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15th Nov –Orwell YC Secretary’s report The real business of the meeting began with Secretary Pete Elliston’s report – that is after he had emerged from a yellow dry suit chrysalis as a dinner jacketed butterfly. Pete said that support for the season’s events had been good in spite of the terrible weather for most of the summer. Although attendance had been good, we were always hoping to attract new members and, to this end, membership packs had been produced, to be given to all serious enquirers. The packs include copies of Eastcoaster and Gaffers Log, as well as literature explaining the aims and aspirations of the OGA. Additionally, there will be a conscious effort to encourage more bermudans to enter our events – in their separate class – and Mike McCarthy had volunteered to head up this initiative. Pete made special mention of Phil ‘the RIB’ Wetherill, who seems to appear at almost every event, acting as rescue boat, ship to shore ferry, start boat or general despatch vessel and the committee had agreed that these services should be recognised by reimbursing Phil for his expenses when on OGA duty. As a result of the profitability of the 2008 events, the committee had decided that the time was right to launch the boat archive, under the professional direction of member Steve Yates. This will initially be confined to east coast boats and will be completely separate from the central admin data base currently under development. (Steve later gave a resume of his work to date). The east coast with 352 members, is numerically the largest area, with more than a quarter of the total membership and it is appropriate that we should take the initiative in areas like membership packs and the boat archive. The influence of the east coast will be further enhanced after the main AGM in January, by the continuation of Brian Hammet as national president for a further year and the appointment of Keith (Maryll) Watson as Gaffers Log editor. Finally, Pete had to say, with some regret, that Jon Wainwright’s boats Deva and Reynardine are now officially for sale and he hoped they would both find caring new owners. Treasurer’s Report Treasurer Clare Thomas was able to report a healthy balance sheet, mainly as a result of all the year’s events making a profit, with £3072 being carried over to the next year. The largest single expenditure is the printing and distribution of Eastcoaster, at £2430, of which only about £400 was reclaimable from central funds. [Note that the increase of Eastcoaster costs over 2007 was due to the production of an extra issue and the general increase in printing and postage costs. Ed.]. There was some discussion regarding the pros and cons of having Eastcoaster on the ECOGA website versus posting individual hard copies and a questionnaire was circulated requesting members’ views on this issue. Brian Hammett made the valid point that, currently, the website is open to the public and we should be looking at the possibility of restricting some content eg Eastcoaster, to members only. Election of New Area President and Committee The only nominee, Peter Thomas, was proposed by Rob Williamson and seconded by Lorna Hill and duly elected. The existing committee was re-elected en-bloc. Presentations of Awards The Bateman’s Tower trophy, awarded to the person who had contributed most to the advancement of the EC OGA in the year, was presented to Richard Giles in recognition of his efforts in promoting and organising the East Coast Race. The Francis B Cooke trophy for the best ‘traditional’ log went to Alistair Randall and the Avola trophy for the best narrative log was won by Bernard Patrick The Felgate trophy for the overall points series for gaffers was won by Robert Hill in Charm, while the bermudan winner was Clive Church in Rhumba. The Needham trophy for the best performance in the series by a boat over 100 years old went to Kestrel and James Palmer. Any Other Business Mike Robertson announced a return visit to Jimmy Lawrence’s sail loft on the 12th Dec, where members sails would be used to demonstrate alterations and repairs – all free! (First 5 applicants only!). The meeting concluded with an excellent supper, masterminded by Julia Raper, including a remarkable and imaginative confection (cake? flan?) by Alice Hill. Bernard Patrick Minutes of the AGM of the OLD GAFFERS ASSOCIATION, EAST COAST AREA Held on the 15th November, 2008, in the Orwell Yacht Club, Ipswich, at 6pm. Meeting chaired initially by retiring Area President, Rob Williamson. 56 Members signed the board which was circulated. The meeting started in an unruly fashion when area sec PTK, having earlier been reprimanded for his unruly and inappropriate dress, appeared in a yellow dry suit. He was again remonstrated with, before peeling off the wet suit to reveal his DJ, tux, bow tie etc!!! Been watching too many James Bond films? OK, down to business! 