SYC  NEWSLETTER  May 2026   

 

 

Message from the Secretary    Graham Gillies

 

 

Our 50^th Anniversary Dinner was held last night in the Corinthian Club in Ingram St.

It was well attended by 35 members and friends of the club with no less than 10 past Commodores in attendance including our current Commodore Catherine Toy who is also a past Commodore -the club is taking recycling to heart. It was an excellent evening with a slide loop of past photos from club events, and several speakers. Thanks to the organisers, speakers, attendees, staff and to those that supplied photos.

 

 

Our Spring Muster is only 2 weeks away now -on Saturday 16^th May at Tarbert Loch Fyne. As most of the racing yachts will be on the west coast already, we will forego the usual Tarbert Race and members can either cruise or drive there. In addition to the customary convivialities on board, there will be a Commodore’s reception with Prosecco and nibbles at 6.30pm at the Marquee by the Marina. This will be followed by a meal at the excellent Red Herring Restaurant in Tarbert at 7.30. If you wish to participate, please complete the form attached to the email and send it to me by next Sunday 10^th May. I look forward to seeing many of you there.

 

 

You will see from the diary of events below, that our Craobh Muster will be on Saturday 13^th June. This will take the form of a race round Shuna in the morning followed by dinner at the Lord of the Isles pub/restaurant now apparently, to be simply dubbed ‘The Isles’. As you may be aware, Craobh marina is now under new management and our usual use of the boatshed for a barbecue is not available hence dinner at the ‘Isles’. Weather permitting, as part of a cruise in company the muster will be followed by a Mussel fest at Loch Spelve on Sunday 14^th and a barbecue at the Marina at Lochaline on the Monday 15^th.

 

 

50^th Anniversary Dinner          GG

 

 

 

Serpent Past Commodores     M Gillies

Left to right Alan Faichney, Iain Morton, George Gray, Graham Gillies, Séamus Lalor,

                                   Stewart Toy, Catherine Toy, Bobby Corbett, Don Gillies & Tom Hutchinson

 

 

Founding Commodore Bobby Corbett with Catherine Toy      N McAdam

 

   

Diary of Events for 2026

 

Craobh Muster    Saturday 13^th June

                              

                             Mussel Fest Loch Spelve Sunday 14^th June

                             

                             Barbecue at Lochaline Monday 15^th June

 

Ormidale BBQ     8th August Loch Riddon

 

Autumn Muster   12/13 September – Rothesay dining at the Glenburn Hotel

 

Serpent Dinner   Date & venue to be decided

 

  

SYC  NEWSLETTER  April 2026   

 

 

Message from the Commodore    Catherine Toy

 

2026 is the Serpent Yacht Club’s 50^th Anniversary. 

 

Back on the 1^st May 1976 when 21 yachts crossed the start line at Rhu for a race to Colintraive, who would have thought that it would lead to the formation of the Serpent Yacht Club and that the Club would be still be going strong 50 years on.

 

Over the years many things have changed - boats sizes have increased, navigational equipment has become more sophisticated, paper charts have given way to plotters, but the camaraderie and enthusiasm for sailing together has not changed.

 

Ambitions have expanded from sailing on the Clyde to sailing on the West coast and more recently we have a number of members who have sailed to Scandinavia and the Baltic and others who have completed Trans-Atlantic and Round the World Cruises - a huge achievement for a small club.

 

We invite you to celebrate the 50^th Anniversary with us at the 1^st May Dinner at the Corinthian Club in Ingram Street, Glasgow. We chose this venue to be accessible to all and to allow both boat owners and non-boat owners to catch up to share memories and reflect on the fun we have had over the years. If you know of any previous members who would be interested in attending can you please reach out to them.

 

We are currently in the process of finalising our programme of activities for this year -see dates listed below.

 

I would encourage you all to book your tickets for the 1^st May Dinner as soon as possible as we are expecting a good turn out.  

 

I, for one, look forward to catching up with you all.

 

Kind regards, 

Catherine

Commodore

 

Message from the Secretary    Graham Gillies

As Catherine mentioned above, our Serpent 50^th Anniversary Dinner will be held on 1^st May, exactly 50 years after the inaugural Race on the Clyde. The dinner will be in the Langley Room of the Corinthian Club on 119 Ingram St at 6.30pm for reception drinks followed by dinner at 7pm. The Langley Room is on the 2^nd floor, accessible by lift or stairs.

The dinner is open to all past and present Serpent members and friends of the club. 

 

The cost will be £60 to include a reception drink and three course meal and tea or coffee. They require firm numbers with menu selections 2 weeks in advance so if you are interested in attending please apply soon. See details on the Dinner application attached to the email.

 

Slide show loop. At the dinner we plan to have a continuous slide show of photographs from past Serpent events of members, groups and boats. If you have any photos that you would like to include in the slide show please email them to Charles Sutherland at cgxsutherland@gmail.com or if you have printed photos you would like us to include, please post them to Charles Sutherland at 15, Stanley Dr, Brookfield PA5 8UF. Remember to include your home address so he can return them. If you are in touch with anyone who is no longer a Serpent member but you think may wish to come, please let them know, they would be very welcome.

Report on Recent Events

Our Winter meeting in Dundee in January was most enjoyable and attended by 20 members. We had a guided tour of HMS Unicorn on the Wednesday followed by a communal dinner at the Jute Café Bar. On the Thursday, we were guided round the Discovery Point Centre and Captain Scott’s ship RRS Discovery. It proved to be a fun, sociable and educational meeting. 

 

 

RRS Discovery

 

AGM Presentation At our AGM at RGYC in February, we enjoyed a lively and beautifully illustrated talk by Past Commodore Séamus Lalor on his recent Atlantic crossing crewing on an Amel 54 yacht.

 

Membership Fee Increase Due to rising club costs (mainly insurance) and our reducing club funds, it was proposed and agreed at our AGM that we would increase the Serpent membership fees possibly for the first time in it’s 50 year history. The fees for 2027 will be doubled so the individual membership fee will be £20 and family membership would increase to £30. Although this rise is regrettable, we do hope to avoid such drastic measures for at least another half century.

 

Diary of Events for 2026

 

Serpent 50th Anniversary Dinner   1 May – Corinthian Club Glasgow

 

Anniversary Muster  16/17 May – Tarbert with dinner at the Red Herring Restaurant 

 

Craobh Muster   Sat 13 June Round Shuna Race in the morning, dinner at the Lord of the Isles in the evening.

 

Cruise in Company  Sun 14^th June Mussel Fest at Inverlussa, Loch Spelve 

                                   Mon 15^th June Barbecue at Lochaline. Further West coast cruising in company on subsequent days.

 

Ormidale BBQ      8 August Loch Riddon

 

Autumn Muster – 12/13 September – Rothesay dining at the Glenburn Hotel

 

Serpent Dinner   Date & venue to be decided

 

                            ---------------------------------------------------

 

 

The Clyde Corinthian Yacht Club 150^th Anniversary

 

Please note that by coincidence this year is the 150^th Anniversary of our Sister Yacht Club, The Clyde Corinthian YC. They are hosting a white sail pursuit race in the Clyde  on the 20^th June with a prize money of 1000 Guineas to which all Serpent members are invited to enter.  See here for details

 

Note for the avoidance of confusion, the Corinthian Club venue in Glasgow where we are holding our Serpent Dinner is unrelated to the Clyde Corinthian Yacht Club. 

  

 

         

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