Commodore’s Members Update, December 2

What a wonderful privilege to write my first MYC Commodore’s message, for our club, a club with a proud history of sailing and a strong future. Firstly I wish to thank all of the members of the Board for 20/21 for offering your time, advice and effort – the MYC Board is full of highly credible individuals with talents across a vast array of areas including business, sports administration, the boating industry, marketing and management. The MYC is very fortunate to have them. I also want to make a special mention of Gary Schulz for steering the club over the past 3 years into such an excellent position, he remains a trusted board member, treasurer, advisor and friend. 

Over the coming months, the MYC Board will be reviewing core areas such as budget, insurance and safety. Thanks to Mark Coghlan, Michael Reinehr and Suzanne Mabbott, who along with myself, will form the MYC Safety Committee. Look out for updates on this as we look to clarify access to safety boats etc use and look to make available safety audit services for our offshore fleet. We are also moving to make more use of our MYC website and other technologies, with the support of Australian Sailing.  

The Board will also commence strategic planning activities to understand our shared vision for the future of the club, both in the medium and long term. There will be a number of activities aimed at engaging members to contribute to this conversation. There are many opportunities and factors to consider in order to ensure we have a clear and sustainable direction forward. Strategy is as much about understanding what we intend to do, as it is about understanding what we are not going to do. I look forward to working with you over the first three months of 2021 to develop this plan.  

In relation to current sailing development activities, our Discover Sailing Courses are continuing to be successful and are providing a wonderful opportunity to new sailors to learn to sail and engage with our club, the Women’s Development Program is looking to provide a mentor / coach skills consolidation model in 2021 and have recently hosted the very successful Mooloolaba Women’s Keelboat Regatta. The Women’s Racing Squad is activity participating in regattas both within QLD and interstate, with teams competing recently in both Darwin and Newcastle. There are also plans being developed in relation to Youth / Schools Sailing and private coaching.  

Our offshore fleet continues to race both on Sundays and Wednesdays and provides an excellent opportunity for competitive offshore racing, along with introducing sailors who have been through our Discover Sailing Program to regular offshore racing. Our Friday night Rum Runners Series provides a fantastic way to round off the working week. The fun, inclusive and social match racing format is super exciting, particularly given the excellent vantage point from our MYC clubroom.  

I want to make a special mention of our sponsors Sunreef Mooloolaba, Next Property Group, Sunshine Coast Council and Visit Sunshine Coast, along with thanking The Wharf Mooloolaba, Lawrie’s Boat Services, Ashby Boatbuilders and Australian Sailing for their support of our great club. Thanks also to all members for your support and patience in 2020 as we have navigated our way together through a very challenging year. It was truly amazing to be part of a club that put the safety of members and the community first and moved in a very agile way to address issues as they arose to provide many safe opportunities to get out on the water (or even via Virtual Reality racing for a short period – how awesome is sailing!). We all have our fingers and toes crossed for a resolution of the COVID-19 pandemic and look forward to a vibrant 2021 of both competitive and developmental sailing, with wonderful friends, old and new. 

Please join us for the MYC Tinny Rally, this coming Sunday, it is a super fun family event and will take you on a funny and interesting course, set by yours truly! We will also be hosting an end of year celebration for members on December 13 in the clubroom – more details to follow.

Tanya Kelly, Commodore