Peninsula Canoe Club Annual General Meeting

Peninsula Canoe Club – Annual General Meeting

17th March 2015: 19h50

Open and Welcome

The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting and thanked them for attending.

Apologies

Mark Torrington, Gary Kroukamp, Anton Cartwright, Rory Anderson, Stuart McLaren, Lis Hart.

Attendees

Dean Richards, Nick Rockey, Russel Mac William, Barry Coltham, Johann Von Blerck, Rob Hart, Ommund Sivertsen, Dave Hitchcock, Andrew van Osch, Ian Glass, Mark Preyser, Colin Miller, Veronica Jones, Mike Miller, Alan Rainnie, Tom Thring, Peter Carlitz, Rob McLean, Garth Watters, Ken Findlay, Athol Surtees, Clare Surtees, Kenny Rice, Tom Schilperoort, Gregg Goddard, Romy Findlay, Graham Rowe, Zachery Preyser, T Anderson, Alex Adie, B Biggs, Craig Flanagan, Peter Cole, Merrin Keeling, Brian Keeling, Mark Keeling, Barry Penn.

Matters Arising from and Approval of Minutes of last AGM

There was nothing arising from the last minutes.

Rob Hart proposed acceptance of the minutes and Ommund Sivertsen seconded the proposal. Minutes were accepted.

PCC Chairman’s Annual Report

The Chairman noted that the Chairman’s and Treasurer’s reports had been published on the PCC website and distributed before the meeting to allow members to read and digest these beforehand, but that he had forgotten to mention that PCC had won the Team Award at the Fish River Marathon.

This is the document:

PCC Chairman’s Annual Report

Every time I hit the ‘Swamp’ and paddle off for my weekly recharge, I realise what a privilege it is to be on the water, It not just the natural environment that gives me a buzz, but also the opportunity to meet up with friends, other members, and enjoy a session on the water which makes me feel alive.

While I have been afforded the opportunity to be a member of four different clubs, one in Auckland, another in Richmond in the UK, Dab. in JHB and PCC here in CT and have travelled to many other races and clubs in Natal, JHB and the Eastern Cape and I have to say that PCC has some amazing people and water. Sure our facilities could be upgraded and sure we could have better club boats an equipment, but in my heart I don’t necessary believe this will make us a vastly better club. Its people who make up a club and who carry the club forward. So with that in mind I would like to thank all members who have helped the wheels of the club keep on turning over this last year; your contributions however big or small don’t go unnoticed and we remain indebted to you for your time and energy.

Lastly, I would like to put out a request to all club member, no matter who you are, or how fast or slow you paddle. “Join in” hang in for a while at the club, stay after time trial, get involved, have a drink and help re-build our Spirit!

Below is a precis of some of the contributions, growth and achievements at our club over the last year:

1)Membership

We have to thank Mark Torrington for all he has done in both administering the membership and continuing to developing our new admin. systems. Unfortunately, last year saw a cyber-attack on the WP web site which crashed the server where ours web presence was hosted. Mark once again spend his personal time rebuilding the site and preparing the relevant information ready for February this year as we start to get early registration coming through. The new website will continue to grow as new content is updated. We would like to see this become the portal for PCC statistics and Club communication.

Annual growth statistic will be put up on the new website.

Please note that in addition to our web presence we also have an e-mail newsletter, a twitter site @PCC_Chairman, a Facebook page and PPC exec roles have direct e-mail adresses (as posted on the web site)

2)PCC Organized events

PCC organized 5 WCCU events over the last year, and Hosted WP Marathon and Sprint Champs. We would like to thank the following Race Organisers for all their planning and hard work in ensuring that all of these were successfully managed:

Dean Richards (& Mocke Paddling for their sponsorship) - Sunset 7

Dave Hitchcock (& ADT for their sponsorship) - Marina Da Gama K1

Alan Rainnie and his team - Gouda to Bridgetown K1
Andrew van Osch & Rob Hart (with special thanks to Graeme Solomon and Bamboo warehouse for their ongoing sponsorship) - Robertson to Bonnievale K2
Rob and Lis Hart - Junior and U23 Sprints

ORKA Training Coach Peter Cole also kindly stepped forward to organise the very popular ORKA PCC Sunday Marathon Series during the year and for his contributions to the WP Marathon and Sprints events held at PCC.

