President's Report

In preparing my report to the members for this year, I took the opportunity to review the reports I have made over the last few years. There is a clear and common theme that despite the numerous challenges the club has faced, its resilience and that of our management, staff, members and board, have resulted in the club not only surviving those challenges but growing stronger despite them.

On 7 October 1922 a fleet of seven, which included six 16ft skiffs and one small yacht, took to Belmont Bay to sail what was to become the first race for the Belmont 16 Foot Sailing Club. On the 100th anniversary of this race we will be celebrating the many milestones that have taken place since that time, both on and off the water. The Centenary weekend will commence with a gala event incorporating quality entertainment, together with first rate food and beverage in the Spinnaker Room on Friday 7 October 2022, followed by a regatta in the days following which includes the participation of some historic skiffs. We expect that demand will be strong for tickets to the celebration event, so I encourage you get in early when they go on sale.

After years of planning and despite the uncertainty that Covid creates, the Board have committed to the eagerly anticipated Centenary Project, which is now underway. We are proud to have ensured that many local contractors have been engaged to complete this project under the direction of Newcastle based head contractor Graph Builders to sustain employment and help drive the local economy. Apart from the enhanced indoor/outdoor dining areas and reconfigured function facilities I anticipate that the roof top bar and restaurant on the first floor will be the most popular. My expectation is that the Centenary Project will reinforce our position as a market leader, set up our Club for the next one hundred years and make all of you proud to be a Member of Belmont 16s.

You will notice that the Board are supporting a series of special resolutions to amend the Clubs Constitution at the 2022 Annual General Meeting. Whilst the bulk of the amendments are to reflect changes in legislation or to adopt best practice governance processes, we are also proposing to introduce the Sailing Associate Director role which will expand the eligibility for close relatives of our sailors (including our juniors) to join the Board.

Apart from our ongoing support for the sport of sailing, we have continued to support our local community across a broad range of initiatives. Some of the funding we have provided during the last year included our Helping Hands program to assist grass roots local organisations, supporting a broad range of charities, community groups and sporting teams together with some recently announced funding for the Pink Ladies at Belmont Hospital (which is featured in the following pages). We are committed to continuing to provide social dividends to our broader community.

While I will leave it to the Commodore to reflect on the success of the 2021/2022 Australian 16ft Skiff Nationals hosted by our club in January as an event, I want to recognise the efforts of our management and staff (in particular our catering staff) in making the event a huge success. Faced with severe restrictions due to Covid and a constantly changing program both on and off the water, they dealt with it professionally and enthusiastically and as a result played no small part in the success of the event.

As always, I thank our fantastic team at Belmont 16’s, our staff and our management team under the guidance of CEO Scott Williams. Thanks also to my fellow board members under whose guidance the club continues to prosper. All of these efforts would be fruitless were it not for the loyalty and continued support the Club receives from you, the members. There will undoubtedly be some disruption and inconvenience during the building process however, I am confident it will be worth it and that the end result will be one of which we can all be proud.