CS Sailing April 2024

CS Offshore Racing Club News

There are still places left for the Sunsail events on 13/14 April and 4/5 of May. These events are a great way to get back into the sailing season, and to get some practice in before IDOR.

If you are interested, please contact Peter at the Crew Bureau: crewbureau@csorc.org.uk Other events for the rest of the season are also filling up fast, so please do let Peter know if you are interested.

Booking forms will be sent out shortly to everyone who has been allocated a place.

The full programme, including the number of available places, can be found on our website: http://www.csorc.org.uk/programme.htm

Boat purchase

As some of you may already know, the club has been trying for some time to purchase our own racer cruiser sailing yacht. This would greatly increase the number of events we are able to take part in, as well as reducing the cost for members and offering more opportunities for skipper and crew development. However, our previous attempts to purchase a boat have unfortunately all been thwarted at the survey stage, which has identified issues that would be prohibitively expensive to resolve. In an attempt to move things forwards, we have recently prepared a revised Business Case that should allow us to expand our search and stand a better chance of success. However, this will be subject to approval from CSSA. We will keep members updated as and when there is any further news.

There is a monthly CSORC newsletter - to receive a copy, please email: crewbureau@csorc.org.uk

Please do spread the word about CSORC within your Departments We are always looking for new members and are reliant on enthusiastic crews to keep our programme of events going.

Dates for your Diary

CSSA AGM 3 June 2024 7pm

IDOR 3 - 7 June 2024

CSSC/CSSA National Dinghy Regatta 2024 held over 2 Open Events

Don’t miss out!

There’s still time to get your IDOR entries in!

Inter-Departmental Offshore Regatta 2024

To join in the fun book on the CSSC website

https://events.cssc.co.uk/events/61909

This is a CSSC Category 2 event - for more info please see CSSC National Travel Policy Fees include Race Yacht, Accommodation, Entry Fee and Regatta prize dinner.

The 2024 Inter-Departmental Offshore Regatta will take place from 3rd until 7th June 2024, offering a mix of inshore ‘round the cans’ and some longer day yacht racing between Civil Service departments and sailing clubs.

The regatta is hosted by the Island Sailing Club, who organise the world famous Round the Island Race.

We intend on repeating the success of last year’s visit to Yarmouth and this year, because of the tides, sailing around the Isle of Wight the other way around!

Notice of Race is available on the IDOR Website

For more information contact the IDOR Committee at: idor@cs-sailing.org.uk

Hello and welcome to the Spring issue of CS Sailing

I hope it finds you well and enjoying some brighter weather and lighter evenings and thoughts obviously turn to sailing - well, what else is there to think about?

There are a variety of exciting events to choose from, including the CSSA/CSSC Regatta, IDOR, racing, overseas cruises, taster sails and training opportunities.

Thanks, as always, to our contributors.

Happy reading

Eileen

CSSA Annual General Meeting 2024

2nd calling notice for the CSSA AGM 3rd June 2024 7:00pm

The 66th Annual General Meeting of the CSSA is scheduled to be held face-to-face from 1900 on Monday 3rd June 2024 at the Island Sailing Club, Cowes, Isle of Wight, PO31 7RE

Members may join via Zoom following application by email to the General Secretary at csgensec@yahoo.co.uk

In the absence of nominations for Officers and Committee members from the CSSA membership, all nominations have been made by the General Committee. CSSA will provide light refreshments.

Agenda

1. Commodore’s Address for the period ended 31 December 2023

2. Presentation of Awards

3. Minutes of the 65th AGM held on 27th May 2023

4. Adoption of the Annual Report for 2023

5.Treasurer’s Report and Adoption of the 2023 Annual Accounts

6. Motions – see section on Motions

7.Appointment of Officers and Committee members for the period until AGM 2025

General Committee from the CSSA AGM 3rd June 2024

No nominations were received from the membership. The following nominations are of serving members of the General Committee (GC) who are willing to continue in role plus Mark Goble who replaces Dave Grundy as Treasurer and Stuart Dawes who replaces Brian Stevenson as General Secretary.

Representatives of CSSA Divisions Each CSSA Division may appoint one representative to the General Committee

CSSA Annual General Meeting 2024

Nominations for CSSA Trophies are invited

The CSSA holds many trophies both for recognition of sailing achievements and for recognition of service to the CSSA and service to a Division.

Photographs of trophies, award criteria, and the officer responsible are listed at –http://cs-sailing.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/CSSA-Trophies.pdf

Please make your nomination(s) by 3rd May 2024 to the named ‘Officer Responsible’ – see http://cs-sailing.org.uk/contacts/ for current incumbents.

Trophies will be presented at the AGM to be held at the Island Sailing Club, Cowes, Isle of Wight on 3rd June 2024.

Motions put to the CSSA AGM to be held on Monday 3rd June 2024

Motion 1: to change from Audit of CSSA accounts to Independent Examination of CSSA accounts.

Proposed by David Grundy and Mark Goble

Background

• The law does not require an unincorporated body such as CSSA to have an Audit.

• CSSA’s turnover is under £50k, even Charities do not require an Audit until their turnover is over £2m

• All the component Clubs and Divisions of CSSA use an Independent Examination for review of their Annual accounts

• The quoted cost for an Audit is over £4k (which would about 10% of our grant from CSSC) An Independent Examination will cost around £2k

• Moore Thompson Chartered Accountants, Auditor of the 2022 accounts, recommended a move to Independent Examination.

• Although an Independent Examination could be carried out by anyone it is felt that for CSSA that this should be conducted by a qualified Accountant.

• An Independent Examination is a much lighter touch review by the Accountant but due to the operations of CSSA and the small number of transactions there are very few risks involved. The benefits of change far outweigh any perceived risks.

