ACTION IN BARCELONA

Logbook

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PUIG VELA CLÀSSICA BARCELONA REGATTA

Light air a air

WORDS NIGEL SHARP PHOTOS NICO MARTINEZ AND NIGEL SHARP After covid forced the event to be cancelled in 2020, and to take place with severely restricted social interaction in 2021, the Puig Vela Clàssica Barcelona regatta was back in full swing for its 15th edition in July. In the fi rst of three scheduled races, light winds resulted in late fi nishes for some boats while the following day, after a long postponement when there was no wind at all, a solid Force 3 gave delightful sailing conditions for everyone. Unfortunately, there was so little wind on the last day that the third race had to be cancelled. A total of 30 boats took part and there were class wins for the 1977 Admiral’s Cupper Emeraude, Gry Rhys-Jones’ 1948 S&S yawl Argyll, the 1926 Fife Bermudan cutter Hallowe’en, and the 1900 Grayling. With the America’s Cup due to be hosted by Barcelona in 2024, it was appropriate 3 that New Zealander Grant Dalton was on hand to present the prizes at the end of the regatta.

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1 The start of the second race 2 Enric Agud, meteorologist from local station TV3, giving the daily forecast to competitors 3 Crew on Hallowe’en 4 Hallowe’en 5 Sunshine (near boat) and Kahurangi 6 Dione 7 Sunshine 8 Mary 9 Grayling 10 Stromer with Sunshine behind 11 Sea Fever 12 Dione on the way out to race

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CORNWALL

Tall Ships will return to Falmouth

Falmouth in Cornwall will host the start of the Tall Ships Race from 15-18 August next year.

It will be the first time in nine years that the race has visited the harbour and the sixth time Falmouth has hosted it since 1966.

Richard Gates, Falmouth Town Manager, said: “It’s a welcome return for the Tall Ships Races, after it was postponed in 2020 and 2021 due to Covid restrictions. Our town’s history is intertwined with these magnificent vessels so you could say they are coming home. We’re really excited to be the venue for the start of the races. As always, we look forward to the truly awe-inspiring spectacle of the tall ships as they sail into the harbour.”

Visitors to Falmouth will have the opportunity to board some of the historic tall ships as they will be sited within the A&P Falmouth Docks – one of the world’s largest natural deep-water harbours.

Tickets to access these ships will go on sale nearer the time and will be priced at £5 for adults and £2.50 children.

The race itself starts on Friday 18 August 2023 and will be preceded by a stunning Parade of Sail and several days of shoreside events.

The tall ships will race from Falmouth to A Coruna in Spain, then onward to Portugal’s capital, Lisbon, before finishing in Cadiz, Spain.

Classic Boat readers can claim two reduced-price tickets for the Southampton International Boat Show, which runs from 16-25 September.

By using the code CB22 when buying tickets on the show website, you can claim two tickets for £39.99.

The show takes place from 16-25 September, based waterside at Mayflower Park and stretching into the heart of Southampton. The Classic & Day Boat Zone will return to the show in 2022 after a successful debut last year. The Wooden Boat Builders Trade Association will be present, with craftsmen showing o dinghies, rowing boats, canoes and more – all boats they’ve built themselves in timber over the past year. Meanwhile walking around the show visitors will find numerous newly built wooden boats and vintage craft. Among them will be the tall ship Morgenster, built 103 years ago in Holland and now a busy sail training ship. Get your tickets at southamptonboatshow.com

Southampton show ticket deal for Classic Boat readers

$3 million

Broker Participation

M/V NYMPH M/V NYMPH M/V NYMPH M/V NYMPH

HISTORIC, 1913 Early American Motor Boat HISTORIC, 1913 Early American Motor Boat with Edwardian Old World Charm with Edwardian Old World Charm

Last of a special breed, beautiful fiberglass hull, 30yr T&T hauls with 50 ton travel lift. This amazing vessel has been meticulously restored over a eight-year period. Originally built in 1913 by The Matthews Boat Company in Clinton, Ohio.

75’- 0”

1913

ESSEX

Big entry for Mersea Week

The 48th annual Mersea Week saw a bumper entry of over 130 boats, including nine Smacks, 21 Classic Yachts and Ga ers and 22 Mersea Open Fisherman’s Boats (MFOBs), writes Julian Lord. Five days of racing took place on Essex’s River Blackwater estuary in a range of conditions, Monday’s first day being the most extreme, with kedging needed early on and 35-knot gusts in driving rain later.

Such an important part of the week, the Smacks looked spectacular, especially downwind with clouds of sail set, and the overall winner was CK395 Puritan, beating CK171 Peace into second place by a single point, with CK52 Kate in third. After enjoying a successful Cowes Classics Week, CK318 Alberta was next up in fourth.

The largest ever Classic Yachts and Ga ers class was divided into two groups, with another Cowes Classics Week prize winner, the Tumlare Zest, winning the final race and with it the ‘A’ Division by a single point from Scorpio, the leading Stella. Third was Strider, the first Nordic Folkboat and fourth the beautiful International OD Mitzi, whose week was sadly cut short when some of the crew went down with Covid. Seven of the eleven boats in the Division had at least one top three finish. In the ‘B’ division, the Ga Cutter Nesta came out on top, with tie-break rules needed to separate the next three boats. The 19ft Ga er Fifi, complete with topsail, the Buchanan Patica and Kim Holman’s first ever design, Phialle, finishing second, third and fourth respectively.

