Well we’re now three months since the November 2014 AGM and past the Rear Commodore’s Winter Equinox date to spring Launch. Your 2015 Fleet Committee has been hard at work laying the foundation for another great Sailing season of competition and activities in 2015.
As reported at the 2014 AGM and NSC Awards, we have grown to become the largest club racing fleet in Canada, with participation still on the rise! A testament to the current structure of NSC’s Sailing Program, quality of organisation, and the significant investment in volunteer hours put in by a large dedicated team of your fellow members to make it all happen each year!
2015 Fleet Committee: Almost all the Committee volunteers are now in place for 2015. You can view here the current list of Fleet Committee Volunteers. Along with their fellow volunteers, Fleet Representatives play a critical role in ensuring NSC Fleet’s effectiveness and responsiveness. By serving as a consolidated voice for the 18+ individual NSC racing fleets and a communication link to members on matters of interest, having your Fleet Representatives at the table enables effective and member-driven program decision making. Please remember to thank them for getting involved on your behalf! There are still a few volunteer holes to fill (marked by TBD) so if you’re interested, please send me an email at fleet@nsc.ca.
2015 Priorities: As part of the NSC Board’s annual strategic planning review, Fleet Committee has set the following guiding Sailing Program Priorities for 2015, with the overall goal of enhancing member participation in competitive and related sailing activities:
- Maintain and develop quality race management
- Promote and develop our social, fun sailing events
- Facilitate high quality, NSC-hosted regattas
- Enhance Interclub race relations and logistics
- Promote and foster pride in NSC’s Sailing Program
In addition to the regular large body of work required to plan and run a sailing program of NSC’s scale and scope, a number of program tweaks and new initiatives will be introduced in the coming months that support these objectives. These include some of the Q1 accomplishments below.
2015 Interclub Sailing and Event Calendar: Hugh Morrin has been diligently preparing the draft BYC/NSC Interclub event calendar and Race Series calendar which will be published later this quarter as part of the 2015 Interclub Sailing Instructions. Hugh has already published the confirmed NSC events on the NSC Google calendar. Check it out to see what’s planned for 2015!
PHRF/RACE Registration: As you’re reading this, the 2015 Race Registration and PHRF-LO Certificate renewal forms have been mailed out along with your NSC Mooring Invoices. To register your boat for 2015, please fill out the Race registration form and mail it (with or without the Mooring invoice) in to the NSC office, or scan and email the form to Jan Huus, the Chief Handicapper/Registrar.
2015 RC Volunteers: The NSC online Race Committee Volunteer sign-up calendar is now live! If you plan on racing in 2015, each participating boat is required to sign-up for RC duties. So please remember to review the RC Volunteers Procedure and sign-up early to get your preferred dates before they’re gone!
Race Bosun Guide: The NSC Race Bosun Guide is one of the primary training and guiding documents for our Race Bosuns. The previous version (last updated in 2012) is currently undergoing an overhaul and review to bring it up to date with recent changes and the latest procedures. So it will be a more useful resource when the new NSC Race Bosun team comes onboard in the spring.
ARO/CRO Certification Seminar: Rick Anderton of ‘RCs R US’ is arranging an OSA Level 1 Assistant Race Officer (ARO) and Level 2 Club Race Officer (CRO) race management seminar to be hosted at NSC, March 28-29. This is a fabulous opportunity for those who are interested in obtaining professional race management training, or need to re-certify. Stay tuned for further details.
Crew Bank: The NSC Crew Bank has been updated for 2015. The parallel, paper-based system on the downstairs Fleet notice board has been done away with to create more clarity and focused awareness of the online Crew Bank. We are looking at how we might make this resource a more useful and user-friendly tool for those who use it. We will also be providing a contact person at the Sail Training Centre who would facilitate connecting youth sailors interested in racing with those in need of crew.
2015 NSC Regattas: The 2015 NSC Regatta chairs have pulled together their core teams and many have starting planning for this season. In addition to our annual regattas; Ottawa Skiff & Cat GP, the Nepean One Design (NOD), National Capital Cup, and FANFARE, this year NSC is pleased to be hosting the 2.4mR North America Championships on July 24 to 26th. Also, NSC will be hosting the 5O5 Canadian Championships as part of FANFARE, as well as a number of Ontario Championships and counter designations as part of the NOD Regatta.
These key class designations are a tribute to NSC’s growing reputation for hosting well managed Regattas with national-level excellence in Race Management. As with any top Sailing Club and per NSC’s long-term strategic plan, we will continue to look for opportunities to host major regattas and build best-practises in Regatta Management.
In the coming months, Fleet will be finalizing changes to the 2015 Interclub Sailing Instructions in conjunction with BYC, advancing Regatta and major event planning, and putting in place all the pieces for the start of the regular Sailing season.
Just think, only three months left till Launch and the NSC Ice Breaker Series start!
Ross H. Ernst – Fleet Captain 2015
