NSC’s story begins in December of 1978. At that time the Nepean City Council had just rejected a proposal to establish a “marina” on Graham Bay. Proponents of the project, including Brian Conway, did not give up. With the support of Andy Haydon, they managed to obtain the concession that the matter would be taken up by the newly elected council early the following year. But this new council was voted in to cut taxes, so no one was holding their breath.
The situation didn’t look too promising, and if things hadn’t changed, chances are that some of us would now be sailing out of Britannia or Dunrobin. Fortunately, things did change when “three guys from Harlowe Avenue” entered the picture. Bill Mantle and Jim Leeson knew of their mutual interest in sailing because they both had dinghies parked in their driveways atvarious times. Rounding out this trio from Harlowe Avenue was Keith Cattell. They had heard about the Council’s decision, and figured it was time to promote the idea of establishing a sailing facility in Nepean.
The first thing they found out, according to Bill Mantle, was that the Nepean Council did not want anything to do with building facilities “so that rich guys could sit on their 30 footersdrinking cocktails”. The second thing they found out was that if they were to have any chance of selling the project to the Council, they had to demonstrate that there was widespreadcommunity interest in sailing and that it was not an elitist sport. “Basically, we were pushing the line that sailing was a grass roots activity, and that it would attract the interestand participation of young people”, said Mantle.
With this strategy in mind, the group went about organizing a “Community Sailing Meeting” on December 18, 1978. The main subject of discussion was what to do next. It was soon decidedthat the best way of demonstrating community interest in sailing was not to wait for the decision of the Nepean Council, but to immediately establish a sailing club.
More than anything else, this decision represents the spiritual birth of NSC. Records indicate that three days later a document was drawn up listing the founding executive (steering committee) of the “Nepean Sailing Club”, and identifying Bill Mantle as the Interim President. From this point onwards, the club became the focal point for efforts to lobby city councilon the development of a sailing facility for Nepean.
These efforts soon paid off. Less than a month later, on January 9, 1979, the Nepean Council voted 7-0 to commit $90,000 toward the construction of a “sailing marina” on the Ottawa River.Mayor Ben Franklin told the press that the site would be in use by summer, but that the first phase of construction would not be completed before 1982. He also added that the facility would be run by the recently-formed Nepean Sailing Club.
This is an excerpt from an article which was written by Michael McGoldrick in 1994 and first appeared in a special edition of the Telltale for the club’s 15th anniversary, and has been posted on the nsc.ca website.
