Chris Bentley
Hi all,
I have started a separate thread on this to collate the replies under one topic.
We covered a lot of ground in Brixham, some excellent and some not so good. Attendees have a full set of reports from us but I have a problem with posting these on this site as, pretty much, anyone can see them and I don’t want that for two very good reasons;
The financial report is not nice reading and I don’t want to wash our dirty linen in public. Rest assured your money is safe and there is a substantial amount of it in the bank.
We have a proposal which, if carried through, could be a considerable PR scoop. But leaking it would spoil the effect.
Therefore, I have asked Jack, our webmaster, to introduce a secure area on this site where this information, and maybe other information, is only available to bona fide paid up members. This will probably involve you in new passwords of a more secure nature. I hope you don’t think that I am doing a Murdock on you. I do genuinely think that we are too open with our information, for instance, all the accumulated knowledge contained in our forums. As an example, I am a member of the Dutch Barge Association, a very similar type of site. (I own one). Anyone can see the blurb about the barge lifestyle but only members have access to the areas that really matter to owners, the classified ‘For Sale’ area, the archives and the knowledge bank where years of posts answer every conceivable question about where to get an ignition coil for a 1890 engine, etc etc. You follow my thinking, I am sure. Classic Car sites do similar. Another hope is that it may well boost our membership and thus subs income which can only benefit us all because we can then spend more of it to your benefit. The 2011 Minutes, when you see them, have lots of suggestions and carried motions for exactly that.
If you want to comment now, please do. And log in regularly to keep up with this development.
Chris 
Mark Taylor
It will just be my own incompetence I’m sure, but I’ve never actually found where the 2011 AGM minutes are located, so have yet to read them!
Mark
Catherine Hartley
apologies – will attempt to get them up this week
catherine
Peter Booth
Hi Chris,
Firstly could I say a huge thank you to you and Catherine and the other members of the committee for sorting out the problems that the association got into.
Having been a member of the association for almost 20 years ( finally after Catherine sorted out what had happened to my renewal this year) I agree with Gareth that the web site should be an open forum with exception of the matters of accounts and such information which is better kept within the membership. I had an Albin Scampi as well up until a week ago and that class had a very good website with a lot of information which although it was in Swedish was open to all in fact I don’t even know if they had a charge for membership. I think that £20 is more than sufficient for what I now get out of the class most of the information on rigging and sailing the boat I got from Steve Goacher when I bought a suit of his sails all those years ago and although I still visit the site almost every day it is more to see what I can do for the site than visa versa.
Gareth is right that the class is struggling but we are not the only ones that are finding times hard, at Helensburgh we are down to 8 racing on Wednesday nights but the Sonars were only getting 3 and handicap IRC plus CYCA were only about the same as Sonatas. The Scottish we cancelled when we knew that only 2 of our own boats would be attending and I didn’t want Gareth in particular trying to organise a crew, go to the great expense of getting his boat in and out of the water and getting here to race against 2 others. I seem to have lost contact with Mark Taylor so I could not check with him. I am also somewhat short of who would want to run it next year as HSC is the biggest fleet in Scotland and a decent turnout anywhere else is not likely. Previously we would hold it year about with the Forth but that does not seem likely now. The Scottish Series is also a large problem and with most of our fleet having sailed that event for more years than I care to remember I don’t see much chance of that recovering soon.
My priority at the moment is to try to ensure that we rebuild from the grass roots and ensure that we have youger owners like Gareth coming into the class as we are just custodians of the class fore the next generation but we have to remember that some of us very senior sailors still wish to race but we also like to do other things in sailing and we just don’t have enough time to fit it all in. We also have to remember that the Sonata is a cruiser/racer and those that are fully fitted out and carry an awful lot of things for cruising find it hard to compete with those that have a few extra weights to compensate for not having head linings etc. and it is not as easy as saying ‘well just carry it when you go cruising’ if your boat is on a mooring. I don’t know what happens when you get past 65 but we all seem to turn into Victor Meldew and moan about everything so please don’t take these issues too seriously – it is probably just an excuse for being 2nd all the time instead of 1st.
