The President opened the meeting at 6.30 p.m. and the Secretary then summarized the minutes of the last meeting. The President’s report followed. He said that the least satisfactory aspect of the year’s activities was the fall in membership from 86 to 75. He hoped that improved publicity in 1965 would reverse this trend. The Secretary said that the fall in membership seemed to be mainly due to an unusually high number of people leaving the Association, since the number of enquiries (35) and of new members (21) were as high as in previous years. The American group had evidently folded up, as nothing had been heard from them this year. No Surrey Schools Sailing Conference was held in 1964, so we had not run our usual section there. A Bosun dinghy had been borrowed for testing on the D.C.A.’s behalf, and the firm’s most helpful attitude suggested that tests like this could be carried out by any members interested.

Group Secretaries’ Reports:

Joan Abrams said that the N.W. Midlands Group had had a disappointing year. Several members had attended a spring discussion meeting but no one had turned up at either of two summer rallies and a final winter meeting at Joan’s house had been prevented by snow. She hoped that they would be more successful in 1965.

South Coast: Peter Glover being unavoidably absent on sea trials, Slade Penoyre and John Deacon said that the S.C. Group had had a successful year, with well attended rallies at Bursledon, Cowes and Portchester Castle. In comparison with the N.W. Midlands the South Coast group has of course the advantages that many members live nearby and that the Solent is an ideal place for dinghy cruising. However, this is the first recent year in which successful rallies have been held, evidently because the group now has several members who make a real effort to turn up. It seems that unless one or two such members can be found in the N.W. Midlands, all Joan’s attempts to get things going up there will be wasted.

N. London: Ron Long reported that the group’s winter meetings had been well attended, and that two successful rallies had been held.

The Treasurer reported that the Association had about £45 in hand in December 1964, compared with £59 at the beginning of the year. The fall was partly caused by the drop in membership but also by the building up of stocks of printed cards, burgees and headed note paper, and to expenditure on the Handbook. The financial position therefore appeared sound, provided the fall in membership could be halted.

Election of Officers: The General Secretary did not stand for re-election as he was expecting to go abroad shortly. Ernest Bailey, 8 Kent Way, Maidenhead was unanimously elected to this post. The other officers were re-elected unanimously:

President John Deacon Vice President Brian Naylor Treasurer Jeanne Long Technical Adviser Maurice Redman Librarian John Clark Editor Joan Abrams N. London Group Secretary Ron Long S. Coast Group Secretary Peter Glover N.W. Midlands Group Sec. Joan Abrams Auditor Leonard Thorne

It was agreed that the Secretary should write to A. R. Neale to see whether he would consider forming a North East group, as it appeared that considerable dinghy cruising is done in that area.

Group names: it was decided that the present names no longer described the areas covered by the groups, and that these should be changed as follows: N.W. Midlands to North West Group N. London to South East Group

Publicity: The President reported his attempt to get a D.C.A boat into the Boat Show. This was evidently very nearly successful and appears well worth repeating next year. He was also negotiating to see whether a book could be published of the best Bulletin articles. The meeting discussed whether this should consist of purely technical articles or should include cruise accounts. It was decided that the selection would have to be left to the publisher (if one could be found!) but that the idea was excellent.

The Secretary reported that apparently only one new member had joined, as a result of the 80 leaflets which had been sent out to selected clubs and sailing schools in the spring. It was therefore not proposed to extend this scheme.

It was unanimously decided that we should advertise in the personal columns of the yachting papers, and that up to £2.10s. should be used by the Secretary for this, the advertisements to appear about March. If the response was sufficient to recoup the £2.10s. in new subscriptions the exercise would be repeated.

The President explained another idea of his for sending duplicated letters about the D.C.A. to advertisers of cruising dinghies in the “For Sale” and “Wanted” columns of the magazines. It was agreed that this was worth trying and that John Deacon would send Eric Coleman a letter for reproduction. Members agreed to cover the magazines as follows: Yachting Monthly — Joan Abrams, Yachting World — Maurice Redman, Yachts & Yachting — Ron Long, Light Craft — Hugh Barrie. Stamps and envelopes to be paid for by the D.C.A.

It was decided that the Secretary should send six leaflets each to firms building suitable dinghies, for passing on to new owners. Classes included were: Wayfarer, G.P.14, West Wight Potter, Walkers, Midshipman, Y.W. Dayboat, Silhouette. This mention of the Silhouette caused Eric Coleman to ask for classification on the Association’s views about encouraging boats with lids. After discussion it was agreed that we welcome all the members we can get, and that the rules say our object is “to promote and encourage all forms of cruising in dinghies and similar small craft”, so that lids were all right. As the Editor put it in Bulletin 23, “All of us who sail round the coast in very small boats have enough in common, and the variety of craft we use adds to the interest.”

Bulletin: Joan Abrams reported that the article position was still critical, with virtually no reserve at all, and that technical articles would be particularly welcome. Articles were promised from Charles Stock, John Deacon, Maurice Redman, and Slade Penoyre. The Bulletin is now due to come out at the beginning of March, June, September and December, with the closing date for contributions a month before each issue. The President thanked Eric and Maureen Coleman on behalf of the Association for all the work they do on the Bulletin.

Naylor Noggin: Brian Naylor said that he’d had no entries to date, and agreed to consider entries up to the end of January as valid (for this year only; normal closing date 30th November).

Handbook: Brian Naylor said that he had completed 45 copies of the East Coast Section, which had been distributed to members known to sail in that area. Other members wanting a free copy should write to the Secretary. It was unanimously agreed that the quality of production was excellent. Ron Long said he would arrange for two members to undertake additions and corrections to keep the book up to date.

For the South Coast Section, Brian estimated that 30 chartlets would be needed. He said he would do ten of these himself and Maurice Redman and Maureen Coleman undertook the remainder. Members with up-to-date information about South Coast landing places are asked to contact Brian Naylor at 17 Southview Court, Guildford Road, Woking, Surrey.

Any other business: The question of combined meetings with the Y.H.A. sailing group was raised. The President said that we already used their crewing agency, and that we would of course be glad to see Y.H.A. members at our rallies and meetings. He suggested that our group secretaries should notify the Y.H.A. of these. Brian Naylor, who is also a member of the Y.H.A. South Coast sailing group, said he would tell Peter Glover about their activities, which we would be welcome to attend.