Royal Geelong Yacht Club named a finalist in Australian Sailing Club of the Year Awards
by Alice Minney 22 Oct 2017 07:11 BST
22 October 2017
Royal Geelong Yacht Club, home of the Festival of Sails © Salty Dingo
In recognition of an outstanding year of sailing, the Royal Geelong Yacht Club (RGYC) has been named a finalist in the Australian Sailing 2016/17 Club of the Year Award.
RGYC is competing against Royal Prince Alfred Yacht Club in New South Wales and Western Australia's Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club for the prestigious title, which will be announced at the Australian Sailing Awards in Sydney on Friday, November 3.
Yachting Victoria nominated the Geelong club for the award, which follows hot on the heels of RGYC being crowned the 2017 Victorian Yacht Club of the Year and the RGYC Sailing School also named as best in the state after winning the 2017 Discover Sailing Centre of the Year.
RGYC Commodore, John Kint said the Club was extremely proud to be recognised for its efforts and delighted to be nominated as a finalist for the national accolade.
"It's a wonderful acknowledgement for our members and our achievements and contribution to the sport of sailing. I want to congratulate all of our staff and members for all of their efforts and continued support.
"To be recognised by your peers and fellow yachting enthusiasts as a Club that stands out above all others in the country would be the highest praise indeed, and I know all of our members would be incredibly proud of that accolade."
In August, RGYC won a global bid to host the 2022 Fireball World Titles, after securing the national Championship event for 2019.
The club is also in the bidding to host two other significant World Title events in 2020, which, if successful would bring an estimated economic benefit to Geelong of almost $3.7 million. In January 2018, RGYC's iconic Festival of Sails will also celebrate its 175th anniversary.
Mr Kint says RGYC has seen participation in its courses and programs nearly quadruple over the past three seasons.
"We had a great response to the four new women's programs we introduced this year," he says. "And our new Tiny Trackers program for kids aged from four to seven, ran in both the March and October school holidays because it was so incredibly popular."
"Added to that the number of students coming back to their sailing training courses has been very strong so we have every reason to expect that interest in our programs and participation will continue to grow."
According to Mr Kint, the Club of the Year nomination is also a timely affirmation of the Royal Geelong Yacht Club's ambitious growth plans.
"It's no secret that we have major development plans in our sights, which we believe will deliver significant economic and social benefits to Geelong," he said.
"An accolade like this nomination gives us that extra confidence to keep fighting to push ahead and make it finally happen."
Royal Geelong Yacht Club employs 12 staff and has 220 volunteers and a membership base of more than 1150.