Round 4 of the M&S District RM Championships was held at the Club on the 8th November and club skippers did well taking 1st, 2nd and 5th places. The winner was Dave Andrews with Colin Trower and Roger Stollery (Guildford MYC) taking second and third places respectively. We managed to hold two out of the three Club Christmas events – Terry Colson won the RM "Xmas Pudding" event and Colin Trower the IOM "Xmas Cracker" event – but the RA "Xmas Cheers" event had to be postponed.
The Club’s AGM was held on 22nd November and the attendance level was higher than in recent years. The meeting approved a number of changes to Club Rules designed to give the Committee more flexibility in the way that they carry out their responsibilities. The meeting also approved the appointment of John Mayhew as Commodore of the Club – a new non-executive position. The rule changes also included clauses which will enable the Committee to deal more effectively with the growing problem of shortage of floor space for the storage of boats in the Club’s premises. Full details of the AGM can be seen elsewhere on the website
I am pleased to report that considerable progress has been made by Anthony Warren with regard to the project to restore the Rick Pond for vane sailing. Detailed plans have been drawn up by Anthony and the contractors and submitted to the Palace Authorities and we are now in a position where, hopefully, work will commence fairly shortly
We are pleased to welcome Peter Smith, Mike Lovelace and Peter Hinton as new members of the Club and we hope they will enjoy sailing with us. Laurie Bower
Previous CLUB NEWSLETTER, October 2009
Weed problems and very low water levels have continued to interfere with our sailing programme. Fortunately, in addition to RA’s, we have been able recently to resume IOM racing as scheduled but sailing RM’s is still not possible. The very warm weather has resulted in the blanket weed in the lake remaining a problem for longer than is usual and the low water level, due to the restoration work on the Diana Pond in Bushey Park, has meant that our ultrasonic device has not been so effective. Fortunately, the Palace Authorities have now been able to allow us to refill the lake and it is hoped that this will be the beginning of the end of our weed problems for this season. Despite all the difficulties, we have not lost any sailing days to weed throughout the summer but the enforced re-scheduling of our sailing programme has meant that RA skippers have had the lion’s share of sailing opportunities.
On the wider sailing front, the Club has again been doing well – Dave Andrews has won the prestigious RA PRACC Series after a closely fought tussle with Trevor Binks. Well done Dave – a very splendid effort.
The installation of the new u-PVC double glazed windows in the clubhouse (as outlined in the last newsletter) is now complete and we are extremely pleased with the result. Gone are the unsightly "prison bars" and curtains on the inside and the shutters on the outside and the resulting increase in daylight in the building (and the lack of future maintenance) is most welcome. In addition, four fire escape windows have been incorporated thus improving safety precautions.
The Treasurer has now completed the accounts for the year ending 31st July 2009 and these will be audited very shortly in preparation for the AGM on the 22nd November. The agenda for this meeting together with a copy of the audited accounts and last year’s AGM minutes will be sent to all members in good time, either by e-mail if we have your e-mail address, or by post. We would urge as many members as possible to attend the AGM (which begins at 10.30am) – it is your best opportunity to influence the progress of the club in the coming year.
We are pleased to welcome Gareth Floyd and Martin Graham as new members of the Club and we hope they will enjoy sailing with us.
