EASTCOASTER The Newsletter of the East Coast Old Gaffers Association August 2017 Issue 112 Forestay Welcome to a packed issue of Eastcoaster. With so much to fit in I have left the Crouch report to Gaffer’s Log, where you can read all about it! How many people remember their first sailing trip? I am sure Edith will not remember hers but thanks to her mother’s account published here it will never be forgotten. Gromit ©Julian Cable In this issue The premier Gaffer race on the East Coast has been in decline for a number of years; we carry full reports and results, but also a plea for ideas as to Forestay its future. Medway in flames One of the boats racing in Class 5 this year was a Swallows and Amazons one off concept boat, on a very standard hull. We have a report on how to convert a Wayfarer to gaff Lego and hair­dryers rig, and very pretty it looks too! Norfolk Rally East Coast race; Being only half way through the sailing season Races and reflections there are still a lot of events to enjoy all over the area. There is our ever popular August Cruise in First sail company, which this year feeds in to Burnham Gaffering a Wayfarer week, with the promise of free moorings for our boats. Maritime Woodbridge is back, with a small boats points series race on the Saturday, and August Cruise hopefully this year’s Maldon Town Regatta will have better weather than last! OGA members welcome! Planning is well advanced for next year’s 55th Excelsior for 2018 anniversary celebration. Feel your own boat is too small for the trip to Cowes? How about there or back in Excelsior? Read on to find out how to do it! Backstay

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Medway in Flames Brian Corbett, OGA Trustee, Maritime Heritage Trust Board & Chairman, MBSA The Dutch have now gone back home. This time not with the ‘Royal Charles’, but with immense respect for, and happy memories of, their time on the Medway, especially at the parties hosted by the Medway YC, Upnor SC, Hoo Ness YC and Gillingham Marina. Heavy westerly gales had frustrated the arrival of some, and just two of the Dutch OGA fleet made the crossing, Rik Janssen and Celeste, in Cine Mara, and Arjan Megens with Hymke Spanjaard in Bola. The Hoo Ness YC entertained us Gaffers to a great evening on the Friday and we were joined by Solent Gaffers Ben Collins and David Walters on the Saturday for a great hog roast party at the Medway YC. The Dutch retired marines issued a rowing challenge the first Saturday to the Royal Marines, but when the British Marines strangely failed to show;(shades of 350 years ago), the challenge was gamely taken up by the local rowing clubs Queenborough and the Medway Towns who rowed a hard five mile course, partly against both wind and tide. The race finished close to Nelson's Gate at the Chatham Historic Dockyard and the leading boat broke a foam chain consisting of alternating links of the Union and Dutch flags. A special piece of theatre, arranged by Frits de Ruyter de Wildt, the highly successful overall Dutch coordinator of the event. Brian Corbett awarded a beautiful silver trophy to the winning boat, one of the Dutch retired marines boats. It had been presented by Mr Dick Atlee's family, whose father had won a sailing regatta at the anniversary 50 years ago. The second Dutch fleet of over 70 yachts gathered on 13 June at Stangate Creek, to sail up the Medway in company, led by the modern steam ship, 'George Stephenson'. This time, no Dutch Prince, but. regaled as a Victorian yachtsman in his dinghy off Upnor Castle, Brian Corbett helped the larger Dutch yachts onto the Royal Engineers YC moorings, standing up gingerly to take the salute! After a superb pub quiz evening organised by the Upnor SC at the Medway YC, we had another hog roast party and a barbecue on the Saturday night of the Medway in Flames finale.

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Swallow and Amazons A windy weekend made for the fastest race round the island ever, with the first boat round in just under 65 minutes, while the slowest finisher completed the race in an hour and a half. A full report of the weekend can be seen on the website, here I will just say thanks to Walton and Frinton Yacht Club, for their excellent support of the event, and the Wilberforces for the use of their orchard and facilities.

