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Dee Sailing Club sails on the estuary of the River Dee
at Thurstaston on the Wirral peninsula.
DIRECTIONS
Dee Sailing Club is marked by an arrow on this map from streetmap.co.uk
From Merseyside
- Through Wallasey Tunnel and join M53
- Leave at J3 and follow M53 instructions below
From M6/M56
- M56 westbound, signposted North Wales
- At J15 take M53 Northbound, signposted Ellesmere Port, Liverpool
- Leave at J3 and follow M53 instruction below
From Mid-Cheshire
- Take A54/A51 to Chester
- Join A55 North then continue onto M53
- Leave at J3 and follow M53 instruction below
From M53
- Leave the M53 at Junction 3
- Take the A552 westbound
- Turn LEFT at the lights by the Arrowe Park pub on to the A551
- Turn RIGHT towards Heswall at the mini roundabout
- Take the first RIGHT signposted 'Irby' and follow this road through Irby village until you reach a T-junction opposite the Anchor pub
- Turn RIGHT and follow the road until you reach the A540 crossroads
- Go straight on at the crossroads signposted 'Church Farm' and 'Wirral Country Park'
- At the T-junction turn RIGHT
- Turn RIGHT after the humpback bridge and carry on past the caravan sites until you reach DSC at the end of the road
From Wales/West Wirral From A550(T) Northbound
- Turn LEFT at the lights by Honda and Mini showrooms on to A540 towards Hoylake. Go north on A540 passing through Heswall
- 1 mile beyond Heswall turn LEFT at the crossroads on to Station Road, signposted 'Church Farm' and 'Wirral Country Park'. (The crossroads is just before the Cottage Loaf pub)
- At the T-junction turn RIGHT
- Turn RIGHT after the humpback bridge and carry on past the caravan sites until you reach DSC at the end of the road
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HIRING THE CLUBHOUSE
Dee Sailing Club's clubhouse can be hired for parties and other events.
Details of terms and conditions and Basic Costs can be viewed online. View
Terms and Conditions. To book the club you can download a booking
form then either print it out fill it in and send it to the Club Address
above or save a copy to your computer, fill it in and email it to Bookings
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DEE SAILING CLUB'S HISTORY
The club's formation dates from 30th January 1909, when a meeting was held in the Hotel Victoria to discuss the formation of a sailing club to "encourage amateur boat racing and sailing on the River Dee and Irish Sea". It was agreed the name of the club would be "The Heswall Sailing Club" and in 1912 it was changed to "The Dee Sailing Club". The first Commodore was Capt. G.H.Mathias and the club burgee was a salmon on a red background which was changed to a leaping salmon in 1952.
The first club house was built on the corner of Banks Road opposite Shelldrake Restaurant. The following house rules were displayed on the notice board:
(i) Not more than four members are allowed to sleep in the club house until extended.
(ii) Members may book beds in advance, with the secretary.
(iii) Bedrooms only to be used for sleeping and dressing.
The sleeping accommodation was required as some members travelled by train to Heswall Station and wished to stay for a weekend or longer periods.
During the First World War there was little activity in the club and in 1920 they received notice to quit the site. The members decided to move to the opposite corner of Banks Road to the site of the now Shelldrake Restaurant where the club house was situated until the move to Thurstaston in 1982.
In 1927 a new member, Alec Martin won the Low Challenge Cup sailing Cariad, presented by Harold Lowe. This is the oldest of the club's present day trophies.
In 1934 a new committee was formed with Archie Lane as Commodore and it was decided to build a new club house which is now part of the Shelldrake Restaurant. During the next five years the club expanded rapidly with several extensions to the club house.
In 1938 when Eugene Brunning was Commodore there was a major expansion with a new clubhouse and the existing clubhouse became the changing rooms and bar.
In 1937 Harry Hiscocks joined as a junior member and bought the first 14ft sailing dinghy from Dick Evans.
It was hoped to form a class of these boats; sadly there were only three of them built. The last surviving one, Hariet, was sailed for many years by Charles and Stan Massey, winning the Coronation race, amongst others. Stan, after the death of Charles, gave the boat to the Liverpool Maritime Museum as an example of a Heswall built boat.
In the pre war years, handicap races were held. The handicaps varying with the wind strength. One of the courses was: Starting line opposite the clubhouse, Dawpool, Forhwests, targets buoy, Finishing Line, all buoys to starboard. As the majority of boats were cruisers, the Commodores Cruise included naval manoeuvres with pre-coded flag instructions to indicate the manoeuvres to be carried out.
On one occasion the commodore visited each member of the fleet for a drink at lunch time with the inevitable result that he was unable to row back to the Flagship.
Mr Brummings Yacht 'Pipha' showing Mr & Mrs Brummings,
Alf Daleman and a very young Harry Hiscocks!
