The first news we have about the organization of a nautical festival dates back to June 24, 1891, whose program included the participation of around forty boats in sailing and rowing competitions, leading to the belief that Horta bay’s potential for the practice of nautical activities, will have attracted the attention of the people of Faial from an early age.
The first sports association in Horta, the Ginásio Clube, founded on May 18, 1889, which created a naval section with the inauguration of the Alcion dinghy, was followed in 1903 by the founding of the Local Board of the Portuguese Naval League, continuing some water sports, namely sailing and rowing, promoted with the presence of English and Germans from the submarine cable colonies.
In the early 1920s, the management of the Local Board of the Naval League played a leading role in the organization of nautical festivals, particularly with the expansion of sporting rivalry to two new clubs, Angústias Atlético Clube and Sporting Clube da Horta, founded in 1920. 1923. In addition to rowing, sailing and swimming competitions, water polo was introduced and efforts were made to recover the traditional games of duck races, boat races, endurance competitions, bottle races, egg and spoon races, repulsion fight on planks and the greasy stick.
With the outbreak of World War II, the number of regular practitioners of water sports decreased, with only one or two sailing events taking place, but without the old rage. The lack of interest in nautical sports increased in the 1940s, despite the fact that Mocidade Portuguesa owned a diverse set of vessels, several lusitos, two vougas and a snipe.
It is from the need to give continuity to a project with history, dominated by more or less intense life cycles and with traditions in the nautical sector that the Clube Naval da Horta arises, whose existence in formal terms is based on the Statutes approved on the 26th of September of 1947, by the Directorate General of Physical Education, Sports and School Health.
With the aim of stimulating a taste for the practice of recreational and competitive nautical sports, he settled in January 1948 on a temporary basis at Castelo de Santa Cruz. Ilha Azul I has only one sloop and a small library on nautical topics.
On September 19, 1948, it organizes its first nautical festival, with a swimming competition and a sailing regatta in which 21 boats participated. Rowing competitions, barge and cigar races, artistic jumping also become a constant in the programs, as well as swimming demonstrations.
Having as one of its objectives the theoretical and practical training of its associates, it inaugurated in the beginning of 1949 a course for the acquisition of nautical charts and in the following year another one in swimming, which would end up not being maintained for a long time due to the lack of of structures.
In the 1950s, Clube Naval da Horta acquired three snipes, however the costs inherent in sailing as well as in powerboating, included in the sailing section in 1956, ended up having an irregular activity. Underwater diving and sport fishing became part of the activities promoted by this club, giving rise to renewed interest in this type of sport.
In an attempt to overcome the financial difficulties not met by the partners’ quotas, films are projected inside the Castle of Santa Cruz until 1968, when they were forced to abandon this space and sell part of their estate.
In 1973, the Clube Naval da Horta, headquartered in the old house of the rowers of Alfândega (next to the castle of Santa Cruz) is revitalized by a group of members who, despite the many difficulties experienced, managed to boost it through a set of initiatives of a recreational-cultural (exhibitions, regattas, gymkhanas, sand constructions, among others) but also training and competitive (contests and sports weeks).
With the political and institutional rupture verified with the 25th of April of 1974, other perspectives on the practice of sport opened up, increasing funds, technical staff, allowing some improvement of the existing infrastructures and giving rise to a regional, national and international exchange. international support supported by the development of social communication.
Always struggling with material difficulties, they are able to autonomously implement the modalities of sailing, sport fishing, diving, canoeing, sailing and swimming. It started to promote annual training courses, opened a school for initiation and improvement of the practice of sailing and introduced forms of assistance so that members could acquire their own boats.
Not just limited to sporting activity, Clube Naval da Horta has played a leading role in supporting international yachting, not only in a nautical-competitive framework but also in promoting tourism. In 1975, together with a commission elected for the purpose, the reception of the oceanic regatta, Mocra Azores Race – Portmouth UK/Horta, gave rise to the idea of ​​holding annual nautical celebrations, which later became known as Week from the Sea.
Responsible for various nautical organizations, the Sea Week Nautical Festival and the organization of the Regata Atlantis Cup – Regata da Autonomia deserve greater mention, linking the latter, for twenty years, to the historic cities of the Azores, Ponta Delgada, Angra do HeroÃsmo and Horta, which makes it the most important regatta held in our country.
From a perspective of dynamizing and projecting the Clube Naval da Horta, beyond borders, this club has participated in the organization of numerous national and international regattas of the cruise, mini, and light sailing class, where the Portuguese Cruise Sailing Championship, the Rota das Hortênsias, Les Sables d’Olonne – Azores, Portuguese Class 420 Championship and l’Equipe and International Dinghy Sailing Meetings.
Proof of the organizational capacity that this club has in holding major nautical events, has resulted in numerous invitations to participate in national and international nautical fairs such as Nauticampo, Feira de Barcelona, ​​Madrid and Paris, as well as the awards it has received by the Foreign and National Federations of the various nautical modalities.
Also worthy of mention are the various references to which it has been subject in the generalist and technical press of the various sports.
As a regular activity, Clube Naval da Horta is today the sporting institution in Faial with the largest number of members, also having the largest number of federated athletes on our island, promoting various nautical modalities, namely: Sailing and Rowing in Whaling Boats, Apnea , Canoeing, Sport Fishing, Swimming, Dinghy sailing, Cruise sailing, Rowing, Jet Ski, Windsurfing, Diving, Radio modelling.
For all these facts, the Clube Naval da Horta is currently a Club strongly rooted in the civil and sporting society of Faial, making the connection between its people and the sea that surrounds us all, which makes this Club a unique case of reference at regional and national level.
Contact Info
Address:
Pavilhão Náutico, Cais Velho, 9900-017 Horta, Portugal
Phone: 351 292 101 495
Email: secretariado@cnhorta.org
Website: www.cnhorta.org
