Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, 2014 Victorian Yacht Club of the Year.

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1 Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, 2014 Victorian Yacht Club of the Year. After a particularly hectic and successful season, RMYS was rewarded as the Yacht Club of the Year at the Yachting Victoria 2014 Awards night, held on Friday 20 th June. In accepting the award RMYS Commodore Linda Goldsmith spoke of the Squadron s success in Junior development, particularly in Green Fleet sailing, the success of the Australian Women s Keelboat Regatta, which has just held its 24 th event, and, after 14 years of planning and development, the successful completion of a new 250 berth floating marina. Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron The StKilda Harbour Precinct is a Melbourne Landmark. Located in StKilda, Melbourne Victoria, the harbour is a primary attraction for tourists, mariners and sporting enthusiasts. The harbour was constructed in the 1950 s and Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron hosted the sailing events as part of the 1956 Olympic Games. In the StKilda Harbour Development was a collaborative project between Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron (RMYS), the Victorian Government, Parks Victoria (PV), City of Port Phillip, Earthcare and many other stakeholders. Some objectives of the Harbour upgrade included providing world class sailing facilities, improve recreational boating facilities, improve penguin habitat, improve public access and revitalise the Harbour to cater for the estimated 2 million tourists per year. February 2014 New marina at St.Kilda Harbour open for business! Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron officially opened its state of the art $15M 250 berth marina on Sunday 2 nd February. Hundreds of members, friends and dignitaries celebrated the event on the marina and on boats in the brand new pens. Wendy Stapleton and her band rocked the crowd, starting in brilliant sunshine and continuing long after the city lights had formed an idyllic backdrop. To mark the opening a symbolic ribbon was simultaneously cut by RMYS Commodore, Linda Goldsmith, Stuart Tait, the Squadron s Marina Project Director, Maggie Barron from the Department of Transport, Zoe Hogg from Earthcare, and Graeme Davis from Parks Victoria, and Serge Thomann, the City of Port Phillip s Deputy Mayor.

2 Sailing Fleet The Squadron sails every Wednesday and Saturday. Experience the thrill and we invite you to try. Come and be part of the crew on a Wednesday night sail. All sailing abilities welcome. Sailing times are seasonal and start times vary. For winter sailing (Apr Sept) meet at the Squadron at 12.30pm and for summer sailing (Oct Mar) meet at 5pm. There are also learn to sail programs for children and adults. See our junior flyer attached. Vic School Team Racing Championship 2013 and 2014 Royal Melbourne YS offer one of the largest school participation sailing programs in Victoria. RMYS has hosted the Victorian School Team Racing Championship for the past two years was such a success that a normally rotating event was placed at the same club again. The RMYS harbour is ideal for running team racing events, and many volunteers put in a great effort over the two days of each championship to see that it was a fantastic event for competitors and spectators.

3 RMYS is host this event again in March RMYS took the initiative this year to sponsor an Albert Park College team for the Victorian School Team Racing Championship. This team was put together in an amazing four weeks, with training being conducted by Leigh from RMSTA. The team finished a very creditable 8 th out of 12 in Division 2 and had a fantastic learning experience. Discover Sailing Week for Schools Dec each year Over 200 plus primary and secondary students participated Discover Sailing Day Sunday October 26 th A free day to try sailing. Last year 157 local community members sailing on keelboats and over 14 converted to membership. Membership figures for (up 10% in past 2 years, 80% retention rate.) Finances T/O 1.98M (not including catering) Surplus $317K Green Fleet Thursday and Sunday The Royal Melbourne Sail Training Academy, have started a Green Fleet training program for junior sailors who have completed the Learn to Sail Tackers course and are looking for something more. This group trains on a Thursday afternoon and Sunday afternoon each week from October to March. Up to 15 per course and introduced Pasta dinners for parents /participants after sailing and a great success! RMYS members have finished 1 st Linus Talacko) in the Intermediate and Green Fleet (Hugo MacMillan) divisions at major championships (Victorian Optimist Championship and Lidgett Trophy), and have also performed well at the Australian Optimist Championship Green Fleet. Also for the first time 4 RMYS juniors attended the recent Youth Championships at McCrae YC.

4 ISAF World Cup Melbourne RMYS provided several boats and numerous volunteers for the ISAF World Cup Melbourne event in December Collaborating with Mornington Yacht Club, RMYS conducted the Optimist racing, with 105 yachts competing (the largest fleet at the World Cup). This racing was extremely successful and RMYS is willing to conduct racing again at the World Cup in Working with and hosting meetings of community groups The success of the club is partly due to the incredible collaboration between 21 community groups in City of Port Phillip. The best example is the handling of the penguins and rakali on the St.Kilda breakwater during the new Marina. The report in the appendix shows the construction was successful and satisfied the following stakeholders Department Environment and Primary Industries, Department of Transport (Ports and Harbours), Parks Victoria, Earthcare, Port Phillip Eco Centre, Phillip Island Penguin Institute and City of Port Phillip. RMYS is a meeting venue for St Kilda Traders Association St Kilda Tourism Association Earthcare Unchain Occupational Health and Safety The Development was delivered with an exceptional safety record. The Squadron is expected to: Develop and implement a plan for the RMYS inclusion program Actively engaged with disability, at risk, and disadvantaged groups and organisations Research and develop the value and benefits of our community based partnerships or memberships Enhance the activity of sailing as part of the cultural fabric of St. Kilda and surrounding communities Ten community based organisations regularly using the resources and facilities of RMYS Formalised our relationships and resource sharing with key safety and service organisations

5 Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron has had a positive contribution to the community by renewing and upgrading a facility that is used for sailing, boating, kiteboarding, stand up paddle boarding, fishing, promenading and penguin viewing. Community benefits from the 2013/14 development include: improved access to the St Kilda Harbour for fishing, scuba diving, swimming and access to the new 300 m length link walkway pontoon the provision of new public berthing pontoons increasing the capacity for berthing in the Harbour The new Jetty provides a destination node which will reinforce the popularity of the old jetty for wedding photos and sunset views overlooking the picturesque Melbourne central business district skyline State of the art marina facility for the members of RMYS Leadership RMYS Volunteers A unique element to the Squadron is the leadership shown by a group of dedicated, hardworking and passionate volunteers from the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron. During the Marina Project Director (Immediate Past Commodore) Stuart Tait, and the Commodore Linda Goldsmith, countless hours of planning, consultation, negotiation was undertaken. The leadership and commitment demonstrated by the RMYS Volunteer committee is integral to the Squadrons success.