Sixty years ago on May 17th 1948, Thorpe Bay Yacht Club was founded by a group of enthusiastic youngsters led by Kit Hobday. They met at his parents house “St. Helens” to form the first yacht club east of Southend pier. There were at the time only four other sailing clubs in the Borough, all west of the pier in rather restricted situations.
Up until this time Thorpe Bay had been viewed as an exposed coastline, but was seen by Kit as an unobstructed expanse of water suitable for setting the courses needed for top class dinghy sailing. Few clubs have been fortunate enough to have a founder who in his teens, had the foresight to see such potential and act upon it.
The club started to race an assortment of dinghies in a handicap class, using the Hobdays beach hut as a start box, changing room and clubhouse. The 1949 season saw the adoption of Jewels as the first class and two years later a clubhouse was constructed on the old Mason’s boatyard site, known today as the bosuns hut.
Contact Info
Address:
15 Thorpe Bay Gardens, Southend-on-Sea SS1 3NW, United Kingdom
Phone: +44 1702 587563
Email: vicecommodore@maylandseabay-sc.org.uk
Website: www.tbyc.org