RFYC Annual Report 2022

Royal Forth Yacht Club

Contents

COMMODORE’S REPORT HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT SAILING REPORT CRUISING REPORT CADET REPORT HOUSE REPORT YARD AND HARBOUR REPORT APPENDIX I

PATRON

HRH The Princess Royal

ADMIRAL

FLAG OFFICERS

Commodore: Michael Tasker

Vice Commodore (Sailing Convenor): Sarah Robertson

Rear Commodore (House Convenor): Will Davies

Rear Commodore (Harbour Convenor): Brian Robertson

CLUB OFFICERS

Honorary Treasurer: Ian Tabberer

Honorary Secretary: Sara Nichols

Membership Secretary: Will Davies

Sailing Secretary: Sarah Robertson

Moorings Secretary: Neil Moffat

CLUB EMPLOYEES

Business Manager: Karen Bates

Finance Manager: Moira Barker

Yard and Harbour Manager: Piotr Pistor

Housekeeper: Kathleen Turbitt

Photo: Sheena Kerr. Current and Past Commodore, Squib Racing, Saturday Series, 16th July 2022

Commodore Michael Tasker

Welcome to the Club’s Annual Report and it is a great pleasure to bring to you the story of 2022 where members enjoyed another successful Royal Forth season both afloat and shore side.

Yachting activity, whether the cut and thrust of competitive racing or a relaxing cruise to destinations near or far is a welcome and pleasurable escape from life ashore as the words “like a caged eagle I pine, on this dull unchanging shore, oh give me the flashing brine, the spray and the tempest’s roar” from “A Life on the Ocean Wave” describe rather aptly. The attraction of messing about on boats is as alluring in the current climate as it ever was.

And that activity out on the water was varied. A full programme of racing was offered and contested in all weather conditions and the successful “Cruise in Company” jaunts are as popular as ever. The Festival Series of races in Wardie Bay, held jointly with Forth Corinthian, saw over twenty boats compete, suggesting an opportunity to encourage further such occasions particularly targeted at those who predominately cruise.

I wish to give special mention of two events held. The Club was the venue for an “Autism on the Water” day when members very kindly offered their boats and time to the Charity and provided young guests with a taste of sailing. To mark the Platinum Jubilee celebrations, the Club arranged a Parade of Sail across Wardie Bay. Whilst the wind created challenging conditions it was a memorable occasion which attracted nationwide press and media coverage, raising the profile of the Club.

In addition, a Jubilee Sailing Enablement Fund was created to assist with members’ sailing training and equipment costs.

After the previous year’s significant capital investment in the Club’s infrastructure, I can assure members that the plan to renew and upgrade facilities and enhance the user experience continues. The restructuring of the membership application process now bears fruit as over the last two years a significant number of new members have joined

the Club. The additional financial resources resulting from such equates to further reinvestment in facilities. My thanks go to Will Davies, Membership Secretary, for instigating this change. More so than ever, the Club’s social media presence is an increasingly valuable factor in attracting interest in our activities and providing a gateway to membership.

The Club is indebted to those whose time and efforts make Royal Forth the success it is. Karen our Business Manager and Moira our Finance Manager continue to drive efficient management practice and Piotr, our Yard and Harbour Manager ensures the outdoor facilities are in good order and ready for members’ use. Yet it is also the dedicated efforts of members who volunteer their time, often unseen, who strive to ensure every member has the best Royal Forth experience possible. On behalf of the Club, a heartfelt thank you to all.

Central to a successful yacht club are those who take on the positions of responsibility and to my fellow Flag Officers plus Office Bearers and members of Council, I sincerely thank them for their outstanding efforts this year and the following reports reflect the success achieved.

Royal Forth Yacht Club is currently in a good state. With rising membership numbers, a programme of investment together with adapting the management processes, the Club continues to offer members a great location and facilities for yachting activity at a competitive cost. There is more to implement, and challenges which impact on future plans still prevail, though I can assure all members your Council will strive to continue to deliver the best yacht club experience we can.

Michael Tasker Commodore

New picture windows for the clubroom, new five-ton hoist and the need for dredging.

