Cardiff Bay Yacht Club wins two prestigious national awards

by Jo Everson 13 Jan 17:19 GMT

In November 2025, Cardiff Bay Yacht Club, located in Cardiff Bay, South Wales, received two prestigious national awards.

The Club Awards, launched by Club Mirror in 1992, are the only awards dedicated to the club sector, celebrating everything that's great about clubs across the UK and beyond.

The Club Awards applaud UK clubs of all shapes and sizes—from Rugby Clubs and Cricket Clubs to Social Clubs, Community Clubs, and everything in between. Now in their 33rd year, all aspects of club life are recognised, with each award category judged by an independent panel of experts in their respective fields.

For the 2025 Club Awards, Cardiff Bay Yacht Club was named a finalist in three categories:

• Committee of the Year
• Club Refurbishment of the Year
• Marketing

The Annual Club Awards 2025 ceremony was held in November at The Athena, Leicester. Members of Cardiff Bay Yacht Club's Council of Management attended the event, where over 500 guests represented more than 200 clubs from across the UK.

We're thrilled to announce that CBYC won Club Refurbishment of the Year!

And that's not all—there was one final award recognising the overall winner of the Annual Club Awards, crowning just one club in the UK as 'King of Clubs'.

The winner for 2025? Cardiff Bay Yacht Club!

The club is beyond thrilled to receive such accolades and recognition for our achievements. A key factor to bear in mind is that the Club Awards are not competed for but awarded on merit. Like many clubs, CBYC has a rich history and has achieved so much, with the most recent milestone being the refurbishment of our Clubhouse, completed in April 2025.

Founded in 1932 as the Penarth Motor Boat and Sailing Club, we became Cardiff Bay Yacht Club in 1999. Our club has gone from strength to strength over the best part of a century. Thanks to those who came before us, we are fortunate to be located on the waterfront of Cardiff Bay, and today the Club is one of Wales's premier water sports clubs.

We offer an active dinghy section for youth and adults, competitive yachting and sports-boat racing, a thriving angling section, a large cruising cohort, and an ever-increasing social calendar.

The club was originally founded by a group of working-class boating enthusiasts living in and around Penarth, South Wales. Even during WWII, the club's association was not entirely broken. Several members continued to meet regularly at Penarth Social Club, entertaining fellow members on leave from the Forces.

For most of the war, recreational sailing was banned in coastal areas. After the Dunkirk evacuation, when the threat of invasion became very real, the Vessels Immobilisation Order came into effect to prevent hostile forces from using boats lying in tidal waters. During this time, Club member Reginald Goodman, with his cruiser Noluk, was instrumental in providing channel experience to young men of the local Sea Cadet Corps, who were receiving pre-training for entry into the Royal Navy. Several other Club craft obtained permission from the Severn Garrison Commander, along with a small petrol ration, to put to sea and catch fish for "the poor people of Cardiff." This privilege was intended to augment food rations, though their meagre catches made only a modest contribution. Other Club sailors were granted permission to transport supplies—such as goats and pigs—to a nearby island called Flat Holm.

In 1945, club activities resumed, and in 1947, the first clubhouse was established following the purchase of a small townhouse in Penarth for just £300.

This remained the club's home until 1958, when increased membership and growing interest led to the acquisition of a new lease for larger premises on Penarth Dock.

In the early 1970s, the Penarth Dock complex was purchased by a developer, which compelled the club to relocate. It was at this time that negotiations began with the British Transport Docks Board for the club's current location in Ely Harbour.

In 1973, with help from the National Sports Council, the club built a clubhouse, slipway, changing rooms, and showers.

The club is very proud of its history, and the move to new premises meant that, in addition to our own heritage, we inherited local history—such as the Ely Subway.

This feat of engineering was opened on 14 May 1900 to replace a chain ferry that had served dock workers and pedestrians crossing the River Ely between Penarth Dock and Grangetown.

The subway was decommissioned in 1936, and during the Second World War, it was repurposed as an air raid shelter, particularly when the docks were requisitioned by the U.S. Navy in preparation for D-Day. Eventually, the subway was closed and bricked up in 1963, and its entrances were sealed in 1965. The northern entrance is still visible today within the grounds of the club, where the entrance frame remains intact. To this day, members of the public visit the club to view the impressive remains.

Throughout the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, the club continued to grow—both physically, by acquiring additional land leases within Ely Harbour, and in membership numbers.

In 1985, to accommodate further growth, redevelopment of the existing clubhouse was proposed and plans were drawn up. However, issues with securing long-term tenure brought these plans to a halt. In 1992, planning permission was finalised—through the House of Lords and in conjunction with the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation—for the construction of a new clubhouse, car park, and boat storage yard facilities.

In 1998, upon completion of the new clubhouse, H.R.H. The Princess Royal officially opened the premises.

It was in the early 1990s that the first club training centre was established by members, specifically to enable the children of club members to learn to sail. Due to a lack of appropriate equipment and funding, the training school had a challenging start. However, this changed in the late 1990s following successful funding from the Welsh Government and the Cardiff Bay Development Corporation, gaining Royal Yachting Association (RYA) recognition in 2000.

Today, the training centre operates as a non-profit facility, funded entirely by the club. It offers a range of accredited courses and has developed an independent programme in partnership with local schools to deliver 'taster sessions' for children aged 8-12, which continues to grow year-on-year.

In 2001, the club purchased the land that is home to the club today. Then, in 2014, to support further expansion, a new development proposal was submitted. However, successive committees found themselves unable to progress the plan.

In 2023 a plan was agreed with a budget set at £850k but following three rounds of tender the overall project cost was estimated at £3.2million placing the much-needed development out of reach and setting the club back to square one.

Refusing to accept defeat the Club developed a new scheme to redesign and refurbish the existing layout. This scheme would meet the broad aims of the earlier proposal without the need for structural extension and therfore financially viable. The revised project was costed at £980k to be funded by the Club. This significant cost saving was only possible because the Committee made the brave decision to self-manage all aspects of the project including design layout, interior design, procurement, appointment of sub-contractors, and subsequent project management. The committee appealled to Club members for practical support in delivery of key milestones.

Work commenced in December 2024, and thanks to the countless hours committed by volunteers, the project was completely concluded in May 2025; on time, and importantly, on budget.

The results were outstanding — a direct result of the commitment, dedication & leadership of the Committee coupled with the rallying support of Club members.

Our clubhouse now boasts two bars with stunning bay views. The Clubhouse Bar & Restaurant, with its panoramic outlook, is open 5 days per week featuring a popular dining space & the venue hosts our wide ranging social events including everything from live music, afternoon tea, stand-up comedy and even a popular drag night. To compliment this, the 'Members' Lounge' offers a relaxed retreat away from the main venue.

The Changing Rooms and Toilets have been reconfigured and refitted throughout to a premium standard.

The Training Centre has also gained a dedicated, fully functioning Training Room within the Clubhouse, providing a spacious environment for pre-sailing briefings, onshore courses and theory workshop elements.

Since reopening the new facilities, clubhouse usage has increased beyond expectation — and we believe this is only the beginning. This outcome was made possible by the dedication, ingenuity, and resourcefulness of the Club.

The independent recognition of the club's achievements over the past year is a testament to all the hard work undertaken by so many members, both past and present.

An accolade such as 'Club of the Year' demonstrates what Cardiff Bay Yacht Club can achieve when we come together, and we can all be proud to be a part of it.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for this fantastic club and discovering just how far we can go.