MINUTES OF THE 5^th MEETING (2006 SESSION)

OF THE ACU TRIALS & ENDURO COMMITTEE HELD AT ACU HOUSE ON

THURSDAY 3^RD AUGUST AT 10.30 AM

___________________________________________________________________________________

Present -:                                         Mr J Collins       –   Chairman

Mr T. Fairbrother

                                                            Mr J. Lightfoot

                                                            Mr M. Wren                                                      

                                                            Mr A. Penny                                                                                                                 

In attendance:                                    

Mrs M E Kerr

Mrs A. Devine                                                         

1.  APOLOGIES

Received were received from Messrs Willoughby, Bates and Rew.

2. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING

 The minutes of the 4^th meeting held on 7^th June were approved for circulation.

3. MATTERS ARISING

Letters of congratulation were to be sent to James Dabill for winning the UEM Championship and Alexz Wigg for winning the UEM Junior Cup. The Committee were extremely proud of these two riders’ performances, and results showed that indeed many of the young riders abroad this last season had achieved considerable success.  

Powys complaint -

 A rider had made a complaint about the conduct of some Officials after his machine had broken down and he had been forced to wait for some time whilst out on the course. A response had subsequently been received from Vic Madeley and some of the marshals who were involved on the day. The letters from the Organisers gave a different perspective on the matter.

After discussion, the Committee acknowledged that whilst this was to be expected, the principles involved may benefit from discussion at the Enduro Forum, a date would be announced in due course.

4.   FORESTRY ISSUES

A reminder would be circulated to Centres regarding adherence to the time schedule agreed with the Forestry Commission which regulates applications for events held on Forestry Land.

Applications for authorisation of the event (FORM F001) had to be submitted to the ACU office for a reserved permit number and then sent on to the Forestry Commission and received there at least 6 months before the event.

 5. LARA

Alan King had met with Kevin Burk to bring him up to speed with current issues affecting present and future land access.

6. SOLO TRIALS CHAMPIONSHIP

Promotion of Championships

It was agreed that a letter would be sent to National Organisers asking them to keep in mind the benefits to the image of the sport when efforts are made to liaise with both National and local Press regarding event promotion – Mr Barry Robinson was the appointed Press Officer for the Colin Appleyard British Solo Championship Championship, and also worked hard to ensure Press coverage for many others.  Organisers were requested to provide results and reports of the event wherever possible.

The issue of publicity would be put on the Agenda for the British Solo Championship Trials Organisers’ meeting.

A proposal to issue Lanyards bearing the ACU logo to Championship contenders or possibly to all registered trials riders was considered, but costs would need to be confirmed for the wider distribution.

Action - Secretary

7.  BRITISH SOLO ENDURO CHAMPIONSHIP

Following the concerns of the sponsors that the Motul profile was not being sufficiently promoted, banners and tape had been distributed to Championship organisers, and Steward John Lightfoot confirmed that the display of these at the recent Tywi Enduro had been satisfactory.

8. INTER CENTRE TEAM TRIALS

Youth Classes.

Following queries regarding riders in Youth classes of the I.C.T.T, the T&E Committee had circulated a memo to Centres stating that with the exception of Jack Challoner, all youth riders must ride in the appropriate class and with the relevant machine capacity, as per TSR1 in the current Handbook.

9. ACU HANDBOOK

Amendments to the handbook had been suggested through the year and the Committee agreed that the following would be included/ amended for the SR’s.-:

Technical Specifications.  All diagrams of machines would be removed from the Trials and Enduro Standing Regulations in the Handbook and instead, members would now be asked to refer direct to the ACU office for the latest up to date information.  However, tyre specifications would remain and in both the TSR’s and ESR’s the full version of the regulation as it appeared in the corresponding FIM Technical regulations would be printed.

ESR 3.2 and Hare and Hounds Standing Regulation 3.14 to now read-:

Medical Services

A minimum of one ambulance and one other suitably identified vehicle, which must be equipped with and able to carry a stretcher, must be available, together with the attendance of first aid personnel. The ambulance must always be available at the event.

You must also refer to the Medical Services and Definition section of this handbook.

Action - Secretary

10. TRAINING

Enduro Training Squad

Unfortunately the U23 Squad training session arranged with Dave Thorpe had to be cancelled and John Collins had not as yet any further plans to announce.  Sessions with the ACU Academy had been arranged however and some riders were taking advantage of these.

Riders had also been invited to attend the Training sessions which would be held by Geraint Jones at the ISDE Fund raiser in Corwen.

Trials Training Squad

Mick Wren reported that 2 x two day sessions had been arranged , one for the women on 11/12^th August at Ravensworth, and  one for the men ( Advanced Squad) on 4/5^th August at Addingham Moorside.

It was agreed that particular attention needed to be given to means of increasing the entries to Women’s trial events, but it was acknowledged that this was no easy task.