Sales of the Royal Forth Gin have turned a tidy profit, with the first batch having sold out already in 2022

HONORARY TREASURER’S REPORT

Ian Tabberer Honorary Treasurer

I am pleased to report that the Royal Forth Yacht Club finds itself in a sound financial position. The annual accounts, which have been signed off by the Club’s auditor Chiene and Tait, show a small annual profit of £6,055 for the financial year ending in October 2022. This continues the improving operating trend over the last few years, and we have moved from a small deficit to a small profit. This has been achieved through careful financial management and sensible budgeting and the considerable hard-work and volunteering of members to support important revenue generating areas of the club such as House, Harbour and Yard. The focus is on offering great value for our members and this has been another year in which we have not increased the cost of annual membership.

Continued Investment

Importantly, this financial result has been achieved whilst we continue to invest in the fabric and facilities of the Club. We have undertaken further expenditure on preserving the use of Pharos Pier, a new 5t hoist for the club crane and renewed the double glazing in the members lounge. The latter is a significant investment and should last us long term. The Club also has sufficient reserves to meet both the expected and unexpected costs it faces. There is still £20,384 in the legal defence fund and £22,000 has been put aside to employ a commercial dredging contractor to maintain navigable access to the club crane and the EML pontoons.

Thank You

It would be remiss of me not to thank Club members who continue to kindly donate time, money or both to help support the Club’s activities. Importantly, I’d also like to thank Moira Barker who will be leaving us as the

Financial Administrator in this forthcoming financial year. Moira really does like a challenge, and it was always the plan that she would help the Club utilise modern accounting techniques and processes to continue the plan of financial improvement and then pass on this role once the heavy lifting had been done. With a budget set for the new financial year and the Club now achieving an operating profit, we find ourselves in a position where we can remove the highly competent stabilisers that Moira has provided. We are looking at a number of options for future accounting and book keeping support, and will seek to have a finalised plan at the end of this year. Moira has supported the Club for just a couple of years but she has made such a difference that, if we can continue her good work, it should last us for decades. More importantly, she has been a pleasure to work with and it will not be just myself that will miss her warm company, engaging sense of humour and considerable professional skill.

Ian Tabberer Honorary Treasurer

Skipper Richard Leask and crew of Red Kestra collecting the Scottish Dragon Championship trophy at the Queen Elizabeth Regatta (One Design)

Queen Elizabeth Regatta (One Design), 17th September 2022

The unsung heros of racing and sailng make all of our events possible.

The Sailing Season Scrutiny Social was a progressive event with lots of fantastic ideas and thoughts shared with the team.

3

SAILING REPORT

Sarah Robertson Vice Commodore (Sailing Convenor)

2022 was our first “normal” year since the outbreak of COVID so we were able to plan a full calendar of racing, cruising, open events and open days. We also held a special “Parade of Sail” to commemorate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

Our open events comprised the Edinburgh Regatta jointly run with FCYC, the One Design Regatta, renamed the Queen Elizabeth Regatta to commemorate the sudden passing of HM Queen Elizabeth II, and an RYA ‘Discover Sailing’ day plus were able to support an open day for the charity ‘Autism on the Water’. ‘Open Sailing’ nights allowed members of the public and club members to enjoy an evening sail on a variety of member’s boats. These nights were arranged to coincide with Cadet evenings when the Club looks active and fun. Boat owners are encouraged to participate in future ‘Open Sailing’ evenings so the Club can offer a wider choice of boats to those taking part. The feedback from attendees for all open events was very positive, raising the Club’s profile and potentially resulting in new members joining.

The Festival Series was reinstated and re-designed to encourage cruiser-racers including FCYC boats. An impressive fleet of 24 boats, including some sailors taking their only racing outing of the year provided some colour and racing action in Wardie Bay for two nights in August.

The Club racing calendar comprised five Joint Passage Races with FCYC, 19 evening races and 32 weekend club racing days. A number of races were cancelled due to no /strong wind, or insufficient entries, however due to a full calendar there were few opportunities to reschedule.

RFYC has a strong core of racers that supported the core club racing, however the maximum number of entrants was only seven boats, plus the number of volunteers for race duties was very low. Series racing has over time become One Design focussed with very few cruiser-racers taking part. As a result, we plan to review our approach for 2023, gathering the thoughts and views of our members for the potential to reshape the delivery of organised events in 2023.

