17th Annual Rotary Wine Auction:

The 17th Annual Rotary Wine Auction was arguably the best event yet. Initial calculations show a generous net amount of R240 000 was raised which, added to the upcoming Jo’burg Rotary Wine Auction amount, will complete the funding for the new 6.5 metre rescue craft ‘Rotarian Schipper’ to be based at Bakoven NSRI.Thank you to our fantastic guests who really had fun and spent generously to support Sea Rescue, GrandWest CSI (Main Sponsor), the Wine Cellar, Claremart Auctioneers, Usana Wines, J Ryan Printers, David & Andy Plew-Chisholm. Particular thanks to the Wine Estates who every year donate some of their best wines in aid of an NSRI project. Lastly and perhaps most importantly, thanks to the Rotarians of the Rotary Clubs of Table Bay and Newlands who put their heart and soul into this event. Hein Schipper ( second from right) and Bakoven volunteers, David Knott, Mark Samassa, Ernesta Swanepoel, Bruce Davidson and Bernard Schafer.Our VIP guest for the evening was Mr. Hein Schipper who, besides having achieved an enviable age of 101, has been donating to NSRI and the Wine Auction in particular for many years. This year was no different. The new Bakoven NSRI 6.5 metre will be named ‘Rotarian Schipper’ in honour of Hein’s incredible support.The two lots which were knocked down to the highest bids were Lot 30 (a selection of 148 bottles of vintage wines donated by the Munitz family) and Lot 42 (a 3 hour cruise for 12 people on the Princess Emma donated by Peter Bacon and Howard Godfrey). These raised R17 000 and R19 000 respectively.The main raffle prize for the evening was a 2 night stay for two guests with breakfast in the Presidential Suite of the Table Bay Hotel. Thank you to the Table Bay Hotel for this amazing prize as well as for providing us with a fantastic venue for our Auction dinner.For those who missed out on the Cape Town Wine Auction event, there will be a second Wine Auction hosted by the Rotary Club of Knights Pendragon on the 17th October at the Balalaika Hotel in Jo’burg. For further information please contact Krista Lazzari on Kristal@searescue.org.za Andrew Koch, MD of Claremart in action.