1. Introduction: By Rob, who welcomed everyone to the 45th Area AGM on the 45th anniversary of the area. He thanked the commodore and committee of the OYC for letting us use their club-house for our AGM. He pointed out that this year the OGA celebrated its 50th year of gathering together informally; in 1958 the first stirring of the OGA took place on the Solent; the idea spread and the Association was formed in 1963. Since then, the ethos which governs the OGA – good seamanship and Corinthian spirit – has spread to many other countries, and is gaining strength year by year. There have, of course, been many changes since the early days, of which the biggest was probably the inclusion of Bermudan classics; he reminded us, before there is too much bristling around the room, that it should be remembered that the person who organised the formation of the OGA, John Scarlett, sailed a very pretty wooden Bermudan JOG racer called Melody. One of the most encouraging signs of the growth of the OGA is the number of rallies, races and gatherings that are being organised in all the areas. We have new blood at Central which was set up to administer the Association, to listen to the areas, to be reactive to their ideas and then pass on those ideas to all areas so that the whole organisation can work in harmony. He expressed the belief that the OGA is as healthy now as it has ever been, and that health is due to the hard work and dedication of all the area committees throughout the Association, as well as the enthusiastic support of the membership at the events arranged. So saying, he would like to introduce our committee, and thank them on behalf of the area for all their hard work this last year. He felt it had been a very good season despite the weather. Rob pointed out the special cake that Alice Hill had made so beautifully, using fruit to depict the OGA flag etc. He would have presented the Bateman Trophy to Richard Giles but he hadn’t arrived at that point. 2. Apologies for absence: Received from Helen and Robin Patmore; Trevor Rawlinson (in Oz); Julia Hartley; Colin Edmond; Lora and Steve Meakin; Mal Bezant; Russell Harvey; Paul Webster and Phil Wetherill. 3. Minutes of the last meeting: These were approved, being proposed by Brian Hammett and seconded by PTK. 4. Matters Arising: None. 5. Secretary’s Report: PTK commenced with the late Fred’s immortal words: “Strewth mates! Is it that time of year already?” And G’day Trev!! Cheers!! He asked who has read the latest wonderful EastCoaster? He was not intending to cover the events in detail as they had been admirably covered in that last edition. Instead, he expanded on some of the points mentioned in his bit in it. First, it was appropriate to reflect on some of the matters arising from the minutes of last years AGM. This year, not only had we had some “Bernardised” minutes in the EastCoaster but also there had been some for perusal during the pre-meeting social, so he hoped most people had seen at least some elements of them. Turning to the EC Race and awards, last year we made mention of the losses that the EC race and weekend incurred. This year we refocused the ways in which we ran the event and it cleared a small profit. Indeed all events this year ran at a profit (by applying the same methods) and we have a healthy balance for the year end. (More from Clare later). That event is planned to be at B’sea again and we have a date. We have deliberated over the type of course to set and have gone for the long one but have still managed to incorporate some of the favourite items in that weekend. We may well change the venue the following year or before then if we encounter any CYC difficulties, which we hope will be overcome. Richard Giles has run this very successful event for the last few years, and he may be reminded of it when the model of Batemans Tower casts a shadow in his sitting room while planning the next one. Well done and thanks, Richard. PTK also mentioned the proposal of the award to the skipper and crew of Raven, who assisted Jon’s crew on Reynardine at the time of JW’s heart attack while crossing the North Sea. Raven was also proposed by the Dutch for the Cape Horn Trophy award, and he/they were duly awarded it at the main AGM. Membership packs will be mentioned later. Last year PTK had used “boat days” to quantify the attendance at events organised - he supposed that those in high PR and business would know it as Key Performance Indicators or KPI’s!! 2007 had seen 463 boat days (396 ex Maldon) of which 250 were on the August Cruise. The seasons’ weather, generally, was crap!! 2008 saw 568 BD’s (543 ex Maldon) of which 440 were on the August Cruise. Season’s weather, generally crap!! So somehow, even with the vagaries of the weather, we were really getting in a serious amount of eventing! Well done to all who turn up because no matter how much planning is done, without boats, it’s just a plan. Turning to Bermudans, an item worthy of some repetition was that the Bermudan representative on the committee will be Mike McCarthy. This position was decided upon in an effort to consciously promote the pointy rig by way of their own subcommittee and prizes, but still under the OGA banner; it might be that they get very big and then form the