Motion

Para 14.4 of CSSA’s constitution is amended from:

(4) Financial statements as at 31st December shall be prepared annually on behalf of the General Committee by the Honorary Treasurer.They shall be prepared in accordance with the United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice and be subject to audit.The audited financial statements shall be submitted to the Annual General Meeting of the Association. to

(4) Financial statements as at 31st December shall be prepared annually on behalf of the General Committee by the Honorary Treasurer. They shall be prepared in accordance with the United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice and be subject to an Independent Examination by a qualified Chartered Accountant. The examined financial statements shall be submitted to the Annual General Meeting of the Association.

General Committee recommendation to the AGM

General Committee recommends that the AGM should support the Motion.

CSSA Annual General Meeting 2024

Motion 2: to appoint Independent Examiners (or Auditors subject to the outcome of Motion 1)

Proposed by Mark Goble and the General Committee Background

One of the functions of the Annual General Meeting is to appoint auditors (CSSA Constitution Clause 9(1)(b)).

Although CSSA could continue to use Moore Thompson Chartered Accounts who have reviewed the accounts for the last two years, it will be much more convenient to use a Chartered accountant in the locality of the Treasurer to avoid travel and other logical costs. Lucy Parry of Landowns DFK has indicated a fee of about £1,500 for an Independent Examination for the 2024 accounts.

Motion

To appoint Landowns DFK, Chartered Accountants, to complete the Independent Examination of CSSA’s accounts for 2024.

General Committee recommendation to the AGM General Committee recommends that the AGM should support the Motion.

Motion 3: The same person shall not hold both the posts of Commodore and Vice-Commodore within CCSA [sic].

Proposed by John Figgures and Rob Stephens Background

The issues behind this Motion merit consideration by the CSSA membership but the Motion was not submitted in accordance with the CSSA Constitution as required by Constitution Clause 9(1)(c).

Our former Commodore, Graham Dalton, resigned at the end of December 2022 after 10 years of highly valued service. In the long lead up to his resignation, Graham reported that there is virtually zero prospect of sustaining the hither to practice of securing the appointment of a Civil Service Permanent Secretary or similar to the role of CSSA Commodore.

After considering Graham’s advice and recommendations, your General Committee agreed to appoint the serving Vice-Commodore as Commodore and leave the post of Vice-Commodore vacant from January 2023. This arrangement can continue indefinitely without adverse effect on the provision of sailing.

Your General Committee has chosen to be cautious in proposing changes to the constitution to formalise in the Constitution a change in CSSA Flag Officer structure.

CSSA Annual General Meeting 2024

The submitted preamble, Motion and proposed consequence

That:

It is generally considered poor governance for the Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive posts to be held by the same person. For the CSSA, the equivalent posts are the Commodore and the Vice-Commodore.

The Motion is that “The same person shall not hold both the posts of Commodore and Vice-Commodore within CCSA [sic].”

Accordingly, the Vice-Commodore who was elected by the whole CSSA membership, Paul Brereton, shall resign as Commodore with immediate effect.

General Committee observations

The proposers’ assertion that one person is simultaneously holding the posts of Commodore and Vice-Commodore is incorrect.

The proposers’ assertion that the CSSA posts of Commodore and ViceCommodore are equivalent to Chairman of the Board and the Chief Executive posts is open to debate. The CSSA Commodore has, until now, been a figurehead role providing support to CSSA upon request.

The preamble and proposed consequence are beyond the remit of the CSSA membership. It is the General Committee that appoints the Commodore (CSSA Constitution Clause 7(2)). The Vice-Commodore and other officers are proposed and elected by the membership (Clauses 7(3) and 8). The General Committee is empowered to further the objects of the Association (Clause 5(4)).

The Motion was proposed on 13th February 2024 but co-proposed on 26th February – straddling the deadline of 14th February.

General Committee recommendation to the AGM

General Committee has accepted the Motion despite late proposal.

General Committee wishes to retain the option to appoint one person to two posts if it wishes and recommends that the AGM should reject the Motion.

Treasurer’s Abridged Report 2023

SECTION 1 - CSSA SUMMARY OF ACCOUNTS

1. The following table summarises CSSA General Fund and the Bequest Fund to show the total income and expenditure and the total financial worth of CSSA on the balance sheet. Further detail is in Sections 2 and 3 and the Financial Statements within this report.

Note: Figures in brackets are negative

SECTION 2 - CSSA GENERAL FUND

2. 2023 Results:

CSSA made a surplus of £4,308 compared with £5,489 in the prior year (PY).

3. The surplus of £4,308 reflects the need to continue to respond to inflation (4.2% 12 months to Nov 23. Source Office for National Statistics) PY 10.2%. This will contribute to maintaining the purchasing power of the reserves to fund clubs e.g. funding interest-free loans to Sailing Divisions. Nevertheless, the distribution of the excess year-end surplus was up on last year £15,000 (PY £12,000) due to reduce in-year costs. The grants are used by CSSA Sailing Clubs, to support clubs working capital and projects.

4. Further details can be found in the financial statements and the notes to this report.

Treasurer’s Abridged Report 2023

2023 Financial position and highlights

5. The Association remains financially healthy with reserves at £414.5K (PY £410.2K). This level of reserves remains a significant benefit in these continuing uncertain times. Key benefits include: the ability to make long term loans available to clubs for capital projects, 5-year loans to support to CSSA clubs facing the financial effects of Covid 19.

