Between the Wars:  Club Classes and Racing
 
The Restricted West Solent Class:  32 ft 6 in x 7 ft 6 in x 5 ft 1 1/2 in, introduced in 1924 by the Commodore, Major Cyril Potter.  The popularity of the class was largely instrumental in the success of the Club.  Six-ton sloops, they were designed by HG May and built by his yard, the Berthon Boat Company.

"... Each boat was manned by a paid "Skipper" who had a considerable say in all matters concerning the conduct of every race, though (at least in theory) his hand never touched the tiller.

"... A novel feature of all those West Solents was the fact that they were the first class-racing boats to be equipped with the new-fangled sanitary apparatus known as "the Admiral" (Blake, of course).  This essentially sensible fixture (made more necessary by the fact that at least two of the yachts were owned by ladies) was regarded by the racing fraternity as the greatest joke since the invention of the internal-combustion engine.  It was no uncommon sight, when the Class visited Cowes and other locations away from Lymington, for the numerous paid hands (and there were plenty among the twelve-, eight- and six- metres) to gather on their respective decks to greet these "sissy" newcomers with significant gestures of the art of chain-pulling"

The 'X'.O.D., Lymington Division:

The third oldest division of its class, it was born in 1927 with eight boats, its first captain being Admiral Sir Sackville Garden of the Gallipoli tragedy. Three of the originals, X. 18, X.20 and X.23 are now back in Lymington, X.20 still bearing her original name. The Division was disbanded in 1931 and did not reform until the Second World War. The 'X' Class were, and still are, popular racing boats if you don't mind a thorough wetting in a Solent lop.

An ex-member recalls: "Of the 'X' Class, I remember discussing with the Captain of the Itchenor contingent their proclivity for drenching their crews. It was at a cocktail party. 'Wet? 'he exclaimed; 'they're as dry as a bone.' He then fell backwards down a companion way, no doubt struck down from On High (or by the strength of the Martinis). Fortunately he was unhurt.

The Thirties and the ‘L’ Class:

"... As the membership of the Club increased, a demand for a less plutocratic type of racing yacht and one more suitable for picnicking, as well as for racing, was met by the design of the Lymington 'L' Class by J. Laurent Giles. These were compact four-tonners fitted with small motors and they effectively supplanted the dying West Solent Class. Few, if any, carried a paid Skipper though the competition in the races seemed to become even hotter than previously, and resulted in at least one cause celebre which was only prevented from becoming a public scandal by the intervention of Herr Hitler."

The Coronation Class:

"... It was partly owing to the unpopularity of some of the methods employed by the 'L' Class owners that an attempt was made to form in 1937 yet another and less expensive class of cabin-boat, called in honour of the new Sovereign, 'the Coronation Class'. They were built at Dunoon on the Clyde and cost, complete with the barest essentials, no more than £75, plus a fiver delivery charge. The introduction of these cheap little vessels was far from popular. Members of the established classes combined to attack the qualities of the Coronations in a manner resembling that of chickens resenting the intrusions of a newcomer. The 'pecks' were pretty savage. These boats were (it was said openly) either crank or stiff, and appeared to have been hastily constructed from old biscuit boxes. Fortunately, the general opinion summed up, 'the boats would soon fall to pieces'. Some twenty years later these ugly ducklings were to be seen in Cherbourg and Biscay, though as a class they did not survive. Their place was filled by the evergreen 'X' Class."

The Gauntlets:

No history of the Club could be complete without reference to the creation by the Berthon Boat Company of the 'Gauntlet' series of cruising-cum-ocean" racing of twelve, fourteen, or even larger tonnage. All these fine weatherly vessels were built in Lymington, though curiously enough they gained little favour with the general run of deep-water sailors in the Club. In fact, until after the conclusion of the Second World War, these same deep-water members regarded themselves as a class apart from those who were content to make use of the comparatively sheltered waters of the Solent and, almost without exception, made no active contribution to local sailing activities, ostentatiously taking their ships elsewhere during Regatta Weeks and other Club functions.

The Montagu Sharpie:

16' x 6' beam/ carvel-built:

Depicted in the painting in the corner of the bar, the Montagu Sharpie was adopted by the Club in 1938. It was thus named after the late Lord Montagu because Elkins of Christchurch had built a small number for the Beaulieu River Sailing Club. In 1949, like the Pram, the class gave way to the Firefly.

On Whit Monday, 17 May. 1948, the School of Infantry's Sharpie, Micawber, was run down by Farringford. One of the Sharpie's crew. Major G. Rickman, was caught in the ferry's revolving paddle wheel. Miss P. Clarke, the other crew, could not swim. Both survived.



The Big Cutters and the Js:

Britannia, Astra. Shamrock V, Westward. White Heather. Velsheda, Yankee, Endeavour I and II and Candida, owned by H. Andreae of the L.Y.C. What memories these names evoke.

Though no J sailed up the Lymington River (they drew 14 feet), they would use the L.Y.C. start line between two naval cutters. The Js raced in the Lymington Regatta on Wednesday; and, in the Yarmouth Regatta on the Thursday and Friday, in spite of arguments with Black Rock.

The Class (1926-1935) was followed by the 12-metres, for by 1935 the cost of racing a J had become astronomical.