If I had to sum up the year in one word, I think “change” is probably fair.

For me, the year kicked off in mid-January when Sarah Wiblin told me she was resigning and encouraged me to put my name forward as Interim General Manager. It was a big call – especially with a four-year-old at home – and to be honest the timing felt soon, but I knew I had to take the opportunity.

So in March I stepped into the role, on almost the same day David (Blakey) started as Commodore, which meant we were both straight into it together. I really want to thank David, the Flags, and the General Committee for their support – we simply wouldn’t be where we are without it.

Hospitality and Urban Gourmet

Since taking on the Interim GM role in March – we got to work.

One of our major focuses right from the start was food and beverage. We all know that traditionally hospitality has made a solid contribution to club finances, and helped subsidise other parts of what we do. Post-COVID, that hasn’t been achievable, despite a lot of effort.

So we had to think seriously about direction:

  • Do we bring in outside expertise?
  • What leadership do we need?
  • How do we stabilise this area so we can get back to a financially sustainable position.

I’m very grateful for some outstanding members who helped us through this process, one goal at the top of that list was financial stability. But just as importantly: simplifying the hospitality offering so the Squadron can focus on our core business – being a sailing club, delivering racing, cruising, youth pathways, and rich on-and-off-water experiences for our members.

Once the General Manager role became permanent, we moved straight into a big change process – working closely with staff, partnering with Montana, and bringing their catering arm Urban Gourmet on board. It hasn’t been easy; change never is, and we’ve had some valued people move on. But it’s also given us the chance to reset and rebuild. We’re now nearly three months into the partnership and already seeing a real turnaround in hospitality, with October and November tracking very strongly financially. So a huge thank you to my team in the administration office who’ve adapted and stayed the course – I’m really proud of how you’ve backed the club through this transition.

Another really positive and more recent change has been bringing Frank HQ Accounting on board as our virtual CFO service – but they’re not really that virtual; they seem to really like coming into the building! We now have a three-person team supporting management reporting, accounting, and finance alongside Vicki, so the Flags, Finance & Risk Committee, my management team and I are working from clear, reliable information.

As part of this wider rebuild: we’re strengthening our internal team too, and you’ll see more key faces joining us in the new year to support the direction we’re heading.

But enough business talk. Let’s get to the fun stuff: our members and our results.

Sailing success on the world stage

The Squadron has been on the world stage this year with some truly impressive performances:

  • Caro and Callisto – 4th at the Admiral’s Cup
  • Megan Thomson and her 2.0 Racing – 2nd at the Women’s Match Racing Worlds
  • Aaron Hume-Merry and Anna Merchant – 5th at the Double-Handed World Championships —
  • Ella Arnold and Ben Roff, 1st at the SANNZ Northern Triangle —and they were the youngest team out there
  • In the ILCA 7 George Pilkington:
    • 5th overall Under 21 at the Worlds
    • 3rd overall and 1st U21 at the UK ILCA National Championship
  • And one result I’m particularly proud of – our youth sailors over at Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club for the Youth International recently. We finished 1, 2, 3, 4 — we sent four teams, four top spots. A clean sweep, the talent coming through the YTP at the moment is strong!

Most recent YNZ Awards

A huge congratulations also to the following member who got major awards:

  • Sailor of the Year – Emirates Team New Zealand
  • Female Sailor of the Year – 2.0 Racing
  • Official of the Year – Ryan Parkin
  • Peter Lester Award for Outstanding Contribution – Mark Mulcare

Member focus and communications

We’re focusing on our members more than ever, and that’s meant more frequent updates, stronger member newsletters and EDMs, a better flow of information on the website, and a revamped BREEZE packed with more member stories than ever before.

You’ll also notice Mainsheet is more informative and easier to navigate now, with quick links at the top so you can jump straight to what matters to you – we’re listening, and we’ll keep refining it. A big part of that lift in storytelling is thanks to our very own Suellen Hurling – fresh off winning the People’s Choice Award for her photography, w’re incredibly lucky to have a world-class, award-winning photographer and communications talent helping bring Squadron stories to life.

There’s still more to come

Before this year is out, we’ve got members racing in the Sydney Hobart Yacht Race, with three entries under our burgee:

  • V5
  • Rum Bucket, and
  • Callisto

Including our very own Sailing Manager Ella Sagnol, who is on the V5 crew! We’ll be cheering you on loudly. Personally, I’ll be in Hobart – so looking forward to cheering for our members from Constitution dock!!

The club is yours

If I could leave you with one thing today, it’s this:

  • Use the club
  • Come in, dine, bring friends, race, cruise, turn up to events
  • And tell us what you think – good, bad, ugly, all of it. If we don’t know, we can’t improve. And if something is working well, then we want to know that too.
  • If you’re thinking about coming to something, please RSVP early so we know what you want and can plan properly.

Thank you again for being here, thank you for backing the Squadron through a big year of change, and I hope you all have an amazing cruising and racing summer.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

Georgia