Offshore Model Racing Association
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Minutes from OMRA
Members Present:
Danny Bell Dave Monck Tony Ellis John Hand John Smith Chris Locke Sam Locke Mark Wild Andy Rennie Stuart Rae Gary Coleman Ted Aggett Kelvin Bird Graham Turner Brian Sexton Bill Warder Harry Pinder Geoff Stent Andy Utley Kurt Cave Michael Barnes Alan Thompson Geoff Thompson Darren Smith Alan Hales Richard Bridgman Nigel Bedford Sally Butler David Clay Paul Weller Mark Copley Luke Copley Jon Jordan Richard Jordan Jonathan Jordan Rob Gay Den Wherlock Ian Searle Kevin Jones John Kingsley-
The AGM was called to order by Kevin Jones at 1200
Item 1 -
The Chairman asked if everybody had a copy of the 2008 minutes and asked if everyone agreed with the minutes from last years AGM. Stewart Rae asked for clarification regarding the minutes and asked if the minutes in question were: “a] those which came out at the beginning of 2009 b] those which were published as a result of [Stewart] identifying an error in them c] the third set of minutes which were published in the last newsletter.” Simon Beament answered on behalf of the Committee and clarified that they were the ones which came out in the January 2009 newsletter. After clarifying this, and in the absence of any further queries relating to the minutes, Kevin Jones asked if there were any matters arising from the 2008 minutes to which there were no responses.
Item 2 – Chairmans Report
Welcome to everyone for this our 2009 A.G.M. I would like to start by saying a big thank you to John and Simon for all their hard work in making this year run as well as it did and their continuous support. I would also like to take this opportunity to thank the race organisers, their assistants, the rescue crews and lap counters because without their help we would not be able to run our meetings so well for the benefit of all attending. Unfortunately this year there have been numerous issues that have arisen to which we, as the committee have strived to resolve with many emails and phone conversations. We have O.M.R.A rules in place to make our races run smoothly and efficiently and these have served us well for many years.
It is a shame that Z class races have suffered with a lack of support. I am hoping that we can get some new members to start their racing within O.M.R.A. as I feel this is a great organisation to learn the skill of good racing and an opportunity to make many new friends.
I have been a member of O.M.R.A since 1995 and had the honour of being Chairman for the last few years. In all those years O.M.R.A has always been run with the interest and well being of the members at heart and I really do hope that it continues to do so. I have been fortunate enough to make many new friends since joining O.M.R.A and would like to think that many members feel the same way.
I would like to think that O.M.R.A. continues to grow as the association that it has become so far.
Item 3 -
I would like to take this opportunity to thank Alan Baldry for his assistance in handing over the Secretary’s position. Thanks to Phil Snewin for his efforts and support with the newsletter, this has been a real struggle due to a lack of content, feedback and race reports.
Thanks to Kevin and John for their support and I hope the new secretary can continue to enjoy the support that I have received over the last 12 months.
Finally, thank you to Danny Bell who has guided and advised me from my first days into the OMRA organisation three years ago. It goes without saying but thank you to the race organisers for putting on a show and thank you to the lap scorers, a thankless task without whose input we would not have a championship.
Item 4 – Treasurers Report [Statement of Account below]
OMRA have had yet another good year and a good season at the bank, the account continues to be healthy and in an increasing cash position. This has been helped by many sundry items being provided without charge to the organisation, and use of email to send the quarterly newsletter. Consequently OMRAs funds have grown by £1275 upon last year and the Association now stands at £4646.28 in the bank as at 6.11.2009.
Just a little note that isn’t down here, we have 165 members which is 1 down on last year, and we have 16 Junior members as well which is a little up on the previous year, albeit that these members are a bit thin on the ground at some of the races.
Finally I would very much like to thank Kevin and Simon for their support. They have always also both been readily available to work and deal with the 'behind the scenes' problems of the season......despite not being in the thick of things on the water.
