|
 |
|
 |
The
Yangon Sailing Club previously known as the Rangoon
Sailing Club owes its existence in the first place
to a Mr.D.E. Thomas, whose house was situated on
the Victoria lakes now called the Inya Lake. Sailing
activities actually started from his house and drinks
were" On the House" on the Verandah of
his villa. Eventually as sailing grew popular, this
practice obviously became expensive, and a Chit
System was devised for the drinks. In 1925, land
was acquired at the present site and the first Club
House was built. This building served its purpose
for a |
|
year, but was later found
to be riddled with white ants. A new building was built
with a clearance of about 4 feet above the ground. In
1930, the whole building was raised so that boats could
be stored underneath rather than out in the open. This
building was used right up until 1945. Apparently during
Japanese occupation of the country, the building was used
as a convalescence home. It was burned down Just before
the allies reoccupied Yangon City in 1945. By 1945 the
Club had about 20 Rater Class Boats, 12 Ten Foot Dinghies,
and 12 Fourteen Foot Single Handed Sharpies. At this time
a vigorous and well organized racing schedule was set-up
which set the pattern right up to the present time. Raters
were raced on Saturdays and Sharpies and other class boats
were raced on Sundays. There were outright Challenge Cups
such as the Kokine Cup, Aggregate Cup, Captain's Prize
and Christmas Trophy. There was also" The Obstacle
Race" which was found to be reported as far back
as 1926, when it was reported in the Rangoon Times daily
newspaper on 17 April 1926."In the Obstacle Race
the competitors had to swim from the shore to their respective
boats, dive under it, then return to shore, run around
the Club House, crawl under a tightly pegged-down tarp,
only to have flour thrown on them by a lady when they
came out, then round to the front of the Club where there
were buns on a plate, eat a bun, swim- off again to the
boats, dive under it, climbed over it, return to shore.
Put on wet shirt and shorts, the first to appear before
the Judge properly dressed to be the winner." The
last event of the Regatta used to be what was known as
the sailing Gymkhana. "For this the competitors had
to sail round a blue buoy on the East, round a red buoy
on the West, come ashore, run to the Club House and drink
a soda, sail around the blue buoy again and then home,
the first to across the line being the winner. In addition
to rounding the buoys, they had to drop something like
a cushion, turn and pick it up before going to the buoys.
This caused considerable changing of positions."
With the oncoming of the Japanese occupation forces in
1941, all the boats were scattered. Some of the Raters
and Sharpies were sunk in the Lake, their positions marked
by taking transits.
|
 |
 |
There is not
much material about what happened during the
Japanese occupation but the Club House was
used as a convalescence home. Whether there
was sailing activities which took place during
that same period is up to conjecture. The
rebirth of the Club commenced as early as
June 1945 when the reoccupying forces retook
Yangon. Some of the old members who were then
serving in the allied forces held a General
Meeting in September 1945. A new building
was built on the site of the burnt down Club
House and six new Sharpies were commissioned.
Sails duringthose days were made out of army
desootees until funds could be obtained for
import of proper sails.
The
boats that had been sunk were raised and repaired.
One boat was actually found at |
1st
Club Building |
1946
Club Building |
 |
 |
1947
Club Building |
1999
Club Building |
|
the Kokine Swimming
Club. Canadian Spruce was brought into make masts
and spars. Being started by the services, the Club
was then known as Rangoon Services Yacht Club. There
was 216 members altogether. Entrance Fee was 215
Rupees, with a Monthly Subscription of 5 Rupees
a month. Since most members then were service personnel,
there was lots of turnover of members who had to
move on with their units. By 1947, the number of
civilian members out-numbered the members from the
services, and the Club's name was changed to Rangoon
Sailing Club. Also by this time the Sharpie Class
became the main class of the Club. The reason for
this appeared to be since the boat could be built
to specifications using local teak. Sails however
were imported from abroad thus ensuring that the
Sharpie was fairly a one design class, and uniformity
established. By 1949 the Raters were made uniform
by adopting a fixed design and were allowed to race
under the Club's auspices. These Raters were adapted
from a design known as 'Black Cap'. Their original
names was "Thames River Half-Rater" and
were originally designed back in 1907 with a Gunter
Rig and were raced on the Thames River in England.
Their dimensions were 18ft L.O.A., a maximum of
5ft beam, Carvel built hull and mast height above
the deck of 14.75 ft plus a Gunter gaff of 14 ft.
Modifications
were made for use in Myanmar by using a Bermuda
Type Rig, shortening the boom and lengthening the
mast by three feet. After discussing with Uffa Fox
the masts were made of teak using the hollow mast
construction.
The
Sharpie Class was first introduced back in 1936
by Mr. Orthrie Penman to be used as a single handed
class, and then redesigned by him in 1945 to be
sailed with a crew, with a 14 ft Bermuda Rig. These
two designs are still the mainstays of the Club
even today. By 1950 the whole Lake had been surveyed,
distances measured between marked buoys and the
range of distances for various courses ascertained.
This was all done by the Rangoon Hydrographical
Section under the Guidance of the National Surveyors.
Sharpies were raced all year with Raters races only
in the dry season to prevent dismasting in the monsoon
squalls. There were usually three regattas about
the end of March when there were good winds until
the end of the dry weather racing season in May.
The Club Annual Regatta was usually held with much
entertaining by the celebrities from the City and
the major trophies were usually presented at this
time. In 1956 the Club cooperated with the national
authorities and sent a yachting team to the Olympics
in Melbourne. In Rome 1960 by Olympics, the same
team was sent. This was the foundation work laid
by the members of the Rangoon Sailing Club for periodical
participation in future international yachting events.
In December 1961 the 2nd S.E.A. Games was held in
Yangon more or less under the auspices of the Rangoon
Sailing Club. The classes used were Sharpies and
Raters with Burma winning two gold medals. |
|
   |
| ODD
TOWER |
| In
1962 the verandah was repaired and extended, and what
became the present day Sun Deck. The deck again was improved
and an outer deck added in1990. The Sunset Deck on the
northern end of the Club was added in 1993 and the original
sail room was moved out of the Club House to where the
Boat House is located providing additional space and improved
appearance. The Club now stands as one of the prettiest
spots for a “ Sun Downer ”
in the evenings, and is probably the most pleasant place
to belong to, in the Garden City of Yangon. |
| This
article was compiled by Bo Colomby |
  |
|
|
