Trials & Enduro mtg 2.9.05

OF THE ACU TRIALS & ENDURO COMMITTEE HELD AT ACU HOUSE ON FRIDAY 2^ND SEPTEMBER AT 10.30 AM

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In attendance: Mrs ME Kerr

The Minutes of the 5th Meeting held on Tuesday 2^nd August were approved for circulation with the following amendment -:

Correspondence- Mid Wales Centre – For “ Punchcards” read “Time cards”

Results from this event had still not been received and it had not been possible to ascertain whether they had yet been sent out to riders. This would be taken into consideration when establishing the calendar next year.

The event organisers had been asked to confirm whether or not they had used Punchcards as dictated in the Conditions,

They had said that this had been impossible due to the large number of sections on one lap. In view of the fact that they should not have accepted a round of the Novogar Championship unless they could fulfil the Conditions- it was agreed that this too would need to be borne in mind when arranging Fixtures.

The Secretary was to check whether or not Ashley had paid the fine for non attendance at the French World Trial.

The letter asking for any additional offers of sponsorship for the Championships was to be circulated in the near future.

4. FORESTRY ISSUES

Dave Willoughby and John Collins were in the process of examining the new draft of the agreement between the Forestry Commission and the ACU. A copy had been sent to Neil Hellings for comment

Mr Willoughby pointed out that the Agreement with the Forestry Commission depended on an Environmental Official or person responsible for overseeing these issues being present at every event. Following recent discussions, this was also believed to be a requirement which would be strictly imposed by DEFRA

The Committee agreed that this role could feasibly be included in the responsibilities of the Clerk of the Course, unless a separate official was to be appointed. Additional training would need to be included at the Clerk of Course seminars as a consequence. The Stewards report form would need to be amended.

The Secretary was to ensure that a memo be sent to Gary Thompson stating the Committee’s request for Article 6.10 of the National Sporting Code to be retained, and amended to state that for Trials & Enduro events the Clerk of the Course may carry the responsibility for Environmental matters.

The Committee further agreed that it was essential that the Environmental Code remain in the Hand book and that Article 3 include the option for the Clerk of the Course to assume responsibility for Environmental issues.

In view of the fact that there were several aspects relating to the Environment which needed to be considered, the Committee would ask that this be included for discussion on the Agenda of the next Directors meeting.

No further reports had been received regarding Alan Kind’s proposed talks with a DEFRA representative. The Committee were well aware of the fact that the threat to land use for Motorcycling Sport had not been removed and that we all needed to remain vigilant.

John Collins would ask who was to be involved in future financial and membership talks with LARA now that Neil Hellings was to resign.

It had been agreed that a review of the current system of licence seminars would be carried out by John Collins and Dave Willoughby, and should include training in Child Protection, Environmental and Risk Assessment issues.

The subject of Training in general had been under review by the Directors and each Committee had been tasked with focusing on exactly what they wanted to achieve from sessions for both disciplines. Mick Wren would be asked for his comments relating to the Trials squad, and the subject put on the agenda for the 7^th meeting.

Enduro Squad riders had again been asked to indicate which, of a selection of dates, they would be able to keep free for another session taken by Dave Thorpe, but so far no replies had been received. It was agreed that Squad members had to be warned that unless they took an active part in the arrangements for attending sessions, they could forfeit financial support.

It was agreed that both disciplines would benefit from a days course at ACU HQ taking them through the necessary procedures and requirements for entering FIM and UEM events and provision for this would be made in next year’s schedule.

The concerns expressed by the Committee regarding the requirements for obtaining coaches certificates had been shared by some of the Directors, who also felt that the level of costs and training needed to be split to distinguish between the Professional and Non Professional coaches

Centre’s attention would be drawn to the fact that the new Disciplinary and Arbitration code had come into effect from the 1st August, and that they should be aware that Appendix B showed changes to the previous procedures and time limits for protest in Trials and in Enduros.

The matters relating to minders in Trials events, including insurance, were to be referred to the trials forum on 3^rd September .It was agreed however that if minders were allowed, they must pay an insurance premium and at present the return form did not include a section where the returns for Minders could be specified. This was to be amended for next year, including making a note on the front of the form to refer organisers to details of costs on the reverse.

Centres were in the process of applying to issue permits online, the only exception at present being the Wessex Centre, whose permits would therefore need to be issued from Rugby

Any event using Forestry Commission land however, would need to apply to the ACU HQ for the permit, ensuring that the necessary Centre Secretary’s approval and possibly also that of the Forestry Liaison Officer was evident.

It was agreed that in the case of Hare & Hounds events using the Forest, the Commission had to be advised that the average speed of these events did not exceed 25mph.

