Colourful launch for sailing club’s new home

A new era is setting sail for Babbacombe Corinthians with the opening of their amazing £250,000 new clubhouse on Saturday. April 6.

The flags and bunting will be out on Oddicombe Beach when veteran sailor and businessman Keith Musto fires the starting gun for Babbacombe Corinthian Sailing Club.

The club has been based at Oddicombe since 1935, when it took over an old boat and net store. Bits were added to it over the following decades, but the building was becoming increasingly dilapidated and inadequate.

The clubhouse has been rebuilt and expanded, with modern facilities, including showers, social and teaching facilities for the sailors, kayakers and swimmers who belong to the club. Babbacombe Corinthian Sailing Club has been using the new clubhouse since last year, while finishing touches were made to the building.

About 100 guests from around the Bay and further afield are expected to raise a glass to the future.

“It gives the club a new lease of life and a far bigger and more attractive presence on Oddicombe Beach,” said Adrian Mark, the club’s Commodore and the driving force behind the redevelopment.

“This gives us a good opportunity to market and publicise the club, with better facilities, especially for youngsters.”

The £250,000 needed was raised through a variety of approaches, including a Crowdfunder campaign matched by Sport England. Money came from Torbay Council, and local MP Kevin Foster chipped in £500.

The club, which is an RYA-approved training centre, runs a programme of courses for both children and adults.

Thomas Warburton, the club’s Chief Instructor, added: “I’m very proud of our new clubhouse. We have many new amenities, including a modernised classroom, which features all new furnishings and a smart screen, hopefully making our classroom-based sessions more comfortable and interactive.

“We also have brand new changing facilities and warm showers, which I’m sure will be particularly appreciated on those late-season sailing sessions.”

Neil Mander, the Vice-Commodore in charge of sailing, said: “Opening the new clubhouse at Oddicombe is an important milestone for a club that has been based on Oddicombe Beach since 1935.

“Now we can provide our members with warm and comfortable changing rooms and showers and a pleasant place to relax and socialise after they have been on – or in – the water.

“Babbacombe Corinthian is an RYA-approved training school, and the space we have will also provide an excellent classroom for delivering the onshore aspects of our RYA courses.

“Now we must use these modern facilities to attract new members and build up the club to ensure it thrives in the coming decades.”

The club owns about 20 sailing dinghies, allowing even those members don’t own their boats to get on the water. The sailors are out from early Spring until December, with racing on Tuesday evenings and social sailing on Sundays.

“We try to push the fact that we’re a very affordable club,” Adrian said.

The development has been welcomed by other local businesses. The view from the Cary Arms at Babbacombe Beach is vastly improved. The Cary Arms is owned by the company started by entrepreneur, yachtsman and philanthropist, the late Peter de Savary. His company has given £3,000 towards a new safety boat for the club.

Mark Buck, owner of Three Degrees West, the bar and bistro on Oddicombe Beach, said the new clubhouse had “certainly enhanced the beach. It was due for redevelopment, and you have got there in the end, which is the best thing for the beach.”

Babbacombe Corinthian Sailing Club welcomes new members, both for sailing and as social members at its second clubhouse at the St Marychurch precinct.

Visit https://babbacombe-sc.com to find out more and to join.

Keith Musto OBE won a silver medal at the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. After the Olympics he set up a sailmaking business, Musto & Hyde, along with Eddie Hyde. Eventually, he concentrated solely on sailing and outdoor clothing with his company Musto Clothing.