Christmas greetings to all EDYC club members.
The 2022 sailing season is well and truly behind us, and I hope you all had an enjoyable time on the water. It has been encouraging to see the club revitalised and active again following what has been a few very strange years for the country, indeed the world. A club can only survive and thrive with active and interested club members and I wish to acknowledge and thank you all for your contribution to the life of EDYC.
The December AGM will hopefully be the last to be held on Zoom, I know I am certainly looking forward to the meeting resuming in the McRoberts room Next Year. I would sincerely like to thank everyone who attended, it was great to see so many new members and, of course, always good to see the ‘aul hands’ !
I would like to introduce the Executive committee members for 2023.
- Commodore Keith Carr
- Vice Commodore Liam Kelly
- Hon Secretary Alan Wood
- Hon Treasurer Peter Thompson
- Rear Commodore Sailing John Patterson
- Sailing Captain Gina Lyttle
General Executive Committee – Graham Wright, Gordon Reid, Dawn Stocking and David Maxwell.
Special acknowledgements to John Dixon for his role on the executive committee over the past years and to David Maxwell and Liam Kelly as outgoing Sailing Captain and Rear Commodore Sailing respectively.
Many thanks also goes to our outgoing Commodore Stephen Dow for admirably taking the club through what was a difficult time due to the Covid pandemic.
2022 turned out to be a great year on the water. Areas that stood out were youth sailing which has shown significant growth with some excellent results achieved by our young folk including winning the Strangford Lough Youth Series.
The EDYC Regatta was another success with over 70 boats from around the Lough taking part. The Mid Summer BBQ, Members Lunch and children’s Halloween Party were all well attended and enjoyable social events. All these events, both on and off the water, required a co-ordinated effort by volunteers in order for them to be as successful as they were. My thanks to them.
On the water the Impala and Leisure 17 fleets have expanded and hope to run their own events next year. So with all this going on and with EDYC hosting the International Wayfarers Event 2023 should be an interesting year. Watch this space!
Like any club we know that there is a constant need to refurbish and update the facilities including the clubhouse. As a committee we are also aware of the need to replace, for example, the Chevy which has been our vital club ‘work boat’ and taxi for many years but unfortunately is coming to the end of its useful service. To order to prioritise the future club development and ensure that the club continues to meet the needs of members Malcolm Beattie has kindly produced a five-year strategic plan. This plan together with the responses from Gordon Reid’s member survey, which I hope you got a chance to complete!, will help us to take the club forward.
EDYC is blessed with the number of volunteers who consistently step up to the mark to keep the club running smoothly both on and off the water and my thanks goes to them. If you would like to volunteer to help in any capacity just speak to one of the committee members mentioned above. You will be very welcome.
Finally I hope that you have a wonderful Christmas and perhaps get some boating related item amongst your presents on Christmas morning. More importantly, as we bid farewell to the year 2022, I would like to wish you a safe, happy and healthy 2023.
Keith Carr
EDYC Commodore
I hope they winterised their boat!
Photo Courtesy of Royal Canadian Mounted Police – West Kelowna
