Category: Racing sailing craft

Thames Festival Classic Rally at St Katharine Docks, 2009

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Jim Vandenbos’s mobile phone photos of the 2009 inaugural Thames Festival Classic Rally. If anyone else has photos they’d like to share, please email me at gmatkin@gmail.com

The first Thames Festival Classic Rally at St Katharine Docks, London last weekend was a success and seems likely to be be repeated next year.

I couldn’t make it for reasons not unconnected with my broken ankle, but my pal Jim Vandenbos dropped by to see Lord Boris’s Thames’ Festival after the cricket at Lords finished early.

Among other things he was keen to see the rally at St Katharine’s Dock and beetled over to take a look. When pressed for numbers he guessed that there were something over 30 classic boats in the dock, including Arthur Ransomes’ Nancy Blackett as seen in the novel We didn’t mean to go to Sea, and a very nice Uffa Fox Fairey Marine yacht. He also says there were a good number of visitors strolling around the dock.

If Jim’s right, I’d say 30 boats was a good, healthy number.

Event organiser Ian Welsh told intheboatshed that the rally had been a success. ‘It went very well indeed, the entrants loved it and so it seems did the St Katharine’s people – so fingers crossed we’ll do it next year again. We already have lots of ideas for next year.’

More photos have been posted by the organisers on their website.

The rally also made The Times – see the story here.

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Geoffrey Robertshaw’s stunning photos from the last days of sailing ships

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Geoffrey Robertshaw’s photos of ships’ crews in the the final days of cargo-carrying sailing ships. Click on any of the images for much larger photos

Over 70 years ago Geoffrey Robertshaw kept a personal log and took many remarkable photos of life on-board cargo-carrying sailing ships travelling between Australia and Falmouth.

The photographs were taken on a Kodak No. 2 Box Brownie camera but their quality is remarkable; they were issued by the National Maritime Museum Cornwall to promote a lunchtime talk given by Elvin Carter a little earlier this month at the NMMC in connection with the Farewell to Sails exhibition. However, life caught up with me a little and I apologise for failing to post them in time to publicise the event. Hopefully we’ll still be able to draw attention to the exhibition itself!

Some of Robertshaw’s diary entries are as striking as the photos. One reads:

‘Day 127, Friday June 29th 1934. At 4am this morning we are dead opposite the Lizard Point. I can plainly pick out the villages of Cadgwith, and Coverack and the dangerous Manacle rocks.

‘It may have been hell at times, we have been short of food, fresh water and cigarettes, we have had fights, we have been wet through and hungry and thoroughly worn out with continuous work. But it has been worth it.

‘I love the sea and what is more I love the old sailing ships and without doubt Cape Horn will call me back again, and I shall not refuse.’

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Marcus Lewis’s boats take the lead in racing at Cornish regattas

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Fowey River dinghy No 54 Four Brothers sailing around before the start of the Polruan Regatta held on Bank Holiday Monday

Fowey boatbuilder Marcus Lewis has sent me this photo from Cornwall to mark a series of outstanding successes in local regattas.

After a week at Fowey Regatta in which she won three out of seven races ande claimed the Overall Cup for Fowey River dinghies, Four Brothers also raced to victory in the Polruan Regatta, in which she snapped up the Silver Cup.

In one race during Fowey Regatta No 54 was challenged by Marcus and Johnny Nance in No 53 Kingfisher but Four Brothers leapt into the lead on the last lap and took the winners gun.

Both boats were built by Marcus at his workshop in Fowey and were launched this year. See Marcus’s website: http://www.woodenboatbuilder.co.uk

Marcus is currently restoring a Mevagissey Tosher built by Percy Mitchell, and I understand the refurbished boat will be for sale.