Meet The Committee
Spinnaker Sailing Club is managed by the Main Committee who are all members and volunteers (with the exception of our Chief Instructor who attends as a non-voting employee). Our Sailing Committee then oversee our on water activities, and again this is a committee of members who volunteer! Supporting our members we have a small team of professional staff.
Main Committee
Commodore Phil Tinsley - commodore@spinnakerclub.co.uk
Phil started sailing at Oxford Sailing Club in the 1970's, initially crewing a Merlin, then helming a Cherub and finally an OK super strong fleet in those far off days. Lull until he crewed a 505 in the 1980's, and finally as a member of Maidenhead then Datchet, he crewed a Flying Fifteen for 15 years. Joining Spinnaker in 2019, he now sails a GP14 with his wife Sally, and a Solo (slowly)
Rear Commodore - Sailing Tom Clay - rcs@spinnakerclub.co.uk
I was brought up racing on the Medway and Bough Beach & cruising the East Coast. I team raced at University and after racing at King George, Island Barn and Wraysbury, I joined Spinnaker 25 years ago so my sons could sail Oppies then Lasers. When they team raced, I qualified as an Umpire. I now sail a blue Firefly mostly singlehanded (due to weight!).
Vice Commodore Hywel Morris - vicecommodore@spinnakerclub.co.uk
I have been a member of Spinnaker Club since the very early 1990s. I originally joined so that my children could learn to sail and was also a member of Sandleheath Sea Scouts. I then progressed through sailing a Topper, an Enterprise to owning a Solo which class I have sailed for the last 20 years. I am a retired GP and I have four grown-up children and four small grandchild children, two of whom live in Southampton with their parents, who are also members, and I'm looking forward to seeing them sailing at Spinnaker in the future
Treasurer Jim Clarke - treasurer@spinnakerclub.co.uk
Jim is the Treasurer for the club. He worked for HSBC Bank for 18 years, before starting his own Financial Planning/Wealth Management business in 2013. He lives in Ringwood, with his wife and 2 teenage daughters. Jim first sailed at Salterns SC in Lymington in the 1980's in a British Moth, but really learnt to sail at University of Plymouth in the early 1990's. They sailed in Wayfarers, Lasers and Larks. After graduating, Jim joined HSBC's solent sailing club, based out of Lymington Town SC, where he sailed Wayfarers and Lasers. Jim has a Laser, and on occasions can be seen on a paddleboard.
Rear Commodore House Ian Matthews
Ian joined Spinnaker at the tender age of 8 with his Mum and Dad and Brother in 1968. He has sailed Optimists, with his 1st boat a fibre glass Oppy numbered 76!, Mirrors, Herons and Bosuns. He crewed many years in GP14's owning 2, then moving to Enterprises in the 80's when the Club boasted some 25 of them in the boat park with 15 racing regularly. Work commitments took him away from Spinnaker for a couple of decades in 1990, returning in the early 20teens. He now sails a Solo (alarmingly well say the rest of the fleet!)
Director Dick Meredith
Dick started sailing in the late 1990's. Initially in a Laser, primarily bought at the request of his teenage sons, but changing to a Solo when his sons' interests shifted to wind surfing. Apart from a 9 year break when he went 'big boat' cruising, Dick has continued to sail Solos. Recently, as a result of wanting to try something different, he bought a Hadron H2.
RYA Principal Graham Stones - trainingprincipal@spinnakerclub.co.uk
Graham started sailing at a young age on frozen reservoirs near Bolton in the cold north. Starting in a Topper he progressed to a Byte and Enterprise before moving to the Fireball he still sails at Spinnaker some 20 years later. Graham has been a sailing instructor for over 20 years and still works in the marine industry. He can be seen regularly on Wednesday evenings in his Fireball or pottering in a Mirror dinghy with his two boys if the sun is shining.
Member Tim Jobson
Tim has been sailing for 65 years, including 50 years at Barnt Green Sailing Club, sailing Fireflies then Larks and windsurfers and (for the last 30 years) Solos. He can now be found at the back of the Solo fleet.
Member Caroline Kersey
Caroline sails an Aero (and sometimes a Laser), mostly in Ladies Sailing and sometimes in Club racing. Both her children went through the SYT training here at Spinnaker and are becoming Dinghy Instructors.
Operations Manager James Oborne - training@spinnakerclub.co.uk
James started sailing at Baltic Wharf in Bristol (somewhere with even shiftier wind than our lake)! After learning in an Optimist he raced Toppers for a few years. Since 2008 James has been working full time in the sailing industry which has taken him to locations as far as the Red Sea and Mediterranean, before joining Spinnaker Sailing Club in March 2020. As well as working for the club James can be seen regularly on the water with his family in his Firefly, when they're not in their Optimists and Toppers.
Last updated 10:02 on 25 April 2024
