NINETY YEARS OF SAILING HISTORY AT THE VICTORIA NYANZA SAILING CLUB IN KAMPALA
Images courtesy of VNSC Archives
Images courtesy of VNSC Archives
Did the twenty men (no women were present!) at the founding meeting on 19 July 1935 envision that the Victoria Nyanza Sailing Club would still be there and going strong 90 years later?
We can’t know for sure, but this year it has become a fact!
The VNSC will celebrate its Granite Jubilee from 22nd February until 2nd March 2025 with lots of activities in and around Murchison Bay, at Kaazi, Kampala.
For 9 days the VNSC is open to the public, with sailing demonstrations for children and adults, recycled plastic boat racing, and biking and running competitions. Apart from the official opening of celebrations by a dignitary of the Buganda Kingdom, the climax of the festivities is the Uganda Laser Open championship during the first weekend of March. The 40th edition of this highly popular international event attracts sailors from all over East Africa, Europe, USA and beyond to the shores of Lake Victoria at Kampala for a weekend of fierce competitive sailing.
The first person on record in the VNSC archives to sail at Murchison Bay for fun is a certain Fred Gorton. In 1919 he fitted a ‘native’ canoe, named Tillikum, with an outboard motor, and must have made quite an impression by touring through Murchison Bay without the use of paddlers. Around 1926 Mr Staples, an agricultural officer in the colonial government, put a sail on his “Waterbeetle”, another local canoe. He gradually increased the number and size of the sails. To keep the boat upright, he mounted outriggers on it, making the boat a rather ungainly contraption.
In the early 1930’s a Mr. Harris had a Snipe Sharpie built by an ‘Indian fundi’ for Shs 650! This must have been the first sailing dinghy purposely made for leisure sailing along the shores of Kampala. It was the successful construction of this dinghy that triggered the statutory meeting of the Victoria Nyanza Sailing Club in 1935, and the decision of its just signed-up members to have similar boats built, albeit at a reduced price of Shs 500. In the same year, Kaazi was chosen as the location for the club. Ninety years later, the VNSC is still there.
In the 1930’s, the VNSC soon became the place to be for the British high-class community on the weekends. The members raced against each other in double-handed Snipes while the “Governor’s wife supplied a tea which became favourite for its spreads of food’’. The race results were widely reported in the newspapers, and the VNSC organised an annual Nautic Ball.
In fact, leisure sailing became so popular that the Governor of the Territory instructed the Kampala Technical School to build a sailing yacht. The 12-ton ”Blue Bell” was a great piece of local craftsmanship.
After Independence, the VNSC welcomed members from all walks of life and nationalities and progressively evolved into a more inclusive membership club. The hand-made wooden boats were gradually replaced by industrially built fibreglass dinghies.
Eventually, the single-handed Laser/ILCA became the most popular boat: a sporty, fast dinghy, suitable for the lake’s weather conditions. It also proved to be an excellent dinghy for sail training.
Since the early 1990’s, the VNSC has organised up to four adult and teenager training courses per year (the next course is in mid-February 2025). To date, over five hundred adults and teenagers have learnt to sail on these courses. For children’s sailing, the club has ten Optimists. These are smaller boats suitable for kids from 8 to 15 years. For them, the VNSC organises monthly playful lessons, and school sailing camps.
The VNSC has always been a true sailing club, with an emphasis on continuously enhancing the sailing skills of its members and trainees. Since the early days it runs a busy sailing calendar, a mixture of racing on Sunday afternoons and regular fun sailing events. However, competitive sailing has been the VNSC’s trademark. Over the years, the club has built up an impressive collection of trophies to be competed for, often named after members, boats or sponsors.
In 1939, the first Kaazi-to-Entebbe race was held; this a gruelling marathon event still being sailed every year. It can take anything between 5-10 hours to complete, depending on the wind conditions.
Also quite surprisingly, the first ”lady’s race” was already held in 1936! To this day, the Ladies’ Helm race is on the sailing calendar.
The most popular event these days is the Monthly Mug, the most coveted prize amongst beginner sailors, which they have a good chance to win because of the VNSC’s smart personal handicap system. Since 1985, the Uganda Laser Open (ULO) became an annual landmark sailing event in East Africa.
It has not been all plain sailing for the VNSC. The Second World war, local insurgencies, fluctuating membership, the water hyacinth invasion in the 90’s, a massive theft of masts in 2017 and the COVID pandemic were serious threats to its existence. But there were always dedicated members who pulled the VNSC through these crises, and the spirit of volunteerism has kept the club developing into what it is today.
Ninety years since its humble beginnings, the VNSC is very much alive.
It organises weekly sailing events, quarterly sailing courses and the three-day annual Uganda Laser Open. Currently, the Club stores 50 boats, has over 3000 alumni and 70+ individuals as members, who volunteer with the experienced staff to run the catering, organise the races, courses and social events, carry out boat repairs, do marketing and all else it takes to enjoy water sports at Kaazi, Kampala.
To commemorate the 90 years, the VNSC published an eye-catching book. It is full of historical pictures, comical (or not) personal chronicles, serious newspaper clippings, and amusing correspondence between members, suppliers and authorities. A must read for Ugandan history lovers! The book shows that a lot has changed since twenty men in 1935 decided to start a sailing club at Kaazi. But two things have remained constant: the joy of a Sunday afternoon, sailing on Lake Victoria, and the lasting friendships that the VNSC forges between its members and with sailors all over the world. Experience this yourself and pay a visit to this grand old sailing club next to the Scouts grounds at Kaazi, Kampala.