16th September 2008
By Peter Campbell
Being elected a Life Member of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron is a rare honour, bestowed on a member who has made a long and outstanding contribution to the Squadron’s sailing activities and/or general development of the club.
Since 1862 only 15 members have been elevated to Life Membership. At the 146th annual general meeting last evening John Douglas Maclurcan became the 16th current Life Member when fellow members elected him unanimously for his contribution to the RSYS over more than 30 years.
John Maclurcan joins his brother Charles as a Life Member, a unique situation in the history of the Squadron, matched only by the Life Membership bestowed on sisters Joyce and Patricia Warn in 2001.
Speaking to the General Committee’s nomination of John for Life Membership, Dr John Musgrove, a RSYS member since 1946, said this rare honour was not being given to John for being:
- An outstanding competitor in the family yacht Morag Bheag in harbour and offshore racing since 1969, firstly with his father and then as the skipper from 1992 onwards;
- Sailing in 15 Sydney Hobart races;
- Elected RSYS Yachtsman of the Year in 1991;
- Awarded the Australian Sports Medal in 2000 for contributions to yachting.
Rather, said Dr Musgrove, John was being elected a Life Member for two good reasons:
- Service on the Protest Committee for 25 years;
- Even more importantly, being Honorary Club Handicapper for 29 years, as well as resident handicapper for the CYCA and RANSA currently, and on call handicapper for the SASC, MHYC and RPAYC among other clubs, as well as for individual events such as the Australia Day and Audi Sydney Harbour Regattas.
Speaking of John’s role as Honorary Club Handicapper, Dr Musgrove said: “John has a rare ability to slot a yacht into its performance band and has earned the gratitude and respect of all who race their yachts with the Squadron or other clubs.”
Supporting Dr Musgrove’s remarks, Phil Edmonds said John was “meticulous in his record keeping and constantly seeking to improve his (handicapping) system as keeper of the performance records of the yachts racing in Sydney and beyond.”
Accepting the honour of being elected a Life Member, John Maclurcan recalled: “When as a curly headed, skinny young man I turned up at the door of the Sailing Office so long ago, I had no idea of the impact of what I was creating with the handicapping system.
“Being neither a politician nor a marketer, I would never have succeeded without a mentor and mine was the then Sailing Secretary Paul Gregg.
“Not only did Paul recognise the potential of what I was proposing, but he took it to Committees which were completely inaccessible and daunting to me, and was able to convince them to spend the money to proceed. My other mentor was Bob Brenac, then Sailing Secretary at the CYCA.
“As handicapper, I have been abused, maligned and even subject to a particularly vicious personal attack,” John said. “My work has been criticised, copied and plagiarised. However, I have also received extravagant praise and encouragement.
“Whatever may be thought about me personally or my work, the ultimate verdict is simply that the handicap has survived…I am confident it will continue long after my demise.
“While so many of the clubs now use a similar system of handicapping, I am proud that we at the RSYS lead the way. We did it first and we do its best,” the Squadron’s newest Life Member added.
The 146th annual general meeting of the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron also saw the re-election of Bill Wood as Commodore, Malcolm Levy as Vice Commodore, Richard Chapman as Rear Commodore, David Ward as Captain and Phillip Watts as Honorary Treasurer.
The members of the Committee re-elected are Christian Brook, Peter Curran, Ivo Clarke, Bruce Gould and Ian MacDiarmid, with David Albert joining the Committee for the first time.
Close Window »
|
