Page 4 - June 2019 Kwasind

Chris Mitchele
Commodore commodore@rcyc.ca
It is hard to believe that I am writing my final article. As I reflect back to my final year in this role, it has been quite a year of change and accomplishments. While the significant renovation of our Island Clubhouse completed, many of our sailing and other activities enjoyed much success. We recently completed our Annual Report where you will find many details as each of the Flag Officers report on the work of our many Committees and their implementation of the Strategic Plan Directions. I encourage you to take the time to read the Annual Report as it provides more detail and insights. I will share a few of those here.
First let me begin by welcoming Neil Rooney to our Club as our new General Manager. With this now complete, I want to thank the Staff and Board who stepped in to help though this transition.
This year we were fortunate to have many sailing successes. We hosted the Canadian Youth Championships which won Sail Canada’s “Regatta of the Year”. We had solid performances in our dingy fleets - Lasers, 29er’s, and 49er’s. We launched our new and very successful VX One fleet. The Ideal 18s, one of our older but well used fleets, enjoyed a significant refurbishment. As well, our adult sailing programs enjoyed substantial growth and popularity this year. Our J105 regattas achieved “Clean Regatta” successes, an important accomplishment toward our focus on environmental sustainability. This year also saw the launch of our new regional training centre on our Parliament St. property, a partnership with Ontario Sailing and Sail Canada. We launched our Race Management Program offering additional opportunities for Members to engage with sailing and spend some time on the water. To deliver on this program we have partnered with other clubs to secure additional top-level race officials from around the lake to ensure excellent race management for all regattas and fleets while also providing training to develop our newer Race Management Team Members.
Our sporting successes extended beyond sailing. Fitness continues to grow, and the popularity of our Squash leagues and programs drove participation to record levels, while Lawn Bowling expanded into the winter season with the addition of indoor mats for the Sports Hall.
Last year there were many events that offered the chance to celebrate our Heritage. We welcomed one of our former flagships home, the HMCS Oriole. For me, she is a symbol of RCYC’s long standing tradition of service to our country, and so it was a wonderful honour to host her while she was in Toronto. We are thrilled that the HMCS Oriole will again return in 2020 to celebrate her 100th anniversary. We also celebrated David Howard’s induction into the Canadian Sailing Hall of Fame, and his 100th birthday! In honour of this, and the years of involvement and support of junior sailing, we named our Junior Club building the “Commodore David E. Howard House”.
Our Membership remains robust and many achievements were realized last year while the team remained focused on retention and acquisition. The successful Trial Membership is again being offered over the coming summer months, so please be sure to introduce your friends and family to our fine Club.
Members have and continue to make good use of our upgraded dining facilities. Thanks to the Island Clubhouse renovation we now have an Island Bar with spectacular views of Toronto Harbour.
Speaking of the renovations, let me take a moment to reflect on one of our major strategic plan accomplishments, the Cornerstone Project. Last year we were still very much under construction at this time and the grounds and paths were still being repaired from flood damage of the previous spring. Everyone working on the Cornerstone Project was focussed on Sailpast, as they understood the importance of being able to operate for that weekend. Crews worked until the very end, tables were being setup as carpenters and painters were finishing. The final scaffolding was taken down days before. We did miss planting a few flower boxes that were not quite ready when the flowers arrived, but few noticed. We did it. We opened for Sailpast and overall the ambitions of the Cornerstone Project were achieved on time and on budget. But while the ‘shell’ was completed, the interior furnishings were not, and we had to learn how to use our ‘new’ facility. We now have a talented group of Staff and volunteers focused on this effort, and many interior space updates, including the hanging of many of our historic portraits and other items, will be completed soon. Now with one year under our belt, it is our hope
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JUNE 2019 • KWASIND
COMMODORE MESSAGE