Commodore Geoff Crowley

The past two years have been challenging to say the least, but our previous Commodore, Alastair Torbet, and his team managed to preserve the Club and even make some advances during times of real adversity. We start this new year with a slightly increased membership, the Club is financially stable, but those who have made all that happen are rather exhausted.

But life goes on, and so must the Club. Our 110th anniversary has passed, and we must now look to the future. While the realm of work has changed to be more electronic and more automated, so has the Club. Remote working has become advantageous for many, and the closure of the Club’s office has lifted a financial burden, while opening the opportunity for a fully mobile office. This will be a benefit also in race management. The new IT system has helped automate many processes that previously had to be done manually.

We’re extremely grateful to those who worked away keeping things moving along, but now the time has come to reassess what we want from the Club. We have a heritage to be proud of, racers that can challenge any comers, cruisers who go beyond the horizons, and small boat sailors who test the physics of their boats too.

Of course it might be that we want to do more of the same as we’ve done in previous years, and maybe there’s little that the CCC and its membership hasn’t done, but what do you want to do? More cruises-in-company? More big boat and small boat crossover days? More youth activities? More blue water cruises? Bigger, better races? This year we hope to garner members’ opinions so as to be better able to steer our Club in the directions its members want.

Whatever we decide together, we’ll need some organisers to organise things, and some doers to get things done. Could you volunteer? A few of our longerserving committee members have stood down; they served us well, and we thank them. Now it’s time for others to step up.

As Commodore I’m relatively new to the CCC, likewise our Vice Commodore Glenn Porter. I learned to sail in Tauranga Harbour in the Bay of Plenty in New Zealand, while Glenn learned his sailing in the waters of Northern Ireland. So we didn’t grow up on the Clyde receiving the CCC heritage into our DNA, but hopefully we’ll bring some fresh thinking, some new ideas, but certainly a bundle of enthusiasm.

So, as we start into 2022, let’s do so with some sense of relief that we can cope with whatever comes, but also to get the most from the pastime we all love so much. With so many aspects of yachting available, let’s get out in 2022 and do lots more sailing, and lead others along to share this fabulous sport with us. See you on the water this summer.

Geoff Crowley