An Evening 10 Years in the Making

WORDS: DENIS MARTINET

Whilst a lot of water, and no doubt copious volumes of alcohol too, has flowed since the 26 November 2022 when our Club celebrated the RHKYC Charity Gala dinner, we feel it is important, and well overdue, to give all of you all an account of that evening and what was achieved.

In his infinite wisdom our Chairman and past Commodore, Ambrose Lo, decided to thrust upon your scribe the supervision of such an event, last held over 10 years ago in the Compass Room. Ably assisted by Club management and specialist company WeRaiseHK, the date was barely announced that all spaces were booked within a matter of hours. Were people that eager to contribute? Well one would certainly want to hope so! However more prosaically I must admit, our announcement of that event coincided with some social distancing relaxation and offered a ball and a chance to dress up, something that had not happened in our Club since 2019, or in other words, not for eons! Ergo, the 150 places were snapped up and demand was such that we decided to offer a cheese and dessert ticket for those slightly slower on the uptake but still ready to pa… give generously.

The event comprised three stages –

First pre-dinner drinks were had on the rooftop, delicious champagne complemented by a variety of amuse-bouchées, from freshly shucked oysters to satays. Elegantly attired members and guests contributed to set a memorable scene, with glimmering Hong Kong in the background. One could be forgiven for thinking that all was normal or at least getting back to some normality.

Now the real crux of the evening was about to happen, the one when we asked people to dig deep into their pockets and give for great causes that the Club and its charity have been supporting for the last decade!

Second stage – Down to the Regatta Rooms did everyone go, found their seats at finely decorated tables, tucked into some superb food and accompanying wines. People had barely started when the master of ceremony, Anthony, proceeded with gusto to pry these much-needed dollars from our members and guests’ pockets.

And boy did they all rise to the occasion!

You see, we are very fortunate to have individuals among us always prepared to give, either financially or in kind. And true to form they certainly did not disappoint! Items on offer went beyond traditional auction fare of signed t-shirts and sports memorabilia. Silent auction items ranged from stays in exotic locations to original experiences on well-known junks and yachts! Numerous bids were drawn to “name your own cocktail”, fueled by intense competition. And yes I did lose and “honey bobo” is now on offer at the Main Bar. I recently sampled it and it does pack a punch!

The live auction was a clear favourite where only 8 eithitems attracted 20% of all funds raised.

Beyond generously donating a case of excellent claret, our Commodore Lucy Sutro put her reserved parking slot up for grabs. Naming rights for the new electric Sampan was also very popular.

Unlike previous years or more to the point, technology having progressed by leaps and bounds since, we no longer had raffle tickets but a live electronic pledge system. This was a scene of intense competition as names and amounts donated started scrolling on screens as new ones superseded them in a frenetic bid to become one of the top donors. A third of all monies was raised with this new and very frantic yet fun tool.

To finish off the evening, all moved to the rooftop once more to dance the night away, well not quite as a curfew was still in place, while nibbling on cheese and pastries.

So what was the result I hear you say – Well thanks to all donations and auction items, the Club was able to raise just short of HKD 800,000, monies that will be put to good use by the RHKYC Charity foundation to assist and help the individuals and organisations we support.

So if you want to help too, visit https://www.rhkyc.org.hk/club-facilities/charity/ charityfoundation or simply scan this QR code

Or wait for the next Charity Gala dinner, hopefully you won’t have to wait 10 years!

Great thanks to all that contributed to the success of this very special fund-raising event, especially our sponsors and donors:

DONOR LIST

Alpha Lau

Ambrose Lo, Chairman RHKYC Charity Foundation

Anna Fisher

Antony Wood

Bonita Leung and Mark Brady

Chris Botsford and John Scott

Claude Wong

David Leung

Denis Martinet

Drew Taylor

Geoffroy Wallier

Joseph Chu

Judy Chan

Lena Chi

Lucy Sutro, Commodore RHKYC

Majid Khan

Ray Yip

Tina Wong

Anthony Tong

Urs and Doris Hess-Rosenburg

SPONSOR LIST

Bryan Bachner – FC Barcelona APAC

Georges Nony – French Reserve Distribution Ltd.

Jonny Hodgson – Hokkaido Resorts Group

Andreas Buchenthal – Mercedes-Benz

RHKYC Dragon Boat Section

Richard Allen – Simpson Marine

Selway Au-Yeung – Shout Gallery

Alison Yeung – Sun Hung Kai & Co