THE ROYAL PORTSMOUTH CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB
By G. L. Blake
What the Clyde is to Scotland, and Kingstown and Queenstown are to Ireland, that the Solent and Southampton Water (which constitute the waters more or less shut off from the Channel by the Isle of Wight) are to the South of England. It is no matter of wonderment, then, that attempts should have been made from time to time, and dating back some generations, to form clubs which would have for their express purpose the encouragement of seamanship, and the racing and building of yachts.
To many old yachtsmen the 'ups and downs' of some of these societies which are still in existence form a history of no small interest; while the rise, doings, and fall of those now defunct ought to teach many valuable and important lessons to the officers and committees that are working hard for the prosperity and welfare of present day yacht clubs.
The club which above all others has tended to encourage the proficiency of amateur salts, so that they have become capable of manning, piloting, and steering their own or their friends' vessels to glory, is the Royal Portsmouth Corinthian Yacht Club. Instituted at a time when small-yacht sailing and amateur seamanship had little or no patronage from the big clubs, and when no ruling spirit appeared willing to come forward to help them on to any great degree, when the annual local regattas of the Itchen Ferry, Ryde, and Cowes Town, Southampton, and a few other seaside resorts, were the only opportunities afforded for sport and racing among the small fry, perhaps no club deserves more notice among those south of London than the one in question. Its birth took place at a meeting held on Saturday, May 22, 1880, in the committee-room of the Prince of Wales Club, High Street, Portsmouth, under the patronage of the late Admiral Ryder, R.N., and General H.S.H. Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, at that time the Commander-in-Chief and Governor of Portsmouth, Rear-Admiral the Honourable F. A. C. Foley, R.N., and Major-General Sir F. Fitz-Wygram, with Captain Garrett, R.A., in the chair. A provisional committee was elected, among whom were Messrs. W. Gilman, C. Johnson, Thomas and Charles McCheane, F. Ruck, R.E., W. C. Storey, W. V. Dickenson, 69th Regiment, J. Bewicke, 69th Regiment, Colonel Savory, Admiral Hallowes, Commander Britten, R.N., H.M.S. 'St. Vincent,' Captains Sutton, R. Kennedy, Rasch, the Reverends C. P. Grant, Vicar of Portsmouth, and J. F. Brown, R.C. Military Chaplain. General Prince Edward of Saxe-Weimar, Captain Garrett and Captain Sutton were the first officers appointed to serve as Commodore, Vice- and Rear-commodores, and Messrs. Gilman and C. McCheane with Captain Kennedy undertook other duties. Among the yachts owned at that period by the young club, the best known were the 'Vega,' 40 tons, belonging to Captain Garrett; Mr. Gilman's little 'Zephyr,' 11 tons (for many seasons one of the fastest of the old 12-ton class); and the 'Zoe,' one of the most successful 21-ft. boats on the Solent, which was fortunate in being owned and piloted by one of the best amateur helmsmen and sailormen in the south of England—the late Mr. C. Johnson, of Gosport.
ROYAL PORTSMOUTH CORINTHIAN YACHT CLUB.
At the third meeting the Yacht Racing Association rules were adopted, while the fourth settled that very much vext and troublesome question as to what constitutes 'a yachting amateur,' and accordingly drew out the rule that 'No person shall be considered an amateur who has been at any time engaged in the navigation or sailing of a yacht for pay,' the wording of which has since been altered to the following: 'An amateur is a gentleman who has never received pay for sailing in a fore-and-aft vessel, officers of the Royal Navy and Mercantile Marine excepted.' At the same meeting Mr. C. McCheane undertook the sole duties of honorary secretary in place of Captain Kennedy.
On June 26, 1880, the first regatta of the newly formed club was held, when five events were pulled off under the most favourable auspices. So successful was this first attempt at bringing the local boats together, that the next regatta, which was similar in its classes, brought out no fewer than eight entries in the race for the service boats of Her Majesty's ships, all of which were steered by naval members of the club, with the one exception of the 'Wren,' which, it is interesting to chronicle, was steered by Miss Foley, daughter of the Admiral commanding the Portsmouth Steam Reserve. She was the first lady member, and one of the first ladies—if indeed there was one before her—to pilot home the winning yacht in a race. Now that so many ladies enter into the sport of yacht racing and come out as famous helmswomen, the position held by Miss Foley is one to be proud of. In the fourth race Mr. Baden-Powell's old boat, the 'Diamond,' 5 tons, at this time owned by Messrs. Sutton, put in an appearance as a 25-ft. boat; and in the fifth race Mr. J. H. Baillie's 20-ft. boat 'Kate,' the earliest of Mr. Beavor Webb's outputs, entered.