Stokes Bay has always been a destination for those wishing to enjoy the seaside. In 1854 the Stokes Bay and Isle of Wight Steam Boat and Telegragh Company started building a pier at the east end of the bay to cater for the increased numbers of people who were expected to holiday on the Isle of Wight following the building of Osbourne House by Queen Victoria.
The pier was badly damaged during the Second World War and was eventually destroyed by the military. The remains of the pier can still be seen at a very low tide and a warning buoy is all that remains to remind us of this once grand structure.
The Sailing Club was formed a year or so before the outbreak of World War II (1938). When on 9 May 1938, a meeting in Gosport Council Chamber was convened to discuss the formation of a Club in Stokes Bay for owners of small boats, as a means of bringing people to the residential district of Alverstoke. The proposal was approved, and Officers duly elected.