The Sailing Report

Season Summary

Andy Hodkinson

We have officially started our new 2023/24 season with the Winter series just starting and the first official Dinghy Section race of the new series kicking off and proving to be an instant success.

The end of last season’s festivities wrapped up with our Annual Presentation Evening. Prizes for each series and standalone races were presented, as well as Champion Yacht, Crewperson of the Year, Club Person of the Year, the Wrecker’s Award and the new Regatta Competitors Award.

A big congratulations to the skippers and crew who placed in our consistency series that runs across our three Seasons:

For our standalone races, the winners of the Rear Commodore’s Cup during Open Day in October, our long race to Centaur, our trek north to Alkimos the Ladies’ Skippers Race and the new Regatta Competitors Award were awarded as follows:

Rear Commodore’s Cup: Venomous

Centaur Race: Bull Bar

Alkimos Race: Bull Bar

Ladies’ Skippers Race: Kate Phipps

Regatta Competitors Award: Mikayla James

The individual trophies are presented to welldeserving individuals who have stood out during the season. Our Crewperson and Club Person of the Year awards aim to recognise those who have gone above and beyond to ensure our section keeps running smoothly and assist our fellow sailors. The

Wrecker’s Award, however, recognizes the year’s most unfortunate skipper with the most breakages.

Crewperson of the Year: Paul Phipps

Club Person of the Year: Ken Wood

Wrecker’s Award: Scott Forrest

Finally, our Champion Boat is awarded to the skipper and crew of the boat who, across our three consistency series, has come out on top for the year. This year, Scott Forrest and the crew of Whim a Way took out the top trophy with a comfortable lead – a well-deserved win.

A thank you to everyone who chipped in to help with the setup and running of the Presentation Evening which turned out to be a huge success and a fun night. A big congratulations and thank you to all the skippers and crew who participated in the year’s events. Of course, we cannot thank our amazing Start Crew enough who, despite the ever-growing impact of the marina development on our races, continue to show up and ensure our races go ahead smoothly.

I look forward to another year of smooth sailing (literally and figuratively) and will see you out on the water for Season 2023/24.