Nowra Community Sailing Club

About Nowra Community Sailing Club

Nowra Community Sailing Club measures its wealth differently from most clubs: since 2017 it has had no clubhouse at all, and it kept sailing anyway. "THE CLUB GOES ON!!" declared the club after fire destroyed its historic home on the Shoalhaven River, and that stubborn cheerfulness captures the place. This is a small, passionate community club whose members describe sailing as a sport of strategy, fitness and fun, and dinghy sailing as something that can be a solo pursuit or one for the whole family. The fleet on the river mixes Spirals, Finns, Lasers, Manly Graduates and Hansas, with the firm policy that all classes are very welcome.

What really sets Nowra apart is an inclusivity most clubs only talk about. The club calls itself totally inclusive and says it is the only one it knows of where Hansa accessibility dinghies race in the same fleet as every other boat. That claim has pedigree: Hansa Sailing Systems, whose accessible dinghies are used worldwide, are manufactured at South Nowra, and in spring 2015 the club ran the Hansa 2.3 23rd Birthday Regatta — 30 boats and 40 sailors from four states and territories over two days, 80 guests at the dinner, and Hansa founder Chris Mitchell cutting the cake — which the club billed as "the biggest sailing event on the river in living memory". The lost clubhouse, meanwhile, lives on in local memory as one of Nowra's most recognisable buildings and, for decades, the town's unofficial flood gauge — locals measured the river's moods against its roofline.

Services and expertise

• Sailing club

Service area: Nowra, NSW — Shoalhaven River

Confirm availability, scope and pricing directly with the business before making arrangements.

A closer look