Happy Days Smacks Boat 1st Overall + 1st Smacks Boat

Montmorency Spirit of Tradition 1st Spirit of Tradition + 1st Boat Home

Peter Pan Spirit of Tradition 2nd Spirit of Tradition + Little Gaffer (Smallest Boat)

Ripple Smacks Boat 2nd Smacks Boat

Summer Traditional 1st Traditional + Little Gaffer (Youngest Crew)

Neva Smacks Boat

Guillemot Spirit of Tradition

Awol Smacks Boat

Minnow Smacks Boat

Lapus Lazuli Jewel 1st Jewel

Fox Cub Smacks Boat

Papa Little Spirit of Tradition Maiden Race

Delilah Traditional

Fyre Spirit of Tradition

Pudding Faces Smacks Boat retired

Tiki Traditional Furthest Passage to event, retired

Windfall Spirit of Tradition Retired

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Neva in action in Hamford Water photo Pete Sweeney Lego land­yachts Julian Cable At Swamazons we had some time between the race and the prize giving. Unfortunately we didn’t mention that we had the game available at the morning briefing. Our apologies to those who would have joined in if they had known (Melvin, this means you!). I’m not sure what the W&FYC thought of our motley collection of kidults with Lego, sellotape and beer. They were very gracious and even lent us an extension lead for the hair dryer. There was much discussion about the rules. A certain sailmaker was somewhat rebellious over the stipulation for four cornered sails. I’m sure I

4 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 heard an ex­teacher saying ‘Sir she’s taken my sellotape’. After about an hour where only Ian had done any experimentation on the course I dragged everyone over and we tried all the craft out. Not all of them made it through to the actual racing and quite a few modifications were needed to others. The main problems were capsizing and the need to improve sheeting arrangements. We had a large variety of rigs with some people going for sail shape, others for sheer sail area and a couple of fascinating interpretations of the rules. In the end there were four finishers. Will Thomas came a comfortable first with his brilliant America’s Cup style wing. It performed fantastically on all aspects of the wind. A very traditional lug sail came a close second, brilliantly evolved and sailed by Ian Kemp. Ian’s lugger was actually faster upwind than Will’s wing but not quite as stable downwind.

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The other two boats were significantly slower on all points of sail. Pete Thomas’ innovative bat­winged design scraped into the design rules with the two sails folded together and when opened was fast downwind while the concave roach on Mark Butler’s pretty lugger did a fine job on a reach but lacked the sail area to keep up downwind. A big thanks to the W&FYC for putting up with our antics and to the entrants for their creativity and sense of fun.

Norfolk Broads Eloise Howlett For the third year running we packed up and headed to Norfolk for the annual trailer section camping holiday in Bures hosted by the ever so welcoming Keith and Marion and the rest of the regular OGA campers. Now we're a family of four, we decided a smacksboat might be a bit of a squeeze so fellow camper Judy introduced us to Hunters Yard where you can hire a lugsail and it was perfect for us! We spent two days sailing the broads visiting Ranworth and Potter Higham. President of the OGA Alastair joined us this year and had his new toy, a Broads One Design Eider, to show off and he sped off into the distance with Yvonne towards our favourite majestic hideaway Ranworth! They sailed back towards us and announced you had to pay to moor up there now (which is sadly becoming true of many moorings on the Broads) and there were no spaces so they were heading back. We were gutted (and very hungry) and so decided to have a look for ourselves as we had taken quite a long time to get there. Luckily for us there are still free ones available tucked up next to the wherry and there was a space for us. A lovely lunch and a much

6 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 needed coffee was consumed and Fiona and Andy also joined us ashore and had a bite too. The sign is a small one, so we've sent it in for any other likely visitors and sometimes its hard to miss! After a fantastic sail back to camp (and some low mutterings to Alastair of the tortoise and hare race ah ha) the barbecues were alight and a great sing song and dinner was had by all. The Sunday was spent sailing to Potter Higham which was a first for us, it was a beautiful sail with lots to see and many fisherman to avoid. We love sailing on the Broads and really enjoy everyone's company, if you haven't had a chance to join in we highly recommend it!

