Oxford & Cambridge Sailing Society

The Oxford & Cambridge Sailing Society is a group of Oxford and Cambridge sailing Blues and Half Blues whose influence on UK and international sailing, particularly team racing, has been quite disproportionate to its small size – currently around 300 members. Since its founding in 1934, members have competed in 13 Sailing Olympics and won 8 medals (3 gold, 3 silver, and 2 bronze).

The Society (O&CSS) was formed in 1934 by Cambridge Half Blue Stewart Morris, along with 3 of his contemporaries; Morris was later to win a gold medal at the 1948 Olympics. The aim of the Society was "to keep members of the two Clubs together after coming down from the University, and encourage team racing throughout the country, at the same time maintaining a high standard of helmsmanship". The two Clubs referred to are the Oxford University Yacht Club (founded in 1884) and the Cambridge University Cruising Club (founded in 1893).

The Society has always had a limited membership; 24 sailors were elected in the first year and since then 4 to 10 of the best sailors from Oxford and Cambridge have been elected each year as they graduate. Occasionally non-blues are elected because of their later achievements in either competitive sailing or sailing administration. Good histories exist of the Society and of the Oxford University Yacht Club (1884–1994 and 1994–2009) – available in some libraries and from their author. A brief history of the Cambridge University Cruising Club is posted on that club's main website.

Like many sports in the 1930s, Oxford and Cambridge sportsmen competed at the highest levels. In the 1936 Olympic yachting trials, half of the recently formed Society’s membership took part. Since then, Society members, usually after their student days, have continued to compete with success at the highest levels in sailing. In 2011 the top three sailors in the International 14 Dinghy World Championships were all members of the Society, as was the OK dinghy World Champion and Yachtsman of the Year, Nick Craig. The skipper of the winning Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing entry in the 2014/15 Volvo (round-the-world) Ocean Race and two-times Olympic Silver Medallist, Ian Walker, is a member. Four-times winner of the International 14 World Championships, Archie Massey, is a member.

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