The AGM of the Association was held tonight. There have been some changes to the Committee as we progress into 2026.
Following eleven years of service to the Australian Radio Yachting Association, our President is now our Immediate Past-President! Sean Wallis has contributed enormously to the activities of the ARYA over many years.
Sean took over as the ARYA President in 2015 and held the post until 2018. He then took on the role of Registrar and Publicity Officer. In 2024, he stepped away from the Publicity Officer role and assumed the Presidency again, which he held for two years. His efforts to originate the 2024 IOM World Championships in Gladstone showed tremendous insight and foresight. Without Sean's leadership and guidance, our Association would be the poorer.
In the position of Registrar and Publicity Officer, Sean developed an online presence for the Association, including our websites. He built the boat registration service which reduces the workload on our Registrars tremendously.
He was primarily responsible for initiating our use of the online membership platform Tidy HQ and has developed methods for receiving results of ranking events and populating the ranking lists. All this was done manually in the past, but Sean's efforts will result in a more streamlined set of processes.
But wait - there's more. He doesn't get off the hook that lightly. Sean has committed to continue developing the ARYA's online services going forward. On behalf of all our members, the ARYA thanks Sean for his time, energy and contributions to the Association.
Also stepping down from the Committee are our Public Officer Ian Dowsett, Queensland Representative John Gower and our long time ARYA Committee stalwart Andrew Reid. Andrew has held the position of President for many years prior to Sean's tenure, and stayed on the committee to provide guidance and consistency. Thank you Ian, John and Andrew for your service to the ARYA.
The new leaf is turned, and we are fortunate to have the steady guiding hand of Lindsay Walker in the role of President. Lindsay held this role previously (many years previously) and brings steady governance to the role. We also welcome two newcomers to the Committee in Peter Sherwood and Chris Ryan.
The ARYA Committee is in a good position to continue to work towards improving the sport of radio sailing in Australia.