From 2021 report “Aside from being able to continue to make longer term provision for loans to our clubs for capital renewal and development, this has enabled CSSA to offer interest-free 5-year loans to clubs to help weather the financial effects of corona virus – whilst there hasn’t been any uptake, the offer will remain in place as long as there is a potential need to support CSSA clubs –the frontline of sailing in the CSSC. In slower time and depending on when we get back to some form of normality, any such loans might, if necessary, be converted partially or wholly to grants.”

With the ongoing economic crisis, this support remained in place throughout 2022 and into 2023.

6. There were no loans issued in 2023.

The Future

7. Uncertainties remain ongoing and the financial crisis, in the UK and wider, continues. As indicated above, with reserves of £414.5K CSSA is in a healthy financial position to offer financial support to CSSA Clubs, should it be needed and provide interest free loans for yacht/ equipment purchases by Clubs.

8. At the time of writing this report, early January 2024, CSSC have not yet confirmed CSSA’s Membership Grant for 2024, which for several years has been frozen at £33,972. The recent review of CSSC budgets focused on CSSC Events. Over the last three years the CSSC Events allocation, has increased from £9,000 in 2022 to £9,900 in 2023. CSSC Events allocation for 2024 is £11,320 and breaks down as follows: Offshore £2,160, Dinghy £2,660, IDOR £6,500. 2024 allocation includes an uplift of 5% for inflation and, in IDOR’s case, a small uplift reflecting increased entries. CSSA remains appreciative of CSSC’s continued level of support in these difficult times.

9. The financial statements for CSSA General Fund and CSSA Bequest fund are on pages 8 - 11.

SECTION 3 - CSSA BEQUEST FUND ACCOUNT

Maurice Smith Gates Bequest Background

10. This section of the Bequest Fund Account report, sets out to remind CSSA GC and members of the background to setting up the Bequest Fund, undertaken by Brian Grubb who was treasurer at that time.

Treasurer’s Abridged Report 2023

11. During 2021 the Charity Commission approved arrangements made by the charity beneficiaries of Maurice Gates’ Will, to make ex-gratia payments to the Association in lieu of his bequest. £312,306.05 was duly received in June by Dutton Gregory LLP (Solicitors) [Dutton Gregory], to be held on the Association’s behalf and drawn on when needed for capital projects satisfying the bequest terms.

12. Assurances were provided during negotiations that these funds would be separately accounted for to demonstrate their proper use, so the £312,306.05 is not included on the Association’s main ‘General Fund’ balance sheet. Instead, it is reported through the Bequest Fund account and with its own HSBC CSSA Bequest Fund bank account.

13. Arrangements for drawing down from the funds held by Dutton Gregory have been agreed to ensure compliance with Maurice Gates’ Will and enable accounting and ongoing reconciliation.

14. A reminder that CSSA General Committee (GC) agreed that initially £300,000 be ear-marked for the six offshore clubs: Five Kingdoms Sailing Club (5KSC), Channel Sailing Division (CSD), Civil Service Offshore Racing Club (CSORC), East Coast Yacht Division (ECYD) Hooe Point Sailing Club (HPSC) and Portsmouth Offshore Group (POG), £50,000 each. The balance remaining to be addressed in due course by GC. There is no time limit on the distribution as clubs will change their yachts/ capital equipment when it is best for them to do so.

2023 – 2024 Update

15. There have been no draw downs in 2023. As mentioned in the General Fund above, CSORC continue their search for a yacht financed by £50,000 Bequest Fund grant and a Loan of £30,000 from the General Fund, as approved by CSSA GC.

16. The latest edition of the Financial Projection Sheet was presented to CSSA GC meeting 31 October 2023. Whilst 2023 was very quiet as regard loans and yacht purchases, 2024 includes request for funding from CSORC, 5KSC, POG and ECYD, totalling £235K from the General Fund, and a total of £127K from the Bequest Fund. This will take General Fund bank balances down to £137.8K and Bequest Fund down to £55K. Note that £59K of the Bequest Fund spend in 2024 is a bridging loan for 5KSC and this will be repaid into the Bequest Fund HSBC bank (note that funds cannot be recredited to Dutton & Gregory Solicitors).

Independent Examination

17. Prompted by Moore Thompson Chartered Accountant’s management letter dated 13 March 2023, CSSA General Committee subsequently have agreed to move to Independent Examination. Accordingly, an amendment to the Constitution will be submitted to the 2024 AGM. See Note 4 to this report for further details.

Responsibilities of members of the General Committee for financial matters

18. The Association is required by its constitution to prepare financial statements for each financial year in accordance with UK Generally Accepted Accounting Practice. Accordingly it is the responsibility of members of the General Committee to prepare such statements.

19. In preparing those financial statements committee members are required to select suitable accounting policies, as described in the notes to these accounts, and then apply them on a consistent basis, making judgements and estimates that are prudent and reasonable. The committee members must also prepare the financial statements on the ‘going concern’ basis, unless it is inappropriate to presume that the Association will continue in operation.

20. The committee members are responsible for keeping proper accounting records that disclose, with reasonable accuracy at any time, the financial position of the Association. The committee members are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Association and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

21. In so far as the committee members are aware:

a. there is no relevant information of which Moore Thompson Chartered Accountants (MTCA) are unaware; and

b. the committee members have taken all steps that they ought to have taken to make themselves aware of any relevant information and to establish that MTCA are aware of that information.

22. The committee members are responsible for the preparation of the financial statements in accordance with United Kingdom Accounting Standards (United Kingdom Generally Accepted Accounting Practice).

