page_title: Itchenor Sailing Club
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Itchenor Sailing Club / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Fitting out at Itchenor
context_page_description: Itchenor Sailing Club is a sailing club located in Chichester Harbour which was founded in 1927.
context_section_description: West Itchenor is situated on the prevailing wind's windward shore, in a well-protected position in the harbour. Unlike Bosham, Dell Quay and Emsworth, the village has access to water at all states of the tide. It has been a site of shipbuilding since the 18th century, providing the nation with a number of prominent warships during the Napoleonic Wars. Recreational and competitive sailing has typically taken place adjacent to the shipyard, with such events being organised and recorded by officers of the local customs house at the end of the 19th century. When the harbour's first sailing club was founded in Bosham in 1907, regatta activity moved from Itchenor Customs House to Bosham Sailing Club. The popularity of BSC grew to the extent that its committee thought it necessary to be renamed "Bosham and Itchenor Sailing Club" from 1918. BSC reverted to its original name in 1922.
  In November 1927 a group of 5 sailors circulated 48 letters of invitation to join a new sailing club in Itchenor. They were led by Dr B.S. Mends, who was elected Commodore at the first AGM. 39 of the 48 invitations were accepted and a total of 68 members were elected as founder members. The meeting also established the objectives of the club:
  To encourage all forms of yachting and boat sailing by amateurs.
  To encourage yacht and boat racing of all descriptions by the promotion of races and giving of prizes and by any other means which may from time to time be determined by the Club.
  With the club growing in number, it was decided in 1930 that a clubhouse be set up to accommodate its members. Upon acquiring a 17th century fishermen’s cottage overlooking the harbour, the memorandum of association was signed in the following year.
  In 1937 ISC faced an existential threat when the Chichester Harbour Federation invited the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club to establish a South Coast branch in the harbour. Following a meeting between Commodore Thomas McMeekin and his RCYC counterpart, Tiny Mitchell, amalgamation proposals were circulated to the club membership and a referendum was announced to determine the matter. This sharply divided opinion and caused dissenting members to form a "protesting committee." When McMeekin's plans were narrowly rejected, he and his Vice Commodore announced that they would not seek re-election. In an attempt to restore confidence in the club's administration, Rear Commodore Geoffrey Lowles was put forward as a "unity candidate." He was proposed by William Tracy Wallace, who succeeded in uniting members to support Lowles as the new Commodore; Wallace arranged for over fifty individuals (comprising the differing cliques, factions, and recalcitrant members) to officially second him to the position.
  With the outbreak of World War II, the sailing club was requisitioned by the British Army. An anti-aircraft gun was mounted to attack approaching Luftwaffe planes.
caption: Fitting out at Itchenor by Charles Dixon, 1913
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