The absence of a committee meeting in July has given me the opportunity to visit bridge clubs in Tweed Heads and the Gold Coast to promote our 2027 Tasmanian Festival of Bridge as well our home 2027 ANC to be held in Hobart next July.

It's tough work, but somebody has to do it ...

Meanwhile, there is news to share.

ANC 2026

Congratulations to all those who played for Tassie in Canberra in chilly July.

A special congratulation to Hugh Grosvenor and Tania Lloyd who finished tenth in the Open datums, and then went on to finish seventh in the Open Butler Trial.

Our Open team finished ahead of WA and NT and also won matches against SA and Qld.

Our Womens Team finished ahead of ACT and Qld and also won matches against SA, Vic and WA.

Our Seniors Team had to console themselves with the fact that they had to play against some of the former (and current) greats of Australian bridge and relish the opportunity to improve their bridge.

Teams Selection for ANC 2027

Since the 2027 ANC is to be held at home, people have expressed to me that there will be a greater number than usual of those wishing to nominate for Team Selection.

Selection for the 2027 ANC teams will be based on performance in a number of events, so if you wish to be selected, you should participate in as many of them as possible.

The events given the greatest weight are : Tasmanian Open Teams (already run), Eastcoaster, Tasmanian Swiss Pairs and Tasmanian Festival of Bridge.

The next set of events (with lesser weight) are the TBA BAM Teams, Southern Open \& Handicap Teams, Spring Pairs.

The next set are Tasmanian Matchpointed Pairs (final in Launceston), Vera Houdek Pairs, Launceston Congress Swiss Pairs and the Tamar Congress

Eastcoaster

Get your entries in for this unique event in Orford at the end of August. Entry fees include lunch and morning tea on the first day, and there is also an optional dinner on Saturday night which is always a lot of fun. If possible try to stay at the Eastcoaster Resort - cost effective options are available with 1, 2 and 3 bedroom units available so you can share the cost with others.

TBA Building Extension

In exciting news, we have received a preliminary quote from Tasbuilt which we can afford! On this basis, I have asked them to go ahead and prepare a formal proposal for us. This will be discussed at the August Committee meeting on the 18th.

If the Committee is happy with the proposal, we will go ahead and call a Special General Meeting of members in September to gain approval to sign a contract with them. We will circulate the Tasbuilt proposal to everyone prior to this meeting.

We are hoping that the major work on the new extension can be carried out during the 2027 ANC so as to minimize disruption to our club.

Bridge Tip of the Month

Complete a system card with your partner. You will be surprised at how many bids come up that you haven't discussed previously and going over these together will improve your overall understanding of your system.

Looking forward to getting back and seeing you all

Julie Rhodes
President

The very popular Wednesday afternoon Laugh and Learn sessions are taking a winter recess (while Sue is off captaining an Australian youth team in China!). These sessions will restart on Wednesday 2 September 2026.