AGP Festivities Roar On Till 5am

On Friday 25 May DBSC held an Annual General Meeting like no other. Renamed the Annual General Party, the event lived up to its new moniker, with the last revellers exiting the clubhouse at 5am!  The evening started in a refined manner with cocktails and entrées on the deck followed by the official AGM. 

A beautiful start to the AGP.

The highlight of the “official” portion of the evening was Clare Alexander being named as Club Person of the Year. Clare’s never-ending enthusiasm and dedication to the club were recognised – whether it be helping on the Jazzman every week, serving as club Secretary, working to increase and celebrate women’s sailing, or her overall welcoming spirit, Clare is certainly a positive force at our club and is a very worthy recipient of DBSC’s most prestigious award. It was clear on the night that Clare was very excited about the honour. On Facebook she beamed, “You never do these things for any sort of accolade or praise but to be acknowledged in this forum was truly magical and I am so very grateful. Thank you to all my friends and family at DBSC!” Congratulations Clare!

Clare Alexander wins Club Person of the Year. Photo by Peter Collie

In addition to Clare’s award, all the 2017/18 sailing awards were presented (see complete list below) and Mark Bethwaite was inducted as an Honorary Life Member. We wish Mark all the best as he travels to sail in warmer climates during our winter months, and look forward to welcoming him back next summer. 

Mark Bethwaite with Shirley Roach. Photo by Peter Collie

All the Management Committee members then presented reports. By all accounts the state of the club is good. The last year saw DBSC gain 24 new members (including 6 new female members), 80 new initiatives, 15 new laser racks (which were all full during the season), and 3 successful grants, bringing in $18K to the club. Before the conclusion of the AGM, Commodore Andrew Cox and his Management Committee were re-elected and we look forward to another successful season under their leadership.

After the necessary formalities were out of the way, the evening took on a more festive tone. A delicious dinner was served up by Paul Adam and all the helpers in the kitchen, including Shirley Roach, Christine Patton, and many others who lent a hand.  

After dinner, the clubhouse was transformed into a full-on nightclub and Double Bay Sailing Club has never seen anything like it. A member-based rock band thumped out the greatest songs of all time, and everyone else cut loose on the dance floor. The band was led by the very talented professional front man and keyboardist, Gerard Masters, who has an incredible talent for cooking up a frenzy! He very generously gave his time, as did awesome professional guitarist, Sebby Bartels. Both are anchor musicians in James Tudball's highly-demanded White Tree bands, which specialise in weddings, parties, corporate gigs, and whatever. And then there were our talented club members, James Tudball on drums, Andrew Cox on bass, Finn Alexander on guitar, and the star of the show, Marty Trembath, on bagpipes. Special thanks to John Vasey who used his music industry connections to source donations of lighting and staging. After that thumping, we've had to ask the engineer to update his structural report on the piles.

Nightclub DBSC. Photo by Peter Collie

The conga line on the dance floor went on into the early hours of Saturday, with the heartiest partiers stumbling out of the clubhouse at 5am. Thankfully they didn’t need to tidy up thanks to the clean-up brigade of Shirley Roach, Mark Bethwaite, Peter Collie, John Vasey, Ian Alexander and Clare Alexander who came back Sunday morning to make sure the club was spick and span.

The Party Spills onto the Deck. Photo by Nick Pellow

Thanks to everyone who made this memorable event a great success. We’re already looking for next year’s edition!