Sandbox
WHO WE ARE
The club is run by volunteers ranging from the Flag Officers, who are elected to their posts each year, to other committee members, to the wider membership. There are no paid positions but opportunities for all members to get involved through offering their time, expertise and enthusiasm.
Flag officers
Ollie Boyes
President
The President’s primary role is to support the current Commodore and the committee.
I have been able to draw from my experience as the former Commodore to ensure maximum continuity. I also assist the Bosun in ensuring the safety boats are maintained and functional, and hold an RYA dinghy instructor qualification which has been put to good use in helping members learn to sail.
My roots within the club go back 3 generations and since I was a small child, I’ve been playing in the muddy banks of the river Blyth. I spent many years in the front of a 505 and a Javelin racing competitively with my dad. These days I still sail a Javelin, laser and a 20 foot trailer sailer and can often be found messing about with my daughters in their Optimists.
With an ever growing passion for sailing and adventure I find immense joy in being part of this close-knit community. My family’s deep involvement in the club, from its early days, inspires my passion for both sailing and helping others to enjoy being out on the water.
Henry Walker
Commodore
The Commodore is the principal representative and head of Southwold Sailing Club. The role involves working with the rest of the Committee to achieve the aims and objectives of the Club. They represent the club at official functions and provides and encourages leadership at all club activities.
My sailing career started from an early age messing about in boats in Cornwall and progressed to offshore yacht racing and world wide deliveries. Now I can be found messing about on our boat in the River Blyth or at sailing events with the next generation of sailors!
Jeremy Taylor
Vice Commodore
The Vice Commodore’s responsibilities include chairing the sailing sub-committee and being responsible for the organisation of the sailing programme.
I have been sailing at Southwold for more than 40 years, first learning to sail in a Mirror 11 on the river in the 1980s.
After a few years away from Suffolk, which included plenty of sailing on the South Coast, I returned to Southwold in 2000 where for all but 2 years I have been a constant member of the committee.
These days you’ll find me in my laser, Friday evening racing on Antares or upriver in “Frog” teaching the next generation of Taylors the joy of sailing at Southwold.
Toby Morton
Rear Commodore
The Rear Commodore’s role is to take care of anything to do with the clubhouse and club property. The house committee organises social events and work parties, runs the bar and arranges the hiring out of the club as a venue.
I joined the club as a child and spent most weekends during the season at the club. There were sailing and camping trips, beach barbecues, trips to Holland, races to the White Hart in Blythburgh, and much more. I starting sailing in a Mirror and in my teens moved onto Laser sailing which is still my first love. At 18 I went off to university and I somehow drifted away from sailing, only returning for a try-out session nearly 30 years later and immediately fell back into the joy of sailing. 2 years on a £300 laser was bought (still the best money I’ve spent!), whilst I rarely win a race the love of being on and in the water keeps me coming back for more, of course along with the “briefing” in the bar afterwards.
Josh Jones
Treasurer
I have been sailing since the age of 7 and a member of SSC for almost 10 years. I’m currently sailing my Laser and crewing on cruisers. I have spent time on TS Leila and am currently studying to become a Merchant Navy Officer at the world famous Warsash Maritime School. I am also a member of the Nautical Institute and an apprentice of the Honourable Company of Master Mariners. In my role as treasurer, I am in charge of the clubs everyday finances and keeping the committee updated about the club finances.
Karen Hubbard
Secretary
The secretary helps with club admin and website maintenance.
I lived on narrowboats for many years and was the treasurer for our residential moorings association, but I didn’t learn to crew a sailing boat until I was in my thirties, and can now skipper (but mostly first-mate) our 32’ Westerley Fulmar. Having joined Southwold Sailing Club just before Covid struck, I was delighted to part of the first post-pandemic North Sea flotilla crossing to Ostende in 2022 and a part of the wider, super-friendly, cohesive community that is SSC.
Steve Payne
Membership
The membership officer keeps tabs on new joiners and those whose membership is up for renewal.
I learnt to sail on Oulton Broad with my first boat being an ex school Mirror dinghy (great fun), progressing to a Fireball (very wet, very fast) and am now the owner of a Skipper 14 (very dry and slow) but can eat snacks as you sail, possibly why other members call her “cushions”?
2024 will see me in a new role as Membership secretary so I hope to meet as many of you as possible and please remember, don’t put off joining – just do it, and have a great time on the water and at our events.
Committee Members
Malcolm Taylor
I sailed keelboats and dinghys from the age of around 10 years old, and became a Merchant Navy Officer in my twenties. I joined Southwold Sailing Club in the mid 1970s and have been committee member or Flag Officer for the majority of that time. I have been a cruiser sailor from mid 1980s, cruising extensively with the family from the Baltic to Britanny. I am a qualified Yacht Master Offshore.
Paul Conroy
I am enthusiastic sailor and spent my teenage years at Southwold Sailing Club. Work took me away from the area; however I rejoined the club three years ago. I work as professional pilot and also run a small property development company in my spare time.
Mike Smith
A Yorkshireman by birth, after 30 years working in London, I moved to Suffolk in 2021. A Laser sailor, whose speciality is T-boning traditional East Anglian wooden sailing craft and Southwold’s harbour pontoons. When not sailing, in search for Suffolk’s best fish & chips and locally brewed ales keep me busy.
Johan Ribenfors
Born in Sweden to parents who met having separately sailed to the Caribbean, I should have been sailing from an early age. However, I only started sailing at Southwold when I was fourteen or fifteen, working through a fairly standard progression of mirrors, toppers, enterprises and lasers. I’ve been sailing at Southwold ever since, and on the committee in a minor role for much of that time.
Matt Sheppard
I am the Safety Boat Bosun, responsible for the safety boats.
I have been boating since I was 12 years old from small 4 metre to 30 metres vessels all around the South Coast to the East.
My job means that I work full time at sea. I have a full range of qualifications that I need for my work and that enable me to support the Sailing Club in my role as Bosun.
Since I was 18 I have been involved in lots of safety boating for Rowing clubs, Sailing clubs, filming for tv series from ‘The Hunted’ & ‘Susan Calman & much more.
Being able to help others to enjoy sailing in a safe environment is something i’m incredibly passionate about and it’s so rewarding seeing people enjoy themselves. I’m proud to be a part of a brilliant club.