02/05/2026
A message from our Commodore, Peter Whyte
Well that went super fast, Another season come and gone. Despite some challenging weather conditions, we managed to hold all but one of our scheduled picnic events.
In response to recent changes in our insurance policy, the speedboat committee introduced new rules and regulations to enhance safety and event management.
These measures were met with positive feedback from both members and visiting clubs.
After months of planning the 2026 Aquafest got going but was again met with some very ordinary weather conditions.
Despite the forecast we had a large and varied field of boats in the car park on Saturday morning.
Our new Officer of the Day (Adam Smith) was determined to get a full programme done and thanks to his organizing skills it was easily achieved.
Everyone had plenty of time on the water and came away happy with day 1.
Sunday presented more poor weather, but there was a strong turnout of boats and we easily met our event targets.
The day culminating in a butcher’s picnic event which would have to be considered a highlight of the weekend.
There’s always a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes to make any event run smoothly, the Aquafest was no exception.
Thank you to all the Speedboat committee and members for their support A special mention must be made of the unwavering efforts of Peter Shep,
whose tieless work and leadership in securing critical insurance and coordinating the administration for Aquafest was instrumental in its success.
Without his efforts the Aquafest would not have happened and the club would be poorer for it.
Special thanks to Barry Hallett who has come on board this season as our rescue diver.
Barry patiently sits in his uncomfortable diving suit at every picnic day as well as our 2 consecutive Aquafest days ready to spring into action should he be needed.
Thank you Barry, a job well done.
Well done and thank you to our volunteers behind the bar and for providing catering, our Jimbo crew, all the guys in the car park,
Jamie and the guys from the ASBC who spent a considerable amount of time in the chilly lake helping launch and retrieve boats.
Thank you to the volunteers from Victor Harbor Goolwa Sea Rescue Squadron who provided on water support for the event
and to our event photographers who captured our picnic days and Aquafest.