As always, the sailing activity has been dependent on the support and enthusiasm of our members. Thank you to Ken Allan, Stuart Fowler and Brian Robertson for organising Cruising event, Fiona Drennan and a dedicated group of member/parents for running the Cadet training, Mark Harding for maintaining our web entries, Will Davies for his amazing House support and the Sailing Committee members themselves (Dave Northridge, Nevin Jamieson, Ken Allen, Will Davies and Cathy Ogden).

Robertson

Vice Commodore (Sailing Convenor)

Sarah

RACING HIGHLIGHTS

Photograph: Hannah Robertson

QUEEN ELIZABETH REGATTA

QUEEN ELIZABETH REGATTA

ONE DESIGN WEEKEND 2022

“The event was reduced to Saturday only racing due to the imminent state funeral of Queen Elizabeth. Entries included three 707’s (two guest entries), six dragons (two guest entries) three H Boats and six Squibs. A steady westerly blew all day as the fleets competed in four windward leeward races with close competitive racing enjoyed by all.

Congratulations to the winners:

707 Mojito, J Blair, PEYC Dragon Kestra, R Leask, RFYC H Boat Hariboat, D Gorman, RFYC Squib, Willpower, W Davies, RFYC”

Michael Tasker, Commodore

“The Open Sailing evenings continued to be very popular this season seeing around sixty people attend and visit our club on the occasions. Huge thanks go to all the skippers and volunteers who took part throughout the season. Hopefully we can continue and expand in 2023 on the good work that has already been done.”

We are delighted that our Open Sailing nights are so popular again after a difficult period of people not being able to go out for a sail in groups

Open Sailing Needs You! The demand for a sail is high among the local community - can we supply?

Stuart Fowler, Lead Organiser

“We had about 100 visitors going out on boat trips on the day, plus a good amount of visitors who preferred to stay on shore and eat burgers. The day went really smoothly which wouldn’t have been possible without all the volunteers’ help. Thanks go to them for their amazing help. From the brief chats I had with our guests they had a very positive impression of the club and sailing in general!”

Sell, Lead Organiser

Torben

Mistreatment of OAP’s? Graham being kept busy in the rigging

Dolphins in the Tay estuary, Arbroath/ Tayport, 3-7 July

Aberdour, 14 August. A chance to make some new sailing acquaintances and great social occasions

CRUISING REPORT

Brian Robertson

Rear Commodore (Harbour Convenor)

The sailing season this year has been reasonably kind to us and the Club managed to run six daytime ‘cruising’ events this summer and one ‘6 day’ event, taking in Arbroath and Tayport.

The cruising season started on 15 May with a wellattended trip across the water to Barnhill Bay. We normally would have rafted up, but a heavy swell prevented this and boats just dropped their own anchors. Eleven boats attended this first event of the year however, which was a great turnout. Other locations visited this year included Inchkeith, Inchcolm and, of course, one of our favourite destinations, Aberdour. We had planned a mid-summer overnight visit to Port Edgar, but this had to be postponed due to bad weather. We did however manage to reschedule it in early September and five boats enjoyed a very social weekend at the Port Edgar Marina.

For the second year running we have managed to squeeze in a longer cruising event and this year we first headed north to Arbroath before turning east, into the Tay Estuary, for two nights at Tayport. We had three yachts on this trip, Idothea, Solveig and Tidecatcher and, for all of us, venturing into the Tay was a new and exciting adventure.

The Tay can be a place to avoid in certain conditions, but we were fortunate on this occasion, and we all enjoyed our two nights stay in Tayport harbour. A brisk westerly wind and swell in the Firth of Forth made for a challenging return to Granton, but all boats thankfully made it back safely.

Cruising in Company is a great way for new members to get involved and to make new acquaintances and it is also a great way for those less experienced sailors to gain experience in the company of other sailors and with the safety of others being around.

The ‘social’ side is also very important and great effort goes into making sure that the Cruise in Company events are enjoyed by all.

Inchkeith, 23 July

Brian Robertson Rear Commodore (Harbour Convenor)

Arbroath/ Tayport, 3-7 July

A chance to learn from the experts

Safety in numbers

Our most accomplished Cadets bravely took part in the Parade of Sail, 4th June, in tough conditions, in honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II on her Platinum Jubilee

5

CADET REPORT

Will Davies Membership Secretary

It has been another great year for our cadets in the club. Overall cadet members have grown again to 37 and 24 of them have regularly attended our cadet training that runs on a Tuesday evening. Resources and volunteer capacity has restricted the attendees for increasing training numbers further, however, this is something the Club is seeking to address for next season.

