A YACHT club famed for the fact none of its members actually own a boat is celebrating sailing its way through three decades.

Chipping Sodbury Yacht Club, one of the original parody clubs of its kind, first set sail on April 1, 1983 – the irony of April Fools Day not being lost on its founder members.

Although lacking in any navigable waters, Chipping Sodbury has provided the joke-loving club many an opportunity to celebrate its birthday each year with a watery attempt at an April fool.

"One of our best was when we said we were going to build a marina at Nibley," said secretary Bunny Groves. "We put up a giant sign saying we had acquired the land and it resulted in receiving phone calls from developers.

"Another year we made a 25-feet long yellow submarine which got stuck under the Wickwar Road bridge on the River Frome, we put in a planning application for a lighthouse at Yate Rocks and on another occasion we said the yacht club was called in to Tanhouse Lake to sort out shark problems."

With mooring offices at the Conservative Club on Hatters Lane, the club has long pushed for the idea of flooding High Street and Broad Street and making the country’s second widest thoroughfare a marina complete with pontoons for each premises.

"It is a lot of good fun," said Bunny. "We have a lot of very sociable people in our group and we hold an annual weekend away to other yacht clubs in the country where we have earned a kind of begrudging respect for our dogged determination to stick around.

"The fact we don’t actually sail has not impaired our progess at all."

In fact, the club’s good-humoured approach to its sailing restraints has spawned several copycat clubs across the country including Anmere Yacht Club in Sandringham which was inaugurated by Chipping Sodbury officials.

"We are the most famous non-sailing yacht club in the world," said current commodore Barry Ansell. "We get a very good reaction from other clubs, they find it very funny but the fact we wear a uniform gives us some respect.

"And people around Sodbury love us. Locals like to see the crazy things we get up to."

Even the wives of members, who each have a title ranging from ship’s ghost to rescue boat team leader and a ship’s lookout held by blind member John Powell, are known as yachtesses and join in the club’s comic capers. The club, which currently has 33 members and an average age of over 60, also raises thousands of pounds each for its chosen charity.

During its anniversary year, the club is planning a programme of events including a weekend in Portsmouth, a regatta of remote-controlled boats on Tanhouse Lake and a German-themed Burns night celebration.

A 30th anniversary ball which is open to non-members will take place on Saturday, October 26 (7.30pm) at Chipping Sodbury Town Hall featuring The Flowers Big Band and a medal awards ceremony.

For more information on the club contact Bunny Groves on 01454 776655 or email bunnygroves@hotmail.com