MINUTES OF THE 2nd MEETING  (2006 SESSION)

OF THE ACU TRIALS & ENDURO COMMITTEE HELD AT ACU HOUSE ON WEDNESDAY  15^TH FEBRUARY  AT  10.30 AM

___________________________________________________________________________________

Present -:                                             Mr J Collins                   –          Chairman

Mr D.Willoughby

                                                            Mr J.Lightfoot                                                    

                                                            Mr A.Penny

In attendance:                                    

Mrs ME Kerr                  -           Secretary

Mrs A.Devine                                                          

1.  APOLOGIES

Apologies were received from Mick Wren, Tim Fairbrother, Anthony Rew and Malcolm Bates.

2. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

The minutes of the First meeting held on 17^thJanuary were approved for circulation, with the exception of the following which had been omitted from “Item 2” in that, Mr F Carter had been re-appointed as National Rally Co-ordinator.

3. MATTERS ARISING

Any matters arising would be dealt with under individual Agenda items.

4. FORESTRY ISSUES

Centres had been made aware of a meeting to be held on 25^th February to discuss the details of the new procedure to be followed when applying to use Forestry land for events.  To date, the number of Centres who had notified ACU Head Office of their attendance had been minimal and the Committee discussed whether it was worth the meeting going ahead.  After some discussion, it was agreed that the meeting should go ahead and the Secretary was asked to write to each Centre to remind them of the details.  

Action- Secretary

5. LARA

A report of the LARA meeting held on 17^th January was received from Alan King, together with a LARA Officers paper “Thoughts on the environment for motor sport and recreation”. Anthony Rew has also forwarded an email from Ian Packer of the Trail Riders Fellowship regarding legislation affecting the future of Trail Riding. These were acknowledged.

John Collins informed the Committee that consideration was still being given by the Directors to the possibility of appointing a person to deal with Land access matters etc within the office.

Alan King would be requested to liaise with Mick Wren regarding future meeting dates.

 6.  AWARDS PRESENTATION

The Committee briefly reviewed the presentation for the 2005 Awards winners. A letter of thanks was to be sent to Graham Jarvis for presenting the Youth Trials Awards in the afternoon.  There was a strong feeling however, that the evening event suffered from a distinct lack of top class riders, and ways of improving the turnout should be considered.

Action - Chairman

7. SOLO TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP

As agreed in 2005, a criteria for qualification had been printed on the application form for this Championship in order to assist in the selection process. Dave Willoughby presented his provisional selection for each class for the approval of the rest of the Committee.

The final list would be sent to organisers, together with mailing labels, and it would be pointed out that the list may be subject to review after each round.  Championship Conditions and regulations had already been sent out but would again be included in the circulation.

The Youth support class received particular attention as it was difficult to compare ability when there was a disparity in the machine sizes and the Committee examined the results of various 2005 Youth rounds in order to make their selection.  However, a letter received from Alexz Wigg asking to ride in both the Youth A, and the Adult Championship (the latter for experience only and not for points) needed to be addressed before the final Youth riders could be announced.

Alexz would be informed that whilst the Committee certainly wished to assist him in any way possible to further his Trials career, they felt that for a number of reasons which would be put to him in full, it would not be possible to accommodate his request and it would therefore be necessary for him to commit to one or the other Championship. 

Arrangements for whistles, bibs timers posters and programmes etc; were well in hand.

Action – John Collins/ Dave Willoughby/Secretariat

8. SAMMY MILLER CHAMPIONSHIP

A problem had arisen with the Sammy Miller Championship due to the previous co-ordinator’s failure to deliver the perpetual trophies to the Presentation, as had been promised. This caused considerable disappointment for the winners who were assured by both Sammy Miller and John Collins that whilst this was in no way the fault of the ACU, every effort would be made to present them with either the traditional trophies or suitable replacements.

A letter of explanation had gone out from John Collins to all series competitors, and in the meantime a written complaint from one of the competitors had been received.

As an update the Committee were told that Sammy had been unsuccessful in reclaiming the original trophies from Adrian Moss and so alternatives were to be found.

It was intended that these would be presented either at the Malvern Show, or at the first round of the Sammy Miller Championship, and the winners would receive details of arrangements accordingly. A notice would also appear in T&MX News.

Consideration would be given to whether to continue with the award for the riders who competed in at least 75% of the series after various statistics had been collated.

9. INTER CENTRE TEAM TRIAL

Regulations and Timetable for the organiser’s guidance had been sent to the Clerk of the Course. It was reported that a separate Sidecar course had been prepared and arrangements were looking good for the event.  Medals would once again be sent to the organisers before the event.

Action-Secretary

10. TRAINING

Applications received to date for the Enduro Training Squad were discussed, and it was agreed that first round of the Solo Enduro Championship, which coincided with the closing date for squad applicants would be a useful measure to consider before final selection.

Mick Wren had sent in his provisional selection of riders for the Trials Training Squad, split into Elite, Advanced and Ladies Divisions. The Committee had some queries which they needed to discuss before publication of the final selection.

Details of both Squads were to be announced by the end of February and these would also be forwarded to Dave Luscombe.

