General CYC 2025 AGM Report Update – August 25, 2025
2024 Financial Statements:
The 2024 Financial Statements can be found posted in the members area on the CYC Website. Each of the executive delivered their component of the financial statements as we all work to demonstrate taking responsibility for our areas in the operation of the club.
2024 Financial Statements; PASSED / Adopted
Our 2024 financial statements were accepted by those in attendance (37 members representing a quorum).
Vice Commodore – Core Club and Staff – 2025 AGM
Well, this was certainly an interesting year to become Vice Commodore! What was I thinking? It’s been a steep learning curve but it has not all been pain and suffering! We started the year with Kim, myself and Carol meeting on a cold day in March, here at the club. Our challenge… to offer more to our membership…on a VERY tight budget! ! We had the mainstays, i.e. burger night and our annually scheduled events such as the Commodores dinner, Little Black Dress, afternoon tea, corn boil, July 1st events, etc The challenge was to come with with new ideas that wouldn’t cost us an arm and a leg while in high fundraising mode. It was a team effort and ideas came in from all over. We had some new events in mind and wanted to spruce up some of the old ideas. Burger nights we’re pretty popular as they were, but we knew people were wanting salads, so Kim worked her magic.
Friday nights were and are costly, so we had to come up with a few ideas and some variations, without breaking the bank. Baked potato night was a huge success. More recently we did an appetizer potluck Friday night. It was well attended. We are hoping that build your own curry night, this Friday, is received with the same enthusiasm! On other Friday nights we were treated to non alcoholic samples by Soberish, we were fed and educated by The Can Boat folks & welcomed new members another night. We showed our community support with a fire department appreciation Friday night, opened the club to the public July 1st and continued LBD night for the ladies.
We thought it might be nice for the junior sailing parents to get to know each other, so on the Monday of each new session, we offered the parents coffee and a small treat. It was well received. There was some chat between parents, which was our goal as well as hoping for some potential new members.
The poker run this year was a brand new event which focused on our power boaters. Folks that attended had a fabulous time and it’s our hope that the numbers will increase next year. Just this weekend there was the Oakland hustle, open to power boats also. The weather certainly helped.
Another new idea was an afternoon book meet. Folks showed up with books, shared and talked favorites. It was so popular that a second get together was planned and there was talks of continuing on through the winter!
I think our biggest hit this summer was the speaker series. What better thing to do on a Wednesday night than to learn about the first all women’s crew to race from Marblehead to Halifax, the good work of MICA and the antics, songs and tales of the High Tide, all while eating popcorn! Anyone out there with good ideas for speakers or events for next summer, please bring them to me! Also, don’t forget, we are always looking for more Friday night sponsors! Looking forward to seeing you all at our fall events events and for those of us lucky enough to be here year round, our winter potlucks, winter events, club renos, a completed wharf and more.
Everyone says summer is too short and it is especially true when you’re trying to fit in activities and fun around an already busy Club schedule. Thanks to Carol Dodds, her team of helpers and a special thanks to Kim, who is the real glue that holds this place together and keeps us from sinking!!
Thanks
Cathy Ross
Rear Commodore – Race and Learn To Sail – 2025 AGM
As we all know, Chester Yacht Club has thrived with strong volunteer effort from its membership. This year was no exception with all the upgrades to our infrastructure only happen with volunteer support.
Our sailing CYC fleets remain strong and we continue to see new skippers join our PHRF and Bluenose fleets. The 3rd Annual Mahone Bay Opener drew 7 boats in the PHRF fleet and there are plans for expansion in 2026. Our Sail Committee chair, John Campbell, spearheads this initiative and we look forward to continued success. The Bluenose fleet continues to impress spectators with abundant fleet numbers at club racing events and at the major events like the Maritime Bluenose Championships and Chester Race Week. As a result, our social events are very well attended and fun! With respect to the Race Committee management, we were able to gain some efficiencies in 2024 by leveraging volunteer efforts and maintaining best practices in managing equipment. We introduced some new prizes for award winners in 2024 which will carry forward to 2025 awards.
There was exceptional work done by the Sail Training team of leaders, parents and coaches to get the sail training program ready to provide the expected level of programming again this summer. Their efforts do not go unnoticed and as a result, the kids in junior sailing are out on the water gaining the boat handling skills to navigate with confidence. In 2024, we invested in upgrades to our fleet of sailboats, coach boats and boat trailers. We engaged local school and community groups to encourage more local kids to experience the CYC Junior sailing program. While we do have some local kids in the program, this is an area that deserves additional development. Last, in 2025 we saw a dip in registrations for LTS and to offset this deficiency we introduced a very successful Adult Sailing program which we hope to run for years to come.
Lastly, it is with many thanks that I say farewell to Jennifer Fraser as Director of Learn to Sail. Jennifer has been a tireless advocate for youth in sports and her efforts to revitalize the CYC LTS program have been tremendous. Thank you Jennifer and your work has left the program in great shape for your successor to take the reigns!
With all that, I hope everyone has enjoyed their time at CYC so far this summer and will continue to enjoy it until the close on Sept 30th. The volunteer executive team will not rest through the off-season. We will be working toward improvements on-and-off the water so keep an eye out for developments as they happen.
Thank you everyone and I hope to see you on the water soon.
Thanks
Dave Tzagarakis
Rear Commodore – Infrastructure – 2025 AGM
The mooring field has been an incompletely-recovered cost to the club for years now, and we are endeavouring to correct that. Increasing the annual rate to rent a mooring is one way; adding additional moorings to the field is a second.
The more moorings, the more boats; the more boats the more members, and we are a club centred around boating, so it makes sense. In the past two years we have extensively upgraded the gear in the field and we expect to see costs diminish somewhat as a result – next year should be our first year being revenue-positive in the mooring field.
