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This will be final Bowsprit I draft; I’ll be handing over the Simon Hinnigan who raises his flag as Commodore. It has never been hard to find material to write about from a Club that has a very active racing scene, cruisers who exude style over speed, the awesome training and youth development activity, and a wide range of swimming activities. It’s all that activity, seeing novice sailors progress to top instructors hard to beat, if not impossible to beat in a race, and the diversity of swimmers from international competition to those dipping in for general health. It has not always been an easy path, especially navigating the Covid pandemic. However, with everyone’s forbearance the Club came out of that challenge in a very strong position.
The next chapter is to continue building on success with inward investment in our club and facilities. We are thus looking ahead to capture what we must do (to comply with legislation), what we should do (best practice, guidance) and what we could or like to do. The process of requirements capture has started and will continue through series of workshops. Once that requirements set is mature, it will be presented to you. The next step will be to conduct options analysis on how the endorsed requirements can be delivered. Doing nothing is not a realistic option because there are legal requirements we must meet. There are also areas where guidance from national bodies drifts towards legislative status and the new social norms. If we are tackling these, we should also see what other improvements we could make to enhance the Clubhouse that we, the membership is prepared to fund directly, with grants or through a loan. There will be an EGM before the project to proceed beyond options analysis. For the moment, please engage with the requirements capture, not designing solutions (we’re not there yet and that should be down to professional architects).
We are one of the very best sailing clubs in the country and bucking national trends. We have a fantastic foundation but can’t afford to be complacent. Embrace change proactively where it is needed. To a strong future - fair winds Bowmoor. |