Action Committee/ Secretariat

The Chairman explained the latest proposals for the Licensing of Coaches but the Committee were still very strongly of the opinion that the requirements were too excessive for the volunteers we have.   The view of the meeting was that more should be done locally and via a correspondence course.

11. ISDE

As it was possible that the entries for New Zealand would be oversubscribed, potential teams  would receive notification of the Priority of Entry list which had been initially discussed in previous meetings and finalised at this meeting.

John Collins would attend the ISDE meeting that had been called by Mr Ted Bartlett being held on 4^th March where he would outline the procedure the Committee had now produced. After those present had been given an opportunity to comment, the final draft would be produced and used to determine  Club Team priority for entries should the need arise.

It was noted that to date, only four of the expected twelve teams had sent their deposits, and they would once again be reminded that the deposits were due by 28^th February.

A meeting with British Team Manager Gwyn Barraclough and John Collins was to be arranged in the very near future. Recent correspondence between John Collins and the IOM Centre regarding the Southern MCC’s participation in the ISDE this year was discussed and the IOM Centre had been reassured that their club team’s entry would be subject to the above criteria as would all other teams.

Action- Secretary

12. NATIONAL LICENSING SEMINARS HELD IN CENTRES

This system was working well, but after a year of holding the seminars various matters had been identified as needing attention.  A letter would be sent to the Directors requesting access to a laptop and projector for each individual Committee, as there was an increasing need for the equipment.  The Committee were awaiting dates for proposed seminars to be held in Cornwall and the Isle of Wight. Arrangements for these were to be made amongst Committee members.

Further questions on the Standing regulations and the NSC needed to be added to the “Bank” of questions for seminars and Committee members were asked to provide these in word with answers.

 A Health and Safety Risk Assessment was to be included for discussion on the next Agenda

13. INSURANCE

Eddie Bellars had replied to the various points regarding insurance cover in the previous meeting as follows-

RTA Insurance-

Mr Bellars said that his aim was still to secure an Annual RTA policy for competitors in Trials & Enduro events, and went on to say that should the scheme be made compulsory and competitors were to pay via their entry fee, the price would be significantly reduced.  The Committee would ask about the possibility of a blanket premium for competitors who did not fit the criteria for RTA cover as laid down at present.

Provision of Public Liability Certificates.

Providing it could be established that the reason for requesting a certificate was genuine, Mr Bellars agreed that there should be no further restriction. He believed that this document had already been circulated to Centre Secretaries for them to distribute as required. Mr Collins suggested that all requests should be made in writing on recognised Club/Centre headed note paper.

14. ACU MAGAZINE

Items for inclusion were discussed.

15.  FIM

FIM Trials seminar

This was due to be held on 4/5^th March at the ACU HQ and paperwork was awaited. The Seminar would be conducted by David Willoughby.

2006  UK World Trial Round

Charly Demathieu had been confirmed as providing the Results service for the event.

Action – Chairman/Secretariat

16. UEM

Regulations had not yet been received for the Trials or Enduro Championships and requests would be put to the individual Federations to send these as soon as possible.

17. STEWARDS REPORTS

Received -:

Peverill – IOM S/C Trial – J. Lightfoot

18. STEWARDS APPOINTMENTS/ OVERSEAS APPOINTMENTS

Lists held at ACU.

19. CORRESPONDENCE

i) Womens and Girls British Trials Championship

An email had been sent to Mr Dave Chapman of the Lincoln & DMCC club to confirm that their request to include an easier third route through the sections to accommodate an additional supplementary class for C class girls had been approved by the Committee

Action - Secretary

Hillsborough MCC. Stuart Walker

Mr Walker had written to express the club’s concern at the clash between the Jack Wood Trial and the Neath MCC’s round of the British Solo Trials Championship, and suggesting that in the circumstances the St David’s should move to an alternative date. The club had also complained that they had not been notified of the withdrawal of Clubman Championship status from the event.

In reply it was pointed out that the dates list had been circulated on at least three occasions and had appeared on ACU and Trials Central websites since 2005.

They would be told that the alternative dates suggested for the St Davids Trial were not suitable due to clashes with Youth UEM and National Championship events. The Club were also reminded that they had not in fact applied for the Clubman’s ( ie ;Novogar) Championship, only the Classic Championship.

Further correspondence had then been received disputing the need to avoid clashes with Youth events, but the club would be advised that this was the policy Trials Organisers wished to see in place, This had been fully discussed  at the Trials Forum and subsequently agreed by the Committee.

The Chairman would draft a reply to Mr Walker outlining the facts and current situation

Action - Secretariat 

Email – Jack Ayres re - Chris Stay

Mr Ayres complaint regarding the behaviour of the above rider at a Southern Centre Trial was to be acknowledged, but he would be advised that penalties for this misdemeanour were clearly outlined in the NSC and was a matter which should have been handled by the Clerk of the Course on the day. Any further action then required, was initially the responsibility of the Southern Centre.

Action – Secretariat/ John Lightfoot

21. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

Revised FIM Insurance rates had been received, but needed further adjustment to make annual policies more cost effective.

Action -Secretary

22.  DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next meeting will be held on Saturday 22^nd April at the ACU Head Office commencing at 10.30 am.

23. MATTERS FOR THE PRESS OFFICER

There were no matters for the Press Officer.