Overlord - the Offshore Cruising Club
RYA Affilliated Club
About us
Our members range from very experienced sailors to those who had never set foot on a boat before sailing on Overlord. We are well aware that a crew has to be made up, not only of good sailors but also people who can cook, wash up, lift the spirits of the crew when they are feeling down, have a sense of humour and loads of enthusiasm.
The cruising programme varies each year, depending on where the members wish to sail. Overlord is usually berthed at Gosport. In recent years members have enjoyed varied sailing in the West coast of Scotland to the north, South-West Ireland to the west, the Azores and Canaries to the south and the Balearics, France’s Cote d’Azur and Corsica, Greece, Turkey, Croatia and The Baltic coast to the east. See the cruising programme for details.
In addition to our sailing activities, we hold several social functions throughout the year, such as an annual Barbeque, Commissioning Party, Regatta – and a lively AGM. The club also circulates a regular newsletter and publishes an excellent yearbook containing club information and journal accounts by club members detailing their experiences on the various cruises.
Full Membership currently costs £100 per year, with a daily sailing fee of £55 per day for a berth. We share expenses to cover living costs onboard, and this normally works out at about a further £30 per day depending on where we are cruising.
If you would like to receive our cruising programme and newsletter or attend an Open Day please use the "Contact Us" page.
About Overlord
Overlord is a 58 foot Bermudan sloop built in 1936 by Abeking & Rasmussen of Lemverder for the Luftwaffe.
She was part of a fleet of 100 sq.metre, 50 sq.metre and 30 sq.metre yachts used at Lemverder for Officer training and in particular, for training Luftwaffe navigators.
In 1945, Pelikan, as Overlord was then named, plus many more yachts in the fleet were taken as prizes of war at Kiel and later included in the reparations agreement. Many of the yachts were distributed amongst the British Services and Pelikan, was used by The Sappers at Chatham who re-named her Overlord.
Between 1946 and 1955 she had a distinguished RORC record with the Sapper Yacht Club.
In 1961 she was bought by Tony Venables, a 33 year old retired Army Officer who had been her skipper whilst serving in the Royal Army Service Corps. Tony, who was planning to sell her after two years, to recoup his capital and the running costs, was persuaded to retain her and formed the Overlord Sailing Club, now the Offshore Cruising Club.
Even though we now have over 200 members we still consider ourselves a group of friends.
A sister yacht, Sea Scamp, is a three quarter-rigged Bermudan sloop, built to the 50 square metre class rules. Details of Sea Scamp can be found here.