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Slipper Happenings June 27th

Published 14:46 on 3 Jul 2020

Slipper Happenings

Hi All

With the next easing of the lockdown scheduled for 4 July, your full general committee met of Thursday evening to discuss what this means for the opening up of operations at Slipper. Mark Riddington has updated these affects on our matrix (see below) and this will further evolve over the following weeks as your bar committee and sailing committee meet to fill in some more detail on how Slipper can further flourish.

Cruisers: It is very disappointing to report that lift-In will not take place in 2020. Your committee has taken the view that the guidance has not been sufficiently eased to permit this operation to take place in July. Poor tidal heights and the limited months left in the season render a later lift pointless.

This cancellation does have knock on effects on dinghy storage space, storage revenues, outdoor catering, access to club boats, youth and junior sailing.

All these issues will be explored and addressed by the relevant committees over the coming weeks.

Boat storage charges: This was covered last night.

Dinghies that use the limited space in the club boat park will be charged as usual. Dinghies that cannot or choose not to return to the park this year will be offered a credit in next year's renewals.

Cruisers will pay the same charge as normal in September. The part of the cost normally attributed to crane lift-in and lift-out costs will show as a Summer storage charge. In other words, cruisers will be paying no more for storage than in a normal season.

Boat storage: Simon Boylin organised a work party this morning to maximise the space in the boat parks. They did a great job and a lot of space has now been freed up for access to the Malthouse, access to the Mill Pond, boat storage and boat movement.

Please be considerate and careful when moving dinghies and tenders around the boat parks and cruiser owners please be considerate when working on your boats.

This is our 'new normal' for the rest of the year and we all have to share the available space the best we can.

Dinghy sailing: Your committee is looking at ways to return to normal club racing with safety cover ASAP.

Our Simon Boylin and ESC's Simon Langford are on the case to ensure we tick all the Covid 19 guidance boxes. It is hoped that racing will start next weekend (4 & 5 July) with a start line at Swear Deep. More information will follow shortly.

Club boats: The plan is to make the use of club sailing boats more available but their use on the sea will be restricted to times when a patrol boat is in attendance.

Normal booking through the website is essential and all current Covid 19 restrictions will apply.

Junior and youth sailing: Whilst formal training is unlikely to happen any time soon, free sailing is to be encouraged, especially on the Millpond. Competent sailors are welcome to return to free sailing in the harbour provided the conditions are suitable and safety boat cover is in attendance.

Covid 19 guideline restrictions apply.

Radio sailing: John Galyer and Rod Carr are exploring the next steps and will report to the sailing committee.

Refurbishment: This commences in early July. Downstairs disruption is inevitable and toilet availability will be limited. Please look out for any further information and follow any signage.

Bar: It is planned to reopen the bar in the second or third week of July. There will of course be lots of rules, restrictions, signage and social distancing to sort out but there will be proper beer! More details will follow once your bar and social committee have met.

Moorings: We have a number of unlet moorings available this year on both short and full time leases. Pro-rata rates will apply. Please talk to Trevor Davis if you are interested.

As you can see these next steps to the 'new normal' are very much 'work in progress' but they should evolve reasonably quickly. None of them apply until 4 July at the earliest.

We will keep you informed.

Best wishes

Hugh

Old news but still relevant:

Galley and Toilet Refurbishment to start soon! : It is unlikely that government guidance will permit full club activity and catering any time soon. So with this in mind and knowing that we have the Centenary celebrations next year, your committee has agreed it would be a good time to get on with the refurbishment project.

A letter of intent has been placed with Nutbourne Construction. A lead-in time of 6 weeks is expected although some work may start before then. The plan is to break through and isolate the kitchen area first and then move on to the refurbishment of the toilets. This should hopefully allow Den and Lesley to start catering as soon as it is permitted.

Please expect some disruption to your normal enjoyment of the club, particularly with regard to car parking, building materials storage, access to toilets, the builders' Covid 19 protection precautions and so forth - More details will follow!

A big thanks must go to Derrick Johnson and the whole premises team for getting the project to this stage.

The actual project management team will be headed by Derrick Johnson and supported by Mark Mansfield, Sandy Keefe and me.

Please direct any of your thoughts and concerns to the management team and not directly to the builders - Many thanks.

We look forward to a successful Refurbishment of our facilities.

Club bins: Unfortunately people have recently taken to dumping their household rubbish in our club bins. We do not even think these people are members!

The bottle bins are now stored in the dinghy park and the large bins are being locked.

Please do not leave rubbish beside the bins, if you cannot gain access to a club bin please either use the public bins or take your rubbish home and dispose/recycle it responsibly. Many thanks.

Club Website: Jon Keefe, in between applying the final touches to 'Mad Moment' has been beavering away on the new Sailing Club Manager website.

The website is now accessible but has not yet been linked to our main domain address yet. This should happen shortly. For those of you who cannot wait please use the following link: https://members.emsworthslippersc.org.uk (You will need the password sent out at renewal to access the members site - for those of you who have lost or deleted your renewal e-mail, new instruction will be provided when the main domain link is switched over).

Many thanks again Jon for all your enthusiastic work - it would not have happened without you!!!

