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Cam Sailing Club E-Newsletter 8, December 2002
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Contents
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1 AGM returns to refurbished venue
2 Shock, horror as Commodore resigns
3 New reporter/editor for e-newsletter
4 RYA Communication Awards and the CSC website
5 Results of Foundling Cup races, 3 November
6 Oliver Tweddell listed as participant No 1 in Byte Worlds
7 Risk of flooding
8 ***DATES TO REMEMBER IN DECEMBER***


1 AGM returns to refurbished venue
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After the floods ruined the floor and damaged the walls at our neighbours, the Cambridge Motor Boat Club, they have replaced the floor and redecorated the clubhouse. Our AGM, this Friday, 6 December will be held there and and the bar will be open as usual.


2 Shock, horror as Commodore resigns
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At the recent laying-up supper, the Commodore of the Cam Sailing Club announced his resignation, or rather that he wouldn't be standing for re-election at the impending AGM. Your intrepid reporter has infiltrated the power structures of the CSC to uncover what scandal has forced this premature action. Did he jump or was he pushed? Is there a smoking gun? Was it financial mismanagement? No, not possible with our upright and hawk-eyed Hon Treasurer! Was he flagging after nine years of being a flag officer? Shock, horror - your reporter discovered the Commodore has another interest, "rural broadband", which we understand means getting broadband networks into rural communities where BT and NTL refuse to take it. We can't have a two-timing commodore, so it's better he goes!


3 New reporter/editor for e-newsletter
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Clearly the CSC e-newsletter needs to be produced by someone well informed about the club. The procedure I have evolved, is to produce a draft before each committee meeting, which nearly always occurs at the end of a month. At the meeting, I read out the titles of each item, and if relevant some or all of an item. Members of the committee then suggest other items of news or announcements to go in the newsletter. A second draft is sent to Hon Sec, Hon Treasurer and Hon Sailing Sec and other volunteers for proofreading before the final version is sent to all the people on the emailing list.

As I shall no longer be on the main CSC committee after the AGM, I'll be handing it over to someone that remains on the committee. Henry Bird has agreed to take it over, if he is re-elected on to the committee. Henry has already been looking after the technical aspects of the club's emailing list and I think it would be excellent if he took over responsibility for the newsletter.

I shall continue for the moment typesetting the programme card and looking after the website, but would welcome someone more up to date with web technology taking over before too long, see next item below.


4 RYA Communication Awards and the CSC website
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You may know that we submitted our website, along with our newsletters to the RYA Communication Awards. This competition was to encourage clubs to maintain good communications with their members. The winners of the regional heats were due to be decided by 28 October and to be announced on 4 November which is over 4 weeks ago. Despite this, I've seen nothing and heard nothing about the regional winners, despite repeated visits to the RYA website.

Perhaps the RYA Communications Team could do with a competition to encourage good communications with their member clubs!

Anyway I assume we'd have heard if we had won either category. When we first had a website, very few other sailing clubs had them and many of those were not very good. Now clubs without a website are rare and sailing club websites have gradually improved and many use more up-to-date techniques than ours.

I brought the first version of the website to the AGM in 1996, which means I've looked after the website for 6 years and would welcome handing it over to someone else. As a rather amateur webmaster I'd like to hand over to a more highly skilled or at least a more up-to-date webmaster when we can find a willing one, though the transition will have to be handled carefully.


5 Results of Foundling Cup races, 3 November
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1 Ian Bryant
2 Dave Parker


6 Oliver Tweddell listed as participant No 1 in Byte Worlds
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Oliver Tweddell, now aged 12, is about to take part in the Byte World Championships in Singapore, 29 Dec 2002 to 5 Jan 2003. You can follow the progress and see photos of the venue at the championships' website
http://www.sailing.org.sg/byteworlds/

See:
Notice of race: http://www.sailing.org.sg/byteworlds/bwnor.htm
Sailing instructions: http://www.sailing.org.sg/byteworlds/sailinst.htm
Results: http://www.sailing.org.sg/byteworlds/results.htm
Reports: http://www.sailing.org.sg/byteworlds/reports.htm
Photos: http://www.sailing.org.sg/byteworlds/photos.htm

Oliver is listed as No 1 in the list of participants at http://www.sailing.org.sg/byteworlds/participants.htm

Good luck Oliver!!


7 Risk of flooding
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Members should be aware of the increased risk of flooding over the winter and take suitable precautions to secure their property left on club grounds.

In particular, the buoyancy of dinghies tied down to the ground is usually sufficient to pull securing stakes out of the ground, because the peaty soil becomes waterlogged and soft. To stop dinghies floating away, painters (long enough not to pull the boat under the flood water), should be tied to a heavy object on the ground, or to something that won't move in a flood, such as a tree.


8 ***DATES TO REMEMBER IN DECEMBER***
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6 December, Friday: AGM
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8.00 pm at Cambridge Motor Boat Club

26 December, Thursday: Frostbite Spoon Race, 11.30
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29 December, Sunday: World Byte Championships start
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CSC member Oliver Tweddell is taking part. Follow the races on the website -
see news item 6 above.

**REMEMBER** all the sailing events are on the 2002 Sailing Programme card and on the CSC website at:
http://www.cam.net.uk/home/sail/prog02.html


John Harris

Commodore