Dear Members

Well here we are again, with the 2001 sailing season fast approaching. It is time to brush away the cobwebs, come out of hibernation and prepare for the forthcoming pleasures of sun, sea and sailing. Along with a number of new committee members comes a range of new ideas to excite, enthrall and exhilarate the Hythe and Saltwood membership. Hopefully you will see from this years action packed programme that there are some new features, including a few trips out; to Camber Sands for the family, Bewel water for our young hopefuls, Margate Hook for the adventurous and possibly The Goodwin Sands for the insane. These diversions compliment a regular diet of racing, training leisure and social activities at HSSC.

Those who were at the AGM will know of the adventurous plans proposed for a merger between the Redoubt Windsurfing Club and ourselves. I regret to inform you, that 7 days before the successful completion of this significant, mutually beneficial opportunity, Nickolls decided to issue all the Redoubt Users with notice to remove themselves from the site by the 31^st March, essentially terminating any agreement for the coming year. Whilst considerable speculation exists, surrounding the future use of the Redoubt and its possible use as a leisure facility, we feel it would be appropriate to ask the HSSC membership to make any financial commitment at this time.

Membership fees are used entirely to meet the running costs and improve member facilities and in no way constitute payment for a service to its members. Whilst the club is run by members for the membership, all members will, wherever possible, be encouraged and invited to offer their services to support the running of their club. We recognise that some members will always be prepared to do more than others, however we also acknowledge that these individuals are frequently those who use the club the most. We no longer wish to discourage the significant numbers of casual members who have neither the time nor inclination to give up a disproportionate amount of their visiting time to doing duties.

The way forward is to encourage, invite and recruit a wider involvement of willing members to become more active in the running of their club. To this end a list of duties are included with the membership form for 2001 to enable members to inform the House Committee of their willingness and availability.

Plans to use the Redoubt to provide extensive training facilities throughout the year have inevitably been scrapped. Once again the HSSC training programme will be at Dover Water Sports Centre, on Thursday evenings, beginning in the first week of June. With a series of follow-up sessions provided at HSSC for a further 6 weeks. The success of last year’s programme for 60 participants could only be bettered only by the presence of some favourable winds.

We are always keen to promote HSSC to new members. Experience has shown that the greatest number of new members who ‘stay the course’ have been introduced to the club by current members. The club has maintained a substantial growth in family youth and individual membership through its highly successful training and improvers programmes. The support of members willing to give up their time to provide rescue boat cover, windsurfing and sailing instruction and helping with the preparation, storage and transport of equipment are what makes these courses successful and cheap. These activities are essential to the success and survival of the club. As well as being good fun they are also an opportunity to develop skills and brush away the early season cobwebs. Now is the time to; phone a friend, ask an audience, family or work colleagues, to encourage them to join the club and take advantage of the substantial savings available to new members: free 6 week training course for individual membership; free 6 week training course for one adult and one child for family membership.

Yes it is about to become a reality in 2001 - HSSC will be the first club in Great Britain to receive this prestigious award.

What’s in it for us? So far the club has been able to attract sponsorship to support the provision of equipment to meet the Champion Club requirements;

• The funding for 6 Race coaches, coaching manuals etc was provided by the RYA through this scheme.
• £2,500 sponsorship was gained from SAGA to support the purchase of training boards to meet the requirements of the scheme.
• £1,500 sponsorship from the Shepway Council bought a video recorder, wetsuits and lifejackets and a new simulator is on order.
• You may already have taken advantage of the heavily discounted London Boat Show tickets.
• Members are also offered significant additional discounts on Volvo cars (For those who could afford one?)

In 2001 we can look forward to:

• Sponsorship from a local Volvo Dealership
• A number of cheap deals from the RYA
• Access to Lottery funding (For buildings, equipment, events etc.)
• Opportunities to promote the club through free press coverage

Well that’s about enough waffle to get you in the mood and starting to look forward to a fantastic year on and off the water at HSSC. My thanks to all the committee members who have been beavering away preparing for this season.

Mark Brooks

HSSC Commodore

Commodore's Start of Season Message