AGM 2021 Agenda

By Editor

Notice of the Annual General Meeting of the Wanderer Class Owners’ Association UK

To be held Virtually on Zoom

Email or postal invites will be sent 28 days before

On Saturday 27th February 2021 AT 12:30pm

Agenda

  1. Welcome
  2. Apologies for Absence
  3. Acceptance of Minutes of AGM dated 29th February 2020
  4. Matters arising from 3.
  5. Chairman’s Report – John Renouf
  6. Treasurer’s Report for the
  7. Accounts for the Year Ending 31st October 2020 – Robin Gabbitas
  8. Membership Report – Jenny Renouf
  9. Technical Report – Mike Bennet
  10. Events Report – Philip Meadowcroft
  11. Election of Committee Members
  12. Any other business
  13. Date of next meeting – Saturday 26th February 2022

Directions: Stay at home, stay safe. Download Zoom and login using link above and password in email.

 

Minutes of the 2020 Annual General Meeting of the Wanderer Class Owners’ Association

Held at the RYA Dinghy Show on Saturday 29th February 2020 at 12:30pm.

1. Welcome

The Chairman, John Renouf, welcomed approximately 21 members and thanked everyone for attending.

2. Apologies

Apologies for absence had been received from Alan Bort, David Mansfield, Tony and Pat Gillespie, Dafydd and Maggi Bebb, Mike Levington, David Hewitt, Bernard Taylor, Mike Bennett, Simon Edsforth and Jean Whittaker.

3. Acceptance of Minutes of previous AGM

The minutes of the Annual General Meeting dated 2nd March 2019 were agreed as a true record. Ray Tennant proposed. Bob Rastrick seconded.

4. Matters Arising

Simon Edsforth is to produce a flyer which can be downloaded from the website to hand out at sailing clubs. Action carried forward from the 2019 AGM.

5. Chairman’s Report

John Renouf presented the following report:

It hardly seems to have been a year since I last addressed this Annual Meeting but it has, and it has been a typically busy year for the Class Association. I will leave others to fill in the details and keep my own presentation as short as possible, but I will take this opportunity to acknowledge that the success of our events programme is due in no small way to our members that are willing to travel, sometimes considerable distances with their boats in tow, to participate enthusiastically in whatever activities are offered both on and off the water. Participation at our events is at a satisfying level that justifies the efforts of the organisers both within the Association and at our host venues, and due appreciation is expressed to them all.  There will always be room for more participants and we will continue to encourage participation by covering the participation fees of members during this year. The programme for 2020 has been “tweaked” with some venue changes, and WandererFest will again take place at Cobnor to the established format.

The enthusiasm of the Committee continues unabated and for this I, as Chairman, am immensely grateful as it makes my task much easier, so my thanks go to them for their work over the past year. Whilst I normally subscribe to the philosophy of “don’t fix what isn’t broken”, for an organisation like ours to thrive we need to bring in new ideas and expertise to help us to move forward and keep up with the “real world”. There is no better illustration of this than with the Wanderer magazine that has significantly benefitted from the involvement of Simon, who has injected his own brand of knowledge and enthusiasm together with his creative flair and knowledge of current technology to restyle the publication and also streamline the production process. I am keen to recruit new and hopefully “younger” members to the Committee, not only to reduce the average age but also to provide knowledge of the latest version of the Hartley Wanderer. The number of these boats attending events is gradually increasing and I feel that the owners of these boats should be better-represented on a Committee that currently has between them seven Anglo Marine boats and one Porter boat. The Committee normally meets twice a year in addition to the AGM, with much business being completed by email so the time commitment is hardly arduous, and diversity of input is much needed.

Now it remains for me to hand over to the Committee officers to present their respective reports but first let me thank you all for attending this meeting and for your continued support of the Class Association. 

6. Treasurer’s Report

Robin Gabbitas presented the Accounts. There was a slight increase of income from subscriptions and a slight increase in expenditure but a healthy balance remained.

He confirmed that the membership would remain at £22 and the Association would continue to fund the participation fees for members attending WCOA events.

He thanked Ray Tennant for the prompt auditing of accounts.

 

7. Membership Report

Jenny Renouf reported that there were 186 members of the WCOA at the 31 December 2019, including 7 Honorary members. 18 people did not renew.

20 new members joined in 2019. 5 new boats have already signed up for 2020. 

Hartley boats had sold 19 new boats but some of these were late notifications again.  1817 is the latest boat number.  The new boats that were notified late in 2018 are due to renew their membership for 2020. 

88 have renewed carried over from 2019. 

Bob Rastrick asked if there was an increase in membership in the North. Membership records would need to be assessed in detail for this information to be obtained.

