This year’s Hollowshore CC AGM on Thursday December 17 was for the first and hopefully the last time held on Zoom, with nearly 30 friendly faces on screen, plus another nine who took part by sending in their voting intentions by post and e-mail. The move to Zoom was made necessary by the Covid restrictions. All the AGM reports and recommendations were circulated in full in advance, and here are some of the main points plus the new committee line-up for 2021.

Commodore’s Report: Dick Holness said the pandemic had dominated all our lives and dramatically affected our operations. The biggest item on the agenda (see below) was the proposed new constitution and rules to bring us in line with the RYA’s recommended model, enabling HCC to apply to become a Community Amateur Sports Club (CASC) giving us rate and income tax relief.

New Club Rules and Constitution: The meeting accepted without dissent the Committee’s proposal to update club rules. The main differences were that the accounts would have a reviewer rather than auditor and the committee would “admit” new members rather than an applicant having to be proposed and seconded. But membership acceptance was still down to the committee and it was just a slightly different way of doing it.

Subscriptions: A committee recommendation that membership fees be unchanged at £50 was accepted. Subscription income no longer met the cost of rental payments, and while membership figures were steady this year we had to try harder to grow the membership. “We have a great little club here, let’s all encourage other boating friends to join us. The massive house-building programme in Faversham is an obvious target for us,” said Dick.

Officers and Committee: New line-up for 2021: Dick Holness (Commodore); Mark Sanders (Vice-Commodore and Bar Management); Bob Todd (Rear Commodore and Bosun); Mike Riches (Secretary); Carole Grater (Treasurer); Angela Holness (Social Secretary). Committee: Beryl Brooke; Chris Lovering; Caroline Robertson; Mike Robertson; Jose Sammut, and Viv Valentine. Trustees: Dick Holness, Mike Perkins and Paul Smedley had agreed to continue as Trustees.

Viking Cup: Mark Sanders said the committee had decided not to award trophies this year because of the limited sailing season, but there was a unanimous verdict that the Viking Cup for the outstanding member of the year should be awarded and that it should go to Commodore Dick Holness for his dedication and service during a very challenging year. In reply, Dick thanked the committee, and said the year had been a bit of a struggle for everyone and he thanked the committee and club for their support, and the membership for staying faithful. We had a good team and we would go forward to better things in 2021.