The History of Tenby Sailing Club.

Old Tenby Harbour.

Many old pictures of Tenby and its harbour show the distinctive three-storey building now occupied by Tenby Sailing Club. It is situated at the end of the walled-off section of the harbour usually called 'The Sluice'.

The Sluice.

It is thought that the sluice wall was built during the late 17th century. This basin had three sluice outlets. Remains of a filled-in arch and steel hinges at the west end, near the present Mayor's Slip, were visible until quite recently until that end of the Sluice wall collapsed during a storm. The sluice opening at the opposite end would have been in the wall of what is now called South Wharf, which was made by filling in the east end of the Sluice in front of the Smithy Storehouse some time before 1811. The third opening may have been where the wide opening in the sluice wall now exists. Trapped seawater from the basin would have flowed from these sluice gates out into the harbour to sluice away sand, but, with one end of the basin already filled in, it is probable that sluicing had stopped very early in the nineteenth century. The east end was now South Wharf, used for landing produce and also for barking the sails of the ships with cutch (catechu), a resinous tannin rich preparation made from boiled oak bark, which was scrubbed onto the sails to help to stop the cotton material from rotting. But what use now for the west end of the basin? First, Sleeman's Stores was built in the basin, then the inner, town side wall of the Sluice must have been built some time after 1830, allowing other buildings to be built along that side. By 1849 this inner wall was complete, and stores occupied. It is known that at one time the now much smaller basin was used to 'pickle' wood which had been processed by a sawmill housed in a neighbouring building on this town side of the Sluice. A ramp for getting the wood into the Sluice can be seen at the west end, near the Mayor's Slip. The Ordnance Survey map of 1888 shows that between 1849 and 1888 an opening had been made in the Sluice wall which would allow entry of a boat once the gate was lifted, and the Sluice was being called a Dry Dock.

Sleeman's Stores.

The three storey building, standing on three stone arches (now filled in), was built in 1825. Thomas Sleeman took out a lease on the newly constructed building which was to be known as Sleeman's Stores, dealing in wine, spirits, vinegar, oil, fruits and salt shipped from Bristol and the Continent. It was built adjacent to the South Wharf, with one end able to receive goods directly from ships moored agaist the Sluice wall. Its foundations were in the Sluice basin, so one can assume that it was built on arches not only for the strength and stability of such a structure, standing in water twice each day, but also because less stone was needed. There must have been considerable expertise in the town in the art and science of arch building after the construction of Sir William Paxton's arched Walkway across the southeast side of the harbour in 1813.

Later in its life the floors of the Sleeman's Stores building were rented separately as fishermen's and boatmen's stores. There was probably always a shortage of space in the harbour area. Now, those days when the harbour was packed with fishing boats and Tenby really was The Little Fort of the Fish are only remembered in old etchings and photographs.

before 1797	map of 1811	1817	1830	about 1900

To see an article on Tenby Harbour by Wilfred Harrison, click here.

To obtain information on Tenby Museum, click here.

I would like to thank the Staff of Tenby Museum for their help in researching this history, and John & Gwen Eastlake for their valuable advice, information and photographs. - Philip Wathen.

The Founding of Tenby Sailing Club.

Tenby Sailing Club was founded in 1936, and originally used a house (now called 'The Quarterdeck') on Penniless Cove Hill and also a building which stood at the end of the pier and which soon had to be demolished. A small hut was later built at the end of the pier for starting races but this, too, has gone.

Some of the first Members of Tenby Sailing Club:

Some of the original members of the Tenby Sailing Club. Click for a bigger picture.

Back row: Leslie Powell, W. Noble, T. Lewis (Snell), L. Diment, Edgar Rossiter (f.m.), D. Lewis, Vic Crockford (f.m.), Thrupp, Bob Hooper (f.m.).

Centre: J. Howells.

Front row: Ted Lewis, T. Creese, B. Lewis, Charlie Hooper (f.m.), R. Nicholls.

The photograph was taken outside the original building on the end of the pier. Founder members are marked (f.m.).

The present building.

          When the club moved to the present site, it first occupied the top two floors of the building. The floors were old and weak, and older members recall that on big occasions, when the club room was full and a piano was in the middle of the floor, the sag was so great that locals would sit as close to the edge as possible. Waste water had to be pumped up to the sewer in Crackwell Street, and this caused problems on many occasions.

          The first floor was strengthened, and later in the 1970s the upper floor was also strengthened and changing rooms, showers and a committee room installed, as well as retaining the facility to store masts in the roof space. The steel windows were replaced with wooden ones.

