Marine services in Birchgrove

Sailing club

"Balmain is the birthplace of sailing for fun in Australia" — the claim comes from the club itself, but the history behind it is solid. The original club formed in 1885 among the shipwrights, sailmakers and watermen of the working harbour, men who cast aside snobbery and elitism and invented an egalitarian, grass-roots style of sailing. Balmain fleets pioneered the over-canvassed open skiffs built to a single length rule — the forerunners of today's 18, 16, 14 and 12-foot classes and, through them, of the Olympic 49er. They were also the first to admit women as skippers and crews, and to embrace sponsorship, betting and prize-money racing. The modern club, re-established in 1995 down at the foot of Water Street in Birchgrove, keeps that spirit deliberately. It calls itself Sydney's friendliest sailing club, and the numbers suggest a healthy appetite: more than seventy boats in the Friday twilight races, around thirty on summer Sundays, and sixty or more in the West Harbour Winter Series. Membership sat around 500 as of 2009, and the club remains open to new members — active sailors plus community members who simply enjoy drinks or a meal at the waterfront. The club's marquee even