May 2017

From The Commodore

There has been a very busy start to the year. The sea based sailing season has now got under way with Wednesday night sailing starting on May 10th (next week). We had a very suc- cessful open day at the pond on Saturday 22nd April where four new family sailing members signed up. We are attending Plumpton open day on Saturday 13th May promoting our club along with our link to the college. The following weekend sees another open day at Piddinghoe in the format of the RYA ‘Push the Boat Out’. It runs on a very similar format as our recent open day. April has been a very busy month with the refurbishment of the Seaford clubroom from standard mag- nolia walls to shades of blue. An army of volunteers supported this work and made these long overdue changes, and what an amazing difference it has made. We now have somewhere that looks fit for the purpose of feeling welcoming to you our members and the public that frequent the Galley during the daytime. I will not mention people by name as there have been a vast number of individuals supporting the open day and the launch of TGSL (Our new and improved Galley operation). New outside furni- ture along with new chairs inside have helped to complete the makeover. During the month we mentioned that the funding bid for the Pid- dinghoe build had not been successful. This was very disap- pointing but does not mean the end of the road for a new clubroom at Piddinghoe. The project is led by Jim Skinner and he is looking at other funding schemes. There is an ar- ticle further in this mainsheet that covers the concept. However, before anything is made concrete, there will be a full consultation with the membership and particularly those who use the pond. There has been a spend in the

1 region of £18,000 on this project. However that is money well-spent as it will lay the foundations to a future facility at the Pond, whilst maintaining the pond as a members asset and not a commercial sail- ing centre. Our Seaford development plans are also progressing and concept drawings are starting to appear, as like with the Piddinghoe develop- ment concept there will be initial costs and these are expected to be similar to those for Piddinghoe. The reason we must commit to these costs is that without accurate professional detailed surveys etc. we will not be in a position to seek funding from many sources. This moves me onto club finances. A reflection on last year’s finance against the previous year. You have heard that we risk running at a loss. This is not the case and what has happened this year since January 1st your management board has invested in essential purchases for the club Toppers, Out- board for Orange Rib, and in the process of refurbishment of the showers at the Piddinghoe site. These items will be depreciated over the coming years. They will not show on the annual profit and loss account as they are recorded under as- set depreciation The investment in both potential build projects will also be depreciat- ed over the next five years whilst the surveys etc. remain valid. There is a clear budget for the remainder of this year with the aim to keep the accounts profitable for the duration. This will be achieved by careful financial management between now and the year end. The Galley has exceeded week one target and there is a very positive vibe around the place both from the members and public that have visited so far. Yes it is early days but we must remain positive and support this venture in whatever way we all can. There is a clear financial forecast for TGSL and there should be increased revenue to NSSC from its operation. Going forward TGSL management board will keep the membership abreast of its success along with its social programme and special events. There is a very reasonable menu priced with members in mind. You get a discount of 20% plus off of the public published price. Going one better there is available on club nights and Sunday a ‘Sailors Special’ priced at £5.00. It’s not just for sailors but all members. There are reports within this mainsheet on both projects. If you have questions please direct them to the project leads (Piddinghoe –Jim Skinner / Seaford – Ian Johnson) or the man- agement board for clarification. We are still looking at adding Cat Sailing to our training and we are still in the process of completing a funding bid to cover the purchase of a couple of Cats. This is being led by Mike Godwin, fully supported by our other Cat sailors. With the sailing season now in full swing it’s time to get sailing, for me I wish to get more sailing in and possibly join the Cat fleet during the season. Stuart Ford

Commodore [email protected] 2 Commodore Candidates’ Statements The position of Commodore is contested this year. The vote will take place at the AGM on 13th May. Each candidate has been given 500 words to make a statement putting forward his case for election. Fisrtly, there’s a statement from the current Commodore, Stuart Ford, and then one by the second can- didate, Stephen Quinn.