8. Technical Report

Mike Bennett unfortunately couldn’t make the AGM. The Chairman reported on his behalf.

Twin Spinnaker Pole system:   Dispensation of the twin spinnaker pole system was reviewed.

This new system competed in two races in 2019, one of which was very light winds and the other very strong winds. Due to the limited amount of races where this system was used and the extreme of conditions, it was decided that there was not enough evidence to determine the performance of the system. Therefore it was decided that the dispensation of the twin spinnaker pole system would continue for another year.

It was noted that the system as an option for the Wanderer has been removed from the Hartley website.

Bob Rastrick asked for advice about removing a weighted centre board. The meeting suggested several methods to achieve this.

9. Events Report

Philip Meadowcroft presented the proposed 2020 events calendar as follows:

  • 18-19 April West Oxfordshire: 

This is the 5th year at this venue. Hopefully better conditions as last year was raced through storm Hannah.

  • 9-10 May Bewl Water:  WCOA National Championships. 

This coincides with the VE day celebrations 

  • 17 May       Marlow SC:  Try a Wanderer 
  • 6-7 June    Whitstable SC: Gavin Barr Trophy.

Last year’s event was reported by Richard Maltby. The event was a great success with 12 entries. Won by Tim Barr with Mark Skipper. On Sunday there is a cruise planned sailing past a seal colony area.

  • 1-5 June    Roseland Peninsula: West Country Cruise. 

This is the 5th year at this venue.

  •  9-13 July    Cobnor Point, Chichester : Wandererfest 2020. 

The Associations flagship event for the 6th year running 

  • 22-23 August  Arnside SC: New event, racing in the inner estuary
  • 5-6 September Cotswold SC: WCOA Inland Championship. 
  • 26-27 September  Galmpton Creek: New Event.  River Dart Laid Back Weekend 
  • 3-4 October Swarkestone SC: New Racing Event

All events will be free for members, with participation costs covered by the WCOA.

Philip Meadowcroft thanked all the event organisers and would like to hear from anyone who would like to organise future events .It was good to see more planned events in the north of the country.

10. Election of Committee Members

John Renouf expressed an interest in recruiting new members to the committee especially younger members to keep the Association healthy for years to come. No volunteers were forthcoming at the meeting. Mike Hamilton had decided to stand down from the Committee and his position as Webmaster. He noted that Simon Edsforth had agreed to take on the website in the absence of any other volunteer.  Mike was thanked for his long and significant contribution to the WCOA Committee in several roles.

It was proposed to re-elect the other Committee members en-bloc. Alan Laight proposed, Lindsey Weatherly seconded.

No objections – vote carried.

11. Presentations

11.1 Ian Proctor Memorial Trophy

Jill Davis awarded the trophy to Simon Edsforth who has provided strong commitment to the committee and exceptional enthusiasm producing the class magazine. Unfortunately Simon was unable to attend the AGM.  Jill will present the award in person at a later date.         

11.2 Barry Hill Clanger Bell

There was only one nomination for the trophy which was awarded to Richard Austin for his exceptional navigational skills in the wrong direction.

During lovely conditions on the Salcombe cruise 3 boats set out on an epic cruise. All was going well until Snapes Point where 2 boats went in the planned direction. Richard, however, decided to follow totally different boats and go on an altogether unique solo cruise .

The award was presented by John Renouf.

12. Any Other Business

An e-mail was received by the committee with regard to a self-launching whisker pole being accepted by the Class Rules. It was unclear whether this was to be used in racing or cruising. It was decided that the committee would further investigate the circumstances where this would be used and if a class ruling would be applied.

Jenny Renouf reported that there had been a modest sales of the new regalia that had provided a small profit to the association. 9 T-shirts, 6 polo shirts and 2 jackets have been sold. Please let Jenny know if there is a particular item that you would be interested and she will obtain a price from the supplier.

Bob Rastrick did a presentation about a scheme to fix derelict hut roofs commonly found on sailing club accommodations. This has been used on Rotherham SC. It is called Fix My Hut Scheme. It is run by a company called Iko roofs. If your sailing club needs a new roof its worth applying 

The IKO Fix That Hut scheme, repairing roofs in the community. The campaign was launched in 2006 to celebrate IKO’s centenary year, and was inspired when the company pledged materials were originally used in 1911. The ‘Fix That Hut’ campaign seeks out needy projects such as village halls, scout huts and other buildings which are at the heart of local communities with the UK. IKO will donate free waterproofing materials for successful and deserving projects.

         https://www.ikogroup.co.uk/about-iko/sustainability/fix-that-hut/

13. Next meeting

The 2021 AGM will take place on Saturday 27 February at 12.30 pm at the RYA Dinghy show (venue to be confirmed)