The Boring Stuff
We are a company limited by guarantee.
This means that our affairs are conducted fully in accordance with the various
Companies Acts at present in force and our accounts are examined by qualified
accountants and are filed at Companies House available for public inspection.
Being a company limited by guarantee we do not have shareholders and the
liability of our members is limited to £1.
Our day to day affairs are conducted by a Board of Directors.
We actually call them "The Council" and they meet monthly on the third Tuesday of
every month.
The Council is elected at the Annual General Meeting of the Club held every March.
The Bosses
Being a Boat Club the senior Council members (the "managing director" and
his two assistants) are known as the "Flag Officers".
Each Flag Officer normally serves for two years and works his way up from
Rear-Commodore for the first two years, then Vice-Commodore for two years and
then serves in the most senior position as Commodore for two years.
This enables the flag officers to gain experience in the position and to give continuity.
You will probably have noticed that these are naval terms.
"Vice" comes from the Latin "in place of" and the role of the Vice-Commodore was to
take over when the Commodore was not able to function.
The Rear-Commodore was the officer who commanded the ship at the rear of the
fleet and occupied the important role of protecting the Fleet from attacks from the rear.
The closeness of the analogy has varied over the years from Flag Officer to Flag Officer
and, like most organisations, we have had our 'Trafalgars'.
However, the system has proved to be robust and has stood up to various vicissitudes.
The Workers.
However, the Council also needs people who actually do the work! In addition to the Flag Officers there are another twelve members who make up the full Council. The reason for their election is based on a combination of factors:-
charm, good looks and ability to get on with people,
technical ability and expertise,
overwhelming desire to serve their fellow men,
not seeing the Commodore approaching when he came up and asked them to stand.
Seriously, they are all people who love boating and want to contribute something in return for all the pleasure that they get from boating.
Who to shoot at:
The Council members for the year 2009/2010 are as follows:-