The main wharf and floats have also been upgraded to ensure that they remain serviceable into the future – they are obviously a net cost to the club, but without them we have little to offer to the boating community we exist to serve.
We have serviced and secured the crane to bring it back to its original capacity and to reduce the stress levels of those using it and any looking on!
The stem replacement is next to be completed for us to be back to having a solid foundation on which to build the future of the club.
Lastly, the new chairs donated this year have often found themselves on the wharf are seeing good use by our members, and members of our community – this is good for community outreach and for spectating in general.
If anyone has any questions, please don’t hesitate to reach out to me.
Thanks
Chris Campbell
Commodore – 2025 AGM
We ended last year’s AGM with a significant challenge ahead of us namely the “PROJECTS” and the associated Fundraising that was needed. We also knew that changes to the Membership Dues and the implementation of the Capital Call to help with the overall funding, while not popular, was recognized as necessary.
Yes over the fall and winter there were a number of other issues that came up but it was important that we maintain a single focus on delivering on the “PROJECTS”.
- I will reiterate the fundraising team delivered over and above!!!
- I will reiterate the engineering team on the Wharf including our CYC team and Eagle Beach were an outstanding team to work with
- The results on the NEW TEE, and the refurbished Crane, and new Crane Base are fantastic
- Money ($240,000 double what we discussed at the 2024 AGM) has been set aside for the Building work that will begin in October/November. We anticipate based on the quotes that this should cover what is necessary and any residual will be allocated into the remaining wharf work
- We have (~250,000) set aside for the Stem with a potential at this time for ~$300,000. The current proposal for a NEW stem is ~$412,000 so we are in a deficit position at this point to move forward on a complete stem replacement plan
As you’ve probably read/heard this year has gone very well. We had a number of new social events to help increase membership participation and to attract new members. New On Water events have also increased our clubs value proposition with the Poker Run and several joint club events. New moorings added and continued work on optimizing the mooring field should help going forward. And lastly sometimes it is the little things like New Deck Chairs being donated and offering CYC specific All Occasion Cards that also have an impact.
In the end we do what we can to ensure that there is something for membership and we continue to also engage the community where it makes sense.
Chester Race Week from my perspective was an outstanding event aside from a few regulatory issues behind the scenes. Great Participation, Great Weather, Great Entertainment, and a solid crew to deliver the event. Many thanks to all.
I’d also like to call out the summer staff crew this year. A fantastic group of young folks with such an engaging approach with the members. We wish them all well as they head off to University this fall. Also recognize Kim and the Bar staff keeping things organized and running smooth.
I will be honest we have challenges going forward with respect to Revenue vs. Expenses and these need to be addressed for the clubs long term health. Let me highlight 3:
- Bank Charges – mostly the use of Credit Cards hitting a level that has a more than significant impact. Many small business are being forced to add a Credit Card Usage “up charge” that we may have no choice but to implement while we encourage large value charges through E-Transfer or Debit at the Bar
- The move to a more business tools approach to managing Membership and Billings through our Accounting System. This will be a focus for the winter to hopefully become more “Tools Integrated” going forward so we can better plan and manage. This is something the Membership Committee have discussed leading into the summer period
- While Chester Race Week is a highly successful event for the club, unfortunately the Club is far too financially dependent on it to survive. Bad Weather and other circumstances make this an issue given our slim cash flows.
Volunteer support is also an area that needs some attention. There’s lots to do and contribute too to make our club successful without a few burning out trying to do too much. I’d like to thank Anavi Davies for stepping up and taking on the role of Trophy Flag Officer as an example.
Cathy expressed her thanks to Carol Dodds for the work she’s done on organizing the Book Club, the Tea, and in general many of the club social events along her team and Kim.
Thanks and Congratulations to the entire Executive and Staff for your focus and commitment to keeping the club in good shape as we continue to serve our membership.
Jennifer Chandler
In Memory of Members Past
Please take a moment and reflect on our memories of members’ past… All have blessed our club over the years and their memories will remain as a legacy into the future.
Clarence ‘Binky’ Wurts September 2024
John Hunkin January 2025
Colin Finlay August 2025
Mae Payne July 2025
Voting
Resolution to move the AGM from August to March/April to deliver and approve the previous years Financial Statements and to conduct the Club Year Review, Election of Officers, and address items requiring a vote in early November. Meetings will be delivered via ZOOM.
PASSED; Our next membership meeting will be in the spring for the delivery of the 2025 Financial Statements.
Nomination Committee
Executive Positions to fill – Security Treasurer; 2 Year Position
Candidate: Whipple Smith
PASSED Unanimously
Welcome to Whipple to the executive you’ll bring a great deal of knowledge, experience and understanding of many of the club challenges to the Executive.
Many thanks to Lara Parsons for her commitment and dedication as our Security Treasurer on and off for a number of years. Lara will continue in her capacity representing our accounting and financial statements provider going forward.
The Volunteer of the Year Award
This year I’d like to announce that the Clubs Volunteer of the Year Award goes to “not an individual” and I think most of you will concur with my choice.
Volunteer Of the Year Award
The ENTIRE “PROJECT” Team
The Executive and Kim
The Fundraising Team
The Engineering Team
The Municipility
Eagle Beach / South Shore Metalworks
…AND THE Donors and Members!!!
Including Sir Christopher Ondaatje and the Province / MLA Danielle Barkhouse
Everyone went ABOVE and BEYOND over the winter to focus on what was needed to accomplish what we’ve been able to do.
Truly outstanding results showing the tremendous dedication to this Club!!!
I Humbly THANK EVERYONE!!!!