[Sailingclub] Sailing Club

[Garrick Larkin]

Hi,

Regattas Next Weekend

Next Weekend (27-28 Nov) is both the ACT Dinghy Championships and the Port Kembla Classic. This gives the opportunity for ANUSC members to attend a regatta away at the coast or right here in Canberra. As usual skippers will have to be experienced sailors but ANYBODY can crew. As mentioned before on many boats the only skill a crewmember needs is the ability to swim. Added to the fact that the ANU will pay 75% of race entry for students and 45% for non-students it is a very cheap weekend as well. If your interested (regardless of sailing skill) send me an email and I will look at matching up interested sailors.



Clubhouse Open Tonight

Its nothing formal but the club will be open tonight from 5pm if you want to come for a sail.



So far in 2004

Now that exams are over I just though I would give an update of how the club went so far in 2004 and what is coming up for interested members to read.

Events
Semester 1 was the busiest I have ever seen the club with more and bigger events than ever before. We had our largest Tuross trip ever (28 people) and the most people attending an interstate regatta in recent years (18 members went to Batemans). 

The only decrease in 2004 is the lack of an Inter-University regatta. While it was an awesome event, organising University Championships 2003 was a lot of work. By the time we negotiated with the ANU, YMCASC, YACT, Uni Sport, ADFA and the Insurers not to mention the other universities there was around 10000 words of paperwork and 6 months of effort. We decided not to host it again in 2004 and I believe it was the right decision as it put the effort into our club.

Training
We ran more training courses than ever before although there was only a modest increase in trainee numbers on previous years. This is because for the first time ever we ran intermediate and windsurfing courses. Intermediate courses have a higher retention rate than beginners courses and that is the dirrection the club needs to head. I would like to thank Michael for organising and doing so much work on the sailing training and also Kurt for doing the same for windsurfing. I know I have probably missed people out but thanks to Todd who was invaluable on the Semester 1 courses and Lisa in Semester 2.

Administration
In terms of administration the real test of this is our recent Audit in Oct. This was the first year the club passed our audit since the SRA management began conducting proper audits. I would like to thank Rehan our Treasurer because this is an absolutely outstanding effort. This is especially outstanding when you consider that our club is predominately run by students as opposed to some other clubs whose Treasurers are professional accountants or auditors long out of uni.

Another area of organisation is that the SRA now longer handles our key hire. We are still in the early stages of our new system so no comment can be made yet. Potential though it could be a good thing for the club with the clubhouse opened by members increasing accessability and the socialbility of the club as you deal with club members rather than SRA staff who know nothing about sailing.

Equipment
The club now has two new Lasers and a triple decker trailer. The Lasers are an especially important buy because they are Laser radials allowing women to get out on the water easier. 

In Conclusion
The ANUSC is currently very much in the SRA goodbooks for several reasons. This is a good thing as it helps us maintain our funding.

1)    The club is ever so slowly improving with slightly more and bigger events each year. This really is all the SRA can ask of us.
2)    We are a student dominated club. While all members are welcome the SRA sees its role as encouraging students and is more supportive of clubs with a proportion of students.
3)    We passed out audit and our organisation and administration is very good for a student run club.

Obviously the club has a long way to go and a lot more improvements to be made however our dramatic improvements in administration and slow improvements in club services is a good sign.


Whats Coming Up!

Summer Holidays
Over summer holidays the club is traditionally fairly quiet with a lot of students away. It doesn't have to be and members are welcome to start their own sailing times or organise their own events. 

As usual the YMCASC and CYC will be looking for sailing instructors to run childrens school holiday courses. The pay isn't great but its easy work and if your experienced you will get qualifications out of it.

There are also a range of National Championship events held over the Christmas period (just look up the class website). Experienced club members are welcome to take an ANUSC boat away to these regattas (just ask). There are also two national champsionships being held in Canberra. The NS14 National Championships are being hosted by the YMCASC from 27 Dec - 2 Jan. The CYC is hosting the Flying Dutchman Nationals from 31 Dec - 5 January. While crews will usually be organised early if you have expereince and contact the association now you may have a chance to get a spot or borrow a boat. Otherwise both clubs will be looking for volunteers to help run the event. A day or two out on a powerboat will teach you a lot about racing.  

Semester 1 2005
The club is planning to make Semester 1 2005 as big as in 2004. That is 2 social trips to the coast, at least 2 regattas and a range of sailing courses.

VSU
With a Liberal government controlling both houses of parliament it is likely that Voluntary Student Unionism will be introduced. This would result in an overnight reduction in services offered by the SRA and dramatic increase in the costs. I believe that a total ban on student unionism would destroy almost all university sporting clubs within a decade. Fortunately the Minister for Education has suggested that Sporting services will not be affected so we will probably be ok. This is obviously something that we cannot change and therefore should not worry about. I guess it simply provides incentives to make the most of clubs like the ANUSC because future reforms to higher education may destroy them.

The Club in General
The ANUSC is what YOU make of it. The club offers the BEST SAILING DEAL in Australia so get out there and enjoy it. If you don't you will regret it when you try to get back into the sport after university and discover just how expensive it is.

In addition the club always needs more helpers so I encourage everybody to get actively involved. You will always get more out of volunteer work than you put in so look at it as improving your sailing skills, developing organisation skills, meeting new people or whatever else you want ot get out of it. The ANUSC is offering the best sailing deal in Australia and the SRA is only willing to continue providing it as long as our effort matches their financial contribution. The SRA has been pressuring the club to dramatically increase our prices because they are worried about people abusing the club. Part of the agreement was the club would prevent abuse by insisting that regular users put in volunteer work. Therefore I ask that if you are a regular user you volunteer to do something for the club (whether its fixing boats, opening the clubhouse or helping on a course. After all the club is what YOU make of it.

cheers

Garrick
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