All good things come to an end and so it is with the 2018 Cape to St Helena race. All that is left is for me to thank all those that made this event possible.
On St Helena we already thanked all those on the island who made the event possible and handed trays as a token of our appreciation to:
- her Excellency, Governor Lisa Honan;
- Ms Helena Bennett, the director of tourism;
- Merill Joshua, in charge of special projects with enterprise St Helena;
- James Herne, Commodore of the St Helena Yacht Club for his massive contribution to the success of the event;
- Neil George and his team who managed the finishing line, on behalf of the St Helena Yacht Club.
Now I would like to ask Andrew Collins, Rear Commodore Sailing, to present trays to:
- Linda Linda Ka Mase, on behalf of Wesgro;
- Ron Caris, on behalf of AW Ship Management Limited;
- Andrew Sickler, on behalf of Yacht Haulers;
- Jimmy Jacka, owner of “Maximus” for use as start vessel;
- David Abromowitz, on behalf of Abromowitz Sharp & Associates for VIP boat;
- Simone Balman, Social Media & Cape to St Helena website;
- Stiaan Viljoen, donated fridge to St Helena Yacht Club in name of RCYC;
- Hilary Ackerman, Race Secretary;
- Kerry Pryde, Race Communications;
- Toni Mainprize, RCYC General Manager;
- David Elcock, Safety at Sea;
- Boet Koopmans, Marina and arranging transport;
- Vitor Medina, RCYC Commodore on behalf of the Club.
There is one more person we would very much also like to recognise but unfortunately we only have thirteen trays available, and that is Elliott Magadlela, our Marina Operations Manager for the able manner in which he assisted with the unloading of the yachts and arranging for the cradles to be returned to the club. Accordingly, may I ask Elliott to come up and accept a small gift as a token of our appreciation. Finally, I would like to pay tribute to the competitors. Without doubt this is one of the nicest events that I have ever participated in, not only because of the event itself but because of the very special people who participated. The camaraderie amongst competitors experienced during this event is something which I have not experienced in any event before this.
To you the competitors, thank you so much for having made this event possible and for the great spirit which you brought to bear on the event.
This brings us to the end of the 2018 event and with it the start of the next event, due to start in December 2020. On the basis of “the King is dead, long live the King” it gives me great pleasure to announce the name of the next Race Chairman, Dale Kushner. Dale, who comes with the blessing of the General Committee of the Club is in my opinion the ideal candidate for the position. Not only is he an ex-Commodore, thus giving him keen insight into the workings of the Club but is passionate about sailing in general and ocean sailing in particular Besides being an extremely competitive and successful racing yachtsman, he brings to the event a strong Corinthian spirit which I believe is part of the charm of this event. So, without further ado, may I introduce to you, Dale Kushner.