To all the Sweeps who gave of their race days to shepherd us down the river safely, we applaud you.

With special thanks to Barry Coltham, Alan Rainnie, Dave Hitchcock, Lis Hart, Mike English and Ian Glass (our safety[AvO1]) who every year make themselves (and family) available for PCC Events and Sweeping.

Swartland Canoe Marathon

With the trusted team stepping down after the 2013 Swartland Canoe Marathon, the club put out a plea for new volunteers. But sadly, after numerous request for helpers, only one person at the club put up their hand, so sadly as a last resort we had to ask WP to assist us and run the marathon otherwise it would have been forfeited.

Subsequent to this we again put out plea for 2015 event and again no one has come forward, so with WP not in a position to take on the event we have offered it to Paarl Canoe Club who have agreed to run an event in its place this coming year.

The situation is thus, unless PCC members come forward and agree to own their own events, which other members have put so much time and effort into building up, we will lose them and other races and effectively shrink our calendar.

Time-trials

Our Tuesday night Timed time-trial (TT) continues to grow and remain a corner stone for Club paddling. There is just something about the Swamp TT that brings out the competitive spirt regardless of what time band you may find yourself in; it is truly great to see that spirit burn bright and long may we continue to enjoy the chirps and banter in the change rooms post the race.

The key players to be thanked for the success of the time-trials are:

Tracy-Lee Anderson, Angie Basson, Edgar Boehm, Caroline and their helpers for taking times and collating the results on Edgar’s timing programme. Thanks to Tracy and the team for her push to get the result back up on the board on the evening like the old days
Mark Torrington who maintains the Paddlers’ Zone web-based results and statistics programme he developed for the Club;
Johann van Blerck who sets up the timing clock, starting lights and manages the start;
Tom Thring who manages the position and lighting of the buoys;
Gerfried Nebe who mans the bar, checks that all gates are closed, lights turned off etc. etc. at the end of every Tuesday, and also helps set up the starts of the summer time-trials;
Carol Noah who keeps/kept the kitchen and bar open through the whole year.
ORKA also kindly sponsored our weekly Time trials

3)Sports Achievements and Awards

The club and its members had some fantastic result over the last season. In honour of these, we will post a section on the new website to display all the accolades for 2014. (This section is still being finalised but will be communicated with the PCC chairman e-mail bulletin)

However, in summary we must all re-applauded the season by Jasper Mocke and Ali Glass for their international success. In particular, Jasper who absolutely dominated the WP, SA and a number of international races going on to be crowned K2 WORLD MARATHON CHAMP! Wow and we get to races this calibre on our Tuesday time trial and weekend races.

Other notable performances that deserve mention where our top WP performers, the even green Graeme Solomon and in the ladies our very own Alex Adie.

PCC results continue to dominate the WP flat water and the river racing calendar as is clear from the President’s Trophy results, including races outside our province where PCC again won the the Club Prize at the Fish. This achievement was again made possible by outstanding contributions from Jasper Mocke, Tom Schilperoort, Brandon van der Walt, Stuart Bristow and Dominic Notten.

