2013 Police Sport UK Offshore sailing consultative meeting

Held at West Cowes yacht haven on Thursday 16th May prior to the social event

1. Welcome

Members were welcomed by the chair CC Sara Thornton at 1700hrs.

2. Attendance

John Oldham, Met Secretary
Nick Shaw, Notts
Stuart Jenkins, Met
Nick Mason, Met
Pete Walker, Met
Steve Norcross, Hampshire
Andrew Buchanan, Hants
Ian Ingram, West Midlands
Tony Riordan, Cleveland
Iain Tribrick, Cleveland
Pete Walters, Notts
Henry Scutt, Warks
Lee Maughan, Warks
Jennifer Best, Kent
John Walsh, Herts
Stan Thinksaker, Herts
Rick Prieseley, Notts
Ralph Gibson, Notts
Philip Quinn, PSNI
 

3. Minutes of previous meeting check for accuracy and agreement

These were confirmed as correct - John Oldham and Stuart Jenkins.

4. Matter and actions from previous meeting

The new representative for Northern Ireland will be Philip Quinn (PSNI)

5. Regional reps - seeking volunteers to fill these spaces

Still vacancy in SW for area representative.

Action: John Oldham to work finding a suitable person.

6. Financial matters, note Louise Nixon will be standing down at next AGM volunteer needed to fill role.

Nick Shaw (Notts) will take over this role from Louise at the next AGM

Louise reports all grants have been paid except that for Paul Heath (dinghy Laser 2012 winner)

7. Secretary’s report

Frances Gifford (Met) who won the dinghy nationals in September will not be taking her crew (Peter Walker) to represent the PSUK in the Merlin championships by default therefore half the PSUK grant then falls to the second placed boat (Nick Mason (Met) Grants have been paid.

The winner of the 2012 National offshore championship Peter Walters (Notts) cannot utilise the PSUK grant awarded to him so this has defaulted to the second placed boat Mason King, for an entry to Cowes Week 2013.

8. Considerations for any outstanding achievement awards

This was discussed but the only person who might fit the criteria is Frances Gifford who has won 4 dinghy national (not consecutively)

Action: John Oldham to research and check on the Criteria.

9. Cowes week report 2012, (PSUK sponsored boat)

This event was not completed due to Olympic year.

10. Trophies,

Agreed to maintain current trophies. See AOB for answers to previous actions on trophies.

11. Current PSUK offshore event.

Steve Norcross gave an account of the current championships. The general consensus was that the races had suited most competitors and there was very little waiting around.
There was a debate as to why numbers were down 2011 (24) 2012 (17) 2103 (13). This could not scientifically be answered and maybe a combination of publicity issues, cost, damage deposit, changes in forces senior management towards sport, lack of sponsorship.

Ian Ingram raised a concern about the Friday race not being part of the championships. Bearing in mind forces are paying or sponsoring 5 days racing this could affect future funding.

It was acknowledged by Nick Mason that each force that runs the event needs to make their own decisions around when and where the races, social and prize giving are held.

Peter Walker stated that in recent championships the last day was a pursuit race with the leaders given a handicap.

John Oldham stated that the social need not be on the Thursday

After a general debate it was voted that the most favourable itinerary would be for future organisers to have a social event early in the week 5 days racing and a quick prize-giving after giving boats back on the last day.

12. Future major events.

• 9-15 June 2013 the North Brits championships hosted by the Scots police (formally Strathclyde).

• 1-10th August 2013 World police and Fire games (dinghy) Northern Ireland

• 16-18th Sept 2013 National dinghy championships hosted by West Mids

• 6-8th Oct 2013 the Met police (PSUK southern) offshore championships hosted by the Met.

• May 2014 Scotland cannot host the 2014 offshore Nationals event so a volunteer force is needed.

This was raised to the meeting as a debate.
Nick Mason stated that he had been in liaison with Brian Tucker (Dorset) around the UK hosting the World police offshore championships in September 2014. The Met Sailing club had agreed to help with the organisation. The intention is to involve 12 countries. The format of the event is as yet to be decided but tentatively it will be with Sunsail fleet based at Cowes. Suggestion is that the Offshores and the worlds are combined.
The advantages are that it boosts both events and counters the concern about getting annual leave.
Obtaining funding is part of the organisers plan but too early to comment on.
If the combined event is held in September it may clash with the dinghy championships, in May this will be better but subject to approval from other countries.

