Welcome to the ORCV
The ORCV Welcomes to the General Committee, the 2 new members Jill and John.
Jill Blunsom
Having been consumed with exploring the globe for the past 25 years or so Jill runs her own business as a tour operator and has travelled extensively across 7 continents. Prior to starting a business she worked as Destination Manager for Latin America for Peregrine Adventures for many years gaining strong commercial, product and operational skills which have been further broadened with all the skills that come with running a small business During one of her overseas stints living in Canada in 2001 she worked in at Kelowna yacht club on Lake Okanagan where she was first introduced to keelboat racing. However, it wasn’t until 2017 that she found herself settled back in Melbourne and decided to join SYC to learn to sail. Since then she hasn’t looked back, her passions for travel and sailing now shared, she is keenly looking to up her Ocean racing and contribute to the community with inspirations to buy her own boat and explore the world all over again… this time by sea.
John Gordon
After more than 30 years in senior executive roles across the retail, banking, finance and energy sectors, John now finds himself in the public sector heading up project delivery for a Victorian Government Authority. John’s career experience includes general management, operations, sales, marketing and project management roles. He has a passion for developing teams and mentoring up and coming talent.
Having a busy and often stressful working life, John has always retreated to the outdoors for solace. Surfing and snow skiing were focal points in his 20s. The 30’s saw John develop a keen interest in scuba diving, especially wreck and deep diving, and bush walking. For 5 years John together with a few friends, started and ran an outdoor club in his local community. As gravity took hold bushing walking morphed into 4WD driving and camping.
When having a young family aligned with opportunities to spend time in tropical locations did the opportunity to sail off the beach catamarans arise. These experiences ignited something which developed into bareboat chartering holidays and many a trip to Gippsland Lakes
John took delivery of his first keel boat, A Beneteau 38.1, in February 2018. E’toile is moored at Martha Cove on the Mornington Peninsula. John was welcomed into the local sailing fraternity and soon developed strong relationships culminating with a few Peninsula mates founding the Martha Cove Yacht Squadron, which he is on the General Committee.
While John doesn’t take himself too seriously, he takes sailing seriously. Wanting to develop his skills and harboring a desire to sail to the Prom, John was introduced to the ORCV. Initially the ORCV was a means to an end, no connection or thought that the relationship would develop into anything stronger and entered the Beyond the Bay program.
The ethos of the club is one of comradery, training, development and the safe enjoyment of sailing all of which is underpinned by awesome volunteers, mentors and Flag offices. As a result, John has developed strong connections within the ORCV community and is keen to give back to the organization that has been instrumental in setting a new life course for himself.