For and on behalf of the General Committee

ABRIDGED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

23. These abridged financial statements are drawn directly form the Independent Examined (IE) financial statements. The notes referred to are those in the original annual accounts, which include the signed. IE Certificate. Copies are available by emailing CSSA.Treasurer@csscvolunteer.co.uk

David Grundy

CSSA Treasurer

29 February 2024

Treasurer’s Abridged Report 2023

Treasurer’s Abridged Report 2023

Treasurer’s Abridged Report 2023

Treasurer’s Abridged Report 2023

The CSSC continues to pursue major modernisation reforms. The CSSC grant funding of CSSA has been reviewed and our dual funding model has been found unique within CSSC. As a consequence, the CSSA grant will be restructured in 2025. Our Per Capita grant will cease. Our Sports Body grant will continue. Our case for increased funding has been accepted and our Sports Body grant in 2025 is promised to be larger than our combined Sports Body and Per Capita grants in 2024. There’s never a shortage of business to keep your CSSA volunteers busy.

coordinate national dinghy events. If you can spare some time to serve as either a Rear Commodore (Dinghies) or as Dinghy Secretary please get in touch with your Club’s representative to the General Committee or with the General Committee directly.

The main season is here.

Fair winds and happy sailing.

This year’s AGM will be held at the Island Sailing Club, Cowes on Monday 3rd June 2024 – the first evening of our premier offshore event, IDOR. You’ll find the AGM papers elsewhere in this issue and on the Business page of the CS Sailing websitehttp://cs-sailing.org.uk/cssa-business/ The CSSC sponsored Inter Departmental Offshore Regatta (IDOR) takes place from Cowes, Isle of Wight from Monday to Friday 3rd to 7th June 2024.

The CSSC sponsored National Dinghy Regatta will be held this year as two Open Events hosted by Littleton SC on Saturday 20th July and Hooe Point SC on Plymouth Sound over the weekend of 21st and 22nd September 2024. CSSA invites volunteers for co-option to

Paul CSSA invites volunteers for co-option to coordinate national dinghy events

If you can spare some time to serve as either a Rear Commodore (Dinghies) or as Dinghy Secretary please get in touch with your Club’s representative to the General Committee or with the General Committee directly

Channel Sailing Division News

Following the winter maintenance Sea Essay has already been in action with some very hardy souls on a weekend Sea Time, a 4-day Sea Time, two Boat Handling Courses and one of our new ‘themed’ Sea Times aimed at Day Skipper level navigation, night hours and mileage all before the end of March.

Thanks once more to Yacht Husband Team Steve Strange, Jeff Llewellyn, Colin Smith, Andy Rankine, Bob Meir, David Haward, Phil Taylor, Ian Thomas and Iain McNicoll who battled the cold and rain to complete the usual extensive list of tasks to prepare Sea Essay for 2024.

2024 Programme

The full 2024 Sailing Programme can be viewed on the Sailing Opportunities page on the www.channelsailing.org website. At this time it is showing good utilisation of Sea Essay including a 12 week Summer Cruise to the Channel Islands and South West UK but there is still some availability for Charters and Sea Time/Training berths plus there are often late cancellations so do make yourselves known to our sail organisers (see Booking Contacts below).

2024 Sea Times (2, 3 & 4-Day events run from 18:00 Day 1 to 18:00 final day)

Date

11th

etc)

2024 Training Courses (From 18:00 Day 1 to 18:00 final day)

Training with the Army Sailing Association

The CSD has taken out Corporate Membership of the Army Sailing Association giving access to their full range of RYA training courses, both practical and shorebased provided at their new centre in Hornet, Gosport.

This offers our members access to all of their courses both practical and shore based from Gosport at competitive prices.

Step 1. Find the course for you.

Practical Sail and Shorebased

https://sailing.britisharmysport.com/.../2024-AOSC_Course.. .

Practical Power

https://sailing.britisharmysport.com/.../2024-Powerboat...

Step 2. Complete the application form (link below). Leave blank any sections that only apply to the Army. Don’t forget to enter CSSA/24 in the ASA Membership number box.

https://sailing.britisharmysport.com/.../aosc-course...

Step 3. Email the form to Lisa lwinchester@britisharmysport.com do not send any payment at this stage. You will receive an email confirmation of availability, or not, on the course from Lisa.

Step 4. Once Lisa has confirmed your place on the course. Make timely BACS payment direct to ASA using the bank details on the application form to secure your place.

Step 5. Approximately 4 weeks before the course you will receive detailed joining instructions for your course.

If you have any queries email Lisa: lwinchester@britisharmysport.com or Guy Bennett training @channelsailing.org

In the future we hope to use Sea Essay to deliver Day Skipper and Competent Crew courses with our own Instructors under the umbrella of the ASA.

Booking Contacts

If you would like to take a berth on a Day Sail, Sea Time or a Training course or indeed charter the whole boat then these are the people to contact:

CSSC Taster Day Sails/Sea Times

Group Day Sails

Sea Times

Charters

Training

CSSC Events events@cssc.co.uk

Colin Smith csddaysails@gmail.com

Susie Welch

seatimebureau@channelsailing.org

Brian Skelley charters@channelsailing.org

Guy Bennett training@channelsailing.org

Rutland Civil Service Sailing Club boat renovations

RCSSC was founded as a Midlands based CSSC Keel Boat Club by Pete Shuttleworth in 2002 and is based at RSC Rutland Water.

The club owns 3 Squibs and a Soling. Two of our original boats were 30 years old when purchased second hand for £3250 in 2002.Our other two boats were generously donated by club members.

All four boats were built in 1972 and are now 52 years old. They have been heavily maintained over the years but now to celebrate our 21st Birthday it was time for a deep renovation project. The floors were rotting, the hulls had osmosis, the keels were delaminating, the hulls were leaking and generally the boats were in poor condition throughheavy club wear. The club managed to build up reserves over many years to renovate three of our four boats. The project cost several thousand pounds, took 12 months to complete with 100’s of hours of work by a skilled boatbuilding team and club members.

