Yet another month whizzes by and I find myself back at the keyboard trying to think of interesting things to tell you of what’s been happening in the club and wider. February the 10^th saw the annual Launceston Trial ably put on by Nigel and team.  Myself and Andy Prosser went out to marshal and somehow managed to do three hills with only one minor incident (well minor to us as it wasn’t Andy or me who collided with a tree) fortunately the unlucky rider wasn’t too badly hurt but it will probably a couple of weeks before he is back on the hot seat again. The event had a very good entry of 48, with a nice mix of 2, 3 and 4 wheeled vehicles. The Club is very lucky in having such a large area of woods to use and as always are very grateful to Mr Newman for allowing us the use of it. Well done to all the organising committee for putting on a first class event, and allowing me to get home in time to watch the second half of the England rugby match : enough said.

Launceston Trial 2019 Final Resuls – https://www.lncmc.co.uk/download/7599/

On the 28^th of last month we held the Special Meeting at Trethorne with a very good turnout of 46 people from far and wide. It was encouraging to see such a turn out with delegates from various clubs and organisations, all sharing a common concern for grass roots motorsports, I will leave it to our chairman Warin Kelly to give you the full overview.

On the 29^th of this month we will be holding our Annual Presentation of Awards and (free) buffet at Trethorne. This is a very sociable evening and hopefully award winners will make the effort to attend which all helps to make the evening more enjoyable for the organisers as well as the winners of various coveted trophies.

The club AGM will take place on the 4^th of April , this is your chance to come along and voice your opinion on how the club is run, someone could even take over the job of writing the monthly newsletter  if they so desire,(caution : pigs flying) or maybe stand for a job on the committee.

Meanwhile in the garage things have not been moving at the planned pace, the engine is still out of the Dellow, and whilst the supercharger is actually bolted to the engine after much faffing at making brackets etc. that’s about as far as it has got due to a series of unplanned absences from the garage, but I am now hoping to get back in there and get things moving.  My entry for the Lands End Trial is in so by hook or by crook I have to get the project finished and maybe even tested, could be a bit of an eleventh hour job mate.

Cheers
J.T.

Points Raised in the Open Meeting on 28^th Feb 2019
The meeting was well attended by nearly 50 people,from at least 10 clubs as well as representatives from Motorsport UK, ASWMC,and ACTC. Discussions covered a wide range as the notes below indicate

Current Concerns
It was agreed that entry numbers are dropping except in a few areas such as Autocross and Quads.
Financially entry fees are not a problem but vehicle upkeep and repairs are.
More clashes of dates with different disciplines and clubs.
The sport is not seen as P C.
There are more people working at weekends.
 
Cooperation between Clubs and Associations
ASWMC are no longer holding their dates meeting as there had been such poor attendance.
 There is no control over what dates clubs use.
 Clubs and Disciplines need to work together on this to reduce clashes.
Time needs to be built into the Calendar to allow for repairs and rests between events.
Regs vary from Club to Club and Trial to Trial. This makes it difficult especially for new competitors.
Clubs could work together to co-organise events. This is common with hillclimbs and rallies.
 
General.
There are too many rules and regulation and they need updating and simplifying.  Class structure needs modernising e.g. for sidecars and quads.

MOTs should be necessary for all vehicles even in off road events.  This helps to take the onus off the club and onto the competitor to present the vehicle in a safe condition. Some insurance companies are now requiring exempt vehicles to be MOT’d.  A show of hands at the meeting indicated that this should be put to Motorsport UK.

There is a lack of marketing and profile of the sport.

We need to get youngsters attracted to the sport so they will become spectators and then competitors.

Competitors want to be able to make late entries to events as happens with bike events- this involves more paperwork being carried out at signing on.

Better deals are needed with Insurance Companies.

Make events more friendly for modern cars e.g. SUVs, traction, slip diffs and front wheel drives. 

It was not thought there was a future for electric cars in our sport at present due to expense of vehicles, and the cost and number of batteries required for a road event .

New Types of Events
Evening Events e.g. grass auto tests
Inter-club competitions
Camping Events.  Saturday afternoon, camping overnight, and continuing on Sunday
Touring Assemblies
Taster Events (I event per year per discipline)
Treasure Hunts.

 It was a useful meeting though there was little interest at the end in forming an informal group to take matters forward. However it was agreed hold an open follow up meeting on Thursday  23rd May 2019.  at Trethorne Leisure Centre  7.30pm.for 8.00 pm by which time people will have had the chance to report back to their own clubs and get further thoughts.
 
If you will be coming to the meeting please ring me Warin Kelly on 01822 870393, or Pat Gomm on 01566 784348,so that we can get an idea of numbers.
 
In the meantime please feel free to post any ideas on our club face book page.
Or send them to John Turner at billjan299@gmail.com who will be happy to include them in our monthly newsletter.
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Our AGM on the 4^th of April will be held at Tresmeer Village Hall. At 8.00pm.

• Having served in their respective posts for many years Warin Kelly and Pat Gomm here by give notice that they will not be standing for re-election.
• Also needed is a Motor Cycle Rep as no one on the present committee is an expert on this part of our sport.

With the Club coming up to its 100^th anniversary next year it will be good if younger members.