Exe Club Dinghy Annual General Meeting Minutes of meeting held on 11th Sept 2019

The 2019 Dinghy AGM was chaired by the Dinghy Captain – Fred Mainwaring In attendance: Fred Mainwaring; Guy Farrant; Graham Sykes; Malcolm Crundwell; Chris Rhodes; Les Arscott; Colette Horlock; Bob Horlock; Caroline McAusland; Liz Teague; Hazel Lawson; Frankie Upton; Stuart Hills; Mike Acred; Nikki Acred; Nick Webber; Richard Stradling; Nick Pearce; Martin Allen; Vicky Raven; Paul Raven; Keith Lawson

1. Apologies for absence Richard Linsdale, Sue Morris, Nick Lister, Ffion Morgan, Rex Frost, Sue Frost, Ian Upton, Mary Upton, Tim Graham, Debbie Woodcock.

2. Minutes of last AGM Approved by dinghy committee.

3. Matters arising None

4. Fleet Reports These reports had been posted on the club website and distributed via Dutyman for members to read in advance of the meeting: a. Trio Fleet Report

It has been a good year for the Trio fleet.

There have been 2 new helms in the fleet and we welcomed Robert Luther who bought Fred and Debbie’s Wild Thing and Tom Ingram who bought Martin Luce/Andrew Soper’s boat Tatu.

The season started with a very successful training event led by Bob. 20 Trio sailors took part with a good mix of Original rigs/new rigs. Bob put everyone through their paces starting with basics such as setting up the boats, rig tension etc. There were very helpful practice starts & races followed by a debriefing. Everyone had a great day & there were requests for a follow up next year.

A brief review of the results shows a good turnout for the always popular Wednesday evening series with 18 boats competing. Andrew & Caroline won series 1 with Guy & crews finishing 2nd in the 2. Simon & Veronique took line honours in the original rig & 3rd overall. Wednesday 2 series in currently being led by Guy in the Mark 2 & Toby Elliot leading the original rig. Simon & Veronique upgraded to a new rig after competing in series 1. Guy is currently leading the Wednesday 2 series. The weekends as usual are not as well supported with up to 10 boats entered. Guy & Nick finished 2nd in the Sunday 1 handicap & are lying 3rd in the Sunday 2 handicap.

There have been two major events to report on:

The Inland championships were held in May at Llangorse. Four boats travelled up from Exe and had a marvellous weekend aided with a friendly reception from the sailing club. Andrew & Caroline finished 2nd overall and Bob & Colette 3rd.

The 21st National championships were held over a glorious 3 days at Brixham, a super new venue for the Trios. We had a good turnout with 18 entries. The sailing was competitive with 8 original rigs and 10 Mark 2 rigs of which 6 were from Exe. There was very close racing between the fleets with Andrew & Caroline leading the Mark 2 series entering the final day & finishing 2nd overall with Bob & Colette taking 3rd position. Rex & Sue finished 4th & won the prestigious Ancient Mariners trophy.

Let’s hope that we have good turnouts, settled weather & great sailing up to Christmas.

Caroline McAusland

There were no questions or comments.

b. Handicap Fleet Report

Wednesdays have continued to have strong turnouts both in the asymmetric and non-asymmetric fleets, and I propose we continue with this split. A variety of boats in both fleets have appeared in the top results spreading the trophies. Weekends have seen some strong turnouts in the combined fleet especially in the estuary but fewer for sea races. I propose we continue with the combined fleet at weekends. The experiment of alternating Saturdays and Sundays has resulted in greatly increased sea races which on the whole have been poorly attended. The pattern of tides for next year needs to be looked at but I propose we change back to using the best day and tide sailing up to or over high tide and out to sea at low tide.

