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From the Wheelhouse

November 2019

I am amazed at members continuing support and thirst for information, I guess we are all members of the same club and are entitled to that. I think when we are sitting at Management and making decisions on your behalf we sometimes forget that we need to report back to you, and “Wheelhouse” is one of the media outlets the Club has available to do so.

Review of Strategic plan
Brian Atkins has returned from NZ but unfortunately the Management Committee has run out of time to fit in a December session, though not for the want of trying. We have selected a few dates in February to meet for the second session. It is quite interesting that at the Planning Committee meetings we also need to use the Strategic Plan to enable the Committee to understand the requirements that may be needed in the future to see the Club in a strong position into the next 5-10 years and even up to 25 years.

Governance
The policy update Committee has met. This outlined the enormous amount of work required to update the Bylaws from the Constitution and convert them into policies to make sure that our governance will marry up with the new Rules. Existing policies will also be subject to review. I feel once we format a process, the Committee will produce a document that will be a single publication and easy to read.

The Marine Annex lease is very close to being finalised with both tenants settled in. This seems to be working well.

Finance
Following my last issue of the “Wheelhouse” the Treasurer is very happy with the October results. The month has been successful and very pleasing. Income from pen movements was above budget. The Quarterdeck and Yachtsman’s bar have produced good figures, this is especially pleasing with our wages also being on budget.
Our 90 Day debtors have improved on last year’s figures but it’s sad to see members using their Club as a bank and abusing their fellow members by not paying their bills.
Membership
The Chair of Membership reported our Clubs’ Open Day was very successful with a sprinkling of new members in all categories. The debrief with the Committee will see a few improvements with a focus on all sections of the club.

Works
The plans for the refurbishing of the toilets and adding an universal access toilet (UAT) in the Centreboard Clubhouse were tabled and approved in principal. This will allow us to tender in January/February with an anticipated start date of April 2020. Whilst on this subject, after a lot of enthusiastic pressure from our Centreboard Captain, we now have a minor revamp of the canteen. This has allowed the installation of a commercial coffee machine, display fridges, EFTPOS and shortly a cash register with key charge facilities linked to the Club POS system. There were a lot of glazed eyed sailors around the boat park from the coffee fix last Sunday!

The wave attenuator update - now the contractor and contract have been finalised - we have lodged the permit application for the works. For those interested, we have returned to the original turpentine timber specification for the whalers. We were going to use a composite plastic, but the contractor was not confident that these would meet the 20-25 year life span we require.

We have had an expensive run-in with our recycled water on the hardstand works area. There seems to be a problem with what was meant to be supplied within the in-ground separation tanks and flow levels, and what we eventually had installed. There has been a lot of correspondence and a few red-faced contractors. Effectively, the result was more frequent replacement of filters than expected. Hopefully, we will be back on track over the next few weeks once modifications are completed.

Last week we met with the Clubs “go to” building surveyor to clear up the approval process for the proposed Quarterdeck kitchen extension and updating the flooring and ceiling. We are now confident we can proceed with the concreting and lining of the area. The kitchen will require Council building approval. The Works Chairman has contacted our architect, and this process will proceed down the normal channels.
We haven’t forgotten about the Bosuns Club. There was a plan to remove the temporary containers and construct a new shed. This has been put on hold as we will require Council approval. We will be tiding up the area that will house the volunteer Bosuns Club on a temporary basis. The intention is to draw up a building application and have the new shed as a budget item in next year’s budget.

Security
There have been a few incidents around the Club where property had been damaged. When this happens the Club and the police have their hands tied if no one makes a police report. I strongly recommend that all incidents have a Police Report made. Where insurance claims are necessary, your insurer will require a Police Report as a matter of processing your claim. Police Reports are important and should be timely. I know we all say it’s a waste of time but the police are able to see a common thread and this helps to make convictions.

General business
This is quite interesting - Regatta have reported some confusion amongst members when it comes to manning “Checkpoint” (the rescue craft)
To explain this in more detail, during the Power Boat time trail season, members are required to use their vessels and man the checkpoints. During the Sailing Season, members are required to man the rescue boat “Checkpoint”.
There has been a tendency of members to arrive at the Club on Power Boat days to man the rescue boat. This is not the intention as you are required to use your vessel with adequate crew (ideally three) to record times at various check points for the Power Boat Time Trials.
How do we fix this? Maybe by changing the name of the rescue boat. The Committee have asked me to invite members to write in with an appropriate name suggestion of a Swan or Canning River landmark or feature which you think would suit our rescue craft Check Point.
All suggestions will be vetted by the Commodore’s wife before being taken to the next Management Meeting 17th December 2019. reply to commodore@sopyc.com.au by 1700hrs 16th December 2019

Wind Bots - what are they? They are wind analysis instruments that mount onto the training ribs. They are used to make accurate readings of wind speeds and shifts on the water which is extremely useful in sailing. In a Regatta situation the coach would head out on the course and check the course area, then return to the pre-race briefing of the SoPYC sailors and explain the wind patterns. This may indicate the favoured side of the course; this would be updated at the end of the race. They can also be used to assist the Race Officer in deciding the mark positions regarding the wind oscillation. This is only a brief outline. The Club had not budgeted for the Wind Bots and Training and Development had recommended we purchase these to assist the coaches in the training of all fleets. We decided to use a tax incentive scheme used through the ASF (Australian Sports Foundation). It gives me great pleasure to announce we have raised enough money to be able to purchase both Wind Bots. Thank you for your generosity!

I think I’ve waffled on enough.

Cheers,
John Midolo
SoPYC Commodore
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