By welcoming female members, the Albert Park Sailing Club has flourished and coexisted alongside Albert Park Yachting Club since 1948. Photo courtesy of Luke Tupper
Proudly perched alongside the salubrious Albert Park Lake, at first glance the location seems enough to explain the Albert Sailing Club’s popularity. But the view alone doesn’t explain why every Saturday, Dougie (who is in his 80s), mans the bar and Dot takes her place in the control tower. And why they have been doing so for over 30 years. It seems the Albert Sailing Club offers its members much more than a day out on the lake.
First established in 1948, the club’s birth was a controversial and progressive one. Frustrated by the then, Albert Park Yacht Club’s ‘no women’ rule, park warden and yacht club member, Mr W. Hooper set up a separate club next door so he could sail with his daughter. Welcoming female members, the Albert Park Sailing Club flourished and has coexisted alongside Albert Park Yachting Club ever since.
Commodore Ian Fox says the club’s large membership and recent growth is a reflection of the quality of the people at the club and of its ability to think laterally in challenging times such as during the recent drought.
“Sailing as a sport has been dwindling the last few years. Clubs are struggling to attract and keep members; we have been the opposite. We had a bit of trouble when there was no water in the lake due to the drought but despite that our membership has really grown.”
The club’s growth has been remarkable. Among many services, the club offers a basic sailing course that runs for eight weeks. Seven years ago the club ran two courses a year, it now runs consecutive courses all year round and for the first time includes sessions on Sundays to cope with the demand. Ian says the location is attractive to new members but believes hard work put in by club members has been the major reason for its success.
“One of our members, Terry O’Donnell (retired Vice Commodore) has put in a lot of work promoting the club. We were heavily involved in Sail Melbourne which was a promotional event Yachting Victoria put on to coincide with the round the world Volvo Ocean Race that had a stop over in Melbourne at the Docklands for the first time ever. We had volunteers manning booths at the display down there,” Ian explains.
The club also puts a lot of energy into nurturing potential new members.
“We are involved with Yachting Victoria’s ‘On Board’ initiative where people can register online for more information if they have an interest in sailing. We send information to people who have registered and invite them down to the club. Yachting Victoria gives the On Board coordinators of each club a distinctive hat and top to wear so by standing out, people know who to approach for information. Most clubs have one or two coordinators, we have seven or eight.”
During the drought the club was unable to sail on the lake for six months, so they approached the Altona Yacht Club and negotiated a mutually agreeable arrangement.
“We joined in their races and paid visitors fees for anyone who wanted to sail. We are one of the few clubs that sails all year round. Altona shuts down during the year, so we shared their facilities and invited their members to come and sail with us for free,” Ian explains.
Recently, Yachting Victoria awarded the Albert Sailing Club its prized Yacht Club of the Year Award in recognition of the club’s commitment to its members and to its future development. The club has a reputation of being a strong nursery club meaning it has a healthy focus on junior members. Ian elaborates.
“We have a lot of junior members, it’s probably because we are in a closed area that is safe and not out in the bay. We have a good tradition of taking kids, teaching them how to sail and supporting them to get to the next level if they want.”
There is a scholarship system that encourages juniors to go to state, national and world championship levels. To qualify for the scholarships, junior members must have sailed at the club for at least two series (series vary in length from six weeks to eight weeks) and be prepared to write an article for the club’s newsletter, The Mudpuddle.
Membership is currently between 250 – 300 with a healthy split of 50/50 participation of boys and girls in the junior ranks. A Saturday usually sees 60 – 70 boats out on the lake in the summer and 80 – 90 during the winter, with 200 people participating. Ian says the club has a great turn-out of members when it holds a working bee and its Christmas break-up party last year attracted around 200 people.
“A healthy club is one where members participate. We have barbeques on Saturday nights after a day’s sailing and there will consistently be around 20 – 30 people staying back. During daylight savings hours we have a Twilight Tuesday series which are less serious and a lot of fun. We will have 30 boats out on these nights and three-quarters of the people will go out and have a pizza together afterwards.”
If people come to the club and see happy members then that’s the sign of a healthy club. That is what we try to achieve. We have a great group of people that has been here for a while. We are here to provide a service to the community, not to make a profit. Everyone is welcome to become a member here – there are plenty of club members here that don’t sail and without their support and commitment we would struggle.
All members are rostered on for two tasks a year. But Ian points out that there is a core group that comes every week and has been doing so for many years, such as Dougie and Dot. The stunning clubrooms and facilities were made possible by an injection of funds given to the club as a direct result of the Grand Prix motor car race being held around the lake each year. Like all clubs run purely by volunteers, Albert Sailing Club makes sure those that put in the hard work are recognised.
“We have a Club Member of the Year award. Last year we had joint winners – Ralph Schoene and Steve Haintz – they got the award for going way beyond the call of duty! They were here every Thursday night for three months fixing up the toilet block. It was an incredible effort, they are the sort of people that this club attracts and they are the backbone of this club,” Ian says.
He is very keen to emphasise that sailing is not an elitist sport and is open to and affordable for most people.
“Once you have a boat there aren’t too many other costs. It’s good fun, healthy and relatively safe. The worse thing that can happen to you here is that you fall out and get wet!”
The club realises that is extremely well resourced and lucky to be where it is. Its philosophy is one of inclusion and it generously gives other sporting clubs and organisations, such as the Lakeside Ladies golfing group and the MX5 car club, access to its rooms and facilities.
“I am really proud of this club and the people here. We really believe if you do what you can for your members, the rest will look after itself,” Ian says.
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How a Sailing Club keeps afloat – Albert Sailing Club
More information
To contact the Albert Sailing Club go to http://www.albertsc.org.au/