Minutes of BDA Special Meeting

JULY 2017

The British Dragon Association Special General Meeting

Held on Wednesday 26th July 2017 at 1830 hours at The Royal Thames Yacht Club, London

Attendees: Tim Wilkes, Julia Bailey, Bruce Boyd, Oliver Morgan, Leigh Turvey, Andy Moss, Ed MacDonald, David Harris, Ron James and Selina Dicker

The Chairman opened the meeting to discuss the proposed amendments to the Constitution. The Secretary noted that she had received 43 proxy votes, which were distributed to the relevant members present who had been granted proxy powers.

RESOLUTION ONE – Amendments to the Constitution.

Amendment 1 – Addition of “To Promote the Dragon Class through advertising, website, social media and employing specialist services in respect of same”.

  • This amendment was unanimously supported by the attendees and including proxy votes this was approved – 96% for, 4% against.

Amendment 2 – Addition of “To support the development and maintenance of the Dragon Class, by purchase, lease and investment of any fixed or current asset”.

After some discussion a vote was held on the wording as proposed.

  • The Attendees and the Proxys voted – 32 in favour and 21 against, with those voting against not being in favour of the loan boat proposal. A 2/3 majority must be achieved to amend the constitution so this was not passed.
  • Amended wording however was then discussed and eventually the following was proposed which was not intended to allow major expenditure but to give some flexibility in the normal operation of the Class including the purchase of items such as office equipment and promotional material and the investment of funds and to deal with some drafting issues:

“To Support the development, sustainability or maintenance of the Dragon Class, by purchase, lease, investment or disposal of any fixed or current asset in the ordinary course of the operation of the Committee”

  • The revised wording was supported by the Attendees and the Proxys held whom had been given discretion to the Attendees to amend their votes. This resulted in a 43 in favour and 10 against (however it should be noted that many of those against were proxy votes where the proxy had not been given the discretion to agree to amendments to the wording).

Amendment 3 – Addition of a Scottish Fleet into the Constitution.

  • This amendment was unanimously agreed.

Amendment 4 – Amendment to the method of subscription payments

  • This amendment was unanimously agreed.

Amendment 5 – The Committee may suggest a Special Meeting

  • This amendment was supported by all Attendees and overall 92% of votes were in support so this item was approved.

Amendment 6 – The Accounts are to be published to the end of December not October

  • This amendment was unanimously agreed.

Amendment 7 – All British boats competing in any regional or national BDA regatta must have a minimum of two crew that are paid up members of the Association.

  • This amendment was supported by 91% of the vote and therefore approved.

RESOLUTION TWO – To Approve the giving of permission to the BDA Committee to support the development and maintenance of the Dragon Class by the Purchase, Lease or investment of a Dragon.

  • Given that Amendment two was not approved as proposed, this resolution did not require a vote. However the principle was discussed and feedback given to the proposers.
  • RJ noted – that there is a loan boat in the Etchells fleet in Cowes that is doing well. However it was noted this is well funded by an individual who spends a lot of time looking after it.
  • SD noted that it is not just the Solent fleet who are against the loan boat idea, objections were noted from Aldeburgh, Burnham, Abersoch and affiliated members. Reasons that had been provided to her from proxy voters included:
    • Do not believe there is demand for a loan boat
    • Concern that the cost of running a loan boat is being underestimated.
    • Concern around how the three fleets proposed to use the boat would fund the £700 required contributions.
    • Concern around the administration and maintenance of the boat.
  • AM believes it should be discussed at the AGM.
  • DH stated that this boat is not for regattas it is for club racing and therefore does not need to be expensive.
  • BB stated that the “Terms of Reference” drafted by TW in January should have been circulated with the amendment request.
  • The Attendees noted that TW and BBs enthusiasm for the proposal was appreciated.
  • BB asked what are we going to do with the cash.
  • RJ noted that based on last years accounts, without the Aberdeen Asset Management sponsorship which is about to terminate the BDA will be loss making
  • EM noted that whilst the Abersoch fleet is generally supportive of the idea they do actually have a bit of an oversupply of boats – they are seeing only 6-7 boats out regularly out of their twenty boat fleet.
  • The idea of the BDA chartering a boat for a season was raised.
  • The Attendees discussed different promotion strategies. It was noted that the BDA needs to acquire more knowledge regarding whom we are trying to attract to the fleet. TW to dig out the IDA survey to be reviewed by the Committee at the next Committee Meeting with the aim to doing a wholly British survey on similar subjects.
  • OM raised the idea of a focused PR strategy. He also however suggested that we should reintroduce Dragon car stickers. SD said she would look into this. He also noted that the magazines he had distributed to different yacht clubs had worked as a great marketing tool for the fleet.

In conclusion the Committee will explore presenting a proposal to the AGM in January of an integrated promotion strategy for the class, which may include the loan boat idea amongst others and that the committee will investigate and propose such a strategy between now and Jan.

There being no other business, the meeting closed at 20.30 hours.

Selina Dicker, Hon Sec BDA

Use of Bilge Pumps

The IDA Technical Committee has received a number of requests by Dragon sailors to clarify the Class Rules with regard to the installation and use of bilge pumps. This has arisen because a number of recently built Dragons are using several electrical pumps to manage the amount of bilge water in the boat during the race.

The Technical Committee’s conclusions are summarised in the memo below, which they have asked us to bring to the attention of our members, especially those travelling to major championships, such as the World Championships next month.

INTERNATIONAL DRAGON CLASS

BILGE PUMPS AND BAILING OUT

The Technical Committee has been asked to clarify the rules and regulations regarding the use of bilge pumps on the Dragon and would like to make the following statement in this context:

The following Rules apply in this context:

Class Rule 2.193 a, and
RR S 51 – Movable Ballast

CR 2.193 a, specifies: One manual Bilge Pump shall be fitted. This is mandatory! In addition an electric bilge pump may be fitted. This is optional!

After careful consideration the TC has concluded that the rule concerning the manual bilge pump is a matter of safety (similar to paddles, buckets etc) and therefore has to be read as a minimum requirement whereas the option to fit an additional electrical pump is limited to one electrical pump only.

However, the class rules do not specify, how deep, or to which point the suction pipe leading in to the bilge shall reach. It is therefore permissible under Class Rules to have several manual pumps at different positions in the boat, but only one driven by electric power.

The usage of bilge pumps is regulated by RR S 51 which in its last sentence says: “…bilge water may be bailed out.” It does not say, how often, or when, or to which level. This means: It is up to the crew when and how much water is bailed out at any point in time during racing.

However, RR S 51 also says: …”Water, dead weight or ballast shall not be moved for the purpose of changing trim or stability.” This means: If the pumps, or other equipment are used to move water forward, or aft, or from side to side within the boat, this will be considered a clear infringement of RR S 51. Also please note that there is precedence that such an infringement can give rise to penalties under RR S 69.

International Dragon Class Technical Committee