Beer’s shed sails into new era with clubhouse opening

The Sailing Club in Beer finally moved into a new clubhouse after half a century of waiting.

The new �100,000 building was opened last Friday by members, and is double the size of the ageing previous facility.

Geoff Pook, one of the committee tasked with replacing the wooden shack, known affectionately as ‘the shed on the cliff’, says the club has been trying to get a new clubhouse for decades.

He said during research about Beer Sailing Club they found newspaper articles from the Herald in the 1960’s where members talk about the possibility of getting a new building even then.

And last Friday it was finally completed, after years of hard-work, fundraising and the generosity of locals.

At least half of the building work was done by members and volunteers and Beer builders A and J Kenworthy and P Arbourne completed all the plastering on the new clubhouse free of charge.

The building committee came together in 2008 and decided now was the time to take on the project in earnest, and they spent two years raising money for the club, culminating in knocking down the old shed last october.

This included an art exhibition where Geoff invited artists from around the country to donate a CD-size piece of artwork which was the sold anonymously for a set price, raising around �5,000 towards the total.

Now the clubhouse, which has been brought into the 21st century, will be able to adequately facilitate the growing membership of Beer Sailing Club, with a new patio, better disabled facilities and a brand new kitchen and bar.