As Annandale Sailing Club gears up to celebrate its 70th anniversary with a weekend of racing and a party on June 27 -28, we take a look back at its history, from ‘the small band of adventurers’ who launched it at Lochmaben, to its celebrity supporters, and the passionate volunteers who are keeping it buoyant for a new generation
Seventy years ago, a small band of adventurers decided to launch a sailing club on the shores of Castle Loch, Lochmaben.
They included a farmer, a fishmonger, a roofer, a medical consultant and a car salesman - most of whom had no previous sailing experience.
One of them, Bruce Beveridge, who owned the Crown Hotel in Lockerbie, did have some sailing know-how, having been a member of Clyde Cruising Club at Bardowie Loch near Glasgow and it occurred to him that the not dissimilar Castle Loch, had great untapped potential. Annandale Yacht Club (later changed to Annandale Sailing Club) officially opened in 1956 with the main aim of dinghy racing and members learned through trial and error, with no official training. They settled on GP14 dinghies as the most suitable boat class and most members built their own.
The early clubhouse was a tiny, derelict curling bothy but that gradually developed with a major expansion in 1970, a new boatshed appearing in 2005, extended changing rooms in the mid-2000s, and most recently a new training room and balcony added to the front.
ASC has survived flooding, new housing developments growing up around it and even, in 1989, almost losing the land it sits on when the site it had leased for 20 years was put up for sale, with a price tag of about £13,000.
With only £1,000 in the bank and less than a year to raise the required sum, things were looking grim for the club. But, at the eleventh hour, thanks to the hard work and initiative of the committee, headed up by the then Commodore Alasdair Cook, enough was raised by members’ loans, to buy the site and secure the club’s future.
Like most sailing clubs, training has been key to Annandale’s longevity and, without doubt, the club’s most memorable training day rounded off the 50th anniversary in 2006, when members welcomed double Olympic gold medallist and broadcaster Shirley Robertson on a sunny September day.
Membership at Annandale SC has, like most sports clubs, ebbed and flowed over the past six decades. In 1974 it was growing so fast, the committee discussed setting a limit on the number of new members and boats and it reached a peak of 300 in 1976.
Just seven years later it had declined to 105 and finances were said to be in a ‘serious state’.
These days, membership sits at around 100 and is relatively stable, though the committee is always keen to encourage more young people and families in to safeguard the club’s future.
Current Commodore Trudie Mitchell, who joined the club in 2016, says: “Growing the club is always a challenge but over the past few years we’ve had parents coming in, following their children, realising they can learn to sail too.
“I’m so thankful to the club for being there over the years. I love the feeling of racing and being supported by a friendly club, catching up afterwards with a cuppa and a chat, and I get great pleasure from coaching, seeing our young sailors learn to sail, develop and race their own boats and knowing I have been part of that journey.
“The next 70 years will bring more change, but the club will adapt, move with the times, and can look forward to many more years to come.”
Annandale Sailing Club is celebrating its 70th anniversary with a weekend of racing and a party, on June 27 /28. For more information about membership and training see
www.annandalesailingclub.myclubhouse.co.uk
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