Action: It was agreed that Nick Mason would research the possibility of a combined event in May.

It was agreed that if the events could not be combined then Nottinghamshire would host the 2014 May offshore championships.

• 15th -17th Sept 2014 Dinghy nationals hosted by Nott’s police

• The 2015 Offshore championships will be run by Nottinghamshire if they are not already hosting the 2014 championships.

13. AOB

John Oldham formally cleared outstanding matters from the AGM minutes

It was requested that the following be formally raised at the offshore consultative meeting

• Sean Moore (Leicestershire) proposed that a competitor only take home one trophy to spread the trophies around. This was not approved.

• Sean Moore suggested a bronze silver and gold fleet, again this was not approved with the low turn out currently

• The proposed Dorset open meeting in Weymouth in July will not now go ahead.

12. Close and formal thanking of those in attendance, next meeting is the AGM at TVP HQ date set at 11am 18th Oct 2013
 

PSUK Dinghy Sailing Championships

Consultation Meeting

17th September 2013

Blithfield Sailing Club

The Minutes

In attendance.

John Oldham (JO) - Met

Nick Mason (NM) - Met

Tony Hylands (TH) - Met

Richard Sivers (RS) - Northants

Ian Ingram (II) - West Mids

Paul Welsh (PW) - Cheshire

Mark Fordham) (MF) - Avon and Somerset

Mark Rolfe (MR) - Avon and Somerset

Marie Bond (MB) - West Mids

Sean Moore (SM) - Leicestershire

Peter Walker (PW) - Met

Roger Glass(RG) - Met

Welcome by the Chair

In the absence of Sara Thornton the JO opened the meeting at 18:30hrs, welcomed everyone and dealt with the introductions of those present.

Apologies for Absence

Sara Thornton

Stuart Jenkins

Minutes of the PSUK Dinghy Consultation Meeting 2012

These were read over by JO and agreed as correct by NM and seconded by RG. Arising from the minutes was one Action.

• Trophies. Some will need re-silvering and others need more space for engraving. This should be the subject of discussion at the AGM in October and consideration should be given to applying to PSUK for funding in respect of costs around trophies.

Matters arising

Regional reps were requested to forward details of Trophy winners to JO along with a photograph of the Trophies for PSUK records.

MB agreed to forward JO details of allocated trophies for the 2013 event along with her budget details.

JO has scanned all historical documents relating to Police sailing and placed them on a disc to ensure they are preserved for the future. JO will pass a copy of this disc to RS.

Awards - Nominations were requested for PSUK life time achievement awards. No single nomination was received. II suggested that Avon and Somerset should receive the award as they were continued to be a section that supports Police Sailing. It was agreed that there support was appreciated but unfortunately they did not fit the criteria as the award is for a person and not a sailing section.

JO circulated a recent document from PSUK outlining rules and considerations for organising a PSUK Championship. There was some discussion around this and it’s implications. II stated that as organiser of the 2013 Dinghy Nationals he had been in contact with PSUK and for the future it maybe that they would require more detailed accounts to be produced by organising Committee’s.

Review of event

This was the first year where the single handed day had been run in a new format as in previous years the Laser Day numbers had dwindled. This year 16 boats attended the single handed day which was on an improvement on the 13 Lasers for the previous year - a number of competitors who had sailed Lasers the previous year chose to bring other single handed dinghies thereby negating the need to bring two boats to the event. It was agreed that the single handed day was a success and the event should continue in this format.

Arising from this was the issue of where PSUK funding should go. As it is a handicap event it was agreed that funding should go to the winner of the single handed event overall and not to the first Laser as had been the case in previous years.

There were 29 entries for the Mixed Handicap Fleet 2 day event, 9 more boats than the previous year.