We had no suitable indoor space to carry out the work and adverse weather conditions continually frustrated work progress. The hulls and keels were sanded down and professionally re-sprayed. The rotted wooden cockpit floors on all three boats were replaced by state-of-the-art innovative marine ply encased in polyresin / fibre glass industrial non slip coatings trimmed with aluminum edgings. The cockpits, interior areas and decks were sanded down and painted by club members. The boat trailers were also renovated.

And now for the final results!

Olympic Class 8 m Soling Time Flies

If you would like to sail our newly renovated boats the RCSSC taster days for 2024 have now been launched!

Our members really enjoy hosting these taster days and meeting fellow CSSC members and their families.

Details can be found on the CSSC Website (Login and in the search bar type Sailing Rutland) or follow the link below direct to the RCSSC taster days page: http://rutlandcssc.org.uk/rcssc-taster-events/

RYA National Racing Keel Boat 6m Squib Lift Off

RYANationalRacingKeelBoat6m Squib Satyr

More opportunities in the Med

Spaces on the six-week Med charter in the Balearics have been so popular that a further two weeks have now been added.

These extra opportunities are open to all CSSA members and run from:

• 24 August to 31 August: seven days.

• 31 August to 7 September: seven days.

The cruises are open to CSSA-approved skippers (including Inshore Skippers) and crew members, who are invited to book through the Mediterranean Sailing Programme section hosted on the 5KSC website. Both club cruises and private charter are available. It is currently estimated that a berth will cost around £450 a week, with a 30% deposit required.

‘Dreams’, the four-cabin 45ft Bavaria, is based at the island of Ibiza, with nearby cruising grounds including the islands of Formentera, Majorca and Menorca. .

Features include:

• In-mast furling

• Electric winch

• Double helm

• Bow thruster

• Rear swim platform

• Snorkel equipment

• Paddle board

Information about the sailing area is widely available at various websites, such as yachtico.com and sailchecker.com.

Flights from UK airports covering the dates in question appear to range from £200-£300.

The charter has been made possible thanks to support from the CSSA. If the cruises prove popular, there will be detailed discussions about a CSSA Mediterranean division which hopes to recruit members from across all the clubs.

The idea grew out of earlier plans to sail from the UK to Barcelona for the 2024 America’s Cup racing, proposed by Yachtmaster instructor and 5KSC member John Hulme.

John said: “There’s a significant level of enthusiasm for a Med division, and although it will take a fair amount of organising, it would be fantastic to see something that spans the whole CSSA. This charter will help us to understand whether we can convert that enthusiasm into reality.

A Med division would also enable sailing in a warm, sunny climate for much longer than is available in our home UK waters.”

Anyone interested in helping to take the plan forward is invited to email Karl Lloyd at the 5KSC Crew Bureau: crew_bureau@5ksc.org.uk

with CSSA MED COMMITTEE in the subject line. Help could involve joining a committee, offering support with maintenance, admin or booking, etc.

Meanwhile, the 5KSC yacht Ynot will head to Scotland in spring, following winter maintenance in Liverpool, then down to Holyhead in Wales before departing for an ocean passage to northern Spain. After cruising along the Spanish coast, Ynot will return to Liverpool in Autumn 2024. This will provide opportunities those who were seeking 600nm qualifying passages in order to take Yachtmaster Ocean exams. See the booking schedules at: https://5ksc.org.uk/sail/sdhome/booking.php

5 Kingdoms SC News

5KSC has been active during the winter including racing on the River Mersey with Liverpool yacht club, it is an opportunity for crew to get familiar with the yacht and skippers to hone their racing tactics.There are also opportunities to get to grips with the inner workings of YNOT during maintenance sessions - on the water and in March on the hard.

This year there will be extra preparations for the planned trip to La Coruna in Spain. This is the outcome of the original plan to sail to Barcelona to see the America’s Cup. Many CSSA members were engaged with the idea and it was clear that one feature that attracted people was the possibility of making a 600m qualifying ocean passage in order to become an Ocean Yachtmaster. Another popular feature was cruising in the Mediterranean in September and October and now this is available following a long charter of a yacht from Ibiza see:

https://5ksc.org.uk/sail/sdhome/ booking.php?myview=MED

This may develop into a CSSA MED division.

This winter we have a First Aid course, other day courses can be arranged through Steve Barrowman’s new school at Liverpool Marina: https://www.harboursideseaschool.co.uk/rya-1-daysupport-courses

Skippers and mates need to be able to use the newly installed Radar.

The RYA practical training program starts in Largs in May please check it out at https://5ksc.org.uk/sail/sdhome/booking.php.

There are spaces on the Day Skipper course - we can take Competent Crew candidates on this week.We are having a Coastal Practical followed by the Yacht Master exam at the end of May - this is now fully booked, If you want to take a prep course in the autumn please get in touch: training@5ksc.org.uk

There are spaces on the Club Cruise to the Inner Hebrides in early May - open to any member. This is followed by some private charters in the Clyde.The trip to Spain starts with a sail to Holyhead in July.Three weeks are set aside for the ocean passage including preparation; the actual sailing is predicted to take only one week. In Spain there will be two cruises which seem to be booking up. YNOT will be returning from Spain in September. After that we are planning some trips around Anglesey (Ynys Mon) and a return to Liverpool.

Portsmouth Offshore Group News

Royal Award!

On Friday 10 November, at an awards ceremony in central London.The Princess Royal, President of the RYA, presented a Lifetime Commitment award to our very own Tim Anderson.

