Hi all,

A little later than planned, here is the third Chairperson’s Quarterly Update of 2017. First off, apologies for the delay (2 months late!). 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 first and second updates are pasted below for any new members, or for anyone who missed it.

There’s a fair bit of meat in this email, so put on the kettle and settle in. Topics this time around are as follows.

  • East Coast racing season
  • Other rowing events
  • Equipment and Maintenance
  • Finance and Fundraising
  • Season wrap-up and upcoming autumn events
  • Committees, Subcommittees, and external links
  • Members and Communication

East Coast racing season

Wow. Well it’s safe to say that 2017 was the most successful year on the water in our club’s long and distinguished history. Well done to all crews, medallists or otherwise, to all our coxes – especially new entrants – and to all our supporters. Particular credit is owed though to Captain and Children’s Officer Hilary and Katie, who fielded the largest number of crews every seen from one club in one season on the east coast, to the hard working Selectors’ Panel, and to Cathy who kept us on our toes and on the road by managing our logistics. At an east coast level, we picked up 2nd place in both the Senior and Junior Shields and 3rd place overall, with 13 season ‘podium finishes’ across the 16 categories ranked. Full results at https://eastcoastrowing.ie/season-medals-and-shields-2017/

It’s also probably fair to say that we retained our mantle of running the best and fairest regatta on the coast (not our words, it’s what the other clubs will tell you!). A big thanks to the organising subcommittee, and indeed to the whole club who again pulled together brilliantly on the day.

Other rowing events

As well as the ECRC regatta circuit, we have had crews competing in a wide range of other events since my last update.

  • Celtic Challenge – Our Ladies Team (3 crews) blew the field away and came first in their category, while our Mixed Team (again 3 crews) unfortunately fell foul of equipment failure within sight of Wales. All rowers and – after a fashion – our dear St. Michael were brought safely to land and the weekend proceeded in the expected boozy haze! A report into the difficulties faced in the Challenge is in the process of being prepared. Hats off to the squad for their fundraising efforts too, for both the club and the RNLI. Sterling work, gang.
  • Ocean to City – 2 crews took part in this year’s event in Cork, with feedback being very positive. A race for the bucket list, this one.
  • All Irelands – The club sent a record number of crews to this year’s All Irelands in Ballyshannon, across a number of categories, and including an expanded youth contingent. Medals were won too! Well done to all who represented the club on the national stage.
  • Family Regatta – after 2 years in existence, this new in-club event has grown since its debut, and attracted 12 crews of members, past members, family of members, and perhaps future members? Much fun was had in the races, and at the BBQ after. Thanks to Aisling and helpers for a great day.
  • Hope Cup – A strong showing from St. Michaels made the trip to Stella for this mid/long distance charity event. We didn’t retain the cup, but we’ll be back!
  • The Long Race – After a lot of organising, the weather got the better of this event, which was cancelled for safety reasons. Great progress was made behind the scenes though, and it’s hoped this event will make a return in 2018. Well done to all the crews who had trained so hard for this 27km grueller.
  • The Barrow Challenge – while this race on 23rd Sept was on the cards as an option for members, it hasn’t been possible to put crews together. So that’s the racing season over for another year!

Equipment and Maintenance

We very definitely have the hardest working skiffs on the east coast, with 5 skiffs taking on 2-3 sessions 5-7 days a week. This work rate takes its toll, and there have been running repairs during the season, both within the Saturday Maintenance sessions and otherwise, particularly to our 3 older boats including ribbing of the Eileen and tingles in the St. Michael. Big thanks to tireless Maintenance Coordinator Chris G on this front. Our very necessary and most rewarding winter maintenance programme will be commencing in the coming weeks, and it’s hoped that everyone will get involved. More to follow on this, but an exciting area that is in the stage of advanced negotiations is an in-house oar making workshop, where we can learn the skills needed to make, refine, maintain, and repair oars ourselves. More news on this to follow. Oars have proved a major challenge this season, and we have had to diversify our oar sources.

Finance and Fundraising

On the grants front, we were unfortunately successful in our bids for funding from Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council (coxing boat, launching trolley, regatta expenses) and Dublin Bus (oars), but at the time of writing, we are yet to hear back on our ‘big ticket’ application under the Sports Capital Grant for a new skiff. Keep the fingers crossed! Well done to Secretary Extraordinaire Martin for his dogged work in this area.

The financial side of club activities has been taken to a new level this year in terms of management, forecasting, and reporting by Amy, our treasurer. Fundraising has been headed up by Aisling, who followed up the very successful race night with bag packing in June and a number of other side projects. Thanks to this duo, the committee has been able to be that bit more responsive to club needs, including digging into club funds – unsuccessful grant notwithstanding – to procure our second launching trolley. This has been a game changer at the beginning and end of sessions.

