We were very proud to be chosen as the East Region finalist for the prestigious RYA Yachts & Yachting Club of the Year 2019 award. The Commodore, Vice Commodore, Cadet Skipper and Press Officer spent a nail-biting day at the RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace on Saturday 2^nd March waiting to see who would be crowned as overall winner of the award. They all attended a finalist’s lunch to meet representatives from the 11 clubs throughout the UK who had made the finals. Everyone there was a winner and this proved a great opportunity to chat to volunteers and exchange ideas with others who share the common aim of making their already great clubs even better.

At 4pm on the main stage, all the winners received their awards and the Commodore collected ours for Eastern Region Club of the Year 2019. The overall winner was decided by public vote and there were only 50 votes between the top two clubs. Having previously won the competition in 2014, Blackwater didn’t quite make the top step this time, but we would like to congratulate the worthy winners, Royal Torbay Yacht Club.

Thank you to all our members and friends who voted for us and a special thank you to our Publicity Officer, Chris Brown for all her hard work putting together and submitting the application.

Watch the video of the event here

Photo © Nigel Butler