Tim has been the Marine and Shore Facilities Manager and Boatswain for the Portsmouth Offshore Group for many years, and in 2016 took on the additional role of Vice Commodore Facilities. He has overseen, project managed and dirtied his hands on all the jobs that needed doing, organising volunteer member working parties and taking responsibility for boatyard services. This was a very well-deserved recognition of his major contribution to the club over many years.

Training:

POG kicked off the New Year with Dave Gannon, our Training Officer preparing our members for the new season by running some excellent courses. Essential Navigation & Seamanship being the first, closely followed by Day Skipper and First Aid. All our courses are RYA accredited and were well very well received by our members.

Socials: Throughout the winter our Friday (and Sometimes Saturday) evenings are well catered for with a series of Talks, Visits and Socials. Our Socials & Talks co-ordinator, Alice Roat does the organising, with events ranging from inter-club quizzes, talks by the UK Coastguard Tactical Commander, on calling for help when you need it most and an interactive performance by the Portsmouth Shantymen. We’re now looking forward to a tour of the Powder Monkey Brewery in March.

New Website:

By Mid-April, POG should have moved its website and database portal, across to a commercial provider, Sailing Club Manager. The decision was taken more than a year ago to relieve some of our members of the burden of maintaining our home-grown version. Whilst it will be ‘plain sailing’ once everything has been configured and transferred, there will be a great deal of work being conducted by a dedicated project team for a while yet.

Smart Card Electrics:

With energy prices still not returning to precrisis rates, it has been necessary for the club to install metered electricity bollards to our pontoons, so that those who use electricity pay for what they use. Again, this is a major project and the project manager, Dave Shorey is leading the team very ably.

Spring Launch:

The last week of March will see our annual lift-in of all the boats stored ashore for winter. Some 49 boats will be launched over the course of 2 spring tides. Another significant feat of planning and execution but at least one which has been accomplished many times before.

We are all looking forward to a little less work and a little more play and let’s hope the sailing season delivers fair winds for us all.

Chris Blackman

Chris Blackman

East Coast Yacht Division News

We are having to rejig our summer 2024 sailing programme Thanks to the superhuman efforts of some members we have been able to largely recover from the sudden and unexpected resignation of our yacht husband. Much of the planned work to ensure the safety of Freyja for the coming season, in particular having Evolution Rigging carry out work to her rigging to help ensure trouble free sailing for at least another five years, was completed and before she was lifted and placed in a cradle at the at the newly named Beacon Marina in Ipswich.

So, in spite of having to play catch-up after learning that things were not progressing as planned, Freyja went back into the water on 21 March and fit-out will now continue and our first charters of the season will go ahead as planned.

In spite of being a ‘teenager’ Freyja is in excellent condition thanks to a series over the years of first-class yacht husbands, supported by a number of members prepared to go out of their way to help maintain her.

Day sailing is planned for Friday 19 and Saturday 20 April 2024 and, potentially, a further day sail on Sunday 21 April 2024.

All activities to take place on the east coast - Suffolk and north Essex.

ECYD is offering these taster sail days exclusively to CSSC members; an opportunity to sail in home waters (East coast rivers and coast) and enjoy sailing on Freyja at a very competitive price.

Please contact the ECYD crew bureau for further details at:

crewbureau@ecyd.org.uk

Changes to the Baltic sailing programme

But the really bad news is that the take up of summer charters to the Baltic has been exceptionally poor, including requests for berths for Sea Time cruises.

We just can’t afford for Freyja to be sitting on a pontoon incurring marina charges.

So with great regret we will be bringing her home early, returning to the UK early in June.

Modified dates for the 2024 Long Trip

Further details will be published when known

Once back in the UK there will be opportunities to join her as she explores more local waters, including the near coasts of Europe.

If you have an interest in sailing on board Freyja as she returns from the Baltic or during the summer details of some of the options are to be found on the ECYD website: ECYD – the East Coast Yacht Division of the Civil Service Sailing Association

Our Yacht Secretary Brian Barnes for charters or James Allen in the Crew Bureau will be delighted to hear from you..

We need you and you will be very welcome

Jeff Herschel Captain ECYD

Members wishing to sail from Ipswich within UK waters or to/from ports in near Europe should contact Brian Barnes yachtsec@ecyd.org.uk with proposed dates and venue

Jeff Herschel

The Eddystone Charity Sailing Pursuit, taking place on 15 June, is a 26 mile offshore sailing pursuit from Plymouth Sound and back. It is designed to raise money for charities nominated by the individual yachts which enter. This is a brilliant opportunity for sailors to take part in an exciting challenge – whilst also raising money for charity. The Eddystone organisation will add an additional contribution to ‘prize money’ to donate to your charity of choice

Provided a yacht is equipped to sail a 26 mile offshore course from Plymouth Sound and back, and its entry falls within the criteria stated on the web site, be it large or small, racing or cruising (or neither), old or new, entry is welcomed!

Light in the South

15 June 2024

There is an entry fee of £30 and each yacht entering is required to raise minimum sponsorship of £100 for its nominated charity.

It is the third largest fund raising event in the South-West, having to date raised over £1 million, and over £70,000 on average for the past 5 years, benefiting many charities.

Afterwards the crews of all boats are invited back to the Supper and Prize Giving in the Eddystone Hall which is generously hosted by the National Marine Aquarium, Plymouth. All teams to register directly via the website www.eddystonepursuit.com

For more information and FAQs, please visit www.eddystonepursuit.com

Over the summer of 2024, Southampton Hospitals Charity will be lighting up the South with a large-scale public art event. There will be 40 8ft magnificent lighthouse sculptures on display through the streets and public spaces of Southampton and Cowes, each one a unique masterpiece designed by artists both local and well renowned, plus 40 mini lighthouses designed by local education groups, creating a family-friendly trail of discovery for visitors and residents to enjoy and explore.

