Bermuda Gold Cup and Open Match Racing World Championship. Royal Bermuda Yacht Club, Hamilton, Bermuda. Day Four. 29th October 2020.
Unfortunately, dear friends, it is time for me to haul anchor and sail for calmer waters – but what a ride it’s been!
Your Club has weathered some very stormy seas over the past 12 months and I am pleased to report that we have come out of some very rough water, not completely unscathed, but largely intact and there are a lot of people to be thanked for their part in this. Is there still more work to be done? Yes, there sure is, but a different crew will take over from here and hopefully the voyage will be smoother. I ask you to give them whatever support they need.
64 new members have joined our ranks during the past year – that means that just over 10% of our members joined within the past 12 months. What a responsibility we have to them. We have to stay relevant to keep them interested; we have to ensure 21st century standards of governance; we have to continue reaching for excellence in all we do: in our staff, in our training and development of both staff and the future leaders of this Club. Our diversity and inclusion goals need more than lip-service paid to them. It is an onerous responsibility and one that needs all members to engage.
In terms of our sailing, we have to continue our community outreach to the local schools to bring the sport of sailing to more children; we have to figure out a way to maintain our new and old fleets that recognizes the value of these Club assets; we have to raise our standards when we run regattas and train our race management volunteers. Every which way we look, there is much to do. Hopefully more volunteers will come forward to assist with all this. Many hands make light work.
About the only thing that I have treasured during this past year is meeting you. Our members. I have really enjoyed talking with you, meeting as many of you as I could – during a time of no parties or events and strict social distancing, masks and the like – it hasn’t been easy. I always learned something and I really enjoyed you all, new and old, and hearing your stories. I will even miss these weekly chats that we’ve been having via newsletter.
On this next voyage, I have the luxury of choosing my fellow voyager(s) – I wouldn’t dare refer to the soon-to-be ex-Commodorable as ‘crew’! The last word in the Commodore’s Corner series has to be my heartful thanks to him for his steadfast support during what has been a testing year. I have boundless energy, but not only does he keep up, he’s usually a couple of steps ahead of me, with tentative suggestions, wise counsel and tremendous encouragement. Perhaps not many of you know this, but he was a successful sailor in his day, an active participant in the development of the discipline of match racing, served for a very long time on the board of the World Match Race Tour and is responsible for encouraging the hosting of many match racing events across the globe; he travelled the world with the likes of Jordy Walker, Brian Billings and Dick Kempe promoting match racing events. He is also a past-Commodore of the Knickerbocker Yacht Club on Long Island, NY, a member of the New York Yacht Club, a long-time member of the Royal Bermuda Yacht Club and an honorary member of the Royal Gothenburg Yacht Club. So, he knows a thing or two about yacht clubs…. Indeed, I think it was his constant badgering to his thousands of sailing friends around the globe that helped us win the Wight Vodka “Best Sailor’s Bar” a couple of years ago! I am privileged to be able to call Teddy Weisberg my beloved husband and the RHADC owes him a debt of gratitude for allowing it to be the ‘other party’ in our marriage for so many of these past years.
Elspeth Weisberg
Commodore
March 24, 2021