East Antrim Boat Club in Larne has appointed Lucy Whitford as Commodore, only the third lady in the Club's 70-year history to enjoy that position.
The others were Lilian Stewart and Anne Morris.
Although Lucy is a regular sailor, and her daughter Zoe is a leading Topper helm as well as a 29er sailor and is currently on the RYANI's Youth Performance Programme, Lucy comes from a motorsport background. She competed in motorsport from the age of 16, first auto testing and then rallying, surely a lot faster than anything she would be used to now. It was a family thing as both her parents competed, and her husband is also involved.
Although Lucy appreciates the responsibility which is now hers, she says " Being a woman in the role wasn't actually something that was in my mind at all. I suppose both in my sailing and motorsport I never wanted to be singled out as a girl - I just wanted to compete. I feel the same about this position and for me it is about everyone working together to continue to retain the values we have at EABC as we are a relatively small family orientated club. I sailed a lot with my Dad, Mike Ford-Hutchinson but after he died suddenly in 1999, I moved away from sailing and back to motorsport where I started rallying. I didn't sail for about 10 years, but I was keen for my daughter to learn and that really brought me back to the Club. It's been great to get back to club sailing and take our daughter to sailing events across Ireland and farther afield which has allowed me to re-connect with old friends and meet new ones!"
