Commodore’s Message

Commodore Denis Martinet

會長孟憲庭 First, congratulations to everyone who turned out for the Electoral General Meeting on 10 June.

By all accounts, it was one of, if not THE most attended EGM on record. This epitomises the health of our Club and specifically the active involvement of its members. Yet beyond simple participation, it is also our individual and collective duty to ensure we are diligent and informed in our choices. Many view this great exercise as something to be dispensed with alacrity, ticking a box here or currying favour there. As the sitting chair of the Nominating Committee, we do spend a rather long time trying to identify suitable candidates, new blood for your consideration. These and those put forward by fellow members deserve that you personally assess objectively their candidacy. I therefore respectfully urge you to spend time and indeed some effort to know them better and determine whether they, individually and/or collectively, will be able to steer the Club in these turbulent times. In the final analysis, this is what matters, will you trust them at the helm of the boat in a gale!

To those that were elected, welcome and take heed. And to those who fell short, don’t give up, we need passionate and dedicated people – and there is always the next EGM to have another go!

On to sailing and the most recent Spring Regatta Sponsored by HSBC Expat saw a record 118 boats entered. Many thanks to Barry Truhol and his race management team, together with the sailing and marine staff for an enjoyable weekend.

Another record was also set that Sunday with the temperature getting as high as 36.1ºC at the Observatory weather station. The risk of dehydration is very real as we found out when a young member was hospitalised as a result. We are very happy to hear from her parents that she is well on her way to recovery. So these risks are not to be taken lightly so please hydrate and have sufficient liquid, and I mean water, on board!

Whilst that weekend wrapped up the formal sailing season, we have the St James’s Place Sunset Series now underway with hopefully a third of the races completed with five more to go in July and three in August. The Rowing and Paddle Sports Section is also launching its own Sunset Series on Thursday evenings through the summer taking the opportunity to get the wider R&PS community together at Kellett Island to row and paddle in Victoria Harbour at sunset. The first event is on 8 July and will run for 8 consecutive Thursdays featuring two C4X+ and two OC6s each evening.

My thanks to the approximately 1,600 members who completed our vaccine survey in May. At that time, 95% of the respondents were either fully vaccinated, had taken the first dose or indicated an intention to get vaccinated. That was and is very positive news indeed and led to the Club taking the first step forwards opening up. Starting in June the Compass Room and Steakhouse opened for dinner under Type C regulations meaning larger table sizes and later dining hours. At the time of writing more measures to open are in the pipeline and indeed may have been implemented by the time you read this.

It has been a long wait but the Main Bar may be back soon…

RHKYC Charity Foundation – Turtle Mascot Design Winner!

As announced in the recent monthly Club video, Jocelyn Kwok is the winner of the Turtle Mascot Design Competition! Congratulations Jocelyn! Here she is with her winning design along with Ambrose Lo, Chairman of the RHKYC Charity Foundation and Commodore Denis Martinet.

Jocelyn applied a mandala design to the top shell of the turtle. The turtle head is coloured in a progressive rainbow colour. ‘Protect the Environment’ is written at the belly of the turtle with the aim of highlighting the message that we should all be environmentally friendly. There is a chained “Love” on the rims of the shells with a warm colour background. This reinforces the importance for us to protect the environment.