History

A Brief History of Llandegfedd Sailing Club

Sor Brook ran peacefully down the valley past Pettingale Farm and the local children used to come and pick the wild daffodils of the adjacent hillsides. Then in 1960 along came the developers following the Government enquiry!

In order to provide water to the growing population of Cardiff, Cardiff Corporation put forward a scheme to build a new reservoir with the dam wall in the vicinity of Llandegfedd Village. The completion of the geological surveys established that the rock structure at Llandegfedd was not adequate for the enormous design loads for the dam wall. Thus it was that the reservoir was moved "upstream" to the site that we now recognise! Impounding began in 1964 and sailing started in 1966. All the water is pumped from the River Usk into the reservoir which, when full, holds 5300 million gallons of water and forms a lake 434 acres in area and measures up to 1.5 miles long and 1 mile wide.

Club Origins

The Club was formed in 1968 with the founder members coming both from the Uskmouth Club and from the locality. The list of Founder Members shows 115 names. Today, we still have one founder member (Gareth Edwards) regularly attending the Club. Membership flourished and the 1970's were seen as a major growth period for sailing clubs everywhere. In 1974 there was even a waiting list for membership and membership peaked at 300 in 1980. Membership declined during the years of our disagreements with Welsh Water but it is reassuring to register that our numbers are on the increase with 1995 achieving approximately 125 family and full memberships.

The Club has always been run by a Commodore assisted by a Vice-Commodore and sometimes a Rear-Commodore. The "flag officers" (as they are known) are supported by various committees in order to run all facets of the organisation. Officers names are listed on a board in the clubhouse. Your Officers have been incredibly busy over the years in an attempt to improve the conditions under which we operate and to improve the sailing facilities which we effectively offer to the South-East Wales conurbation of about 1.75 million people.

Clubhouse and Facilities

The clubhouse was originally a site hut and was given to us by the engineers after construction was finished. It was erected on the present site in 1968 which was followed by fitting-out work in late '68 and early '69. A balcony was fitted at the front of the clubhouse in 1969 by the Army Apprentices after the plans had been passed by Cardiff Corporation. Slipways of a limited nature were available in 1968 but it is on record that they were extended in 1970 with assistance from some boys from H.M. Borstal at Usk. Since then, they have been extended many times and we can thank John Waddington, a previous Head Ranger, for much of the low water facility that we enjoy today.

The Starting Hut began life half way along the East bank and was then moved to a site about 50 yards North of it's present position until the WWA built the existing facility for us in 1974. The electronics that drive the starting, finishing and recording system was designed and built by Phil Jones in 1973. Observant members will have noticed that there are coloured lights on the outer end of the transit poles. These were originally connected into the starting sequence but became obsolete when the system voltage was increased from 12 to 16 volts !!!

Clubhouse Update

In 2006, United Utilities did a Health and Safety Audit and decided that there was a risk of water getting tangled with the Electrics. Nothing has really changed over the last 20 years, but the immediately condemned the clubhouse. We now have plans to build a Visitor Centre that will support all water sports, canoeing, fishing, wind-surfing etc, and in 2010 are actively pursuing grant opportunities to make this happen.

In 2009 one hurdle was overcome - planning permission has been granted for the WaterSports Centre.

Racing

Racing has always been at the heart of the club's activities and in some years, racing took place on Saturday afternoon as well as today's familiar routine of Wednesday and Sunday. From the beginning, sailing was never restricted to Club members and there have always been a wide miscellany of craft using the water. Over the years, the Club has tried hard to encourage fleet racing with varying degrees of success.

Principle fleets have been

Fireball, Laser, Albacore, Heron

5-0-5, Solo, Mirror, Merlin Rocket

Kestrel, 470, Enterprise, GP14

Scorpion, RS 400, General Handicap

Now in 2010 we have the UK's biggest fleets of International Asymmetric Canoes and RS Vareos.

Recollection is that the largest fleet was in the late 1970's when our Laser Fleet regularly exceeded 20 starters. The demise of this fleet occurred principally when the Sailboard "revolution" hit the imagination of the nation.

