Kingston RNLI Regatta

[ripley]

Hi all
Been a few years since ive been to the RNLI Regatta at Kingston due to having my boats on the south coast, used to go there many moons ago on parents boat when dad was commodore of the (BMYC)British motor yacht club.
Would love to go this year as back on thames for a few seasons along with 4 of my brothers & there boats, but wondered if we had to be within a club to go, or if there is moorings for no club boats,
would love to restart the BMYC Cruising section from my place at wraysbury purely for old times sake would be great to see that old burgee flying again, slipping numbers saw them close the clubhouse at teddington & now only the sailing section survives at thames ditton, real shame.
Graham

 

[byron]

BMYC., now there's a name to conjure with, a most respected and powerful club in its day. What happened?
Sorry I can't answer the regatta question.

 

[ripley]

Yes it was a very well known club with many members in the early days,
unfortunately in the 90s numbers dropped to a point that i believe it wasnt just wasnt viable to continue due to overheads etc at teddington, so the club moved soley to the sailing section.
Its also a shame that they are now known as the River
Club, because the BMYC is/was one of the oldest Yacht Clubs on the thames.
I think when they lost the club house most of the remaining cruising members called it a day, a lot of the older members including my parents have since turned to motorhomes & meet up as they did on there boats.(i reckon they all got fed up with falling in drunk myself /forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif)
As a child it was fantastic fun doing boat handle comps, going on club cruises, dragon boat races etc, many of the younger generation had birthday partys at the clubhouse right up to our 21st partys, lots of great memorys.
Now that myself & the other younger members (all stayed close friends since) have all grown up we would like our own families to experience the same.

 

[Brayman]

I remember being moored overnight at Teddington waiting for the next morning's tide and seeing and hearing lots of merriment going on over the river. Coming back from town there were quite a few people on some boats moored ahead who were looking wistfully at the water beneath them.
Next morning we awoke to the sight of a diver who surfaced, Excalibur like, with a large silver trophy held aloft. Over-exuberance the night before it appears meant they didn't manage to hold on to the trophy they had won!