Established in 1903, South Brisbane Sailing Club is located on the Brisbane River next to the popular Orleigh Park in West End, about 3km upstream from the Brisbane’s CBD towards the University of Queensland St Lucia campus.

Originally known as the Victoria Sailing Club in 1903, our club was officially named the South Brisbane Sailing Club in 1906 with a membership of 222 members. Classes sailed over the years include Sharpie’s, 16 ft Skiffs, Sabots, 125s, Herons, NS14’s and Trainees. The club has been struck by two floods in living memory, In the 1974 flood, waters rose to a height of six feet above the top floorboards and the mud was three feet deep on the lower level. Only three boats were unable to be rescued – a sabot, a cherub and a skiff. In 2011 the club was again struck by floods that destroyed much of the club’s equipment.

Commodore:  Mary-Ann Pattison (Commodore), Robert Preston (President)

Classes supported and types of sailing:

Our focus is on popular accessible single hander and 2-up dinghies suited to river sailing that can be sailed by beginners through to state or national titles.

Our Laser fleet includes standard, radial and 4.7 rigs. Herons are an equally strong class sailed by adults and juniors. Our development class NS14s is highly competitive. Pacers and Herons are used in training. Tasars also sail as part of our NS4 fleet from time to time. Races are held in Saturday afternoons from September through to Easter.

Members:

Membership has stabilized at just over 100 following a huge drop in 2011 after the devastating Brisbane River floods. We are proud of our female participation which is about 45% of total membership. As a family based-club we have approx 25% junior youth membership.

Member achievements:

We have proudly produced a range of National Champions including in 125’s (Cathy and Neil Hackett in 1977-78), Sabots (David Miers in 1976-77, Ian Kennedy in 1975-76,  Craig Taylor in 1975-76, Brad Taylor 1974-75, Robbie Lea 1974-74, 1974-75, 1977-78) and Herons (Peter Bailey, 2007, John Nobbs in 2009, David Johnson 2011 and Justin Carey in 2017).

Our Commodore Mary-Ann Pattison is also a long-standing Principal of the Nudgee Beach Environmental Education Centre and our President Robert Preston is an Environmental Planner and winner of several national awards from the Planning Institute of Australia for innovative approaches to community participation in land use planning.

Key club events & programs:

Our biggest event that has blossomed since inception in 2017 is the Brisbane Riverfire Sailing Regatta timed to coincide with Brisbane’s massive Riverfire fireworks and Super Hornet flyover at the end of Brisbane’s spring festival in September. Registration is just $25 with lots of prizes from the major sponsor the Regatta Hotel.

We have just started a new 4-tier sailing development program providing coaching to beginners through to national championship entrants with entry level recruits drawn from families participating in a TrySailing day. The development program is influenced by the Australian Sailing Curriculum and Don Elk’s ideas on a structured sailing training. We also actively encourage female participation and hold an annual Women and Girls Championship over 3 heats in the second half of the season.

The club is unique because:

SBSC known as one of the friendliest and most accessible places to sail, with a beautiful setting and spectator opportunities that are second to none. The tides and variable winds are demanding for newcomers but once mastered add to the fun and challenge of sailing in one of the best river sailing venues around. We also have a good range of quality club dinghies that make sailing accessible to inner city dwellers or families new to sailing.

Latest Success:

The Riverfire Regatta in late September is undoubtedly our greatest recent achievement. We have attracted 40-50 boats in the last few years and expect a similar roll-up this year of 125s, Lasers, Impulses, Pacers, NS14s, and 12 ft or 13 ft skiffs. The event is an ideal for spectators as the course is easily visible from both West End and Toowong sides of the Brisbane River.

Running the regatta has made us look more closely at our safety and race management procedures so that our organization of races is now much closer to the standard that top competitors are used to.

The Riverfire Regatta has also reinforced the importance of maintaining longstanding bonds with other river and bay clubs in our region and new role that Australian Sailing can make to the running of this event.  More details can be found at our revitalized website and facebook page.