Commodore Message
Our sailing opened in spectacular fashion with an extremely large fleet of sailing craft, dressed up for the judges on the theme “Lost in Space”. Compliments were passed to the official party onboard the patrol boat H.M.A.S. ARARAT, which was the official vessel for the event, and our sincere thanks go to Commander Richard Donnelly, RAN and in particular to the crew of ARARAT for their hospitality on the day.
Competitive sailing is now on in earnest and apart from the strong fleets of catamarans and dinghies, we were pleased to see the return of the Round the Islands Race to the Division 1 calendar. It once again proved to be a test of
Our Patron, Mr. Jon Wardill completed a successful Fremantle to Bali Race gaining a podium finish in a pretty hot fleet and decided to bring the AUSTRALIAN MAID back to Darwin for the Round the Islands Race and the Darwin to Ambon event. There is every indication that there will be sufficient entries this year to once again conduct a Racing Division in the event, the first time since 1997.
At the May QGM, the chair gave notice of a motion to be put to the membership at the August QGM to move the date of the AGM back to November from the current February of the following year. Members are asked to contact a committee member on the reasons behind the proposal.
The Management Committee also seeks input into the future development of the club facility as highlighted in the JGA concept plans on display in the lounge.
Replacement shopfronts to the junior clubhouse and training rooms are expected to be completed during July and will no doubt be welcomed by the regular users of those areas.
Our sailors are experiencing wonderful conditions and the forecast is for a memorable ‘dry’ this year ahead of our annual pilgrimages south to nationals and internationals. It s time all sailors completed their boat park maintenance and headed out on the bay to just enjoy sailing in arguably the finest area in the country.
Cheers
Barry Stach
Commodore
