Chichester Yacht Club Magazine December 2017 | Page 12

Hon Secretary David Pearce writes: As Commodore Tony Mobbs said, this is not just a ”paper exercise” – let’s look at what has been achieved so far. We have already exceeded our 2017 targets with more than 900 memberships and more than 90% member retention. In addition, we have broadened Family Membership to include grandchildren as well as children and improved catering facilities, including longer opening times with a wider and more varied selection of food available. We are planning a multi-path training programme for all ages and the Dinghy section continues to provide racing opportunities all year round. In social terms, the Friday night socials have been a huge success and the Yacht section The ongoing refurbishment of the bar and has introduced winter weekends with Saturday restaurant is part of the investment plan to rambles and Sunday morning talks following bring the club up to date for the future. This will the Friday night socials, as well as technical be supplemented by big improvements on the mini-lectures on some other Friday nights. The waterfront which are currently being costed new quiz nights have proved very popular, as and planned. The exterior of the clubhouse have the Saturday themed evenings. has been modernised, presenting a much more attractive “face”, and re-decoration is Functions have been highly significant in continuing over the winter. providing revenue for the club, keeping subscription rates down and attracting more On the boating front, we will be continuing our members, and therefore more income. We cruising-in-company and cruiser races with have also been exploring the possibilities of increased encouragement for new members grant income and have already been and novice boaters. successful in the purchase of two club dinghies by this means. As ever, we depend on our wonderful staff, ably led by General Manager Manu Jenkin, to support the club in maintaining and increasing our income and thanks are due to them. This is so important because without this income, we would not be able to spend on improving the club experience for members. So, this is what the General Committee have been up to over the last year and what we plan for 2018. We hope members will agree that we are well on the road to achieving our strategic objective of being a leading sailing club and one that delivers for all its members. 12