Ivan Wilkinson elected Rear Admiral of Exe Sailing Club
by Mike Rice 9 Dec 2008 07:01 GMT
5 December 2008
Ivan Wilkinson at the helm of Silk Purse during this year’s River Exe Regatta ©
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A number of important milestones were passed when Exe Sailing Club held its 2008 annual general meeting on Friday 5 December, notably the election of a new honorary rear admiral, a change of commodore and the adoption of a new club constitution.
Outgoing commodore Symon Garratt opened the meeting by reminding members of the international successes achieved by club members during the year, particularly double Olympic silver medallist Joe Glanfield, Olympic contenders Stevie Morrison and Ben Rhodes and world match racing champion Ian Williams. Excellent performances by the club’s junior and youth sailors during the year held out the promise of continuing success at the highest level.
Highlight of the evening was the election of Ivan Wilkinson as the club’s new honorary rear admiral. Wilkinson’s record of service to the club will hard to match: as well as holding the post of commodore on two occasions, he had held practically every other management post in the club during his 39 years membership including a long spell as honorary secretary. Ivan was the club’s berthing marshal for 34 years, struggling enthusiastically with the task of squeezing an ever-growing fleet of dinghies and other boats into the strictly limited space of the dinghy park.
Ivan represented the club on a number of national bodies, including the Royal Yachting Association, and he was a founder member of the Exe Estuary Users Association. He was also a highly competitive sailor, first in Enterprise dinghies, in which he won a number of championships and later in a J24, in which he won both the Dartmouth and Torbay regattas several times.
In his present boat, Laser 28 “Silk Purse”, Ivan and his crew took fourth place in a 38 boat fleet in the Dartmouth regatta, just a few months after Ivan had undergone major heart surgery. Ivan’s wife Anne has also been a huge supporter of the club. As well as supporting Ivan in all his various roles, Anne has taken the minutes of the club management committee for the past 18 years.
Commodore Garratt thanked Ivan and Anne on behalf of all the members for the huge contribution they had both made to the club, and proposed that Ivan be elected as honorary Rear Admiral. The proposal received the members’ enthusiastic support and was marked by a standing ovation.