To the MROA Membership,

Following the MROA committee’s decision that an EGM in 2020 will not take place, Martin Smith has taken the decision to step down as Chair following the completion of his two-year term. Martin has been a dedicated Chair of the Association and the Committee are grateful for his considerable efforts over the last two years, notably pushing for the attendance of the Silver and Bronze fleets at the championships and Silver Tiller, guiding us through choppy COVID waters and helping to develop a fantastic new website which will be launched soon.

At a committee meeting on the 22nd of September, Chris Kilsby was unanimously voted in as Chair of the MROA. Chris was originally voted onto the committee by the MROA Membership at the 2018 General Meeting as the Honorary Secretary and has been in this post for two years.
Chris has been an active part of the Merlin Rocket fleet since 2013, and has sailed predominately as a crew, originally sailing with Jon Ibbotson, then Chris Gould, and recently with Roger Phillips, in addition to helming his Chippendale Proctor 12 on the Thames. Chris is a member of both Thames Sailing Club and Shoreham Sailing Club but does a lot of his sailing on the circuit.

As Chris has now left the post of Honorary Secretary, we are now looking for a replacement, and would welcome interest in this position from the Membership. Please feel free to get in contact with Chris at [email protected].

The role of Vice Chair has not been filled as there is a keenness for the Vice Chair to have been voted onto the committee by the Membership at the General Meeting (rather than being co-opted by the Committee). However, we are pleased to tell you that Ben Jones has been co-opted as a ‘no portfolio’ committee member and will support with committee affairs over the coming year, and if no other committee members come forward he will look to be ratified into this role following the 2021 General Meeting. Welcome to the committee, Ben.

The Merlin Rocket committee is composed of the following volunteers, with all co-opted members from 2020 having been proposed and seconded by members outside of the committee:

Chair: Chris Kilsby 
Honorary Treasurer: Rob Allen
Honorary Keeper of Class Records: Tim Harridge 
Honorary Membership Secretary: Martin Smith 
Publicity and PR: Louise Johnson 
Sponsorship: David Hayes
Vintage: Stuart Jenkins 
Championship coordinator: Chris Martin 
Fixtures: Caroline Croft 
Training: Christian Birrell 
Rules and measurement: Dan Alsop
Dinghy Show: Pippa Kilsby
Magazine Editor: Pat Blake 
No Portfolio: Ben Jones

Information on how to get hold of committee members will be updated on the website imminently.

Kind regards,
 
MROA Committee