Key sailing events in the year are:

Regatta weekend in midsummer
President's weekend (historically at the end of October, now Mid September)
Llandegfedd Pin (historically sailed at 3pm on Regatta Sunday)
Open meetings for the most popular local classes
Area championships

Over the years, the Club has been fortunate in producing a number of Champions namely:

Jack Harper; National Javelin Champion 1968
Tony Trego; National Kestrel Champion 1976
Alan Titmus; National Youth Champion, Laser, 1979
Ian & David Jarrett; National Youth Champions, 420, 1980
Robin Wood; National Moth Champion 1983
Robin Wood; World Moth Champion 1983 & 1984
Robin Wood; National International Canoe Champion 1985 & 1993
Robin Wood; World International Canoe Champion 1994, 1997
Phil Hillier; National Kestrel Champion 1990, 1992 & 1995
Martin Stickland; National Youth Champion, Laser, 1989
Giles Drewitt; National Youth Champion, 6m Sailboard, 1990
Catherine Williams; National Womens Champion, Supernova 1998
Merrick Stanley; Optimist Regatta Champion, 2006
Nigel Tinkler, RS Vario Inland Champion, 2007

Social Aspects

Socially the Club is at a disadvantage without our own on-site facilities. Nevertheless, the Club has always held an Annual Dinner Dance which includes the annual prize-giving ceremonies. For many years this was held at the King's Head Hotel in Monmouth (now closed) and in recent years a number of venues in Newport and the surronding area have been used. During the year a number of social events are held at the Clubhouse and usually incorporating a barbecue evening. Come hail, sun or snow, members congregate in the clubhouse on racing days to socialise and perhaps hold the occasional post mortem !

Defining Events in our history

1968 Club formed

Fish disease restricts boat movements

1969 Electricity and sewage available on site

Winter sailing application refused by Cardiff Corporation (CC)

Open meetings cancelled because of fish disease

Verandah built on clubhouse

First application for a lease for the sailing rights on the water

1970 Request to C.C. for showers in the changing rooms.

Slipways improved

Lease request turned down

1971 Problems experienced with low water levels

C.C. considering an Amenity Centre under the Country Park scheme

1972 First rescue boat purchased assisted by Sports Council grant

New changing huts erected behind clubhouse

C.C.P.R. training week-ends started

Amenity Centre plans available

1973 Club entered Southport 24 hour race

1974 National Water Development Authority (NWDA) took over responsibility for reservoirs in Wales

1975 Report prepared by the Club on the facilities and amenities at Llandegfedd for the NWDA

1979 Relief pipeline laid along East bank. Entrance widened and new road laid

1981 WWA agreed in principle to the granting of a 21 year lease on a plot of land to the club for a clubhouse

1983 Lease documents still with WWA solicitors

1985 WWA decided to appoint a licensee to run all sailing activities at the reservoir

Gwent Adventures (GA) awarded the license from April 1985 to Nov 1987

1986 Ongoing discussions with WWA regarding clubhouse ownership & use by GA

Name changed to Llandegfedd Dinghy & Board Sailing Club to encourage sailboarders to join in our activities

1987 Notice to Quit issued by WWA on us as a result of breakdown in negotiations

WWA imposed a ban on all racing activities on the water

1992 WWA resumed responsibility for running sailing activities

1992 Ł5000 raised to promote youth training. 6 new Optimists purchased

Winter sailing trials run on alternate Sundays under ornithologists’ observation

1993 Winter sailing started on Southern half of water after successful trials

Silver Jubilee celebrated with dinner dance attended by sailors from 25 years

1994 Club again sent team to Southport 24 hour race after 21 year break !!

1995 Toppers bought to improve training facility

1996 Asymmetric spinnaker boats make their appearance

1998 Teenagers re-appear and sail competitively - but still cannot win Llangorse Challenge!

1999 Llandegfedd appears on two Web sites as an experiment.

2000 Club registers for its own e-mail and RYA supported web site.

2003 Doris comes to the reservoir. She is a 19 foot large Dory to be used as a permanent committee boat at the middle of the top end of the reservoir.

2004 Electronic age has really arrived as all Club Newsletters are delviered by e-mail

2006 Clubhouse condemned by its owners, Welsh Water; see early section for news and direction of activity

Early 2000s Optimists have returned, and we now have a comptetitive fleet that represents the club, and Wales at UK and National level

2010 Life has not stopped over the last 6 years, just see the club web site for results, lists of our activities, newsletters and many more things

The multiple authors apologise for any errors, inaccuracies and omissions.