Back in 1973, Al Woolnough sat in his living room on Minnesota St. with about 20 other nautical enthusiasts and held the first unofficial meeting of the Collingwood Yacht Club.
This year, the non-profit club is celebrating its 50th anniversary of bringing together sailors to bond over their shared love of being on the water.
Woolnough, one of the club’s founding members, remembers the first meetings fondly.
“It started in my living room. There were a group of people in town who were interested in sailing and at that time, there were only a couple of sailboats in the harbour,” he told CollingwoodToday.
At that time, Woolnough says the group hosted a regatta and invited the Thornbury club to attend. Through the event, they hoped to gauge interest in a local club.
“It was a success. There were about 20-25 people there. That night, I think six people actually joined and we each threw five bucks in the pot for postage,” said Woolnough.
Those six included Woolnough as well as Fran Basset, Rick Black, Joe Draper, Noni Harris and Bob Morrison. The club was incorporated in 1973 and Woolnough served as the first Fleet Captain.
At the time, the group moulded their constitution after a similar one in Belleville, and decided to charge $25 for club membership with a cap of 25 people to get the club off the ground.
“When we met again a couple of weeks later, we had 75 applications,” he said, adding the group caved to the pressure and let them all in.
“Not all of them were boaters. Some were looking to become boaters. They were more interested in the camaraderie of the club.”
Woolnough was brought up in a small town near London, Ont., and moved to Collingwood to work for Ainley Group as an engineer in 1968. It was there he was first introduced to sailing.
“One of the engineers there, he had a sailboat in Thornbury. I went out with him and I was hooked right away,” he said.
Woolnough says an explosion of new industry was coming to Collingwood at that time, which brought a number of new young people to the area seeking employment. They were also looking for ways to spend their leisure time.
“We formed the club, and we wanted it to be a working club,” he said.
Members were required to work 10 hours in some capacity annually as a condition of membership, which is a practice that still exists within the club today. Members who do not wish to work the 10 hours are instead required to pay a higher membership fee.
“It’s a way to keep costs reasonable for those who are willing to put in some work,” he said.
Through that work, Woolnough says the club worked to build the timber docks in the harbour and free-standing moorings. The club originally had their clubhouse in the basement of the Terminals building.
“The club started to grow. We built more docks. It’s still a working club. Now, we’ll allow people to serve on committees (as their work hours),” he said.
Over time, Woolnough says the Collingwood club put its mark on the local sailing landscape. As a racing club, they pushed their way into the Meabury race (previously between the Meaford and Thornbury clubs), which eventually changed its name to the Meaburywood when Collingwood’s club was added.
Collingwood’s club was also one of the founding members of the Georgian Bay Sailing Association which runs a regatta annually.
These days, the club is still active in racing but also holds various social events and membership carries access to dockage and storage facilities.
Over time, Woolnough says the club membership has matured, and some of the original members are still members today. However, he says the club is always looking for young people interested in sailing to join.
When he looks back, Woolnough says he’s left with warm memories.
“I think it’s neat the club started in my house, but it’s not about me, it’s about the club. We have a lot of members who have been there for a long time,” he said. “It’s a good place to meet people. I have a lot of good friends there.”
For more information on the Collingwood Yacht Club, click here.