We really need to keep on top of our club finances though, and in particular Membership Subscriptions. Money is a vulgar topic, it’s true, but without it the club we love would grind to a halt.

Season wrap-up and upcoming autumn events

Next week will be the last week of on-water training. You might notice that the season is a little longer than last year. This is on foot of a motion from members at last year’s AGM. There are a lot of valid but often competing factors to take into account when deciding when to finish up on-water training including safety in the darker and stormier evenings, boat health, members’ wishes, coxing/mentoring resources, and the opportunity for a different tempo to evening sessions (sunset selfies!!). Always a tough one to reconcile. On a related note, the Saturday rowing option that was added into the mix this season on foot of members’ requests, turned out not to subscribed to the extent that we could get crews on the water, and was discontinued mid-season. It’s always worth trying new things though, and it’s all a learning process.

So, rowing might be drawing to a close, but there are plenty of club activities to keep you occupied in the coming weeks and months. So get out them diaries..

  • Table Quiz – Friday 15 September. Tonight in the Graduate! Come one come all. This is an important fundraiser and a great social event. Hope to see you there.
  • ‘Winterization’ of the boats (flipping and tidy up) – Sunday 24 September. With the skiffs not in use, we need to get them protected from the elements so we can start work on them. Bodies needed. Always a bit of a buzz around the boatyard on this day. Details to follow.
  • Annual General Meeting – Monday 2 October . This is a very important event, and all members are urged to attend. This is where you can get in depth reports from all committee members, table and vote on motions, and vote on the incoming committee. I’d urge all members to consider whether you could contribute to a committee role, whether you’re on the committee now, have been before, or would be a first timer. It’s hugely important and very rewarding. Any questions, give me a shout.
  • End of season presentation and party – Saturday 14 October. This free event is when we recognise the achievements and contributions of our members during the year. ECRC medals (so many!) will be awarded, along with awards recognising notable contributions, and some novelty prizes too!
  • Christmas karaoke & extravageansaí party – Saturday 9 December. We may be decent enough rowers, but by god we have some of the worst singers on the east coast! Some good ones too, so do come along.

As well as winter maintenance mentioned previously, which will have its own weekly rhythm – details to follow –  it’s worth pointing to the informal off-water training that takes place Tuesdays and Thursdays 7-8pm with Monkstown Boxing Club in the Mounttown Community Centre at a fiver a pop. Other off-season training opportunities may arise in the coming weeks and months too, so watch this space.

Committees, Subcommittees, and external links

Our committee of 9 (See the 2nd Quarterly Update below for name and roles) has met every month since the AGM. While a lot of our workload has been operational, we have been keeping an eye to the 2016 Strategic Plan, with a detailed review of progress having been undertaken in July. In addition to committee business, a number of largely event-based subcommittees have been in operation, which have generally included a 50/50 mix of committee and non-committee members. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Our reps at the East Coast Rowing Council this year have been Hilary, Katie, Amy, and Dave C, who have attended regular meetings of the clubs and represented St. Michael’s on regatta days. I have also been on the ECRC executive this year as Public Relations Officer. This year we also joined Rowing Ireland as an affiliate member in order to avail of Garda vetting for our youth volunteers after the Irish Coastal Rowing Federation ran into difficulties administering this function. It’s all very complicated, so I’ll spare you the details! Thanks are owed at this point to our hard working core of youth coxes and slip monitors, working to the wonderful Katie, who have kept our fantastic gang of kids in check and enjoying this fine sport.

We have also maintained a presence with the Public Boatyard Users Group under the stewardship of Dun Laoghaire Harbour Company, with Chris G being our primary rep at this forum. We have also maintained links with the Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown Sports Partnership, and with our local representatives.

Members and Communication

Since my last update, Michael has hosted 3 very successful open days. Welcome to all our new members who are getting this update for the first time! Hats off to Michael too for bearing the brunt of the crew scheduling this season, and to those who subbed into this role through the summer. This is not an easy task, but is one of the cornerstones of what we do.

You will have noticed in recent days that our interactions through WhatsApp have been streamlined into 2 groups, a ‘no holds barred’ group where (almost) anything goes, and an ‘info only’ group for conveying important updates. This move was discussed in detail within the committee and was based on member feedback. Thanks to Amy for heading this up. Thanks too to Mel who has been our primary social media manager, and to Mark F for providing a good deal of the best photos. Further attention may be warranted in the area of communications during the off season to ensure the right information is getting to the right people through the right channels.

So that’s me done. Thanks for listening, and thanks for a wonderful season. As we head into the autumn and all that brings, I’d like to say that in a general sense, it’s great to look back at our summer on the water and to recall how the club spirit, and the ethos of inclusivity and mutual support was maintained, even through challenging times. Yiz’re a good bunch, and I hope to see you all at one or more or all of the club events in the coming weeks.

Yours rowingly,

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