Fairway 30 - Royal Institute of Navigation

Simon Jinks is a new member of the Committee. A short CV can be read below.
In her Chairman’s report, Cynthia talked of her involvement with other Committees of
RIN. Some matters had come from these. A couple of years ago there had been a
Member-get-Member campaign. This arose from the facts that 54% of members join to
learn more, 35% for contact with other members, but 65% had joined because of a
recommendation from an existing member. This is still relevant today. Roger Grimsdick
has been working with Yacht Clubs, but individual visits and talks take up time so the
Committee is looking at the possibility of producing video information or using
YouTube to deliver talks. She also represents individual members at the Way Ahead
Group. Other members of the Group represent commercial, academic and service
interests.
Paul Bryans is aiming to run another of the very successful Electronic Navigation
Seminars. Originally, most manufacturers were sceptical, but at the end they were almost
demanding a repeat of it. Surveys show that yachtsmen desire interaction with the
manufacturers. On one occasion a manufacturer sent a technician to sort out a problem
with an installation, only to have him fail to use the equipment due to sea sickness. The
biter bit! It is hoped that the Institute’s new web site, with Keith Langridge as its coordinator,
will play a major part in this, with members taking part in forums.
Cynthia the reviewed the activities of past year, starting with the talk by Sir Robin Knox-
Johnston, now a year ago. The Group had represented the Institute at SeaWork, the
Southampton and London Boat Shows, had organized the Electronics Workshop,
Weather and Sailing seminar, and the Autumn meeting when Capt. Richard Wild, a
Senior Harwich Pilot described some of the problems when ships and yachts share
confined waters.
Future events involving the Small Craft Group would be a repeat of the Fly / Sail
weekend (22/23 May), SeaWork (15/17 June), Southampton Boat Show (10/19 Sept.),
the Autumn meeting (14 Oct.), a visit to Trinity House HQ in London (8 Nov.) and the
London Boat Show (7/16 Jan.). (Further details can be found in the Diary dates section.
Ed.) Members were reminded that the new web site was now working and that most
events would be publicized on it. There was also a monthly or bi-monthly e-mail sent to
members reminding them of the Institute’s events, although this covered all aspects and
not solely Small Craft Group activities. However, if the Institute doesn’t have your email
address, or if you have changed it and not notified Colin Hatton, this form of
communication wouldn’t work.
Under Any Other Business, Keith Langridge, co-ordinator of the SCG pages on the web
site, said that the forum facility wasn’t being used, and urged members to get to grips
with it. He would like to see a Frequently Asked Questions section that was available to
anyone visiting the site, and the Forum section open to members only. Kathy Hossein
felt that these pages needed to be seen to be active, or they will not be used. Keith
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