The AGM

Commodore’s Report 2011

I would like to thank all members who attended the AGM last weekend, below is a written copy of the verbal officer’s report for the year

Before I start, I am sure you will all join me in thanking ALL the Board and Flag Officers for their hard work and dedication over the past year in running YOUR Club.

Obviously the AGM normally sees a turn-round in personnel, and I finish my period in office as Commodore, handing over to Peter Dilloway-Thomson (Dilly), who I am sure will serve the Club well for the next few years as Commodore.  The Board remains mostly unchanged, welcoming Rob Mclean aboard as Rear Commodore Racing and Ray Flowers as Rear Commodore Sail Cruising.  This continuity is important and the Board has a wide range of skills and expertise, all-important to deal with the varied issues that arise when running the Yacht Club operations and its premises.  Pauline Allen steps in as Hon. Secretary, with Joy Ayton standing down after so many years that I can’t mention - as it may age her!  Thanks to joy for her dedicated work with the Board but also within the Club in general.

Whilst on the subject of premises, a question many members ask is when we might be moving from our current and temporary location.  As you know we have planning permission approved to build and locate a floating Club House within the marina, and this planning is still valid.  Importantly we need to tie in our move, and funding, with the start of the residential developments.  This has been inching forward for a number of years, with the current financial climate not helping progress.  Robert Styles and I have been working closely with both Premier Marinas and Brunswick, the developers, to ensure we have a good dialogue and are ready to pounce when the timing is right.  I am a lot more optimistic than Robert in a conclusion to this, although we must remember he is a much more experienced in these matters!  If, and when, there is anything to report we shall be in contact.

Our financial position over the year has netted us a small operating profit, even after some Club House refurbishment, some racing buoy replacements and a slight drop in membership numbers.  Membership subscriptions are a key income for us and we must ALL ensure that everyone who uses the Club helps contribute towards its running costs.   Sean and the bar also need all the support from members in using the Club too.  We are striving to update our membership database and as such would request that members use the on-line renewal so we can accurately capture names and addresses and importantly email addresses, so we can keep in touch with all members.

The draft annual accounts have been published by Dean Wetton our Treasurer and here follows a short summary:

The bar has been profitable, but the figures are difficult to compare to last year as we do not account for all of the turnover now, working with a new contractual arrangement with the Sean who runs our bar and restaurant.   The ‘fire figures’ are shown net of the insurance claim, we received some £12k which was spent on refurbishment, and this year as mentioned has been a year of investment, we have for example spent a bit more on the club, buoys and refitting Admiral Jack (although most of this will be in next year's accounts), we have expensed all of this but we have seen it as developing our infrastructure for the future.

In addition we have made some progress in systems to keep track of things and cost. For example we now have a database of members that is easier to reconcile to the accounts and have moved over to electronic banking and while we have saved some money in banking this year that should improve again next year.

An Investment Committee, has been set up and active this year. It comprises Jack Voss, Robert Styles, Philip Ayton and Dean. Last year we put the longer-term savings into a higher interest account generating £1.75% with Scottish Widows. We decided over the summer to invest some £50k of our investment money in a strategy that we believe will have better protect us against inflation and provide modest growth.  Please speak to Dean our Treasurer if you have more detailed questions on this.

The Racing section, lead by Dilly, is a driving force within the Club and we must ensure that we maintain our excellent standards both with local club racing but also with performance at external regattas.  BMYC certainly bats above its weight within the UK racing scene and many yachts and crews have successfully competed in a number of national and international events.

I am enormously proud of the achievements that club members have made during this year for example at this year Round the Island Race Schmokin’ Joe 1st in class 6th O/A, Redeye 1st in class and All Talk who achieved 2nd in their class; also 8th overall and top placed GBR 1720 at this years Europeans.   We once again were highly thought of at Cowes Week achieving a 1st in Class – Schmokin’ Joe, closely followed by Jonty Layfield in Sleeper.   Jeneral Lee also had its moment gaining a 2nd place in the Little Britain Series. And we retained the Sussex Combined Clubs Team IRC and Overall Club Trophies, with finally Revive entering and finishing! the Fastnet Race flying the flag for BMYC.

At home, this year we have been busy out of our boats too; successfully launching three new buoys, to include the newly located No6 - named after John Rolfe, and also inaugurated a new yacht race from Brighton, the Sussex Yachts Sponsored ‘’Dieppe Dash’’

We take it for granted that we race each and every Sunday the weather permits, this is a rarity in club racing when most lay up for the winter, which is why we maintain our standards, so well done all you hardy crews!

Organising the Race Section is no mean feat, and couldn’t possibly happen without the effort of a very hard working and competent race committee, supported by the efforts of many members.  I would like to take this opportunity to thank the Race Committee and all volunteers for their work over the past year.  With a special thanks to Pauline Allen, and Nick Cornford who tirelessly man our race committee boat, Priscilla, with Kim our regular photographer shooting her lens at all and sundry.

One of our flagship events, Club Class, is headed up by Lynne East and her team.  It requires a lot of hard work organising crew, owners and their yachts for five Saturdays twice a year.  So my thanks to Lynne and all in her team of experts for continuing this level of commitment.

I am delighted to announce the imminent arrival of a new baby. ADMIRAL JACK!! as Priscilla our Race Committee Boat will be renamed shortly, she is still on the hard in Newhaven with Sussex Yachts doing a fantastic job with a full refurb.  A proper re-naming and launch is scheduled for early next year UNMISSABLE, keep an eye peeled for more information.

Our Motor Cruising section, lead by John Moore, has had a troubled year, with increasing fuel costs and poor weekend weather, hitting activity this year.  Together with a core group of members moving closer to the Solent as the berth prices v fuel start to favour marinas nearer to the sheltered waters within the Solent and Weymouth.

Next year the Motor cruisers are planning some more joined up events with the newly formed Sail Cruising section, lead by Ray Flowers.  The club has been without a sail cruising leader for some time now, and we need to attract more cruisers to become members and participate in suitable activities.  Ray is ideally placed to drive this and I am sure we all wish him well.  He has put together a proposed itinerary of four main events:

1.      The Dieppe Dash

2.      Weekend trip to Fecamp

3.      Week cruise to the Solent

4.      Rally to the Eastbourne Air Tattoo

Interspersing these event dates with impromptu weekend trip, together with social events at the yacht club.

And finally, as I step down as Commodore and take on the Presidents role, I would like to thank Andrew ‘H’ Orton for holding this role for the past years, his experience and knowledge of Club issues has been invaluable; together with Jack Voss, as Admiral, who for many years been a broad shoulder to lean on for advice, for Commodores and the Board.

I thank you all for your support during my time, and I hope you continue to support YOUR Board and YOUR Club for many years to come.

Best Regards

Pete Tyler

Ex Commodore

December 2011