Dear Member
In view of the Government’s advice – and now its instructions – to prevent unnecessary travel and social contacts, the Committee has, with great regret, taken the inevitable decision to suspend sailing and all associated activities for the foreseeable future.
As reminder, the Government’s website states: ‘The single most important action we can all take in fighting Coronavirus is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives.’
Although some might rightly argue that exercise is still encouraged, and sailing is a healthy, open air activity, in the case of sailing at Sutton Bingham reservoir, not only does it involve social contacts in changing rooms and clubhouse, but we are under an obligation to provide safety cover in the form of a safety boat manned by two competent persons (OODs) whenever sailing is taking place. This will inevitably require the OODs to have close personal contact for several hours a day. All such social contacts are against the policies set out by the Government. Indeed, we have already had a number of members advising the need to self-isolate and/or avoid contacts due to their own underlying health conditions, or the risk of conveying the virus to vulnerable family members.
As a result of this suspension, the duty roster has been cleared – initially until the end of April. We would therefore ask all those that had duties booked for this period to find new slots on Dutyman for later in the year.
Visiting the Club is also discouraged. There will be a regular inspection, perhaps once a week, to check on security and visits as necessary to deal with any other urgent issues which might arise – as a result of bad weather, for instance.
Despite the shut-down of our activities, the Club will still have to cover many fixed costs, including rent payments, electricity, telephone and broadband, as well as grass cutting and other essential maintenance activities. Income from new members, boat hire, training courses and the galley will all be significantly down on a normal year. We would therefore ask you to bear with the Club during this difficult time.
The Committee will continue to monitor the situation very closely in order to support Government policy and comply with its instructions. We will endeavour to keep you advised as the situation at the Club progresses, and very much hope that normal activities can be resumed in the not too distant future.
Mervyn Clark
Commodore
