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PLOCKTON SMALL BOAT SAILING CLUB

Annual General Meeting (AGM)

8.00pm – Friday 23rd September 2016

Venue – Plockton Village Hall

MINUTES

1. Present / Apologies

• Present: The meeting was chaired by the Commodore, Neil MacRae.

• 20 club members were present.

• Apologies: Terry Kitching, Douglas Hamilton, Judith Bullivant, Graham Sharp, Ann Mackenzie, Wee Annan Dryburgh, Michael Hay, Roslyn Hay, Alaisdair Mackenzie, Catherine Will, Thomas Maclennan, Alan Burrell, Islay MacRae, Fiona Grocock, Daisy Reeves-Womble, Peter Smith, James Smith, Fiona L. Mackenzie, Malcolm Mackenzie, David Skilling, David Hay and Alexander Mackenzie.

2. Adoption of minutes

The minutes of the AGM from the 13th November 2015 were agreed and adopted

Proposed: Dave McGhie Seconded: John Leiper

3. Commodore’s Report:

The Commodore (Neil MacRae) began by saying that he had thoroughly enjoyed his time as Commodore and thanked all his committee for getting him through an enjoyable year.

The Commodore made the following recommendations for consideration:

• Reduce the Moore Bowl and Dubhaird Trophy pre Regatta races to a 3 race series spread over alternate weekends to allow weekends off pre regatta. The Commodore stated that he had started the races later in the season to try and increase the participants but it made little to no difference.

• Sunday Junior Saorsa Races have proved very poorly attended and with this in mind the Commodore recommends taking up Terry Kitching’s suggestion of combining these races with the club night for stage 3 & 4, thus giving one hour training/practice then one hour racing. This would free up Sunday altogether and therefore again reducing the number of volunteers required.

• The Dinghy Weekend proved to be very popular and the Commodore suggested we try to incorporate at least one more of these in 2017 and open the invitation to other clubs.

• The Commodore stated that combining the races again and having the early start time on a Saturday to 1700hrs definitely improved things for the club and hopes that this would continue. It greatly increases the social side of the club with all boats mixing together and enjoying refreshments after the race together. It also made the shore side volunteers and Rescue Boat crews feel it was worthwhile time they had given up, if they are looking after more boats on the water.

• The Regatta Dance this year was also open to all, members or not, this proved very popular and greatly increased the attendance on the night. The Commodore wished that this would remain for 2017.

• The Commodore suggested that we add new marks to the course to keep it fresh and allow for a larger variety of courses, including the Street Mark which he suggests should just go out as a matter of course so it is always available. He also said that he would not like to see the Start/Finish line move from its current location and believes it to be an excellent tradition and provides a brilliant spectacle from the shore for tourists and locals alike.

• The Commodore was delighted to see so many turnout for the Regatta Fortnight and would hope it remains as a fortnight. He said that this year they tried to group the Local Boat Handicaps together, therefore hopefully providing more competitive racing on the water. With the large variation on winners this year he feels that his Handicap Committee did an amazing job.

• The Commodore would still like to reduce the workload on the volunteers by creating more online forms payment methods. Every year a lot of effort goes into providing everything is ready for the season and he believes that this effort could be better spent elsewhere in the club. He will be looking into making the membership forms online for the future and reducing other annual tasks that should not require as much work as they currently do.

• The Annual Change of Commodore is a good thing in his opinion, as it allows fresh ideas from the top and a fresh look on previous plans. He believes the Commodore would lose some of the respect he or she gets if they have someone telling them what to do at every turn, which is what would happen if we had a Principal over seeing each year and decision.

• Lastly the Commodore stated that it wasn’t all fun and games and there were some members of his Committee who were criticized on their decisions and handling of situations by other members. He said that every member of his Committee did their best for the clubs reputation and he would stand by every decision taken this year and make them all again.

Finally the Commodore said he was very proud to have served the club as Commodore and hoped that if you haven’t already then you all get the chance to experience it one day and should feel very proud to do so.

4. Treasurer's Report & Adoption of Accounts

The Treasurer (Ian Taylor) presented information about the club finances from 1st May 2015 to 30th April 2016. These were audited by Bob Anderson. The Treasurer asked that Bob Anderson be appointed auditor for the next year this was Proposed by Gus Loudon and Seconded by Sarah Bruce.

