CHIPSTEAD SC CORONAVIRUS UPDATE – 23rd MARCH 2020

Dear Members,

It is with profound regret and sadness that I make the following announcement on behalf of your General Committee.

Further to the Club’s earlier announcements as to its policy regarding Coronavirus, the General Committee has now decided that in accordance with the latest instruction from H.M.Government that, with immediate effect, the Club and all its operations will be physically closed until further notice.

This decision will be reviewed in the light of further advices, as and when received, from H.M.Government and the RYA. We note, however, from recent RYA notifications that they effectively have to take account of many constituencies in many countries. For this reason we propose to give greater weight to HM Government advice, recognising that this will cause us to perhaps act a little more firmly than the RYA advice might indicate as necessary.

The closure includes organised sailing, racing, training, Junior Saturday activities, all affiliated Group activities, galley, bar and changing rooms, with no part of the Club buildings being accessible for members or guests.

Independent sailing
The dinghy park will remain open for members who wish to sail, paddleboard or radio sail independently via their own means. There will be no access to Club patrol boats, equipment or changing /toilet facilities and those who consider independent sailing etc. are referred to the provisions for such sailing set out in Club Bylaw 6 and the Notes on Sailing Safety in the Club Programme, particularly noting the following:

• The club recommends ‘buddy sailing’. Whilst this increases safety, we request that numbers involved be limited so as to be in line with H.M. Government and RYA advice regarding avoiding social contact etc.
• Those aged 14 or under are not allowed on the water without adult supervision (and, for the avoidance of doubt, an adult on the bank is not considered to be providing supervision).

The “Out of Hours” patrol boat (of which further details appear in the Club Programme) will be available, in the event of an emergency, to members with a Club key.

Clubhouse
Weekly inspections will be undertaken of the club facilities, including the Clubhouse. In due course we will have to consider ongoing maintenance and will write in this regard at the appropriate time.

Looking forward
I wish to give some comfort regarding the future of the Club. Our Training activities contribute significantly to the income of the club and their income will inevitably be significantly lower this year. As a consequence, in common with many small enterprises, our finances will be under considerable pressure. Fortunately the historic stewardship of the club has been very prudent and we have the financial resource to withstand this shock.

Finally
We thank all members for their continued support and understanding at this very difficult time and we will continue to update members as to any changes to the above provisions. Our working assumption, however, is that the Club is unlikely to commence its Summer Race programme earlier than July. Consequently the Club’s Open Day on 2nd May is postponed indefinitely.

Steve McCann
Commodore
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For the Chipstead Sailing Club General Committee