History of Brightlingsea Sailing Club
1888 - Formation of Brightlingsea Sailing Club
Easter Monday 1888 - The first recorded BSC race takes place
30th November 1888 - First BSC Laying Up Supper takes place at the recently opened Royal Hotel in Tower Street - After dinner "several songs were rendered"
1895 - Edward Sycamore skippers Valkyrie III in the America's Cup
Late 1800s - BSC goes into decline, partly because so many of the top Brightlingsea sailors are asked to crew on the big racing yachts of the day and are away all summer
1901 - Edward Sycamore skippers Shamrock II in the America's Cup
1903 - 1913 - Crabchicks Sailing Club is formed by a group of BSC members from the Crabchick dayboat class to fill the void
1910 - Club race entry fees are noted at two shillings and six pence. Races are run on courses very similar to those we still use today from a start hut on Point Clear
23 September 2013 - Crabchicks Sailing Club organises Brightlingsea Regatta - the last event run by the club before:
1914 to 1918 - First World War - all leisure sailing suspended
1921 - With the country now in recovery after the First World War, Brightlingsea Sailing Club is reformed. Club meetings are held in the The Yachtsman's Arms and a board outside the pub advises details of forthcoming races. Races are started from a hut on point clear
1927 - Robbie Stone approached the club committee with a proposal for a new one design class and the Brightlingsea One Designs are born.
1930 - A Social Committee is elected for the first time - 60 members attend the annual dinner at the Royal Hotel
1937 - An exceptionally high tide floats the start hut off Point Clear and onto Cindery Island. It is retrieved using a raft and relocated on the James & Stone shipyard site (now the site of the Waterside Marina)
1939 - 1945 - Second World War - all leisure sailing suspended
May 1946 - The first post-war club committee meeting is held
June 1952 - The first BSC Club House and boat park in Fieldgate Dock (where the waterfront Fieldgate Dock townhouses now sit) is opened by Ralph Sutton
1960 - Agreement is reached with Tendring District Council to lease the land on which the current clubhouse, dinghy park and car park sit
1960s - Cadet nights start
1 April 1962 - New clubhouse on the present site opened by Sir Miles Wyatt, Admiral of the Royal Ocean Racing Club & donor of the famous Admiral's Cup
December 1969 - Two storey extension with enlarged changing, galley and bar extension completed
1971- Telephone installed in the club
1975-1977 - Launching ramp constructed
1976 - Reg White & John Osborn win Tornado Olympic Gold
1977 - Further extension of the clubhouse and new bar
1983 - Club hosts National Schools Regatta
1983-1984 - Further improvements to the changing rooms, gas heating installed
1985 - Launching ramp extended to low water mark
1992 - New galley, training/cadet room and bar store constructed
2012 - Latest club house extension officially opened and wi-fi installed
2013 - Awarded RYA Champion Club Status
December 2013 - Club floods and undergoes another major refit
2015 - BSC becomes RYA Club of the Year and is awarded RYA High Performance status
2017 - Awarded RYA Sailability Status
2018 - Club celebrates its 130th Anniversary
March 2020 - The new Sailing Management Centre is opened, replacing the old simple wooden start hut with a two story building combining the race office on the first floor and a race administration office/small training room on the ground floor.
2020 - The Covid-19 pandemic delays the start of the 2020 season until June, when the club is one of the first in the country to restart sailing under special measures.
2021 - The club purchases a Mitchell 31 motorboat to act as its new Committee Boat, providing and technically superior and more comfortable platform for running racing. Covid restrictions continue but are reduced enabling an almost full programme of activities to be delivered.
2022 - Covid restrictions are lifted and following a major refit of the lobby and clubroom, the club launches a new combined bar/cafe service for members, offering longer and more flexible opening hours and a range of hot and cold snacks and light meals from the bar.
See the club's Honour Boards for a full list of our Champions
Last updated 12:29 on 4 March 2024
