Duties

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All sailing members are expected to help with sailing duties during the season and will be allocated to a duty team. Duties will apply to all members holding a single, family or cadet (16 + years after 1st January) sailing membership.

The duties are managed by an online system, (part of the membership area of the website).

Duties are necessary to enable racing and informal sailing. The club could not operate without them. They should not be seen as a chore – they can be great fun; help you interact with other members of the club and as they say – many hands make light work. The volunteering of members makes the club the success it is – so please do come along and help.

Duty Teams

There are up to ten teams of around eight people. Each team is led by an experienced club member (Team Leader) and is balanced as far as possible with more experienced and less experienced sailors; able and less able.

Each team covers approximately four days throughout the sailing season (either a Saturday, Sunday or bank-holiday Monday). Teams generally have duties on two Saturdays and four racing days. The Club Regatta, on a Saturday and Sunday, is also included in the Duty roster.

Every Sunday and Bank Holiday racing days are covered by a duty team. Please note Saturdays are generally for informal sailing but some Saturdays have formal races either as part of the scheduled calendar or because races have been moved due to weather conditions. Times for racing and informal sailing are scheduled according to tides.

Every sailor will be advised of their team, scheduled dates and Team Leader prior to the start of the season. It is your responsibility to note and accept your duties on the Dutyman system. Or to contact your Team Leader. You will then be reminded ahead of each duty by Dutyman.

Each Team Leader will have a system of contact with team members to advise of potential conditions duty allocations or any other information. This might be WhatsApp, email or FaceBook. Please find out what system your Team Leader uses and ensure you are on it. If you have not been contacted, please contact your Leader for advice. Team Leaders will generally contact their teams ahead of each duty to allocate roles.

The current duty roster is available on the members area of the website (you must be logged in to view it).

Duty Activities and Responsibilities

Duties will involve these activities:

  • Safety boat helm/crew
  • Boat launch/recovery help
  • Race officer and assistant

Informal Sailing Saturday duties may differ from Race Day duties. A full team may not be required on a Saturday. Team Leaders have been asked step some team members down if not needed, if possible in advance. However, please do not assume you will not be needed. It is the Team Leaders decision.

For Informal Sailing duties you should aim to arrive around one hour prior to the advertised start time.
For Racing duties please aim to arrive around one hour 15 mins prior to the advertised start time.
Please make yourself known to the Team Leader on arrival when you will be allocated your role.

Please note that you may be allocated to any role once the Team Leader assesses the team and the conditions so, please bring wet weather gear. i.e. wetsuit, spray top, boots, buoyancy aid.

Please make team leaders aware of your abilities, qualifications and preferences, if possible, in advance.

If you are unable to carry out your duty on the date identified, you can swap your duty with someone using the online system. You can facilitate this by personal contact or social media but please do the actual swap on Dutyman. This will ensure the team composition is always up to date for communication and safety reasons. If a swap cannot be arranged or if there is a last-minute emergency, then it is imperative you inform the Team Leader at the earliest opportunity. Please don’t just ‘not turn up’! It impacts the rest of the team and can affect sailing.

Team Leaders should only swap with other Team Leaders or someone of similar experience.

Cadet Members

Cadet members who are 16+ after 1st January will be allocated to a duty team.

All cadets will need either written consent from a parent or guardian or their supervision on the day. Cadets will be given a duty role that is appropriate to their experience and capability. If they hold a qualification such as powerboat, safety boat, instructor, assistant instructor etc. they can be allocated to an appropriate role.

Cadet members under 16 are not currently asked to do duties.

Social Members

Social members who are interested in being involved in supporting any of the sailing programme are encouraged to offer their services via the duty system, a sailing Team Leader or an activity lead e.g. Youth, WOW, Wednesday Nights.

Duty Team Leaders

Here are the duty team leaders for 2022. Contact details can be found in the printed programme.

  • Team A – Chris Whitney
  • Team B – Richard Bentley
  • Team C – Martin Gillam
  • Team D – James Stanbridge
  • Team E – David Maltby
  • Team F – Peter Jones
  • Team G – Mark Aldous
  • Team H – Mark Phillips
  • Team I – Ross Fisher
  • Team J – Tim Cutsforth

Wednesday racing/Thursday WOW/Friday Cadets

These days have their own arrangements for duties and are not part of the Dutyman rotas. Wednesday racing has its own regular team. Thursday WOW has a regular team leader and asks for volunteers for the evening. Friday Cadet nights has a regular leader and regular instructors and ask for volunteers often from cadet parents. Members can offer to help on any of these occasions by contacting the activity leader.

Opens/Championships

These occasions are also covered by volunteers and are not part of the Duty team. However, help is always needed so please offer where you can.

If you are a sailing member and do not have access to the members area or your duties, then please email the club and we’ll help get you up and running. If you know you have an account and have forgotten your login details, then you can get username/password reminders etc. from the members area.

Sailing Duties are the responsibility of the Rear Commodore Sailing and the Sailing Committee so all questions and suggestions should be addressed to them.