DYA-2020 AGM Minutes.

DYA-2020 AGM Minutes.

Annual Meeting of the Devon Yawl Association

10 Members of the Association attended the meeting which took place at 13:30  on 15th February 2020 @ Yealm Yacht Club.  Those present were:

Jon Pegg (DY35), Scott McCready (DY60), Carol Haines (DY377), Julian Whiteley (DY320), Tim Petitt (DY186), Elinor Pegg (DY52), Helen Phillips (DY52), Helen Brunton (DY367), Jeremy White (DY367), Ian Scholefield (DY310).

  1. Apologies were received from the Following members: –
Hugh Macdonald DD32
David  Langley DD85
Andrew Matthews DY100A
Mike Bennett DY102
Edward Timberlake DY129    DY152
Guy Timberlake DY129
Janes Timberlake DY129
Peter Ponsford DY183
Andrew & Sally  Sturdy DY337
Robert  Cattell DY381
Don  Macrae DY92
Mike Roberts DY141
  1. Minutes: a minor amendment to the minutes of the AGM from 2019 was proposed. At the end of the first paragraph David Dimbleby be amended to Jonathan Dimbleby. It was then agreed that the minutes of the meeting were a true representation of the meeting and were unanimously agreed.
  2. Commodore’s Report.

The Commodore’s report was read to the meeting in view of his being unable to attend.  The full text was as follows:-

Please accept my apologies for not being able attend this year’s AGM. I would like to thank all who are in attendance today, along with the rest of the members, for your ongoing support of the association and its committee. I’m sure you will agree how encouraging it was to hear from a former commodore, [ News Letter No.53 ] Peter Benson and to read of his delight to see the class still going “from strength to strength” along with his continued fondness for all things Devon Yawl. Much of the success of the DYA can be attributed to those officers who support the committee, and the committee itself. I would particularly mention Andrew Matthews and Ian Scholefield, who have worked hard over a number of years to keep the boat afloat. This does raise the question of the need for new recruits to fill the boots of those who have been around for some time. Personally I seem to have held the helm a very long time. The question is, would you like to elect a new commodore at the next AGM? The Dinghy Show is at the end of this month, two weeks away. That event has been organised and manned by me and family members for many years now. It goes without saying that I could not have done this show without the help and support of the members. The show involves both the build up of the stand on the Friday, the manning of the stand over the weekend, and the break down on Sunday. Although more help would always be appreciated, in fact we have never used all the tickets allocated to us for any show that I can remember. So if you would like to come along and enjoy the show please get in touch. It is a sad fact of life that as we get older things take greater effort, so again those who would like to have a greater role in the organising and running of the stand at the Dinghy show would be much appreciated. This year the show is going to be more of a challenge than in previous years, because the RYA has changed the complete format. Our stand location that has worked for twenty years has moved to an area that is not going to be so easy to set-up, and the break-down is looking something of a nightmare! We hope not: with the right crew it will be plain sailing. Well, just as Peter Benson said in his letter, we all have a fondness for the class and those who make up the membership, and look forward to the DYA continuing to go from strength to strength. Thank you to all, both past and present for your continued support of the DYA. Your Commodore Michael Roberts 2003 – to the present day.

  1. Membership Secretary’s Report: 

The Membership Secretary reported that at the time of our last AGM membership stood at 168.  The current membership list runs to 163.

Over the last few years we have seen a slight decline in numbers from 171 in 2016.  The variations remain small and my impression is that the turnover of boats from member to member has reduced with many boats having remained in the same ownership for very long periods.

As in each year since 2015 I have compiled a DYA Calendar for 2020 using photographs provided by a small band of our members who seem to be the only ones to catch their exploits on camera or perhaps phone these days.  I do hope members will continue to provide material that we can use both to keep up the tradition of publishing a calendar each year but also to give us material to use in The Yawl magazine and on the Web site.

Overall the Association is ticking along nicely.  As long as we continue to enjoy the boats and our sailing the DYA should be here for a while to come.  That said the administration would be easier if we had a couple more active committee members, perhaps taking on the roles of Secretary or looking after the Web site. These tasks are currently shared around the committee which on occasion leads to confusion as to who does what.  My role as Membership Secretary is mainly one of keeping up our database so that our communications can be distributed to you all, whilst taking opportunities where they arise to draw in additional Devon Yawl and Devon Dayboat enthusiasts.

At the risk of duplicating comments from others I’d like to remind you that the next event in our calendar is the RYA Dinghy exhibition at Alexandra Palace.  This year this takes place on 29th February and 1st March when our Commodore will be in attendance supported, hopefully, by quite a few members.  I hope to be there for a few hours on Sunday and I hope others will volunteer to help Michael at the show.  

