FFIWA 2026 AGM: Committee reports

Posted on

The 2026 FFIWA AGM took place at 10am on Saturday 4th April at the South of Perth Yacht Club Centreboard Clubhouse during the State Championships. Find links to the key reports tabled as follows:

Find the notice of AGM here.

 

President’s Report

Sandy Dunn

1 April 2026

Overview

I am pleased to be able to say that Western Flying Fifteen fleet numbers and FFIWA membership numbers have increased over the last year. Interest in the class remains strong and this is flowing through to higher levels of participation. Particularly noteworthy is the increase in numbers and enthusiasm at Port Bouvard and Esperance. Esperance now has 10 Flying Fifteens competing regularly each week, and Port Bouvard has a fleet of around 6 keen sailors, many of whom will be sailing in this week’s State Titles for the first time.

To help support the Port Bouvard fleet, FFIWA encouraged participation in a two-day regatta for Flying Fifteens at the club on the March long weekend. Unfortunately the weather gods weren’t kind on the first day and only three non-Port Bouvard boats participated, but those who went enjoyed the experience, with each race being won by a different boat. Many thanks to John Hassen from SoPYC and to Colin Smith from PBYC for their hard work in making the regatta happen.

Financial Position and Key Activities

From a financial perspective, the association remains in a sound financial position and continues to make a surplus each year. We continue to look for opportunities to use our substantial cash reserves to help support members and grow the fleet.

The year before last, we provided financial assistance to the SoPYC section to help fund purchase of a Flying Fifteen for them to use as a “scholarship boat” to be leased for a nominal fee to a deserving individual for a 12-month period to allow them to experience Flying 15 sailing when they otherwise would not have been able to afford to. While the utilisation of this boat did not met expectations in its first year of operation, this has been an outstanding success so far this year and has attracted a younger member into the class.

We also introduced, the year before last, a program allowing new ordinary (boat owner) members of FFIWA to apply for reimbursement up to $500 for expenses they have incurred in getting assistance from an accredited coach to help them with boat set-up or coaching. This is intended to assist new members to fast-track their learning journey in coming to grips with their new Flying Fifteen. There has so far been no take-up of this offer, and I encourage any interested new members to apply.

We have done some preliminary examination of the possibility of using FFIWA funds to purchase or lease boat trackers such as TackTracker and Metasail for use during regattas. This is also currently being assessed by Australian Sailing WA, and at present we believe that the best course of action is to remain engaged with Australian Sailing, and if they make arrangements for trackers to be made available for sale or lease to member clubs and associations, then we will consider taking up this opportunity.

We are always open to suggestions regarding how we may use FFIWA funds to help support and grow the class in this State. Please contact any of the committee members if you have any suggestions.

Your Committee

The committee for the coming year is very stable with all but one of the current committee members staying on. Tim Few continues to do an excellent job as Secretary. Greg Howell is also doing an admirable job as State Treasurer, ensuring that our funds are well looked after. Peter Mudford, assisted by Neil White and Clive Beeton continue to ensure that we are all compliant with the class rules, while keeping the committee up to date on measurement issues and proposed rule changes. Murray Johns and David Reid have both done an excellent job of coordinating our activities with those of RFBYC and SoPYC respectively. After 5 years as President, I will be standing down at the next AGM but intend to remain on the committee to ensure a smooth handover to the next President. At the time of writing, we have had no nominations for the position of President, but in accordance with our Constitution, I will be calling for nominations from the floor at the AGM. I am confident that we will fill that position.

State Championships

The 64th State Championships were held at Geraldton Yacht Club over the Easter weekend in 2025. A fleet of 22 boats participated in the event, which was sailed in a wide range of conditions, ranging from over 20 knots to near glass-outs. In the end, the podium positions were a South of Perth Yacht Club lockout, although they were very closely followed by a gaggle of teams from Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club. The final placings for the Championship were:

  • 1st Best Foot Forward – Nick Jerwood and Ian Lane (SoPYC)
  • 2nd Ineffable – Mike and Paul Dunbar (SoPYC)
  • 3rd The Answer – Greg Tonnison and Nick Robinson (SoPYC)

Nick has now won the State Titles 10 times, 7 of those wins being in the last 8 years which is an outstanding achievement.

Local Geraldton sailor Harry Miller with his crew Bob McIntosh was a popular winner of the Consistency title and also won the Silver title for the second year in a row. Greg Leaversuch and Peter Barblett from RFBYC were runners up in Consistency and Luke and Mike Storey from Port Bouvard came in third.

It was great to see two boats from Port Bouvard compete in the State Titles – the first time we have had boats from that club participate in the event.

Philippa Packer from RFBYC finished 7th overall and won the trophy for first female skipper, and Mary-Anne Reid from SoPYC won the trophy for first female crew.

Special thanks to Commodore John Gummery, long term sponsor Chimere Pearls, organising Chairman Nigel Moffat and Race Officer John Rooke for a great regatta.

World Championships

The 2025 World Championships were held in Weymouth UK in August last year. Six WA boats participated, with Nick Jerwood and Greg Tonnison teaming up to finish 6th overall, after a difficult first two races, where they experienced a BFD and gear issues. The Dunbar brothers finished 24th, Greg Leaversuch and Peter Barblett from RFBYC 33rd, Peter Groom and Phil Epps from Geraldton 45th, Philippa Packer from RFBYC 47th, and Mark Millman and Nigel Moffat from Geraldton 66th in an 82 boat fleet. Well done to all.

National Championships

The 2026 National Titles were sailed at Cruising Yacht Club of South Australia. Of the 22 boats in the fleet, 8 were from Western Australia, 6 from SoPYC and 2 from Geraldton Nick Jerwood and daughter Enfys from SoPYC won the regatta, hotly pursued by Mike and Paul Dunbar, also from SoPYC ending up in the bridesmaids’ position once again (and duly dressed accordingly at the final presentations). Peter Groom and Phil Epps from Geraldton finished an excellent 8th in their first competitive outing since their boat got back from the Worlds, Sandy Dunn and Greg Howell finished 9th, Mark Millman and Nigel Moffat from Geraldton finished 11th, David and Mary- Anne Reid finished 12th, Jen Sims and Rhyley Dunbar finished 16th in a borrowed boat that had more than its fair share of reliability issues, and Karen and Russell Dawes finished 19th after having to withdraw after the first day of the regatta due to an injury. Congratulations to all.

Tally Hobbs Regatta

The 2025/2026 Tally Hobbs series was sailed at Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club on Saturday 7 and Sunday 8 February 2025 with 21 boats competing. Light winds prevailed throughout the regatta, finally dropping out completely part way through Race 5, resulting in all but 5 boats timing out in that race, and leading to cancellation of Race 6. Despite the challenging conditions, the best teams made their way to the front of the fleet, as usual, with the regatta being won by Greg Tonnison and Scott Fallows from SoPYC in The Answer. Second were Brad Sheridan and Martin Ashby, also from SoPYC, in Bluebottle, and third place was taken by Philippa Packer and Richard Whitaker from RFBYC in Firefly.

Upcoming Events

The next National Titles will be held in Queensland, at Royal Queensland Yacht Squadron, between January 18 and 23, 2027. This is the Australian qualifying regatta for the next world championships which will be held in Hong Kong in the first week of February 2028.

We expect that our next State Titles will be held at Esperance Bay Yacht Club over the Easter weekend in 2027. We also expect that the 2028 Nationals will be held in WA, at a venue yet to be confirmed.

Sandy Dunn
President FFIWA

 

 

Similar Posts