# WP Presidents Trophy results for 2014.

Senior Men

1. Graeme Solomon (Pen) 194 pts.

2. Jasper Mocke’ (Pen) 146.75 pts.

Senior Women

1. Alex Adie (Pen) 156 pts

U18 Boys

2. Mark Keeling (Pen) 113.5 pts.

3. Anders Hart (Pen) 94 pts.

1. Stuart MacLaren (UCT) 176.75.

2. Brandon van der Walt (Pen) 137.25 pts.

Sub Veterans

1. Edgar Boehm Jnr (Pen) 180 pts.

Sub Grandmasters

1. Shaun Butler (Pen) 230 pts.

Grandmasters

1. Rob Maclean (Pen) 165 pts.

4)Coaching and Development

Gerfried Nebe has continued to run the Beginners’ and Development Programme from the club every Tuesday from 4pm to 5pm, also with help from Edgar Boehm. We are very grateful to them for doing this as it is huge commitment right through the year. Sadly we are seeing fewer and fewer ‘walk in’ which means we are falling short of targets for of building new interest in our sport and we need to revisit our ideas here to bring people in.

The initiative with Bishop’s School has continued to grow and is brings youngsters to the club and sport.

On the back of this school participation initiative Rob Maclean on his own back starting up, and successfully ran with a new group from Wynberg Boys. Many thanks goes to Rob for spotting a gap and making it happen.

Sadly we needed more volunteer assistance, as you need more than one experience paddler per group of boys. If you can help this year please make contact with Rob so we can grow the introduction of youth into our sport.

Marcus Melck who is frequently seen on the water coaching, has continued to dedicate a lot of time to help develop our top sprinters and the result are there for everyone to see.

Lastly but certainly not least, Peter Cole (our official Club Coach) and his ORKA Training programme is very much the backbone of high performance training at the Club. Please don’t think these sessions are closed groups, just make contact with Pete and agree your terms for joining in, but beware he demands (and rightfully so) your level best.

Pete continues to spot, encourage and push our talent. The Club is very grateful to Pete for the amazing amount of time and dedication he puts into the training at the Club, and he is to be congratulated on the success of the PCC paddlers who represent SA in Marathon and World Marathon Champs, as well as many of our other top paddling events.

With WP funding structures changing this year we are constantly on the lookout for corporate sponsorship to continue and grow our training initiatives.

5)Facilities and Equipment

Boat Racks

The fencing between the Club section and the Members’ section which was destroyed by people climbing over the fence is still to be replaced and additional security to be provided for our Club boats and equipment.

Please can members be cognisant of the challenges that Eskom/technology provides us, and take care with regards our facilities throughout the year.

Gerfried Nebe and Carol Noah are to be thanked for helping with the physical side of managing the racks.

Gerfried performed a rack audit last year which was well publicised for several weeks if not months before we actually remove any squatters, but still members take unbridged when they find themselves on the wrong side of the law, this is really unacceptable.

Rack audits are sadly a necessity and will continue to be run yearly.

Many thanks goes to Gerfried for his unwavering assistance in this regard.

PCC Equipment

Thank goes again to, Gerfried, for his time and dedication for keep up with the never-ending job of maintaining the club boats other club equipment.

Pete and I managed to organise and procure a 2nd Marathon jetty which was delivered and put on the water for marathon champs. We are in the process of adding a new gate which will allow easy access on the course and complete our initial build of our marathon course at the club.

ORKA kindly managed a contract to replace many of our club boat seats! Including cabling them in so that they cannot be removed.

I have to believe that members wouldn’t purposefully remove equipment from another boat however the list of maintenance suggest otherwise. Please be mindful of your actions in this regard.

Clubhouse

The ZSC committee has been great over this last year doing there level best to keep up with maintenance and replace broken and old fixtures and fittings.

The men’s and ladies change rooms have been fitted out with brand new geysers and we trust that these will see us through many a winter to come.

A new Smart TV has been installed in the club house with a DSTV box aimed at making the club house more welcoming for social events but also to assist in training video etc. which can help those of us who are looking for that extra few % outputs.

The galley has been recently upgraded with new cookers, extractors and fridge freezers.

Annual maintenance requires that we need to repaint/refurbish or address some aspect of the club house and facilities, so if you’re handy with sand paper and a paint brush. Please let us know when you can help out and we can join in with IYC on a working weekend for the benefit of the club.

