BJRC AGM 2019 Minutes
19.30 Tuesday 19th November at Blackwater Sailing Club
Welcome
The Chairman, Steve Sharpe, welcomed twenty-one attendees from twelve boats and representing Maylandsea Bay SC, Blackwater SC, Maldon Little Ship Club, Stone SC, Harlow Blackwater SC, and Marconi SC.
More attendees, boats and clubs than 2018
Apologies for absence
Received from Peter Ward, Dave Onyons and Mike Taylor
Matters arising from last year’s minutes
Sponsorship of a buoy is to be considered. This was done for the 2019 season
See Accounts section regarding 2020
Chairman’s Report
Copy attached
A discussion followed and the following points were made:
More publicity is needed and a Publicity Officer would be a welcome addition
Results could be sent to local newspapers
Perhaps invite a writer from a yachting magazine to be on a boat for a race
Put pictures of the trophies onto the website
Attempt to attract boats from Maylandsea Marina and the Crouch
Up to date pictures on the website
Content to be put onto club Facebook pages
Survey Feedback
27 responses with about half from skippers
Race lengths in 2019 were about right
Most would race in a maximum wind of 20-30knts
Changes:
Course variation should be sought
Try to avoid courses used before in the season
More active race management
Handicaps – it was suggested that a change be made and the NHC system be used
65% were interested in short on the tide races
Accounts
The chairman went through the main points in the accounts. There was a loss in the year of just over £560 mostly from sponsoring a MYC buoy and having fewer people at the dinner. There is £1452 in the bank.
The committee has recommended an increase in the boat registration fee to £30 and the Annual Dinner cost to be increased to £30, which is the cost of the meal at the proposed location of the Royal Burnham YC.
After considerable discussion it was agreed that:
The annual registration fee should be raised to £30
The annual dinner should be held at MLSC and be buffet style
The fee for the Sprint Series should be £10 for non BJRC registered boats
The BJRC should make a donation to WMYC in recognition of the use made of their buoys
Election of Chairman and Vice Chairman
Andy Ellis was elected Chairman unanimously .
No-one came forward to be Vice Chairman however Kevin Whittle and Barry Foulds have offered assistance which will certainly be needed.
Andy thanked Steve for all his hard work over the past two seasons. Hard work which has left the organisation in good health.
Sprint Series
Kevin Whittle has worked up the details for a new “on the tide series” for keel boats.
A simple handicap system is to be used
The proposal is for there to be a trophy for the series and some glassware for the winner.
Races are intended to start near the Doubles buoys an hour before HW and be of two hours duration.
It is hoped that the series will attract the likes of Squibs from Stone SC, ECODs from Blackwater SC, and Sandhoppers from Maylandsea SC in addition to BJRC boats.
Draft dates for five races on Sundays have been put forward however it was agreed that two of the races should be held on Saturdays.
Race Dates
The draft race dates have been published.
There are to be some changes:
The Passage race is to start at 07.00 from No12 buoy
The May 24 sprint race is to held on May 23 and the Sept 6 race is to be on Sept 5
2019 Dinner
The event is to be held at MLSC on February 22 and Barry Foulds has undertaken to organise it and liase with MLSC.
AOB
Attendees
Steve Sharpe, Trevor Holder, Richard Robarts, Barry Foulds, Andy Ellis, Geoff Wass, Guy Hawkins, Kevin Whittle, Jan Nuttall, Malcolm Holland, Ken Rolland, Alan Hoy, Rod Martin, Tommy Mills , Charlie Ball, Paul Su, Les Peck, Barry Ely, Brian Copsey, Peter Copsey, Iain Stubbs,
Issued by Andy Ellis 25.11.19
Blackwater Joint Racing Committee (BJRC)
Chairman’s Report – 2019
Race Participation
| 2018 | 2019 | |
| Boats Registered | 30 | 30 |
| Boats Competed | 28 | 20 |
| Average Competitors Per race | 18 | 14 |
| Competitor Starts | 161 | 114 |
Participation is down
30 boats registered this year – same as 2018. However, only 20 boats actually competed – 8 less that last year and the average competitors per race reduced from 18 to 14. Boat starts was also down at 114 vs 161 partly due to the loss of the Maldon Salver (bad weather) and generally less boats competing. Congratulations to the 4 dedicated crews that started all 8 races – Silver Fox, Dan Dare, Blue Moon and Rocket
Race Management
Races were shorter and more competitive
| 2019 | |
| First Boat Average Race Length | 5hrs 26 mins |
| Last Boat Average Race Length | 6hrs 23 mins |
| Average Corrected Time Spread | 42 mins |
| Average Corrected Time Spread (excl PPs) | 25 mins |
Race Length — the average race length over the series was under 6 hours — 30 minutes shorter than last year and less than an hour between first and last boats on elapsed time.
Finishing Times — average correct time race finish spread much improved at 42 mins – down from over 1 hour 20 mins in 2018, primarily due to the avoidance of tide gate issues. Spread is only 25 minutes if we exclude poor performers (22 minutes if we exclude Playboys big wins in races 1 and 4)
Race Officer – In general, race management has been improving, although registering of issues and in-race management still needs some work
Race Results System – the Halsail results system has enabled fast publishing of the preliminary results and automatic upload to the website.
Results.
BJRC Handicap (PN) — In BJRC performance handicap there were 6 winners out of 8 races (Caroline and Playboys winning twice); 11 out of the 20 competitors achieving a podium place of some sort.
The series winner went to Playboys – 3 points ahead of second place Blue Moon
IRC Handicap — Evolution dominated the IRC class with 5 race wins
Passage Races – continues to be a popular event (10 boats attended) – light winds, with wins for Bo Didley and Easi Rider
Maldon Regatta – 2 BJRC boats competed for a BJRC trophy at the Maldon Regatta and was won by Soprano. I suggest we drop this from the race card next year as it was poorly supported
Annual Dinner
Another well attended event with around 90 guests and my thanks to Jan, Andy, Barry and all those that make it happen. Next year planned to be at Royal Burnham Yacht Club.
Thoughts for 2020
Growing the Series
Proposal on the table for Sprint Series
Recommend building a reserve date into calendar
Considerable promotional push now needed to attract a wider range of competitors
Handicapping – Recommend we investigate using the NHC automatic adjustment system next season to not only penalize good performers but also give allowance to less competitive boats and crew. To avoid the risk of new boats, suggest we penalize by an added percentage and let the system adjust them
Race Reports – There were over 8 race reports during the season and would like to encourage more skippers to comment on their race (including incidents) via email when I send out the preliminary results. More input makes the report more interesting
Social – I recommend that we continue to have 4 social events during the year. The pre-season briefing, the passage race, the AGM, and the annual dinner
Finally
The success of the BJRC down to is what you as skippers contribute, so I would ask you to continue to come up with ideas on how we can best grow and improve the series.
I am well aware that the average age of competitors is quite high and we need to attract new boats to the series. To that end, please spread the word about our series and encourage friends and colleagues to give us a try – particularly from other clubs
Once again, thanks to all who have contributed to the running of the season, particularly Andy Ellis as my voice of sanity, and also the race officers who give up their day for us.
Steve Shape November 19, 2019
07921 312262
stevesharpemail@aol.com
