Issue date
At the recently held Annual General Meeting of the Southland Yachting Association it was with great pleasure that the meeting bestowed the honour of Life Membership to the Southland Yachting Association upon two of its very long serving members and delegates.
David Stringer and Colin McDonald have both given many years of service to the Association and to yachting in general in the deep South. Both members have held office roles for the Association and have both been very involved in their own respective yacht clubs.
David is the Commodore of the Wakatipu Yacht Club (Queenstown), a role he has fulfilled for a number of years, he is also very interested in the role of yachting at the national level, having served on the then Yachting New Zealand Council and then as a member on the Board of Yachting New Zealand. David continues his interest in our sport by his attendance at the likes of the Commodores’ Conferences, South Island planning meetings and the like. David is always ready to express the interests and concerns of the yachties in the deep south.
Colin has been an instrumental member in the Trailer Yacht scene in the deep south, campaigning his Noelex 25 at many a regatta in the South as well as many a cruising expedition on the wonderful lakes that are ideal for exploring and also challenging your resolve with the testy little sandflies. Colin has maintained a strong interest and role on the New Zealand Trailer Yacht Association and has also been a strong supporter at the Bluff Yacht Club for its annual Oyster Regatta – after a day’s racing you will often see Colin in charge of the bar ensuring that the sailors are not dehydrating. Colin is also a key member in the organising and running of the very successful biannual ‘Southland Boat Show’.
The AGM at which the awards for the two gentleman were presented was one of the couple of face to face meetings the Association holds during the year, most of its monthly meetings are conducted via Skype which saves on a lot of unnecessary travel; but at least twice a year we like to get together, other than just at regattas, for a face to face. These are normally held in the small rural Southland township of Lumsden – one of the more inland spots you’d find in New Zealand and not a yacht club to be seen in amongst the sheep and paddocks. Lumsden does provide, though, a good semi-central location between the various Southland Clubs and it does have the ‘Buzz Café’ where the meetings are held preceded by a meal by all.
