The idea of these Bye-Laws is to ensure that all people enjoying and participating in activities at Middle Nene Sailing Club (MNSC) can do so safely and respectful of the facilities, amenities and other people. All activities should be safe for participants and others, considerate, inclusive and ever mindful of others.

General

1. Members shall pay an Annual Subscription together with any boat or board fees for all craft located and/or used on MNSC Property. Boats designated as Trailer Sailors by the General Committee shall pay a full boat fee (Stand Alone Fee) regardless of normal first and second boat/board fees, unless the General Committee agrees otherwise.

    1.1.    The Annual Subscriptions and dues of each Youth Group shall be negotiated separately
              with the General Committee and be calculated on each Group's particular requirements.

    1.2.    Honorary members shall still pay boat, board and camping fees as stated, as well as
              subscriptions for their families where applicable.

    1.3.    New Members' fees other than Entrance, Social, Outport, Junior and Temporary are reduced
              by 1/2 for applications placed after 31st August and by 3/4 for applications placed after 31st October.
              Applications placed after 31st December are at full rate, but no further subscription is charged for the
              following financial year.

    1.4.    Payment of membership fees in four instalments is only available during the period April to July,
              but this will incur a small administration charge as detailed on the Webcollect site where applicable.

    1.5.    All Members agree to undertake allocated duties in running of the clubs Racing and bar programme
              as required by the General Committee.

2.    Members of the club, their guests and visitors, may use the club premises, and any other facilities of the club on the terms permitted under their own type of membership entirely at their own risk. New members and existing members by payment of their annual subscription and non-member parents or carers paying membership fees on behalf of junior members imply acceptance of the Rules and Bye-Laws of MNSC.

    2.1.   The club will not accept any liability for any damage to, or loss of property belonging to
             members, their guests or visitors to the club.

    2.2.   The club will not accept any liability for personal injury or death arising out of the use of the
            MNSC Property, premises and any other facilities, equipment of the club, contaminated water
            or out of participation in any race or event organised by the club, including but not limited
            to liability arising out of incidents involving boats, boards or fishing tackle whether sustained
            by members, their guests or visitors, or caused by the said members, guests or visitors, whether
            or not such damage or injury could have been attributed to or was occasioned by the neglect,
            default or negligence of any officers, committee or servants of the club.

    2.3.   Any boat or board brought onto, and, or caused to be left on, MNSC Property is required to hold
             adequate insurance and in particular, to hold insurance against third party claims for the sum of at least five million pounds.

    2.4.  Before inviting any guests or visitors onto the club premises, whether to participate in events
            organised by the Club, or to participate in events organised privately by members under
            Bye-Law 6, it is the members’ responsibility to draw their guests’ attention to the Rules and Bye-Laws.

3.    Children under the age of eighteen years are not allowed on MNSC Property unless under supervision of their parent/s, carer/s or guardians, who are members, or a member over the age of eighteen, who has consented to assume the required supervision.

4.    Members who have accepted responsibility for the children will be always held responsible for their conduct and safety whilst on MNSC Property.

Note: The Club is only able to provide rescue facilities during the hours of Club racing and/or Club organized training. Outside these hours, the adult member, parent/s, carer/s or guardians who have sole responsibility for the children in their care, must appreciate that the Club cannot be expected to exercise supervision or control. Even during Club racing or training the Club cannot accept responsibility for children, or any other persons, not engaged in Club organized racing or training.

5. Youth Groups

      5.1.    Byelaw 1, so far as it is relevant, applies to youth groups and their members.

      5.2. Youth Groups are only admitted to the Club site and premises if accompanied by an adult
            Club Sailing member or complementary member of their group who has General Committee
            agreement, and who takes responsibility for their compliance with Club Rules and Byelaws.
            Admittance is restricted to one Group at a time on Club premises. A Youth Group, unless
            approved by the General Committee, shall not exceed twelve junior members.

      5.3. Two competent adult members or young adult members of the Club or complementary members
            must be present whenever boats or boards are afloat, and the support boat shall be manned by an approved competent person.

      5.4. Relevant adults ref 5.3 above, who are not full members of the club, may be granted Complementary
            membership at the discretion of the General Committee, provided their sole purpose is to supervise a
            Youth Group's visits for the specific periods as notified in Rule 5.3.

6. MNSC Property may be used by club members for private functions for a fee, subject to the Approval of the House Committee.

7. Dogs are the sole responsibility of the owners; they shall be kept under close control and not cause a nuisance.

8. For the purposes of VAT, the following applies in respect of the Club accounts. "The Club is a non-profit making organisation. All profits and surpluses will be used to maintain or improve the Club's facilities.”

9. Committee Members only are responsible for enforcing the Rules and Bye-Laws of the Club. Any concerns that Bye-laws and Rules have been breached, should be brought to the attention of a Committee Member, who will then raise the issue with the relevant committee in order that the required action is taken.