Item 5 – Election of Officers
The Chairman opened by informing everyone that there was a proposal suggesting two
of the ordinary committee positions be scrapped. The assembly needed to take a vote
on that before going on to the full election of officers, as if the membership decided
that we don’t need these positions they were not going to need to be re-
The Chairman asked the floor for comments. Stewart Rae asked which proposal this referred to in the list of proposals to which he was answered that it was item 6. Stewart then went on to mention that item 2. seemed to have been forgotten however the Chairman then clarified that this was not the case, merely that it need not be addressed if the positions no longer existed following the proposal currently under discussion.
Geoff Stent raised an objection under Rule 7 that he had not had sufficient notification of any proposals or rule changes and called for the meeting to be closed. Stewart Rae also stated this and also called for the meeting to be closed. The Chairman clarified Rule 7 and confirmed that according to the Rules of Association, the proposals brought to the meeting and indeed the meeting itself could stand and continue under the terms of Rule 7 which makes for no such notification other than to the OMRA Secretary. JKD confirmed that although Alan Baldry had sent out details of proposals for previous AGM during his tenure, this was a point of courtesy and was not a mandatory requirement under the current Rules. After some lengthy debate for and against Proposal 6, the Chairman called for a vote to be taken. For 27. Against 15. Proposal Carried.
Phil Locke then asked if this meant that Proposal 2 could therefore be scrapped and the Chairman confirmed this to be the case. The Chairman then went on to call to order the formal election of Officers of Association.
Chairman The proposal for Kevin Jones to be elected Chairman was made by Dennis Wherlock and seconded by Rob Gay. This was also proposed by Gary Wilkinson and seconded by Shannen Wilkinson. Also proposed for the role of Chairman was Mark Wild by Bill Warder, seconded by Geoff Stent. Also proposed for the role of Chairman was Dave Clay in the event of Kevin Jones
not being re- Also for the role of Chairman was Dave Clay proposed Robin Butler and seconded by Sally Butler. The proposed members left the room during the voting and the results were as follows: Kevin 28 votes Mark 10 votes Dave 2 votes Kevin Jones was therefore re-
Secretary Stewart Rae was proposed for Hon. Secretary by Andy Rennie and seconded by Harry Pinder. Phil Snewin was proposed for the role of Secretary by Gary Wilkinson and seconded by Simon Beament. Phil Snewin was also proposed for the role of Secretary by John Kingsley- The proposed members left the room during the voting and the results were as follows: Phil 30 Votes Stewart 12 votes Phil Snewin was therefore elected as OMRA Secretary.
There were no nominations for election of a new Treasurer so John Kingsley-
Item 6. Racing Calendar
The Chairman listed late submissions to the Race Calendar in the form of the AA-
Dave Clay also asserted that the provisional Kingsbury and Branston dates were confirmed.
A question was asked regarding Weymouth as to whether it was going ahead to which
the Chairman replied that Weymouth had forwarded the dates and confirmed that this
would be the 10th & 11th July. Stewart Rae asked whether Weymouth would be a 1 or
2 day meet and Kevin replied that it was to be a 2 day event – Z Class on the Saturday
and AA-
Dave Monck pointed out that 13th March would be the date for the Z Class event at Hove.
Nigel Bedford mentioned that the OODs for Penzance this year were to be Tony Ellis and JKD and the Penzance Harbourmaster had agreed the date but would advise if there were to be any revision to this.
Ted Aggett raised the issue of trying to get out of Weymouth after racing being a
problem due to road closures etc. and requested if the Zs could be run in the morning
to circumvent this issue for those who wished to go home after the race, and this
would then leave the afternoon available for practice for the AA-
Dave Monck mentioned the new circuit for AA-
Bill Warder made the point that the Torquay Chase Boat race clashed with the date that Stevenage wanted and consequently Stevenage would therefore not be running an event this coming season.
