History of Ribble Cruising Club

A proud history dating back 70 years

In April 1950 a small band of Lytham pleasure sailors got together to form a sailing club to cater for the large number of local people who had an interest in sailing. A temporary Headquarters was established at the Queens Hotel and the RCC was born. Shortly after this the headquarters moved to a member’s house on East Beach and then to the County Hotel but as the membership approached 50 there needed to be a more permanent home. A short spell in Lytham Windmill ended when damp and structural problems were found and the club was forced back to the member’s house on east Beach.

By 1958 with a club 200 strong and boats stored in various locations around Lytham and the cruisers moored in the estuary it was becoming essential that a large permanent base was found and possibility of using the now disused mussel purification tanks on the seafront was proposed. It seemed a very good place to base the club as the empty tanks could be used for dinghy storage and a club house could be built on top of the walls. So it was that in 1960 the present location became a reality with the RNLI occupying the easterly pump rooms for their inshore lifeboat and the RCC using the now empty tanks for storage of boats and a new clubhouse established on the sea wall.

A new addition to the clubhouse in 1964 was the race Control Box on top of the clubhouse, which enabled races to be managed from the comfort of the clubhouse, and until 1982 it was also used as a coastguard lookout post.

By the mid 1970s the club had 300 members and was bulging at the seams, so after months of hard work with planners and raising money through the club members a major rebuild was undertaken. This was completed in 1976 which left the clubs’ internal and external layout very much as it is today.

By 1962 there were many larger boats moored off Lytham in the estuary and these were at the mercy of gales and also vandalism as they could be walked out to at low tide. In 1969 RCC purchased land from the Clifton Estate at Lytham Creek.

The first boats were in occupation by 1970 and the slipway was built by 1972. Thus was created the RCC Dock, made and managed by club members. The Dock has grown and improved with workshop, sanitary and social facilities and is now home to over 100 cruisers. This is now a wonderful facility made and managed by the club members.

Sailing from the club on the front continued with success until the silting of the river made it very difficult to launch and recover boats, so in 1974 after much work with the RNLI, Fishermen, Trinity House and the Council the timber jetty was extended by 300 feet, widened to 8 feet and raised by 3 feet to get above the encroaching mud. This did sterling service until around 1998 when the mud again overtopped the jetty. After many trials and tribulations a further 3 feet in height was added to the jetty and in 2005 the current jetty with two passing places was opened and what a magnificent launching facility it now is. We invite you to be part of the continuing success of our club and sport by joining and enjoying sailing from the RCC at Lytham.