We offer training to all cadets ranging in age from about seven to seventeen, and from complete beginners to those starting racing. We train cadets in several of our club dinghies (Toppers, Laser 2000’s, RS Feva) and the club Squib keelboats. Cadets learn how to sail on the water and some of the theory side when the tide is out!

It has been great this season to see some of our older cadets, who have been sailing with us for several years, help support the training of the newer younger cadets. Along with learning to sail, the cadets build great friendships with others and it is wonderful to see them having fun together. Après sail can be as important as the sailing itself!

The End of Season Cadet Regatta was deservedly won by Porter Cruickshank De Farias. The event saw windy conditions prevail and all cadets demonstrated how well they had developed their sailing skills over the season. Well done to them all!

At the end of this season Fiona Drennan, our lead instructor, has decided to hand over the tiller to someone else for next season. Fiona has done a truly outstanding job over many years and the Club and all the cadets are hugely appreciative of everything that she has achieved. She is still keen to be involved with cadets in other ways, so it is not goodbye! We are also appreciative of the parent helper volunteers that also support cadet training, be that shoreside, safety cover on the water, or general maintenance. Without this help the next generation of sailors would be missing a great opportunity to get into our sport.

Will Davies Membership Secretary

Photograph: David Penny

Cadet Regatta

Winner: Porter Cruickshank De Farias

CADETS NOTICEBOARD HIGHLIGHTS 2022

“Another great year of sailing with the RFYC Cadets of all ages and abilities, gaining con fidence and experience in the Club’s Toppers, Feva and Laser 2000s. Sailing in the West Harbour and Wardie Bay on Tuesday evenings with parents and more experienced Cadets helping the newer ones, they are on the wa ter in all weathers from April to September.”

Fiona Drennan, Lead Organiser

HOUSE REPORT Will Davies Rear Commodore (House Convenor) Membership Secretary

No two years are the same when it comes to running and supporting House activities and this year has been no exception. As the Club, along with the rest of the country, emerged from the constraints of Covid, we have been able to start building momentum in utilising our refurbished bar and kitchen. We have successfully supported many Club activities and events, continued to invest in the fabric and facilities, and built more sustainable processes so that members will benefit for years to come.

The start of the year began with the Christmas lunch! Following the success of the Edinburgh Cup dinners, we decided to fully cater and serve our Christmas lunch inhouse. Over 70 members enjoyed a four-course festive lunch, wine and raffle. Proceeds of which went towards our new BBQ area. The winter months saw several interesting talks on a variety of topics including marine conservation and restoration, sailing the west coast of Sweden, and the Ellen MacArthur Cancer Trust.

Once the sailing season began, House supported the social side on the après sail activities. Events from Lift In/ Lift Out, Discover Sailing, Platinum Jubilee BBQ, Edinburgh Regatta, Festival Series, Queen Elizabeth Regatta/ One Design, and the more regular racing/ cruising calendar all enjoyed the bar and food offering. We have been developing our bar menu and event food

offering and as we train up additional member chefs, there will be further opportunities to enjoy it next year!

Did you know you can hire the clubhouse lounge for your own private function? With significantly cheaper rates than a city centre venue and with far superior views, functions can be planned bespoke to your requirements. We hosted several this year from special Birthday celebrations, retirement parties, to the more sombre funeral wakes. All of which were hugely successful and thoroughly appreciated by members and their guests.

House music nights have grown in popularity over the year and this momentum will continue. Members and their guests took the opportunity to play their instruments and sing, whilst enjoying the bar and food menu. Our House band “Lost At Sea” have regularly been heard practicing midweek, as well as the TOPS pipers often practicing on a Monday evening.

This time last year we launched our first ever Royal Forth Yacht Club Gin which was distilled exclusively for us by Pickering’s Gin. It was a huge success and we have sold out the first batch of 100 bottles! The profit from such contributes to further investment and this year the proceeds were put towards the new BBQ. We have just received new stock so it’s a great opportunity to help

All our events could not happen without a dedicated crew of volunteers behind the kitchen and bar, which is appreciated by all those who partake!

