President's Report
There is always a lot going on in the Dragon class both on and off the water in WA. A year on from hosting the National Championships we experienced a small decline in sailing attendance although we continue to maintain our reputation as the largest one design fleet racing each weekend out of Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club.
With attendance down on the water this year, the Dragon Class has been experiencing some growth and going through some what of a mini revival, with four Dragons being bought/sold this year. It firstly saddens me when we lose fellow Dragon members such as notorieties like Mike Lefroy & John Longley who sold Charisma to Steven Cole ? whom we welcome.
Another great competitor/ contributor in Hank Koelimji & Giles Everest who sailed Maalee into third position in the 2006 Prince Philip Cup has been sold to Geoff Black and Gazelle was then onIt is with pleasure that I report to you on the activities of your Association for the 2010 2011 Sailing Season.
Administratively 2010/2011 was a quieter time for your committee than in the prior year when the Prince Philip Cup (PPC) was held in Perth however it has been a busy time for the eight Western Australian Dragon crews who competed in the 2011 PPC and World Championship hosted by Royal Brighton Yacht Club on Port Phillip Bay in Victoria.
The WA entries " Scoundrel" skippered by Willy Packer with crew Julian Harding and Dennis Cullity and " Puff EU " skippered by Richard Lynn with crew Ian Olsen and Ron Rosenberg distinguished themselves with top ten placings in the World championship and a fourth placing by "Puff EU "in the PPC.
The subsequent return of the WA representatives to fleet racing on the Swan River saw many boats sporting new sails in a push for continual improvement in the overall performance of our Dragon fleet.
The WA fleet based at the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club( RFBYC) has been strengthened with the addition of two high standard boats recently imported to Western Australia being "Scoundrel " Willy Packer and "Linnea" Sandra Anderson and soon to be delivered from Europe is a new boat to Ian Malley. The participation of Ken Borland "Cimmaron" and more recently Matt Zimmerman in "Sassafras" are welcome as relatively newcomers to the fleet and their gradual improvement is being evidenced with each outing - well done guys. There are currently 21 "active" Dragons listed on the RFBYC register and it was pleasing to witness 17 boats participating at the Club's end of season race.
Former Flying 15 and Viking 30 sailor, Darren Maher has recently acquired "Red Baron" but has had one race start to date with a view to campaigning in earnest in the 2011/2012.
Mark and Tony Lynn will be taking a rest from sailing for a time to be with their respective families at an important stage of their lives. Their competitiveness and kindly manner will be missed.
The State Championship series was conducted over a six races and fiercely contested in a variety of non-typical wind directions that favoured the brave. Andrew Foulkes, Matt Stafford and Andrew Campbell ( substituting for Ed Bennett) "sailing "Tatsu" showed their class as winners of the event from” Red Baron” skippered by Tony Lynn and "Hotspur” skippered by Ken Stevenson.
The RFBYC Club Championship resulted in a popular win by "Gazelle X1V "skippered by Geoff Black and crewed by Matt East and George Gregson.
Next season it is proposed that the State Championship will be conducted from the Royal Perth Annex in Fremantle over the March long weekend 2012.
The finances of WAIDA are in a strong position and members can look forward to further growth and improvement in our fleet.
I extend many thanks to the tireless efforts of the WAIDA Committee and to its supporters in particular the Stevenson family and to Peter Hay.
Best wishes to all