John Plimmer

I'm very sorry to have to tell you that John Plimmer died on Thursday 12th February.  John had been ill for some time.

We send our sincere condolences to Judy and all of John's family and many friends.

A celebration of John's life will be held in St Luke's Anglican Church, Elizabeth Street, Waikanae, on Wednesday 18th February 2026 at 1:30pm. The service will be livestreamed - kcfhstream.nz (livestream 1), and will be followed by drinks at the Waikanae Golf Club.

Waikanae Open Pairs 2026

Our annual Open Pairs tournament took place on Sunday 15th February.  The event was very well supported, with 21 tables.

Generously sponsored by Charles Fleming Retirement Village and splendidly organised by Margaret Gordon, the day was an enjoyable and successful one.

The winners were Jack James and Morgan Booker from Palmerston North.  Alan Grant and Peter Newell from Wellington were in 2nd place, and our own John Donbavand was 3rd with his Wellington partner, Antony Ker.  

Winners - Jack James & Morgan Booker

Runners-up - Alan Grant & Peter Newell

The major prizes were kindly presented by Wendy Burns, representing the sponsors.

Other Waikanae successes were recorded by Vivienne Cannell and Maureen Pratchett, who won the session prize for the Howell movement (ask Maureen: Ed).  Also of note, Anthea Black and Naciye Bagci were 2nd N/S in the morning session, with Sandie Wright and Karen Hutchins 3rd N/S in the morning and 2nd E/W in the afternoon, finishing 5th overall.

Thanks are due to:

• Anne Ricketts - Director
• Margaret Gordon - scorer
• Kevin Walker and Maureen Pratchett - for their assistance in setting up the event
• Roz King - for organising the catering, assisted in the kitchen by Chris Carlyon, Mehegan Goodman, Di Andrews, Shelley Ross, and Alison Hall
• Fiona McDonald-Bates - for running the raffle (won by Chris Farrow)
• Marg Gott - for her help behind the bar

and all those who assisted with the setup before and clean up after the event.

"In Brief"

Many thanks to Viv Gray and Murray Lobb for organising and placing the billboards for our upcoming Learners Lessons.

Here's Newsletter No.1 for 2026 from the Chair of NZBridge, Peter Newell:

Membership Survey

The Committee has recently approved a Membership Survey to gather information about the Club and to gain a better understanding of members' views and concerns. The results will be used to assist the Committee in its forward planning and to improve the day-to-day running of the Club.

The survey can be found here.

It is entirely voluntary and can be anonymous if you so wish. The results will be aggregated and no individual responses will be identified.

Please complete the survey: it should only take about 5-10 minutes of your time.

Pre-session Discussions

To assist Session Directors, the Committee requests that if you want to have a discussion with your partner prior to play you sit only at either the table at which you will be playing, or at the top table.

Background

The Director decides how many tables and part tables we have, how many boards will be played and which room movement best suits this. Having done this, they advise the scorer to capture this information in the computer system and activate the tablets.

Occasionally, the Director finds that partnerships have been counted twice: once at the table at which they have initially sat, and again because they are sitting at a different table discussing their system.  For obvious reasons, this can cause problems and lead to confusion and delay.

Your cooperation is requested.

Wellington Region Junior League

The following has been kindly contributed by Murray Lobb

HEY JUNIORS – WANT TO IMPROVE YOUR BRIDGE?

Wellington Regional Bridge run a Junior League throughout the year. It is a great way to improve your Bridge by playing against players from all over the region.

Further it is a great way to meet players from other Clubs and form friendships and rivalries that will last for years.

Don’t let the feeling that you are not ready yet stop you, there were first year players that performed well last year.

The Junior League is an initiative of the Wellington Region to encourage Junior Grade players to participate in Junior Grade Tournaments in the Wellington Region. Points are also awarded for playing in Multigrade and Intermediate Tournaments.

You can read all the details and Terms and Conditions for Junior League 2026 here.

Go on – give it a go. Who knows, you could be the Wellington Junior League champion for 2026.

Club & Tournament Director Training courses for 2026

The following information has been provided by NZ Bridge:

• Programme for Tournament Directors training courses 2026
• Programme for Club Directors training courses 2026
• Details for Certificate of Achievement

The Club is always on the look out for new Directors, so please consider giving this a go. You don’t have to be an expert player - you just need to be good at retaining information and able to handle situations in a confident and sympathetic manner.

Beginners Lessons

 This year's Beginners Lessons start on Monday 2nd March.

(Note: Ady's mobile number as advertised in the lessons flyer above
is incorrect. The correct number is 027 622 9116)

NZ Bridge Regional Championships 2026 - Wellington Region Trials

These trials select teams to represent the Wellington Region in the Open, Senior, Women’s and Intermediate grades.

Key dates, trial information, and registration deadlines are included on the flyer below, with further detail available on the website.

Registration and event information can be found at:

https://wellingtonregionbridge.org.nz/-regional-team-championships (the website will be updated as details are confirmed).

Please consider entering these trials - in particular if you’re eligible for the Intermediate and Women’s teams. Don’t be put off if you have not previously competed at regional level: this is a good opportunity to get involved.

For further information please contact John Donbavand.

Bridge Lessons - Advertising

The Bridge Lessons Flyer delivery begins on Monday 9th February. The aim is to deliver all the flyers within a week, but we need volunteers to help with the delivery.

If you're willing to help please contact Eileen Queree on 021 293 3920.

2026 Waikanae Open Tournament

 This year’s Waikanae Open tournament is on February 15th. You can enter on the NZ Bridge website here.

Catering Manager

I'm delighted to be able to announce that Roz King has accepted the role of Catering Manager for the Club.  Roz will have responsibility for catering tournaments and other functions throughout the year and will lead the kitchen team both for special events such as the Christmas function and the Anniversary tournament, as well as managing the kitchen on a day-to-day basis.

We are very lucky to have such an experienced professional to take on this key role.

Rankings

In the national "Top 20" Player Rankings as at 31st December:

• John Donbavand ranked 7th in the Life Master category
• Anthea Black ranked 13th and Graham Cheater 20th in the Master category
• Murray Lobb ranked 14th in the Local Master category
• Shelley Ross ranked 2nd in the Club Master category

As of the same date Graeme Norman sits in 106th place in the updated All Time Masterpoints Earners list with 3250.82 points.

Murray Lobb, Craig Jackson, Viv Gray, Shelley Ross and Gillian van Raalte all graduated to Intermediate Grade as of 1st January.

Congratulations everybody - and especially to Shelley: a great result.