Stuart Ford

I am proud to have been Commodore for the last year and be- lieve that your committee and I have worked hard to make a success of your Club. As newcomers to our various roles we took a while to settle in but have embarked on four major pro- jects for the Club, to replace Seaford and Piddinghoe Clubhous- es, take control of the Galley and replace our fleet. We have spent money on the Piddinghoe project, although one recent bid failed to raise funds we are still well placed to go forward with a major lottery bid. We have recently taken over the Gal- ley and members will have already seen the great improve- ments in the service to members as well as cheaper prices. The cafe is going from strength to strength and looks set to provide a steady income stream for the Club into the future.

Last year the finances worked out well for the Club, we have restarted the boat replacement programme which has been languishing for a long while, we have bought several new Top- pers for the cadets and two nearly new bigger boats to en- hance the Sailing School fleet. We have also recently bought a new outboard for one of the RIBs.

You will see that there is a balance of investment between the two sites and my wide experience in the Club (I was Rear Commodore Piddinghoe for several years and my children went to cadets) following this I was Vice Commodore and both fits well with the role of Commodore. Moreover my wide experience in finance, business and voluntary management boards is vital to this Club, especially with the launch of the Galley, both in procurement and financial management. Your committee has spent endless hours trying to manage franchises over many years, this is behind us and we need to build on the recent initial successes of our new business that supports your club.

In the past year we have not run the most successful social programme and with our new grasp of Galley operations, prioritising members and social events Sundays are member’s days and the Friday evening club meal is back. I know another issue has been transparency and some members have said that they do not know what is going on. But you only had to ask! You will appreciate that we have had to deal with a difficult commercially sensitive issue of the franchise so matters have been kept close. However trans- parency has been better than in previous years with minutes of meetings available online to not only members but potential members as well.

I have been an RYA Instructor for over 20 years with a vast knowledge and experience of teaching both young and older people; I have trained and supported our cadets as well as Monday night’s. I have the time and passion to continue on the journey of brining the club together for the benefit of all of its members It takes more than a year to make the changes needed. 3 Stephen Quinn

Hello to all members. If you haven't already had the dubious pleasure of making my acquaintance, my name is Steve Quinn and I am running this year for the role as Commodore of this wonderful estab- lishment, NSSC. A bit of a surprise to a lot of you, I know, but I honestly believe I can bring something to the club that many members believe has been missing recently. I am a family man with three children in the cadet race squads, Madeleine, George and Harry. Many of you will know my partner Sarah who runs the Galley at Piddinghoe at cadets and other social oc- casions. Probably best not to mention my own sailing abili- ties, but if you see an upturned hull on the pond at Piddinghoe there is a good chance I am beneath it. My background is in construction, property devel- opment and running a couple of pubs before own- ing my own café bar. We only joined the club a few years ago but couldn't believe our luck. Perfect days and nights at the pond, bring-and-burn barbecues and beer at the beach, watching the children have the times of their life whilst at the same time, progressing in their sailing abilities. We quickly threw ourselves into volun- teering to put something back. I have helped build the Bosun’s shed, reformed the island, repaired fencing, looked after the berths and other areas of maintenance. Some of you may know me best from my time running the bar at Seaford. We organised the Halloween party the year before last and while Rear-Com took pleasure organising cadet week. Both, I like to think, were great successes. My aims for the club are to try and raise morale, get members back attending quality social events, and generally improve the feeling of well-being around the club as a whole. I believe this will have the effect of bringing more volunteers to fill the void which seems apparent at present. I would also like to offer more support to the volunteers who are already stepping up to the mark, peo- ple such as Zoe and Jo, who never fail to amaze me in the fantastic work they do for the cadets, and to the sailors who battle week in and week out, without who, we wouldn't be much of a sailing club. I would like to use my business experience overseeing the new Galley, keeping an eye on the club’s fi- nancial aspects, including the proposals for the two new clubhouses, and addressing the problems we are experiencing now with the existing ones. I would also like to improve the communication between the members and the board, be less secre- tive, and open up our decision making process to all. I am also keen to set up procedures for accounta- bility from those that run the club making it less restrictive for members to approach the board with their ideas and requests. This will help towards transparency within the club and give directors a better understanding of members wishes and concerns.