General Club Guidelines: Following our recent committee meeting activity to consider the recent lockdown easing of restrictions, Mark Riddington, (our Chairman) has kindly put together the following matrix to explain the club's current position. In conjunction with all current government guidelines please read the matrix carefully and follow these club guidelines, in both in spirit and in rule:

Emsworth Slipper Sailing Club A Summary of Club Functions v0.5

Area of operation	Area	Notes
House	Clubhouse and buildings	Until 11th July: All areas of the clubhouse are closed, with the exception of the downstairs toilets. If required, the toilets may be used by members who are maintaining their cruisers, or free sailing. The toilets will be cleaned on a weekly basis. Given the restricted space in the toilets, only one member at a time should use the toilets. Occupied/unoccupied signs will be affixed to the toilets doors. The club recognises that some members will consider the use of club toilets to be a unacceptable risk if this is the case, please do not use them. The malthouse, including the changing rooms and training room, is closed. Cruiser sailors may access their lockers. No visitors are permitted to club premises or the boat park. From the 11th July: The club is hoping to open the bar to club members from the 11th July this date is not fixed, and will be influenced by our ability to buy beer in time! Prior to the bar opening, members will be advised as to the arrangements to be put in place to adhere to government and industry guidelines. Initial planning indicates that approximately 30 members will be able to sit in the bar area, with further seating on the mezzanine and outside. The function room will remain closed, with the exception of potential use as a bar overflow area (to be confirmed). There will be no catering at the club, as the galley is undergoing refurbishment. The clubhouse toilet(s) will remain open, in line with previous arrangements (one member at a time, signs on doors). The malthouse, including the changing rooms and training room, remain closed. Cruiser sailors may access their lockers.
	Boatpark	The boatpark remains open to cruiser sailors to maintain their boats. Dinghy sailors may leave boats in the boatpark, but on the following conditions: 1. The dinghy is being used for sailing. If you have no sailing planned, please take your boat home. 2. No road trailers are to be left in the boat park. In the event that the demand for the limited dinghy space results in over capacity, arrangements will be put in place to ensure fair occupancy. Working parties are in place to optimise the space available to dinghies.
	Bar	The club is hoping to open the bar to club members from the 11th July this date is not fixed, and will be influenced by our ability to buy beer in time! Prior to the bar opening, members will be advised as to the arrangements to be put in place to adhere to government and industry guidelines.
	Catering	Catering at the club will not be reintroduced until the galley refurbishment has been completed, most likely in September.
	Premises/maintenance	The club insurance requires that a number of activities are conducted to meet the conditions of insurance an example of this is the regular testing of the fire alarm system. These essential activities will continue to be performed by the premises team. More discretionary premises tasks will continue to happen, but at a slower pace. The refurbishment of the galley and toilets is planned to start in early July, and should complete in August/September.
Sailing	Dinghy Sailing	Until 4th July: 'Free sailing' is allowed from Wednesday 13th May, in line with the guidance issued from the government, RYA and Conservancy. Please review the ESSC 'free sailing' summary (already issued to the membership) before taking to the water, in particular the notes on use of the boat park. No club safety cover will be in place for free sailing, and members go on the water at their own risk. Please be prudent in your assessment of your own skills and the prevailing conditions, the risk of calling on emergency services (for example, the coastguard and RNLI) should be absolutely minimised. From 4th July: Organised racing is to be reintroduced, for single handers, and 'same household' double handers. The club programme is to be revisited with ESC (but preserving the H&H series), and will be communicated in due course. Dutyman will also be revised, with the objective of using 'same household' members to man the race hut and patrol boats. Club boats can be used if safety cover is on the water, boats must be booked through the usual process.
	Cruisers	Lift-in will not take place until the start of the 2021 sailing season. The cruiser section is reviewing options for rallies and racing for those members that do have a boat on the water, potentially starting with a Haslar trip on 4th July.
	Radio Sailing	Until 4th July: 'Free sailing' is to be allowed from Wednesday 13th May for radio sailors. Those participating in free sailing should ensure that they follow government social distancing and hygiene guidelines, in particular in the dinghy park. Phase 2 for radio sailing may be the reintroduction of some form of organising racing. There is no defined timescale for Phase 2. From 4th July: <<Requires input from the Radio section>>
	Junior, Youth and Adult Training	Given the 'hands on' nature of sail training, it is not possible to deliver the club schemes whilst maintaining social distancing guidelines. So for now, all training at the club is postponed until social distancing guidelines are revised. The RYA are due to publish revised guidance for training centres, at which point the club will re-evaluate options to restart training schemes. Sailing Committee are to explore options to get the Junior and Youth sailors on the water this year, even if this is not through the route of formal training.
	Bosuning	The club has a proud tradition of excellence in all matters of asset maintenance. The usual Tuesday morning maintenance sessions have been suspended this means that if any issues are encountered with club assets, the lead time in fixing may be extended. Any defects should be written on the white board in the Bosuns Shed, and also sent by email to the Bosun.

Stay safe!

Hugh

Last updated 14:46 on 3 July 2020

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Slipper Happenings June 27th

Published 14:46 on 3 Jul 2020

Slipper Happenings

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