H28 Division 60th Anniversary Celebration
Wednesday 1st March 2023
All the planning for this milestone event finally came together last Wednesday.
We had the largest fleet of H28’s seen for several years with 12 yachts crossing the start line. They were, Aloha, Anna, Corella, Georgina, Mariner, Nappea of Carrick, Swiftsure Saga, The First Jindarra and Wynella with visiting yachts, Bella, Manta and Tehana. It looked initially that the race was going to be a disaster with a delayed start because of a lack of wind. With changing light easterley breezes all competing yachts struggled with a northerly start down to Sampson. It was nearing 4.00pm and it was feared that we would not get a result, but persistence won at the end of the day when a light seabreeze saw all vessels moving with some promise to the finish before the scheduled time limit. A very hot 38C degree day on the water truly was an exhausting effort by all sailors and the day will no doubt be remembered for all the wrong reasons.
A few beers and we were all refreshed and ready to continue the celebrations.
The results saw three commemorative anniversary trophies awarded –
Fastest Mariner skippered by Kate Lammonby
1st on Handicap Aloha skippered by Andrew Minto
1st visiting yacht Manta skippered by Geoff Barr
After the results 90 members of the H28 family, friends and guests moved upstairs to the wardroom for a night of fine dining and fellowship. The evening commenced with a welcome by Commodore Troy Dalglish. Other invited guests included Rear Commodore Regatta Victoria Blanckensee and Vice Patron Len Randell. Coincidentally Len was also celebrating his 97th Birthday.
Rick Steuart spoke of the visit by a group of SoPYC members to Hobart for the recently held Australian Wooden Boat Show. Rick had also arranged a continuous slideshow of over 400 photos on two large screens depicting historical events and racing by H28s at SoPYC held over the past 60 years.
Ian Weaver also contributed to the evening with his perception of the H28 and the value of the Division in terms of the Club’s history. He reiterated that SoPYC is the only known yacht club in the world to have raced H28s and that it may be the longest sailing class on the Swan River. The Chairman of the Division, Ernie Little, acted as MC during the evening. He congratulated Glen Stanley for his contribution to the H 28 Division as Chairman for the past 13 years. He spoke about the cammaradrie within the sailing group and illustrated the reputation giving an account of the characters in past times and some of those still sailing at the present time. He voiced his concerns about the reduction in sailing numbers and suggested strategies for increasing crew and boat participation for the future. He pointed out that newcomer university student, Rupert Ledger, is like a breath of fresh air in the sailing fleet. Rupert has re energised “Georgina” with a rebuild and demonstrating it to be a competitive vessel in the fleet. His youth and enthusiasm is seen as a bright light to the future of the H28 Division.
Ernie Little
H28 Chairman
