"CVRDA History"

and what is happening with the CVRDA today?
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stu
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Post by stu »

<i><b>This is a subjusct brought over from the OLD forum</b></i>

"CVRDA History"
Posted by Ed Bremner on 13.08.2004 at 11:15:57
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A little CVRDA History:

Things have moved on so much with the CVRDA over the last few years....and we have so many new members, that I thought it might be worthwhile just giving a quick outline to how the CVRDA started and how the original Committee came to be.

I know that most of you already know (well remember really) but for those of you that don't....

Once upon a time...in a far off land there lived a princess....woops...sorry....wrong story!

It all started (for me) when I started looking for fun racing events to take my Jollyboat to. I went to plenty of normal club opens which were fun but did not really suite the Jollyboat. Then I started to hear about some 'classic' regattas just for old dinghies.

First there was Andrew Thornhill's classic regattas at BASC, where I met Rupert W, Bob C, John and Lynn. Then there was the Fairey Marine 50th aniv regatta at Hamble, where I met lots of others with similar interests including Andy Hayes, and Andy McCann etc. Rob and Bella came to this and saw a Jollyboat for sail and bought that.. I went to the Shotley Classic Regatta run by the Old Gaffers to join in with their small boat section. Finally I went to the Uffa Fox centenary (on I.O.W) again with Andy H, Rob and Bella and a few other faces on which I was on nodding terms.

Well Andy H and I had a few drinks on the I.O.W. and we reckoned that the last few classic regattas we had been to had been fun....the problem was....who was going to organise the next one. No volunteers....but lots of eyes looking rather sharply at me! In the end Andy and I decided we would try to run one....and I suggested putting it on at Roadford Lake, where I had been to a great regatta the year before. Andy wanted to to put on a Nationals for the Peggies....and I wanted to get all the Fairey Boats back together on the water (remember at this stage our interest was mainly Uffa Fox and Fairey Marine boats).

So that started the Roadford Classic Rally.

James at Roadford was very keen....as were other RLSC members....but it soon became apparent that we would be hard pushed to have any worthwhile racing for just the Peggies/Uffa Fox/Fairey Marine boats....so we decided to open it out to all pre-1965 boats. Thing was though....we really did not want to turn anybody away, if you had a knackered old boat or for that matter a smart old boat and you wanted to have some fun racing....you were welcome. So in the end we decided to split our race results into 3 wings....classic, vintage and old. But to be honest there were a few modern boats racing with us too.

I advertised the regatta in as much press as I could.....this brought up some important people. The first to call was Mark Jones (Dolphin) from Mayflower and he said there were a few interested people there....including Alan Williams.

The First Roadford had about 25 boats....we were thrilled! We started planning for the next year. As it had gone well for the next year, I decided to also put on a regatta at my home club in Bristol - Baltic Wharf Sailing Club and invite all the guys from BASC. I had also been asked by Alan Williams if Mayflower could put on a classic regatta based on the same lines as Roadford. So for the 2nd year we had 3 opens, Bristol, Plymouth and Roadford.

In the second year, everything went stormingly well and lots of new faces turned up, including Chris and Lois Barlow from Sheerwater to the Bristol and Roadford events.

At Roadford, we were now a coherent group of mates and after a little thinking and a few beers, decided that we should establish an association to support and encourage our classic dinghies and help keep them all racing. Roadford Lake and the club, especially James, Dick, Alastair, Lyn, Len really provided the fertile soil in which the CVRDA grew. It is hard to imaging there being a CVRDA without Roadford and their support.

We had no idea what to call ourselves.....and lots of names were thrown about....the two faves (as I remember it) were KNOBS or Knackered Old Boat Society and CVRDA 'Classic and Vintage Racing Dinghy Association' We all hated CVRDA....it is meaningless and impossible to say....I hate acronyms...and this was without doubt the worst....but you know how things are....nobody could come up with anything better and it stuck. So we had a name!

We also needed some way to communicate and organise the association and since we were basically lazy....and Andy H was already commodore of the Peggies and finding it hard work to do all the paperwork, we decided that all Communication should be by email and Internet....and nothing by print!!! This made it much easier to organise...and also much cheaper! At every AGM since, we have checked this with the membership and it has always been upheld. ALL CVRDA communication, organisation, committee meetings etc. are always done online or in person.....never on paper.

I put together the first CVRDA Web site and put it up on Rob's free Web space.

Bella, Benedict W and I designed a flag and logo: What does it all mean? Well you have the blue sea, blue sky, a sail and the '@' site. The '@' sign was there to signify that we were an 'internet' association....as that was how we did all communication.