The lighthouses will then be displayed together for a Farewell event in September 2024 which will be a chance to see all lighthouses gathered in one place, a truly unique sight. The sculptures will then go into auction to raise vital funds for Southampton Children’s Hospital.

https://lightthesouth.co.uk

Discover/Rediscover Sailing

Discover Sailing will run from1st May to 30th September.

Discover Sailing is the RYA Demand Creation Campaign which supports clubs to encourage new participants to have a go. Whether they are new to the sport, returning to the sport or existing members,

Discover Sailing is the perfect opportunity to be part of a national campaign and help people get out of the water. RYA provide resources to help promote your event along with advice and guidance to make your event a success.

RYA provides both physical and online resources, regional communicator support as well as allowing clubs to benefit from being part of the national promotions.

In the seven years the creation of the RYA Demand Creation campaign has been running:

• Over 153,000 people have attended events with over 113,000 people getting out on the water.

• Over 17,300 new memberships have been received as a result.

It is important to understand that Discover Sailing is a tool to help affiliated organisations open their venues to visitors, it is not an instruction that venues are expected to run this event.

RYA have created a flexible system which allows for dates to change or be cancelled or decided upon at short notice. To this end we will not be printing any dates on the resources this year, which has the added advantage of being reusable.We also have a new sign up and shop which is currently being tested which will allow venues to amend/update their own events.

RYA has created an event sign up where event visitors can sign up to the event prior to attending, giving the venue the advantage of controlling numbers and being able to ask more information about relevant experience.This is available to all venues who would like this service and can be accessed from the Discover Sailing sign up page.

The sign up will be embedded on the venues Discover Sailing Page and venues can also embed the link onto their own website. Equally if a club has their own sign up page, they can embed the link into their page on the Discover Sailing Events Map.

To help make life easier RYA have provided event templates: such as: Risk assessment; Incident Report Form; Model Booking Form; Press Release; Welcome email;Thank you email.

There are also editable posters and postcards for both dinghies and yachts

Find them at: https://www.rya.org.uk/club-centre-support/affiliates/finding-new-members/adults/ discover-sailing

There is also a short podcast on getting your event on local radio

Saving Lives at Sea: Ann Cleeves Stands with the

Heswall bookshop Linghams1 teamed up with the RNLI and best-selling author Ann Cleeves for a special event in Hoylake. As this is the 200th anniversary of the RNLI, Ann is taking part in special fundraising events and she has a very personal reason for being grateful to the RNLI. ‘I’m absolutely delighted to do anything I can do to promote their work and support them.’

Ann Cleeves is a British crime writer, best known for her Shetland and Vera Stanhope series of police procedural novels and TV series and more recently the Two Rivers series.

I was privileged to attend this event held at Hope Church, which was chaired by fellow crime writer, Martin Edwards2. Ann spoke about the inspiration behind her latest No 1 best-seller, The Raging Storm3, and was joined on stage by local RNLI volunteer Chris Williams, sharing real life rescue stories from the Hoylake Lifeboat crew. Ann captivated us to with fascinating insights about the various episodes in her life and spoke about a particularly harrowing event.

‘When we were first married, my husband was rescued after an accident at sea, and the lifeboat volunteers and crew gave us another 40 years together.’

That rescue took place when the couple were living on the island of Hilbre in the River Dee estuary.

Ann with RNLI Hoylake volunteer Chris Williams Courtesy of Linghams Booksellers ©

Ann, Chris Williams and Martin Edwards Courtesy of Linghams Booksellers ©

Eileen Kitts the RNLI

Tim, who was warden on the island, was in a canoe with a friend, going a short distance from Hilbre to another small island, Middle Eye, when the canoe capsised. The tide was so strong it swept them out towards the Irish Sea. It was winter and quiet on the tiny island, but an eagle-eyed birder spotted the two and managed to raise the alarm. Tim was starting to lose consciousness and both were becoming hypothermic when the lifeboat reached them.

‘Without the inshore lifeboat he would definitely have died.,’ says Ann.

You can hear Ann talking about the real-life drama that earned the RNLI a place close to her heart in one of the RNLI 200 Voices podcasts: https://rnli.org/magazine/magazine-featured-list/2023/august/200-voices-ann-cleeves

Ann is also involved with and delighted at the progress of Reading for Wellbeing, a scheme she is helping to fund, looking at the importance of reading on health and wellbeing https://readingforwellbeing.org.uk/

Ann, via The Reading Agency, has also equipped librarians and reading groups with everything they need to hold spine-chillingly successful murder mystery nights with her Ann Cleeves Murder Mystery Night pack - a free downloadable resource from: https://readingagency.org.uk/resources/481/

If you are ever lucky enough to have an opportunity to get tickets to see Ann I would wholeheartedly recommend it.

She will be at the Capital Crime Festival in London 30th May – 1st June 2024 and if you fancy venturing further afield, at Iceland Noir, Reykjavik, 20th – 23rd November.

https://tix.is/is/event/16880/iceland-noir-2024/

1. Linghams Booksellers Heswall: https://linghams.co.uk/

2. Martin Edwards is a winner of the Crime Writers Award Diamond Dagger

3. The Raging Storm, is the 3rd in her Two Rivers series, set in North Devon, and it features a lifeboat rescue.

Courtesy of Linghams Booksellers ©

Joe Wicks Festival at Kew

CSSC members can enjoy a 15% discount on tickets for the Joe Wicks Festival at Kew.

Experience the thrill of a brand-new wellbeing festival with Joe Wicks, also known as The Body Coach, coming to Kew Gardens this summer.

