History of the Rona Sailing Project
This is a short history of the Rona Sailing Project, from its origin in 1960 to the present day. There have been so many events and people involved in our project over the last 50 years, that it cannot all be captured here. However, there is a detailed history of the Rona Sailing Project (previously the London Sailing Project), created by John Hamilton ( a former Trustee, Fleet Officer and Skipper) who compiled his history of the Project from 1958 – 2002 - see below for more details
In 1954 The Right Honorable Derek Heathcoat Amory MP for Tiverton in Devon, later to become Lord Amory, bought a yacht ‘Ailanthus’. Ministerial duties meant that Lord Amory was not able to sail his yacht as much as he would have liked and he often had trouble organising a crew at short notice. Lord Amory was also a Chief Scouts Commissioner and on one occasion visiting the Stepney Sea Scouts he met the Senior Scout Leader Commander Walter Scott who suggested that Lord Amory should raise a crew from the Sea Scouts and Sea Cadets and be ready to take Lord Amory sailing whenever he was able. This arrangement worked extremely well and both men saw the huge impression and the benefits Sail Training was having on the young crews. In November 1959 Lord Amory established the London Sailing Project with the aim of providing opportunities for young men to develop a range of interpersonal & leadership skills.
Commander Scott continued to sail Ailanthus from the river Medway with Sea Cadets and Sea Scouts and, seeing the very positive impact the London Sailing Project was having, Lord Amory bought another large yacht Rona in early 1961. In the spring of 1961 the Project moved both yachts to Gosport in Portsmouth harbour. In 1963 Commander Scott ‘invented’ the Watch Leader grade as he saw the benefit of communication between the young crew and a young leader. This also gave the Project one part of its very important ethos, that young people who sailed with the Project should have the opportunity of progression through the ranks to eventually become Skipper. The Amory award was also introduced that year for someone who “had given of their best” and another large yacht was acquired Lily Maid. The arrangement of three large yachts and a small training yacht, at that time Moyra, continues to this day.
In the early days of the Project the crews consisted of 4 Sea Cadets, 4 Sea Scouts and 4 from the London Federation of Boy’s Clubs. This arrangement encouraged a mix of skills and everyone learnt from the experience and benefits of teamwork. The Afterguard was mainly formed with sailors from the armed services and other organisations who were known to Commander Scott, and Watch Leaders who had been promoted from the crews. Today there is no direct entry as Skipper; all have either joined as a Watch Officer or progressed through the ranks and sixty percent of our current Skippers have been promoted through the ranks of the Project. In addition to the Skipper the Afterguard is made up of a Mate, two Watch Officers and two Watch Leaders.
In more recent decades the Project changed its name to the Rona Sailing Project to reflect that crews come from all over the country. Girls are now well represented in both crews and Afterguard and we ensure that we have a mix of social backgrounds from across the country including those in the care of Social or Probation Services. We also run therapeutic voyages for groups of vulnerable adults and young people, including those with learning disabilities, mental health issues, in treatment or recovery from substance misuse, and those who are living with chronic conditions. We celebrate more than sixty years of Sail Training and our crews regularly participate in Sail Training International Tall Ships Races.
The Hamilton History
John Hamilton is a former Trustee, Fleet Officer and Skipper with the Rona Sailing Project (previously the London Sailing Project) who compiled his history of the Project from 1958 – 2002. It is known within the Project as ‘The Hamilton History’. This details historical information about Project boats, events and significant people.
The full document will be available to view in the Project Archive
Why Universal?
Have you ever wondered why the Project is based at Universal Marina?
As you well know, our yachts are berthed a fair way up a relatively long, crowded, narrow and tidal River Hamble, quite a challenge to negotiate at times. Arrival by land can be just as challenging. Trundle down the narrow, twisty lane hoping that there is nothing coming the other way. Surely there are more convenient places to be found in the Solent area.
In 1961, when Lord Amory bought RONA and the London Sailing Project was to be established, he and Walter Scott had to decide the best place from which to operate.
They decided on Portsmouth Harbour. It had a good rail connection which meant that the young crews, four from the London Federation of Boys’ Clubs, four from the Sea Scouts and four from various other sources, had an easy journey from London. Camper & Nicholson in Gosport would be an excellent Yard for RONA’s maintenance and a safe mooring was made available a few cables from the Gosport Ferry pontoon. Also there were many places to visit and things to do in the Portsmouth area if heavy weather meant that they could not go to sea. So until 1972 the Project was based at Gosport in Portsmouth Harbour.
At the start, virtually all the maintenance on RONA and subsequently on LILY MAID and AILANTHUS and then later yachts was carried out by Camper & Nicholson; they did not allow much work to be done by the Project themselves and, over the years, the yard’s expenses became prohibitive.
In 1968 Lord Amory bought DODO IV. At that time the yacht had a very ancient and temperamental 3-cylinder Kelvin engine rated 33 horsepower (a yacht like DODO needed an engine of about 80 hp). It could manage pottering about in the Mediterranean but failed to survive the yacht’s new role in sail training in the English Channel. DODO had to be re-engined. A number of yards were considered and Universal Shipyard was selected because their quote was reasonable and they had a slipway which could handle the large, heavy yacht. This was before the availability of boat launchers. A shiny new Perkins was installed.
By 1972, Campers costs had become too expensive for the Project. Refits had to be done elsewhere and as much as possible by the Project’s small staff augmented by its members. Where to go?
The Trustees remembered how successful Universal had been in 1968. Their management said that they would be happy to have the RSP fleet and, in addition to berths in the river would let us have use of space in a large covered shed. However Portsmouth Harbour was still ideal as a base from which to base the fleet during the sailing season. So a compromise was reached, moor the yachts in Portsmouth Harbour during the sailing season and then, like Snow Geese, migrate round the corner to Universal Shipyard for the winter.
This duality continued until 1987 when C & N was abandoned and the Project became solely based on the Hamble.