Clive Bennett, Commodore of the Royal Dart Yacht Club
Clive Bennett was appointed Commodore of the Royal Dart Yacht Club last spring, after being an active member for more than 20 years.
He said: “I was asked to stand for the Commodore position and having had such a fantastic time enjoying all the benefits of the club, I thought it was probably the right thing to do and step up to the post. I’m incredibly fortunate to have such a brilliant bunch of like-minded members as my committee and once we’d been appointed in April last year, we set about trying to make the club a more attractive place for members.
“And just as an army marches on its stomach, so does a club! So we instantly set about recruiting a professional House Manager – David Rothwell who used to own The Laughing Monk in Strete. The yacht club is now not only the best place to spend a sunny afternoon on the River Dart but also one of the best places to eat.
“Apart from being in the most fantastic location on the Dart – in the sunshine too! – it’s a brilliant place to meet friends and have fun. We do everything, from junior and ladies sailing, to competitive racing. You don’t even need your own boat to join.”
Clive has been sailing for nearly 30 years. Having learned to cruise and race a 26 foot Super Seal, he now owns Toucana, a Starlight 35 and a Squib, called Baby Hippo in homage to his African safari interests, which he races. He has also been a dinghy instructor at the yacht club, helping youngsters learn to sail on the Dart.
Clive and his wife, Jill, bought their Kingswear home (with its amazing panoramic view) in the early 1990s, while Clive was working as an accountant in London and Europe.
He said: “I was one of the first to do the weekly commute from Totnes on a Monday morning. I used to work on the train, fly to Europe Tuesday to Thursday and then get the train back to Devon on Thursday evening. It was tiring but worth it to wake up here the next morning.
“I saw a lot of Devon as a child, as my grandmother was Devonian. We’d also had a holiday home in Tuckenhay from the early 80s, where our children spent their summers - growing up with Devon as their back garden. So when we looked to relocate from Oxford, South Devon was the obvious choice. We started looking from Wembury and worked our way along the coast. By pure chance we found Pine Lodge and have lived here very happily since.”
Clive was born in Oxford. He was educated with his brother at the Dragon School and St Lawrence College, thanks to the generosity of their grandfather who owned a removal business. St Lawrence, typical of boarding schools in the 1950s, could be a harsh regime.
Clive added: “However, the sport and friendship were fantastic and I got a very good education out of it. I still meet up and have dinner once a year with my old house mates.”
After A-levels Clive opted to train as an accountant and began his four years article clerk training at Thornton Baker and Co, where his father was a partner.
The company is now called Grant Thornton and is the fifth largest accountancy firm in the world.
During his training he met Jill, a nursery nurse at the time. They got married in 1969 and decided to live overseas for a while.
Clive explained: “I’d been brought up and educated in a very contained and constrained environment so had a feeling of wanting to do something more exciting before falling into the normal pattern of family life.
“We had all sorts of hare-brained ideas before we eventually picked South Africa. The money was good and Jill is a sun worshipper, so it seemed perfect. My father was also born in South Africa so I had a connection to the place.
“We married on February 22, had three days in Paris and then immediately sailed to South Africa, where I worked for an international accounting firm in Johannesburg for three years. We absolutely loved it there and made a lot of friends. We loved the wildlife of Africa and would spend weekends camping in Kruger Park.
“However, after our first child was born we decided to return to England. It didn’t seem fair to bring him up in South Africa. It was the time of apartheid, troubles were predictable and we decided our children should grow up regarding England as their home.
“It was a fabulous life for colonials but it wasn’t real - more like being on holiday. So we faced reality and returned to Oxford.”
After their return Clive became a partner with Grant Thornton and quickly built his portfolio of clients. He then became managing partner of a group of eight offices and moved into the international role he was doing when he commuted from Kingswear.
His love of South Africa never waned and friendships were always maintained. When his three children grew older, he and Jill started going back. They’ve even recently bought a share in a wilderness reserve in Botswana.
Clive said: “Our passion for African wildlife will never fade. We’ve had some really exciting moments, including narrowly escaping walking into a pride of lions and being chased by a hippo! We’ve been right up near herds of buffalo and had elephants wander into camp. So long as they don’t see you as a threat you’re safe. To be honest, it’s a lot more dangerous walking around London than a game reserve.
“But visiting this type of game reserve is also an expensive passion, so when Jill saw the advert to buy into Limpopo-Lipadi and secure regular access, we jumped at it.
“It’s on the Botswana side of the Limpopo River (Botswana is the safest and most stable of African countries) and is, in fact, a long term conservation project. As owners we have a lot of freedom within the reserve as well as the opportunity to learn from rangers who’ve grown up in the bush. It’s a unique project which employs around 80 local people and it’s as close as you can get to owning a piece of Africa.”
Although they love Africa, Clive and Jill will always head home to Kingswear.
Clive added: “We’re in a beautiful bubble down here, remote and removed from the rat race. It’s the type of place where you pinch yourself every morning.
“We’ve cruised around the West Country and South Brittany for 20 years and can’t think of a better port to come into than Dartmouth.”
Anyone interested in joining The Royal Dart Yacht Club can contact Melinda at office@royaldart.co.uk or visit www.royaldart.co.uk
First published By The Dart March 2015 Issue