MEMORIES: Yacht youth puts the wind up rivals

Monday 5 December 2011

MEMORIES: Yacht youth puts the wind up rivals

THESE pint-sized sailors couldn't wait to launch their yachts when they visited Paisley's Barshaw Park in 1954.

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Back then, the nearby River Clyde was as famous for its racing yachts as it was for ocean liners and freighters.

The first Clyde racing yacht, a 46-ton cutter, was built by Scotts of Greenock in 1803. After that, Glasgow industrialists almost fell over each other in their rush to build sleeker, faster yachts to race on the Clyde.

Alexander Robertson's yard at Sandbank, by Dunoon, was famous for world-class yachts.

With so-much sea-bourne action on their doorsteps, it's little wonder a generation of west coast boys turned to making and racing model boats. And it wasn't just boys - many dads made and raced huge replica yachts on the ponds of parks in and around Glasgow.

Do these pictures bring back any memories, or have you any old photos you'd like to share with our readers? Write to Evening Times, 200 Renfield St, Glasgow G2 3QB or e-mail

letters@eveningtimes.co.uk, marking your subject field 'Memories'.

Send your photos to Your Pics, Evening Times, 200 Renfield Street, Glasgow G2 3QB, or email them to yourpics@eveningtimes.co.uk

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