These needed to be amended, removing “Enduros” from the form and showing the correct price for the year when this was decided and ratified at National Council. These were to be printed only in the quantities estimated for the year.

The revised capacity and wheel sizes had been sent to the Importers, and would be discussed at the Forum.

Committee members had been asked for their comments regarding the various Championship regulations and Conditions for which they had assumed responsibility and these would subsequently be put before the representatives of the Forum. These were as follows-:

Remove 5 –Riders Numbers

Renumber 6 – Classes – and check with Tim Fairbrother that Class C “Clubman Air-cooled Mono/Twinshock “was still worthwhile including.

Add- “ Protests in this Championship must be made within 30 mins of the results being published .” after “Championship points”

ACU/Sammy Miller Trial Championship – Regulations

4. Remove Classes 8&9 and add “ Classes for trail bikes may be included , but not as a Championship class”

Remove last sentence regarding lights on Trail bikes. The restriction to Spanish Twinshocks would be discussed at the Forum.

1.Add to end of sentence to read ------------------must include the words “ A round of the ACU Trail Bike Championship and the name of the names of any official series sponsor “

4. Add to start of regulation “ It is recommended that the course etc etc ------------and include 25-40 subsections ----------“

“ A rider should be given the opportunity to inspect a section before riding it”

The Committee were in agreement that this series had departed from its original aims and organisers’ views would be sought at the Forum regarding the degree of course severity, number of routes- twin or single and eligibility.

The Committee had already taken the decision to cut the Series down to 6or 8 rounds , and to add a 125cc class.

In Championship regulation 4, the reference to the British Masters Championship would be removed.

It had to be decided what level of competitors was to be attracted and then the course severity needed to be adjusted accordingly.

It was agreed that the Over 40’s Championship class would need to be reviewed as the older riders were riding better on the “modern” machines .

Points for discussion at the forum would include the possible renaming of the Women’s Support class

The current abuse of the supplementary classes which often were entered by male riders who were taking part with the intention of acting as minders for the women and girls.

The British Citizenship issue needed to be decided on for all Trials Championships.

Wording regarding the series sponsor to be included in all the Championship Regulations.

Championship Regulations and Conditions for the British Solo Trials Championship would be produced by Dave Willoughby.

A letter would be sent to the General Secretary to ask that for Trials events NSC 501 be changed to read” The number of stewards should be 1-3 at the discretion of the Permit Issuing Authority”

Amendments were duly made to the Conditions. Trail Bike Championship Conditions were drawn up.

No sponsorship deals had yet been agreed for next year and there was no surety that they would be renewed with the current sponsors. A review of these present arrangements was carried out and John Collins would arrange meetings with the various individuals

A sponsor for 2006 had not yet been confirmed, but following problems this year with the correct procedure for displaying the sponsor’s logo, it was agreed that the following would be specified in the Championship regulations-:

Action- Secretary

14.FIXTURES 2006

Discussion regarding the dates, and number of rounds for the various Championships in 2006 would receive further discussion at the Forum.

Sessions had been arranged through the year, but all had subsequently been cancelled due to lack of participants.

A further one was due to take place on 27/28^th October at Torre Pellice before the last Women’s UEM round.

An application for the ACU to host an FIM Trials seminar had been lodged, and the outcome would be known after the Congress in October.

There were no Trials proposals to put to the CTI, but the Secretary was to check with Alan King regarding Enduro proposals

This was reported to be working satisfactorily although a letter would go to Roy Humphries asking for an update on the Mini Website situation.

18.ACU MAGAZINE

New proposals for publication of this magazine had been put to the Directors, including the possibility of producing a magazine online

Following the meeting held with Team Managers on the 6th August, and the refusal of the organisers to allow individual entries, club team numbers had been confirmed as numbering 8.

Changes had to be made to the Trophy and Junior Trophy teams due to injuries. These were as follows -:

· In the Junior Team Robert Jones had initially been replaced by Jon Hinam, who unfortunately then also had to be withdrawn due to injury, and his place was taken by Tom Sagar.

20. STEWARDS REPORTS

Problems with the production of results for this event prompted the Committee to consider creating a standard programme for organisers. Further discussions would take place at the Forum.

Dave Willoughby reported that a large number of British riders had failed to turn up at the above event and the Committee would look at ways to prevent this next year, including the possibility of imposing fines for non attendance.

A letter of congratulation was to go to both Shaun Morris and James Dabill for their achievements in the World Trials Championship – Shaun winning the UEM Trials Championship Title and James the Junior World Cup

A review of this years expenses showed that a deficit was inevitable. In order to cut costs it was agreed that a Centre steward would suffice for long established Nationals with experienced organisers.

It was noted that mileage expenses for National Stewards had increased by 30%- i.e. 27p per mile to 30 p, effective from 1.10.05.