After several race ending capsizes on the first day, and the cancellation of racing on the second day, the MFOBs enjoyed some close tussles during the final part of the week. The di erence in size, speed and crew numbers between the biggest and smallest boats is considerable, and the 22-strong entry start together but are divided for results. The Fast Division needed the third tie-break (the final race result) to decide that Spray took top spot from Mystery, with Prince ahead of Miss X in third and fourth. In the Slow Division, Grey Goose, Ally Lump, Jack and Wild Goose took the top four places.

ESSEX

OGA East Coast Race

Few events light up the Blackwater like the OGA’s East Coast Race. With recovering numbers following Covid, the eclectic variety of shapes and colours filling the estuary was once again a highlight of the east coast’s racing calendar, writes Sandy MIller. The event is always well organised, with hosts Stone Sailing Club taxiing crews to and fro ex-working boats, ga ers and classic bermudans at all hours, be they smacks, ketches, Itchen ferries, little Memory 19s or powerful cruisers. A gentle south-westerly made for a quiet start downriver but as the boats passed Bradwell south-easterly gusts suddenly hit the fleet, with chaotic seas and frenetic activity ensuing. The smacks ploughed on regardless but the 3 little Memory 19s were almost stopped in their tracks. It looked lively on board from the comfort of a smack. The smack Alberta, owned by Richard Haines, won her close battle with Peace for 1st on elapsed time to receive the Old Ga ers Trophy, with the latter finishing 2nd overall on handicap. Puritan, owned by Charlotte Cock, was 1st ga er overall on handicap, taking the winner’s pennant and James Dodds Trophy. Droleen II was the 1st Classic Bermudan, winning the Tom Felgate Cruiser Trophy. The 3 brave Memory 19s were Cadno, 1st Spirit of Tradition, Greensleeves 2nd and Titch, 3rd and the Winch Trophy for an all female crew. The boatbuilder Gus Curtis’ family bawley, Gladys, received the Privateer trophy with daughter Poppy 1st under 21 helm (leaving Gus to do the work on deck windward!).

PHOTOS SOLENT SAIL PHOTOGRAPHY COWES, ISLE OF WIGHT

Celebrating U a Fox, 50 years on

The UF50 celebration of the life and work of U a Fox, in Cowes in August, attracted more than 80 Fox-designed boats, including the 22 square metre Vigilant, the Flying 15 Hobgoblin and the 1934 frostbite dinghy Fay with bamboo mast, which is now on display at the Classic Boat Museum, writes John Roberson. Also in the mix were National 18s, Albacores, plenty of International 14s, a Pegasus, National Redwings, a National 12, a Flying 10 and a small swarm of Firefly dinghies.

The oldest boat was Anthony Wheaton’s 101-year-old ga -rigged International 14, Grebe of Hampton, which lost her mast on the Saturday. Among many other boats of note were Patricia Knight’s International 14, Daring, in which U a won his second Prince of Wales Cup, and Alastair Vine’s Firefly, Jacaranda, which was the GB entry in the singlehanded dinghy class in the 1948 London Olympics sailed at Torquay.

Boats were on display along Cowes Parade, where owners and crews compared notes, while others tied up at Shepards Wharf Marina, with numerous Flying 15s and yachts including the Atalantas, who were out in force with some coming from the English east coast and Guernsey. The 1930s one-o yawl, Mary Lunn, built in India, was berthed on the Trinity Landing, alongside Clare of Beaulieu, a former Cowes Harbour Master’s launch.

Racing took place on the Friday and Saturday, with 65 boats starting. Meanwhile over the weekend there was an U a Fox trail to follow around Cowes, tracing aspects of U a’s life, and a number of social events including at his last home, Commodore’s House, where Prince Philip’s Flying 15 Coweslip was displayed. The evening was sponsored by Dartmouth Gin. A number of clubs and organisations were part of the event including the Sir Max Aitken Museum, the Classic Boat Museum Shed, Cowes Heritage and Community Group, Cowes Library, East Cowes Heritage Centre and the Classic Boat Museum Gallery in East Cowes.

On the racecourse, Jeremy Vines and his team sailing the National 18 Ace remained undefeated in the fast handicap class. The toughest fleet at the event was the slow handicap, where the battle for the top spot was between two Fireflies, with Ben Pym’s KEM just taking the honours from John Greenland in Falken.

The Flying 15s were the numerically strongest, and Patrick Harris sailing Seventh Heaven took victory by three points from Rob Goddard’s Over The Moon.

In the keelboat class, Rowan Horner’s Harrier 20 Meg won the only two races sailed, beating the beautiful yawl Mary Lunn skippered by Robin Whaite, which finished second in both races.