New picture windows for the clubhouse have been installed, providing a glorious and enhanced view to the water

Club H-Boat Champions Dave Gorman and David Northridge of Hariboat require a table of their own for prizes awarded at the annual prizegiving.

raise valuable investment funds whilst enjoying gin using local botanicals!

Behind the scenes, we have had a busy time continuing the investment in the clubhouse. Two key areas this year were the replacement of the lounge windows and the refurbishment of the BBQ area. The new window design incorporates four large picture windows, so you can now fully enjoy the wonderful uninterrupted view of the harbour and beyond. A new commercial BBQ was installed by the patio including a new shelter, which will further enhance our food offering for the larger summer events. Smaller projects have seen a new honesty payment/stock system installed, sensor lighting in the downstairs corridor to save electricity and replacement of the ceilings in the office and corridor.

A new paid position of Housekeeper was created and Kathleen has been doing a fantastic job at keeping the clubhouse spick and span, as well as laundry and washing the endless flow of dirty mugs! We have trained several new members to serve behind the bar plus also to open and close the clubhouse as we seek to make it more accessible and easy to use for as many members as possible. As ever, volunteering is key for making these measures effective.

Karen has done an excellent job ensuring our social media channels are active which continues to increase our visibility around the local community. The familiarisation and effective usage of the website continues to evolve and we shall continue to strive to keep the user experience as simple as possible.

The House operation relies on the support of several volunteers and House Committee members. Huge thanks go out to them, as without it, many of the events and developmental progress enjoyed by all would not have been possible. Planning is well underway already for next year… it promises to be an exciting one ahead!

Social media for events continues to grow

Our Restoration Forth talk was very well attended

The Newhaven choir came to sing us local sea shanties

Lift-In and Out without shaking her about!

Brian Robertson

Rear Commodore (Harbour Convenor)

The Yard & Harbour team continue to do valuable work around the yard and harbour; without which the club would not be able to function properly. The team now consists of a dedicated group of 14 or so full and coopted members, all of whom give their time freely for the benefit of all members of RFYC. The group is continually active and greatly supplements the work being done by our Yard & Harbour Manager Piotr Pistor.

The 2022 season got off to a flying start with a very successful boat jumble on 12 March. It is planned to repeat this event early next year.

Yard and harbour works are ongoing on a regular basis, but the main focus of the harbour team’s activity is on a Tuesday morning, when the team comes together to undertake necessary maintenance and then enjoy a coffee and a blether in the clubhouse. Any Club member who wishes to assist with the ongoing works in the yard is welcome to attend on these mornings.

The last 12 months have been a busy time for the Yard & Harbour team with many long outstanding maintenance issues in the yard, both large and small, being addressed.

The harbour ground chain replacement programme is continuing, and the ground chains have now been replaced up to and including trot 11. We hope to get trot 12 replaced before the end of this year and perhaps get trot 13 in place before the start of the new season. This is a hard and very physical task which the team is undertaking. This also represents a fairly large financial commitment from the Club as the ‘new’ ground chain is currently costing about £500 per tonne weight (1 tonne equates to about 27m length).

The new covered area which the team erected in the yard between the two storage containers has been a great success, and it has afforded the Club a covered working area which will be particularly useful during the winter months. With major repair works now being required to the blue launch it is hoped that we can now get the blue launch under cover this winter.

Oh Buoy

The mooring trot chains getting a thorough inspection

The refurbished Club barge

Lift-Out briefing with tea and bacon rolls

Pulling

contd.

There continues to be an urgent need for dredging to be carried out in the harbour. Boswall Bittern has now been sold to Seahunter Marine, and discussions are underway with them to see about getting some dredging done in the harbour. Whilst most of this will be carried out at the EML pontoons we would hope to get our own pontoons dredged as well, along with the area beneath the club crane.

The club moorings launch is one of the most valuable items of the Club’s equipment (the Club couldn’t function without it) and members may have noticed that it has received a major overhaul this summer, courtesy of Piotr Pistor, supported by the Yard & Harbour team.

The Club continues to offer serviced winter moorings to those members who wish to keep their craft afloat during the winter months. The programme of servicing the harbour moorings for next season’s summer use, a task which takes a huge physical effort from the harbour team, will commence in the new year.