JKD mentioned the new Portland Chase Boat event and cited Alex Dunning as being responsible for organising this. The RYA Sailing Academy are to be providing all sorts of support for this event including the possibility of using a section for saltwater circuit racing as an alternative in the event of unsuitable weather for the Chase Boat event. The members showed their appreciation for all the hard work Alex had invested in sourcing this exciting new venue.
The Chairman asked for volunteers for OOD for Weymouth on the Sunday but in the event, there were no takers.
Darren Smith introduced another brand new circuit at Whittlebury near Silverstone.
He said he had been in talks for about 4-
JKD also mentioned that Alan Baldry had spoken to him about the Z event at Brentford and would be submitting a date very soon.
Mark Wild raised a question as to whether the format of the championship would be run on the same format as this year, as he noted that there were a lot of races and due to the economic climate it could be very expensive for some people. Kevin Jones reassured Mark that this would be addressed later in the meeting.
JKD asked Stewart Rae if his event at Leicester was to be run over 2 days. Stewart replied that it would be, and the format would be an enduro race on one day and 2 x 20 minute heats the following day. JKD then asked if this was possible, to which the reply was in the positive providing the races were in different formats.
Ted Aggett confirmed that Maidstone also still wanted to put on a Z Class event and would be in touch to confirm the details in due course.
Phil Locke stated that Bryn Bach may be hosting the Bristol Pairs race due to safety implications at the Docks and he would advise accordingly in due course.
Item 7. Members Proposals.
1. “Due to the popularity and numbers taking part at OMRA racing events, I propose that at any OMRA race meeting there should be at least one, preferably two assistant OODs to help oversee the whole of the Race Meeting.” Proposed: Stewart Rae. Seconded: Mark Wild
Stewart mentioned that the reason he had tabled this motion due to the difficulty in policing events. Dave Monck supported Stewart in his assertion. JKD made the point that it does depend on the event and number of entries at events which has a bearing on the need for assistant OOD. It was pointed out that there was already provision made in the Rules. Danny Bell pointed out that the Rules for OODs were set down as “Guidance”. A short debate ensued over the clarification of the wording and meaning of this proposal. The Chairman then clarified this for all present by stating: “We have to have one, if not two assistant OODs at every Race Meeting” and then called for a vote to be cast by the members present. For: 33 Against: 1. Proposal Carried.
2. – Scrapped due to Item 6 having been addressed previously.
3. “I propose that under no circumstances must any OMRA member, unless they are racing, switch on a transmitter, regardless of frequency, whilst a race is in progress. Any member infringing this rule will be liable to instant disqualification from the day’s event” Proposed: Dave Monck. Seconded: Tony Gilder
John Smith raised a point in that he had bought 2 2.4Ghz sets and that he could turn these on without any interference to other sets whatsoever. Tony Ellis also pointed out that it would be very difficult to police this proposal in the pits. It was suggested to have a transmitter compound to get around this. Some lively debate about this issues ensued after which a vote was taken and the following results were seen to be reached. For: 11 Against: 23. Proposal rejected.
4. “OMRA to run a sea- Proposed John Kingsley-
The chairman asked for comments regarding this proposal. Danny Bell mentioned that
whilst he would be prepared to travel, he felt the proposal would favour more Southern-
The Chairman pointed out that the proposal does not affect the normal AA-
Tony Elllis pointed out again that competitors could enter both championships without
it affecting the existing arrangements in any way. Stewart Rae pointed out that the
proposal was not for separate races, merely a championship within the existing set
of races. Kevin Jones suggested that it could be looked upon as a sub- For 38. Against 0. Abstained 1 . Proposal Carried
5. “I propose that OMRA No. 1 be allowed to be used for Driver Championship winners
on their boats for the following season. AA1, A1, B1, C1, and D1 irrespective of
their current membership number. Eg. Dave Clay has won the AA class and would be
allowed to run the following season with AA1 on his boat His normal membership number
would apply to all his other boats. This proposal is to apply to all championship
class winners. The current holder of membership number 1 will be re- Proposed by John Kingsley-
This proposal caused some lengthy and lively debate however, following much discussion, the original proposal was withdrawn and an amendment was then suggested by the Chairman on behalf of those present as a result of the extensive debate which preceeded it. The assembly were asked if they were happy with the amendment to which the answer was a resounding affirmative.
