NOW & THEN

TIDINGS EDITIONS MISSING FROM THE CLUB’S COLLECTION

1962 JAN, JUN 1963 FEB, MAY, AUG, NOV 1964 JAN, APR, JUN 1965 JAN, MAR 1966 FEB, JUN 1967 JAN, JUN, OCT 1968 MAR, JUL, SEP, DEC 1969 FEB, MAR, JUL, SEP, DEC 1970 JAN, APR, JUL, SEP, DEC 1971 JAN, APR, JUN, SEP, DEC 1972 JAN, MAR, MAY, AUG, SEP, NOV 1973 JAN, APR, JUN, SEP, NOV 1974 JAN, MAR, MAY, JUN, JUL, AUG, SEP, NOV 1975 JAN, FEB, MAY, JUN, AUG, SEP, NOV 1976 JAN, FEB, APR, JUN, JUL, AUG, OCT, DEC 1977 JAN, FEB, DEC 1978 FEB, MAR, MAY, JUL, AUG, OCT 1979 JAN, FEB, APR, MAY, AUG, OCT

FRESHWATER BAY TIDINGS

Now and Then will every now and then relate something from the Club Archives to current events and activities.

THE ARCHIVE TEAM OF VOLUNTEERS continue to work their way through converting the Club’s official publications and records to electronic files. The long-term outcome will be state of the art electronic search and retrieve access to the Club’s historic records.

The reason for preserving the past records of the Club is best described by Basil Twine, who together with wife Jenny has been our long-time archivist. ‘The efforts and achievements of our members in the past together with their decisions, their habits and the resultant customs all combine to create the tradition and character of our great Club’.

The Club’s history of membership and boat registrations/ownership/ achievements is documented in Tidings and Year Books, as well as the official Minutes of Committees. Every now and then Club calls on members to locate copies of publications which have escaped the Club’s collection.

MISSING TIDINGS

If you have copies of Tidings published in the 1960s and 1970s, when it was published monthly (generally 11 or 12 editions per year), please consider donating them to the Club. Specific months are missing for each year (please see inset opposite), however duplicate copies are kept so any editions from these decades will be welcome donations.

BRINGING MEMBERS GLAD TIDINGS FOR 60 YEARS…

FRESHWATER BAY TIDINGS was first published 60 years ago in June 1961. It was a four-page blue-onwhite edition mailed to over 1,000 members to ‘keep each member fully informed on all matters concerning the Club’s conduct and development’ as explained by the then Commodore Michael Ahern (dec) in his column ‘From the Commodore’. RFBYC member David Cruickshank (dec) was the inaugural editor.

In light of the publications purpose, the first edition shared with members the news that Bar Trade had been better than expected, however it noted that some members were buying soft drink provisions elsewhere unaware the Club could provide supplies.

Continuing in the manner of ‘history repeats itself’ the first edition reported that repairs were being undertaken to the sea wall underneath the main wharf. The roadway was to be raised to be safely above highwater level and it was hoped that it would be ‘trouble free for many years to come’.

On the sailing front, the Regatta Committee announced that ‘lads reaching 15 years of age and leaving Pelicans’ could take up the Gwenette class, being a second-hand Gwen 12 with a smaller sail area. The cost was 100-120GBP and four were immediately available for purchase - Betty Anne, Simplicity, Echo Too and Vickie.

Although the Gwenette has now disappeared from the Club’s shores, the International Dragon Class continues to flourish. 2021 is the 70th year of the class racing at RFBYC and in 1961, Tidings announced that the Prince Philip Cup was to be held in Perth just prior to the Empire Games in 1962.

Ten years down the track, Freshwater Bay Tidings remained a four-page publication. At the start of 1971 the ‘Commodore’s Notes’ by Commodore John Plunkett (dec) congratulated the Club members on the success of the World Hornet Championships and included an extract from Yachting and Boating Weekly stating ‘RFBYC who ran the series came out of it covered with glory. Never before has championship racing been so perfectly organised. Together with a shore administration that never failed to meet every request for a fortnight, the sailing committee could not be faulted.’

What a great standard and one that continues to be met with every regatta hosted by RFBYC.

By the end of 1971 the publication was enhanced with a full colour cover. The October edition featured a beautiful photograph of Tony Manford’s Dragon Leander sailing in Cockburn Sound. Interestingly, the same photo appeared on the cover of the November edition.

