“Wow“ seemed to be the word of the day yesterday down at the Katikati pond as we held a sailing get together in honour of Mr Hemsley & his passing.

Wow was used by Gaye Hemsley, their family & friends at the turn out of sailors lakeside, some family members are Perth based & even Japan. Wow was also used by the sailors visiting here from out of town seeing the pond for the first time & catching up with mates. I used this word for the variety of boats & everyone's willingness to make it a great day! 

     As of wed, no one has RSVP'd & I'd just left the Hemsley household having invited them to join us. I needn't have freaked out, but well “No Pressure!“ It was very interesting to see which class of boat each sailor used as to their relationship with Dave & of course JB arriving with his massive America's cup style machine which was slightly terrifying slicing through the fleet but very impressive, then just as scary watching his RC offshore race boat charge around amongst us provided some great moments. 

    It was an honour carrying down Dave's Canterbury J to place in front of the yachts for the photos. I do admit to shedding a tear! It was very poignant during the minute of silence that all we could hear was the flapping of sails. It could have been one of a number of boats he cherished & loved sailing but this was I felt that “Ranger,“ his Canterbury J Class yacht  resonated With the group at large. Back in 2017 Pat H, Antony S & Mr Hemsley got the J class fleet established in “the North.“ these gentlemen were also adamant that the boats here, have a traditional look with timber decks, dog houses & even dinghies on deck. This persists today & in my opinion makes these boats even more sexy & graceful on the water. 

Our wee group of local sailors with support from the lakeside residents hope to get this pond/lake fully developed & used for RC sailing to fulfil Mr Hemsley's dream of over 10 years. I'm glad it was started & he had a chance to sail on it!

     A huge thank you to all those who helped set up, launched boats for others, swapped or leant boats to visitors, some of Dave & Gaye's family who tried their hand at RC sailing, Russell S for tirelessly rescuing boats off the banks & all those who attended. From Roger W who escaped his rest home to Mark H who since his stroke has not been able to sail RC yachts easily but got on his E-trike & viewed the racing from various spots along the concrete pathway. Apologies for the rather ad hoc nature of the event but I made it up as I went along but thanks to all of you “WOW!“  

DP
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