classics association that all the letters in the press are saying is lacking. So maybe we will lead yet again. PTK thanked Mike for taking on this mantle and he was sure he will do it with style and support from that rig. To help with this we have added a letter to the membership packs, explaining the Bermudan criteria for joining the Old Gaffers, and when creating the OGA promotional leaflet (some were there if people hadn’t seen them) reference was made to the Bermudans as well. This year we have increased our assets by purchasing 3 folding tables, as in use at the AGM, and at Woodbridge. These will be a great addition at the Wrabness BBQ and other events. We also purchased the replacement laptop with some help from Central funds after a voting fiasco over the e-mail between all GMC members….. We also committed ourselves to covering 50% of Phil’s insurance for the RIB and setting up a better system (for Phil) of covering the real expenses of getting the boat to our events, plus running costs, so we really do have our own RIB support. PTK then asked us to consider this for next season. There has been a considerable amount of development, behind the scenes, of an area boat register. This has nothing to do with the admin data base or the boat archive that might be happening at Central. Committee member Steve Daley-Yates, who is a professional in this field, has been heading up this one and PTK said the principles can be best presented by Steve; but it is our intention to commit some funds from this year’s profits to getting this up and running, if we all so wish. Steve will do a presentation later, but PTK invited anyone with thoughts and opinions to collar a committee member later and make their points, so we can actively discuss the matter at the next committee meeting. PTK thanked Steve for his work so far, especially as Steve wishes to waive payment for the considerable amount of his time, as his contribution to assisting US to run the area and events and to give members a better archive. Membership is a big one but PTK tried to keep it simple. He had lifted some figures from the membership sec’s report to the GMC. We have to accept it as fact as we only have these figures to go on. SO… as at November 2008: East Coast has 352 members, up 15 on the same time last year. Solent has 346, down 2. The next biggest area numerically is Devon with 90 (which makes us 4 times their number) and NI has 84. WE represent 27% of the total membership which is 1278, down 59 on 2006. Thus, we seem to be adding to our numbers while others decline, and the total declines. Our KPI (remember those boat days sailed?) is rising…….maybe they are cause and effect…..but PTK was not sure which is which!!! The question of membership packs was brought up at the last area AGM and some considerable thought has gone into it. We have now developed a very comprehensive membership pack which now comprises: 1. Welcome letter from a recent member who waxes lyrical on what she has gained from the membership. 2. Bermudan classic explanation and welcome letter. 3. A past EastCoaster. 4. Promotional leaflet about the OGA. 5. A past Gaffers log. 6. A past advert/flyer for our East Coast Race. 7. List of Committee members, tasks and phone numbers. 8. Background info re. measurements; membership and DD forms. PTK had some there for anyone who liked to take one, to give as a Christmas present! Also he welcomed anyone who had any other ideas as to what can be added….. These packs are carried by the event organisers so do not require posting, which is just as well! PTK then turned to the Maldon Rally. This event is becoming quite a sight now. This year we saw 56 vessels in the Blackwater in what seemed to be brilliant summer sun! (ANY sun this summer seemed brilliant!) The event was organised by the Maldon Town Regatta committee and it was a credit to them. Next year they have asked us to get more involved with it; their main organiser has asked to come to our next meeting, so we hope that from this will come a better working relationship with them. We have thanked Mother McCarthy enough now, so PTK didn’t dwell too much upon the superb meal that 100 of us enjoyed at the Maldon Little Ship Club and the fact that we could get seconds and we could take OUR OWN WINE… and only a week before we were worried that only 6 peeps had committed… and that we had the run of the club all night… and that we all want to do it again… ENOUGH!! Otherwise, our two catering corps managers will draw their wooden spoons upon each other, or maybe upon him! PTK then came to the ‘serious bit’…Or is it the joke? Central Matters and the Main AGM. This year we have earned some credence with the OGA promotional leaflet already mentioned, as the GMC like it and wish to take it ‘national’, subject to some tweaks to make it generic. PTK asked if it was OK with those featuring in it? The membership packs are also something that needs to go wider. This year at the AGM (Main) we will meet a new Editor of the Log, Keith Watson (Maryll), and the new Treasurer, Chris Brown… also PTK had been lead to believe that the “World President” (Central hate that term, an EC ‘invention’! Where did ‘Intergalactic’ go?) wishes to take up the cudgel for one further year, so we need some representation at the AGM. Also at the AGM, mention will need to be made of the data base that was proposed last year but has not happened yet… but PTK is informed that it IS happening….. It has also been mentioned in GMC circles that the posts of area reps need to be moved around the association so he will be able to stand down from the meetings. We had two this year and we still have Brian, World Prez (there’s that Wainwrightism again), our Area President, Richard as marketing, and Keith as Captain Slog (sorry Keith). PTK then got on his soapbox about Mistley Quay, and the dreaded Berlin Wall fence. Suffice to say, the fence is still up, the locals are up to all sorts of tricks, the latest being to enter a float in the Harwich carnival, which consisted of Pete’s 4 wheel trailer with a marooned Smacks Boat in it surrounded by fence sections identical to those removed from the quay, with banners and a skull with flashing red eyes, various sign boards poking fun at Tendring DC and all the other sorts of things that you can get away with. It won best float, most topical float and we are still raising funds to take the owners to court to remove the fence. Please keep coming to the quay, ladders will be provided as they were at the big rally at the end to the season. There is a set of photos of the rally at our visual display department… (Our what?!) AND FINALLY (!) PTK had been asked to draw up the adverts for both Deva and Reynardine, as they are officially for sale. Deva will be out of the water soon for a clean up and Reynardine will be sailed back from Holland for sale. If anyone is interested or knows of someone who could give either a good Gafferly home then please contact PTK. There are only so many tides, you know! Cheers! (Strewth!) 6. Treasurer’s Report: Clare circulated the accounts (the font size of which will be increased in future!) which are deemed to form part of these minutes. She had taken over the financial helm this year, and thanked Richard for his work in the interim since Fred’s untimely passing. Thanks, too, to Peter Maynard, for all his help. All events made a profit this year – well done. We get some funding from Central and from merchandising sales. Clare explained that, under ‘Income’, the second item of £1,119 was really from the previous year, representing two biggish cheques that hadn’t been cashed last year (following instructions) and also various cheques that had been found, unpresented, most of which were subsequently honoured. We received some donations and gave one ourselves, to the Nancy Oldfield Trust. Clare drew attention to the cost of producing the EastCoaster as this is our largest expense area; also to the assets we have acquired, as listed in her accounts. Overall, it had been so much better than last year, with a very healthy £3,072 being carried forward to the next year. Quite a few people have given donations with their entry fees, amounting to a welcome £365. Brian said he felt the overall culture had changed for the better. Bev mentioned the cost of sending out the EastCoaster, and PTK said this would be dealt with later. Brian was concerned that our web site is public; we need a public site, to give people ‘tasters’, but should have a ‘members only’ part; it was agreed that this is necessary. Wendy Wetherill proposed the accounts and Graham Wadeson seconded them. Peter Maynard agreed to be the ‘reporting accountant’ for the new year. 7. Election of new Area President: Rob thanked Clare for her report and work and presented a burgee to Julia for the OYC before finally standing down, after 32 years as an occifer of the OGA! There had been one nomination for the post, Peter Thomas, who was proposed by Rob and seconded by Lorna Hill. ‘PeeTH’ (Pete-the H’Cap) took over from this point and moved on to re-elect the committee. They had stood up early on, when introduced, so did not need to trouble their bones again; they were re-elected en bloc. It was mentioned that new blood was always welcome, and your scribe pointed out that volunteers need not necessarily come on the full committee, but could come just on a sub committee dealing with a particular aspect or event. Many hands make light work… At this point there was a beer and bog break, when Julia very considerately came round with some nibbles and dips to assuage our hunger, heightened by nice smells coming from the galley. 