On behalf of the Club, the Commodore congratulated Mrs Inge Strompf-Jepsen who had been nominated to receive the Noel Croucher Award 2012 for her truly exceptional contribution to sailing.
The Commodore advised that being an accomplished, experienced and successful sailor in her own right, Mrs Strompf-Jepsen had also been involved in Race Officer duties for many of the Club’s major events, including Autumn Regatta 2009, 2010, 2011, China Coast Regatta 2008, Around The Island Race 2011, BNP Paribas Match Racing Finals 2011, BNP Paribas Match Racing Nationals and Internationals in 2012. She also gave freely of her time to HKSF Dinghy Regattas and HHYC Typhoon Series.
Apart from sailing, Mrs Strompf-Jepsen had also made a huge contribution to the Club over many years, leading the refurbishment in 2000, and since then had retained an involvement in the Club’s other development issues. After the inaugural Commodores’ Forum held in Canada in 2005, Mrs Strompf-Jepsen was instrumental in the setting up of ICOYC and the Commodores’ Forum as an annual forum for yacht clubs, where clubs come together to share their experiences and expertise. Mrs Strompf-Jepsen persuaded the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club to host the Forum in 2006 and was already involved in the organisation of the 2013 Forum which would once again be hosted by the Royal Hong Kong Yacht Club.
A member of RHKYC since 1986, Mrs Strompf-Jepsen had served her time on various committees of the Club including General Committee, Club Committee, Facilities Committee, Shelter Cove Sub-Committee, Steering Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Kellett Island Development Working Group, Kellett Island Reprovisioning Working Group, Nominating Committee and Public Affairs Working Group. She also served as the Rear Commodore (Club), Vice Commodore, and was the first female Commodore of the Club. Her lasting legacies were the number of sailors both young and old that she had helped to develop, the ICOYC / Commodores’ Forum and the current ‘look and feel’ of the Clubhouses, considered by many around the world as the perfect yacht club.
The Commodore invited Mrs Strompf-Jepsen to receive the Noel Croucher Award for her outstanding contribution to sailing.
Mrs Strompf-Jepsen then expressed her thanks to the Sailing Committee for nominating her for the award this year and to the General Committee for approving the recommendation. She said she felt really proud to be the recipient of this award and she looked forward to having her name added to the honours list on the board, together with the names of idols she had looked up to since she was a young member.