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East Coast Race Report Richard Giles Midsummer has come and gone; time for the East Coast Race! For many years the event was held on the first Saturday after the end of term – the start of school holidays and many family holidays – the start of a family cruise at Brightlingsea. Brightlingsea and the River Colne are perfect places for the Gaffers with a good safe anchorage and excellent sailing waters close by. It has been the tradition to start the race on an ebb tide to help the smaller boats out of the Colne. This year the Race Committee started the slower boats first, so they had a head start in front of the big Smacks. This meant the bigger boats had the start line to themselves. In spite of this, three boats were over the line and had to return, causing mayhem, but avoiding an accident.

Penalties for an early start The fleet included Fanny of Cowes, returning after a break to win her class, and the unique Dirty Girty, Robert Berk’s take on how to prove that a traditional rig really can go fast. Ed Roberts really knows how to make her go and keep her upright and on course. Fanny took full advantage of a great start and hugged the east Mersea shore to enjoy maximum tide to get away down the Colne. This good start helped her win the slower working boat class.

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Keith Watson, the OOD, decided not to send the fleet all the way to Wallet Spitway this year. Instead, they rounded at Wallet No 3 for their beat home. The East Coast Race is an all­in handicap, but also split into classes of boats with similar handicaps to create mini races within the big race. It gives a chance for helms to shine – boats like Rainbow, Mark Butler’s classic yacht – first in the Classics while the Gromit at the finish more traditional Gromit led her “Spirit of Tradition” class by almost 10 minutes on corrected time.

Ethel Alice racing Alberta for the line So while the big Smacks like Ethel Alice made it home first on elapsed time, they were not good enough to beat little Kate the Kite, expertly handled by Euan Seel to win the overall Winners Pennant. She even beat Crow, the modern take on a Gaffer with luxury, sailed by Robert Berk.

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We were delighted to see visiting Dutch OGA boats again this year – although less happy that one had to sit out the race on oyster shells outside the Brightlingsea S.C. A lively group assembled in the Colne Yacht Club for prizes, expertly handled by race organiser Keith Watson who had a special word for each winning helmsman. The Colne Yacht Club welcomed the Gaffers with excellent food, and as usual ran out of Adnams beer! Class 1 Workboats Higher handicap: Ethel Alice, Darren Burton Lower handicap: Fanny of Cowes, Nigel Waller Class 2 Gaffers Rainbow, Mark Butler. Commodore’s Pennant for the fastest OGA member Class 2 Bermudan Samba, E Corkhill Class 3 Spirit of Tradition. Gromit, Trevor Sanderson Class 4 Hotshots Kate, Euan Seel. Overall Winners Pennant for fastest boat on corrected time. Kate, fastest boat on handicap

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Sunday Small Boat Race Keith Watson As has become traditional a race was held on Sunday for smaller Open Boats which this year had an excellent entry of 11 boats, from as far away as Market Harborough, Southwold, and North Norfolk with our usual support from local boats. The race was started at 12.30 from the River Colne close to Batemans Tower, beating upriver to the channel mark off Alresford Creek, followed by a run back to Pyefleet rounding the last mooring. The fleet crossed the Colne and sailed on into Brightlingsea Creek, through the harbour before turning and beating back to the finish off the Colne Yacht Club jetty. The last boat home completed the course in under three hours. The weather was very kind, with enough wind for an excellent race, and the competitors made the most of it with some close quarters keen racing. The entries included Smack Boats, a Winkle Brig, a Peter Boat but also more unusually a gaff rigged Wayfarer and a lug rigged 505 – who knows where future developments of gaff rigged dinghies might head? Class 5 Open Boats Open Class 1st Faith, Alistair Mackenzie 2nd Papa Little, Will Roberts (gaff rigged Wayfarer) 3rd Summer, John Owles 4th Teal, Mike Dixon Smack Boats 1st JSB, (Julie’s Smack Boat) Rik Jannsen 2nd ELG Nigel Bishop 3rd Fox Cub Melvyn Fox