It was suggested that Katy Sunter be approached with a view to her becoming a spokeswoman for the ladies, canvassing for their views and perhaps taking the opportunity of bringing these to one of the T&E Committee meetings, and/or presenting them at the Trials Forum.

Action- Secretary

11. ISDE

i) ISDE Fundraising event

Chairman John Collins explained that in an article in T&MX News, he had challenged the presumption that the ACU should be the sole contributor to expenses incurred by riders in the ISDE, when many of the riders concerned regularly rode with other organisations.

Immediately after this article had appeared, he was approached by Tony Harwood who organised events under the AMCA, and Steve Ireland who runs under ORPA, with an offer to jointly organise a fundraising event for the ISDE.

Publicity had been set in motion and it was emphasised that money raised for the event was to benefit the whole of the ISDE effort, including the club teams.

The Trade, due to the efforts of Tony Harwood, had given tremendous support in the form of products and trade stands, and Geraint Jones, with the assistance of several other coaches, was set to organise a Training event for 100 riders on the Saturday.

It was with great regret then, that an announcement had to be made two days before this Committee meeting of the event’s cancellation, and this was entirely due to lack of entries. Quite apart from the time, effort and in some cases expenditure, of various individuals, the cancellation was exceptionally disappointing as the event had the potential to establish itself in the calendar, raising considerable funds for the ISDE Trophy and Club teams on an annual basis.

ii) Future ISDE Policy  

The Committee were aware that an inordinate amount of time was being spent on ISDE matters and Mr Collins felt he must take some responsibility for this, because as an ISDE enthusiast, he had over many years been involved in wrestling with the problem of obtaining sufficient funds.

Other people had also put tremendous amounts of work in to raising funds for the ISDE over the years, Bob Room Vernon Leigh and Geraint Jones in particular. Their efforts had also been to little avail.  The Chairman and the rest of the Committee felt that it may now be time to take a step back, and a serious review of ISDE related issues would take place in the very near future.

iii) Number of Club Teams

Two extra club teams, Dyfed Dirt Bike Club and St George’s MCC Team B, originally on the reserve list had now been accepted by the NZ organisers.  This made a total of 14 club teams and two Trophy Teams from GB.

Footnote -:

At this meeting British ISDE Team Manager Dusty Martin telephoned to pass on the message that Paul Edmondson had withdrawn from the Trophy Team. He would be replaced by Richard Hay.

 12. TRIAL DES NATIONS

 Outdoor

Confirmation that the ACU intended to enter a Men’s and Women’s team in the Trial des Nations had been returned to the FIM and entry forms had now been received.

Further discussions took place regarding potential team members and as a result, the selection of the Men's’ team was agreed as follows-:

Dougie Lampkin

Graham Jarvis

James Dabill

Shaun Morris 

Reserve -: Michael Brown/Steve Colley 

Riders for the Women’s team would be announced after further discussion with the proposed  squad.

 Action Committee

13. INDOOR TRIAL DES NATIONS

Details of the event had been received from the FIM and had been advertised as taking place in Malaga on 11^th November.  Any plans for entry into this event would not progress before consultation with Dave Willoughby.

14. BIKE TRIALS

A Stewards panel had been convened to deal with an appeal resulting from an incident at a recent Bike Trial event, which Tim Fairbrother reported had subsequently not been upheld.

It was agreed that issues that arise within the Bike Trial fraternity would benefit from being overseen by a member of the Trials & Enduro committee who had particular knowledge and involvement with the Sport, and it was therefore proposed that Anthony Rew would be consulted on his views for the way forward.  The item was to be included on the next agenda

Action- Secretary

15. LICENSING SEMINARS HELD IN THE REGIONS

A template from Peter Beardmore, designed to act as an aid in running Regional seminars was presented to the Committee, and would be kept on file at the ACU 

Input from each committee member for a “bank “of questions was still required.

Action - Committee

16. INSURANCE

RTA Cover

It had been agreed that the making one event RTA cover compulsory by including an additional fee in with the entry was not feasible as some riders do not fit the criteria for standard cover. It would therefore remain as an option - £9.00 for one day and £15 for a two-day event.

Eddie Bellars had produced details of a proposed New RTA Scheme for ACU members in events involving road work. This was the subject of Market research at present, with a view to it being ready for offer in late Autumn.

17.  BUDGET 2007

Budget proposals for 2007 were discussed and would be submitted on the appropriate request forms when available.

18. DATE APPLICATIONS 2007

The Secretary reported that most Trials date applications for next year had been received by the closing date of 1^st August. The Enduro dates that had been applied for would be publicised on Bob Mullins website and in Trials & MX News, and it was hoped that further hosts would come forward.

19. TRIALS FORUM

An open Trials forum was to be advertised as taking place on 9th September at the ACU.

