Oak Flats Sailing Club in 1988. Photo: Shellharbour City Council.
On the southern shores of Lake Illawarra, a small but enduring sailing club is keeping a 75-year tradition afloat.
Oak Flats Sailing Club, which first set sail in 1949, is preparing to launch its new season in September — proving that community spirit, once built brick by brick along the lakeside, can weather any storm.
After celebrating its 75th anniversary in February this year, its focus for its 76th season is to continue growing its member base.
Shellharbour historian, 94-year-old Kevin Gillis, who wrote the book Oak Flats Sailing Club: 75 Years Of Sailing History and Community Involvement for the anniversary, only joined the club four years ago.
The Order of Australia recipient, along with his late wife, have dedicated decades to preserving Shellharbour and Wollongong history.
Kevin said the club’s origins traced back to the Great Depression, with the Oak Flats area first developed in 1925 as an estate attracting holiday makers drawn by water sports, fishing and prawning.
He said as the area grew, many bought cheap blocks and built houses brick by brick, with neighbours helping each other – “forming a community spirit which became the foundation for the sailing club”.
“People got together and decided they wanted to sail,” Kevin said.
“One of those was Ken Christopher, who is a life member of the club.
“He started sailing a little dinghy and he, his father and others started up the Oak Flats Sailing Club.”
Annual membership was 21 shillings.
Kevin said the club began as the Illawarra South Yacht Club in 1949, with the first clubhouse constructed in 1950 at its current home at Deakin Reserve and renamed Oak Flats Sailing Club during the 1954-55 season.
According to his book, its first official sail boat race was at the Illawarra Yacht Club at Warrawong, the only club older than Oak Flats in the Illawarra – starting four years earlier.
“It’s definitely had its ups and downs over the years. At its peak, it had about 100 boats out,” he said.
“A lot of sailors who had been trained at Oak Flats ended up being professional sailors.”
He said one past member, Wulf Wilkens, was even aboard the Celestial, which won the Sydney to Hobart Yacht Race in 2022 and was the provisional overall winner in 2024.
As the community continues to evolve, the club faces the challenge of maintaining its member base, with COVID-19 among the biggest challenges it’s navigated during its maritime history.
“We’re still trying to build our way up from that at the moment,” he said.
“It’s been a great community club. It was a real get-together place for people and we’re trying to bring that back again and get it back into this community.
“We want to make sure it’s here for the next 25 years.”
He said it had many junior members, with older members able to pass on their sailing knowledge and expertise.
Club Commodore Brett Overton said it was still a relatively small club, with about half a dozen vessels on the water every weekend.
Brett said members sailed Spirals, a 3.8-metre sailing dinghy, which required minimal rigging, making it easy to set up.
“We’re affiliated with the Spiral Association [of Australia] and we host their national titles and state titles from time to time and some of our members have competed,” he said.
“We’re different from most clubs. Most clubs you need to buy your own boat to be a member and sail, whereas we’re got 15 Spirals available for members to use.”
For just $100 annually for children and $150 for adults, members gain access to 15 Spiral-class dinghies and three motor boats.
He said most Sundays a route was created from the clubhouse at Deakin Reserve, with buoys set up to establish a course for either racing or training.
“It’s definitely a hidden gem – not many people even know it exists, because we’re tucked away there,” he said.
“We’re the only ones on the water every week – no-one uses that part of the lake.”
Brett said the shallow, protected waters in the bay made it ideal for beginners and juniors, many of whom have progressed to advanced sailing courses in Sydney.
He said the love for the club was evident at the 75th anniversary celebration in February, which drew 60-70 attendees, including founding members who watched a slideshow presentation of old photos by Kevin.
“There were blokes in their 80s who sailed when they were 10, so close to when it started,” he said.
“Kevin put a black and white photo up on the wall with an old sailing boat and someone in the crowd yelled out, ‘that’s my dog in that photo’. He wandered up to the screen and named all the people in the photo – and some of them were there at the event.”
While Oak Flats Sailing Club: 75 Years of Sailing History and Community Involvement is out of print, copies are available at Wollongong, Shellharbour and Kiama libraries.
Oak Flats Sailing Club’s first sailing of the season will be Sunday, 14 September from 9am.
