Commodore Bulletin 11 - 020924

Published 13:43 on 2 Sep 2024

Can you believe that we are now in September and we only have about 10 weeks of club life left! Its probably to early to declare what a season we have had, but it certainly has been busy and as I come to the end of my first year as Commodore it has been a great learning curve and I have been so lucky to have an incredible committee team around me driving your club forward. As well as the visible stuff, the committee put in so much effort and time behind the seasons so any opportunity to thank them is time well spent!

Lets start this bulletin with an amazing piece of news. The RYA (who are the governing body we are affiliated to), under the RYA Cymru Wales element operate a rewards and recognition award. It is fantastic news to announce that two of our training team, Mick Flemming and Paul Welsh have been nominated and awarded the RYA Cymru Wales Impact Award. This is awarded to recognise the hard work and dedication that enables the sport from grassroots to be successful, sustainable, inclusive and valued.  

Well done Mick and Paul, and thanks to you both and all of the training team for the time and effort you put into this aspect of the club.

Whilst we are on the topic of celebrating good news, last month our Catamaran Fleet Rep (John Hackett) arranged a Cat Taster Day. Many thanks to everyone who took the time out to be our guides (Dan, John, Mick and Alan) and the 8 people who had their first experiences of Multihull sailing. This session had a number of objectives, mainly:

1. Getting members to have a taster at multihull sailing
2. Give them the confidence to book the two club Dart 16s out
3. Kickstart the development of a Dart 16 fleet at the club and re-energise the multihull class

Its great to see the club Darts being booked out after this session and one of our attendees is rumoured to be purchasing a Dart 16! So a massive result and next year we are hoping to run another taster session and maybe a RYA Multihull course via our formal training route.

So, onto future things and the first item I need to make sure everyone is aware of is our AGM which will take place at the sailing club on Saturday 28^th September at 17:00. Ideally, we would like as many members as possible in attendance and whilst we will have a Zoom call running (which will be communicated out closer to the time), it would be great to match the huge numbers we had last year in person.

As part of the AGM, we elect the new committee as our constitution works on the basis of the full committee standing down then a new committee are elected. The nominations for committee positions closed on Saturday 31^st August and a full table of nominations for your new committee can be found at the following link.

It is great that all of the active committee has chosen to re-stand with a number of previously vacant roles being filled and 4 new people standing to join the committee! A huge thank you to each person who has come forward, as a volunteer ran club we can not operate without a solid committee in place, directing the way we operate and maintaining the long-term future of the club.

One role that was not filled last year and subject to the AGM will be filled next year is that of Social Secretary and already our nominee (Lisa Butler) is trying to get ahead with planning an end of year get together / awards evening at the club. We are currently thinking of either the 12^th or 26^th October so pencil it in and await further information as the plan develops.

With the Commodore Cup and the Presidents Trophy series completed, we are in the final stages of the Stewards Trophy with a few weeks left to contest the top positions. Things are also very close with the Champion Helm which runs throughout the series and this year was changed to a Pursuit Race format. We also have a few more opens with the Waspz visiting us at the end of September and the possibility of the Mirrors running an inland juniors event in October.

We already have a number of classes booked in for 2025, with the Scorpions, Catapults and Blazes already confirming a desire to run an event at the club. Look out for others joining us, as well as the 2025 sailing calendar of our open events (and the return of the Catamaran Open).

Another subject to planning announcement is the return of the Bala Sailing Club Family Week in 2025. This is a full week of events and activities at the club, targeting members and their families and encompassing sailing and non sailing activities on the water and non sailing activities on the foreshore. This use to be a huge event at the club and past members have great memories of it so we are going to give it a try again. The week in question is pencilled in as Monday 4^th August to Sunday 10^th August. A few askes to members:

1. Put it in your diary… even if you attend a couple of days, make it part of your summer plans for 2025
2. If you have ideas of what you would like to see, please get in contact with me
3. If you would like to get involved with planning or running this (as we will make a small subcommittee), even if you are not on the committee, please let us know

We have had a brilliant training year with a great take up on PB2 (Powerboat) qualifications increasing our reach of members who are able to support us as safety boats as part of their duty allocation. We always finish the year with an RYA Safety Boat course and this year is no different so look out for that taking place in October.

Whilst we are on the subject of duties, it has been fantastic that almost all members have carried out some form of duty cover this year. Firstly, a huge thank you to each and every one of you! We have had every racing event with a Race officer and a Safety Boat out on the water with an assistant. We have also been able to provide safety boat cover on some Saturdays and the Bank Holidays allowing our members to sail with the safe knowledge that safety cover is there (this has been used a number of times by both members and other lake users). As a committee we will be looking at the duty requirements and advising all members before they join, the expectations on them in 2025. This may be sightly different to this year but will be in line with the clubs requirements to operate safely. For those members who have not completed duties this year (where we have not agreed alternative options due to medical conditions etc), should you choose to re-join in 2025, we will expect you to pre commit to your duties before your membership pack is released. This was only a small handful of members but as a volunteer ran club it is important that everyone contributes but is also made aware of the expectations that come with your membership.

That sort of turns our attention to club close down and an early reminder to all members that boats (which includes tenders, canoes, paddleboards, trailers etc) must be removed from the foreshore and off of the moorings by Sunday 3^rd November. If you are putting your boat into storage, please remember that the club will not be opening until Sunday 9^th March 2025 and you should allow a 1-week contingency in case the lake is flooded and we have to delay. This means that the formal club close down weekend is likely to be the Saturday November 2^nd with a contingency day of Sunday 3^rd although weather dependent this could be pulled forward a week. We will look to announce this closer to the time to allow people to assist.

Thats about it for this bulletin. Hopefully I will get to chat to some of you at the AGM and if not, have a great few weeks.

Rob Sloggett

Commodore

Last updated 15:47 on 27 November 2025