During the Second World War the majority of the cruisers were requisitioned by the Royal Navy and post war the club fleet had to be built up with small handicap boats or sailing dinghies. An order was placed for six 12ft Nationals but before these were delivered a new dinghy called a Firefly was announced but in order to obtain a license to buy one, it was necessary to enter the trials for the Olympic Games to be held in Britain in 1948. Six boats were ordered by the Dee, West Kirby and Royal Mersey. After the trials at the individual clubs the North West trials were sailed in the Mersey. Peter Brett from the Dee and Peter Scott who had missed the southern trials, represented the North West in the final trials on the South Coast. Peter Scott won the right to represent Great Britain. A young Paul Elvstrom won the Gold Medal.
In immediate post war years Alec Martin sailing Scott and Arthur Vernon sailing Cyanne both ex One-raters, and Michael Shillaker crewing for his father in Petrel raced in the handicap races. John Mathews and Mike Meakin were alternating winners in the 12ft National Class and John Peters and Harry Hiscocks in the Firefly Class.
In 1953 when Harry Hiscocks was Commodore it was decided to build the first post war extension to the clubhouse. This involved an extension to the bar and changing rooms and connection to the main drains, installation of a hot water system and an open fire in the main club room. This included hot and cold showers for the men. Although this did not include the ladies, they had been given full access to the club premises before the war which was well in advance of any other local clubs and which helped to encourage a family atmosphere.
During the 1950s the main addition to the club fleets were the GPs. This proved a very successful class and quickly outnumbered the other classes. In 1960 orders were placed for the first Hilbres by Mike Shillaker, John McFarland, Ken Maxwell, Harry Hiscocks and Fred Hutchence. This became the main class during the sixties and seventies and becoming the largest fleet of Hilbres in the country.
In 1960 when John Peters was commodore plans were put in hand for extending the club house. This included a starters box with provision for firing guns. The outer distance mark can still be seen today on the bank. Unfortunately it could not be used for long due to the silting at Heswall and the starting line had to be moved down river. One of the notable Commodores during the sixties was Jake Sanders who cut short a Naval career to run his family business. The boatman at the time was Charlie Lewis who would not take orders from anyone but Jake.
The sixties also saw the club with a fleet of Hornets which were berthed at Sally's Cottage for a while after sailing at Heswall became impractical and before the club had moved to Thurstaston. Chris Weston, John and Bob Ogle, Colin Furber, Jimmy Gwyther, and all sailed Hornets in this period. Most of them had moved from West Kirby SC.
During the seventies the mooring trots for Hilbres were laid at Thurstaston and it became inevitable that the clubhouse would have to move there although there was a vociferous minority against the move. Michael Potts was the Commodore at the time and he was responsible for drawing up the plans and arranging the finance. Chris Weston was Commodore in 1981/2 and was responsible for building the new clubhouse.
Three of the most successful helmsmen in the Hilbres during the seventies were Colin Trantom, Mike Posstlethwaite and John Hancox. During the eighties fleets of 505s, Darts and Scorpions were built up and the cruising fleet flourished with boats making extended cruises to Ireland, the Isle of Man and Scotland.
In the early eighties a fleet of 505s moved from West Cheshire, a fleet of Scorpions started turning out 5-6 boats for racing and the first Catamaran, a Dart 18 started sailing at Dee In the hands of Bionic Barry Arnisson. Within 3 years a fleet of about 20 Darts were established with regular turnouts of 10-12 cats racing from Easter through to the end of October. In 1985 three Darts travelled to the European championships at Lake Garda , with Gareth Owen and Steve Coterall finishing second out of a fleet of over 180 boats from all over Europe and South Africa . They later went on to win the European Championships in Holland the following year. The Dart fleet regularly travelled all over Europe with several cats taking part in European Championships in Portugal, France, Germany, Switzerland and Holland . Some 18 years later Gareth Owen became Dart World Champion after winning the championships in New Caladonia in the South Pacific in 2003 and had a second in the 2006 World Championships in East London SA.
In 2000 in the hands of Tony Marston as Commodore the club went from strength to strength, with his determination to get younger members joining and sailing at Dee. He established a Mirror and Optimist fleet and had racing on both the tide and marine lake. Fleets of more than 10 Oppies can now be seen regularly on Saturdays on the marine lake crewed by children between 7 and 14 years of age.
Thanks are due to Harry Hiscocks and Roger Sanders for compiling this potted history.
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JOINING DEE SAILING CLUB
If you're interested in joining Dee Sailing Club, download a Membership Application form or email the Membership Secretary.
Subscriptions - 2007
| Membership Type |
Annual Subscription |
Monthly Standing Order |
Joining Fee* |
| Family |
£137 |
£13.25 |
£20 |
| Full |
£106 |
£10.35 |
£20 |
| Junior |
£15 |
n/a |
n/a |
| Associate |
£42 |
£4.90 |
£20 |
| Retired |
£64 |
£6.60 |
n/a |
| Outport |
£33 |
£4.90 |
n/a |
| Boat storage and race entry fees |
Annual Subscription |
Monthly Standing Order |
| Dinghies & Cats storage |
£50 |
£4.40 |
| Yacht storage |
£3 per week October to May inclusive, pay in advance |
n/a |
| £5 per week June to September inclusive, pay in advance |
n/a |
| Race entry - all classes except Mirror & Optimist |
£25 |
£2.20 |
All subscriptions (except joining fees, junior subscriptions and yacht storage) can be paid by monthly standing order.
