The Little Ship Club is a

yacht club A yacht club is a sports club specifically related to yachting. Description Yacht clubs are mostly located by the sea, although there some that have been established at a lake or riverside locations. Yacht or sailing clubs have either a mar ...

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

. It was founded in 1926 by a group of yachtsmen for the purpose of providing training and lectures over the winter months. The club operates from its riverside clubhouse at Bell Wharf on the

River Thames The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...

, and is the only one operating from within the

City of London The City of London is a city, ceremonial county and local government district that contains the historic centre and constitutes, alongside Canary Wharf, the primary central business district (CBD) of London. It constituted most of London f ...

History

The club's inaugural meeting was at The Ship restaurant in London on 5 November 1926. Notable founder members included Claud Worth, Maurice Griffiths, and Higley Halliday. The training function of the club was so successful that, by 1936, they were training members of the Royal Naval Supplementary Volunteer Reserve Force (RNSVR). As a result, the

First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...

invited the club to apply for a defaced

blue ensign The Blue Ensign is a flag, one of several British ensigns, used by certain organisations or territories associated or formerly associated with the United Kingdom. It is used either plain or defaced with a badge or other emblem. The ev ...

. This is the only known instance of such an invitation being made. The close link with the RNSVR led to Little Ship Club members taking part in the

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

evacuation of Dunkirk in which the military commandeered hundreds of private "little" ships to bring troops from land to larger navy vessels that could not pull in close to shore. The club still includes what is possibly one of the original Dunkirk Little Ships, ''Sheemaun''. Two defaced blue ensigns that were recovered from the beach at Dunkirk are displayed at the club. The club moved to the Old Ship tavern in 1928, and from there to Beaver Hall in 1932, as member numbers expanded. In 1962, the club moved to Bell Wharf Lane.

Sir Robin Knox-Johnston Sir William Robert Patrick Knox-Johnston (born 17 March 1939) is a British sailor. In 1969, he became the first person to perform a single-handed non-stop circumnavigation of the globe. Along with Sir Peter Blake, he won the second Jules Vern ...

, the first yachtsman to complete a non-stop single-handed circumnavigation, became club President in 1995. There are also two Honorary Life Vice-Presidents: Dr Jean Plancke, Commander of the

Legion of Honour The National Order of the Legion of Honour (french: Ordre national de la Légion d'honneur), formerly the Royal Order of the Legion of Honour ('), is the highest French order of merit, both military and civil. Established in 1802 by Napoleon ...

, and Norman Hummerstone MBE. Norman Hummerstone was honoured with an MBE in 2001 for his work with the Little Ship Club and was awarded an RYA Lifetime Commitment award by

Princess Anne Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950), is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of K ...

in 2007. In early 2017, it was announced that, following the retiral of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston,

Mike Golding Mike Golding (born 27 August 1960) is an English yachtsman, born in Great Yarmouth and educated at Reading Blue Coat School. He is one of the few yachtsmen to have raced round the world non stop in both directions. He held the solo record for ...

would take on the role of Club President. The 2021 Commodore is Barrie Martin.

Training

The Little Ship Club is an official RYA training centre. They offer shorebased RYA courses from their London premises including Day Skipper Theory and

Yachtmaster A Yachtmaster qualification is a certificate of competence of the ability to handle either a sailing boat or motor boat (as endorsed) in certain prescribed conditions. Three different titles are specified; Yachtmaster Coastal (previously - and in ...

Theory.

Cruising

The club has two cruising bases, one on the East Coast of England, and one on the South Coast, centred around the

Solent The Solent ( ) is a strait between the Isle of Wight and Great Britain. It is about long and varies in width between , although the Hurst Spit which projects into the Solent narrows the sea crossing between Hurst Castle and Colwell Bay t ...

. Both cruising centres have participated in the Calais Rally each year on the weekend of the

Spring Bank Holiday A bank holiday is a national public holiday in the United Kingdom, Republic of Ireland and the Crown Dependencies. The term refers to all public holidays in the United Kingdom, be they set out in statute, declared by royal proclamation or held ...

since 1929, except when not possible during wartime. The rally is attended by HMS Puncher in recognition of the club's relationship with the

University Royal Naval Unit The University Royal Naval Units (URNU) ( , less commonly ) (formerly Universities' Royal Naval Units) are Royal Navy training establishments who recruit Officer Cadets from a university or a number of universities, usually concentrated in one ...

in London. The club holds a

biannual An anniversary is the date on which an event took place or an institution was founded in a previous year, and may also refer to the commemoration or celebration of that event. The word was first used for Catholic feasts to commemorate saint ...

joint rally with The Corinthians club, a reciprocal club based in the USA that was modeled along the same lines as the Little Ship Club. It is held alternately in the US and in the UK, or nearby cruising grounds.

Racing

The club organises an informal Fast Cruise series over the winter months around the Solent. These run monthly from October until March. They do not follow full racing rules, but are a timed cruise with a strong social element. They are also joint organisers, with Erith Yacht Club, of the Thames Trafalgar Race. This is a two-leg event from Greenwich to Erith, with a return the next day. It is generally held in October close to

Trafalgar Day Trafalgar Day is the celebration of the victory won by the Royal Navy, commanded by Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson, over the combined French and Spanish fleets at the Battle of Trafalgar on 21 October 1805. History The formation of the Navy Leag ...

. The Knox-Johnston Cup, named for Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, is awarded to the highest placed yacht club.

References

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External links