Clive Connor
Saturday 12th September saw the official naming of "Chicane" the YOBs Wayfarer. Jean Connor doused the boat with the traditional bubbly before the YOBs had their last sailing get together of the season.
Clive Connor
The YOBs wayfarer “Chicane” was purchased with funds donated by Clive Connors family and aptly named after Clive’s first boat. Unfortunately Clive died in October 2004 aged 52 of renal cancer therefore not many of the younger sailors will know who he was, so courtesy of his family here is a short history of his time in the Club.
Clive was an original Weymouth Sailing Club Cadet joining in 1969 along with his family who at the time owned a Mirror dinghy. After returning from college he purchased his first boat, a National 12 called “Chicane” which was well used for Club Racing as well as taking part in a couple of National Championships. After “Chicane”, he had several dinghies including a home built bright yellow Phantom called “Rubber Ducky”, and an International 14 “Magrathea”. He also had another Phantom called “SNAFU” which he built down to minimum weight, but ended up splitting the seams of the buoyancy tanks resulting in the boat sinking until the deck was at water level, so when being towed up the harbour all you could see was Clive and a mast!
His mother, Jean Connor has kept his cups and trophies safe, and during his time as a Phantom sailor he came 2nd in the 1978 Nationals at Great Yarmouth and Gorleston Sailing Club, and won various club series in 1978 and 1979. It is also remembered that in 1979 Nationals at Axe he broke his mast by capsizing in a heavy sea and the mast ended up stuck in the seabed before snapping. The Nationals were held several times in Weymouth and in 1982 Clive came 4th, and it is also believed he may have actually won one of these events, but the details have been lost in the mists of time.
After taking a small break from sailing he got back into the swing of things again sailing with his father in the Squib “Blue Vinney”, and with his brother Kevin crewing in the 1990’s.
In 1995 Clive got his Bull 9000 which had its first outing on Christmas Day with his father and brother when they rigged the asymmetric kite upside down but fortunately, being Christmas Day there were no spectators to laugh! Its debut into club racing was on Boxing Day, with the kite rigged correctly.
Following a visit to the 2002 Southampton Boat Show and a test sail at Weymouth, Clive and Kevin decided to buy the JS9000 currently in the club, which is named “RWH” (after their father Robert William Hamilton). Unfortunately delivery of this boat was delayed until October 2003. During the Regatta that year sailing in the demo JS9000 Clive's illness became apparent so he sadly never got the chance to sail “RWH” itself.