Our water and Race course (aka the Swamp)

Pond weed was much more manageable last year albeit that we needed to do some manual work before marathon champs, so thanks goes to Josh’s team and their new weed harvesting plan.

Our next challenge looks to be sand banks which results in lower water levels in the Vlei amongst other complications. We hope to see some relief in this regard as the mouth area is prepared to be dredged in Q2 this year.

I would like to thank those members who came down to dig out the tube worm from the bride that leads to the Island, it sure was physical and smelly work but I think we can all agree that the additional space and depth created was fantastic for racing. Unfortunately it looks like we may need to get stuck in again this year on this site as well as others as the lowering of the mouths weir has made our water levels even lower and the tube worm have been actively rebuilding what we chopped out.

6)PCC’s Annual Awards evening

The club’s annual award evening was held in mid-September the end of the WP calendar and to try get as many active members to join in before they forgot about the club and paddling for the summer. Sadly, we again had very few attendees, even with the free food, a lamb Spit braai, which I don’t mind saying was very yummy.

We are going to review our timing of the event as clearly we are missing something...

# PCC 2014 awards made to:

Time Trial Maestro – Johan van Blerck – 24 out of 24 Time Trials run this season.
Special Achievement – Graeme Solomon – WP K2 River Marathon Championships; 3rd WP K1 River Championships; 1st Vet SA K1 Marathon Championships; 2nd place, 2014 Berg River.
Special Achievement – Sean Rice – 1st in several international surf ski events; 1st WP 1000m K1 sprints.
Special Achievement – Ali Glass – SA Senior Men’s Sprint Victor Laudorum – 1st 1000m K1 and K2; 2nd 500m K1; 1st 500m K2; World Cup (1) Czech Republic semi-finalist 1000m K1; World Cup (2) Hungary – 1000m; K2 – B final; World Sprint Championships; Russia – 1000m K2 – C final.
Special Achievement – Ant Collopy – K2 partner with Ali Glass at all of the above mentioned.
Notable Sporting Achievement - Brandon van der Walt – 1st U23 SA K1 Marathon Championships; 2nd SA Senior
Men K2 Marathon Championships, SA team to WMC 2014. 1st U23 WP Sprints 1000m.
Notable Sporting Achievement – Ulvard Hart - 1st U14 Boys SA K1 Marathon Championships.
Notable Sporting Achievement – Rob Hart and Brandon Collyer – 1st Sub Masters SA K2 Marathon Championships.
Best Female Novice – Saskia van der Merwe.
Best Male Novice Paddler – Tristan Bernstein.
Most Improved Female Paddler – Jodi Cleworthy.
Most Improved Male Paddler – Mark Keeling.
Most Notable Female Sporting Performance – Alex Adie
Most Notable Male Sporting Performance – Ali Glass – Victor Laudorum, SA Sprints, 2014.
Top Female Junior – Kirsten Flanagan.
Top Male Junior – Stuart Bristow.
‘Two – Finger’ Award, 2014 – Mark Keeling for ‘parking’ his K2 in a tree less than 5 km from the start of the Robertson-Bonnivale K2 event (when the was running at 600 cumecs) and spending the rest of the day trying to find a lift to Riggton Farm, causing the delay of the race prize-giving as the vehicle used to go and try and find him had all the prizes in the boot!
Chairman’s Award – Gerfried Nebe – for his untiring efforts around and about the club in a maintenance capacity and for novice coaching each week.
Top Senior Female Paddle – Alex Adie - 1st WP K2 marathon champs; 2nd WP K1 Marathon Champs; 3rd Senior Women Berg River Marathon; 1st Senior Women Swartland canoe marathon.
Top Senior Male Paddler – Jasper Mocke – 1st k2 World Marathon Champs; 1st SA K2 Marathon Champion; 2nd SA K1 Marathon Championships; WP K2 River Marathon Champion; SA Doubles Surf Ski Champion; 2nd K2 Dusi Marathon 2014; WP K1 River Marathon Champion; 2nd Breede River K2 Marathon 2014.

7)Committee