History

This too did good service but by the end of the season the committee were convinced that a proper dory was essential

Up to this point Syd Sharrock was the secretary, timekeeper, treasurer and secretary of the Sailing Committee. He had had a good deal of help with the time keeping from Susan Humphrey but this was no longer forthcoming. An attempt was made to relieve him of some of this load by a system of duty officers but it was not entirely successful. The position was eased a little at the 1974 AGM when Gerry Miles became the treasurer.

When the clubhouse was available for use the two outside toilets were thankfully scrapped but the sheds were thriftily reused: one as a store and the other converted to a starting box. In the winter of 1975 this converted shed was raised about four feet off the ground on to a homemade platform of telegraph poles and railway sleepers.

The play area for children was started.

Mooring facilities were extended by the construction of homemade pontoons – sizeable -platforms with eight 50-gallon oil drums for buoyancy. They were difficult to launch at the beginning of the season, almost impossible to moor securely, unstable, and difficult to recover at the end of the season.

Also in early 1975 the first stage of the tea-bar was constructed and when the season started Marjorie Smith began to be seen where she now appears to be almost a permanent fixture.

An attempt was made to ensure that all boats using the Broad were buoyancy tested and insured, at least for third party risks.

By July the outside toilets – another gift from the Water Company – were available for use and weekday sailing became a good deal more convenient.

There were a number of other small improvements too:

the flowerbeds were planted up, the telephone acquired its hood and the rescue boat engine its trolley and a home outside the clubhouse in the second old toilet shed.

The innovation during the sailing season was that we played host to the Silver Streaks International Championship. The distinction was a little less than it seemed because there are no Silver Streaks outside England and precious few outside Norfolk but it was an international event is theory if not in fact and it was won by our very own David Saunders.

The north launching slip was rebuilt and concreted.