4 Defibrillator at the Seaford Clubhouse

We will soon have a defibrillator at the Seaford clubhouse thanks to the fund set-up in memory of Tom Bovington who passed away last year. The box has already been fitted with the defibrillator itself be- ing fitted soon.

In a future edition of Mainsheet we’ll provide more information on its use.

Help Needed with our Training Courses

The club depends strongly on the revenue that training brings in. This is currently at risk because of a shortage of qualified instructors to help. Are you a trained instructor who can help? Or are you some- one who wants to help but has not yet got qualifications but is interested in working towards them? If so, Simon Suter would like to hear from you. You can contact him here: [email protected].

Below are the current Dinghy Courses and Tasters arranged, where we’re seeking Instructors to help at Piddinghoe:

6/7th May Spring course RYA L1 and L2 . 20/21/22/23 June Summer course RYA L1 and L2 . 2/9/16/23rd Sept Autumn course RYA L1 and L2 . 20th May PTBO Saturday 25/26th May and 12/13th July Taster for Youth Hostel Association 1/2nd June Taster for Plumpton Students with learning difficulties, . 17/18/19/20th July Dorothy Stringer School 28th July evening South Downs Community Group 31 July to 4th Aug (proposed) Childrens’ Block sailing course 14th to 19th August Cadet Week 21st to 26th Aug Scouts from London .

5 The Galley The Galley is now open and being run by TGSL (The Galley(Seaford) Ltd). We welcome Alex,our Chef/Manager and friendly existing kitchen crew to this new venture. Alex has considerable experience in the catering industry and has devised a delicious menu, which caters for all at affordable prices - members are entitled to 20% off menu prices, please keep your membership cards handy! Please phone the Galley if you wish to make a booking for 6 or more - 01323 890077. We opened, for members last Sunday, 23rd April and the sailors stayed after racing and en- joyed a relaxing time after their exertions at sea! Many had lunch. Alex put on a Sailors’ Special of cottage pie and fresh veg, which was devoured with gusto! It was wonderful to get 100% positive feed back - and some in- teresting suggestions for the future. We have also had many positive com- ments from the public and several new membership enquiries on the strength of their first hand experience. A big thank you to all who turned up and helped with the club- house refurb. They have done a superb job and the clubhouse is looking ship-shape and bright - as is the kitchen! Amazing what can be achieved in four to five days! Thank you too, to the other Directors of TGSL for all their hard work in the set up of TGSL, Bill Giles, Pete Lavin and Louise Easton. Also our Commodore, Stuart Ford for all his support. If you haven't been to visit yet, pop in and meet Alex and the team in the Galley, they will be pleased to welcome you. for a relaxing evening and watch the sun go down! Gilly Jones TGSL

6 Plumpton College News

Congratulations to six Plumpton students, Aston, Ellie, Beth, Harriet, Joe and Chris for their hard work in gaining their RYA Dinghy Instructors Certificate. Dinghy training was done by Andy Hamilton and Sam Rowe, powerboat by Si- mon Suter and moderated by Steve Mitchell.

Well done, paving the way for another batch in the summer.

And don’t forget their Open Day, on 13th may at Plumpton. Go to their website for details.

Women On Water Women On Water has re-started on the pond each Thursday. It’s from 5pm to 7pm but if you’re late it doesn’t matter. You can hire a boat for a small amount and there’ll be people to help with rigging and offer friendly advice. The safety boat will be out and Penelope will be on-hand. All sexes are welcome.

7 DUTIES

New Members If you are new to the club, do not worry, this article isn’t especially directed at you. Whilst we would en- courage new members to get involved in the life of the club, we are fairly tolerant in your first year. If you would like to learn more about the duties please have a look on our website for a description of the du- ties http://www.nssc.org.uk/nsscdocs/duties/DUTY_DESCRIPTIONS_2016.pdf. We use a system called Dutyman to volunteer for our duties - there is a description of how to use the sys- tem. However the easiest way is to talk to one of our existing members.

