Watermen AGM

The Wycliffe Watermen

Minutes of AGM held via zoom on September 22nd 2020 

Attendance: Trevor Jones, Phil Clements, Greg Flower, Pete Salvin, Laura Ralph, John Hughes, Nick Janes, James Rant, Ben Moule, Fraser Ross.

Apologies: Mark Kenchington, Roger Dixon, Stephen James, Felicity Bertram, Pete Ashe, Huw Williams, Nick Clack, Richard Chatham.

Appointment of Committee of Stewards: It being three years from the re-constitution of The Watermen all members of the committee needed to seek re-election. The following were elected, all proposed by John Hughes and seconded by Nick Janes.

Trevor Jones, Chief Steward

Phil Clements, Chairman of the Race Committee

Pete Salvin, Treasurer

Felicity Bertram.

The 5th ex-officio member of the committee is Greg Flower, Director of Rowing.

Trevor Jones explained that there were normally three additional non-voting members co-opted by the Committee of Stewards and that these would be recruited at the committee meeting immediately following the AGM.

Chief Steward’s Report

As this is the end of a three year cycle, I thought it appropriate to cover the achievements of the last three years.

Three years ago The Watermen Committee was moribund.  Thankfully Phil Clements (at times almost singlehandedly) had kept the two Wycliffe Heads going and had accumulated a considerable sum of money. We are very grateful to him for his efforts in this.

In 2017, a new committee was formed and the old Watermen constitution tweaked to reflect the change from The Old Wycliffian Society to The Wycliffian Society.  This constitution was approved both by TWS and the College.

With the appointment of Greg Flower as Head of Rowing the rowing set up was already beginning to improve from the low point it had reached some years earlier but there were still some difficulties which The Watermen could help to solve.  These included:

An understandable lack of investment in new boats and equipment during the period of low achievement.

A previous Head of Rowing had sold all the Ergos (rowing machines vital for training) many of which had been donated by individual Watermen or by the Wycliffe Watermen.

The towing vehicle had reached the end of its life and had not been replaced.

Some significant developments since 2017

1. With the knowledge and agreement of the College, Greg Flower had started The Wycliffe Junior Rowing Club.  More about this later.

2. In 2017, The Watermen granted the College £4,000 to have the outside of the boathouse repainted.  The school has since provided new signage.  The Boathouse will never win any architectural prizes but it looks as good as it can.  The College has invested in new electronic doors to improve security.

3. The Watermen donated £21,000, a sum that was matched by the College, to purchase a new Hudson Quad and Hudson Double.  A second Hudson Quad for girls was funded by an anonymous donor and two further Hudson Doubles were provided by insurance following an accident to two older doubles. So the club is now well equipped with modern competitive boats. The donation of this £21,000 was perhaps controversial at the time but did open a very productive dialogue between The Watermen and the College and was one of the factors encouraging the College to:

a) Purchase new Ergos solely for Boat Club use.

b) Purchase a second hand towing vehicle.

c) Institute a programme of refurbishment of existing equipment (eg the Stampfli Quad) including re-spraying in the new club colours.

4. The College has re-negotiated the lease on the boathouse increasing its term from seven years to 24 years giving greater security and allowing greater investment.

5. Greg Flower and the Wycliffe Director of Sport, Ben Taylor, have worked together to produce a ‘Rowing Pathway’ detailing how pupils may get involved in rowing and ultimately specialise if they show enough promise. Ben has attended several Watermen meetings and a good relationship has been forged.

6. During the 2020 lockdown, Greg Flower and his helpers voluntarily completely decorated the inside of the Boathouse.  It now looks amazing and very impressive to visitors and regulars alike.  Here are some images; the first are of the small boathouse (the big boathouse has been similarly upgraded) and below that photos of the upper storey.