20.  TRAIL BIKE CHAMPIONSHIP

The remaining 3 rounds of this Championship would receive a publicity boost on the website and in the ACU magazine. Contact details of the event Secretary would appear and it was hoped that this would encourage entries

Action- Secretary

21. ACU MAGAZINE

Suitable material was being produced and gathered by the Committee and Secretaries for the next edition which was due to go to print at the end of August.

Action – Committee /Secretariat

22. FIM

2006 UK World Trial Round

Verbal reports were received of an excellent event and the Organisers were to be congratulated. A crowd of approximately 8,000 spectators had been present and they had been able to witness some outstanding British success.  Michel Brown took victory in the Junior Championship and in the Youth Championship Alexz Wigg was 1^st with Sam Haslam runner up.  There were many other notable performances especially from our younger riders.  In the adult class Dougie Lampkin took 4^th place.

Proposals for October Congress. 

Proposals for the October Congress to be held in Brazil were discussed and would be forwarded to Alan King.

Action- Committee

Cross Country Rally Medical requirements.

The FIM had indicated that an exercise tolerance ECG and echocardiogram would be compulsory for all Cross Country Rally riders in 2007, regardless of whether or not they rode in the Super Production class. Comments had been received from Dr David Stevens and sent to Alan King who had himself many reservations about the wisdom or necessity of these tests but he reported that these had been overruled by the FIM Enduro Commission.

It was agreed that the CER would be asked to confirm how frequently these tests were to be carried out.

Action Secretary

 Womens World Trial Championship 2006/2007

Forms had been distributed to riders for the 2006 Championship and most had been returned.

It was confirmed that the ACU were not in a position to offer to host run a round of the Championship for next year.

Press Release- Ref. Franco Zerbi- end of mandate.

Received and acknowledged

23. UEM

Press releases related to results of the Italian UEM trial and closure of the 2006 UEM Congress in Kiev were received and acknowledged.

24. STEWARDS REPORTS

The following reports were received and acknowledged-:

i)          Mitchell Trial                                                      14 May 2006                 A. Rew

ii)          Lyn Traders Trial                                               28 May 2006                 F.Sweeting

iii)         Kent Youth AB/ CD                                            3/4 June 2006                A.Penny

iv)         Powys Enduro                                                     4 June 2006                   M.Wren

v)          Bradford Youth                                                   11 June 2006                 M.Wren

vi)         Rd 5 Womens & Girls Championship              17 June 2006                 M.Bates

vii)        World Enduro Championship Italy                     17/18 June 2006            M. Wren

viii)        Mansfield Maun S/C Championship                 18 June 2006                 M.Timms

ix)         West of England Trial                                         18 June 2006                 J.Collins

x)         C&D Youth                                                            18 June 2006                 M.Bates

xi)         Welsh 2 Day Enduro                                           22/23 June 2006            J.Lightfoot

xii)        UEM Champ – Le Chatre                                   24/25 June 2006            J.Collins

xiii)       Wainwright Shield                                               25 June 2006                 I. Rewley

xiv)       ABC&D Youth -                                                    1 July 2006                    J.Lightfoot

xv)        Italian World Trial                                                1/2 July 2006                 A. Penny

xvi)       UEM Trial – Myslenice                                       8/9 July 2006                 J.Collins

xvii)       Allan Jeffries Trial                                               9 July 2006                    I Singleton

xviii)      Twyi Enduro                                                        29/30 July 2006             J.Lightfoot                                                                                                                                            

25. STEWARDS APPOINTMENTS/OVERSEAS APPOINTMENTS

Lists held at ACU.

26. CORRESPONDENCE

i) Baja – 18- 20^th August.

John Collins had been in close liaison with the organisers of the Baja starting from Llandrindod Wells, and was to act as ACU Steward for the event. An ACU permit had been issued for the bike element of the event. 

ii) Increase in licence and levy fees 2007.

Mr Collins confirmed that at a recent meeting of the Board of Directors, it was agreed that the annual fee for an ACU Competition Licence would increase from £40.00 to £42.00 for 2007. 

No increase was planned for the Trials Registration fee, but the Trials levy would increase by 10p from £1.40 to £1.50 for next year.

iii)     Scottish Six Days - Stewards Expenses.

The organisers had queried the cost of paying for an ACU Steward to their event.                              

The Committee acknowledged that these were indeed high, but would welcome any suggestions the Edinburgh and DMCC had to lessen costs.  In the meantime the question was raised regarding who was the rightful authority to issue the permit.

27. ANY OTHER BUSINESS

None reported.

28.  MATTERS FOR THE P.R.O

Forthcoming Trials Forum.

There being no further business the meeting closed at 5.15pm.

29. DATE OF NEXT MEETING

Tuesday 19^th September at 10.30 am.