10. Club Equipment and Tools

    10.1. All hand tools can be accessed and used by members at their own risk but should be put
            back for the use of other members. Any faulty items should be reported to the Harbour Master.

    10.2. All mechanised equipment can only be used by approved and assessed competent members.

    10.3. Power boats should only be used by competent members.

Waterborne Activities

11. All boats and boards shall be registered with the Membership Secretary by the 1st of April each year. Only boats and boards registered with the Club shall be allowed on site and any member wishing to bring a boat or board to the sailing site shall notify the Sailing Committee in writing prior to arrival, with the details and size of the boat or board. Registration may be refused for any boat or board which the Sailing Committee considers unsuitable. Changes of ownership of any boat or board must be notified to the Membership Secretary. An adopted class is defined as 5 boats with 4 regularly sailing in the Sunday races. Adopted classes are Illusions, F15, Laser, Tera and Solo fleets. Other boat classes will require Sailing Committee acceptance to join the menagerie fleet.

12. Berths and moorings shall be allocated by the Harbourmaster each season. Individual members shall have no prescriptive right to a particular mooring or shore berth, and boats and boards can be moved during the season at the discretion of the Harbourmaster and/or Sailing Committee where it is necessary to do so.

13. It is the boat owner’s responsibility to ensure that their boat and all its equipment is securely tied down or moored and its berth kept tidy.

14. No member shall lend or hire out their boat or board to a non-member from the Club premises or water, without first obtaining the permission of the General Committee. The General Committee may, as a condition of granting such permission, require the person borrowing or hiring the boat or board, to become a temporary member of the Club.

15. Each fleet shall elect a Captain, within one month of the Annual General Meeting, who shall be co-opted to the Sailing Committee.

16. Open Meetings:

    16.1. There will be no club racing during Open Meeting times specified.

    16.2. Club members may sail on Open Meeting dates but must not interfere with the racing.

    16.3. The Principal Race Officer may ask any boats or boards to leave the water,
            whose actions are, in his opinion, detrimental to the Open Meeting.

17. Club Boats: Club Boats, when not used for training, are available for use by Sailing Members during official sailing times, normally in their first year of membership. All requests to use Club Boats must be approved in advance by the Duty Officer for the day. If you own your own boat, you are responsible for its repairs. As Club Members we are responsible for the upkeep and cost of repairing boats, so please use responsibly. There are certain Club Boats that are used by the Training Committee, who has priority for pre-booked courses. As such, it is essential that these boats are used by a competent crew to avoid unnecessary damage. The Sailing Committee and Training Committee will regularly review the Club Boats and allocate their use by mutual agreement. The Duty Officer will be responsible for ensuring that Club Boats and their equipment have been put away in the same condition that they were allocated in. Damage needs to be reported to the Sailing Committee by the Duty Officer so that repairs can be arranged. Damage caused on a Training Course will be resolved by the Training Committee.

18. Trailer sailors: the maximum craft is limited to 8. Electric outboards are permitted for the use of mooring purposes only. Launching of these craft shall be by using slipway No 3 (near the race box). For the purpose of launching and retrieval all trailer sailor craft are required to use a suitable trailer.

19. Swimming: other than ancillary to the use of non-powered water-based activities swimming is prohibited. The use of non-powered water-based activities can be approved/rejected by the Duty Officer or a Committee member and should be reported to the Sailing Committee for consideration.

20. Prior approval must be sought from the General Committee for storage of significant items of personal property on MNSC Property. This is stored at the owner’s risk.

21. Vehicle and boat access to the sailing site is via Meadow Lane. The Causeway Entrance gate is to be locked on all occasions except by direction of a committee member, and vehicles must be parked in the designated car parking areas.

22. Members must not light fires, cut down trees or disturb wildlife habitat without the permission of the General Committee.


Angling Activity

23. There is a strict “No Outside Publicity” rule regarding the fishery. This includes publication of any photographs or internet posts on fishing forums.

24. Fishing is a consented activity. Fishing to take place from the bank only.

25. The use of boats or bait boats for angling is not permitted.

26. No fishing from the islands is permitted, with the exception of the stone island at the Sailing Club end of the lake and the end of the spit.

27. All Angling Members must be in possession of a suitable sized unhooking mat and landing net.

28. Carp may be retained during the hours of darkness or for a short period of time while waiting for a photographer. Special care must be taken in the summer months when oxygen levels are low.

29. No transferring of specimen fish between the river and the lake is permitted. Any live bait must be caught on site.

30. It is the responsibility of all members not to drop litter and to remove any to the bins provided. Any litter in or around Angling members swim is their responsibility.

31. A maximum of three rods are permitted at any one time. Environment Agency Rod Licences must be carried by Angling Members for all rods in use.

32. Pike fishing runs from the 1st of October – 31st March.

33. No guest anglers are permitted.