Thank you all Members and guests who joined us at the Club for the official opening of the 2022-23 season. The formalities kicked off with Commodore Georgie Silverwood providing a welcome and an overview of the season ahead. Our Club Captain, Tim Collett, announced the naming of our new Club Highfield, Dorothy Chisholm, to recognise and honour Dorothy and her contribution to the Club over many years. We were thrilled to have three generations of Dorothy’s family present to officially christen the new vessel.
Tim then proceeded to announce the Junior Club Captains for the 2022-23 year – Congratulations to Holly Cantwell and Henri Levenspiel. Holly and Henri read a blessing of the fleet for a safe sailing season ahead, then it was onto the water for the traditional sail past, with Couta Boats, Club boats, OTB and Member vessels providing three cheers for the Commodore on their way past. Great to see such activity on the water.
17 OTB sailors got out on the water which was a terrific effort in strong winds. Training started a little earlier than usual on the Saturday to ensure our OTB sailors got enough time on the water. Despite the building northerly breeze, it was great to see so many green fleet sailors take part in the sail past, although it got a little bit too much for them once club racing began.
There were ILCA4s and Optimists taking part in the Fred Allen series, which had three races in all classes. In the ILCA4s, Aidan Simmons had three bullets followed by Ella Kelley. In the Optimist Intermediate class, Lilly Cantwell sailed well and was getting chased down by Isabelle Tucker. In the Open Optimist, it was a bit tighter with new Junior Club Captain Holly Cantwell right in the mix and just finishing 4th behind Miles Levenspiel in 3rd, Henri Levenspiel in 2nd and Callum Simmons in 1st. Tyler Deeth was the only green fleeter to finish racing on Saturday.
