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MINUTES OF THE NEW ZEALAND MODEL POWER BOAT ASSOCIATION
COMMITTEE MEETING
HELD WEDNESDAY 5th SEPTEMBER 2012
VIA SKYPE CONFERENCE CALL

Meeting Opened 8.00pm

Present
Wayne Mowbray (WM) as Chair, Grahame Haines (GH), Matthew Bindon (MB), and Andrew Colquhoun (AC), Steve Trott (ST), Bob Gutsell(BG), Kerry O’Reilly (KO)

Apologies Paul Bretherton Matt Gay

Minutes of last meeting:- Read and confirmed AC/MB

Matters arising:-
BG suggested as most are listed on the agenda in general business Agreed

CORRESPONDENCE.

IN Remit from Fred Zinsli
Wanganui River Top 10 holiday park offering race venue
David Smith Surveying Ashburton. Confirmation of certifying speed course at
Lake Hood
From Fred Zinsli advising officials e-mail addresses now set up thru web site

OUT Thanks to Fred via WM

FINANCES
GH reports we have 92 financial members so far

All nationals’ related accounts have been paid

Nationals profits have been evenly distributed between NZMPBA and BOP club .

$4.99 was left in entry fee a/c for next year and Bank interest since, less RWT has left the Entry Fee Account currently at $5.17

Working Bank A/C stands at $ 4286.22

ACCOUNTS FOR PAYMENT.

Flower time Florists. Mowbray bereavement $ 68.00
Jump Rope logos. For creating Hi Res Logo $202.40

Moved GH/BG accounts be approved. All agreed

GENERAL BUSINESS.

RISK MANAGEMENT PLAN
WM reported on progress and information he has sources from what they are doing in Australia, USA, South Africa and the UK.
Most of the ground work has now been done and the general consensus from all sources show we must make every effort to show we are getting things right.
At last meeting it was suggested a template with tick boxes but that makes it too easy for competitors to simply race down ticking boxes without reading the document.
AC It needs to be like a guideline or a “you need to do this on race day like a laminated sheet in your regatta arsenal that you read out at the beginning of a race day asking the question of the competitor directly have you done this and have you done that as a safety requirement. Ok then we are ready to race.
It can also be done as a tick box on the annual membership renewal where by ticking that box you agree to all safety requirements in the rule book.
AC/ST being in the insurance industry pointed out you have to be seen to be doing something negligent to be held liable for any incident.
BG reiterated as was with the recent public liability claim on Hamilton lake as far as the insurance company was concerned the Hamilton Club was doing everything right and all their stipulated procedures were in place as required by the local authority and the dumb kayaker put him self at risk by paddling into a designated model boat race area during a race on their designated race day at their designated time.
BG has a check list and went through and ticked off each box as he inspected each boat before racing started. At the offshore. That’s all you really have to do.
ST yes you have shown you have done checks to make sure everything complies with the rules.
BG the only other thing maybe you need a site specific one for each venue as some will need safety nets for example to protect public.
AC then at a venue like Blenheims Diversion it is not necessary as there is a 2~3 meter high bank protecting the public in the end keep it simple.
BG forwarded his check list to committee to peruse and comment/modify for next meeting.
BG agreed to work with Wayne to finalise something for the Association and also to send to club secretaries to help them when organising and running regattas.

PETER COLLIERS LETTER
We are addressing the main points and incorporating Peter’s suggestions in our discussions.

4 BOAT RULE AND INCREASED ENGINE SIZES IMPACT ON THE ASSOCIATION
WM had been doing a little on than till recent issues but have started putting something together.
Group decision was to bounce some concrete suggestions off each other via e-mail to help WM then look at finalising some good guidelines/ recommendations re a remit for the next AGM.

HI RESOLUTION LOGO AND BANNERS
Logo has now been redone in High Resolution. So we can now go ahead and order 2 banners 1 for the North Island and one for the South Island.

WEBSITE
We are having trouble administering and updating the website since PB moved over to the Wairarapa as his new address does not have high speed internet both land and mobile based.
GH mentioned we were supposed to have got some training and every time I tried to organise it, it falls over.
We need some written instruction on how to use/update on a regular basis.
Agreed GH e-mail Dale to get those instructions.

FACEBOOK
AC it is ticking over nicely so long as BG and I get info to put on.
BG we got 480 hits when we put those 22 Hydrofest photos on.

UPDATE ON NI CHAMPS
Aussies are making noises that they are coming over
WM have sent entry forms over to them but not got anything back from them yet.
Ground work is going well.
Drivers stand is complete and pit area is set up so it can be completely blocked off from the public.
100meter straights are set up.
Dinner and venue organised.
3 entries so far.

REMITS FOR NEXT AGM
GH we have one from Fred Zinsli re engine classes and defining capacities for respective classes.
The committee are working on this as well and will submit a remit that will be a variant on Fred’s one as an alternative for voters to consider.
GH working on submitting new event for records being 2 lap oval records similar to those done in USA and Aussie.
BG Hamilton looking at submitting a remit to better defines T2 Thunderboat engine requirements.
ST/BG working on modifying 4 boat rules to help WM
Presidents cup scoring system may get a revamp
Documentation on how the Thunder down under points are earned to be added to Nationals Championships section of the rule book.

INSURANCE ISSUES
ST being in the insurance industry had an in house training day to hopefully gleen issues pertaining to our organisation.
He advises:-
Liability falls under common law
Public Liability only comes into play if we are found to be liable otherwise it does nothing. (see above re-Hamilton incident)
Most everything revolves around “Duty of Care”. (In other words the more risky or dangerous some thing becomes, then the Duty of Care increases in trying to minimize that risk and danger. The problem is that if this went to the extreme then we would all sit at home in the corner with a blanket over our head and never move !)
Outcomes of Hearings are based on what anyone would have reasonably done to prevent the incident happening.
GH questioned wether the insurance options we have at present are adequate
ST agreed it is.

IRMS
GH how is it performing
BG Brilliant. “The moment we took Vista off the computer and installed XP all of our troubles have gone.”
Only thing we need to try is load a dummy event with 20 plus entries to make sure she still behaves. ST “she does”
BG we do need to upgrade the lap counting buttons to a softer grade as the current ones can be hard to push to record laps.
BG Damian baker and I have looked at Transponder systems and there seems to be only one that is reliable and it is called My Laps and would cost around $6000 to set up. It’s what the Europeans use. The yanks still use the IRMS System.
ST we need to get a better communication system for communication with officials and also rescue boat during marathon events.
Committee agreed that AC have a look around for what is available and report back.

USE OF FUEL ADDITIVES
It has come to this committee’s attention that the odd member has been running fuel additives in their petrol (e.g. octane booster etc)
The rules clearly state, petrol and oil only and if anyone is caught blatantly abusing this rule they will be disqualified from racing that event and publicly shamed as well.

EVENTS CALENDAR FOR 2013
As we are getting well through this years calendar it is time for clubs to start planning for next year and letting ST know what they are doing if different to this year so we can have it ready for the beginning of the year.

There being no further business meeting closed 9.15pm.