Fuelled by volunteers

At BYRA, an elected Committee manages the club on behalf of the members. This is a group of people chosen from the members by the members. The broader membership base actively helps the Committee deliver the selected BYRA initiatives.  

Therefore, unlike at a commercial club, at BYRA, there are no staff and members; there is only the BYRA team.

The 2024-2025 Season Committee (almost everyone!) is shown below. 

From Left to Right: Karina McBride/Hall Hire Manager; Ian Ward/Vice Commodore; Cai Kjaer/Membership Manager; Leah Singer/Commodore; Barry Warlum/Secretary; Henry Zylmans/Club Captain; Mindy Meehan/part-year Rear Commodore; Andrew Wilson/General Committee Member; Geoff Jenkinson/Club Patron; George Sadlik/General Committee Member.

Note that a number of key Committee positions are currently empty.

Options to Contribute

Below is a detailed description of all volunteering roles, including the Committee positions. Please browse to find examples of how you can contribute in a way that works for you. We even have options for 'job-sharing'!

The BYRA Committee

The BYRA Committee is essentially the club’s Bridge and Engine Room. NSW Fair Trading governs its function, and it meets approximately once a month. The BYRA Commodore leads the Committee and chairs the committee meetings. The Committee is reelected every July. 

While the overall responsibilities of committee positions are generally fixed, specific duties can generally be renegotiated by each new committee as required and agreed upon by that committee.

Below are specific committee roles with associated levels of commitment. If you would like more information, just email Commodore@byra.com.au.

Executive Officers

Club Patron

The Club Patron is responsible for promoting BYRA internally & externally – they can be called upon for wisdom and advice.

The current Club Patron Is Geoff Jenkinson.

Club Commodore

The Commodore is responsible for the overall leadership & management of BYRA, including club governance and official representation. The time investment required for this role ultimately depends on the support through action of the broader BYRA committee and membership base. At a minimum, the role requires taking the time to understand BYRA's legal obligations, strategy and basic operational requirements. On-going requirements include preparing for and chairing committee meetings, addressing conflicts and complaints, and ensuring the wider BYRA team performs to the required standard.

This is a significant and ongoing commitment but a rewarding one.

The current Club Commodore is Leah Singer.

The past Commodore is James Roberts.

Vice Commodore

The Vice Commodore is responsible for designing and safely delivering all [non-training related] sailing activities. This includes Sunday racing, Tuesday Twilight Yacht Racing, and Adventure Sailing. They also assist and cover for the Commodore as required and play a key role in organising and overseeing regattas and the Peter Loft Marathon.

The required commitment ramps up and down throughout the membership year and draws heavily from the broader membership base for delivery. It is also highly rewarding as it directly interacts with sailors and their personal sailing aspirations, as well as the other sailing clubs in Pittwater.

The current Vice Commodore is Ian Ward

Rear Commodore

The Rear Commodore is responsible for designing and safely delivering all BYRA training programmes, both on and off the water. They ensure appropriate coaching and training are in place and delivered to the required standards. This may mean liaising with an Australian sailing-certified instructor for a Learn-to-Sail course or a provider such as the Red Cross for a first aid course.

The required commitment varies across the membership year but is predominantly associated with establishing and resourcing a training schedule at the commencement of each season [September and January]. The Rear Commodore then draws from third-party providers and the broader membership base for delivery. It is a highly rewarding role as it directly interfaces with members and their personal learning aspirations, plus facilitates significant knowledge transfer within BYRA itself.

The position of Rear Commodore is currently vacant.

Secretary

The Club Secretary facilitates BYRA’s legal administration and compliance overall. They are also the designated NSW Fair Trading Public Officer and responsible for NSW Fair Trading obligations such as preparing for the AGM, record keeping & annual filing.

This is not a time-heavy position but requires a high level of conscientiousness due to the legal and compliance aspects of the role. The crucial work is done directly before and after the new Committee is elected each year. This requires calling the AGM, various filings with NSW Fair Trading, and re-establishing an array of permissions with various government departments ahead of the next season. All this takes only a few dedicated hours across July and August. After that, the Secretary assists with the Committee meeting agendas and minutes, actions that take only 2 - 3 hours per month and within flexible timeframes.

The current Club Secretary is Barry Warlum.

Treasurer

The Treasurer is responsible for BYRA’s financial management and accounting requirements. They reconcile payments made through the BYRA website or bank transfer, issue invoices and pay bills. Most importantly, they advise the wider committee on BYRA's financial health and look for risks and opportunities associated with BYRA's operating costs. BYRA uses RevSPORT and Xero to manage its finances.

This role is suitable for a numbers person who is happy to chip away at it in their own time from home. It will ramp up or down in response to membership renewals, training programme registrations and special events but averages 2 - 3 hours a week. The timing of most actions is not critical, but it requires a high level of conscientiousness.

The current Treasurer is Paul Chudleigh.

Assistant Treasurer

Assists and covers for Treasurer as required.

The position of Assistant Treasurer is currently vacant. 

Club Captain

The Club Captain is responsible for all of BYRA's assets - the clubhouse, the safety boats, and the BYRA-owned dinghies. This involves ensuring that the clubhouse and all boats are sufficiently maintained, plus identifying and organising required maintenance and repairs.

This role requires a dedicated and vigilant approach. Maintaining the building is a requirement under our Northern Beaches Council lease, and unless it is continually monitored and any issues addressed, the to-do list can quickly get out of control. Meanwhile, safety boats and dinghies are regularly used - breakages are inevitable and ongoing.

