THE FONDATION OF SENNEVILLE YACHT CLUB
(extrait de l’historique 1957-1982 par Guy La Rochelle)( thanks to Rick Monaghan for the english version )
Acquisition and development of property.
The Club's first and largest fleet ("Graduates").Competitive Sailing comes to the Club
Building the Harbour S.Y.C. minicruises Teamwork Acquisition and development of propertyCommodore Bart Morgan tells us that in 1959, thanks to the enthusiasm of Arthur and Penny Tree, the idea of starting up a yacht club in Senneville was born. Former dinghy racers in Europe in 1938 and former regatta organizers, the Trees thought Senneville would be an ideal locale for a club and investigated the entire shoreline with Mimi and Bart Morgan, looking for a site for a fleet of small racers. In 1957, on Pacific, a group of interested residents of Senneville met at the home of Sandy Stewart and decided to go ahead with the project.
The grounds were acquired for a dollar, thanks to Bart Morgan's intervention with the estate of his grandfather James Morgan, on the condition that the would-be sailors establish and manage a yacht club. Once the formalities were respected, landscaping of the property and the basin was undertaken to open up access to boaters as soon as possible.
The Club's first and largest fleet (“Graduates”).
Because most of the founding members did not own boats, they decided to make a joint
purchase of sixteen mahogany plywood dinghies to be built by Australian Bob Harris in
Lachine. Despite some modifications to the design in construction, the 12'6"
“Graduate” series was a quick and lively little boat and opened the door to
racing.
Competitive Sailing comes to the Club
At the start, most of the races took place in Vaudreuil Bay, watched intently by
members and their families from the Club's shoreline. For four years, the little Graduate
took the trophy Taylor-Bayley Trophy, in 1959 and 1960 by Sandy Stewart and his son Rory;
In 1963 the trophy was won by Tom Donald in his Flying Junior, and the move towards larger
fibreglass boats began. Four French-built Flibustiers, sixteen-footers, found berths here;
in 1962, Bill Dawson beat Arthur Tree for the Victor-Birks Trophy on the Lake of Two
Mountains in one of them. Marauders, Sharks, and then Tanzer 22s began arriving; our
present fleet slowly began to grow.
Building
the Clubhouse
We owe a lot to Bill Dawson. He worked hard with other members to get the project
approved, and to drum up materials and resources for the different stages of construction.
It was a team effort, but Bill was captain. The design for the hyperbolic paraboloid shape
came from the architect Victor Prus, a Senneville resident. In 1961, Eddie Smallhorn,
Mayor of Senneville, inaugurated the clubhouse.
Building
the Harbour
And then the keelboats came. The water was particularly low at the close of the 1964
season; Stewart Swan convoked a special general assembly to approve taking advantage of
the natural contours of the site to excavate a new harbour. Bill Dawson arranged for two
bulldozers to effect the dig and supervised the work. Five days later, 17 October, at
about 6 pm, a substantial crowd gathered to applaud the breeching of the temporary dam and
watched the rising water fill the new harbour, inching slowly up the new concrete ramp.
The following spring, a dragline opened up the harbour entrance and the Club spent a few
thousand (and got a matching Federal grant) to dredge the current channel.
Bridging the Gap
Provincial regulations regarding shorelines presented the members with an interesting
problem. The flow of water along the shoreline had to be maintained. Russ Park thought
long and hard about connecting the jetty to the mainland. A pontoon bridge (tried for a
time) was unsatisfactory -- it was too unstable. And the treasury was empty. Passing
Dominion Bridge one day, Russ remembered that Bob Reid, an old friend from Winnipeg, was
General Manager of the works and explained the problem to him. Russ suggested that Bob
talk to Ross Chamberlain, an avid sailor and environmentalist.
After a short while, Ross was able to come up with two 72' steel beams from the company's scrapyard (left over from renovations to the Victoria Bridge in 1959). Better still, Dominion Bridge transported the beams to the site, where they still sit anchoring the shoreline to the jetty. Meanwhile, Ingo Pasold was so intrigued by the project that he donated $500 to the Club for its completion. The planking was pressure treated with creosote thanks to Borden Marshall of Domtar in Valleyfield, and Jacques D'Aoust arranged to have the material carted back and forth. The club owes a great debt to all these collaborators, but especially to Russell Park and his persistence. Aerial View
A Ten Year Forecast
In 1969, Russell Park formed a committee of three members to review the Club's
by-laws. Tom Donald, Bob Legge and Jock Hovey not only did so, but they forecast the
Club's increase in membership, income, and expenses. The forecast in new members was dead
accurate, but the budget forecast was thrown off track by the rapid and unforeseen
inflation of the 70s.
SYC minicruises
by Jean F. Roy, organizer of four cruises, from our archives.
"On a cruise day follows day, but they are never quite alike and that is the joy of
the exercise. Cruising gives you the chance to take stock, to reflect on life's values.
It's an occasion for couples to rejuvenate their relationships. It's a lot of fun."
Teamwork
It is clear that this Club would never have come into existence were it not for the
collaboration of so many people. All their dedication, their love of nature and the great
outdoors, their joy in living with no regard for personal differences has created this
peaceful little haven. Congratulations to all of us, past and present.
One can't forget, however, the special contributions of some:
- Étienne Dubreuil and Richard Walker, who chronicled the first twenty-five years.
- Gordon Campbell, who instigated some of the Club's infrastructure, such as the hand
winch for hauling out at the concrete ramp, the first dock for keelboats and the green
workshed we still use.
- Ewan Orr, who initiated members to the secrets of sailing and racing dinghies. Drummond
McCall Inc., for whom he worked, constructed the aluminum ramps we still use. And in 1962
it was at a party for Ewan and Ann that the first women's committee was established.
- Bob Legge, legal advisor for years Sara Swan, first organizer of the women's committee,
and all those whose creativity, imagination and effort have changed the complexion of the
Club.
- Anneke Prat, who for the first ten
years oversaw the landscaping of the grounds.
- Marcel Corthésy, who build the garden chairs.
- Jacques Leblanc, whose indefatigable efforts saw to major changes to buildings and
grounds in 1980 and 1981.
- Doug Ball, who served as Commodore for two seasons and whose efforts and enthusiasm have
lead to so many successful regattas.
- Ingo Pasold, who convinced the site manager for the Ste Anne's hospital to dump rocky
waste on our site -- enabling us to level it. Ingo saw to the many tasks that make the
grounds work for us, and, with Chuck Mathieu, to the repair and maintenace of the
committee boats.
As you see, this is a brief history of the many talents, individuals (both members and
non-members), companies, and hard work that have gone into building such a pleasant atmosphere for sailing. May the next twenty-five
years be as engaging.
THE END
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Senneville Yacht Club ¿ 1999-2005