* The joining fee is a one-off payment.
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FLAG OFFICERS
President - C P Weston
Vice Presidents - R J A Sanders, F G H Routledge, G Hoolahan, D Edmundson, A E Marston, I McLean
Trustees - M J Shillaker, K C Trantom, D Edmundson
Commodore - M P Hilton
Vice Commodore - A Goudie
Rear Commodore Sailing - I McLean
Rear Commodore Social - D McWilliams
Hon General Secretary - D Edmundson
Hon Treasurer - R G Benson
Hon Membership Secretary - C P Weston
Hon Sailing Secretary - M Dodd
Captain - E M Wearing
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HOUSE COMMITTEE
Dave McWilliams
Andy Goudie
Paula Goudie
Ian McLean
Julie McLean
Jackie McWilliams
Pete Clements
Dave McWilliams, Rear Commodore Social
Dave has been a member of the club for 5 years and started sailing at Dee with his wife Jackie in a GP 14.
More recently Dave and Jackie have joined the cruising fleet and have moved onto a 21' cabin boat which is on the moorings outside the club.
Dave who is a keen runner, compliments his Rear Commodore duties by organising running, cycling and fitness training from the club house.
Andy Goudie, Vice Commodore
Andy has been a club member for 8 years and races a Dart 18 Catamaran with his wife Paula.
Andy and Paula are also the proud owners of a much cherished Mirror Dinghy which has made appearances at venues ranging from Bala Lake to the Norfolk Broads.
Paula Goudie, Bosun
Paula races a Dart 18 with her husband Andy, and has recently taken on the role of Bosun for the club.
The Bosun's role is to make the correct apparel available to members for all occasions, from T shirts for boat rigging on the lawn, to club ties for official dinners.
Ian McLean, Committee Member
Ian is a past Commodore of the club and has been a member for more years than he is prepared to admit.
This season Ian is sailing a Phantom ( one of the finest boats to grace our waters) but in the past has raced various mono hulls and Dart 18 Catamarans.
Julie McLean, Committee Member
After 3 years as Lady Commodore Julie is a valuable asset to the new House Committee.
Julie in the past crewed for her husband in a 505, and travelled to and was dunked into Bala Lake, The Helford River, The River Mersey and of course the Dee Estuary on numerous occasions, Julie prefers not to compete at the moment.
Jackie McWilliams, Committee Member
Jackie joined the club with her husband Dave.
When time permits Jackie sails with Dave, but spends a great deal of time in the role of Rear Commodore support officer.
Pete Clements, Committee Member
Pete has sailed dinghies for a number of years, then 5 years ago joined Dee Sailing Club as a member of the safety boat team.
This season Pete has bought a Dart 18 Catamaran which he plans to campaign locally and nationally.
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CONTACTING DEE SAILING CLUB
Dee Sailing Club
Station Road
Thurstaston
Wirral
CH61 0HN
0151 648 2300
Who to contact
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BULLETIN BOARD TIPS
The DSC Bulletin Board is the members' online forum, where they can discuss sailing and club-related matters.
Tips
- Click on DSC General Forum to enter
- Click on Register (at the top of the page) to register your name, email and a password (you'll only need to do this once). You can ignore the rest of the questions
- Enter your username and password
- Click on a topic in the list to read the messages
- Click on Post reply to... you guessed it... post a reply!
- Click on New topic to... Oh, you're ahead of me!
Please note that your password will be displayed in a confirmation email you'll receive after registration. Don't use the same password as you use for a more secure purpose, i.e. online banking.
If you need any help then email the forum administrator
Lost Login name?
Email the forum administrator for a reminder.
Lost password?
Click on the "Login to check your private messages" link near the top of the page and then click "I forgot my password" on the login page.
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CLUB RECORDS
Dee SC to Beaumaris Pier
The goal is fairly obvious. The clock starts when the helm steps into the water at the Dee SC and it runs until he steps onto the jetty at Beaumaris Pier. The challenge is to cope with whatever lies in between.
As far as we know, this was first attempted on 27 July 2004 by a couple of catamarans. Their times were:
Fastest Elapsed Time
Alasdair Davidson and Jon Dayton, Nacra F18: 6 hours 30 minutes, on 27 July 2004
Non-stop
Simon Stannard and Adrian Mould, Spitfire: 7 hours 13 minutes and 31 seconds, on 27 July 2004
Monohull Non-stop
2005 has seen a record set for a monohull (non-stop):
Quentin Jones, Wayfarer: 8 hours 25 minutes, on 6 June 2005
Further attempts are planned for 2005. In the right conditions it will be possible to smash the catamaran records - when the bar gets below four hours, the race really will be on.
Round Hilbre
Again, fairly obvious we hope! The race is from the normal Start Line off Thurstaston to Hilbre Island, keeping it to port, and back through the Line. The record for the fastest time was set at 1:00:24 in 2002 by Alasdair Davidson and Brigid Loughlin on their Nacra F18 and stood until 30 April 2006. The new record was set by Jonathan Harris and Simon Stannard on a Spitfire, with the first elapsed time to break the one hour barrier: 0:58:31.
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