Western Carolina Sailing Club was formed in 1963 by seventeen charter members who sailed from Portman Shoals Marina on Hartwell Lake. After two years of holding club races and events at various launching points around the lake, seventeen acres, including a ten acre island, were leased from the Corps of Engineers for a home for the club. In 1966, a causeway was constructed to the island which created a protected harbor for boat anchorage.
A clubhouse was constructed on the island in 1967 and enlarged in 1973 to accommodate a growing membership. In 1972 the first of four slip docks was constructed by members. In the following year a fleet of 420's was purchased to support a junior sailing program initiated the prior year. Further expansion was completed in 1978 with the addition of a storage building and a restroom on the mainland.
By 1980 membership had grown to 216, and in 1984 two of the slip docks were replaced and enlarged to twenty-six slips each. In 1987 an additional seventeen acres were leased for added storage and provided the club with thirty-five acres for its growing membership, now at 250. In 1990 the fourth slip dock was replaced and expanded to eighteen slips which provided a total of eighty-four. In addition, thirty four anchorages and 140 spaces for boats on trailers are now available for members.
Click below for an in-depth look at the first ten years of WCSC, including pictures, researched and written by Jim Hudson.