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History

History

Australian Sailing was formed in 1950 as the Australian Yachting Federation. The first meeting was held at the Royal St. Kilda Yacht Club - Victoria (now the Royal Melbourne Yacht Squadron) on the 16th of June 1950.

One of the first tasks for the fledgling AYF was to work with the Australian Olympic Committee to organise the Australian team to go to the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland. It was required to "decide on a system of selection races for national representation in the various classes, hold these races, and ship crews and craft selected to Helsinki." (Seacraft Magazine, January 1951)

In 1966, the Australian Yachting Federation applied for direct membership of the International Yacht Racing Union (now World Sailing). (Modern Boating, November 1966)

The Australian Yachting Federation became Yachting Australia in 2001, and in 2016 the organisation re-branded to Australian Sailing under the One Sailing governance model.

Presidents

Year President
1950-51 W.D. Higgins (VIC)
1951-54 T.M. Furber (NSW)
1954-57 C.R. Tadgell (VIC)
1957-58 J.H. Robinson (QLD)
1958-59 W.J. Lucas (WA)
1959-60 D. Fergusson (TAS)
1960-61 T.G. Flint (SA)
1961-62 R.A. Dickson (NSW)
1962-64 J.W. Crosbie (VIC)
1964-65 R. Tough (WA)
1965-66 R.H. Howard (QLD)
1966-67 D.E. McIndoe (TAS)
1967-68 J.B. Parrington (SA)
1968-69 E.J. Merrington (NSW)
1969-70 E. Jefferson Jones (VIC)
1970-71 F.A. Manford (WA)
1971-72 R.Beckingham (QLD)
1972-73 D.E. McIndoe (TAS)
1973-74 J.B. Parrington (SA)
1974-75 P.C. Taylor (NSW)
1975-76 B.R. Scott (VIC)
1976-77 R.Tough (WA)
1977-78 J.B. Blackley (QLD)
1978-81 G.G. Blackwood (TAS)
1981-84 D.G Holloway (NSW)
1984-87 F.W. Ikin (TAS)
1987-90 A.R. Gear (TAS)
1990-91 C.F.C. Crisp (NSW)
1991-95 W. Treasure (QLD)
1995-96 R. Lucas (VIC)
1996-00 B. Dickson (NSW)
2000-02 Dr D. Nickels (WA)
2002-04 G. Ainley (VIC)
2004-11 A. Plympton AM (VIC)
2011-13 D. Gotze (VIC)
2013-19 M. Allen AM (NSW)
2019-22 D. Belcher (QLD)
2022- A. Murray AM (VIC)


Vice Presidents

Year Vice President
2011 - 2013 M. Allen AM (NSW)
2013 - 2019 S. Kenny (NSW)
2019 - 2022 A. Murray AM (VIC)
2022 -  S. Bruland (SA)


Hon. Secretary-Treasurer

Year Hon. Secretary-Tresurer
1950-64 L.T. Burgess (NSW)
1964-70 G.W. Sweeney (NSW)
1970-76 J.A.L. Shaw (NSW)


Hon. Treasurers

Year Hon. Tresurers
1969-71 A.H. Brown (VIC)
1975-80 G.H. Thomas (NSW)
1980-95 D.L. Don (NSW)
1995-01 L. Minehan (NSW)
2001-04 W. Rantanen (SA)
2004-06 F. Bevis (NSW)
2007-13 R. Leslie (WA)
2013-15 D. Kerr (WA)


Life Members

Year Life Member
1971 Lloyd Burgess
1978 John Crosbie
1978 John Shaw
1978 Ron Tough MBE
1981 Tony Muston
1990 John Parrington
1995 David Don
2003 Bruce Dickson AM
2003 Dr Don Nickels
2016 David Gotze
2016 Andrew Plympton AM
2020 David Kellett AM
2023 Matt Allen AM
2023 Sarah Kenny
2023 David Tillett AM