Auckland Anniversary Regatta 2018 AGM
The Auckland Anniversary Day Regatta AGM was held on 6 August 2018. Chairman's Report is below, and Minutes can be downloaded here.
Chairman’s Report
Once again the weather gods smiled on us for the running of the 178th edition of Auckland’s Anniversary Regatta on Monday 29th January 2018. Once again the activities commenced with the tugboat race which produced a great spectacle and were followed by the various keeler divisions. While the Classics provided a good sized fleet, size of the other fleets was disappointing. Despite the best efforts of the Regatta Committee to get greater participation and increase the size of the fleets it remains an uphill battle. The consensus is that this is due to people being increasingly time poor and finding it hard to make the commitment. The good news is that the centre board fleets are growing as is the participation in the SUP events. The Committee will continue to seek to widen the categories of participation and generally increase fleet sizes.
The Regatta is in good financial health due to the support of our family of sponsors and as the Treasurer’s report shows we are rebuilding the reserves that were run down in past years where sponsorship was an issue.
The Committee, having taken possession of a significant amount of archival material, is taking steps to ensure that this is appropriately stored and preserved. We are exploring options for the digitising of key material and looking at ways the material can be made more accessible to the public.
I would like to offer the Committee’s thanks to our media and communications officer Matt Hall-Smith who is standing down from the role for personal reasons. Matt has made a major contribution to the Regatta and has increased the amount of media coverage. On behalf of the Committee I would like to welcome our newly appointed replacement, Helen Horrocks.
The Committee wishes to record their appreciation of the support for the Regatta given by the Royal New Zealand Navy. The relationship between the Navy and the Regatta is unique and is to be treasured.
We also wish to thank our sponsors, particularly the naming rights sponsor, Ports of Auckland, for their continued support.
Special thanks goes to our long serving (and sometimes long suffering) Executive Officer, Joyce Talbot without whom we would be a much less effective body.
Finally my thanks to the Committee for their continued dedication and support. All are volunteers and all give willingly of their time and expertise.
We will continue to seek to expand the Regatta and look to ensure its continued relevance.
Here’s to a successful Regatta in 2019.
David Stone
Chairman