INCOME

Membership Subscriptions remained high and are up 17 members on last year. Club Nights and Training events continue to help bring in more members and from a wide area to the club, perhaps some marketing could be done in the Spring of 2017 to keep this trend. He thanked everyone involved in making this happen so far.

Social Events (Summer 2015) made a profit of £2000 even with the poor turnout at the dance but this turnout was much improved this year with the new admission criteria.

Club Anniversary jackets are still in good condition and with only a few left we are accepting suitable donations to the club for the remaining jackets.

EXPENDITURE

Utility bills are steady, social expenses reduced due to less social events, spares repairs and maintenance are not escalating, this expenditure saves us money and problems in the long run.

BALANCE

This Tax year to April 2016, overall expenditure exceeded income for the year by £85 but total of cash and our current account remained healthy at £7003. The Treasurer asked that these accounts be adopted, Proposed by Colin McAndrew and Seconded by Dave McGhie.

CASC- New rules from HMRC now require 50% of members to be classed as ‘participating members.’ The Treasurer stated that we were entitled to seasonal and part season reductions for our club members, since we run around 28 weeks and have many around for regatta only. Paying just before your first race is now advantageous.

Participation is the main concern for our club, according to new CASC regulations, which are now auditable by HMRC, 50% of members must participate 7 or more times if they join for the full season 28 weeks, but if you join for only 8 weeks you need only participate 2 times, to participate means helping, taking part or even attending meetings. The Treasurer thanked Sarah Bruce for setting up a digital system for recording all participation, which has been accepted by HMRC.

RNLI- Reminder that sailors are required to pay £5 per boat to enter each RNLI race, this is an official donation from the club to Kyle RNLI and suggestions to enforce this should be made for the coming season.

The Treasurer stated that for information only, the balance is now in the region of £9,400, compared to the £8,100 this time last year, thanks to better social earnings this summer and a recent 3 yearly fuel refund of around £750.

The Treasurer also would like to thank Bob Rowe for his Dory boat which will be very handy as a tender, we also have plans for a new compact safety boat which can be used on club nights as well as during races as a second rescue boat.

Finally the Treasurer informed us that the funds have remained high ever since fund raising was done for the new outboard engine which was eventually paid for by Scottish Sea Farms. He pointed out that we also had a family staying in a holiday let that joined for one week to give them use of our boats and it would cost £100 for a family to have access to our boats for this week. This does count as participation for the club.

This concluded the Treasurers Report.

5. Membership Update & review of subscription

The Membership Secretary was unavailable for comment and is also standing down, however everything was confirmed in order and ready to be handed over to the new Membership Secretary once appointed. Memberships had increased by 17 members on the previous year. The new honorary secretary agreed to cover until such time that a membership secretary is appointed. Membership Fees are to remain the same.

Adult £32, Junior £15, Family £65, Single Race £5, Yacht Entry £10, Life £480, Social £10.

6. Amendments to Constitution

None to report

7. Members Agenda Items

None to report

8. Election

• Honourary Life Membership

None proposed by the committee

• Office Bearers

|Office |Nominee |Proposer |Seconder |

|Commodore |Robin Smith |All nominations proposed, discussed & agreed by |

| | |General Committee on 27/08/16. |

|Vice Commodore |Ruth Scott | |

|Secretary |Neil MacRae | |

|Treasurer |Ian Taylor | |

|Racing & Sailing Secretary |Alexander Mackenzie | |

|Training Principal |Tristan Southall | |

|Timekeeper |Sarah Bruce | |

|Membership Secretary |TBC | |

|Welfare Officer |Fiona L. Mackenzie | |

|Social Secretary |Islay MacRae | |

The proposals for Office Bearers were unanimously agreed.

• General Committee members.

|No. |Nominee |Proposed |Seconded |

|1 |Ian Hay |All nominations proposed and seconded by members of the club and |

| | |submitted to the secretary by 8.00pm on 22/09/16. |

|2 |Alaisdair Mackenzie | |

|3 |Michael Hay | |

|4 |Morag Amos | |

|5 |Keith Van Schaik | |

|6 |Teo Becu | |

|7 |Daisy Reeves Womble | |

|8 |Malcolm Reid | |

The proposals for General Committee Members were also unanimously agreed.

9. Commodore hand over & close.

At the conclusion of the meeting Neil MacRae handed over chairmanship of the meeting (and club) to the new Commodore, Robin Smith, who thanked Neil for his excellent service and gave a brief outline of his intentions for the forthcoming season. Robin then thanked everyone for coming and closed the meeting.

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