FLEETWOOD MODEL YACHT AND POWER BOAT CLUB

RULES and CONSTITUTION

1. Name:

The Club shall be known as the Fleetwood Model Yacht and Power Boat Club.

2. Sailing Water:

The club’s sailing water shall be the Model Yacht Lake, Laidleys Walk, Fleetwood.

3. Club FlagThe club flag shall be a pennant, amber, black and amber vertically, with the letters FD in white on the black centre.

4. Objectives:

4.1 The Club shall promote amongst its members knowledge of the designing, building, sailing and competing of model yachts and scale boats.

4.2 The Club shall promote the sport amongst the local community and other interested parties.

4.3 The Club should at all times have adequate public liability insurance to cover the activities of its members.

5. Membership:

5.1 Shall be open to any interested person. The Club reserves the right to refuse membership and it is not required to disclose the reasons for such refusal.

5.2 Membership shall be in one of the following categories:-
a. Senior Member age 18 years and over.
b. Family Member – Senior Member plus partner and any children under the age of 18 years.
c. Over 65 Member – age 65 and over.
d. Junior Member – individual non-family member under the age of 18 years.
e. Country Member – any person living in excess of 60 miles radius of the club.
f. Honorary Member.

5.3 New members must be formally proposed and seconded by a fully paid up Senior/Over 65 Member. Membership application must be supported by the appropriate fee and is subject to General Committee approval. All new members must be furnished with a copy of the Club Rules and Constitution, which they must agree to abide by.

5.4 Only the General Committee may recommend the award of Honorary Member to such person as it feels merits the award on past service to the Club. Such an award is subject to ratification at the Annual General Meeting.

5.5 In the interests of safety and the health of the membership smoking is not allowed within any part of the Clubhouse.

5.6 Only fully paid up members as defined in 5.2 may sail boats of a class in the club events and such members together with their families shall be allowed to use the facilities of the Club with the following exceptions:-
a. Prospective new members shall be allowed to use the club facilities and sail in club events for a trial period not exceeding three occasions at the invitation and in the presence of a senior/Over 65 club member. Non-members sailing under this sub paragraph will not be allowed to win any trophies.
b. Members of other model boat clubs who have been invited to take part in any open event will be allowed to use the facilities of the club.
c. Any person or persons attending any special event authorised by the General Committee may use club facilities for the purpose of that event.

6 Management:

6.1 The management of the Club shall be vested in a General Committee consisting of the Commodore, Vice Commodore, General Secretary, Treasurer, Bosun, 2 Trustees and nominated club members representing each of the sectional interests.

6.2 The General Committee shall be responsible for the running of the club within the approved Rules and Constitution.

In order to ensure that the interests of all members are effectively provided for, there shall be appointed Sectional Committees, which report to the General Committee. The Sectional Committees are responsible for the day-to-day organisation of their activities. The Sections shall appoint a chairperson and Secretary from amongst its members at a general meeting of that section.

6.3 The General Committee may appoint such ad hoc committees as it feels is necessary to ensure the effective running of the Club. Such committees will be subject to the General Committee.

7. Officers:

7.1 All officers shall be elected annually at the Annual General Meeting from amongst the members of the Club.

7.2 Officers shall retire annually but shall be eligible for re-election. All candidates for office shall be nominated in accordance with Rule 8.1.

7.3 The General Committee may fill any office that becomes vacant and may create any new office considered necessary. Such appointments shall be subject to confirmation at the next Annual General Meeting.

7.4 The officers of the Club shall be as follows:-

a. President: This is an honorary post of no formal responsibility. The post holder does not necessarily have to be a club member.

b Commodore and Vice Commodore: These two officers shall be members of the club. The Commodore shall take the chair at the AGM, any Extraordinary General Meeting and General Committee meetings and shall carry the casting vote as a member. In the absence of the Commodore all powers vested in the post shall for the time being be vested in the Vice Commodore. The Commodore must have been a member of the Club for at least 3 years and the Vice Commodore 1 year. In the absence of suitable nominations the AGM has power to waive the qualifying period rule by special resolution.

c General Secretary: This officer shall be a member of the Club and is responsible for maintaining the minutes of the AGM, any EGM and General Committee meetings. The post holder shall work under the direction of the General Committee and shall attend to correspondence concerning the general running of the Club.

d Treasurer: This officer shall be a member of the Club and is responsible for the receipt and payment of all monies appertaining to the club. The post holder shall work under the direction of the General Committee and shall maintain proper books of account at all times. A financial statement shall be presented to the AGM for ratification. In order to execute the financial business of the Club, the Treasurer is required to open such bank/building accounts as are deemed necessary by the General Committee.

e Trustees: Two Trustees shall be appointed who are required to have been members of the Club for 5 consecutive years immediately prior to nomination. The trustees shall ensure that the Club maintains a record of the location of all properties and securities held by it. They shall ensure that the Club operates within the approved Rules and Constitution at all times.