II outlined the assistance that had been provided to him by Blithfield SC who had gone out of their way to ensure the event was a success. Those present were in total agreement and it was recognised how difficult it is to put on Championships in these tough economic times. Crewsaver and PMAS had sponsored the event and assisted with prizes. II stated that he had received a number of apologies and asked how new blood could be attracted to Police Sailing. There was some discussion around this where the meeting recognised that there had been a steady decline in the majority of Police Sport and we could only hope that new recruits into the Police family would take some interest in sailing.

JO raised the issue of other ‘Emergency services’ attending to compete. LAS, LFB and UKBA attend Met events and the proposal was that other agencies be allowed to participate in PSUK / Police events thus increasing the amount of competitors overall and increasing revenue for Organisers. This was agreed in principle by the meeting and JO will take this forward to the AGM in October.

Following on from this MB also raised the issue of those staff members who had been subject to redundancy or who had left the service but were not in receipt of a Police pension. In these circumstances they, under the current rules are not eligible to compete in Police sport. JO stated he will take this matter forward at the AGM in October.

Future Events

Dorset had previously suggested that they may be able to organise the 2014 event but they were now unable. Sussex had been in touch but had not confirmed if they were able to assist. Avon and Somerset representatives stated that they might be able to run the event but would need to confirm with Chew valley SC.

JO to liaise with A and S to confirm willingness/ability to organise 2014 event.

PW stated that Cheshire were looking to run an Open Meeting in 2014 as are Leicestershire. There was a general discussion within the group around Open Meetings and Reps agreed to try and get an early date arranged for their events which they would pass to RS for advertising on the Police Sailing website.

Next Meeting

September 2014 - Venue and date to be confirmed

AOB

II asked if there was support within the group to enter a boat for the Southport 24 hour race. There was some interest and II stated that he will make some further enquiries.

Meeting concluded at 19:00hrs.

Police Sport UK

Sailing Section AGM

1100 hrs Wednesday 16^th October 2013

Thames Valley Police Headquarters

Minutes

1 Welcome

Everyone welcomed by Chief Constable Sara Thornton to Thames Valley Police Headquarters.  Those present were thanked for making the journey.

Present

Sara Thornton             Thames Valley            (ST)    Chair

Richard Sivers            Northants                    (DS)   Archivist

John Oldham              Met                              (JO)

Noel Lightfoot              South Yorks                (NL)

Colin Lightfoot             South Yorks               (CL)

Steve Norcross           Hants                           (SN)

2 Apologies

Henry Scutt Warwickshire
David Old Lancashire
Phil Quinn PSNI
Nick Shaw Nottinghamshire
Ian Campbell PSUK
Louise Nixon Scotland
Stewart Stratton Scotland
Alex Piggott Nottinghamshire
Stuart Jenkins MPS
Nick Mason MPS

3 Minutes of AGM 2012

Minutes approved Steve Norcross and Richard Sivers

3A Matters Arising, none

4 Elections of Officers

Chair remains Sara Thornton

Secretary John Oldham (MPS) voted Steve Norcross and Richard Sivers

Treasurer Louise Nixon stands down thanks recorded from committee.

Nick Shaw proposed John Oldham and Richard Sivers

4. Correspondence

None recorded

5 Treasurers Report

TREASURERS REPORT 2012- 2013

GRANT IN 2012 FOR 2013 EVENTS --------------------------------------------£4847

BALANCE FEB 2013 -----------------------------------------------------------------£2207

GRANT FOR 2014 ------------------------------------------------------------------ £4225

BALANCE 15^TH APRIL 2013 ------------------------------------------------------£6432

CHEQUES WRITTEN AND CASHED 2012-2013

WEB SITE RICHARD SIVERS ---------------------------------------------- --£550

HANTS PSUK ORGANISERS  ---------------------------------------------- --£1500

DINGHY CHAMPIONSHIP ORGANISERS  ----------------------------- --£500

RYA ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------- £110

SUNSAIL 2013  ENTRY TO COWES WEEK ------------------------------ £1457

DINGHY CHAMPS  FRANCIS Gifford and Peter Walker---------------- £500

PAUL HEATH DINGHY CHAMP   -------------------------------------------- £250

Expenditure---------------------------------------------------------------------------- £4867

CURRENT BALANCE--------------------------------------------------------------- £4475

6 National Dinghy Championships 2013

Verbal report presented by John Oldham, Full report by Marie Bond on the sailing website.

