Boat Club Bhopal

The Bhopal Lake or upper lake had a yacht club initiated by Ubedullah Khan, son of Sultanjahan Begum. 

Many visiting English officials of the British India suggested that this beautiful city be given to British Municipality officials. To avoid this, the yacht club was initiated by Ubedullah Khan, which was continued by his sons Saiduzaffar Khan and Rashiduzaffar Khan after his death. The club was made of wood, which used to stand in the middle of the lake. The English political agent was made the yacht club secretary who used to reside in “Lal kothi”, the present day Raj Bhawan. Many races used to be organized in this yacht club, with teams from Nanital and Pune participating. The races used to start from 8 in the morning. Nawab Hamidullah Khan had two rowing boats by the name of “Nagina” and “Noushaba”, which used to participate in the races.

There used to be parties and at-homes thrown in the evenings in this building of Yacht club. Due to some difference of opinion between the English political agent and the nawab, the nawab is said to have withdrawn from the boats from yacht club and stopped visiting the yacht club. Dr. Shankar Dayal Sharma hosted many important parties, during the initial days of Bhopal being made the capital of the state of Madhya Pradesh. The announcement to join Bhopal with the All India Radio network was made by Dr Keskar from this building. However, this being a private property of the Nawabs, the inheritors dismantled the building. One can see only some wooden pillars when one visits the modern boat club of today, standing at the point where this old yacht club of Bhopal stood.

The present day boat club at upper lake provides facilities for exciting trips by sail, paddle, motorboats and now even a hugely popular cruise boat. The vast majority of yachting activity is concentrated along the coast, and landlocked Bhopal is therefore breaking ground by bringing this sport virtually into the heart of India. India’s first National Sailing School (NSS) opened its doors here on 8th August 2006 at this historic Upper Lake in Bhopal, with much fanfare and enthusiasm exhibited particularly by the youth. Madhya Pradesh Sports and Youth Welfare Department, Indian Navy and Yachting Association of India (YAI) jointly established the sailing school. 

Children ranging in age from 8 to 21 years will be trained in three major classes namely Optimist, 420 and Laser. NSS will offer three levels of courses certified by YAI & Madhya Pradesh State Sports Department of 12 days, 50 days and one year duration. The South Asian Yachting Regatta 2006 is scheduled at Bhopal during 26 – 30 Dec 2006. The event is to be conducted in the “YAI – National Sailing School”, Bhopal and is supported by the Govt. of Madhya Pradesh, the Indian Navy and the Indian Army. In all 20 competitors and officials are expected each from Sri Lanka and Pakistan.