1999/2000 Commodores Comment.
June 2000.
Well what an action packed season this was. The class has continued to grow in Canterbury with the addition of The Custard square (Montana Bakery) sailed by Daniel Folter & Paul MacGibbon. Daniel has come to his senses at last, selling his laser to get into the action. Another addition to our ranks was Ashton Smith and Mitch Dean sailing Reggae, both flying the coop out of starlings. New crews coming into the fold were Steve Fortune on Acid Rock, Jason Russell on Virtual Reality and Lance Smith on Sydenham Bakery.
On the new boat front, we saw the launching of 2 boats this season. Firstly Bevan Hussey launched Sydenham Bakery and introduced his new crew, 15 year old Lance Smith straight out of the P Class, to the joy of "R's". No one can say that Lance isn't keen! The next new boat to hit the water was Meridian Energy sailed by Dave Pairman & Tim Allan, bringing the number of 'Woof' hulls in Canterbury to 2.
The season was also action packed on the racing front with the usual calender of events. However the 50th anniversary of the Leander was always going to be the pinnacle. This was a marvellous event with a variety of breezes, a great turn out, and excellent organisation on and off the water. For Steve and me it was fantastic, winning the Leander title on 'Chemical Weapon'. It was extremely pleasing to see the Canterbury fleet lift its performance as a whole and get so painfully close to winning the teams trophy - definitely next season! The other stand outs in the contest were Acid Rock , performing well and winning both the Youth and Doug Harrison (highest placed boat over 5 years) trophies and Meridian Energy showing great speed and continual improvement.
I would like now to take the opportunity to thank Steve MacIntosh for all the hard work in the organisation of this event and to all the others who pulled their weight in helping. On the thank-you side again I would like to thank Steve for being Canterbury R class Squadron Secretary and National Secretary. Thanks also to Paul Roe and TheVirtual Ltd, for all the countless hours maintaining the web site, which everyone would agree is fantastic.
Looking forward to next season.
New boats:- Dan Leech & Steven Fortune are building a modified "Woof". Paul Roe & Jason Russell and Dan Folter & Paul MacGibbon are building "Woofs", while some other existing crews are looking to update in the future. Acid Rock has been sold to new youngsters and interest is building from others wanting to get into R's. All in all, the coming season promises to be an exciting one.
Sean
Sean Milner. Commodore - Canterbury "R" Class Squadron