This role suits a practically minded person who likes spending time at the club. They do not need to do all repairs themselves but can draw on suitably qualified and experienced members to assist and advise. This is a vital role within the club, with a regular time commitment of 2 - 3 hours a week plus whatever is dedicated to DIY. The workload is much reduced when members respect BYRA assets, wash and put equipment away properly, and report any breakages or issues.

The current Club Captain is Henry Zylmans.

Club Vice Captain

Assists the Club Captain as requested.

The current Club Vice Captain is Gavin Jones.

Committee Members

Membership Manager

The Membership Manager is responsible for all membership administration. This includes adding members to our WhatsApp group, inducting new club members, and providing ongoing communication and support. This role is crucial in assisting members in navigating how to get the most out of their membership while also contributing in a way that works for them.

The current Membership Manager is Cai Kjaer.

Publicity Officer

The Publicity Officer is responsible for promoting the club in general, including member benefits, programmes, and events. This involves communicating with members through email and WhatsApp channels, writing News articles for the website, contacting local papers for exposure, and even designing and distributing posters to local businesses and organisations - basically, using all available channels to communicate that we are here and what we offer.

This role can be as little or as large as the volunteer makes it - with the need to communicate the key events notwithstanding!

Either way, it is not a significant time commitment and can be done from home around other personal and professional obligations.

The position of Publicity Officer is currently vacant. 

Canteen Manager

The BYRA Canteen has the potential to be an excellent income stream for BYRA. At present we have no one to lead this.

Ideally, we would appoint both a Canteen Manager and an Assistant Canteen Manager to spread the responsibility. This is not a big time commitment and will mostly ebb and flow with our events calendar - approximately 8 key events per year. It requires a member to do stocktakes, plan and organise appropriate stock for events, and establish and manage a staff roster for events. 

The position of Canteen Manager is currently vacant. 

Grants Manager

The Grants Manager works closely with the Treasurer and identifies and applies for relevant grants. This is fast becoming a key role as we need to upgrade multiple areas of the clubhouse. A related function is sponsorship liaison - described below.

The current Grants Manager is Valerio Corniani.

Hall Hire Manager

Hall Hire is a crucial aspect of BYRA operations and the only role for which we pay for services. It requires prompt, professional, and often extensive communication with members of the public, as well as the management of money and contracts. To ensure we consistently deliver, we currently contract a third party—Anchor Events—to manage our hall hire workstream. Anchor Events gets paid on a commission basis at no risk to BYRA. 

The point of contact for Anchor Events is Karina McBride. 

General Committee Members

Our General Committee members round out the BYRA Committee. These folks play a key role in covering and supporting others.

Current General Committee Members are George Sadlik and Andrew Wilson.

Key Supporting Roles

The Committee is responsible for huge and vital workstreams that keep BYRA's doors open. In addition to the empty positions noted above, members not currently on the Committee can also help as follows:

• Business Administration skills - We are in the process of documenting all BYRA operating procedures and information to make it easier for those who follow us. If you like recording roles and responsibilities, mapping processes and procedures, or generally getting a kick out of being ultra-organised, get in touch!
• Accountants, financial managers, and bookkeepers - we always need help here, especially in the area of setting up budgets and cash flow forecasts.
• Servicing safety boats - all mechanics, please step forward! Andrew Wilson has been a huge help here, and we welcome others to assist.
• Clubhouse maintenance and repairs - all tradies and DIY-ers, please make yourselves known!
• Website Updates - We want our website to be the one source of truth for all BYRA-related information. Leah Singer is chipping away at this but would welcome any experienced webmasters to add to, refine, and improve the presentation.
• Event Management - organising regattas on top of normal sailing activities is a huge undertaking for the committee. Please let us know if you are willing to lead one or more of our Event workstreams!
• Social Media - do you enjoy Facebook or Instagram? If so, help! We are lacking resources here, and our social media accounts are languishing.
• Health & Safety - We have established a health & safety system, but we want to improve it continually. If you have knowledge in this space please get in touch.
• Sponsorship Liasion - bringing on board new sponsors through the clear articulation of BYRA's value propositions is an area of revenue that is not currently well explored. If you have strong communication skills, are passionate about BYRA's potential to return community value, and want to make a massive and demonstrable contribution to BYRA, we absolutely want to hear from you.
• Grant Applications - we appreciate this is a professional skill. If you have experience in this, we really want to hear from you to support current efforts!

Event Roles

When we run on-water events, we always need the following:

• Start boat driver and scribe
• Support boat drivers - powerboat license required and ideally some experience in assisting dinghies.
• People to run the canteen - very easy as we have a Visa Paywave machine! Volunteers can also be rostered on for small chunks - morning, lunch, or late afternoon.
• Clean up crews - clubhouse cleaning is one of our biggest expenses. We can easily reduce costs if we can organise member crews for this.

Please do not be afraid to try a role - we will support you through the learning process and ensure you are sufficiently confident and equipped.

Supporting BYRA Courses

When we run sailing courses, we always need the following:

• Pre-course boat inspections - to assist the Club Captain with preparing the required boats and any maintenance or fixing that is required to make them safe.
• Boat preparation and packing away - people to assist with rigging and de-rigging.
• Support boat drivers - powerboat license required and ideally some experience in assisting dinghies.
• Sailing Instructors - while we normally pay an Australian Sailing qualified instructor on a contracting basis, we always welcome those with qualifications from other bodies, i.e. RYA or other European training organisations. If you ARE an Australian Sailing qualified instructor or assistant instructor, we absolutely want to hear from you!

For any more information on any of these roles or to suggest another way you could assist, please do not hesitate to get in touch via Commodore@byra.com.au!