Hunters Hill Sailing Club (HHSC) was established in 1961 as the HH Junior Sailing Club and moved to its current location on the foreshore in Woolwich in 1971. Over the years its membership has waxed and waned, but the Club has remained fantastically resilient. Effectively occupying a Council site in a relationship whereby it’s the licensee and not the leaseholder, Council have thankfully protected the Club’s place in the community instead of allowing it to fall prey to the lure of developer dollars.

While the Club has enjoyed significant successes, times of huge membership and community engagement over the years (it boasts no less than five Olympians in its alumni), as well as ongoing commitment from volunteers and members, and a place in the heart of many locals, it was the London Olympics – an event on the other side of the world in 2012 – that charted a new course for HHSC. Since then, it has exploded to life.

Chris Stannage is the current HHSC President and self-proclaimed Chief Enthusiasm Officer. Enthusiasm might just be an understatement – his passion for the Club beams from him. Sat on the Club deck one rainy morning, he looks across the stunning, iconic vista and explains why the London Olympics was monumental. “The Australian Sailing team had a very successful Olympics, and off the back of that success there was quite a bit written about the programs that had been put in place at elite level. In one article, there was a fact box about a new junior sailing program called “Tackers”, which sounded like it might suit ours kids, then aged 10 & 8. I looked up the location of our nearest Tackers Club – lo and behold it was HHSC, just down the road – who knew?!

“In January 2013, we became a sailing family with the kids in classes run by local sailing legend Jenni Bonnitcha, supported by teenagers and Uni students. Very quickly we had gone from never having thought about sailing for the kids to owning two Optimist dinghies and an inflatable rib to chase them around in!”

The Gamed, fortuitously, coincided with the launch of the NSW Tackers Learn to Sail program, and Yachting NSW (now Australian Sailing) financing a fleet of 10 starter boats, known as Tackers boats, that the Club could repay over 3 years.  14 kids and their families signed up. Testament to its success is that roughly 9 of those kids are still sailing, most with the Club.

Above: Original Tackers kid Harry Ashton

Chris’ varied and fascinating background makes him the perfect candidate for the role of HHSC President. A HH-based Lawyer, Sports Science Grad, former President of swan Districts Football Club, former Head Coach of UWS Uniswim and a keen fisherman, you’d be forgiven for thinking its saltwater in his veins instead of blood. It was to prove an inspired moment when then President Andrew Curtin asked Chris to get involved with the Optimist dinghy class, alongside another OptiDad, prominent architect Julian Ashton.

“Andrew knew what he was doing – mixing my sports background and bubbling enthusiasm with the patient calm of Jules,” says Chris. “The class really flourished at our Club, with kids then spilling over into the faster boats like Flying 11’s, Lasers & Sailboards”.

Chris chats away in the deck, dropping into conversation his favourite quote from Richard Bach’s book ‘illusions’: Argue for your limitations, and sure enough they’re yours.” Its reflective of the philosophy of the Club from early 2013 – here was a community led Club prepared to throw all limitations into the harbour, although Chris laughs that at times predecessor Presidents Andrew Curtin and then Maria Quinlan “had to pull the handbrake from time to time” on some of the bolder ventures.

By 2017 the Club had gained true momentum and several of the juniors were placing first at Australian championships and travelling overseas to compete in European and World Championships. This success was recognized when the Club was named “2018 NSW Sailing Club of the Year”. But, for Chris, there was a niggle, despite the overt success. He explains, “membership is such an important thing for community groups, and ours, despite being very active, was flat, if not gradually declining at around the 120 mark. We needed to find a way to engage our Learn to Sail families not as customers of the Club, but as members, without walking away from the Australian Sailing Tackers Program.”

As a result, HHSC now boats 249 members (many of which are families) including an astonishing 121 18-and-unders. When it sent a fleet of Optimist dinghies to the national championships in Victoria this summer, it was the largest Club in attendance and won an annual trophy typically only won by home state Clubs, as well as having an awesome amount of fun with a travelling group of families totaling some 60 people.

Above: HHSC 2020 Nationals Squad

Three HHSC teenagers competed in the 2020 Open World Championships in Melbourne for their respective classes, which double up as selection events for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics for many countries. Siblings Amelia and Matthew Quinlan in the RSX Sailboard championships, while Sylvie Stannage competed in the Laser Radial event.

Success however comes in many forms and HHSC sees its outreach work in the community as just as important as collecting championship medals. Chris and the HHSC management committee recently joined forces with HH High School’s incoming Principal Greg Lill, who miraculously found the funds to purchase two RS Quest Boats in order that its Year7/8 kids could take part in a weekly Learn to Sail program as part of Tuesday afternoon sport. Lill’s vision didn’t stop there and HHSC is now running a weekly ‘Resilience Program’ called “Ready, Set, Sail” for 11 kids who are faced with challenges such as behavioral problems, absenteeism and mental health issues. Learning to sail, for them, is going to be challenging, rewarding and hopefully transformational.

Chris smiles and says, “This program goes to the very core of being an engaged Community Club – and we are incredibly excited to be developing the model with the High School staff in coming months as we work our way into it. And in Principal Greg, I’ve found my doppelganger, in enthusiasm at least!”.

While swish Club houses aren’t on the agenda, the HHSC site needs a tidy. Its boundaries could benefit from clear demarcation, perhaps with the installation of sandstone boulders, while the ground to the front of the Club – worn by salty harbour water, water restrictions, then rain and movement of boats – requires a tougher wearing surface. They’re on the to-do list apparently, along with a refresh of the old downstairs tuck shop servers, courtesy of strong support from local Federal MP Trent Zimmerman and the appropriately named “Stronger Communities Program”. In the meantime, HHSC loves to welcome new members – its doors, down there on the foreshore, are open every weekend. Maybe pop in next time you’re passing?

Story credit and special thanks to: Nicola Riches, Editor of The Village Observer