Marine services in Clareville

Sailing club

Jimmy Spithill won the first race he ever sailed, and he won it here — a Manly Junior event at Avalon Sailing Club on Pittwater. The club tells that story with justifiable satisfaction, and by its own account its graduates have represented Australia at the Olympics, the America's Cup, the Admiral's Cup, SailGP, the Sydney Hobart and the Fastnet. Gordon Ingate, Bill Northam, David Forbes and Ken Hudson all passed through the club in its early decades. Yet the place wears its pedigree lightly: the stated purpose is simply "to foster the love of sailing on the waters of Pittwater", with an ethos that puts encouragement, teaching and enjoyment first. Avalon is a family club in the truest sense. Children from around six sail on Sunday mornings while adults take over the water in the afternoons in centreboards and yachts, and everyone is rostered for volunteer duties at least twice a season — canteen, deck or on-water support. The social calendar runs to monthly barbecues on the deck, cruises, picnics and dinners, and there's even a club library of sailing books run on the honour system. The fleet spans an unusual breadth. Centreboard sailors race Manly Juniors, Flying 11s, Spirals, La