Chris I love the idea of what to do with the Sonata that the association might do with the boat that we may come to own – it would be a great publicity stunt but I don’t think that there would be such a group around here that would want to take it on under the conditions that would be placed on them.
Finally Chris I don’t hold out a great hope of Scottish boats attending the Nats next year as it is too expensive in cost and time for us to get crew boats out of the water, transported down there, accomodation etc. so I think if you get Mark and Gareth I think you will be doing well.
Peter
Mark Taylor
Peter,
I’m still around and still sailing!!!! Will have Saraband down at Windermere for the Northerns and then that will be that for Saraband for this year, although also have RS300 Inlands at Draycote, RS Regatta at Dalgety Bay and RS Final Fling at Rutland before end of the year!!!
Next year I share your concern regarding Scottish events.Kip rarely sees more than 1 Helensburgh boat (Wookie or Fiddlesticks) and with just 4 boats at Tarbert in 2011 I doubt we can retain a presence for 2012 unless everyone pulls together. Saraband crew have been discussing a year out of Scotland, perhaps doing Southerns, Medway Regatta, Medway Nationals, Burnham Week and then back up north……………not our preference as it will be our first time missing Tarbert for many many years and if feels very disloyal to both the class and the event. Our current feeling is we should at least do Tarbert before heading south, if only to say it wasn’t our fault that Tarbert didn’t have a Sonata fleet!!!
The Forth fleet is just about dead although looks like Zero Proof might be back on water for the Port Edgar winter series, one of the owners now has a 4×4 and it is rumoured they also now have a trailer and might be seen at events in 2012………..which would be good both on the water and socially where they are as mad as a box of frogs! Razamataz unlikely to travel, but does also now have a trailer!!!
My personal view is that if there is to be a Scottish Championship next year it needs either to be Clyde (GSS Regatta or Holy Loch or Helensburgh…..with cheap craning for visitors by that new marina in ????) or we try to see if the Tay fleet are up for something, given the Forth offers good racing and very cheap craning, but only really has ZP and Raz’ as local fleet.
PS………please avoid any clash with RS300 Nationals at Pwthelli in September!!!
PPS…….now you have got rid of the Scampi, lets see Firebird at Tarbert for the first time in a while!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!…………after all, Team BFG and Chairman Bentley has shown us all that the way to get good fleets at events is to Walk the Walk (or Drive the Drive actually) so its down to you and me and the others in Scotland to support Tarbert!!!!!!!!!
regards
Mark
Gareth Martel
Hi Chris,
Can’t help but think that this is a huge mistake. First of all logging in regularly seems to have been somewhat a waste of time, it’s been two months and still no updates. Secondly I just don’t understand making this forum locked to members! Already it’s a sadly very unused forum, and now seems to be even less so. The class sadly seems to be in massive decline, particularly where event attendance is concerned (two of the events I have planned to attend this year have been cancelled, and there’s not that many to start with!).
Surely the answer is not to make the class feel more exclusive!? I know before buying my first boat I perused several forums from different classes, part of the reason I went for a Sonata was the helpfulness and depth of resources available on the site.
I do strongly feel that we need to reopen the forum up. Having said that I was not available to attend the AGM (strange to not have it at the nationals??) and if this was voted and passed then fair enough, otherwise I would be interested to hear the opinions of others. I feel we need a more active community far more than we need more subs for the coffers.
Also would be really great to hear what people think could be done to increase event turnouts, That’s the inlands and the Scottish champs cancelled this year, and will take a huge improvement in turnout to stop the Sonata class at Scottish series being lost.
What can we do? Is big entry fee reduction for travellers an option? What about encouraging local unused boats to allow others to use their boats if they bring their own sails? Producing a network for sharing trailers? Focussing on timing events with family based activities/events on at the same location to allow the opportunity for people to come and bring the family? What about contacting local clubs to spread the word that the event is coming and offer places inboard boats who are short of crew? What about finding a way of allowing universities to borrow/charter boats for events? Might recruit more future owners
Maybe we should compile a questionnaire to get to all sonata owners we can to find out which if any of the ideas which we can come up with would appeal?
Just a few of my thoughts, hopefully see lots of you at the Northerns!
Gareth
So….