cruisers

Club Sailing

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Open Events

The best inland sailing club in the UK

• Proud to be recognised as an excellent place for national and international events
• Can be enjoyable for volunteers
• Highlights include:
• Tiger Trophy (cold but a great start to the season)
• RS Sprints (busy – with around 100 starts during the weekend)
• Eric Twiname (busy again – great to see so many young people out on the water)
• Cats, Comets, Solos, Squibs, RS’s, Lasers and others
• We held about 25 open regattas and competitions attracting about 1400 sailors

to the Club – often with parents and helpers – all of which make a significant financial contribution to the Club.

• In addition to these competitive events, the Sailing Club hosted about a dozen

external training events both on the water (e.g. Topper training) and off the water (e.g. the RYA Instructors’ Conference)

Open Events

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Website

The best inland sailing club in the UK

www.rutlandsailingclub.co.uk The old website address will soon divert to the new website.

New Club Website

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Clubhouse, grounds and boats

The best inland sailing club in the UK

• RSC boat trailers all been rebuilt using RSC labour and a few materials bought in.
• East field boat park – cleared and rationalised
• Club house roof:
• Has been leaking to a greater or lesser extent for years.
• 40-year old roof which is at the end of its life, the tiles slowly breaking up.
• Council has agreed to go ahead with a new roof subject to a reasonable cost.
• As £20k is added to the sinking fund each year, this means that we are likely to only have to borrow c. £55k from our savings.
• Cladding: Several problems have arisen with the clubhouse cladding, which was replaced last year. The

fitters are gradually replacing this with guidance from the manufacturers.

• West Creek moorings. Buoys inspected – appear in good shape
• Racing Marks: maintenance by the boatswain.
• Servery and catering:
• Various refurbishments including freezer room
• Catering service has been awarded the maximum of 5 stars by the environmental health service
• New tractor

Clubhouse, grounds and boats

The best inland sailing club in the UK

Chandlery

The best inland sailing club in the UK

• The Rutland Chandlery Ltd. (independent

franchise) ceased to trade

• Competition from on-line outlets makes an

independent chandlery unviable

• Chandlery – at least for “keeping your boat
• n the water” items – is considered vital for

members and visitors

• New Chandlery to be run through Sailing

School at minimum on-cost

Chandlery

The best inland sailing club in the UK

I’ve had a lot of help in my first year…

The best inland sailing club in the UK

• Flag Officers - they contribute an enormous amount of their time.
• Council members
• Fleet Captains and members of the Sailing Committee for all the work
• Club members and Coxswains for giving up their time and fulfilling

their Club duties

• The Club staff in the office, the Sailing School, in Catering and the

Chandlery, the cleaners and boatswains who all make possible the life

• f the Club that members expect

Thanks