The season progressed well with revised shorter program format for the States, Tourist Trophy & a more compact Australian Title. Favourable breezes for these regattas provided good conditions for keen racing & close competition. Quality of the fleet has improved with the rebuild & upgrade of VS 2235 Back Diamond & VS 2243 Battleship. Close racing in a range conditions & venues demonstrated the high level of crew skill & boat handling of those who sailed their skiffs. Congratulation goes to all crews for a successful racing season. I would like to thank the committee & VS ladies for their support, particularly John Hodda for his organisation & reporting of our main events & Linda O’Connor for her organising skills supporting events. A high light of the season & privilege to be involved with was the VS Class 70th Reunion. The VSSA hosted 110 past & present sailors including Gordon Ingate, Richard Healy (80+ yrs) & Champions from Vaucluse, Cronulla, Hawkesbury, Dobroyd, Taree, & Teralba at the Vaucluse Yacht Club, a great night was had by all. Thanks must go to the all the VS sailors & VS ladies who willingly chipped in to ensure the night was a success. A number of special mentions are required :-
VYC: Ian (Tinka) Bell, Zena & Doug Cameron for organising the Vaucluse Yacht Club, the foundation home of the class as the venue for the reunion & also hosting the State Titles on the Watson Bay & the Harbour.
Catering: Linda & the ladies who attended to the catering from early Saturday though to the end of evening & action next day to leave the club in top shape. Thanks also to Mark Nugent & the lads who provided the refreshments & BBQ, Tim Dodds for coordination the video presentations, Steve Sims MC, Hugh Dodds for photos, Mandy Auston for reunion “T” shirts.
The season ahead looks promising with the rebuild/upgrade of 3 skiffs VS 2234, 2238 & 2226. Also VS 2241 transferring to new crew brings the potential fleet to 15 skiffs. Looking forward to another great year in this 77 year old Australian class.
Col Gillespie, President VSSA, 11th July 2015
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