Stewart Rae then suggested that there were 3 possible ways in which the discussion
around this proposal could be addressed which were that the assembly could a.] vote
on the proposal as it stands, b.] vote on an amendment to the proposal or, c.] withdraw
the proposal and re-
JKD proposed the amendment be accepted and this was seconded by Tony Ellis. Stewart Rae pointed out that the amendment should be voted on first. Kevin Jones clarified the matter by paraphrasing an amendment to the proposal as follows:
"1st, 2nd and 3rd winners of each class would be provided by OMRA with a Championship sticker which the holders are entitled to put on their boat for the following year" and asked if everyone present was happy with this.
The response was overwhelmingly positive and there were no objections raised to this amendment. The Chairman then asked for a vote on this amendment. Stewart Rae then questioned what exactly was being voted on as he asserted that the amendment had not been formally read out. Mark Wild clarified it for Stewart verbally and then Phil Snewin read out a wording of the amendment and confirmed with everyone present that this was acceptable. The wording to the amendment was as follows:
"1st, 2nd and 3rd place winners for each Class to be provided with an OMRA-
The Chairman reiterated that this amendment did not affect anyone's membership number.
Again there were no objections to this wording and the response was positive. Phil Snewin then asked the assembly to check if there were any objections to the amendment and as there were none it was carried unanimously.
7. “Amend Rule 13.2 to increase the maximum duration of races from 40 minutes to
1 hour”.
The Chairman pointed out that this did not mean that a race duration must be one hour long, but OODs had the opportunity to run races of this length at their discretion should they wish to do so.
Phil Snewin clarified this matter by stating that currently endurance race duration was a minimum of 30 minutes and a maximum of 40 minutes. This proposal was to increase the maximum permissible race duration to 1 hour. A vote was then taken and the results were as follows: For 42. Against 0. Proposal Carried.
8. “Drivers Championship that consists of the best 7 from 14 races* to include at least 3 sea races”. Proposed by Dennis Wherlock. Seconded John Smith.
JKD asked for clarification as to how many races were submitted for inclusion in the Drivers Championship for 2010 and the response from Mark Wild was 17 up to this point but there were still races to be submitted and confirmed.
Ted Aggett brought up the issue that this would be a good time to decide how many races were to count for the next seasons Drivers Championship [* as set out in Rule 15.4]. It was suggested that it would be simplest to leave the number of races that count towards the championship as the best 7 and Ted suggested that it was unlikely that anyone would be able to go to all of the races proposed. JKD pointed out that if the Championship was to be decided by the best 7 out of 18 races, then potentially a contender for the championship might never actually get to race against their closest opponent and that the championship should be taken from the best 9 races. The Chairman confirmed that the 2009 championship was 7 out of 14 races.
Nigel Bedford pointed out that in previous years, the way in which the number of races was decided was by a percentage basis and on the basis of about 60%. For the last few years, it was voted at the AGM as to how many races would be accepted and how many would count towards the championship. Nigel reiterated the point which JKD made. Nigel suggested that the number constituting the championship should be at least 50% of the total number of races. Dave Clay raised the point regarding the reason that the number of races which counted towards the championship had previously been set at 7 was in part due to the cost of fuel. Dave suggested that the cost of fuel was likely to go back up to a higher level and that in order to keep attendances high, the number of races which should count should stay at 7.
The Chairman asked everyone to focus on the proposal for the time being and at this point Tony Ellis proposed an amendment to the proposal to include just 2 sea races in light of the objection to the number of mandatory sea races. This was subsequently rejected. Danny Bell asked the assembly for clarification about the number of races constituting the forthcoming championships. No clear answer came about at this time.
