Our commodore stands down at the end of the year so talk is of who might replace him. What do you think makes a good club commodore and what should the membership expect of him?

Ir depends on what the club needs... Is it running well, healthy membership, or on the slide? in the first case, a safe pair of hands who has an air of authority and sets the "atmosphere".  If it's the second, you need a change agent with ideas to reverse the downward cycle.  In the first case, probably a member of the existing committee, in the second possibly a new broom...

You need a great committee all pulling their weight, short meetings and growing any club as the priority, none of us are getting any younger.

Safe is the way to go I think at present. We have some enthusiasm which can be channelled but most of the members have been on the committee at some point. We get some spectators who show an interest but have not converted these into members. Maybe the biggest challenge is the weed!