Latest Rankings

Congratulations to John Donbavand, ranked 3rd nationally in the Life Master category as at 31st March, and also to Graeme Norman who is in 105th place in the all-time Masterpoint Earners list.

Waikanae/Paraparaumu Interclub

The annual Interclub match against Paraparaumu was contested on Saturday 28th March.

The event was relocated to Waikanae due to some outstanding building compliance issues for Paraparaumu following their recently-completed renovations. 

After a slightly shaky start due to confusion about the start time, and the absence of one Paraparaumu player (Editor’s Note: this necessitated an emergency call to the previously-arranged Waikanae reserve John Donbavand, who - despite some consternation among the Waikanae team - kindly agreed to play for the opposition!), the day quickly developed into a relaxed and enjoyable occasion.

The competition was won by Waikanae with 710.44 to 689.56 total percentage points, an average score difference of 1.5%.  

We therefore retained the shield.

The individual winners were:

1st - Graham Cheater and Jeanne Wardill
2nd - Murray Lobb and Rae Lutman
3rd - Liesbet Gavey and Phil Gavey (a great effort from a Junior pair)
4th - Vicki Boffa and Rachel Patrick

Many thanks to:

• Trevor Smith - dealing
• Basia Arnold - directing
• Jane McArthur - scoring (with assistance from Maureen Pratchett)
• Roz King (and team) - catering

Special thanks to Paraparaumu for providing refreshments after play, and to all team members from both sides who kindly provided an incredible quantity of food for the afternoon.

We look forward to the return fixture at Paraparaumu next year.

Improvers' Lessons

 Graham Cheater has kindly offered a series of 3 Improvers' lessons for 2026.  Please see the poster below for details.

Please note that these lessons are suitable for Juniors who have played for a few years and Intermediates.

Almoner

 

Our Almoner is Sue Crichton.

Historically an almoner was a person responsible for distributing alms to the poor, usually connected with a religious house or other institution.

Nowadays the almoner is the person members can go to when they know of a health or other issue another member has so the club can rally around and provide support.

Please contact Sue for bereavements and other similar events that should be acknowledged by the Club.

You can email Sue here.

NZBridge - Conduct and Etiquette

Please take a look at these posters from NZBridge - they provide an excellent summary of the behaviours the Committee seeks to maintain at our club in support of our Mission Statement:

Tip of the Month

Thanks to Maureen Pratchett for this tip (also available on the Club Noticeboard):

Karori Bridge Club Mixed Pairs - Easter Monday

Karori Bridge Club is looking for players for their Wellington Regional Mixed Pairs tournament on Easter Monday. This event has been popular with Waikanae members in past years.

If you would like to play in this event, please see below for further information.

"In Brief"

Wellington Regional Championship Trials (Online)

Well done to Vicki Boffa and Rachel Patrick, who won the Intermediate section on 21st March, and also to Derek Snelling and his Wellington partner who placed 2nd in the Senior section.

KHAP

Congratulations to Anthea Black and Naciye Bagci - 2nd E/W in Round 1 on 19th March (full results here).

National Congress 2026

Advance notice for the 2026 National Congress, to be held in Palmerston North in November.

National Swiss Pairs 2026

Many congratulations to John Donbavand and his Wellington partner Murray McMillan who were 6th overall in the National Swiss Pairs held over the weekend of 14-15 March. 

Inter-Village Event

In the Inter-Village event held at the Club on Wednesday 4th March, Lois Anderson and Naciye Bagci were 1st N/S, with Pat Reynolds and Peter Farley 2nd and Jane McKegg and Sue Crichton 3rd equal with Clare Sims and John Ellen.  Sue Legat and Ann Verboeket were 3rd E/W, with Anne Ricketts and Margaret Gordon 4th. 

Many thanks to Anne Ricketts for directing, Margaret Gordon for her efforts in the kitchen, and also to whoever left the nice note on the whiteboard!

Happy Birthday 

Happy 80th birthday to Julia Tait on Monday 2nd March - and thanks for the cake (beautifully made by Marg Gott)!