The Chairman then proposed the amendment to the proposal in order to facilitate proceedings that "the Drivers Championship is to include at least 3 sea races". He asked if the assembly were happy with the amendment and there were no objections voiced to this amendment. A vote was then taken on the amended proposal. For 26 Against 17 Proposal Carried.
9. “All boats are to display a racing number plate for the purpose of lap scoring.
The race number will be between 1 and 12 and will be allocated by the race organiser
at the event. The plate will be opaque white measuring 120mm long by 100mm high showing
a black number on the left hand side of the plate. The number should be mounted vertically
or on the left hand side of the boat. If passed it goes in as Rule 13.6 (and the
later 12 Rules re-
The votes were cast as follows following a short debate: For 8. Against 27. Proposal rejected.
10. Proposal 10 was not represented by either the proposer or the seconder and further to the agreed action at the 2008 AGM in this eventuality, the proposal was withdrawn.
Stewart Rae strongly challenged the Chairman regarding this point in relation to
his re-
Any Other Business
1. Harry Pinder raised an issue about the Alf Price trophy and suggested that in view of the Trophy having disappeared, that OMRA submit a “memorial trophy” in memory of those racers no longer with us. Danny Bell asked if the estate of Alf Price had donated the trophy however the Chairman pointed out that he had donated it himself. Geoff Stent asked if efforts could be made to retrieve the trophy.
Phil Snewin asked for clarification from Harry that his proposal was that OMRA raises a Memorial Trophy for the Winter Series to which he agreed.
2. Phil Snewin raised the point that in view of Simon taking on [in 2009] not only the Secretary’s role but also that of newsletter editor, he’d had a great deal to contend with. Phil stated that he also felt that the newsletter editors role was a separate issue from that of the Secretary due to the amount of work involved. Phil therefore proposed that a separate person took on the key role of Newsletter Editor. Phil then went on to nominate Sally Butler for the role in assisting Phil in producing the Newsletter as this would assist her in her editorial educational work. This proposal was seconded by Dave Clay and Simon Beament and was carried unanimously.
3. It was also pointed out that at the 2008 AGM it was hoped to source some promotional banners, material etc. Phil Snewin suggested that as there was some money in the OMRA account, some of this could be used to help promote OMRA. The Chairman also stated that some of the trophies would be replaced this coming year. Ted Aggett also brought up the issue of OMRA merchandise. Simon Beament state that he put details of this in the January newsletter but did not have any response. Phil Snewin also stated that he and Danny Bell had explored the possibilities of integrating an online shop on the website in 2009 but in light of the lack on interest, this was not developed further. Danny Bell pointed out that with the advent of Team Colours coming into OMRA more and more, it reduced the need for OMRA branded merchandise. Phil Snewin suggested that having some OMRA patches made might be better so that members could sew them on whatever they like. Dave Monck brought up the issue of having banners made for use at races.
4. JKD brought up an issue about the consumption of alcohol at race events. He stated that he wasn’t sure how to deal with the issue or indeed whether it was an issue. Some discussion about this point ensued and it was agreed informally that it cannot be policed effectively. It was noted that there is sufficient provision in the existing rules to deal with this issue.
5. Geoff Stent brought up the issue of insurance whilst using the rescue boat and following some discussion the Treasurer asserted to look into the matter and advise the membership in due course.
6. Danny Bell asked how much the membership fees were going to be for the following year and JKD confirmed that the fees would remain unchanged.
7. Mark Wild asked about whether there was an OMRA H&S Policy however it was pointed out that it is the responsibility of the OOD to risk assess events.
8. The issue of Child Protection was raised and Phil Snewin stated that he was happy to continue in this role unless anyone else would like to take it on. Mark Wild pointed out that the existing Child Protection Policy did not cover vulnerable adults. Phil Snewin corrected him on this and stated that its title was the OMRA Child & Vulnerable Person Policy and that it conformed to current legislation and best practice. Some discussion took place about this subject and Phil undertook to review the policy and to update it where necessary.
In the absence of any further business and after presentation of the trophies, the meeting was closed at 1530hrs.
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