Annual General Meeting 2025

Commodore John Mason reported a busy season of good sailing conditions, increasing participation, successful training and important structural improvements at the Club's Annual General Meeting, where 2026 subscription rates were agreed and the Executive Committee was elected to continue to manage the club.

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Dear Member,

We have had a good season on balance, despite early administrative difficulties.

Administration.

At the end of last season two very experienced and long standing members gave notice of their resignations from their posts of Training principal (personal reasons) and Chief instructor (leaving the area and hence the club). This left us without leadership for the Training centre. We were able to find a replacement for the Chief Instructor and Richard McCulloch has filled this role efficiently for the past season and is willing to continue. We were less successful in finding a replacement for the Training Principal for the beginning of the past season and Lorina Waldron stepped back in and continued to run the training function as efficiently as ever. It is now possible for Lorina to retire from this role without precipitating a crisis for the club as David White has stepped forward to take it on. It is a role that David is well qualified to fill, not only has he managed the Membership secretary role efficiently for the past year but back in the mists of time he managed a sailing school. 

Also, around this time our Membership Secretary and Webmaster became ill and had to give up both roles abruptly. We are grateful to David White and Alex Frost for filling the breach and stepping into these roles so that we now have the membership system working smoothly and an impressive new website which showcases the club to good effect.

So, to complete this game of “inverse musical chairs” Richard, being the incumbent Vice Commodore last year was replaced, in this role, by Rob Dangerfield and we are looking to appoint a new Membership Secretary at this meeting.

Weather and Environment

We were fortunate to be able to start at the scheduled date. The water level was acceptable although the site was a bit soggy to begin with. The water level has remained satisfactory for the entire season and it seems probable that we will sail on the last scheduled date. With the exception of a tenacious stringy substance, which lasted for a few weeks in early summer and which I am reliably informed is an algae we have remained weed and algae free for the season. 

Garnet Davies of the Lakeside has tested a device to suppress Blue Green Algae. This is anchored south of the Crannog, about midway across the lake, members will have noticed it with solar panels and a red flag. It uses ultrasound to disrupt the growth of BGA with a range up to 200 metres, so this installation should keep the western end of the lake clear. Well that’s the theory anyway. Garnet is satisfied that he has good data to support the efficacy of the thing and proposes the get another one for next year to moor East of Llangasty point. Please don’t collide with them they cost about £6k each.

Members may have noticed major tree clearance on the crannog. This was organised by CADW in September in a program to preserve the archaeology they also intend to remove the reeds from the shoreward side.

The road across the common has been re-surfaced by Powys CC contractors. This was partly financed by a “Levelling Up Grant” awarded for common improvements.

Jonathon Savile, who was the NRW representative on the LLAG has now moved on to another post, his replacement has yet to be appointed. Nick Taylor had developed a good relationship with Jonathon over the years and he was sympathetic to the Clubs point of view. I will continue to argue for a realistic balance between recreational use and environmental conservation in relation to the triple SI which we are fortunate enough to have as our sailing water.

Sailing and Training Program

Following an enjoyable and well attended “Pre Season Lunch” we were able to start the season to schedule with “The Cobweb Cup” on Sunday March 30th. Throughout much of the season we have been blessed with strong southerly or westerly winds which has provided some exciting sailing at times. 

Despite our pool of qualified trainers being rather depleted we have been able to meet training needs for both children and adults. The forecast for “Training Week” at the end of May was felt to be too severe for beginners and the event was rescheduled for the beginning of the Summer school holidays. Additionally we have run various training events and a series of development days. We also hosted a “Disability Sailing Day” in collaboration with “The Outdoor Partnership” and a local outdoor centre. This took place in July and was attended by 7 disabled clients and their carers. Thanks to Jacquie Layton and Richard McCulloch for organising.

Members have been slow to sign up for duties this past year but we have been fortunate to have been able to run racing and support recreational sailing on every eligible Sunday throughout the season due to last minute volunteers. Thanks to everyone who volunteered and especially to those who did more than their quota.

Club Development.

 The total membership is presently 214 (this compares with 239 in 2024 and is reflected in a drop in membership income) and represents perhaps 100 lead members. It is heavily biased towards the older age group although we do have 45 under 18s. 

The three RS Fevas which we bought secondhand last season are now fully operational and have been used to good effect by a group of young people.

We have completed two small but important capital projects. The renewal of staging in the wetshed and the construction of a new platform for the fuelstore. Thanks to Rob Dangerfield for securing funding for the former, to Richard McCulloch for managing both to a high standard and to John Farmer for assisting with the wetshed.

The Thursday club has been well supported throughout the year members have cut the grass and vegetation and improved the site, in particular by adding hardcore to soft and/or low lying areas of the site (we have had 25 tons delivered per year for the last two years). 

Thanks to everyone who attended and to Rob and Claire for organising. I should also put in a plug for the Thursday club as we are always in need of new people if anyone has any spare time. It’s social and we often go for a sail if the weather’s good. The more people, the less time the actual work takes.

Rob Dangerfield has put a lot of effort into grant applications. In particular at the beginning of this year He organised an application to the SportWales BeActive fund to introduce schoolchildren to sailing in collaboration with a local secondary school. It was anticipated that this would generate interest in the club locally and may have resulted in new members. Direct benefits to the club would have been funding to train more instructors and upgrading of some of our club boats. Sadly this bid was not successful but useful experience was gained for the next one.

Two main future project areas have been identified.

• Rooftop solar PV and possibly thermal to meet some, if not all, of the clubs energy needs financed via an energy saving grant.
• A major project to redevelop the changing, shower and toilet facilities to be more inclusive and meet modern expectations and to provide a more pleasant and comfortable environment to change in.

Sailing numbers are down on a decade ago but we have had enough people to support the racing program each week and often equal numbers of recreational sailors with a number of members making use of the concession to use a canoe or kayak on a fairly regular basis.

This follows a national trend in which activity in small boat sailing has declined. Many inland clubs have diversified to embrace variously, paddleboarding, wild swimming and model yacht racing. The first two are not options for us but the committee would welcome suggestions for future developments. I am committed to helping to develop the club to continue to facilitate access to the water for people to enjoy in any manner that is consistent with our contractual and environmental obligations.

John Mason.

November 2025.