          In 1970, the gold Commander Lock Trophy was sold and the money raised used to build a splendid new bar in the form of a clinker-built ship's hull, still in use today.

          Later, part of the ground floor was obtained and used to house the new rescue boats which the club had bought. Eventually, the whole of the lower floor was taken over and a Sportlot Grant enabled new changing facilities, toilets and showers to be built, together with a new balcony and fire escape at the front of the building.

Boats sailed at Tenby Sailing Club.

          Some of the earliest boats sailed in the club were Gunter rigged pleasure boats, and names such as Doric sailed by Jimmy Noble and Elsie, sometimes refered to as 'the snorting pig', sailed by Lal John are still remembered. The Oriole, built to the design of a 14ft International, was also regularly sailed. Other boats appeared, including an 18ft National (designed by Uffa Fox), a Flying Fifteen and an Olympic Firefly after the Olympic Games in 1948.

          The first Dinghy Class adopted by the club was the National Redwing. This was a clinker built dinghy designed by Uffa Fox for Looe Sailing Club in Cornwall. Those early boats in Looe were all named after birds. The waters around Tenby were considered to be so similar to Looe that the boat would be ideal. The first one in Tenby was obtained by Dudley Boswell. The Redwing originally had a cast iron centreboard, weighing 1Ľ cwt (64 Kg), which needed a winch to lift it. This meant that the boats had to remain out on a mooring as they were too heavy to pull up the slipway. The cast iron board was later replaced by a wooden centreboard, and later still a trapeze was fitted to the boat to ease the plight of the overburdened crew. The red sails of these boats are still a splendid sight in Carmarthen Bay.

          Other classes of boats sailed in the club include Fireballs, GP14s, Lasers, Mirror Dinghies, Optimists, Ospreys and Toppers.

To see a list of boats sailed in 1955 and their owners, click here.

Past Commodores of Tenby Sailing Club.

Post	Name	Years held
Presidents	A. Pudsey Dawson	1936-1947
	J. Lillycrop	1947-1949
	W.G.O. Canton	1949-1954
Chairmen	R. Hooper Jr.	1936-1946
	F.G. John	1946-1953
	J.E.M. Copland	1953-1954
Commodores	S.H. Hughes	1954-1961
	E. Rossiter	1961-1963
	J.E.M. Copland	1963-1965
	T.C. Hughes	1965-1967
	J.E.M. Copland	1967-1968
	Blake Shaw	1969
	T. Owen Thomas	1970
	D. Harries	1971-1972
	R.N. Marks	1973
	P.A. Bement	1974-1975
	N.P. Stace	1976-1977
	M.D. Grant	1978-1979
	J.E.M. Copland	1980
	P.A. Bement	1981-1982
	R.W. Haggar	1983-1984
	D.J. Lawrence	1985-1986
	N.P. Stace	1987-1988
	W.T. Stubbs	1989-1990
	H.C. Griffith	1991-1992
	J.C. Powell	1993-1994
	R.A. Clayton	1995-1996
	A.C. Spiller	1997-1998
	T.F. Evans	1999-2000
	R.G. Squibbs	2001-2003
	M. Stace	2004-2005
	D. Jackson	2006-2007
	Mark Dashfield	2008

Life members of Tenby Sailing Club.

The following people have been awarded Life Membership for services rendered to the club:

C. Hooper, E. Rossiter, J.E.M. Copland, John and Gwen Eastlake, R.N. Marks, Blake Shaw, Eric & Mary Simmonds, P.A. Bement, Neville Stace, John Griffiths.

National Champions of Tenby Sailing Club.

The following people have had success in National Sailing Championships:

Year	Championship	Helm	Crew
1977	Redwing Nationals	Steve Rich	Justin Hearne
1979	Snipe Nationals		Steve Rich
1980	Redwing Nationals	Chris Crockford	Jonah Jones
1982	Redwing Nationals	Steve Rich	Bethan Eastlake
1983	Laser Nationals	Steve Rich
1983	Redwing Nationals	Blake Shaw	Phil Bement
1987	420 Nationals		David Marsden
1987	Div. II Boardsailing Worlds	Steve Rich
1989	International 14 Classic		David Stubbs
1989	Laser Europeans	3rd: Steve Rich
1990	Laser Worlds	5th: Steve Rich
1991	Laser Nationals	Steve Rich

To return to Tenby Sailing Club home page and main menu, click here.