MAXI OWNERS ASSOCIATION
Annual General meeting – 8th April 2011
Held at The Parsons Collar, Whiteley @ 1930
Present:
Andy & Sara Horwood—Asante
Peter & Sarah Sands—Blue Lightning
Peter & Sue Stonestreet—Blue Rider
Apologies:
Received by 11 Proxy forms,
Chairman’s Report:
2010 was a mixed year for the Maxi Owners’ Association. Once again, we had a highly successful Rally program based in and around the Solent, with rather more luck with the weather this year than we have become accustomed to over the last couple of years. And we have also revolutionised our presence on the Internet, with a much more modern and easily navigated new web site at www.maxiowners.org. This provides individual registration and a discussion forum, which many members had requested, and I am pleased to see is getting a steady sprinkling of questions and answers. This new web site, and the content management system which it sits on, has been a multi-year project for Chris Wildey, ably assisted by Graham Bobbit, so huge thanks to them (and to Helen and Wendy for letting them spend endless hours online sorting it all out.
We also had a number of racing successes during the year, especially in the (very friendly) RSYC Double Handed Series, where Andy and Sara Horwood (Asante, 1100), Bob and Jan Trimble (now Arcona owners, but ex- Maxi 1150) and I all took prizes, and I won the overall series for Class 3. I can thoroughly recommend this series for anyone interested in a gentle introduction to racing their Maxi.
However, there have been some more disappointing aspects to the year.
Despite continued efforts, we have not been able to reestablish our East Coast rally program, or to get rallies or meetings going elsewhere. I would therefore ask that anyone who might be interested in meeting up with other local Maxis, even if just for a cuppa or a pint, pick a venue and a time and let Peter Stonestreet know, and we will publish the date and contact owners in your area to encourage them to attend. It would be great if we could get one or two events in other areas of the country where we have members, especially the Clyde and the South West. (I am setting a good example, by organising a lunchtime meet in Brixham on the Sunday of the August Bank Holiday weekend). We also did not manage to get our newsletter out, and would really appreciate more support with this (especially on the editorial front). If you can help, please let me or Andy Horwood know – although it is quite a bit of work, it is quite fun and very rewarding, especially as Rod Minkey does such a great job of layout and printing to produce a really professional looking product.
Finally, on a personal note, those of you on the South Coast will have observed that I am recently managing to attend less events and sprouting steadily more grey hairs – my work is demanding a lot of time at the moment and I have not been able to give the Association the commitment it deserves. I therefore decided to stand down as Chairman at this AGM, after 4 years, and I am delighted that Andy Horwood agreed to stand and was elected to replace me. I will be staying on the committee as Treasurer and hope to still make some events this year.
Best wishes to all of you for a great sailing season,
John Skipper (Magewind, 1050)
Treasurer’s Statement:
Balance of our accounts at the end of the 2010/11 year was:
Current account: £1097
Savings account: £4031.
This represents a net income over the year of £468. In addition to the usual operating costs, the only significant investment during the year was approximately £100 on software to support the new web site. The committee has also approved the purchase of a new stock of burgees, expected to cost around £500.
Membership.
Sara provided an updated membership list for the website showing 118-boat members and 4 associate / honorary members, indicating membership levels have remained static over the past year
Stocks of burgees are very low and it was agreed to purchase new stocks
Election:
With the Chairman standing down (see above Chairman’s report), Andy Horwood was proposed and unanimously elected to take this position
After many years on the committee and credited with establishing the new web site, Chris Wildey stands down as Web Master from the Committee and has accepted the position of “Web Site Technical Advisor”. He will continue to offer support to the new web master
The other existing committee offered for re-election on block, John Skipper, Rod Minkey, Peter Stonestreet, Sara Horwood, Peter Sands, Graham Bobbitt and were unanimously elected
Other memberships:
The following were proposed and re elected: Mick Nelmes and Hugh Rowan as Honorary Members; SD Marine as associate member; John Haskins Marine – technical advisor as associate member.
Vacancies.
Graham Bobbitt is currently acting as Web Master and has given notice that he plans to embark on an extended cruise which will preclude him from performing his duties in this role.
Currently Grahams time schedule is undefined, but a new member must be recruited on to the Committee to take over this role to allow a maximum hand over period
It was agreed that a request would be placed on the website for a member, ideally with some Joomla experience, to join the Committee and undertake this role.
Area Coordinators:
The area coords are as set out on the website, as is the rally programme.
Peter Sands outlined the programme for the Solent with currently 7 events planned.
It was noted, as referred to in the Chairman’s report, that the momentum for rally participation in other areas had been lost
Rod is still struggling to encourage activities on the East Coast but has agreed to set a date for a rally and advertise it to the local membership. Rod to confirm date and arrangements.
Members in other areas are widely dispersed and it was suggested that perhaps this is the reason for the lack of rally activity.
There are a number of members located in the South West and it was proposed and agreed that John Skipper would schedule a rally in Brixham for August 28th as he will be arriving there at the end of a race and hopefully encourage local area members to participate and plan follow on events. Peter Stonestreet will contact some of the SW members to fing someone locally to support Johns efforts.
Newsletter
Chairman’s report highlighted the problems with the news letter.
One of the main problems is finding sufficient quantity of editorial material, to which all members are encouraged to participate in providing articles (cruising experiences, racing experiences or technical) and photographs for the publication.
From conversations that had taken place with Helena Douglas is was thought that she may consider taking up a roll in the newsletter team providing clear guidelines as to responsibility were established
There will be two primary roles a) Publisher (Rod Minkey)
b) Editor (Helena Douglas)
Andy will discuss with Helena and Rod to establish a way ahead
Advertising space is available and a more pro active effort should be made to contact possible contributors.
Peter Sands will contact Nautical Nellies, Mike Jennings (Najad) and GP Sails
Peter Stonestreet will compile, with input from Maxi, a Maxi 11 article
Web Site
As he steps down from position of Web Master, the Committee extends thanks on behalf of all the Membership to Chris for his work in developing and establishing the new web site.
The site is being well used with 72 registered users.
With the imminent departure of Graham, a request is sent to the Membership for someone to join the Committee to fill the vacant Web Master’s position.
David Gibbs (Spurwing) had indicated an interest in getting involved last year and should be contacted.
Development Activities
The News Letter is ongoing
Rally Participation
Increasing Membership Participation
Review the Association Constitution
AOB
It was suggested that a boat show based meeting could be arranged for London, using the Najad / Maxi stand as the location and the new Maxi 11 as the focus.
Peter Stonestreet to discuss with Maxi contacts to gauge opinion.
The level of attendance at the AGM was very low. The association is run by its members, for members. If the Association is to thrive it will rely on more active participation from the members.
No other items were tabled and the meeting was closed at 21.50 hrs.