8. Presentations: Rob finally presented Richard, who had now arrived, with the Batemans Tower Trophy (for which he will need planning permission [from Amber?] on his sideboard!) for all the work he had done in the last year. Brian then presented Rob with an engraved ship’s decanter to mark the end of his presidency, and all the years of service to the area; he was also given a special award, a ‘paying off’ pennant which Jimmy Lawrence’s loft had made in the prescribed way. This requires the length of the pennant to be one foot for each year of service, but to make it practical for a little Virtue to drag it along, the length was achieved with a very long ‘tail’ on the end of the already quite sizeable flag. This all left Rob in a most unusual state – nearly speechless! PTK did the Francis B Cooke trophies: one is for the best ‘exact’ log, which would enable someone to follow in their wake; the other for a more ‘fun’ log (not to imply that the former wasn’t also fun!). The first went to Alistair Randall who with his beautifully rebuilt boat Witch that managed to win an award at Yogaff this year, in the Solent. The ‘fun’ one went to Bernard Patrick and Colin Stroud. PTK read the very entertaining opening paragraph of the account of their visit to Douarnenez. Peeth presented the racing awards, commenting that in the points series 70 boats had taken part at some time or other, and it was good to see so many. The winner scored a very commendable 13 points (it works on the lowest wins principle) compared with the second boat’s 28. The winner was Charm, belonging to the Hills; 2nd was another relatively ‘new’ boat, Ariel, and Neil Mordey. 3rd went to Letty May and Nick Hillman. Pointy Points (Bermudans) went to Rhumba and Clive Church, Random and Barry Edwards and Quintet with Clive Anstiss respectively. Unfortunately there weren’t so many participants, but Mike might change all that? The Needham Trophy for the most points by a boat over 100 years old went to Kestrel and James Palmer. 9. Matters Arising from Sec’s report in the EC’er: None, but Julian Cable, announcing himself as a ‘newbie’, thought the organisation was ‘wonderful’, and everything worked so well! Bless you! Persephone asked whether there was any chance of having an area dinner/dance. 10. Presentation by Steve: Steve projected onto a wall a couple of pro-forma pages from the draft boat register to show how far he has got with it and what it might look like. Peeth asked for comments on it, wanting to know what people thought; nothing is cast in stone yet and the appearance of it might change. He said that we have over 900 details of boats gathered over the years and we would like to do something useful with this information. Steve acknowledged that the boat register was actually JW’s big idea. We should have a ‘public’ section where anyone can come and browse for basic information, but it was generally felt that there should be a members-only part where fuller details were set out, accessible only by logging-in using a personal PIN number or password. Members would be able to decide if a photo of their boat is to go in the public section, and to go into their own records and amend them if necessary. If logged in, they could look at other boat information, but not amend it. There would be three classes of user: The public; OGA members; and administrators. Initially the second category would be only EC members, but records will probably be available to all OGA members if they apply for and are given a password, or whatever. Peeth thanked Steve for his demonstration. Liz asked about the cost of all this. Peeth said that done commercially, the answer would be ‘loads’! However, in the OGA lots of people do lots of things for free. He felt we should pay Steve something for doing all this and had bounced it off him. Steve gave a price, but in subsequent conversations said he wanted to give his services to the OGA like others do. It was still felt that, despite Steve’s very kind offer, we should compensate him in some way. Applause indicated the appreciation people felt for Steve’s efforts so far, and they were invited to express their thoughts on the forms available. 11. Matters to be raised at the Main AGM: None at the time; maybe some on the forms. 12. A.O.B: Mike R: In the past we have done various things out of season, like visiting a sail loft. Mark Butler, of the Jimmy Lawrence loft, has suggested a meeting before Christmas at his loft to repair and reshape sails… free of charge! The 12th December was chosen and the first 5 names out of the hat could take their sails along – wow! Brian reported that the previous weekend half a dozen of our gaffers went to a nautical exhibition in Enkhuisen, Holland. The Clogs are very keen to keep up a good relationship with the UK. It will be another Hellevoetsluis next year, with a ‘trans-north-sea’ race, and there were hopes that something could be laid on for the Dutch participants to do over here in the few days before they race home. The committee was asked to think about this. The Dutch sent their greetings. Mike Mac mentioned the Ostende at Anchor event at the end of May – watch the EastCoaster. Last May they were made very welcome. It is free (!) and they push out the residents to make room for the event; there is lots going on.  Peeth closed the meeting at 7.56 (1956 hr) after what he said was a long but worthwhile meeting. Let supper commence! – which was an excellent Greek style affair - well the main part was - but it then ‘degenerated’ into yummy British puds after that… and that cake. We extend our grateful thanks to Julia, Wendy and their helpers for the super supper spread. |