Hutt Multigrade Pairs

John Donbavand and his Wellington partner Murray McMillan were 4th overall in the Hutt Multigrade Pairs on Sunday 1st March (3rd overall in the morning session and 6th in the afternoon).  Paul Brinkman and Anthea Black were 8th overall (3rd in the afternoon session).

Easter Weekend Traffic Issues

Conflicting information on this - it now appears the work may have been postponed: watch this space!

NZBridge On-Line Lessons

The NZBridge Teaching and Learning Committee has organised online lessons via the RealBridge website.

April lessons are suitable for those who have played a few years, May lessons are suitable for new learners.

Cost: $8 per lesson.

Register and pay on nzbridge.helloclub.com/register and you will receive the RealBridge link prior to the Sunday session.

Lessons are 4-6pm Sundays, repeated 7-9pm the following Tuesdays.  Log on at least 15 minutes early, check your camera and microphone, as you will be playing the practice hands.

Please see the poster on the left for additional information.

St Patrick's Day

 A big thank you to Vicky Young for once again organising our annual St Patrick's Day event on Monday 16th March, complete with afternoon tea, spot prizes - and some pretty terrible jokes!

For the second year in a row Judi Vernau and Steve Ricketts won the "best dressed" prizes, with an honourable mention to Alice Henke.

Well done and thanks to all who supported the event.

Kapiti Horowhenua Area Pairs 2026

For information about this year's KHAP competition please go the Levin Bridge Club website here.

KHAP Results

Round 1

Financial Services Seminar for Seniors

James Buchanan (a friend of Angela Gattsche) is working with Mike Pero Mortgages to increase awareness of financial services available for seniors in the Kapiti Coast.

He is organising a free "Financial Services for Seniors" seminar for 19th March at Nga Manu.  

Topics to be covered include succession and estate planning, retirement lending for over 60s, investment services for seniors, and real estate services for seniors.  Speakers will come from Heartland Bank, Booster Funds, Harcourts Real Estate, and Kapiti Law.

Rubber Bridge 2026

For additional information please see the (recently re-designed) Wellington Region Bridge website here, or contact John Donbavand.

Entries close on 31st March.

Wellington Region Bridge - Newsletter

This is the February edition of the Wellington Region Bridge Newsletter. A short item contributed by Waikanae appears on page 5:

AGM

The 52nd Annual General Meeting took place at the clubrooms on Monday 23rd February.

The meeting was well attended and commendably brief.

The following business was conducted:

• the Minutes of the 51st AGM held on 26th February 2025 were accepted
• the President's Report was accepted
• the Treasurer's Report was accepted
• a motion to increase subscriptions by $5.00 for the financial year beginning 1 January 2027 was passed
• John McCormick was re-appointed as the Club's Financial Reviewer for the financial year ending 31 December 2026
• Hugh Wolfensohn was appointed as the Club's Honorary Solicitor for 2026

The following officers and Committee were elected for 2026:

• President - Hugh Wolfensohn 
• Secretary - Rae Lutman
• Treasurer - Margaret Gordon
• Committee (in alphabetical order):
• Jo Anson
• Nicky Bradley
• Graham Cheater
• Murray Lobb
• Fiona McDonald-Bates
• Derek Snelling
• Judi Vernau

Hugh acknowledged with appreciation the contributions to the Committee of Helen Walker and Chris Farrow (both of whom were stepping down), and made a presentation to Chris on behalf of the Committee to mark his departure from the Committee after many years' service.

Finally, and with great pleasure, Hugh moved that Vicky Young be awarded Life Membership of the Club - motion carried by acclamation.  Congratulations Vicky!

Treasurer's Annual Report 2025

Margaret Gordon's Treasurer's Report for the 2026 Annual General Meeting:

President's Annual Report 2025

My Annual Report for the 2026 Annual General Meeting:

Thinking of Moving?

One of our newer members, Anita Humphrey, has recently changed jobs and is now working for Sotheby's International Realty.

Sotheby's International Realty has a generous offer for Grey Power Members.  

Anyone is welcome to contact Anita for more information: her phone number is 027 415 1045.

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.

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.