By 1981 Freshwater Bay Tidings was published simply as Tidings. Early in the year the publication featured a black/white aerial photo of the Club on its cover and much-admired colour photos inside. By the second half of the year the publication was reduced in size and only printed in black/white. The change

NOW & THEN CONTINUED

right: Front cover, Tidings April 1981

was attributed to postal regulations – although there must have been substantial savings on the publication costs.

The ‘Message from the Commodore’ was always a succinct piece under the pen of Commodore Bruce Campbell (dec). Class reports were regularly contributed by 420’s, Laser’s, Dragons, Solings, Flying 15, Hornets, Moths, Cruiser Divisions, Offshore, Power, Juniors and The Wine Club!

The item still vexing the General Committee and Club Administration was the number of trailers being left on the Club premises. ‘Any member who has a trailer on the grassed area behind the Junior Club Rooms is requested to remove it immediately. The General Committee will take action to remove any trailers that remain on the Club grounds at the time of the next General Committee meeting’ – as published on the front page of Tidings, December 1981!

A decade later in 1991, Tidings remained a mono print publication but was up to 16 pages in size. Stephen Parker (dec) was editor and Debbie Hills (now our Yachting Operations Manager, Debbie Blaauw) was the assistant editor. The big-little Tidings now covered race results, reports from classes/divisions, Committee reports and Office Bearer reports. Events and functions (including Sunday buffet and a la carte menus) were being promoted, Racing Rules were being explained, Cruising in Company reports had been added, Boats for Sale ads were many, Club Merchandise was being advertised and ‘Fifty Years Ago from the Minute Book’ was a regular item keeping members in touch with the history of the Club.

One of the most unusual reports in the March 1991 Tidings came from the Flying 15s. Nils Blumen, a well-known yachtsman from Esperance, joined the Club’s Flying 15 fleet for their Saturday afternoon race in his own FF The Downhill Slide. Whilst the report provides no indication of Nils place in the race, it does explain how he came to be there with his yacht.

Nils had sailed The Downhill Slide from Esperance to RFBYC with his 18-year-old daughter Siobahn as crew. That’s 700 nautical miles along the treacherous WA SW coast around two capes in a Flying 15!

Big changes to Tidings occurred with the new millennium. General Committee accepted a proposal for a 24 page, A4 magazine-style full colour gloss publication with the first in this design published in May 2001. Commodore Mark Cubitt introduced the new style with the reassurance that the costs were one half the existing one-colour print design costs.

Other notable items appearing in Tidings of the new century were the reports from members travelling far and wide and setting sail on distant waters.

Jono Farmer was a regular contributor with his wonderful tales of cruising the North Ionian on Zephyros. Others setting sail in foreign waters were also encouraged to share their stories with members through Tidings, especially those who were displaying their racing skills on water.

NOW & THEN CONTINUED

Belinda Stowell shared her appreciation for the Club’s assistance in achieving her Olympic Gold medal and updated members on her second-place finish in the European 470 Championship in Dublin. Grant Alderson provided an indepth analysis of the Club’s Flying 15 contingent of Greg Leaversuch and Peter Barblett, Ron Packer and Peter Mudford, Dean McAullay and Grant who contested the 2001 World Championships in Durban. JESS reports came in from Nieuwpoort, Belgium and Warnemuende, Northeast Germany. And Trish Ford reported back to members on the Dragon World Championships held in Hornbaek, Denmark.

At the start of the next decade in 2011, Tidings continued in its magazine format with six editions per year. It took on a very corporate style with Office Bearer and General Manager reports comprehensively covering Committee decisions and operations.

Even more member contributions were being provided by those attending championships interstate and around the world. However, it’s the inclusion of many more photos of racing yachts and pleasure craft on the water as well as members socialising at Club events that provide a pictorial history of the Club in this new decade. Although, archive volunteers of the future are going to have to dig deep to identify so many of the unnamed people. At least boats have numbers and names to identify them!

Now in 2021, the 60th year of publication, Tidings continues to bring news of interest to Club members. It is complemented by regular on-line updates of Club matters by the e-newsletters Front of House, Gybe Sheet, Dinghy Digest and Power Torque. The online Fresh News blog and the Club’s website, Facebook and Twitter feed all provide members with access to Club activities and information and together fulfill the need identified by the General Committee in 1961 to ‘keep each member fully informed on all matters concerning the Club’s conduct and development’.

If you can help with donations of early Tidings, please contact the Club.

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