On Saturday, we gathered on the water to celebrate the life of David Booth and honour his enduring passion for sailing. A special pursuit race was held, dedicated to camaraderie, competition, and remembrance.
🏆 Results:
Bindii – Lyndal Bacon
Pacesetter – Andrew MacPhail
- Time Bandit – Russell Murphy
Thank you to everyone who joined us to make this day a truly memorable tribute!
John Bacon’s speech at Friends of David Booth regatta presentation 28/2/26
On behalf of Suellen and the friends of David Booth, who sponsored this beautiful trophy, I would like to welcome you to the 10th anniversary of the most tragic of accidents.
On the 27th of February 2016, a group of mates had lunch together at that high table over there near the bar. An hour or so later, their 2 boats collided in benign weather, resulting in David losing his life at 72 and Billy Stevens almost losing his leg (and his life if not for the quick action of those there on the day, many of whom are here today). This accident and the subsequent investigations made a profoundly traumatic impact on the club, both members and staff, an impact that still lingers today for those who were here. Ten years on, many of us still can’t walk into Halyards without the vision of Boothy holding court at that table.
Despite our 150+ year history and the thousands of members who have passed, RPA honours only five individuals with events on our calendar. These 5 individuals are giants in our club’s history and collectively represent everything that we stand for. For Boothy, simply joining this esteemed list should mean that I do not need to explain further his greatness. However, as time goes by, memories fade and those who knew these great people disappear. Allow me to remind you of them briefly:
The Mick Hole One Design Regatta celebrates a lifelong Pittwater sailor who also left us too early. Mick combined fierce competition with generosity and humour.
The David Lukins Memorial Trophy honours a man who sat as a cornerstone of RPA’s development of generations of elite sailors.
The Dicko Cup remembers S R Dickenson for his foundation and organisation of a fun, family-oriented event in the 1950’s, which continues in his spirit today.
Life member Russell Slade founded the Gwen Slade Etchells Regatta to honour the memory of his wife and his strong belief that sailing should be inclusive and fun. It forms the base of our strong women’s sailing community.
And Boothy……
A true gentleman and an incredibly popular member of our club for decades. He knew everyone. He always had time to talk to everyone. Competitive? He was a mentor to many of us in the art of taking competition seriously. And he competed at pretty much everything he could get his hands into, not just boats; he was a very talented race car driver who drove at Bathurst and a natural at Golf. David was a dedicated race volunteer for years at Hammo, but he loved the golf course up there. In recognition of years of dedication to race week, the Oatley family kindly planted a tree for David on the golf course during the 2016 race week. OK, the signature VB can in the mouth trick -when he needed two hands on the boat, it is pretty much un-copyable. Particularly with a full one. Not that Boothy was a huge beer drinker. Sure, VB was his thing, but this was a good-looking, kind bloke who loved this club most of all, but also a great red and a quiet meal in Newport or lunch in Hornsby, where he was an icon in the real estate business. Boothy couldn’t walk 100m down the street up there in less than an hour because he knew everyone, and he had time for all.
After David’s funeral here at the club, where over 700 people gathered from Business/Sailing/car racing, John Berry assembled a group of us to have this beautiful trophy commissioned, and we petitioned the club to honour it in a perpetual event. So, we all gather annually to remember our mate, and for those who didn’t have the privilege of knowing him – and one day that will be everyone in this room – we take this opportunity to reflect and remind ourselves that our precious sport is not without risk. Stay safe out there, everyone.
To Boothy, we still miss you, mate.