Of course we needed a constitution and Andy H did most of this, with a little help from me, Rob and Rupert W. After a couple of drafts, we figured we had something to go in front of a 1st AGM that hopefully guarded the original intentions of the membership...but allowing for some growth.

Up to this stage, we had all mucked in to do whatever we could to get it all going....but it was not until the morning before the AGM, that we realised that we hadn't worked out who was going to be what on the committee. I was happy to stay doing most of the graft....and since no-one was that keen to be treasurer or Secretary and the roles could 'by constitution' be combined I said I would do those...and someone else could be Commodore. No one was that keen about Commodore either....and in the end Andy H agreed to do it as long as we all realised that he could not spend too much time on it as he was already Commodore of the Peggies. That was OK. It was not a lot of work....and we all figured it didn't matter what our position was...we could just get on with doing whatever needed doing. The other reason I was not keen on being Commodore, was that I did not want the CVRDA to look like a one-man show, which it wasn't then....and certainly IS NOT now! Andy and I figured we would do it for a few years....and if it took off, then others would come forwards and the CVRDA would take off and we could take more of a back-seat.

So that was it....all the building blocks were in place:

We had a Mission Statement, a Constitution, a Web site, a logo, a committee and last but not least a membership. With those we could apply to the RYA, to get official....and finally get a cheque book.

The CVRDA was up and running......

Since then we have gone from strength to strength...

One year Andy H said there was a new peggie turning up for the Nats....and David and Keith Rollinson got involved. Keith asked whether he could put on an event at Clywedog (just had the 3rd event) David is putting on the first at Bowmore this autumn. We had a couple of events at Colmere which were just fab.
The Bristol event moved from BWSC to BASC and now looks pretty settled at Sheerwater with Roger, Chris and Lois. Nick Clibborn contacted me and asked whether Frensham Ponds could put on an event, I was unsure if the CVRDA could support another event, so said maybe next year. Nick went ahead anyway....lots of CVRDA guys turned up....and we had another event! Rupert put on a ice-breaker at Whitefriars.

The sailing calendar is getting very busy!!

Roadford has got bigger and bigger and last year after running 5 events Bella, Rob and I decided to call it a day and have passed on the organisation to John,Lyn,Alan,Siona,Chris and Lois. It will be a gas!

Some faces have dropped out, some are slightly fading....others are keen to get stuck in and help. Stu now does most of the day-to-day work on the Web site and Rupert is taking control of our ever-growing number of regattas.

The question is:

Where do we go from here?


cheers

eib

ps...I am sure I have forgotten some important things...or more likely people....sorry please do remind me...and maybe we can add to this and put it up on the Web site./sorry





Follow up from: Ed - 13.08.2004 - 14:39:37
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OK....I am already thinking of people I missed!
The main one so far is of course this Forum that we are using here. It has made the single biggest difference to how the association is run and how we the membership communicate.

It is hard to imagine the CVRDA without it now.

And we have Neil Witt to thank for that.

sorry Neil...

can you tell me about Brynhilde now?

cheers

eib



Follow up from: neil - 13.08.2004 - 18:14:25


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Buy me a beer and I'll tell you where she is!
Judging by the ammount of use the forums had over the last few days I think it is time to think about changing it to a threaded system.

I apreciate that not everyone wants to register for posting but it is a good way of keeping track of users.



Follow up from: Rupert - 13.08.2004 - 18:51:33


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Great read, thanks Ed! I'm glad that what I put in the article for the Firefly Mag wasn't totally wrong! By the way, that got me a couple of calls, and some possibles for Roadford. More people should write, where the class has a class mag, as they are always wanting stories different from open reports.

Follow up from: stu - 13.08.2004 - 19:06:53


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Please, Please do not change the forum, the beauty of this one is that ANYONE can post, registering may put some people off. It's not perfect, it can be a pain to keep checking further down the list to check for updates. However, it's simple, it's easy and it does not look complicated, therefore, it does not put off less computer literate people.
If the latest updated subject could be put to the top it would be perfect. (Neil & I have spoken on this before and it is not possible)
The only canoe sailor in MY village too !

8) OK K1958
8) Mirror 34459

http://www.stuandliz.co.uk

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make bow waves not chat
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neil
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Post by neil »

ummmm, can we ignore the last paragraph of this post!
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stu
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Post by stu »

Ah, yes. I did not notice that when I copied and pasted :oops:. Times move on ........:D
The only canoe sailor in MY village too !

8) OK K1958
8) Mirror 34459

http://www.stuandliz.co.uk

****************************
make bow waves not chat
****************************
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