In the event of dissolution of the Club, their responsibility shall be to execute the efficient winding up of the club affairs. The Trustees are not individually or jointly liable for any liabilities of the Club arising on dissolution.

f. Auditors: One Auditor shall be appointed from amongst the members of the Club. The appointee shall not serve on the General Committee during the year of appointment. The auditor shall be entitled to any documents held by the Club that he/she considers necessary for the execution of the responsibilities of the post. The Auditor is required to sign the accounts and prepare a joint report to the AGM on whether the financial affairs of the Club have been run in accordance with the Rules and Constitution and the accounts show a true and correct record.

g. Bosun: This officer shall be a member of the club and is responsible for the management of berths, lockers and boxes, including collection of due monies on behalf of the treasurer.

7.5 In the event of there being more than one nomination for any office, a vote shall be taken from amongst the members attending the AGM and such a vote will be taken in secret.

8. Meetings:

8.1 Annual General Meeting: The AGM shall be held in November of each year. Notice of the meeting shall be sent to all members at least 7 days prior to the appointed date together with a copy of the agenda, nominations for office, motions received and a statement of the accounts for the previous financial year with the Auditors report. Copies of any motions, resolutions or nominations for office which it is intended to place before the AGM, supported by the names of the proposer and seconder, shall be in the hands of the General Secretary at least 21 days before the date of the AGM. Only fully paid up members of the Club shall be entitled to attend the AGM.

8.2 Extraordinary Annual General Meeting: The EGM may be convened by the General Committee, Trustees or on the written request of at least 10 current Senior/Over 65 members of the Club. Members shall be given notice of the date and purpose of the EGM at least 14 clear days prior to the date of the meeting. The meeting is restricted to the purpose for which it was called in the formal notice of meeting. Only fully paid up members of the Club shall be entitled to attend the EGM.

8.3 General Committee Meeting: The General Committee shall meet on a monthly basis or as often as required by the Commodore. The General Secretary shall notify all members eligible to attend of the date of the meeting and furnish them with an agenda. Any member is entitled to attend such a meeting but carries no voting rights. 5 members of the Committee constitute a quorum.

8.4 Section Committee Meetings: These shall be held as often as is required by the Section Chairman. The Secretary of the section shall notify all members eligible to attend of the date of such meetings. A quorum of members shall be determined at the start of each session based on the constitution of the committee.

9. Rights of Members:

9.1 Voting Rights: Only fully paid up Senior/Over 65 members of the Club shall be entitled to vote at the AGM or EGM. For this purpose a voting member is defined as one of the following categories of member: – Senior Member/Over 65 Members, Family Member – One vote to senior/Over 65 member.

9.2. The partner of a fully paid Senior/Over 65 is entitled to use the facilities of the Club. Such a position will carry no voting rights or entitlement to boat storage or locker facilities.

9.3 A Senior/Over 65/Family Member of the Club as defined in Rule 5.2 shall be entitled to hold a clubhouse key, subject to payment of a fee as determined by the General Committee. The key will remain the property of the Club and any member who resigns, be expelled or ceases their membership must return the key. Keys are the responsibility of the owner and cannot be transferred.

9.4 Key holders are responsible for the security of the clubhouse.

9.5 A member, as defined in rule 9.3, wishing to be issued with a Clubhouse key, must apply to the General Committee. The issue of such key is at the discretion of the General Committee.

9.6 A Country Member is afforded the same rights as a fully paid member with the following exceptions:
a. No voting rights at an AGM or EGM.
b. No priority berthing or locker rights except for the temporary period of a visit to the Club.
c. May not hold office within the Club.

10. Finance:

10.1 Annual Subscriptions and fees for berths/lockers shall be due on the first day of December in each year. New members joining the Club after the 1st August each year shall be charged half the full subscription rate for their category of membership but the full rate for berths and lockers will continue to apply.

10.2 Any members who have not paid their annual subscriptions by 31st January shall be deemed to have lapsed their membership and will be required to make new applications for membership if they wish to rejoin the Club. Such an application constitutes a break in membership for the purpose of determining the length of continuous service. Any lapsed member loses all rights to berths/lockers.

10.3 Lapsed members with property left in the Club shall remove the same by 28th February. After this date the General Committee shall be entitled to sell the property and deduct any monies due to the Club, from the net proceeds of the sale, before accounting for the balance, if any, to the former member.