Here’s looking forward to another year in our boats, out on the water whether racing or cruising.  Do keep sending me your photographs, contributions for The Yawl magazine, or just bits of information that might be of more general interest.  The DYA is your association and it will only function if you all play a small part.

Contributions may be sent by email to dyamembership@gmail.com

  1. Treasurers Report: 

The treasurer presented the accounts for the Year Ended 31 October 2019. These showed that income for the year amounted to £3259.95 and expenditure amounted to £3170.01. A difference of £89.94, which represents a fairly balanced budget. No questions were raised on the accounts which were accepted by the meeting.

The Treasurer reminded the meeting that our constitution requires that the accounts be verified by a person not on the committee. This had been done by Mrs Amanda Mitchell, a member of Lympstone Sailing Club. The Treasurer advised that Mrs Mitchell had indicated that she was willing to undertake this task again though he would understand if the meeting wished to appoint a DYA member to undertake this task.  There were no volunteers at the meeting and no discussion on this point.

  1. Web and Social Media Update:
      1. The current website is static and there is need for a technical expert to progress the site. A couple of names were put forward and Helen Phillips agreed to approach the named individuals to see if they were prepared to help.
      2. There is currently a Facebook page for the Devon Yawl Association and things can be sent to Jon Pegg to be included on this.
      3. It was suggested that a WhatsApp group be set up to get messages to members. Individuals would have to request that they are added so as not to be in breach of data protection. This could then be used as a forum for technical support and also to contact members for other issues such as the need for crew.  This remains open for discussion.
  1. Election of Committee:

The current committee comprises

Commodore: Mike Roberts

Vice Commodore: Andrew Matthews

Treasurer/ Membership Secretary: Ian Scholefield 

together with the following: –

Tim Petitt who maintains our Second hand boat register:

Ben Davis South Coast Rep

James Gough-Allen Builder

David Langley

Elly Pegg

Helen Phillips

Helen Phillips agreed to take on the role of Secretary and it was reported to the meeting that as far as is known all the other committee members are content to continue.

Jeremy White proposed that we accept the named committee members, this was seconded by Julian Whiteley and unanimously agreed.

  1. Membership Fee: Ian Scholefield proposed that we keep the fee at £15 and $25 this was seconded by Scot McCready and unanimously agreed.
  1. 2021 AGM venue: it was proposed that next year’s AGM be held at the Salutation Arms in Topsham and that we approach Ed Williams-Hawkes to arrange this.

A member suggested that the AGM be held at the Devon Yawl Nationals, which would ensure a higher number of people attending. A committee member said that this had been considered in the past but that time at the bar was higher on people’s agenda!

  1. 2020 Nationals and 2021 Venue.

The Nationals for this year are to be held at the Yealm on the weekend of 4th/5th July. 

A member suggested that at the Nationals in July we ask people where the best place for the following year would be. In the meantime, it was proposed by Jeremy White that we approach Brixham and provisionally book a slot for 2021 if they can accommodate us. This was seconded by Tim Petitt and unanimously agreed. It was suggested that the date of future Nationals might be moved back to June as it was felt there may be more participants then.  It was also suggested considering the port of Plymouth tying in with their regatta.

  1. AOB
        1. A letter received from a member was considered: 
    1. The letter suggested that with membership of the DYA being so far flung that ‘inclusivity ‘ is very important. The member asked that AOB points should be considered even if raised by a member who was unable to be present and they should be taken forward to the agenda for a future meeting if supported. It was agreed that if necessary, this could be done.
    1. The letter also asked that minutes of the AGM be circulated within 6 weeks of the meeting.   It was felt that this was a reasonable request but that setting a specific time limit was inappropriate. During the discussion it was also suggested that the minutes might be posted on the website. It was felt that this would depend on whether a new person is found to help with the website.  If this was done then an email could be sent around to all members informing them that that is where the minutes can be found.
    1. Finally the letter suggested that whilst the number of members of the committee had grown the titled rolls have not been fairly distributed. It was felt that Ian Scholefield was taking on an unfair number of roles.  Ian said that he is happy with the two roles that he is undertaking. One of the named officers has now taken on the role of secretary. The other people are there to help when necessary. 
        1. Tim Petitt advised that he can offer technical assistance when needed and is also in charge of the buying and selling of boats. He can be contacted on:

timpetitt@btinternet.com

The meeting ended at approximately 14:45.