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NZMPBA SKYPE SPECIAL COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES
Date 16 December 2019 8pm

PRESENT; Grahame Haines, Marie Haines, John Belworthy, Nigel Wong, Peter Collier, Murray Smithson. Trevor Terry, Phillip Fowler, Pieter Lokum.
APOLOGIES; none
PURPOSE.

TO DUSCUSS AND RESOLVE ISSUES THAT HAVE ARISEN ON THE FORUM AND CORRESPONDENCE IN SINCE LAST COMMITTEE MEETING

The meeting was chaired by:- Peter Collier

Issues to be considered:-

1. Letter from Steve Trott
With comments on points made in a personal letter to him from G Haines
President NZMPBA.

2. E-mail received from Peter Anderson in response to his personal letter from G Haines President NZMPBA that was prompted by his personal letter sent to Mr Haines

3. Discuss recent forum posts regarding 2019 Presidents cup results.

4. Mr Haines’ offer of resignation as President of the NZMPBA as a result as posted on NZMPBA Forum

Discussion

The issues raised in Mr Trott’s letters regarding legitimacy of the November speed records achieved were debated from various perspectives.

Sanctioning of events, the original speed run dates of 9, 10 November for Marlborough on the Wairau river were not used due to adverse weather and water conditions. A fortnight later when conditions (tide, river flow and no wind) were suitable. The 23rd November was considered a legitimate sanctioned date. However, doubts were aired about the 24th November on which speed runs were also conducted and had not been applied for when the calendar was originally organised in December 2018. The 24th November was sanctioned for the Wellington Offshore event only!

Consequently, it was conceded by all members of the committee that records claimed for 24th November could not be accepted due to this oversight. This means that the S Tunnel record broken on 24th November is disallowed and the S Tunnel record broken on the 23rd at the lower speed of 103.242 kmh is approved instead.

Also the P Hydro 4 cell electric record claimed at 118.773kmh for 24th would be disallowed.

Grahame Haines S Tunnel 8 cell Electric 105.961 kmh 24th disallowed
Grahame Haines S Tunnel 8 cell Electric 103.242 kmh 23rd approved instead
Grahame Haines Petrol Outrigger Hydro Un-restricted noise 101.688kmh 23rd
Grahame Haines Petrol Outrigger Hydro 87db 97.641kmh 23rd
Grahame Haines Sport Petrol Hydro 87db 119.906kmh 23rd
Grahame Haines P2 Hydro 87db 120.459kmh 23rd
Grahame Haines Q Hydro 6 cell Electric 127.550kmh 23rd
Grahame Haines P Hydro 4 cell Electric 118.773 kmh 24th disallowed

This means that 6 records instead of 7 records may be claimed by Mr Haines for the November speed event. The President Cup points for 2019 will be amended accordingly.

A general discussion covering items 2 and 3 on the agenda continued. Dismay and frustration was expressed about the email traffic back and forth and accusations on the open forum in spite of the much sought after Code of Conduct now being published as guidance. And incidentally in immediate effect, without the need for the six week consultation period to elapse that would have effectively endorsed the ‘wild west’ mentality that has had the vast majority of the membership in dismay over the vindictive use of the forum by a very tiny minority.

A very pertinent question was asked “Are our rules fit for purpose now” given that our rules in some cases may date back decades and technology and the way things are done and universally accepted in the present day with the incredible advances in technology make far more sense. This is in response to comments and accusations levelled at us when for example some older rule is not followed to the letter, as a means of getting a point of view across the line to reverse a totally sensible action. And then on the other hand in endeavours to improve this situation we get accused of continuously ‘frigging’ with the rules. Have those accusers ever heard of continuous improvement!!!

The discussion concluded with an overwhelming acknowledgement that our rules have once again descended into ‘in places’ an unworkable abyss in no small part due to fly-by-nighters and carpet-baggers who arrive and lobby to get rules changed to their own advantage and benefit, and then never hang around long enough to benefit from the changes they promoted. Thus leaving a bigger mess for longer time loyal members to endure and probably be blamed for.

General consensus is the Rule book is a frigging mess due to decades of tampering.

As regards the collation of PC points, no one else was prepared to, or volunteered to, do the job, after all it is an unpaid position as are all NZMPBA positions exactly as they should be.
For the Presidents Cup in 2020, some things will change, but they will be in total compliance with the rules. The first person to object to this is effectively putting up their hand to volunteer for the job.

Item 4. Mr Haines’ offer of resignation was discussed in the context of the issues in dispute and general handling of the NZMPBA over the last 2.5 years. Committee members in turn queried M Haines over various aspects of the processes and decisions throughout his term, in particular the last year and in particular the items that have sparked or resulted from the contentious forum posts. Satisfactory answers were given, and the committee’s unanimous endorsement was given, and the offer of resignation declined.

Mr Haines further re-iterated as stated in his 2019 presidents report that he will be standing down at the next AGM.

Other Business

Discussion continued to other items that had arisen since the last committee meeting on 9 December.

A letter from BOPMPBC dated 11/12/19 had since been received formally withdrawing from hosting the 2020 Nationals citing lack of time to prepare due to late confirmation from NZMPBA committee on the basis of their non-response to their original BOPMPBC letter of 17/5/19 setting out the NATS regatta proposal. The email inbox of the secretary had been double and triple checked and confirmed that no such letter had been received, none of the committee members at the time (May) had any recollection of such a letter either.

It was also considered puzzling that BOPMPBC had not raised the issue of the non receipt of such a letter, as it was not recorded in the inward correspondence of the June committee meeting minutes as it had not been received, or for that matter July, September, October Committee meeting minutes etc. Especially since was such an important event for them and also the NZMPBA at large.

Finally: A plea from the treasurer.

Membership renewals are coming up, the Treasurer expressed frustration that $’s were getting deposited in the NZMPBA account without identification of who it is for, this is happening for about 20% of returning members. It is just another frustration for volunteers in our organisation whereby our jobs are made more difficult to do.

Please fill in the application for membership form, even if you are renewing as it ensures our records are kept up to date. This time it will also include some survey questions to gather some information on what our members are doing boatwise and how best the committee can promote the majority interests of our members. So please assist this endeavour by returning your application form with the survey completed on page 2.

Meeting closed 9:50 pm