10.4 The rate of subscription, joining fee and any other fee shall be determined by the General Committee and ratified at the AGM. The minimum subscription levy should at all times be sufficient to meet the operational running costs of the Club. The Club shall not budget to operate at a loss in any one year. If an operating deficit occurs in any one year, that loss shall be deemed to be a first charge in determining the following years subscriptions.

10.5 Competition fees shall be determined by the appropriate section committee and shall be subject to annual review.

10.6 Honoraria are subject to ratification at the AGM on the recommendation of the General Committee.

10.7 All monies raised under the authority of the Club shall be deemed to be the property of the Club and kept in a bank account or building society account held in the name of the Club. All withdrawals shall be on the signature of any two of three nominated members of the General Committee and their names shall be recorded in the minutes.

10.8 Any member of the Club representing it in an official capacity shall be entitled to claim reasonable expenses. The voting rights of the Club at such meetings will be vested in their representative.

10.9 In promoting the objectives of the Club as outlined in Rule 4, the General Committee shall affiliated the Club to such bodies as it deems appropriate for meeting these objectives.

11. Storage of Boats & Equipment:

11.1 All paid up members shall be entitled to the allocation of a minimum of one berth, subject to availability and payment of the appropriate fee. If there are more applications than berths available, the allocation of berths is the responsibility of the General Committee, who will, in the first instance try to accommodate the above rule of one berth per paid up member.

11.2 Only one boat per berth may be stored in the allocated space.

11.3 No boats shall be stored in the boathouse without prior allocation of a berth by the General Committee.

11.4 All boats shall be equipped with an efficient stand and are stored at the owners risk.

11.5 No member shall remove from a berth another person’s boat without the owner’s expressed permission.

11.6 The General Committee may, by special resolution, require owners to remove their boats and equipment for a limited period to accommodate boathouse repairs and the hosting of major events. If a member fails to comply with the removal directive, the General Committee have the right to remove the boat from the Club.

11.7 Lockers shall be allocated by the General Committee. All lockers shall bear the name of the holder and be equipped with a lock at the owners expense.

11.8 Equipment left in the clubhouse is stored at the owners risk.

11.9 Berths are not transferable between members or on the sale of a boat without prior consent of the General Committee. If any member wishes to relinquish a berth during the course of a season, application for a refund of part of the fee may be made to the General Committee. The General Committee shall allocate the space to a member on the waiting list.

11.10 It is the responsibility of any member who places buoys or any other equipment in the lake for their own use or for the use of others, to remove the said buoys or equipment at the end of each day. The General Committee may give dispensation to this rule for individual events, when the event lasts for more than one day.

12. Expulsion of Members:

12.1 Any member guilty of conduct prejudicial to the well being of the Club, or causing annoyance to a fellow member, may be expelled from the Club by the General Committee. Such exclusion to be ratified at the AGM.

12.2 Any member aggrieved by the actions of another member shall give notice in writing and personally attend the general committee to outline the complaint.

12.3 The accused person has the right of reply to any accusation or complaint made against them and will be invited to attend a meeting of the General Committee to place their point of view on record.

12.4 Any person who has been expelled from the Club under Rule 12 can only be re-elected to membership by a majority vote at the AGM.

13 Dissolution:

13.1 The Club shall not be dissolved as long as there is a register of at least 45 fully paid up members.

13.2 Dissolution of the Club may be considered at an EGM called by the General Committee or Trustees, provided that written notice has been sent to all paid up members in accordance with Rule 8.2. A quorum for this meeting shall be two-thirds of those members eligible to attend the EGM.

13.3 The resolution to dissolve the Club must be supported by a two-thirds majority of the members present at the meeting.

13.4 The Trustees shall be responsible for the administration of the affairs of the Club in the event of dissolution.

14. Interpretation:

14.1 In the event of a dispute over the interpretation of the Rules and Constitution, the General Committee has the right of final interpretation.

14.2 The General Committee has the power to deal with and settle any matters arising out of or not covered by the Rules or Constitution of the Club.

14.3 In the event of the General Committee’s interpretation, it shall fall on the Committee to propose amendments to the Rules and Constitution at the AGM or at an EGM.

15. Rules and Constitution

15.1 All members shall be issued with a copy of the Rules and Constitution and be notified of all amendments.

15.2 In the event of changes to the Rules and Constitution at an AGM or at an EGM, all existing members shall abide by the new Constitution
and Rules immediately.

(Amended Nov 2015)

Club Postal address:

Fleetwood MYPBC,
Laidleys Walk
Fleetwood
Lancs.
England
FY7 7JL