LONDON WINDSURFING ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING
SAT 17^TH FEBRUARY 2007

Present:
Chairman:  Paul Robinson
Treasurer:   Dave Gilchrist
Publicity Officer: Rod Davis
Events Organiser:  Janet Pain
Committee Members: Alan Jackson, Sandra Jackson
Plus approx 9 members

Apologies for absence:
Received from Nick Kidd

Minutes of the last meeting:
The minutes of the last meeting were agreed.   Proposed Rod Davis, Seconded Brian Tilbury

Matters arising:
The Chairman reviewed the various points raised at the last AGM.PR pointed out that despite requests last year, no new volunteers had joined the Committee. New Committee members will always be welcome

Since his son was now in a Zone Squad PR was well aware of the issues resulting in the non attendance of Youths & Juniors.  When not racing at UKWA events or Zone events they are usually at training events. However free entry will continue to be offered to the Youths & Juniors and our thanks go to Rob Kent who arranged a donation from IMCO in order for us to do this.  The RYA have designed a Pathway to Success which outlines the sailing structure for Juniors, ie which events and training sessions they should or should not attend.

The car stickers were obtained and proved very successful and are still available.

The Ocean Motion fun weekend unfortunately did not materialise and PR proposed that we try to organise it again.

Split line – The three juniors who sailed today started at what was the equivalent of the Committee Boat end with the adults starting further down the line. This worked well.

The LWA Taster day did not materialise. There were too many issues surrounding insurance and kit.

Prizes – Still open for discussion

Mike Simpson is good at getting articles into windsurfing magazines and he will be approached again.

Chairman’s Report

This has yet again been a very successful year in a great many respects and may I formally thank the LWA committee for their hard work and commitment in ensuring that the programme and events are organised in a most professional manner without loosing that essential enjoyment factor. There is always room for others to join and I would again ask you to consider giving a little of your time and consider standing for election - there is a lot of truth in the old adage - many hands make light work and please be assured it will not spoil the broth!

On a general sailing front we have nationally now seen a stabilisation of the formula and raceboard racing fleets. The Raceboard fleet has had the introduction of a 9.5 max sail size last year and this has led to a diminishing number of unlimited sailors competing nationally (apart from the inland events where there were loads!) and the RSX fleet and the one design Techno fleets have become firmly established, the later as the stepping stone from team 15 and onwards especially for Olympic hopefuls. The Team 15 RYA led initiative is producing a lot of young keen sailors and part of the difficulty we have as an Association is to encourage them to come to our events given the large demands they have on their time. There does still seem to be a opportunity for a less focused racing experience for those that don’t want to push themselves into the Olympic arms race and there have been two very interesting developments by the Exocet brand.  The Kona is a one design style simple longboard  and the 380 Warp X which is a next generation raceboard. Both models competed successfully in the November raceboard 2006 world championships and interestingly no board really stood out as much more competitive in those conditions than others.  The plus side is definitely that there are new models of raceboard out there and they will be imported by Graeme Fuller a real longboard fan. I have offered Graeme the opportunity to bring demo boards to our events and I know he is interested in demos for the UKWA events.

On the sailing front this last year saw a fairly consistent number of sailors entering the events  - generally 19 to 27 LWA sailors  with a bit of a low at Fisher Green with 9. The two 2 day Inland events at Bewl and Farmoor were very successful with some 68 and 45 entrants. We have agreed with the UKWA and Midlands region to alternate the running of 2  events a year so this year we will host Farmoor and expect the following year to host 2 events. Many thanks for all your support of events and to the 50 sailors who have sailed in our events - how about a New Year's resolution of attending one more event this year than you did last year?

The Icebreaker series  had a bit of a boost in numbers thanks to the UKWA having the Prize giving at Queen Mary coinciding with the Icebreaker event. A total of 46 sailors took part in the series.

The down side of 2006 was the lack of junior sailors sharing our racing despite the offer of free entry for them. The time challenge faced by the youngsters and perhaps the fear of racing with adults is an issue and any thoughts on how best to approach this is welcomed.

We were unable to present the LWA young windsurfer of the year last year as we really did not have any young sailors who qualified and sailed with us and so the challenge is really on for 2007 with a roll over and a £200 prize.

The fun stuff we had hoped to introduce last year e.g. - a fun 4th race never really got off the ground due to the quite challenging and windy conditions we experienced last year - so we still have the opportunity to try some new stuff this year. Your thoughts on this are very welcome

The calendar is now finalised and as you can see there are some changes. We have introduced King George V - it has been some years since we went there  - some of you might remember this location (near Enfield - a map will be on the web site) and we have decided not to go to Brogborough.  Brogborough is a good sailing venue but we feel there are some major safety issues currently relating to rescue cover and equipment which affect the organisation of a racing event. As a committee we have a legal responsibility to assess the risks and take the appropriate action. I hope these events will suit and we shall satisfy your requirements as participants to the series

Finally may I wish you all a great season's racing and great enjoyment for 2007

Treasurer’s Report

DG reported that the LWA finances were in a healthy state. He then went on to highlight a few points:

A £200 donation had been received from IMCO to enable Youths & Juniors to sail free. Unfortunately no Youth & Junior qualified for the £100 sponsorship money donated. Hopefully this will not be the case this coming year.

As suggested at the last meeting money had been moved to a linked savings account

In the current Health & Safety Climate the LWA Committee felt it prudent to take out Insurance with a company recommended and used by most RYA affiliated sailing associations in case any issues arise resulting in claims against them or the LWA as organisers of windsurfing events

In view of the current finances DG recommended that sailing fees be maintained at £10.

There being no questions the members were asked to accept the LWA accounts.  Proposed Sandra Jackson, Seconded Dave Kinnerley

Election of Officers

The current Committee were prepared to stand again unchanged.  No formal proposals were received.

Proposed by Trish Birch, Seconded by Rob Kent. Unanimously carried.

Proposals/Motions

DK raised the question once again of whether we can attract Youths & Juniors who were not involved in Squads. PR explained that this is a very difficult area and that once they become involved in Squads their time is virtually tied up.  If they don’t get into a squad they either lose interest or drift off to non racing.

Discussions have been taking place with Graham Fuller who is importing the new Exocet Warp X and Kona.  It is proposed that one of each of these boards be brought to Bough Beech for people to try.  Notice to be put on UKWA website and LWA members will be reminded when notice of race is sent out.

Any other business

PR pointed out that this year a new venue was on the list. King George SC is a venue used several years ago, but was closed for a period due to maintenance, and they therefore invited us back.  As you will see Brogborough does not appear on this list. Whilst the club are very welcoming and is a good sailing venue the Committee were concerned from a safety aspect, but this of course will continue to be reviewed.

Rob Kent proposed a vote of thanks to the Committee for all their hard work over the last year.

JP advised that A4 posters were available for people to place in their vans at events with regional or national.  These will also be sent to the Sailing Clubs for display.

There being no other business the meeting closed at 15.15pm