Racing at Bashley on SLCC days

[oldtimeracer]

OK so I guess I am stirring up a hornets nest here especially as I am no longer a member of the club but….

There are 4 more Sundays when I assume all the SHMCC committee will be away doing the SLCC. Has anyone made or indeed attempted to make any provision for those other club members that may not be doing the SLCC but may want to race at Bashley on those 4 days. Now is the time to think about this rather than at the last moment.

From an outsiders point of view I can remember Mark having to cancel going away so that a race meeting could be run at Bashley to satisfy the club members that wanted to race. After all the club I assume is run for all it’s members rather than just those that want to race away at times.

I am most certainly not having a go at anyone or indeed pointing the finger at individuals but I am sure the club could do with the revenue from those 4 days as well as wanting to satisfy the needs of it’s members that do not go away to race.

So simply put, my question is have the committee appointed, trained or asked for volunteers to run the race meetings on those days when the committee are away or indeed has anyone asked the members if they want to race on those days.

If there is going to be another newsletter then maybe this subject could be brought up in it. Bear in mind that only a limited number of people actually come on to this forum.

[yellowshark]

Just a little honey bee I think Ian. I posted the same point last month and as I said I feel uncomfortable about the situation - 6 weeks out of the summer is a big hit (albeit 1 of those is unavoidable)- but I don't know what the answer is. I do think your suggestion to try and do some advanced organisation is a good idea though.

[lesbaldry]

As you said Ian you are no longer a member and do tend to race at Bashley rarely theses days(said with respect) Pete is! and he too races away more than most!!.....I just wonder how many racers who do not travel would actually turn up on these days...enough for a meeting??..unfortunatly we arnt Aldershot there is no guarantee that enough will turn up even when we are not away.

I wonder what Yeovil do,they are small and must be in the same situation,Trev races away nomaly with 6 or more members..and the club revolves around him?

[Reality Racer]

I would be prepared to run a club meeting on 17th May when SLCC Yateley is on.
I have only ever used AMB timing software so would need some training on the software the club uses.

[oldtimeracer]

Yes you are correct Les I do race infrequently at the moment. Work and home life permit me little time at weekends at the moment to do much but I take your point that maybe this is none of my business. However on several occasions recently I have been asked by other SHMCC members about this so thought I would make the point and see if anything had been organised.

As you also say it is impossible to know how many people would turn up and if there would be enough to actually hold a race meeting. However, if the track is closed there is no chance at all.

Yeovil only race on Sunday once a month if that. They do however race every Thursday evening although I have never been there on a Thursday so cannot say how many people turn up or what they do if only a few turn up. I am also not sure of their arrangements for renting the track from the land owner. It may be they have a better deal than South Hants.

I assume that SHMCC has to pay for every Sunday regardless of whether a race meeting takes place or not or at least that is how it used to be. My apologies if it is different now.

[lesbaldry]

Yes we do have to pay regardless Ian..I dont know what the solution is,Its bad enough trying to get people to run race meetings at the moment (unexpected commitments)

Terrys kindly offered to run one,its just that should we find a kind vol enter and not enough turn up on "those" days they or others wont be bothered next time...when Mark did give up a meeting to run a club event SHMCC had plenty of home racers.

I was'nt at all suggesting its not you business,quite the opposite as a possible returning member??or a new driver(your wit is missed)....the point was even when you were you wern't that regular as were others. plus you too are racing away this year...more seem to be too as is Pete..just doing quick sums in my head with the amount of regular home racers is there enough left?

Hard core racers (committee) myself included turned up regular during the cold winter Sundays to race,sometimes not having enough to make a meeting,many times we wanted to race away to test at another track,but no we were there to support the club and help with rent and funds..we even started fun BBQ bacon butties (funded from our own pockets!!) to attract people but we got knocked (safety wise) on the forum for that...now we seem to be worrying about 6 weekends out of 52 from those who bearly suport the club when needed...support works both ways

[keitheroonie]

We are trying to line up a couple of club members to run these meetings, we have had a couple of offers of help and we're hoping to have these members trained and ready to use the timing software before the Cotswolds.

I will keep you all posted.

[mattsedgley]

Thanks for the comments, guys, as Keith says.. this is in hand, and we've been actively looking for race directors. not on the forum but more importantly at race meetings,

At present even without it being an SLCC weekend there's only enough members for two to three heats, so numbers aren't buoyant all over at present. there's been plenty of new people join recently with Ansmanns, eco tourers. They are welcomed with smiling faces on a Sunday as are mini's however they're rarely seen.

Perhaps we should look at running sat/sun on alternate weeks like Yately do, maybe that will improve numbers, however whatever we try it is a risk.

I must admit, the committee were elected by the members of the model car club, however rarely do we actually hear thanks, or suggestions for improvements that we can make, often comments are negative, and second or third hand.
It would be a great help if you could signpost those members who may not be sure who the committee are in the right direction so we can gather this information first hand.

