Yacht Lady Moura in Monaco

The HPO dinner is always fun and Tuesday 11 January was no exception. Before dinner the noise in the bar was deafening as old friends greeted each other and swapped memories of shared sailing trips. 

But it is after dinner at these occasions that the fun begins. Led by Chris Nicholson, the HPO Liaison Officer, as a jovial Master of Ceremonies, a stream of Port Officers stood to talk about the harbours, rivers and marinas that they represent. Over coffee and a glass of port nearly a dozen different people from around the world described the fun they had had with Club members, or the fun they hoped to have, the improvements or otherwise in their area.

Norman Hummerstone stood proxy for his “twin”, Jean Plancke, HPO Calais. The port had some wonderful new lock gates, he said, but unfortunately they were not in use as the quaysides were crumbling away! There was sill, so skippers entering should look very carefully at their depths. Chris Collman of Minorca waxed lyrical about the beauties of the Island and suggested a rally in the area some time soon. The advantage being that there were many bays where yachts could anchor and avoid marina fees. Julie Coleclough talked about races on the tidal Thames and Ulla Kite promoted Monaco – suggesting lunch at the yacht club but mooring out of town as our yachts might not be big enough for the marina! Tim Ryan talked of the delights of all Ireland not just his own area of Waterford.

Dave McConnell, HPO Newport, Rhode Island, recalled the fun he had had sailing on the joint Little Ship Club/Corinthian cruises both around the UK and the Eastern seaboard of the USA. And hoped that there would be one of these joint cruises in the waters around Newport: Naragansett Bay, Buzzards Bay, Mystic etc – music to the ears of many diners. In the absence of Andrew Barratt, HPO Annapolis, he felt confident in claiming Newport as the sailing capital of the USA.

Turkey it seems is building new marinas all along its coasts, even on the Black Sea. Hasan Kacmas, HPO for the Lycian Coast, can give advice on the latest developments. Several HPOs had been prevented from arriving at the dinner by weather conditions and delayed flights at their local airports: Cairns Birrell in Scotland for one. Tony Canham, of La Manga in Spain, treated us to a comic description of different national reactions to heightened security alerts: The British went from “miffed” to “peeved” and if things got really serious would go to “irritated”. The Scots would get to “let's get the bastards”. The Aussies would rise to “Crikey! We might have to cancel the barbie”. And so on. For a full list of his descriptions and for information about sailing around La Manga, contact Tony himself. His details are on the HPO map newly installed on this website.

The last HPO on the list was Tom Davey HPO “Corfu on Crouch”. He covers the Crouch when he is in England and Corfu when in the Med.

The evening closed with the Commodore thanking Chris Nicholson for his success in building up a network of contacts for the club around the world over a number of years. Many of these people are not just names in a directory, but are now friends to whom we have turned for help and advice in foreign ports. Chris has decided to step down and the hunt is on for a worthy successor. If you think you could step into Chris Nicholson's shoes, email the Rear Commodore Sail and Power here.

For more information about what the role involves, read the story here.