Club governance:
what exactly does the Commodore do?
Special note
遊艇會管治︰會長究竟擁有什麼職權？
Words Mark Ashton
I have to confess to being somewhat stumped by this question when
asked at the bar by someone recently. The question prompted this article,
which I hope members will find interesting, and perhaps also prompt
some to become more involved in club affairs. So back to the question…
The role of the Commodore is to lead what is usually referred to as
‘governance’ at the Club and refers to the establishment of what you
might call the ‘rules of the road’ within which management are expected
to operate. Governance covers the setting of policy and objectives, the
monitoring of management performance including expenditures, staffing
and service quality on behalf of the ‘shareholders’ i.e. the members.
Our Club is incorporated as a registered company and has a
‘constitution’ known as the Memorandum and Articles of Association.
This framework document is controlled by the members at large and
can only be changed by a 2/3 majority at an EGM. Another document,
the byelaws, establishes the rules of conduct by which members are
expected to abide. As one of our long standing GenCom members,
Joseph Chan used to say—the byelaws are how GenCom controls
members and the Articles are how members control GenCom!
Aside from these rather dusty documents, the human side of club
governance relies much on the individuals who step forward and in
some cases are elected to serve on committees.
At the moment, we have a single elected committee, who are
responsible to appoint and to authorise management to commit
expenditure of any nature. This committee is chaired by the
Commodore of the day. Its decisions are decisions of a simple majority.
To support GenCom in its duties, we have six regular advisory
committees: Operations, Sail Training Centre, Food and Beverage, Club
Development, 24-hr Race Committee and Sailing. A new subcommittee
has recently been formed—Sustainability S\C—which is intended to
develop plans to improve the Club’s environmental and community
aspects. This subcommittee is chaired by Prof. Andy Miller.
These advisory committees do not have executive power but
nevertheless are considered to be both valuable and influential, due
to the fact that they are supported by people with good knowledge of
the particular subject area and they have had the time to consider their
items in detail. Operations, Sailing and Club Development are chaired
by flag officers.
In addition to the committees, the Commodore will from time to time
appoint a working group. This is often done when specific (members’)
12 Hebe jebes • Mar/Apr 2014
skills are required to address a task with a relatively short duration rather
than forming a permanent committee.
At the moment we have three working groups—Hebe Jebes,
Lease Renewal/Re-provisioning and Governance. The Governance
working group has been tasked with considering the structure and
arrangements for committees at Hebe and to make recommendations
to GenCom. The working group members include a past commodore of
Hebe and of the RHKYC and other members with experience and track
record in this area.
Yes but what does the Commodore do?
My role is in fact quite similar to that of all of our committee members.
We are there to bring the ‘wants and needs’ of members back to
the table with management and to provide a system of oversight
and guidance to support the task of delivering the various me