President's Message 2021/22

September 2021

Dear Members & Friends,

As the incoming president for the 2021/2022 sailing season, I want to welcome you back to Largs Bay Sailing Club for our 95th season and introduce myself to those who may not know me.

My involvement with LBSC spans over 3 generations. As a junior I started sailing with my dad, Greg Hampton in a Heron, progressed to a National E and then the Usual. I’m pretty sure I also spent a lot of time as a teen bailing out a Cadet Dinghy as well, I wish I had even a quarter of the training our juniors get nowadays but unfortunately I was ballast and sailing is not an easy sport to learn. My daughters have benefited from the robust junior sailing programme at LBSC which means they haven't had to learn from me! I still enjoy my time on the water in the TS16 in the right conditions, just a love of the ocean and a continuance of my sailing journey. It was a very proud day for our family when my dad received his life membership in 2012; our club has brought a lot of joy to the Hampton clan over the years as I know it has for many families.

In South Australia we have been relatively lucky with the COVID lockdowns but there have been challenges with running LBSC with the downturn in hospitality events culminating in cancelled hall hires and restrictions on licensed premises impacting the club. Now more than ever it is vitally important that we support each other and foster the sense of community and inclusion that our membership brings, while marvelling at the best views on the peninsula (we like to call it our holiday home). I continue to be amazed at all the quiet achievers that volunteer time, energy, passion, coaching, sponsorship, knowledge and enthusiasm to our club which continues to be so wonderful - THANKYOU 😊

Along with our presiding Commodore Nick Neale, we have the guidance of some experienced members on the committee as well as some new faces who bring some new ideas. If it's been a while since you have visited, we still open the club on Fridays at 5pm, Opening day is 9th October and our club program is on the website. Notwithstanding COVID restrictions, the club is set to host the 60th Breezair International Cadet Australian Championship from 28th December to 3rd January and the 62nd Heron Australian Championship from 8th to 15th January 2022. We also look forward to hosting the Kite Foiling Championship on the 6th and 7th November plus some of their regular race events throughout the season. LBSC can't do this without our volunteers, and I would love to hear from you to include you in our volunteer roster, in the absence of a regular Race Officer we will need members to assist with this as well.

Youth Sail Training for Opti’s, Cadets and 420s along with our regular Tackers Program is all set to go for this season, and we are fortunate to have Kylie Baker as the Junior Training Co-ordinator for Saturday morning sail training along with some fresh volunteer faces. We look forward to seeing our youth numbers grow under the guidance of our qualified instructors to manage and advance our youth training programs. Sailing is such a great sport to teach youth strategy, resilience, planning and being with mother nature.

Club Sponsors are always welcome, and we acknowledge their valued ongoing contribution. Many long-standing sponsors have committed again which is great news and we welcome our new partners. Sponsors are listed on the website and the weekly newsletter publications. Carters Mechanical have again been working on our committee boats to ensure we are ready for the season ahead safely.

Great to see the community benefit from our ongoing Squash, Yoga with Paula Lyle and Westside Workouts with Claire – get along and join the fun!

Happy Sailing & Cheers for the year ahead,

Kym (Downie)
President LBSC
on behalf of the Management Committee