History of antrim boat club
It all started when…
Antrim Boat Club was founded when a group of enthusiasts met in the Massereene Arms hotel in Antrim on 17th January 1967. A committee was elected with Marshall Moore as Honorary Secretary and Jack Allen as the first Commodore.
Later at subsequent Committee meetings it was agreed to approach Lord O’Neill with a view to site the club in its present location. Lord O’Neill generously acceded to the request and was subsequently elected President of the Club a position he still holds today.
how it grew…
Initially Scorpions dinghies, pictured below, were selected as the preferred class for those members wishing to compete and membership rapidly grew. Later Finn class dinghies were added and keel boats appeared. It was always stressed that other boat owners would be welcomed including motor boat owners and the early minutes were keen to promote ‘Boating’. In the late 1970s and 80s many of the dinghy sailors moved into windsurfing and it was not uncommon to have sixty or more members competing in three different classes each weekend.
a new clubhouse…
Accommodation was addressed and the present clubhouse was the third phase replacing less comfortable earlier buildings. Indeed the late Jack Allen OBE who was then Mayor of Antrim fittingly opened the present clubhouse in June 1985, coincidentally the year that R Moore won the winter series in the Gold Fleet of the windsurfing class.
and hosts to world wide events
Over the years many large regional and national boating events have been staged ranging from Optomist dinghies, RIBs, Laser2s, windsurfing and in 2018, the Atlantic Challenge International Contest of Seamanship, featuring teams from eleven different countries.
