REPORT & PHOTOS Langstone Sailing Club 80th Anniversary Celebrations Sunday 31 May 2026

Published 15:07 on 2 Jun 2026

REPORT by Ethna Haines - Langstone Sailing Club 80th Anniversary Celebrations Sunday 31 May 2026

Langstone held a day of celebrations to mark the 80th anniversary of the club on May 31st. It was a sunny, but blustery day, so some challenging conditions for those racing for the Hudson Cup, Seamanship event in the morning.

The course was set by Dave Weinstock and won by Nick Dyke and Mike Ford. ( see below a more detailed Hudson Cup report by Jane).

Due to the wind, the paella lunch had to be cooked in the Galley. This was prepared by a team consisting of Larry and Val, Glenda, Bev, Lynda, Frances and Ethna and was enjoyed by all.

In the afternoon there were some paddling races in teams, organised by Lou ( see below a more detailed Paddling Races report by Lou) followed by an Environmental Quiz set by Claire Ashton and finally a talk on the founding of the clubhouse by Brian Radford, one of our former Commodores who had signed the original lease for the building.

The day was rounded off by a short prize giving, and some words of thanks from our present Commodore, John Bassford.

80 years LSC history REPORT by Brian Radford

2026 is an important year in club history. Because 50 years ago the building of this clubhouse started.

In 1976, I was commodore and the club's future was unclear. The then temporary clubhouse was a war surplus hut between the bridges on land we leased from Hampshire CC. The creek was much wider then, and our new site included the remains of old road to Hayling, just west of the new road bridge, which had opened in1956.

There was talk of creating a roundabout arrangement, going south over the new bridge and north over the railway bridge. We were in an area where the northern link would be. Because nothing was definite there was strong opposition to our building on the land. Havant Council were trying to find us an alternative site, and we had put in many other applications including one on the Northney road corner.

In the summer of 1975, we were offered a site in the Northney marina, which was under development. This would be a bay between two pontoons, where our cruisers would stay afloat and there would be some land for dinghies. Havant council organised a meeting between Leisure UK who were the site developers and me. Their CEO arrived by helicopter, me on my bike. Their proposal wouldn't have fitted in with our ethos or way of operating and so wasn't accepted.

In the autumn of 1975, all councils were under renewed pressure to reduce costs and the future of the land between the bridges came up for review. We put in a planning application to build a clubhouse, and I started lobbying councillors for their approval. The climax was delivering a leaflet to each of them on Christmas morning 1975, to read with their cards. In January 1976 our application was approved.

Several of our senior members were managers in the building and supplies industries and a clubhouse was designed to capitalise on the existing situation and exploit the benefits of the land. Stewart Garnham, Keith Carrell and Gordon Lebbon were important in leading the design. David Miles in drafting the lease.

The best position on the site had an existing building on it. It had brick sides and a corrugated iron roof and was used by Sid Little, to store mooring tackle and fertilizers. His uncle Graham, who had the title "captain of the queen's oysters" and had coal and fertilisers delivered by rail to the siding that was on the land. The end of the siding finished up just west of our entrance door. Graham delivered locally.

In 1976 Sid had run down things to a low level but wanted to keep going for a few more years after which we could build. Rather than wait, we persuaded him to let us build not near, but over him, on a steel framework.

The two-storey structure had 4 bays going north to south. We occupied the top floor and northern section, bridging what was below, until in 1985 when Sid moved out, it was all ours.

More next time.

Hudson Cup REPORT by Jane

The Hudson Cup, Seamanship event, was run by Dave Weinstock, our Senior Instructor, as part of the Club's 80th Anniversary celebrations. Participants were challenged to demonstrate various dinghy skills including general sailing, approaching and leaving the pontoon, anchoring, a man overboard rescue, picking up a mooring and coming safely back to shore.
In quite strong winds Mike Ford and Nick Dyke proved the most skillful to win the Cup.

A good fun event with useful feedback from Dave afterwards over a beer - we should all do better next time.

Thanks to all who helped.

Paddling Races REPORT by Lou

On a sunny and windy day the The Yellow Perils ( Claire Ashton, Mike Ford, Sandy Myers & Jo Gordon) and the Red Devils (Nick Dyke, James Sephton, Nigel Tulk & Martyn Brown) put their skills to the test by racing around a number of buoys on kayaks and SUPS in a two round thriller. There was skull duggery with water being splashed into opponents Kayaks and the course being changed in the second round to the suprise of the Red Devils !!!

The Red Devils were victorious with some very fast sprinting out towards the buoys and clinical finishing. The Yellow Perils put in a very valiant performance again wind and tide.

Every Team member from the Red Devils Team has won a free session to rent out a SUP or Kayak through the LSC Website.

Thanks must go to Nick Dyke and Tracy Woodall for setting up the SUPS and Kayaks for the race and Jane Noble and Mark Wilson for providing the safety boat.

Langstone Sailing Club 80th Anniversary Celebrations Sunday 31 May 2026

Come and join the fun.. we are still wanting more people to join in on-the-water activities including the Hudson Cup, a fun seamanship challenge, which may including anchoring, sailing without a rudder, man-over-board etc.

We will try to find you a crew/helm if needed - please email sailingsec@langstonesc.org.uk and the Paddleboard/SUP relay teams to be decided on the day.

Please Sign up HERE to help us plan the events (link also available from the calendar entry - you have to be logged into the club website to use the form). Limited sign-up on the day at least 1 hour before the event briefing please.

Please see the poster HERE for details.
Events include:

• 11.30am Briefing for Hudson Cup Seamanship challenge (boat shed), followed y challenge. Even expected to be finished by 1pm (depending on number of participants)
• From 1pm - Paella for those who booked. For those not having paella the gas BBQ will be available to use, please bring you own food.
• 2.00pm SUP/Kayak relay briefing and team allocation (boat shed) followed by relay (note slightly earlier than on the poster).
• Prize giving as soon as possible after on-the-water events have finished expected around 4pm
• Other events include an environment quiz, board games, raffle and bar (we may be short of bar volunteers so if you can help for ½hr it would appreciated).

Please think about the environment here are a few ways you can help:

• Use a reusable water bottle rather than buying water in one-use plastic bottles
• Consider your suncream: some have ingredients that damage the environment such as oxybenzone and octinoxate. Look for ones that contain zinc oxide or titanium dioxide (micro-sized not nano particles) instead, as these are less toxic to your health and the environment, or wear sun-protection clothing instead. This article explains more: Which are the best sunscreens.docx
• Try to minimise your water usage when washing boats and showering
• Consider walking, cycling or taking public transport beat the traffic queues

Look forward to seeing you tomorrow for the fun celebrations.