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Lane Cove 12ft Sailing Skiff Club is a sailing club located at Longueville on the Lane Cove River in Sydney, Australia. The Club organises sailing races each Saturday throughout summer for selected dinghy classes and teaches young people how to sail. It is a volunteer based club with all office bearers, officials and instructors offering their services free of charge.

History
The Club was formed in 1918 by residents of Longueville, Greenwich and Northwood who were keen to race their small open boats against like competition. The Club’s first formal meeting took place on 10 December 1918 in the pavilion at the Longueville Cricket Ground now known as Kingsford Smith Oval. That first meeting established club rules, elected office bearers and established a bank account. While some larger vessels were part of the Club’s initial register by the early 1920s, the Club sailed 12ft Skiffs exclusivity. As the 12ft Skiff class became established across Sydney and the New South Wales 12ft Skiff Council was formed, membership numbers and boat registrations at Lane Cove grew. In 1936 a clubhouse, which also served for boat storage was constructed on land leased from Lane Cove Council near Longueville Wharf.

Sailing continued at the Club throughout World War II at the specific request of those Club members who were serving in the Australian Defence Forces. Although no Club Championships were awarded in the years 1941-1943. Immediately after the war a full racing program was re-commenced. In 1946 the VJ class was introduced to the club to encourage younger sailors and to assist teaching younger children how to sail. In 1955 the Club’s youth programs were expanded with the introduction of the Moth class leading to a growth in overall membership.

By the mid 1970s boat storage space at the Club was fully occupied and there was little room for social activities. To address the situation a major redevelopment took place in 1975 adding a second storey to the building to accommodate Club rooms, a canteen and an open verandah that allowed viewing of the start and finish of each race.

The first formal youth program commenced in the 1960-61 season when the Sabot class was introduced, and a lesson based, Learn to Sail program started. These programs continued for a number of years but had lapsed by the early 1980s. They were refreshed and reintroduced in 1985 when a fleet of new fibreglass Sabots was constructed and the Club's Learn to Sail program have been continuous since that time.

As membership grew further classes were introduced. The Laser class was adopted as a replacement for Moths in 1974. The Cherub class emerged in the late 1970s effectively replacing the Gwen 12 as their numbers dwindled and the Flying Eleven class was introduced in 1973.

On 15 September 2015. the club boat shed containing the whole fleet of dinghys burnt down following suspected arson Following the loss of the sailing fleet a project was organised by the Australian Sports Foundation to replace the boat-house and boats

Office Bearers
The Club is managed by a Management Committee that is elected at the Annual General Meeting each year.

Current Classes
The Club conducts racing for five classes of boats:


 * 12ft Skiff
 * Laser
 * Cherub
 * Flying Eleven
 * Sabot

Youth Sailing
The Club offers Learn to Sail programs for children. These programs are conducted during school holidays and each program runs for one week, Graduates from the programs then go on to a Learn to Race program. The Learn to Sail programs are conducted in the Club’s fleet of ten Sabot class boats and three Laser 4.7s.

From the Learn to Race programs young sailors move on to the regular Saturday afternoon racing in the Sabot class or Laser Radials. Older and more experienced youth sailors compete in the Flying Eleven class before moving on to one of the senior classes in Cherubs, Lasers or 12ft Skiffs.

Notable Members

 * Eddie Sayers - winner of the first NSW 12ft Skiff Pennant
 * Geoff Lloyd - triple winner of the NSW 12ft Skiff Pennant
 * Ted Griffith - Mayor of Lane Cove 1958-1961
 * Dave Porter - winner of the Interdominion 12ft Skiff Championship and 18ft Skiff Champion
 * Adrienne Cahalan - Australian Female Sailor of the Year
 * Richard Coxon - Australian Olympic representative
 * Lyndal Patterson - IYRU World Women's Sailing Champion 1978
 * Carl Ryves - Australian Olympic representative.
 * Karyn Gojnich -three times Australian Olympic representative.
 * Nick Press - winner of seven Interdominion 12ft Skiff Championships