Daryl Langdon has helped keep Colac Yacht Club afloat through trying years of drought.
Langdon joined the club in the season of 1996 and 1997 and has been on its committee since 1998.
He has been commodore for five years in total and is vice commodore this year.
“Most of the time I’ve been commodore we haven’t had much water,” Langdon said.
“Three out of the five terms we had to sail away which has been a bit of a burden,” he said.
“A lot more work is involved to organise it all.”
Langdon helped the club build a new jetty and extend an existing jetty at Lake Colac in his first year as commodore in 2000.
“We did it over four weekends with volunteer help,” he said.
“I drew up the plans and sourced the materials.”
Langdon, who lives at Barongarook, said his neighbour Ian Lane got him involved in sailing.
“He was skipping another boat and he was short a crew member so I went along,” Langdon said.
“The next year we bought our boat and we’ve been partners since,” he said.
Langdon and Lane have won seven Australian and seven Victorian titles with crew members Pam Cuthbertson and Carol Cabrie.
But Langdon says he is not a sailing expert.
“I’m not a great sailor but I help fix the boat and keep it running,” he said.
“I enjoy the sailing and being involved in the club.”
Langdon’s other contributions to the club include organising regattas at St Leonards on the Bellarine Peninsula and social functions.
Club commodore Steve Cartwright said the club appreciated Langdon’s work.
“Over the last couple of years as commodore, Daryl has certainly put a lot of effort into the running of the club,” he said.
“And his effort with the Lake Colac Management Committee, he has put a lot of time into meeting with the council and being involved in that committee to help improve the lake, which in the long run is a benefit not only to yacht club members but also to members of the general public.”