History of Sidmouth Sailing Club

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Recreational sailing at Sidmouth began in the 1850s, with the first Sidmouth Regatta taking place in 1857. This event featured races for three visiting yachts and six local fishing boats, similar to the luggers still sailed at Beer today. However, due to strong onshore winds and poor visibility, the yachts returned home early; one even lost its sailing dinghies , which a local (known as Foam) mistakenly thought was a mark of the course. The start of the fishing boat races was initiated by local antiquary Peter Orlando Hutchinson, who used an ornate brass cannon from the Far East. The start line was located a short distance from the shore, near where the present-day clubhouse now stands, and the racecourse was quite large by modern standards, spanning about four miles between marks. Unfortunately, the results of these races are unknown due to the confusion caused by the wind and spray.

By the 1920s, the racing activity was still mainly limited to about twenty fishing boats from the local fleet, which formed the nucleus of the Corinthian Sailing Club. The Sidmouth Sailing Club was established in 1936, but its development was interrupted by World War II. After the war, the club restarted, and in 1947, Fireflies and Redshanks—both a Sidmouth one-design class—were adopted as club class boats. This was a turning point for sailing in Sidmouth, as previously, any sailboat launched from the beach was eligible to race.

Some of the Fireflies purchased had been used in the post-war Olympics, and members of the Sidmouth club traveled to Brixham to buy these boats, which were being sold off after their Olympic competition. Notable early owners included Harold and Reg Fish, Ernest and Patrick Pym, Stanley Chard, and John Luxton. The Fireflies produced Sidmouth's first Olympic sailor, Patrick Pym (1936–2019), who began sailing at Sidmouth with his father. By the 1960s, he had moved to Hamble. He served as a reserve for the Finn class in the 1968 Mexico Olympics and competed in the 1972 Olympics in Germany as a helmsman for a Finn. In 1981, he helmed the English team that won the Admiral's Cup.

Initially, the Club's premises were in the building currently used by Sidmouth Lifeboat. The present clubhouse, complete with its boat park, opened in 1967 and provides excellent facilities for sailing, especially after its extension.

In the early 1960s, the 420 class gained popularity, with the Smith brothers, Fraser and Chester, becoming some of the club's most successful sailors. Fraser won the 420 nationals in 1970. By the mid-1970s, Scorpions had also become established alongside the 420s, with about fifteen boats from each class participating in club racing. It wasn't until 1985 that the club saw its first Scorpion National Champions when Jon Turner and Nick Keast won the event at Hythe. Peter Harper also won this event in 1990, and both Harper and Keast have subsequently won the class nationals.

In the 1990s, Mirrors were established as an adopted class at Sidmouth. The most successful Mirror helm from the club was Chris Balding, who won the 1997 World Championships in Canada, sailing alongside Nicki Harper.

Since the 1980s, the club has hosted many open events, including the annual Sidmouth Regatta, and has organized a number of prestigious championships.