Blithfield sailing club in Staffordshire, organised by the West Midlands police. Single handed dinghy event held on the 16^th September, very windy, 16 boats attended. Winner Simon Hawkes second Nick Mason, third Paul Heath.

Dinghy championships 17/18 September 29 entries, variable wind. Winner Simon Hawkes, second Fran Gifford / Peter walker third Nick mason

Championship run extremely well with a good turn out. Thanks to West Midlands recorded.

7 National Offshore Championships 2013

Briefing from Steve Norcross given to meeting full report on sailing website.

 The event was held in the Solent using the Sunsail boats and run by Hampshire. There were 13 entries. Winner Stuart Jenkins MPS then Peter Walters Nottinghamshire third Cleveland. A very well run event with a good selection of races. The event was run at a profit.  Thanks to Steve Norcross for his work in organising this.

8 Consultative Meeting – Dinghy

Matter arising from this meeting.

8.1 John Oldham provided Richard Sivers with the scanned historical documents for his records.

8.2 Nominations for PSUK life time achievement awards were discussed, unfortunately at this time there is no one that fits in the criteria.

8.3 John Oldham suggested that guests (such as the Ambulance service or fire service) be allowed to participate in PSUK championships to increase the numbers.  This is a matter for PSUK approval

8.4 Marie Bond asked if the issue of allowing retired or redundant staff not in receipt of police pension to compete in PSUK events could be raised again. This again is a matter for PSUK approval

Action: Sara Thornton will write to the PSUK Chair Steve Finnigan to ask if this matter could be considered again.

9 Consultative Meeting – Offshore

Matters arising

9.1 A regional rep for the SW still needs to step forward. Action to John Oldham to pursue.

9.2 Life time achievement award was discussed but no one current fits with the criteria.

10 British Police Representation  2014

This will be Simon Hawkes( Avon and Somerset) for winning the national Dinghy Single hander day and the national Dinghy championships he will received funding of £250 for each event total £500.

This will be Stuart Jenkins from the MPS for winning the national offshore championships. He will receive funding of £1850 to enter a suitable national championships.

11 National Offshore Championships 2014, 2015

The 2014 offshore championships will be combined with the police offshore world championships using the Sunsail fleet based in West Cowes. The event will be run by the MPS (Nick Mason) and Dorset combined.  The dates will be Sunday the 18^th to Friday the 23^rd may inclusive. It will be a five day championships with the main social and consultative meeting earlier in the week. (Date time place of the consultative meeting to Sara Thornton’s PA asap Action to Nick Mason) Full details on the police sailing website.

The 2015 offshore event was discussed, currently Nottingham have indicated that can run the event but nothing yet has been confirmed. It was considered that combining this event with the North British championships in Scotland which may attract a greater number of entries and offer a more varied sailing area than the Solent which is becoming quite repetitive. Bearing in mind that the MPS offshore event in October is Solent based. Action to John Oldham to approach Scotland to consider this, failing this to clarify if Nottingham will assist.

12 National Dinghy Championships 2014, 2015

The 2014 Dinghy nationals will be run by Avon and Somerset in Chew Valley sailing club in September (date to be confirmed) See Police website for details

The proposed force to organize the 2015 Dinghy Nationals is Sussex. Action to John Oldham to clarify this with the force.

13 Award of Excellence

No nominations this year

14. Dinghy events in 2013 /14

John Oldham gave an overview of the Dinghy Open events during this year which included

The Met police open on the 4^th July in Netley good weather and reasonably well attended

The Avon and Somerset Open at Chew valley on the 19^th June reasonably well attended but very little wind.

Sussex Open at Lancing on the 14^th August, very low turn out maybe due to school holidays.

In 2014 we have already planned an Open in Dorset, Poole yacht club 2^nd July and an early promise of an event in Cheshire and Leicestershire.

15. PSUK funding allocation for 2014 

16 Any other business

None

Date of next year’s AGM, Thames Valley Police Headquarters.  TBA (October) Action to John Oldham to set with CC Thornton’s PA asap

Note action now complete:  1100 hrs on Wednesday 15 October 2014 in the CCMT Conference Room  at TVP  HQ