Lack of yard space continues to be a concern, but much progress has been made in recent months in clearing out ‘redundant’ craft from the yard and measures which will see ‘unused’ craft paying higher yard storage fees will shortly come into force. The priority must always go

The Debutante Trophy 2022 was awared to The Harbour Team in recognition of all the incredibly hard work they do, which often goes unsung. We are indebted to them, and thank the whole team for their continued and dedicated support.

to members who wish to be active ‘on the water’ and members can no longer be allowed to use the yard just as a storage facility.

Winter is the busiest time of the year for the Yard & Harbour team, so do spare a thought for this small group of members who give up their time and work all year round to keep the yard and harbour serviceable for the benefit of all members.

As another busy year draws to a close, I would like to thank the members of the Yard & Harbour team for all their hard work during this period. I also acknowledge the considerable work done on our behalf by our Yard & Harbour Manager, Piotr Pistor. Many of our maintenance activities require professional assistance and I would once again acknowledge gratefully the huge support which this club receives from our member George Brown (Geo. Brown & Sons).

Brian Robertson

Rear Commodore (Harbour Convenor)

Photograph: Henry Abraham, Alba Aviation

THE JUBILEE PARADE OF SAIL

Michael was interviewed for a range of media including BBC Radio Scotland and BBC Scotland

PLATINUM JUBILEE 2022

“To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee a Parade of Sail was held in Wardie Bay.

The best laid plans of a course heading east from racing mark E across to Newhaven Harbour with the opportunity for boats to fly spinnakers in light airs were turned upside down when a gusty north easterly blew.

An exhilarating “Cruise in Company” style sailing parade across the Bay ensued with some spinnakers still being flown.

By all accounts an enjoyable occasion and a spectacle from those watching on the shore.”

Michael Tasker

Photograph: Hannah Robertson. The Squib fleet starting a race at the Queen Elizabeth Regatta (One Design) 2022

Royal Forth Yacht Club

Thank you for reading... ... we look forward to next Season !!

SUMMARY OF MEMBERSHIP 2022

Membership list by designation

Memberships (actual number of people) Statistics as at 30th September 2022

TYPE 2021/22 2020/21 2019/20

TOTAL 286 (326) 260 (303) 235 (263)

ORDINARY MEMBER 123 (123) 108 (108) 100 (100)

Ordinary 81 (81) 69 (69) 76 (76)

Ordinary – new member 41 (41) 39 (39) 24 (24)

FAMILY MEMBER 25 (65) 25 (69) 18 (46)

Family – new member 20 (53) 10 (29) 2 (4)

Family 5 (12) 15 (40) 16 (42)

PATRON 1 (1) 1 (1) 1 (1)

HONORARY MEMBER 1 (1) 4 (4) 3 (3)

ORDINARY LIFE 3 (3) 3 (3) 3 (3)

ORDINARY SENIOR 48 (48) 50 (50) 49 (49)

ASSOCIATE 80 (80) 69 (69) 61 (61)

Associate <25 3 (3) 1 (1) 1 (1)

Associate non-sailing spouse/ partner 19 (19) 15 (15) 14 (14)

Associate non-sailing cadet parent/ helper 5 (5) 4 (4)

Associate out-of-port 15 (15) 15 (15) 16 (16)

Associate student 16 (16) 13 (13) 7 (7)

Associate cadet 22 (22) 21 (21) 23 (23)

EMPLOYEE 6 (6)

TYPE 2021/22 2020/21 2019/20

TOTAL MEMBERS 326 303 263

Male members 229 219 197

Female members 97 84 66

JUNIOR MEMBERS 36 34 31

Male junior members 20 23 21

Female junior members 16 11 10

FAMILY MEMBERS 65 68 46

Adult family members 39 41 23

Junior family members 15 13 9

Unknown age family members 11 14 14

NET CHANGE IN MEMBERS 23 40 11

Leavers -41 -37 -26

Joiners 64 77 39

ROYAL FORTH YACHT CLUB email: admin@royalforth.org tel: 0131 552 8560

RoyalForthYachtClub RoyalForthYC royalforth

address: Middle Pier Granton Harbour Edinburgh EH5 1HF www.royalforth.org

Caption: Royal Forth members taking part in our Parade of Sail, Saturday 4th June, in honour of HM Queen Elizabeth II on her Platinum Jubilee. Photograph: Henry Abraham, Alba Aviation