Hi all,

Welcome to the 5th ‘Chairperson’s Quarterly Update, and the 2nd of the current committee year, and the 1st of 2018. The idea of these updates is to keep all you members of St. Michael’s Rowing Club up to speed with what’s going on within the club committee and the wider world where it’s relevant to what we do. The previous updates are all in this blog for any new members, or for anyone who missed them. They are intended to complement the more regular Member Updates, which generally cover specific topics.

As you’ll see I just about missed the target of March for this update, but I really wanted to get it out before we get back on the water.. which is tomorrow! The season is about to kick off big time, so there’s plenty to update you all on.

  • Back on the water
  • Boats and equipment
  • The season ahead
  • Committee, comms, and fundraising
  • The wider rowing world

Back on the water

Today is April 2nd, and tomorrow, as you’ll see from the Weekly Schedule we hit the water again. If you missed this first week, slot back in any time. You can pay your membership subs right now if you can, but it will likely be a couple of weeks before we start putting the squeeze on people. The main priority is getting back out there and pulling those oars through the water again!

You will have noticed from emails, whatsapps, etc., that some of our members have been out rowing at the weekends already this year. This followed a motion at last year’s AGM to facilitate winter rowing, and was subject to it being available only to those who’d done 10 or more hours maintenance, beginning only when 3 of our 5 boats had finished their winter maintenance.

There has also been a good bit of off-water off-season activity, with regular participation at boxercise at Monkstown Boxing Club and at Indoor Rowing in CBC (thanks to Brendan for organising). This will all stand to you all when Captain Chris Greene and his band of selectors start putting crews together!

So as we head in to the season, do check out the Club Calendar, and fill in the appropriate dates into wherever you keep your schedule. Some to note are the Family Challenge day on 19th of May, and our first Open Day next Tuesday, 10th April. On the Open Day, do spread the word with your friends, but also do come along to help out and welcome new people to our sport and club.

Boats and equipment

Big respect to Stephen Ring for heading up this winter’s programme as Maintenance Coordinator. One job of particular interest was the fitting of new knees to the Eileen (the bits between the seats and the gunwales), which you will see all fresh and bright. A Mr Dave Nolan helped us with this. Well done to everyone who put their shoulder to the wheel over the winter over the wider maintenance programme.

As you’ll know from the last Quarterly Update, participation in winter maintenance was historically low, we didn’t get all the repairs done that we’d hoped, and we had to push the start of the season back a week. This will be a challenge for the coming winter, and Ste’s revolutionary plan is very much in play.

In getting back on the water, things might take a little while to settle down around equipment; where things are, where things go, snagging, etc., so please be patient with each other, if you see something, try to take on the responsibility of putting it right yourself, and if you can’t, let someone from the Club Committee know.

Following on from the previous update, we can confirm that our new Skiff (name TBC!) is on the work programme of Hunkin’s Boatbuilders, and is due to be finished in December 2018. (By the time the grants were announced, his order book was already full until past the 2018 racing season, so new skiff for this year was never going to happen). While we received a substantial sports capital grant for this project, we will have to raise part of the funds ourselves in the coming months. More on this below. It is hoped that we will be able to secure a second ‘good’ road trailer – part of the same grant allocation – in time for the coming season.

The season ahead

As you may have seen, following the ECRC AGM (more on this below), the 2018 East Coast regatta fixtures list is now available. Again, get them in the diary! As with last season, the Club committee has also pulled together a list of all known ‘other’ races on offer for the coming season. There are loads! These were reduced to a manageable –  but still ambitious – number of events, based on logistics, date clashes, etc.

Details of these available other/long races are here, and you have been invited to get your availability in for these and the East Coast regattas here as soon as you can.

You will have seen from this previous update that we are looking to beef up the number of members with towbars, who can tow to regattas and other events. The long and the short of it is that the club will pay for you to get a towbar fitted if you are in a position to tow boats. Talk to Niall on this if you are interested or have any questions. Details in the link. And if your car is 1.6 litre or more, please consider it. Without towers, these races and events just ain’t going to happen.

Committee, comms, and fundraising

Well the big ticket item on the communications front is this here website you’re reading this on! It’s hoped this new members area will serve as a simplified  ‘one stop shop’ for all our communication and information needs. Big thanks to Vin, Eoin, Deanna, and, uh, me, for working over the winter on the subcommittee that brought this into being.

With Deanna heading to Dingle to take the air for a while, Dave and herself have juggled around their original roles and responsibilities based on which require the person to be up close and personal, and which can be done from afar.

  Dave (Treasurer) Deanna (Memb Sec)
New members ·        Manage open days on the ground ·        Tee up membership enquiries for open day

·        Send follow-up emails and field enquiries
Club finances ·        Planning

·        Grant drawdown

·        Outgoing payments

·        Receive cash subs

 ·        Chase people for subs

·        Keep account of who has and hasn’t paid
Member Management   ·        Member database and email circulation list
Communications   ·        Weekly email

·        Social Media (with help)

·        Website lead
Crew Scheduling ·        Lead charge, with help from Selectors  

 

Training – the mental not the physical side – has been ongoing, with a number of members receiving ‘Safeguarding 1’  – Child Welfare & Protection Basic Awareness – course in January. On the committee side, myself, Enya, Deanna, and Brendan received GDPR training last month, which will help in implementing our GDPR policy. It’s all about data protection, and applies to sports clubs, businesses, government, etc. from May 25th.

In other committee news, since the last update, the 2017 AGM minutes have become available. Thanks to Martin for pulling these together. Preparations are underway by Aisling for a major Spring Fundraiser – info to follow. If anyone has time or expertise to help in this area, do give Aisling a shout. On a wider point, it is an objective of the club that all subcommittees be made up on a 50/50 basis of committee and non-committee members, so expect to have plenty of opportunity to contribute as the season unfolds.

The wider rowing world

The rift between Rowing Ireland and the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation, outlined in the last update, rumbles on. Since then we held an in-club Information Meeting, and we have been engaging with both organisations. It remains the case that we are affiliated to the ICRF via our affiliation to the ECRC, and also directly affiliated to Rowing Ireland, as are 40% of the ECRC clubs. The latest is that the two bodies are entering ‘mediation’. More as we get it.

The East Coast Rowing Council AGM was held in February, and the Executive are as per last year, except for me (Ger) out (I declined a nomination), and Emma Caulfield of Stella Maris in for me as Public Relations Officer. The Chair remains Charlie Dayman of Arklow, Secretary Gillian Mangan of Bray, Treasurer Noel Matthews of Bray, Children’s Officer Philip Murphy of St. Patrick’s. We were successful in our motion to set up a new role of Judges’ Coordinator, and it is hoped to put me (Ger) forward for this when nominations open up in the coming weeks.

Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company remain in a state of flux, with drawn-out moves afoot to subsume them into the County Council. Meanwhile, they are progressing a number of projects including a National Watersports Centre at the back of the Ice box and Floating Homes to replace the moorings in the Coal Harbour just off the slip we use. It is fair to say there’s a degree of confusion, suspicion and concern around these projects. Enya is maintaining contact with the Harbour Company on these matters at this early stage.

That’s all for now. See you on the slip shortly!

Ger Ryan,  Club Chairperson, St. Michael’s Rowing Club – Dun Laoghaire.