COMMODORE’S REPORT - 2008
The Commodore welcomed members and thanked them for continuing to support the Club. He added that it was good to see so many members present this afternoon.
He said that would try to keep his report brief since there were several additional items to the normal agenda and we would also be hearing from Mr Harry Leslie from the Maritime and Coastguard Agency who would be giving a talk before the prize giving.
Continuing, he was pleased to report that as usual, the Club has had another busy year. He thanked the Flag Officers, the Chairman of TIWSC and the Honorary Officers of the Committee for once again putting in so much time and effort to maintain the Club’s activities and strength. As usual, he also thanked the staff of TIWSC and the offshore yacht boatswains for their vital contribution.
He was sure that members would be pleased to hear that General Sir David Richards was about to take over as Admiral of the ASA. Also that Sgt Ryan Deane has been awarded his ASA Offshore colours.
Turning to membership, the Commodore reported that our total Membership at 31 Dec 07 was 628 (636 last year). There have been 25 new members but 29 resignations and defaulters on non-payment of subs.
Those who have died since the last AGM, showing the date they joined are:
· Brig J S Badley (1952)
· Maj J T Ryan (1961)
· Maj G R Wadsworth (1973)
· The Revd R D Hambleton (1980)
One final point on membership: the Commodore hoped that the AGM would be pleased to hear that the Committee has decided to offer Life Membership to the 8 members who joined the Club 60 or more years ago and who are not already Life Members.
TIWSC
Turning to TIWSC, the Commodore reported that the 2007 season had been almost as busy as in recent years despite a triple adverse effect of bad weather, of not being able to fill one of the four instructor posts and with Bdr Moult confined to shore activities due to a leg operation. Nevertheless once again over a thousand people used the Centre either on courses or activity packages. The Centre awarded 361 RYA qualifications of 17 different types, including 48 youth awards to members of the CCF and ACF. It is also a pre-eminent RYA dinghy instructional centre and the RYA use it for many advanced courses. A sheet showing the diversity of courses was displayed for members to view. This excellent performance would of course have been impossible without the energy and initiative of Sgt Thisby, Bdr Moult and LBdr Barber who have once again been outstanding in many ways.
The Commodore said that the AGM would hear shortly about the outcome of the negotiations with the ASA and TISC over the establishment of a new TIWSC this year. However he wished to state that he was certain that change was inevitable given the ASAs initial approach and their involvement of senior officers in influential positions. Had we tried to maintain independence we would have lost out badly.
OFFSHORE
Both offshore yachts were fairly well booked last year, although days off moorings were rather fewer than average. There are various reasons for this, not least the continual operational pressure on regiments and the major winter refit to St Barbara V. That said, those sailing the yachts came from a complete cross section of backgrounds and experience. However as the RC(O) will report, he expected much better results in 2008. The Commodore congratulated the Hon Treasurer on his considerable and persistent hard work in pursuing the insurance claim following the dismasting of St Barbara in 2006, which eventually resulted in a very acceptable outcome.
Both yachts had been raced in 2007 with Bombardier competing in the usual variety of events. We were 2nd in the ASA Dolphin Trophy. The Kiel and Yarmouth Regattas were both successful with a pleasing number of regimental crews involved and, at Yarmouth, a good showing from the older and more experienced members including the marvellous sight of a former Club flagship, Larry.
The Club has continued to be more active in sail training with the continuation of the 30/30/30 programme for novice crew and day skippers and also a successful YM Instructor course. There are signs that this is beginning to pay real dividends, with some early 30/30/30 graduates hoping to gain their coastal skipper tickets this year. The Commodore briefly explained the idea of the 30/30/30 programme (30 young soldiers and officers sailing on Bombardier at no charter cost for a total of 30 days to gain 30 qualifications) and thanked Mac MacCormack for continuing to lead this programme as our training officer. He strongly encouraged those serving members present to look out for younger officers and soldiers to take advantage of these excellent and cheap opportunities.
DINGHIES
Turning to the dinghy discipline, the Commodore said that the nature of sailing in 2007 had been almost the opposite of that in 2006. Two years ago the quantity of sailing had been remarkable, whereas last year it was quality that stood out.
Sadly the enforced move of the Seaview Regatta to September had, as feared, resulted in a drop in entries to only 6. This year it will return to May and I hope that it will be well supported as it does provide the best opportunity for the dinghy and offshore sailors to compete on roughly equal terms.
Entries were so low for the Dinghy Regatta that it had to be cancelled. However with 12 Regiment joining 47 Regiment at Thorney Island I hope that our increased strength in the south of England will ensure a better turnout in future.
But the quality of our dinghy sailing in 2007 made up somewhat for these disappointing outcomes. Indeed we had excellent results in the Triangular Regatta. The RAYC team, with skippers Major Matt Sargent, WO2 Stuart Smith and Sgt Thisby, won both the Glover Cup for the overall winner, for the first time since 1972, and regained the Clutterbuck Trophy, for the match against the REYC, for only the second time in 20 years.
Matt Sargent and Sgt Thisby also won the Joint Service Asymmetric Championships and Sgt Thisby campaigned an RS200 dinghy in the EuroCup event at Kiel.
WINDSURFING
Like dinghies, windsurfing also suffered from a lack of participation but saw some individual successes. Sgt Beaton was 3rd in the very competitive Joint Service Open Championships at Hayling Island and, with Capt Jed Cunningham, forms one third of the Army team.
Sadly, despite efforts at Thorney Island, we still have not created a strong cohort of Gunner windsurfers. However the Commodore was very pleased to say that Lt Col Richard Smith has taken over as RC(W) and has laid plans for much more activity in 2008. He has a very good set of both training and competition equipment available and is working hard at attracting soldiers from across our regiments to make best use of it.
WEBSITES
The Commodore then said that he hoped that many members were now regularly viewing the Club’s Internet website, which is now being improved by Matthew Sleap. This is up to date and contains an increasing amount of useful information. In particular it is probably the easiest way to book offshore charters, using the on-line system installed last year.
CONCLUSION
In concluding, the Commodore briefly reviewed the priorities that he had set when he took over his appointment.
- Sadly, membership had not increased but at least the decrease was fairly small and we do have a slightly increasing number of serving soldier members.
- We have done quite well in running offshore expeditions despite the relentless pressure of operational commitments. He knew that there is no shortage of enthusiasm for these events, but it is finding the time to organise and participate in them that is the problem.
- Windsurfing had not yet made much progress in terms of involving more Gunners but he really felt that we now had an enthusiastic and experienced team who were in a position to drive it forward.
- The biggest success had been to strengthen our financial position, despite several problems and he felt that we were well placed with both an excellent fleet and substantial liquid assets for the next few years at least.
Finally, the Commodore thanked members for their support to the Club in general, and he also thanked the Committee members, too numerous to mention individually now, for their support to him during more than 3 years as Commodore. It had been a huge and enjoyable privilege for him to hold this appointment, and he wished the Club continued success in all respects under new leadership.
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