Mark Scorer receiving his Yachtmaster certificate

Some 70 members and their guests attended the end of course Training Dinner on Tuesday 3 May. Hosted by Peter Newbury, Rear Commodore Training, it was a celebration of the success of all those who had taken training courses at the Club during the last twelve months. The evening began with the presentation of certificates to the students on the navigation courses, made by our guest for the evening Richard Falk, Training Manager and Chief Examiner of the RYA.
The Captain P J Russell Signals Cup for the best student on the long Day Skipper course was awarded jointly to Will Beagles and Roland Emmans. The other succesful students were Richard Bruce, Paul Cahill, James Donaldson, Jude Howlett, Stefano D'Isasca, David Mundy and Sally Pearce.

The Stanley Swan Signals Cup for the best student on the short Day Skipper course was awarded to Michael Werle with Richard Jeffery as runner up.

The Tom Worth trophy for the best student on the short Yachtmaster course was awarded to Mark Scorer with Ben Tegelaars as runner up. The other successful students were Karen Birleson, Ian Middleton, Fred Pargeter, Harm Tegelaars, Colin Wyver and Silke Zimmermann.

Finally, the Pinta Salver for the best Yachtmaster Ocean student was awarded to Tony Howlett.

Peter was also pleased to record a total of 106 members had attended the full range of training courses offered by the Club and thanked the whole training team.

Next came dinner of roast pork followed by tarte tatin and a glass of port and the evening was rounded off with an interesting and varied speech from our guest. He spoke of his previous life as a round-the-world race skipper and recalled the eccentricities of some of the many yacht clubs he had visited in all parts of the world. He commended the Club for its forward-thinking in these difficult times and echoed the earlier thanks to the training team for their voluntary efforts. He concluded by observing that sailing was a great leveller and that once on a boat everyone was just crew regardless of their life on shore.

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