DATELINE :- 11th October 2000
DIVERS HIT JACKPOT
Brighton club sails ahead in style
It has to be one of the luckiest diving clubs in the land. A year ago Brighton's branch of the British Sub-Aqua Club, faced with a cash crisis, was forced to move from its clubhouse under Brighton Promenade. Now it is set to enjoy life after being taken in by the wealthy Sussex Yacht Club at Shoreham.
Aided by £343,000 from the Lottery Sports Fund, the 108-year-old yacht club has just finished refurbishing its main clubhouse in Shoreham harbour, and a second one inside a locked basin further upriver. It has 104 moorings.
"It's a very happy association," Chris West, Chairman of Brighton BSAC, told Diver. "We now have two slipways for launching our RIBs, a mooring for our hardboat, boat-lifting facilities and a large boat and car park. Our compressor station lies near the main clubhouse, which has hot showers and changing rooms, a restaurant and bar."
Though independent of the yacht club, Brighton BSAC enjoys all its facilities and shares its main office and phone number. So what's in it for Sussex YC, which has 1400 members and assets of more than £5m?
"We've found a strong cross-fertilisation between sailing and diving," said Alan Rudkin, Sussex YC's Secretary. "Of Brighton's 80 members, 12 were already members of our club as well.
"Similarly, many of our members are interested in diving matters, and this will allow them to chat freely with divers and, if they want, learn to dive under enjoyable circumstances with people they have got to know." The divers, he added, had already shown "great generosity" in helping to lay and maintain some of the club's moorings.
Was there room for more diving members? "We welcome enquiries both from existing divers and from people wanting to learn to dive," said Chris West. Call 01273 464868.