Membership
Membership of the Club is open to all and members are not required to do any duties as the Club is run by paid professional staff. There are plenty of opportunities to get involved in the running of the Club through volunteering to help on a regular basis with Race Management or with the Youth Group. There are also one-off opportunities to help with big events such as the Bloody Mary which takes place at the beginning of January each year.
The club has a wide variety of membership types on offer to suit you depending on your needs and circumstances
Standard membership covers the use of all shore and water facilities by a family or an individual. Unlike many clubs, we have no joining fee. From October 1st we offer special rates for Winter membership which include a free berth for your dinghy or cage for your windsurf kit
QM Select is a fantastic package for adults enabling the individual to sail dinghies and/or windsurf kit whenever the club is open, 12 months a year, and to receive free tuition.
Day Membership suits those who have their own kit which they may store at home but want the flexibility of being able to come up to the Club and use the facilities on an occasional basis
Each year we run a couple of Club trips for members and their families and friends. In 2011 we went to Dahab on 24th April for a week, and to Minorca Sailing on 9th September. In 2012 we are planning to go to Club Vass on June 17th and Minorca Sailing on September 14th
Commodore's Annual Newsletter
I would like to start by hoping that that you have had a very good sailing season in 2011. We have been expanding the activities on offer to members this year - and with some success it seems based on your feedback.
Club racing continues from strength to strength and many members represent the Club with distinction at national level and indeed international level. With Alexandra Rickham we have a representative in the forthcoming Paralympics. The new Saturday Club has given those who are keen to sail in company and race informally the chance to do so. The Introduction to Racing has also proven very popular and enabled several members to start joining in Club racing. Windsurfing has a new cohesion for those interested in sailing together or pitting their skill against the speed challenge. The Youth dinghy and Team 15 windsurfing continue from strength to strength with great results in events around the country. Sailability has offered a full programme of summer sailing for people with disabilities. The club has hosted many open meetings and continues to be an important venue for Royal Thames with team and match racing. Our flagship event the Bloody Mary was blessed with decent weather and saw the highest entry for many years. None of these activities would happen without the fantastic support given to them by volunteers: Sailing Committee, Fleet Captains, Race Officers, Youth and Sailability leaders. My very sincere thanks to them all for their dedication and hard work.
For those who like sailing in warmer climes the Club also ran two very successful overseas trips, to Dahab for windsurfing and to Minorca for dinghy sailing. We are planning similar trips in 2012 and will let you know dates soon.
In addition to providing the best and most varied programme of activity on the water, we are also striving to make sure that the facilities ashore are the best we can make them within the constraints we have of our lease and space. There was a substantial improvement to the clubhouse made early in the year with the refurbishments of the kitchen and serving areas, in part to comply with current regulations. The next phase will start in January to make the main room much more flexible for the needs of wet and hungry sailors and their non-sailing supporters. The old bar area will see a very significant facelift and the whole club will be brought up to proper standards of insulation. I am delighted to say that the Club has successfully applied for a Sport England Inspired Facilities grant which will pay for most of this work. Come along on Sunday 8th January at lunch time to hear more about the plans.
In the grounds, courtesy of Thames Water, the car park has a beautiful roadway, the east side pontoon has been replaced and we have new signage in place. Coming for 2012 will be a major overhaul of the windsurf cages and further improvements to pontoons. We are also planning to install a permanent public address system for use at Club events and Open meetings. From January we will again have a shop opening in what are currently training rooms 1 and 2. None of this happens without a lot of detailed planning and I would like to thank all the Facilities Committee for their hard work.
Driving many of these changes is the valuable feedback we get from you in our annual survey of members. Surveys in previous years have highlighted the need to improve facilities, catering and the variety of racing. This years survey shows that we are moving in the right direction, with more to be done in some areas. Especially pleasing is the continuing very high satisfaction with the staff and all they do and to see that the number of members who are overall extremely satisfied has nearly doubled in two years.
A key focus for the year has been to ensure that the Club is and remains financially fit, ready to face a potentially challenging few years due to the economic environment, and to have the flexibility to respond to unexpected needs. This led to the very difficult decision taken by Council to restructure the management of the Club and the departure of Simon Winkley from the team. I am delighted that he is continuing to teach and coach at the Club on a freelance basis. This has given the opportunity for Vicki Thurston to step into a new and bigger role heading up the sailing school and safety teams, which she has done most successfully. The increasing demand on Simon Harding’s time to tour with his band has meant that he has had to step down as Chief Windsurfing Instructor although, again, we will still see him around the Club working on a part time basis. Paul Adams has stepped into the role and in March will be joined by Freddie Cardew Smith as Chief Sailing Instructor. We are fortunate in having such a good team with strength in depth, eager to take on these new responsibilities.
I mentioned the constraints under which we operate as a tenant of Thames Water on an operational reservoir. I am sure you are keen to know what is likely to happen to the dredgers and to the bund. Well so would we, since plans rarely seem to turn into action in the timescale promised. However we still understand that one dredger will be removed soon, the second repositioned and two thirds of the bund removed. Rather that alerting you to each new proposal, we will keep you up to date with plans as they become concrete. On a more positive note, we have now agreed the terms of a new 25 year lease and the documents are with the lawyers being finalised as I write.
Despite these constraints, we are very fortunate in the wonderful resource we have so close to the centre of London and we are keen to see it used to the full. New ventures such as corporate and team building events, which now include Dragon Boat racing, have proven popular. The Clubhouse is increasingly attractive to hire for social events. And we have let the grounds for parking and filming, all of which brings in useful additional revenue.
Next in our calendar is the Bloody Mary on 7th January. Many of you are already involved I know. We pioneered online registration for this event last year and we continue to develop our on line presence with the building of a new booking system which will be launched in the Spring. We are also active on various social media platforms and now focus most of our marketing activity online.
Looking ahead to the summer we have two key events coming up, the Olympics and our 40th Anniversary as a Club. To celebrate the Club’s anniversary we will have a day of fun events and challenges on Bank Holiday Monday 7th May. A week before the Olympics start, on Saturday 21st July we will be taking part in an RYA initiative called “Push the Boat Out” and combining this with our Members and Families Day. So mark your calendar now with both dates and more details will follow.
I am very grateful to all of Council who have supported me so valuably in this my first year as Commodore and in particular I would like to thank Owain Franks for all the many achievements in his time as Commodore. His expertise and guidance to the Club are much valued. My thanks also to the staff for their commitment to the Club and especially to Catherine Rawson for her leadership throughout the year in her role as Club Secretary.
Finally, may I thank you all for your support to the Club and wish you and your families all the very best for the coming year.
Andrew Craig
Commodore
December 2011
RYA Membership
Queen Mary Sailing Club is affiliated to the RYA, the National Governing Body for Sailing and Windsurfing. Follow the link to find out more about what RYA Membership could mean to you