Few events have been held this year due to building works. Outside of the Exe Ian Horlock has attended a number of events including the French Nationals and World's where he gained an excellent 6th overall. Alex Horlock attended the Supernova Nationals gaining 2nd overall. A full list of achievement and results can be found on the website. Well done to all those who have represented the club elsewhere. Leslie Arscott There were no questions or comments.

c. Single Handed Fleet Report

The Exe Sailing Club single handed fleet comprises 10 Supernovas, various Lasers, RS 100/ Aero’s, Blaze, , Contender and the club training boats. There is close racing, especially on the Wednesday evening with a consistent good single hander turnout. 7 Supernovas attended the Nationals in Paignton with Alex and Bob Horlock gaining the best results for the club (2nd and 29th respectively) in a fleet of 95. There were great courses with long legs in Torbay and a fantastic shore team recovering the boats at high tide with a swell onto the beach. Next year we look forward to hosting the Supernova sea championships at Exe in May.

Lasers are regularly out racing with competitive results from the younger members in radials as well as some stalwarts such as Justin and Walt in full rigs. Alex complimented his Supernova success by winning the Aero 7 Southern championship. Meanwhile Ian, his brother, achieved an incredible 6th at the Contender Worlds.

The RS fleet at the club has changed this year from 3x 100s and 2x Aeros to 2x 100s to 3x Aeros with Nick changing his boat to join the James family in the Aero fleet. New single hander sailors are very welcome to join us in the above or other fleets.

Mark Nicholson There were no questions or comments. d. Junior Fleet Report 2018/2019 Junior racing began this year with winter coaching to end the winter season before moving to Thursday evenings for race training. Despite the varying conditions, approximately 20 juniors consistently showed up eager to learn.

The highlight for the season was the summer racing week led by Mark (Corky) Rhodes and Rhos Hawes. This opportunity to have excellent coaching was embraced by all.

Due to the fantastic coaching and encouragement many juniors competed in varying competitions from the local two rivers events to world championships. Recent successes include: • Joe won the 4.2 National series in Poole and 3rd in Datchet earlier in the season, • Sophie and Cerys competed in the Feva Nationals and Feva Worlds in Italy. • Two River Juniors series: Cerys and Sophie won the fast fleet, with Josh and Angus then Alana and Will 2nd and 3rd whilst Ciaran took first in the slow fleet with Amber just behind in her Tera. • Ben and Cerys came 21st and Sophie and Emelie achieved 33rd out of 98 in the Itchenor Feva School championships. • Josh came 24th out of 52 in the Tera Sport World Championships in Sweden. • Sophie and Cerys achieved 7th overall in the Exe regatta, winning the juniors.

Many thanks to Paul Raven, Chris Crook, Richard Linsdale and Mark (Corky) Rhodes, for all the encouragement and brilliant coaching. Ffion Morgan

It was pointed out from the floor that Ffion had modestly omitted from the report that she had also competed in the World Championships. e. Dinghy Cruising Report

This report encompasses our weekend Dinghy and Hawk cruises and our Tuesday Morning Silver Sailor dinghy outings, the former from April to end December (the Hawk excluded from October) and the latter all year round.

There has been increased interest in these outings this year with our weekend mailing list growing from 68 to 95 and our Tuesday list from 33 to 39, assisted greatly by a number of new members invited through our Club Manager. We liaised with SYC at the start of the season but have yet to see them join our outings. We are in regular contact with Cody Sailing Club and a member from Portishead joined us on one occasion and others have expressed an interest in our annual Torquay Lambrini Challenge.

Sea outings have taken us as far as Teignmouth and, on one occasion, Ladram Bay; river outings up to Topsham with the odd visit to The Turf. Our annual Lambrini Challenge to Torquay has had to be postponed twice since the original date of 4 August due to unfavourable weather and rescheduled for Sunday 29 September.

The Club Hawk at weekends continues to attract crew and we are grateful to Rob Ferns and David Morris with their own Hawks taking on surplus crew at times.