Forgive me if my post comes across as stark or rude, once again it's said from the head, and the heart.

Matt

[yellowshark]

Some good comments there Les. It is certainly true that Team SLCC does comprise most of the core racers who consistently support the club. But yes there are a few consistent racers who do not do SLCC, ah me what to do?

And who's this guy Pete In Craig's defence he has only raced "away" twice this year. The first was at Eastbourne in the STCC. The ONLY reason for this this was to practice the track for the Juniors. Seems reasonable to me, winning a National championship can only bring prestige to the club and attract new members. The other time was at Aldershot to practice a new track for the SLCC and Craig is not the only driver who has been up to Aldershot this year for the same reason

To quote myself, the reason "I feel uncomfortable" is because we are one of the band who does the SLCC and other drivers who have paid their membership but do not, potentially suffer as a result. But personally I am at a loss to work out what a viable solution is. It is unfair to expect a short handed and overworked Committee to solve this by personal penalty of not doing SLCC. If we had say 8 fully active relaxed Committee members then maybe racing 5 out of 6 might be more acceptable but we don't.

The tragedy(maybe that should be irony) is I think the club is making great strides. The last couple of meetings have been extremely well run, we have the Ansman class to give a more affordable entry to beginners, there is more than enough support from people like yourself. The fact that this subject is being debated is healthy as indeed is the Committee comments that avenues are being pursued - good on you guys! Two more comments

1. Lets give up the health and safety paranoia and bring back the bacon butties guys

2. It would be interesting to look on the computer and check the attendance at the March and April meetings. Take off those that do the SLCC. Would the remainder constitue a viable meeting?

[yellowshark]

Apr 30, 2009 17:27:31 GMT @mattsedgley said:

Forgive me if my post comes across as stark or rude, once again it's said from the head, and the heart.

Matt

Not at all Matt; don't forget that being on a Committee is often a thankless task but if you can get home on a Sunday and realise that you have really made the day for bunch of whineing whingers you are half way there

[yellowshark]

Ooh that was a lovely bottle of wine. If someone on the Committee can lend us a 17.5 I'll run the Bashley meeting on the Adur leg of the SLCC. Hick.

[lesbaldry]

Nice comments Pete....useing you and Ian was never a "knock" just examples of two types of racers the third been the home racer who we have yet to hear from?

It very hard to please all and a compromise is near enough imposible...ie is the meeting run too fast,too slow,too relaxed,not stricted enough,without input its hard to tell.

During the winter we tried to make it fun and relaxed,but this seemed to go too slow for some and may of upset them??it certainly upset a non racing member who was never there winter racing for me is more of a social event,time to chat have a laugh, practice race craft,set ups

Bottom line is sadly we dont have that many members who race on a regular basis any more....the reason?.. is probably trying to boss another club around as we speak ...mind you going by Aldershots race control/scrutinering a clash of the titans is imminent ;D ;D

[oldtimeracer]

OK several points as an "outsider" here I would make.

Firstly I thank everyone for allowing this discussion to take place in a civilised manner. Says a lot for the club and it's committee that this can happen without personal attacks or retribution. There was never any intention to have a go at anyone in particuler I can assure you.

Secondly maybe Les has made the crucial point. There are not enough actual racing members at the moment. So is the answer a bit of promotion to encourage more people to come and race?

The issue for me is that the club needs to pay it's way even if several members are racing away on a regular basis. To do that all the other members need to know there will be a race meeting on regardless. EVERY Sunday! This is the only way, in my opinion, that more people will be encouraged to come and race. At the moment there is no certainty that a race meeting will be held so maybe people are looking elsewhere or are not too bothered because of this. To be honest even if only 6 people turb up on a Sunday that will help the club funds.

I take Matts point that things like this are being discussed at committee level already and that is good. People need to be made aware of this maybe by the re-introduction of the newsletter which for many is their only means of communication with the club.

This is a difficult year for me weekend wise and I know I am unable to committ to racing on a regular basis. That point should however not affect others who maybe would race on a regular basis if they could be sure there was a meeting on.

OK it will never always be possible to run a race meeting, there will always be some weekends that just cannot be arranged. Everyone would accept that but everyone needs to be kept informed.

So maybe the problem is one of communication?

[lesbaldry]

Apr 30, 2009 23:16:06 GMT yellowshark said:

Ooh that was a lovely bottle of wine. If someone on the Committee can lend us a 17.5 I'll run the Bashley meeting on the Adur leg of the SLCC. Hick.

Ill have a spare floating about Pete....just no fiddeling with the timing please ;D ;D....you may have to find some big Pinions and small spurs..fdrs of around 3.5/3.2 needed....a pain to mesh on the xray

[Reuben]

Pete you can use my speed passion - Fixed timing and known the best ratio for it at our track

[yellowshark]

Oops, sorry make that the Yately round, Craig has GCSEs and can't race that weekend. Might ultimately be able to do the Adur weekend as I have always been 50/50 on that one but if we screw up one of the other rounds we may want to do the last one.