Issue date
The four Yachting New Zealand regional development managers take a look at what has been happening in their areas and also take you through some considerations when it comes to your club's security.
Sadly, crime is on the increase and we have heard a few yacht clubs around the country have been broken into.
Burglars typically go for alcohol and coach and rescue boats and are damaging a lot of equipment in the process. As well as disturbing, these break-ins can be very expensive and time-consuming to sort out.
It's worth spending some time reviewing the security systems at your club, including testing your alarm and reviewing your security contract.
It’s essential to secure facilities, buildings and equipment, which are usually the most expensive items to repair or replace. Good security, however, doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive.
Different sporting clubs have different views of what their security needs to look like, from surveillance on their premises 24/7 to allowing simple but secure access to members outside of operating hours. Keyless entry might be a good option because keys are frequently lost or misplaced.
So how do you work out what your club needs?
1. Work out what the leading security concern at your club is. This could be one thing or many things and some common problems include: theft of sporting equipment or alcohol; unauthorised entry; vandalism; and long periods when a club will sit empty, like during winter.
2. The next step is to find out how the club will manage it. If volunteers run your club, it's unlikely to be staffed Monday to Friday so you might want to monitor security remotely using several volunteers on rotation. Consider authorising access via smartphones.
Opting for a desktop might be a better option if the club is staffed every day. It can then be easily accessed by those staff with the right level of authority. It might be a good idea to create a log to collect the information on activities and tasks quickly.
3. Creating the security plan
It's important to gather some information when putting the plan together and deciding on who will manage it
- Who will be the primary contact in a security emergency or alert? The best practice here is to have at least two names on file, along with their contact details
- What are the levels of authority in your club, and who are they? For example, if one of your goals is to grant members access to the facility, who can authorise this? Will they be able to revoke access?
- What are the current security devices, and what do you want to add on? This includes things like the number of available keys being used and by whom, how many padlocks are there are and where they are stored, and the number and location of security cameras. It’s a good idea to have a detailed list on hand.
4. Surveillance
Security cameras can be your eyes when no one is there to oversee the club but take some time to consider what you want to achieve with a camera.
- Do you want to record all hours of the day and night, or are you interested in getting alerts when something happens during certain hours? This plays a significant factor in whether you should opt for wireless or wired cameras. Wireless cameras are great for alerting you of activity but can only record action or activity events. Wired cameras record constantly but may not warn you of any activity events.
- How will the cameras be managed? Can they be remotely monitored by one or several staff/volunteers, or do you need to have your cameras monitored by an external security company?
- What do you want the cameras to track? Is it the entries to the facilities or perhaps the equipment storage room?
Yacht clubs need security as much as businesses do because it’s essential to secure facilities, buildings and equipment.
Remember, good security doesn’t have to be complicated or expensive. To begin with, sort out what your priorities are and note what protection currently exists.
Doyle Winter Series
Day three of the Doyle Sails Winter Series on Saturday enjoyed Idyllic sailing conditions, with blue skies and a consistent easterly ensuring plenty of high-flying colourful kites could be seen across the City of Sails.
There's never been a better time to get involved in the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron's Winter Series.
An all-expenses paid trip to the SailGP Christchurch event is on offer during every race day and crew that sail as part of the Winter Series can join the Squadron as a member without paying the joining fee. See here for more information.
The next event is scheduled for June 11.
Bay of Islands Yacht Club
This country's top 29er sailors will converge of the Bay of Islands this weekend for the 29er national championships.
Racing gets under way on Friday and concludes on Monday and New Zealand's representatives for next month's youth sailing world championships at The Hague will be getting in some valuable racing practice.
It is a busy time for the Bay of Islands Yacht Club, who will also host the fourth edition of Foil Bay of Islands on June 24-26.
Registrations have opened for this, and can be found on the event website here.
Maraetai Sailing Club RS Winter Regatta
The Maraetai Sailing Club will be hosting the inaugural RS Winter Regatta on June 25-26, which is open to RS Fevas, RS Quests and RS Aeros.
Be first to get your name on the new trophies for this annual event. There's been a huge amount of growth in RS sailing in this country in recent times, which is also reflected in other parts of the world.
See here for more information on the RS Winter Regatta.
Port Ohope Yacht Club
Ohope will be hosting their annual Queens Birthday Regatta over two days on June 4-5.
This is a great dinghy regatta which normally attracts a good fleet of ILCAs (Lasers), Optimists and Zephyr, as well as other classes.
See here for more information, including the notice of race and entry form.
Evans Bay Yacht & Motor Boat Club
Evans Bay will have a busy start to the winter, with their winter series kicking off on June 18 closely followed by their new Matariki Regatta on June 24-26.
The winter series runs across six events over the next three months, finishing on August 27, with two races scheduled for each race day.
See here for more information.
Royal Port Nicholson Yacht Club
Royal Port Nicholson offer two types of racing for their winter series, both full crewed and two-handed.
The full crewed events run on June 12, July 10, July 24 and August 7.
There has been a change to the two-handed winter series, which will start at 10.30am on June 11, July 9, July 23 and August 6.
See here for more information.
Lowry Bay Yacht Club
Lowry Bay started their winter series on May 29 and will run every Sunday until August 7, alternating between fully crewed and two-handed racing.
See here for more information on the club, which will host the next 24 Hour Endurance Race on March 11-12, 2023, and the racing options.
Titahi Bay Boating Club
Centreboard sailors in the Wellington region can also get stuck into some winter series racing, with a eight events scheduled to be hosted by Titahi Bay.
Racing is due to take place every fortnight, starting on June 5 and concluding on September 11, and is open to all centreboard sailors who are members of an affiliated yacht club. Multihulls under 5m are also welcome to race.
Entry costs $10 per boat per race day or $40 for the entire series.
See here for more information.
Gulf Harbour Yacht Club
A number of yacht clubs around the country have been enjoying their end-of-season prizegiving, including the Gulf Harbour Yacht Club.
Participation and celebrating success were the themes for the annual dinner, which was also a chance to thanks sponsors and members and recognise those who had success on the water. A raffle was also held to help raise funds for the club's youth sailing programme.