Jeremy Vines’s strongest competition came from a pair of Albacores, Mathew Thompson sailing the best-named boat at the event, U a Fox Sake, and Mike Banner’s Fifty Shades. The first of the vintage International 14s in the fast handicap fleet was K545 Sunrise in the hands of Mark Harrison. This boat was originally built by Fairey Marine for “the boss” Charles Curry and he went on to win the coveted Prince of Wales Cup with her.

There were thanks all round for the Royal London Yacht Club, which organised the event.

Peace, 1909

The 38ft oyster smack Peace was built in 1909 by Douglas Stone of Brightlingsea, writes Sandy Miller. Currently owned by Angus Milgate, Peace has a strong connection to both his family and home. She was built for Stanley French of Mersea Island and was skippered and raced by Angus’ great grandfather Zebedee Milgate (a fisherman famous for defending local fishing rights). In the 1960s, when owned by the Bentley family who had oyster layings in Mersea, the parents of Angus’ wife Lucy met for the first time on Peace. She stayed in Mersea until 1970 when his father boatbuilder John Milgate and godfather Hugh heard that she was being taken to Africa. They managed to intercept her at Ramsgate with an envelope of cash; a deal was done and she came home to Mersea. Originally built in pine on oak, John Milgate replaced the top-sides (in iroko), much of the planking, deck beams, both cabins and spars in the 1970s. Her garboards and keel are elm and while Angus says the elm looks over 100 years old, he is sceptical they could have lasted that long. Peace is a fast and elegant smack, and she is a regular sight and strong performer at east coast events.

PEACE

1909

EAST YORKSHIRE

Sailing Coble Festival

The Bridlington Sailing Coble Festival in east Yorkshire featured 11 cobles, the largest gathering of traditional sailing vessels at Bridlington, writes Paul L Arro. Among the fleet was the recently restored pilot coble Venus, restored by John Clarkson and volunteers from the Bridlington Sailing Coble Preservation Society (BSCPS). Built in 1900 Venus is the oldest coble still afloat. She was lowered into the water after being christened with a bottle of rum by Julie Coultas, secretary of the society, as the event got underway.

Other participants included the 40ft Three Brothers, built locally by Baker and Percy Siddall in 1912, and visitors Providence from Whitby, built in 1949 at Amble, and the keelboat Granby, built by the Elton Boatbuilding Company of Kirkcudbright in 1983, both of which sailed to the event. Spider T, a 62ft iron-hulled Humber Sloop built in 1926 and one of only three of her kind on the National Register of Historic Vessels, was present from Grimsby. Other visiting cobles included Julie B, built 1988, from Scarborough and Grace, built 1990, from Staithes. The double-ended beach boat Crystal Sea, of 1954, had also arrived by road after making the journey down from Cockenzie, Scotland.

The tide had made su ciently by mid morning for the sailing cobles to get alongside the quay and for crews to board. With visitors taking up the vantage point of the North Pier, the cobles made their way out of the harbour to the delight of those watching. The 11 cobles created a very impressive and nostalgic picture as the wind filled the tan-coloured sails and the fleet made its way across the bay towards the Flamborough Headland. One could imagine a similar scene from the late 1800s and early 1900s when the humble but ubiquitous coble was the mainstay of the inshore fishing industry.

Tall ship in London

What is billed as ‘the world’s largest ocean-going wooden sailing ship’, the Götheborg of Sweden, berthed at South Dock Quay in Canary Wharf, London. The Swedish ship is a replica of an 18th century East Indiaman that sank outside of Gothenburg in 1745. The building of the new Götheborg took from 1995 to 2003. It is currently on a two year expedition following in the footsteps of the original ship, with the aim of promoting trade relations between Europe and Asia. The ship will stay in the Mediterranean during the winter and continue to Asia in March 2023, reaching Shanghai in September 2023. The ship last visited London in May 2007 on the way home from its first Asia expedition. gotheborg.se

ESSEX

Blackwater Match

The Blackwater Smack and Barge Match was first run in 1962 as part of a revivalist drive to boost the preservation of Thames Sailing Barges, writes Sandy Miller. The link with Maldon is much older, however, with the famous Cooks Yard building and repairing barges since SB Dawn in 1894, and the evening prizegiving is held on the Hythe Quay, overlooking barges that still live and work here year-round. This year’s event was challenging, with glorious sunshine but fluky winds bringing the fleet back together at the Osea Island finish. Edme just prevailed over Blue Mermaid in the bowsprit class. Jim Dines, owner of Heritage Marine in Maldon, had launched his 1898 iron barge the Wyvenhoe the day before the match after a four-year restoration and was both first over the start line and first home in the senior staysail class. The George Smeed was first in the staysail class. The smack race was a very tense a air too. The 1890, Aldous-built smack ADC, helmed by Eloisa Rule, led for much of the race but was held up by troughs in the light winds heading back up river. Of particular note was Lizzie Annie, the 1906 Maldon smack at just 34ft and helmed by Bob Fawkes, holding her own against the bigger smacks, finally finishing third. Another Maldon smack, Martha II, caught a gust just o Osea Island to snatch line honours but the winner’s pennant went to a deserving ADC after one of Martha’s sails was deemed non-compliant.