Currently in it's 30th year the
Register has grown from a handful of enthusiasts to a movement with
over 450 members.
The N.Z.C.M.R.R is dedicated to the Preservation, Restoration and Use
of all pre 1976, British, European and American Motorcycles. We
annually organise a full calendar of competition events throughout the
North Island of New Zealand with the culmination of the season being
our three day Classic Festival held at Pukekohe each year.
This meeting is a close representation of period racing, no longer
enjoyed in many parts of the world. With it's "live museum" theme the
February Festival has become the largest event of it's type in the
Southern Hemisphere with over 350 competitors regularly competing from
New Zealand, Australia, America, Britain and Europe.
To whet the appetite of the true enthusiast the N.Z.C.M.R.R
invites to the Festival meeting, for demonstration purposes, famous
period racing motorcycles and their riders. Some of the machines and
riders who have attended in the past are Agostini with four M.V's, John
Surtees three times with his M.V, BMWkompressor and Vincent, Paul Smart
twice with the factory Trident and Imola Ducati and Umberto Masseti
with his Gilerafour.
If you are looking to be part of living
history, contact us either by telephone
06 306 986,
or
on line email nzcmrr@kol.co.nz and become a member,
supporter or competitor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“from
the Table”……2007 – 2008 Presidents Report
Throughout the year I have reported via the Megaphone, and just
lately via our website, many of the directions, aspirations,
decisions, and sometimes disappointments from around the
committee table. I therefore sincerely hope that by the time
we’ve got to this AGM, there are no great surprises for you. It
is on your behalf that all the members of this committee
continue to work extremely hard behind the scenes in support of
the continued success that this nearly 30 year old organisation
has achieved. It is sometimes not easy to separate personal
opinion from the overall “what is best for the Club” approach
required on the various issues that arise throughout the year.
The balance is at times difficult to achieve, but it is my view
that we must at all times remember that we represent
approximately 480 individual members, the principles on which we
are founded, and the future stake we have in insuring that we
are around for another 30 years!
I
would like to say a special thank you to a number of members not
directly on the committee, but whose work continues to provide
the ongoing backbone of this Club. This group of very special
people has provided us with tireless support and direction
throughout the year. I refer of course to Errol McCabe for his
support and continued liaison with NMZ, to Norm and Lynda
Maddock who still do a huge amount of Register work behind the
scenes, to our Race and Membership Secretary Iona Gibbs who is
the mainstay of our Championship Racing Calendar, and to Barry
and Linley Dean for the almighty effort in taking on the
Megaphone and helping fill the huge gap left by the fabulous
work that we have received from David Garrett. Of course there
are lots of others who have helped in many ways, from Track
Marshalls to BBQ cooks, who have given us great support
throughout the year. Thanks to you all!
This year has been a big year of change at the committee level.
A number of long serving members stood down at the last AGM and
it has taken time to adjust and to fully understand all the
activities needed to support the programme of Club events. As I
outlined earlier in the year my initial focus has been on our
financial management, and by fully understanding this year where
our income comes from, and what our expenses truly are at each
of our events, we are now in a very good position to develop our
race and Festival programme for the coming years. Thanks to John
Pendreigh for all his work throughout this year. I think you
will see in his report a very good result. While it was indeed
extremely disappointing to lose a major potential sponsor, there
is always a silver lining, and opportunities are currently being
pursued by Andrew Riley to engage other options. Noel Howe has
also just been successful in securing a donation of $6000 from
the Lions Foundation to help us with improved Radio safety
capability. The financial foundation we have established this
year will allow us to make more informed decisions going
forward, from membership and race fees, to our overseas guest
programme, to the actual race program, track hire, time keeping,
security, safety, and even social events. Even without the
sponsorship we are in a very good position to push forward.
As
I have already mentioned, we have had great support from a great
number of members throughout the year, but we at times still
find ourselves short of manpower at the various events we hold
throughout the North Island. It has been great to see new people
step up to the NMZ Stewards Training! If you are able to help
the club in any way on race days or offer any skill that will
help us, please do not hesitate to get in touch with us.
Our
Festival continues to be hugely successful! The number of
Magazine articles in world-wide publications continues to grow,
and it is a great credit to all of those members who have
appeared in them and represented the Register so well.
Congratulations to you all. In spite of the rain this year’s
event went superbly, with crowd numbers much the same. We are
now coming up to our 30th year celebration event and
perhaps our last at Pukekohe. I say perhaps, because it will
need to be a very careful decision to move the event to the new
track at Hampton Downs. This is certainly booked for Festival
2010, but I want to be very sure that we do not lose the
atmosphere that Puke has given us all these years. Our first
move to Hampton will be for the Classic TT event in October
2009. This will give us an opportunity to get a feel of this
exciting new facility and help us manage the transition of the
Festival…whenever we are ready to do so. It would be nice to be
able to start our involvement at Hampton in October with a
bang....and to establish a public gate admission if at all
possible.
From my perspective, the Technical Rules, and the Tech Committee
itself, is the cornerstone of the Register. The founding
principles to preserve the race machinery of the past and
provide a ”living museum” of machines and personalities that we
would otherwise never see in New Zealand is something that we
must always hold central to our decisions. (I certainly do so!)
The overall Register Committee provides the operational
environment, but it is the Technical decisions that we make that
will affect the balance between the “preservation” and
“modified” views that we all have when we come to build or race
our bikes. This debate will always be fierce at times and
rightly so. The competitive nature of us all, especially driven
by our Classic Championship events, will always contrast at
times with the view that to preserve the machines as they were,
and to race them according to their weaknesses, is what it’s all
about! In my view, this is what sets the NZ Register apart from
it’s counterparts throughout the world. It is therefore very
important that this aspect of the Register is well managed and
transparent. You may disagree with some of the decisions made at
times, but it is important to keep an eye on the wider picture.
It is my intention, if re-elected this year, to focus on the
operation of this aspect of our club.
Overall a great year! A year of change, transition, great
racing, great people, and plenty of debate! Thanks to all of
you who made it happen!
Ken
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