The weekend programme offers the opportunity for dinghy sailors to embark on organised group trips exploring both sea and river venues in the safe company of other dinghies and particularly the Hawks as “mother ships”. Once a month we combine with a Family Go Sailing fixture organised by Training Centre which is the only time when there is safety boat cover which appeals more to the less confident sailors.

The Club Hawk can take up to six crew comfortably and there is a weekly group email, confirming destination and weather forecast, and including an invitation for anyone wishing to join. It is strictly on a first come, first served booking basis, but preference is always given to new and less frequent joiners.

The Hawk continues to prove a valuable training facility for members, new or returning to sailing after a long absence, and those wishing to either helm or crew during the week in our Sailability programme. (There is a small fee of £5 a head for those wishing to go out in the Hawk to cover on-going maintenance upkeep).

Adverse weather conditions and availability of Hawk accredited helms resulted in a number of weekend cancellations earlier in the season. More regular outings resumed from 29 June with between four and nine boats entered.

The Tuesday morning outings were not plagued as much and continued to be popular with one session attracting up to seven dinghies. Some of us go out occasionally on a Wednesday and more recently regularly on a Friday morning.

In spite of the publication of a full programme every year and regular weekly email reminders, the number of dinghies actually participating is low. It was hoped that the presence of the Hawks, as “mother boats”, would encourage more to join the outings.

Recommendations for next year continue to be for wider publicity in the regular Club newsletters and more encouragement for seasoned members to become accredited Hawk helms to ensure the availability of the Hawk every weekend to lead the group outings. Nick Webber

There were no questions or comments.

f. Results Report Many thanks to all the Race Officers and recorders for producing a clear set of easy to read data in sometimes challenging conditions. A number of racers have contacted me during the season to point out errors in the results which can easily be corrected. Please don’t hesitate to let me know via email ([email protected]) if you believe something needs changing. The RYA changed some PY numbers this year and will no doubt do so again for next year. I upload all our dinghy results to the RYA who then use all clubs’ data to adjust the PY numbers for the next year. We use these PY numbers for our results.

Vicky Raven There were no questions or comments.

6. Dinghy Captain report This report had been posted on the club website and distributed via Dutyman for members to read in advance of the meeting:

With a radical shake up to the programme, this year was always going to be an interesting one for Exe SC’s dinghy fleet. For 2019 the dinghy contingent agreed to adopt an alternating Saturday/Sunday pattern to the racing schedule. This led to some interesting consequences on how racing would be scheduled for the upcoming year.

Following work by the dinghy committee it was felt that scheduling of start times would need to be relaxed in order to allow greater flexibility in accommodating best tide so not to disadvantage the number of days the fleet could race at sea. The effect of this was an actual increase in the number of ‘at sea’ days scheduled into the programme. These races appear to have been poorly attended through the summer months. With the winter series looking a little more like last year’s programme I expect business to return to normal, but this poses questions for how we wish to schedule the programme for next year.

Wednesday night racing saw a change to the starting order of the fleets. Trios started the first series, with handicap starting the second. I felt this was fair for both fleets and would recommend it continues. The sailing instructions (SI) have been discussed over the last year and work is due to begin to update and improve these in the autumn ready for next season. The aim is to bring these into line with current procedure from the RYA and will include separating our current document into SI, a notice of race, and a local advisory document.

Building work continues but does not appear to be interfering with . Our reduced events calendar this year has allowed experienced helpers a well earnt break. That said, I would like to personally thank all who put in a sterling effort to make the RS200 & 400 opens last weekend such a success. I have received excellent feedback from visiting sailors who are already looking forward to next year’s event.

