Bob and Carol Lewis

Bob and Carol Lewis helped form Carcoar Dam Sailing Club in the 1970s. They lived and breathed sailing for a number of years, enjoying the camaraderie and competing in local, state and national titles.

Bob: "Sailing is the most competitive sport I've ever known."

Carol: "It's like a game of chess on water. As well as being a physical sport it's a thinking sport."

Bob: We were in the original group that started Carcoar Dam Sailing Club. Sailing started to boom in the mid-1970s because of the catamaran surge. Catamarans had a lot more 'get-up-and-go' and the young people took to them. Once we learnt to sail, we started going to regattas in eastern Australia and we started to win NSW and Australian titles.

Sailing is the most competitive sport I've ever known.

Carol: It's like a game of chess on water. As well as being a physical sport it's a thinking sport.

Bob: Whenever we were off the water we were great mates but on the water we were enemies.

Carcoar Dam has been there since the mid-60s. It is quite small but it was highly regarded because it's a windy spot.

There was a range of competitions. Every boat sailed in a class. At a regatta I've seen nearly 100 boats at Carcoar and in that you'd have 15-20 classes.

I think the main attraction of sailing was the camaraderie of all the competitors, then the great competition on the water.

We totally lived sailing. In this town there were probably seven or eight families like us and we all lived for sailing. We'd travel to all the regattas. We'd sail everywhere.