Remembering Dr Chris White

by John Byrne on 7 Oct 2017 It is with a heavy heart and great sadness that we advise the passing of Dr Chris White, who lost his battle with cancer last week. Chris is now at peace.

Chris was a tireless campaigner for the advancement of sailing in North Queensland. In this pursuit he turned the NQ regional training committee into a co-operative collective of Clubs that shared information and ideas and met regionally with resulting regional drive and camaraderie that united Clubs and personalities. It was these meetings which resulted in the invigoration of secondary school sailing in North Queensland and the establishment of the Open Bic and Flying 11 fleets in the North. A conversation with Chris always gave one a new burst of enthusiasm and a bunch of good ideas for your club.

Chris’s vision for NQ Sailing resulted in a previously unheard of number of grants and sponsorships being won which purchased boats and equipment still in use in the NQ region today.

After a period as State President of Yachting Queensland, Chris continued to focus energies to encouraging NQ Clubs until health challenges forced him to take a back seat. It is a testament to Chris’s energy, passion and drive that after this time, the collective forward momentum of sailing in NQ slowed considerably.

Those of us who worked with him in those progressive years will miss him greatly and hope that a perpetual North Queensland award of some description can be inaugurated in his honour.