Fred Mainwaring

Fred spoke to his report and led a discussion on the Race Programme. The discussion focussed on three main issues: a. The trial of alternate Saturday/Sunday races in 2018. The pattern of tides made this year made it difficult to fit in the programme without some early starts (though some members liked the early start times others indicated that it stopped them sailing). By a show of hands, it was agreed unanimously to scrap the rigid alternate Saturday/Sunday structure. After much discussion it was agreed to set up a small working group to plan the programme for next year but to be more flexible regarding the week-end dates. b. Racing at sea or in the estuary? The sea is safer than the estuary and provides more fun sailing BUT it is daunting for new sailors. It was agreed to use every opportunity to use HW Neaps for racing at sea. It was agreed to schedule more Junior/novice races at sea so that an extra safety boat can be used to support them. c. Courses at sea Some of the races were very short this year so that more time was spent getting to and from the course than racing. It was agreed to aim for two 45-minute races. This prompted another issue in that a handicap fleet including and novices on Toppers would take very different times. The need for shortened courses for part of the fleet was identified. Most sailors felt that a triangle sausage course was the best compromise but shortening the course might favour some fleets.

At the end of a wide ranging discussion it was agreed that the Dinghy Committee should set up Working Group(s) to plan the 2020 programme and to look at the SI’s particularly to deal with potential for varying the lengths of course to allow for longer races for faster fleets but a similar time course for slower fleets.

6. Race Programme This topic was dealt with under item 5.

7. Race Management Frankie Upton provided an update on the programme and said that a group of people had been trained at the Exe Regatta and the recent Open event for RS400s and RS200s.

Shore-based training is planned for the week-ends of 15/16 February and 21/22 February 2020. The first week-end is open to all and modularised course is planned for those interested in the second week-end.

Fred thanked Frankie and her team for the excellent Open Event for RS 200s and 400s.

8. Safety Boat Rota/Dutyman Dutyman is a big improvement on the previous arrangements and Guy asked if anyone is missed off the rota who has not chosen to be. It was agreed to make a recommendation to the management committee that all new members should be asked if they are prepared to helm (need PB2 and over 18) or crew a safety boat – and that this information be passed to the Sailing Committee. Nick Pearce offered to contact the membership secretary about this.

There was much discussion over the crewing of the safety boat. It was deemed unsatisfactory for a safety boat not to have a crew – this had happened on several occasions in 2019. The RYA recommendation is 15:1 dinghy/safety boat ratio with a minimum of two people on each safety boat. It was felt that the club should adhere to this but the Race Officer can use her/his discretion.

9. Trophies Please return by 1st December to Guy Farrant or leave in Best Room

10. Election of Officers for 2020

Dinghy Captain Richard Linsdale {proposer Guy Farrant seconder Nick Pearce} Minute Secretary no nominations Fleet Captains Trio Caroline McAusland {proposer Guy Farrant seconder Tim Graham} Handicap Les Arscott {proposer Chris Rhodes seconder Frankie Upton} Single hander Mark Nicholson {proposer Nick Coombes seconder Tim Graham} Youth Ffion Morgan {proposer Guy Farrant seconder Mike Acred} All were unopposed.

11. Silver Series (Dinghies) Proposal from Nick Pearce to trial Dinghy Race Series to take place on Wednesday afternoons in the Autumn starting at 14.00 called “Silver Series (Dinghies)”. (Retired) Members thought this was a good idea. Nick will liaise with Dutyman for Safety Boat crew and Vicky Raven for results.

12. AOB Nick Webber urged members to read his report on Dinghy and Hawk Cruising as it had not been distributed with the other fleet reports (minute secretary’s fault - sorry). There was one item that caused concern to the meeting – Dinghy cruises have no safety boat cover. It was recommended that this be addressed by the Sailing Committee.

FOR INFORMATION Some key dates for 2020 Sat/Sun Feb 1/2 Junior Feva Zone squad weekend Sat Feb 8 Annual Prize Giving at the Clubhouse Fri May 15 Supernova Training Day Sat/Sun May 16/17 Supernova Sea Championships Sat/Sun Jul 25/26 Exe Regatta (Lympstone leading) Fri/Sun Aug 14/16 Trio National Championships