Existing Members After “Casabianca” In common with all other sailing clubs around the country we depend upon our members to be ac- The boy stood on the burning deck tive and contribute where possible to the running Whence all but he had fled; of events and the maintenance of our facilities. The flame that lit the battle's wreck Joining in with duties can be fun and rewarding Shone round him o'er the dead. and an opportunity to get to know other members of the club. Yet beautiful and bright he We do differ from many clubs in offering a duty stood, opt out at a cost of £150 a year. We introduced The duty-points he needed; this a few years ago in recognition of: A creature of heroic blood, • Members who work away from home and His target must be exceeded. only manage to sail occasionally. • Members who sail/windsurf mainly at Pid- The flames roll'd on...he would not dinghoe and do not join in other activities go • Some older social members who lack the fit- Without his father's word; ness to do duties That father, faint in death below, • Some members with young children who find His voice no longer heard. it difficult to fit duties into their busy sched- ules ( we have all been there)

The duty opt out is not really there for people who can afford to pay the premi- um and then sail in our races on a regular basis. On the other side of the coin we have members who opt for the duty discount but make little or no effort to volunteer for duties. It is an administrative night- mare to track these duties and to allo- cate duties to members who we do not know well enough and then find that they do not turn up to do their duties. There are some sailing clubs which fine their members for failing to do their du-

8 ties. For example Hayling Island SC fine their members more than £100 for missing a duty. We need to consider our membership falls into a number of broad groups: • The active sailor who sails in races at Seaford and in the Winter Series • The active sailor who sails at Seaford but not in the winter (for example, catamaran sailors) • The recreational sailors and windsurfers who enjoy just sailing around on Piddinghoe lake at times to suit them. • Families who join so that their children can participate in Cadet evenings and Cadet week. • Social members who may have an interest in sailing and do support our sailing events by acting as safety boat skippers or crew and Race Officers and ARO's. “Our duty is to be useful, not ac- • Social members who have little interest cording to our desires but accord- in sailing but do support the club by attending social events and helping ing to our powers” around the club in other ways. • Student members who are mostly at Henri Frederic Amiel Plumpton College during the week but return home to places as far away as Essex and Bucks.

A few years ago we had a number of members who didn't sail who enjoyed doing the safety boat helm duties (RW,RS,SA,KH,JE,CMB). Some of these still do some duties but not to the extent that they did in the past. We also had a number of our older members who no longer sail who volunteered for Race Officer duties. For those who may remember, KY used to do three out of every four Wednesday evenings and single-handedly ran the winter series. A few years ago, we came up with a point system to try to equalise the effort that different duties took. 4 hours in a safety boat in a rough sea is a lot more demanding than 4 hours working behind the bar. The system was too unwieldy so we went to 1 hour, 1 point. The minimum number of points per member is really designed for the groups other than the Active Sailing group - the active sailor needs to be doing du- ties above and beyond the minimum, which many of us do. Whilst we can earn points at work parties or helping at social events that does not help the situation of not having enough people to run races on the sea. We prefer people to volunteer for the dates that they want to do and not to allocate as that leads to people not turning up or wanting to swap duties. To run a race at Seaford, we need a minimum of 4 people, Race Officer, Assistant Race Officer, Safety Boat Skipper, Safety Boat Crew, during the months from May to August we try to have ARK on the water and for the long distance races we have two RIBs and ARK. A rough count up from the Calendar reveals 52 races in the season on the sea and we need a minimum of 52 Race Officers and 52 Safety Boat helms. This means that each active sailor should be doing four expert duties (RO or safety boat helm) per season. When we look at the list there are members who sail and who do a considerable amount for the club in different areas such as: • Zoe and Jo who organise Cadets • Chris who always seems to be repairing the rescue boats or lawn mowers. • Laurence who keeps the records and organises the calendar and looks after the trophies • People who mow the grass at Piddinghoe and Seaford

9 • Simon who organis