Well, as we come to the end of March 2024, its incredible that within this month we have opened the club up, ran a PB2 course and have 7 members qualify as RIB drivers and finished our first two opens (the Massacre and the Easter Regatta) which saw a great number of visitors come and take part. Add to that an early BBQ and what a March it has been!
Before I get into the lighter stuff, an important thing to mention that members need to be made aware of.
I would like to thank the majority of members who have pro-actively put themselves forward for duty this year. At present we have 69 members eligible for duty of which 41 have booked duties in, this allows us to have 122 out of 195 sailing duties prebooked. Unfortunately, we still have 28 members who would have recieved multiple emails still not booking duties via Dutyman. As we now have a limited number of slots left and dates condensed, we will be ringing these members who have not booked in a few week’s time to book these over the telephone with us. Bala SC is a volunteer ran club and the success of the last two opens is a testimony to the culture that we embrace. If you have not booked your duties, I would encourage you to do so in the next few weeks before the dates become too restrictive.
So getting that out of the way, onto more fun things…
Firstly, on Wednesday Evening (3rd) we have a very important meeting. The club operates under a constitution and this has been reviewed by the committee to ensure if fits our operating model. This can only be voted in by the membership and all eligible members have been notified along with the documentation. If you have received this and are able to attend, I would encourage you to join us at this Special General Meeting and ensure that the club is representative of the members views.
Moving onto this weekend we have a couple of things going on.
Firstly Sunday 7th is the start of club racing season and our committee challenge to have at least 10 boats on the start line each week is well underway. The first week’s racing will be overseen by our Sailing Captain (Steve Pooley) to ensure the new format is understood and off to a flying start. Don’t forget that as a high level
- Start at 11:30
- First two races before lunch are for the series cup/title and are Handicap format
- Juniors and those on their first FULL season of racing get a 10% reduction on their PY (please mention this to the RCO at sign on to get your discount applied)
- Race after lunch is Champion Helm and will be a personal handicap Pursuit race
- If you are unsure of things like the start sequence or remembering the course please let us know so we can use the safety boat to guide you in your first few races
Steve is sending a briefing out to the clubs Whatapp group as well so if you are not part of that, get added in.
Secondly, on Saturday 6th we have our first monthly coaching sessions. Andy Todd our Senior Coach will be running these on the first Saturday of each month and as we go on, he will tailer them to the needs of the attendees but for the first one he has some great on the water exercises planned to develop your boat handling skills with a focus on both general boat craft as well as racing. If you are free, please pop a long and take part. Andys initial briefing is as follows:
- Briefing 10:30, on the water for 11:00
- Very informal, you can drop in an out as you feel comfortable
- A selection of exercises and improvement techniques
- Aim to finish between 3 and 4 pm
Finally, we have a Nogging and Natter on Monday 15th April at 20:00. For those of you who have not attended one before, these are an open Zoom call with no agenda and allows members to have some time to chat things over and run through ideas they might have with the Commodore and any other committee members who are available. If you are free, pour yourself a drink or make yourself a nice coffee and join us for a very informal chit chat. You would have recieved the sign on details via an email from Webcollect. Shout if you do not get it.
We still have a number of roles available on the Committee so now that we are up and running, if you fancy getting involved with the “back room” action, please get in contact with me. The open roles I am currently focusing on are:
- Competition Secretary – if you have good communication and organisation skills, this role manages the open events including those with visiting fleets.
- Publicity and Newsletter Secretary – If social media is your thing, this light-hearted job lends itself to those with a creative flair to manage our social media platforms, reach out to the local press and manage event reports to Y&Y magazine
- Social Secretary – With the Bala 700 coming up and a lot of opportunities to create ad hoc social events for our members, this role is great for someone who is a real social animal
- Diversity and Inclusion Officer – New for this year and to help us align more to the RYA 5 year strategy, this exciting role is a blank sheet of paper and an opportunity for someone with a passion in this area to shape, influence and educate the club in matters of this subject
Anyway, that’s it for now.
Have a fantastic April out on the water.
Rob
Bala Sailing Club 