Bosham Sailing Club
Club Burgee (Bosham Bell)
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| Formation | 1907 |
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| Location |
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Commodore
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Simon Radford |
| Affiliations | Royal Yachting Association |
| Website | www.boshamsailingclub.com |
Bosham Sailing Club is the oldest sailing club in Chichester Harbour and was founded in 1907 It is located in the historic village of Bosham in West Sussex. Its clubhouse is the Old Mill on Bosham Quay.
The club was founded by Captain E.K. Collis-Chapman in a converted stable on the Bosham waterfront. Its first members consisted of mostly local fishermen and recreational sailors. The club was originally named "Bosham and Itchenor Sailing Club" before Itchenor Sailing Club became a separate club in 1927.
In 1927 the club moved to the upper half of the Raptackle building on the Quay, from where it still continues to start many of its races. In 1947, the club purchased a Motor Gun Boat (MGB) (No. 614) to provide a clubhouse and sleeping accommodation. The club continued to use the MGB as its clubhouse until it moved into a newly rebuilt Mill House in 1954.
The club's burgee is a red bell on a white background. This alludes to the legend of the "Bosham Bell" which tells of a Viking raiding party's attempt to sail off with the monastery's tenor bell, however the bell toppled over taking the Vikings and their ship to the bottom of the Bosham Channel. Local folklore has it that the bell can sometimes be heard tolling from beneath the waters.
The club has a long association with the Société des Régates du Havre yacht club (Est 1838).
At the end of 2015 the club had 1,461 members. The clubhouse has a bar, restaurant and changing facilities, and its terrace overlooks the Bosham Channel.
There is an active dinghy sailing programme which has events on every weekend from early March to the end of October and a Winter series leading up to Christmas. The club offer handicap racing on most Sundays which allows its members to race any class of dinghy. The main classes of dinghy sailed at the club are the Laser, Finn, Wayfarer. International 420, RS Feva, Topper, and Optimist. Open events are held for many of these classes throughout the year.
Depending on the state of the tide, racing starts from a starting platform at the end of Bosham Quay, a starting line at Cobnor near the entrance to the Bosham Channel, or from the club's Committee Boat ("Glad Emma") anchored in Chichester Harbour.
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