Important Membership Renewal Information.

It will soon be time to renew your memberships for 2023-24. Renewal emails will be sent out at the beginning of March so that you can renew your Membership and Boat fees by 1st April.

Background

While our club often feels an island of calm sheltered from the turmoil of the wider world, unfortunately we are not immune to those external impacts.

Considering next year’s membership fee, we are anticipating some significant cost increases resulting from high inflation and other supply issues. The increase is particularly impactful in our energy costs, with our current fixed deal ending imminently and, at the time of striking our budgets, an expected threefold increase contributing to an overall increase in our running expenses of around 40%.

You can expect to see us investing in some quick wins such as more efficient appliances and lighting in the near future, but it is more important than ever that all members act sensibly to help minimise our costs, doing the simple things like ensuring heaters are turned off when they are not needed, turning showers off when not in use, minimising fuel use on our RIBs by keeping speeds down unless absolutely necessary and taking care with propellers around the shallow edges of the lake.

Impact on membership fees

That all said, we are fortunate as a club to be in a strong financial position and consequently have agreed that a proportion of the expected increase in costs will be funded this year from our reserves. As a result, membership fees will increase by around 7% for this year, well below the current level of inflation of around 11% and an increase of £20 to £310 for family members and £16 to £239 for individual members.

Your current membership subscriptions (2022-23) will be listed in your renewal email together with instructions on how to renew.

There are some things you can do to help it go smoothly:

  • please check the information on your WebCollect account is up-to-date, and your email & postal addresses are correct.
  • check you are renewing the right type of membership and you haven’t grown out of, or into a different category – especially the Youth categories (Junior and Young Adult) which have age limits.
  • check you have a Boat fee for all your boats sailed on the lake (whether kept at the club or not).
  • DUTIES: also check your contact details and duty preferences within Dutyman are up to date using the ‘Update your contact details’ button on the right-hand side.
  • Please remember, if you usually pay your membership fees by direct debit your payment does not automatically roll-over. You still need to log into WebCollect to check & renew your subscriptions and select direct debit again as your preferred payment method – this provides the necessary authorisation for us to collect your new membership fee for 2023-24.

Not-renewing? If you have decided not to renew please let our membership secretary know as soon as possible.  If you have a gate key to return, we can refund your deposit.

If you have questions or need some help, please contact Rosie: membership@chewvalleysailing.org.uk

Laser / ILCA Training – Saturday 18-Mar-23

If you are feeling a bit rusty after a winter lay-off, or just want to sail faster, come to the Laser Training Day on Saturday 18th March in preparation for the start of summer.

The day will start from 10 am with tips on rigging and setup, followed by lots of great on the water practice and coaching and debrief in the afternoon. Contact Gus or Jan for more details

All club Laser/ILCA sailors welcome

Dinghy Cruising

Hickling Broad Sailing Club have kindly agreed to host us for a week in the summer.

This is for CVLSC members who are interested in dinghy cruising and the Norfolk Broads is a fascinating area in which to sail.

Sailing will be from 1st July to 8th July 2023. They have a small club, nothing like the size of CVLSC, but have access to a vast sailing area.

Costs will be £30 per head (for temporary membership of HBSC for the week) + Norfolk Broads Authority fee (priced per boat and based on length, approx. £15 for the week) + whatever accommodation you choose to book.

Most class of boats are welcome, contact Simon for more detail and/or to book your space.

Green /Blue Initiative

The Green Blue is the joint environmental awareness programme created by the Royal Yachting Association and British Marine. Established in 2005, its mission is to promote sustainable boating for cleaner, healthier waters. Both Bristol and Bath University have participated for several years, with various initiatives around the club aiming to help deliver the mission. This year one of the ways Bristol University will be participating is by helping raise awareness through short updates in our newsletters…here’s the first:

Protecting The Environment at Chew Valley Lake: Refuelling Ribs

The majority of pollution in our waters, particularly the sea, is not from large oil spills, but everyday sources such as refuelling, leaks and engine emissions.
Oil can impact our environment by:

  • Smothering birds, preventing them from flying
  • Covering fish gills and preventing respiration
  • Poisoning wildlife
  • Covering plant life and therefore restricting the light that can reach the leaves, preventing photosynthesis

Some tips from The Green Blue to prevent the impact of spillages and leaks on our lake:

  • Report Leaks seen on the floor of the boat store when you launch ribs.
  • Always use the Funnel when refuelling, and pour the fuel slowly and carefully to prevent splashes.
  • Do not overfill fuel tanks, to allow the fuel to expand. Also check the tank vent for blockages.
  • Know Where the Spill Kit is, in the fuel store.For more information, please see The Green Blue website:

Andy Jones
Commodore