Portsbridge/ Portsmouth Harbour Cruising Club

The beginning

On 22^nd November 1946 a group of boating enthusiasts who kept their boats on the shore at Portsbridge decided to get together and form a sailing club.

It was proposed by Mr Herring and seconded by Mr Kemp that the club be formed. This was carried unanimously and called the “Portsbridge Cruising Club” and so our Club was born.

The membership fee was set at 2/6 for full members 1/- for ladies and under 18s.

The burgee for the club was designed using the shape of “Portsbridge “ which was the bridge that spanned the water between Portsea Island and the Mainland. We still use that same design.

In 1963 the first rumblings of a possible move were heard and the search for a new site was on.

Finally a site was identified at Tipner (our present site) and after much negotiation and a great deal of work by Mr Les Morrell we secured the site. The club was given notice to quit the Portsbridge site and we finally moved to our present site in 1966/7.

THE COMPOUND.

The original size of the compound was quite small compared to what we have now, but adequate for the size of boats that were in the Club at that time however as the size of boats increased and the membership grew, compound space became a priority and more room was needed. Over the years the club applied for and managed to secure two extensions to the compound. One in 1982 and a further one in 1992. Finally the car park was included within the boundary of the compound thus giving us a secure area to park our vehicles.

With each extension came the work of moving fences and security lights and of course the inevitable concreting nevertheless this extra work was undertaken by the members in the same good spirit that we have always enjoyed

A lot of work was needed before we could take over the site, buildings to knock down, land to level and a slipway to build. We have since built a breakwater and boarding pontoon.

The Club’s aims are to promote all aspects of amateur boating and provide social and other facilities for its members in order to achieve this.  We are very much a self-help organisation and all work at the club is carried out voluntarily by the Club members.  We encourage a spirit of camaraderie amongst our members and if you have a problem, there is usually someone around who is able to help.  Potential members should be aware of this and that they will be required to carry out night watch and work party duties where applicable which is a condition of membership.  

You will gather from reading this that we are a unique club in that all our work in and around the club is undertaken by the membership. This in itself forms and encourages the camaraderie that is envied by other clubs in the area.