With daylight saving starting and the weather warming up we are all getting into the swing of the season. Regular patrols are now well under way and Nippers are back on the beach on  Sunday mornings.
 
There has been a lot of early season activity already, including new Bronze squads being assessed, proficiencies, early season surf carnivals for competitors and the usual early season gear inspection. A big group of competitors participated in the Coolangatta Gold and last weekend we held the inaugural Shaw & Partners North Bondi Classic, a very successful ocean ski race with close to 200 competitors.  
 
This month your Board of Management has been focussing on setting up a continued strong financial position for the Club through forward planning our repair and maintenance expenditures, looking at areas to create efficiencies and building our sponsorship and other sources of revenue. We are pleased with the progress to date and will provide members with a more detailed update next month on how the Club’s finances are progressing.
 
We have also been engaging with our broader membership base to identify members who want to help in various parts of the Club’s administration and management. If you would like to get involved in any area of the Club, whether its helping with our communications or events, arranging our ocean swims,  assisting with fund raising, or just helping with the BBQ,  please contact one of the Board members or let our General Manager Grant McMah know.      
 
As the season gets busier, the demands on the Club’s resources get heavier. We have a very large group of Nippers, parents, patrollers and general members using the Club and this is especially the case on a Sunday morning. I would ask everyone to be mindful that the Clubhouse and the changerooms are shared resources and everyone needs to treat our wonderful facility and fellow members with respect. This means washing sand off before you enter the club, not having excessively long showers, being mindful of older Club members and lending a helping hand when needed. We want to make the environment comfortable for everyone and as we have almost 900 Nippers this puts an onus on Nipper parents and carers especially to keep an eye on their kids.
 
Lastly, just a couple of reminders. First, members are very welcome to join the Sunday Surf Race which takes place every Sunday in the season from 11am and is a handicap format catering for swimmers of all abilities with A,B and C divisions. The course is about 400m in length. We also hold a biathlon at 4pm on Sunday afternoon and 6pm on Fridays. The biathlon format involves 2 sand runs and 2 swims and takes between 20 and 35 mins depending on your speed and fitness. If you are keen just turn up but make sure you are there at least 15 mins before the start time. Secondly, please enjoy a Sunday drink with your friends at our iconic Clubhouse. You can watch the sunset from the balcony and finish your week with a relaxing drink.
 
Ready Aye Ready
Andrew Christopher