Things have come far at Up River Yacht Club since the 1960’s when this picture was taken. The old clubhouse was positioned where the race box is today. Although our clubhouse remains shut due to Covid rules and restrictions, we have been pushing ahead with improvements.
New roof
The new profile steel roof was erected over the original roof. This offered the great advantage of not having to remove the old multiple layers of bitumen felt which would have created skips full of non-recyclable waste heading for landfill. Whilst structurally the old roof was failing due to its age, it still helps to retain heat within the building and, see the picture above, the new roof void is filled with insulation to increase the thermal efficiency of the building.
As well as giving the clubhouse a roof that will last 50 years or more, it is an efficient method to improve the green credentials of the building. We also had the work was completed by a local firm using coated/treated steel supplied from Scotland.
New doors
We have replaced the badly worn original UPVC external doors and the wooden internal doors to the club room with this matching set of aluminium fully glazed high performance double glazed doors. A new simplified locking mechanism has been installed with the intention of eliminating the potential for the door to be left accidentally unlocked.
There are also several safety features which include enclosed door jambs to save tiny fingers and visibility from the bar area to avoid a door being opened onto another member or especially a small child approaching the internal doors.
They look good too.
Riverside fence and gates
The revised position for the club entrance gates giving access to our slipway and the river has been an unqualified success.
The new fence offers more security for members and club trailers, as well as separation from the public footpath to the benefit of members and the safety of the public alike. During cruiser launching and recovery, all boat handling, particularly lifting boats on and off our cruiser trailer, is now undertaken in an area clearly delineated as club property. Our vessels only briefly block the public footpath when they are being moved from to/from our slipway.
Our thanks to Gerry for championing this project. It is a significant safety improvement and, you may say, an environmental improvement too as our dinghy sailors don’t tread in dog poop when getting their trailers!
Next, racebox fitting out
We are at last in a position to fit out the new racebox. Hopefully this will be completed soon, we just need some members good with woodwork to stop sailing for long enough to do it!