OCC Annual AGM and Awards Dinner

- April 22, 2023

OCC Annual Awards Dinner

The OCC 2023 AGM and Awards Dinner weekend was held on the 14th and 15th of April at the RNLI College in Poole, UK. It was highly significant for me for two reasons: 1) I was asked to step in for Bob Shepton as a speaker at the last minute and 2) I was stepping down as Vice Commodore after 12 years of service on the General Committee and Board. I was tired. Time for some new blood.

The topic of my talk was Volunteerism and the OCC Pandemic Response. I already had the pandemic response slides in the can as I presented that at the Irish Sailing Conference about a month ago. A piece of cake. As this talk was twice as long as the first, I asked Alex to add some slides about the learnings from the experience. He had slides prepared for the Irish Cruising Club which I did not remember. It was a remarkable story. Alex and I got a standing ovation, which from the OCC members in attendance was very special. I wish Bob Shepton a speedy recovery, but I am grateful to him for falling out of bed on a boat while on the hard so we had to take his place!

Speaking about the OCC Pandemic Response

Alex delivering on the outcomes and learnings

The opening dinner at the Poole Yacht Club was delightful with an amazing and hilarious talk by 94-years-young Founder Member Ian Nicolson. It was a laugh-out-loud kind of talk that set a great tone for the two-day event. In speaking to the Port Officer who organised the dinner, Dick Morris, afterwards, I learned what a remarkable character he is. He had a patch on his jacket that I mistook for the Flying Fish emblem of the OCC. Instead, it was a rare Goldfish Club insignia. You can only join this club if you have survived a crash landing of a plane into water. In the 1970s, he and three friends crashed into the sea near the Virgin Islands and had to swim 13 miles to a deserted island from which they were eventually rescued. What extraordinary people join the OCC.

Opening night dinner at Poole Yacht Club

The crew of Novara had brought the expedition vessel to Poole to show off their new solar panels bought with Challenge Grant funding, to explain their mission and to get further support from OCC members. They are setting off to help vulnerable communities adapt to climate change. Nigel Jollands was a climate change specialist helping cities first mitigate and then adapt to the effects of climate breakdown. Veronica Lysacht was a leadership coach and has great skills for teaching adaptation. They have asked other adventurous OCC members to join them in their mission. It was lovely to meet them in person, along with Steve Brown, the former guardian of Novara and advisor to Novara One Planet. I have been helping them get the attention of the media and will continue to lend my support in that regard.

Novara One World

It was also amazing to tour the impressive RNLI College facility and to overnight in their quarters, which are really top-notch. Although it was quite unnerving that they did not have my reservation when I had called them the day the information was made available. Apparently, others had similar problems. But fortunately, they had a room available and we were able to book in.

The RNLI College Tour

The Awards Dinner was pretty amazing as usual, and a number of my nominees were able to attend in person, for which I was thrilled. Especially Captain Asia Pajkowska who I've been following for years, the most accomplished sailor in Poland, whom I nominated for the Lifetime Award. I also nominated the parties involved in the rescue of Tapio Lehtinen in the Southern Ocean during the GGR. While his immediate rescuer, Kirsten Neuschäfer, is still racing and in first place, a representative from her team came in her place as did a representative of the MRCC South Africa who coordinated the rescue.

I had also nominated Anne Hammick for Honorary Membership and both she and Ian Nicolson were present. Ian won both a Lifetime Award and Honorary Membership, both so richly deserved.

I had also nominated Lars & Susanne Hellman for the Vasey Vase. Their charming daughter, Kajsa Hellman, accepted on their behalf.

All in all, it was an emotional weekend from trying to beat Biden (heading from Dublin to Mayo while we were heading from Mayo to Dublin - long story), to having lots of stress in the travel component, to getting a standing ovation, to not being asked to sit on the dais for my last meeting, to receiving the OCC award, and finally to relief that it was all behind me. I am no longer a Director of the OCC but I still continue as Web Editor and PR Officer until they can get someone with qualifications to replace me there.