Hosted by the much-loved fitness coach who won the hearts and minds of the nation with his daily PE workouts, Joe Wicks in collaboration with Kew Gardens, will host the ultimate feel-good family festival - united for a day of fun, fitness, workshops, inspiring talks, great food and more.

Festival highlights

ReEnergise: The main stage area will feature a varied programme of fitness activities with Joe and guest experts throughout the day:

• Yoga with live violin and cello

• A chance to boost your physical and mental wellbeing with martial art, tai chi

• Grab your picnic blanket and join Joe at the main stage area for lunch – bring your own picnic or visit some of our delicious food and drink outlets. Lots of fun and games

• Save some energy to join ‘PE with Joe’ grand finale with a live DJ

ReTreat: Welcome to the retreat space - a dedicated area designed to nourish your mind, body and soul. Join in a range of classes and workshops including breathwork, meditation and mindfulness drawing. Immerse yourself in the calming sounds of gongs and gentle percussion of a sound bath or experience an ice bath.

ReConnect: Explore, learn and get inspired by Joe and some amazing speakers. We will also be looking at sleep, menopause, men’s health, what actually makes us happy, how to incorporate mindfulness techniques into your everyday life and how to make healthy choices that boost your energy and improve overall health.

RePlay: Visit our fun-filled children’s area with lots of activities to inspire and challenge all ages

• An under-5’s play area, including safe baby crawl/play area, a physical activity area with climbers, slides, rockers and cars, a house-play set-up, a dressing up box and a quiet reading corner.

• For older children the challenge of testing themselves against a selection of activities and skill tests developed to test all aspects of their balance, hand/eye co-ordination, accuracy, reasoning skills and much more.

• There will also be face painting and a chance to hear all about Frankie Bear with a reading from Joe from Burpee Bears.

Fitness lovers and families alike are invited to come together to experience the benefits of nature, learn new skills, take part in workouts, and enjoy delicious food in a truly unique setting. Get your tickets at: https://store.cssc.co.uk/royal-botanic-gardens-kew.html

To apply the discount use code: CORP

Sailing? Not as we know it!

A futuristic throwback - huge, wind-driven cargo ships - could help end the fossil fuel era and curb climate change.

Shipping accounted for 3% of man-made greenhouse gas in 2018, and has been rising in recent years. One solution may be to turn the clock back to pre-industrial times and again hoist sails to carry cargo around the world.

Swedish owned, Oceanbird will be 200m long. It may be the tallest sailing ship ever built, equipped with wing sails reaching 105m above the water. The sails, however, look little like traditional billowing fabric sails, instead more closely resembling aircraft wings rising vertically from the deck. The vessel will have engines as a backup, but aims to save 90% of carbon emissions compared to a conventional ship.

Another wind-driven version, WindWings. standing up to 37 metres tall, are made from the same material used to build wind turbines, and fold away on deck while not in use and offer a retrofit solution that is capable of decarbonising existing vessels.The WindWings project is co-funded by the EU as part of the CHEK Horizon 2020 initiative. On an average global route,WindWings can save 1.5 tonnes of fuel per WindWing per day.

A spokesman explains: “While a sail catches the wind, WindWings use the same aerodynamic principle that allows aircraft to fly – but instead of lift they provide propulsion.”

A Japanesefirm is developing a wind-powered ship that produces hydrogen as it sails. It is a 60-70m vessel that will have large hard sails to harness wind power and produce green hydrogen on board, which would be used to propel the ship when there is less wind.

The vessel could serve two purposes: one could be a zero-emission cargo ship, and another could work as a mobile hydrogen supplier that could deliver the green fuel around the world.

As the sails push it forward, the vessel uses submerged turbines to power an electrolyser, which uses water to produce hydrogen. The fuel is then stored in the form of a liquid organic hydrogen carrier known as MCH that can hold far more hydrogen in the same storage area than hydrogen gas. And unlike compressed or liquefied hydrogen, it can be stored without cryogenic equipment or pressurisation - although a lot of energy is required to extract the H2 from the MCH.

While in the UK the Winds of Change project, funded by Innovate UK, is being carried out at the University of Southampton’s Marine and Maritime Institute.This will see cargo ships powered by wind once again by retrofitting large vessels with ultra-modern wing sails. If successful, the project could significantly contribute to cutting carbon emissions.

save the date

CSSC and CSSA National Dinghy Regatta 2024

The CSSC sponsored National Dinghy Regatta will be held this year over two Open Events

Part 1 will be hosted by Littleton Sailing Club, TW17 0NF on Saturday 20 July 2024 and is ideal for all levels of sailing ability.

Part 2 will be hosted by Hooe Point SC from the Mountbatten Centre, PL9 9SJ for racing on Plymouth Sound over the weekend of 21 - 22 September 2024

Further details will be available from the host clubs and posted on http://cs-sailing.org.uk

Please see notice below about volunteering to help co-ordinate these events

CSSA invites volunteers for co-option to coordinate national dinghy events

If you can spare some time to serve as either a Rear Commodore (Dinghies) or as Dinghy Secretary please get in touch with your Club’s representative to the General Committee or with the General Committee directly

Flags & Burgees

Rectangular CSSA House Flags & Triangular Burgees

Large (30cm x 45cm approx) £16.00

Small (20cm x 30cm approx) £13.00

CSSA ties (polyester) £10.00

P&P included

Please send your requests and cheques (payable to Civil Service Sailing Association) to: Brian Grubb

64 St Cross Road,Winchester, SO23 9RJ

More info at: www.littletonsc.co.uk or scan the QR code

CIVIL SERVICE SAILING

CSSA is affiliated to the Civil Service Sports Council (CSSC) and the Royal Yachting Association