Waterford Harbour Sailing Club is situated in Dunmore East in the west side of

Waterford Harbour Waterford Harbour ( gle, Loch Dá Chaoch / Cuan Phort Láirge) is a natural harbour at the mouth of the Three Sisters; the River Nore, the River Suir and the River Barrow in Ireland. It is navigable for shipping to both Waterford and New Ross ...

. It is the largest sailing club in South East Ireland and has a membership of 400. The club was founded in 1934 at Dunmore East and occupies a location beside the slip in the Harbour. The present clubhouse was built in 1969 and was extended in 1974. The club is affiliated to the Irish Sailing Association. Robert Jephson is from this club and is planning on claiming first prize in the 420 junior Europeans championship with his insane sailing skills. The club has been the venue for the Enterprise (dinghy) World Championships 1975 and the World Board Sailing Championships in 1988. In 2014 the club hosted the Topper National Championship and the Laser Leinster Championship.

History

The club was founded in 1934 by a group of seven interested sailor/boat builders. Those present were: E. A. Gibbon in the Chair, P.A. Anderson, W. Anderson and R.T. Kelly. The first committee subsequently elected were: Major Lloyd, R.T. Kelly, P.A. Anderson, Sir Ernest Goff, Mr. Colfer, E.A. Gibbon. Proposed by R.T. Kelly, seconded by Sir Ernest Goff and passed unanimously. Sir Ernest Goff Proposed a subscription of 10/- for Boat Owners and other members 5/- This was seconded by Mr Kelly and passed unanimously. A vote of thanks was proposed to the Mayor. In the early days R. Wall Morris is credited with being the first Commodore

Fleets

Currently the most popular classes are:

Optimist (dinghy) The Optimist is a small, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by young people up to the age of 15. The Optimist is one of the two most popular sailing dinghies in the world, with over 150,000 boats officially registered with the c ...

Topper (dinghy) The Topper is an 11 foot sailing dinghy designed by Ian Proctor. The Topper is a one-design boat sailed mostly around the British Isles. It was recognised as a World Sailing Class. The boat is constructed from polypropylene, and is popular as a ...

, Laser (dinghy),

420 (dinghy) The International 420 Dinghy is a sailing dinghy popular for racing and teaching. The hull is fiberglass with internal buoyancy tanks. The 420 has a bermuda rig and an optional spinnaker and trapeze. It has a large sail-area-to-weight ratio, an ...

Flying Fifteen The Flying Fifteen is a British sailboat that was designed by Uffa Fox as a one design racer and first built in 1948.Sherwood, Richard M.: ''A Field Guide to Sailboats of North America, Second Edition'', pages 106-107. Houghton Mifflin Compan ...

, Cruisers.

Visiting yachts

Prior to 2013 facilities for visiting yachts in the harbour were not good but a new pontoon was placed in the Harbour by the Dept of the Marine for the use of visiting leisure craft. This is available for the months of June, July and August and the Harbourmaster must be contacted to arrange overnight payment. Visiting leisure craft Dunmore East

New Boathouse

In 2007 the Club decided to buy a 1500 sq. ft. property adjacent to main building as a dinghy store and boathouse and to provide extra clubrooms. This modern premises also possessed valuable parking frontage at the harbour and was seen as a valuable asset in the event of the planned harbour development. This development has since taken place and is in use all through the year by youth and adult members, as well as offering meeting rooms for race officers and course instructors.

References

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External links

Waterford Harbour Sailing Club
* Irish Sailing Association
Irish Cruiser Racing AssociationOfficial Dunmore East Tourism Web Site
Yacht clubs in Ireland Sports clubs in County Waterford