ORCV Latest News

Yay for Nick!

At the 2010 AGM held on Thursday 23^rd September at the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron, Nick McGuigan was presented with the Ocean Racer of the Year Award. Well done, mate.

George Shaw, the Immediate Past Commodore of the ORCV, presents Nick McGuigan with his take-home version of the ORY trophy.

Now the trophy itself does not leave the office these days - it's a marvellous model of Shenandoah, the White family's yacht - so we'll have to get a snap arranged and put it up, for all to see.

At any rate, Nick's efforts to prepare the new-look year book, the NORs and SIs for all the racing we do as well as having his trusty camera at the ready to capture waterborne and presentation imagery, will be known to avid readers of this site.

Nick is very well known throughout the ORCV, the venues we go to and the host clubs, in addition to his base at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club. He sails a lot, all-year-round and is known for taking visitors and new members out on midweek races. Through this introduction to sailing, many have continued to be active sailors both on the Bay and out into the ocean.

A syndicate was Nick's first foray into ownership and then ultimately his own place as Skipper, along the way competing in many ORCV events, including the Melbourne to Hobart, where last year he took his boat, Magazan53 and crew down the notorious and oh-so-pretty West coast of Tasmania.

Incoming Commodore of the ORCV, Don Fraser, last night said of Nick, as he announced this award to a very much surprised recipient, "Nick has been highly focussed on safety, training and crew building. He has shown a yearn to learn  - taking not only the formal courses for the normal qualifications that YA mandate for racing, but also going on to Yachtmaster level training and blending that theory with insights from other skippers and tacticians – often over a beer after the race. He has shared this enthusiasm for training with or perhaps onto his crew – encouraging an amazingly high proportion of them to complete Rip Tours, Radio Qualifications, First Aid and SSSC Certificates."

"He has also prepared and conducted training specific to the his crew, bringing in experts where appropriate, for both theory and practical exercises on topics such as, Safety Procedures, Emergency Drills, MOB, Boat Handling, Sail Management and Weather, along with very specific areas, such as race skills and tactics. This thoroughness for training matches the details involved in his race preparation - written crew briefings with proposed strategies and options, watch lists, pilot notes, radio schedules, wind/weather forecasts, meal plans and navigation. His effort, dedication and commitment to the constant improvement in preparing himself, the boat and the crew for participating in ocean races makes him a worthy recipient of this award!"

Ed. Quite so and QED.

More from ORCV land - very soon!

By John Curnow