Category: Sailing

MSBA talk: Dick Holness, East Coast Pilot, Fri 10 March (Updated)

Rochester Cruising Club will be hosting the last of our winter series of evening talks. Dick Holness, co-author of the popular East Coast Pilot, will be intriguing us with the wrinkles of exploring and navigating the East Coast. We hope he will also be giving tips for anyone venturing up the Thames to London.

The club will be open at 7pm for those who want to eat. A special MSBA menu starting at £6.50 (sausage egg and chips or ham egg and chips) will be available plus other options (eg curry £8.50 or fish and chips £9.50). Please let us know (email info@msba.org.uk) if you want to pre-order a meal.

The talk will start at 8pm and there will be a charge of £3 for non RCC members.

Rochester Cruising Club is easy to find on the Esplanade at the foot of Rochester Castle, postcode ME1 1QN. There is ample parking at the club and on the road outside.

Lunchtime talk: John Apps, Medway CC, Sun 12 Feb

The 2021 Jester Azores Challenge was quite unique for a number of reasons, primarily because all the boats that crossed the start line finished.

Minke without rudder being towed by Good Report on a beam reach

However the challenge also posed a number of questions. Should you abandon a perfectly good boat in the middle of the North Atlantic just because she has lost her rudder? How far can you sail a boat without a rudder? How can you tow a boat under sail? What do you do when you can’t find the boat you are trying to rescue? Why do Frenchmen keep crossing the finish first? Can cows win a war? Why is Azores beef thrice blessed? These are some of the questions that John Apps will answer in his illustrated talk?

John Apps is a member of Medway Cruising Club and will be presenting this lunchtime talk of up to an hour and a half, at 1pm, Sunday 12 February. Members of neighbouring clubs and MSBA-affiliated organisations are invited to MCC’s Strand clubhouse.

If you would like to attend please let MCC Commodore, Paul Lloyd, know you are coming: paulchris.lloyd@gmail.com

CA Talk: Sail repair and maintenance by Cindy Parker from Wilkinsons Sails, Thu 9 Feb

A must for all sailors.  Experienced yachtswoman, sailmaker and CA member Cindy will guide us through sail care and valeting and emergency get you home repairs.

This meeting is open to all and there is a fee of £3 per person for this talk and pre-registration is required, please click the link here to register 

 [BOOK VENUE]

Our meetings are held at the Dog and Bear Hotel in Lenham, the talk starts at 20.00, if you wish to eat before please phone the Hotel on 01622 858219 to reserve a table and mention you are attending the Cruising Association meeting.

CA Winter Warmer Talk: Roger Clark, 12 Jan 2023

The CA Kent Section’s next talk is on Thursday 12 January 2023 at The Dog and Bear Hotel, Lenham, commencing at 20.00 when CA member Roger Clark will be giving us a behind the scenes look at the Southampton Boat Show. Roger has exhibited his Westerly Fulmar Concerto at the Boat Show in 2021, hopefully the weather will have improved by then. To register for the talk (cost £3) click the link here:   [BOOK VENUE]

If you have any difficulty with booking through Eventbrite please contact us and we will do our best to help. The hotel has requested that those wishing to eat before the meeting should telephone in advance and book a table. This meeting is open to members and non members.

The Cruising Association Kent Section Winter Warmers are held at 8pm on the 2nd Thursday of each month at The Dog & Bear Hotel, The Square, Lenham, ME17 2PG, which is 8 miles east of Maidstone, just off the A20 in the village square. All are welcome. There is a small charge of £3. Many eat beforehand and it helps speed up service if you telephone the pub on 01622 858219 and order your meal before 5pm.

Bad news for EU VAT paid vessels

UK residents and the UK Marine Industry have been delivered devastating news by HMRC at a meeting recently held on 14 December 2022.  The industry bodies that participated in this discussion included: the Association of Yacht Brokers and Agents (ABYA), Royal Yachting Association, British Marine, the Cruising Association, as well as other key VAT marine industry specialists.

During the meeting, HMRC Representatives confirmed that the Financial Secretary to Treasury, Victoria Atkins MP, has refused to make changes to the current HMRC policy which would allow UK residents who purchased VAT paid vessels in the EU prior to the end of the BREXIT Transitional Period, i.e. 31 December 2020, to bring those vessels back to the UK, without being charged VAT again.

ABYA, along with other industry bodies, have been lobbying HMRC for the past three years for important and fair changes.  This plight became more rigorous over the past two years since it was announced, just two weeks before BREXIT, that grandfather rights allowing people to return their boats without being charged VAT again, were withdrawn. All despite promises made by HMRC previously, that they would be in place.

ABYA Chairman, Peter Norris said “The announcement today will have a significant financial impact on UK boat owning residents, as well as the UK marine industry, which is already suffering from increased costs and a shortage of product within the UK market place.  The decision by the Minister seems not to be aligned with Government policy as stated by the Prime Minster and his Chancellor, to try and grow the economy. Had these vessels been allowed to return, they would have invested money in the UK marine industry on services and berthing, which ultimately would have generated additional VAT income as well as additional corporation tax.”

When challenged at the meeting, HMRC refused to provide any information on how this impactful decision was reached, as well as what the Ministers reasons for refusing to implement the requested changes to the HMRC policy were.

ABYA, through its contacts at HMRC, have been calling for an urgent meeting with the Minster since her appointment in October 2022.  To-date, all have been blocked. All of the industry bodies present at the meeting, called for an urgent face-to-face meeting with the Minister, to discuss her decision and to seek an amicable way forward. 

ABYA Chairman, Peter Norris said “We need to explain to our Yacht Brokering members, both in the UK and Europe, what the justification behind the Minsters decision is, because they will need to articulately explain her reasons to our UK customers.  If the Minster refuses to discuss the rationale for her decision in a face-to-face meeting, then we, along with all the other industry bodies, will have no choice but to appeal through a freedom of information request, that we be given access to all of the documentation submitted to the Minster, as well as the minutes of the meetings held.  This will be followed by us then petitioning industry Ministers to seek the rational for her decision at the next available Treasury question time.”

HMRC Representatives at the meeting have agreed to provide feedback to the Minister that outlines the level of betrayal and frustration felt by all of the marine industry bodies in attendance.

Peter Norris Fellow ABYA,

ABYA Chairman  

 ABYAChair@abya.co.uk