The history of the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club is as inspiring as it is fascinating.
In an era when cruising yachts were just becoming popular, a group of Bowen enthusiasts with outstanding vision recognised the great natural attributes of their home waters and set about promoting sailing in the area, and into the area. A natural result of their enthusiasm was the formation of a yacht club.
Hard work and tenacity saw their dream realised, and the club (and later the clubhouse at Queens Beach) became the social stalwart of the town from the early fifties.
But those early years were not all filled with enjoyment and fun. Tragedy stalked twice, violent winds claimed the life of two young Bowen sailors; Bryce Menzies during a sudden squall near Airlie Beach and Noel Ross in the maelstrom of the 1958 cyclone that lashed the town.
With two cyclones in two years - 1958 and 1959 (there was no safe harbour in those years), the racing fleet was literally decimated less than a decade after the club's formation.
But the tenacity of the stalwarts could not be underestimated. Through the sixties and early seventies, dedicated office bearers such as Stan Roberts, Val and Betsy Hansen, and Civic Club members, maintained the organisational structure and the social activity. Cunning action avoided revocation of the club's liquor license.
During those lean years on the water, the original founders never lost faith, and persistence saw the creation of a boat harbour where once mud flats housed the yachts on legs, drying out between tides. It was to be a source of inspiration for other sailors to resurrect the club during a new era to come.
The trailer sailer revolution breathed new life into the near dormant yachting scene, and in 1974, old visionaries mixed with a new generation of enthusiastic sailors to plan the future. Six years of preparation and hard work realised an ever bigger vision - the relocation of the club to Magazine Island, (now joined to shore by a causeway) and the building of the current yacht club on its prominent site adjacent to the boat harbour. The vision continued to expand with the construction of the marina and clubhouse extensions.
There have been good times, humour, fellowship and entertainment over the years the NQCYC has evolved. Social activities have been the backbone of the club, with active sailors of two eras utilising the magnificent local waters for club, regional and state championship racing, as well as regular cruising. Members of the club have participated in national and international classic races and voyaged far.
Intervined in the story of the club are the human characters who have blended their personalities to create the club we have today. Their stories have been tracked down by Betsy Hansen as she compiled the historical information in the volume "From Edgecumbe's Shore - A History of the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club" printed in 1999. Her passion and doggedness have kept this story alive.
The book is available from the bar.
In an era when cruising yachts were just becoming popular, a group of Bowen enthusiasts with outstanding vision recognised the great natural attributes of their home waters and set about promoting sailing in the area, and into the area. A natural result of their enthusiasm was the formation of a yacht club.
Hard work and tenacity saw their dream realised, and the club (and later the clubhouse at Queens Beach) became the social stalwart of the town from the early fifties.
But those early years were not all filled with enjoyment and fun. Tragedy stalked twice, violent winds claimed the life of two young Bowen sailors; Bryce Menzies during a sudden squall near Airlie Beach and Noel Ross in the maelstrom of the 1958 cyclone that lashed the town.
With two cyclones in two years - 1958 and 1959 (there was no safe harbour in those years), the racing fleet was literally decimated less than a decade after the club's formation.
But the tenacity of the stalwarts could not be underestimated. Through the sixties and early seventies, dedicated office bearers such as Stan Roberts, Val and Betsy Hansen, and Civic Club members, maintained the organisational structure and the social activity. Cunning action avoided revocation of the club's liquor license.
During those lean years on the water, the original founders never lost faith, and persistence saw the creation of a boat harbour where once mud flats housed the yachts on legs, drying out between tides. It was to be a source of inspiration for other sailors to resurrect the club during a new era to come.
The trailer sailer revolution breathed new life into the near dormant yachting scene, and in 1974, old visionaries mixed with a new generation of enthusiastic sailors to plan the future. Six years of preparation and hard work realised an ever bigger vision - the relocation of the club to Magazine Island, (now joined to shore by a causeway) and the building of the current yacht club on its prominent site adjacent to the boat harbour. The vision continued to expand with the construction of the marina and clubhouse extensions.
There have been good times, humour, fellowship and entertainment over the years the NQCYC has evolved. Social activities have been the backbone of the club, with active sailors of two eras utilising the magnificent local waters for club, regional and state championship racing, as well as regular cruising. Members of the club have participated in national and international classic races and voyaged far.
Intervined in the story of the club are the human characters who have blended their personalities to create the club we have today. Their stories have been tracked down by Betsy Hansen as she compiled the historical information in the volume "From Edgecumbe's Shore - A History of the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club" printed in 1999. Her passion and doggedness have kept this story alive.
The book is available from the bar.
~taken from "From Edgecumbe's Shore - A History of the North Queensland Cruising Yacht Club" by Betsy Hansen and members of the NQCYC
Marina and Yacht Club in 2013