Papa Little

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Reflections on the OGA East Coast Race Richard Giles Many of you will have attended and enjoyed the 2017 East Coast Race held at Brightlingsea on July 15th this year. The weather was kind and the majority of the fleet raced down the river Colne, up the Wallet and back to Brightlingsea for an excellent dinner at the Colne Yacht Club. Read Keith Watson’s excellent report on the East Coast OGA Website. The East Coast Race is the “daddy” of all Gaffer races and has been run now for 54 years. Following the founding of the OGA this annual event was the “only game in town”. Entrants were attracted from far and wide to participate. After many of the starters failed to make the finish at Harwich in the first race, the event soon settled down as a more traditional “round the cans” race based at Steeple Stone. But now there are many rallies and events for old working boats and most regatta’s have a class for gaff rigged craft. So, has the East Coast Race had its day? 32 boats entered this year, a respectable turnout, but well down on earlier years and a fraction of the fleets at Steeple Stone. The East Coast OGA run a whole series of rallies and races throughout the season from the Crouch north to the Alde – some well attended, some supported by just a few. The OGA is a club without a clubhouse. It relies on the good will of established sailing clubs all along the coast to be kind enough to allow the fleet to “sail in” just for the day. We are very lucky to hold their support and are deeply indebted to them for their hospitality each year. Maybe the East Coast Race should just become another OGA Rally – a meeting point for like­minded sailors to exchange yarns of the sea. Perhaps the Dutch OGA model of boat events with a difference is a marker for the future – a race in name only. The August Cruise has become established as a very successful event spanning a whole week and including racing, cruising and socialising on or near the sea. The Essex Coast is a great coast for this type of event. This year, by popular request, starting from Ipswich, the fleet will be cruising down to the Rivers Colne & Blackwater, finishing at Brightlingsea, meaning that

12 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 they will have to run the gauntlet of a passage race down the Wallet to add to the shore­side merriment. So, should we just build on those fun rallies and worry less about the more serious side of racing? Many would say that trying to build a handicap system capable of allowing a small modern gaffer to compete with a robust East Coast Smack is out of the question. This year the race was won by Kate, a kite, out against a fleet of traditional work boats and specialist hot­shots as well as some more ordinary gaffers. The OGA constitution requires each area to hold at least one race each year open to all­comers. On the East Coast, this is the East Coast Race. At present the East Coast Race is on a slow decline from a great heyday. We must take action before it is too late to revive the tradition and inject new blood. Will that new blood involve a change of location, a different type of race, a return to a longer 3­4 day Rally or something entirely new? This event is run for your participation and enjoyment. Please let us know what you think.

Alberta from Crow, (with new dog, Crew, looking on)

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Edith's first sail Eloise Howlett Always up for a challenge (and desperate to get away from jobs at home) we decided to take Jezebel out for a sail. She is my Mums 19ft Golant Gaffer and behaves like a miniature smack but with plenty of home comforts on board! Looking back, it was a slightly crazy decision to go because Edith was only a few months old (and her very first sail) and Henry was only days into potty training ­ we both thought what's the worst that could happen??? So we left Ipswich for a nice sail down the Orwell in perfect conditions. We discovered the car seat was an exact fit between the bunks so Edith could sleep safely below, which left me hands free for playing games with Henry blowing bubbles, pulling ropes, seal spotting and spot that buoy to name but a few....or sometimes to hold him when he's fallen asleep due to all the excitement! It was a really good sail despite us being spooked by a seal sticking its head up at the stern and making an incredibly loud snort! We banged our heads, had a few tears but apart from that we could call it a success. We have now managed a few enjoyable sails (and some which we hope to forget), achieved a 'hat overboard' manoeuvre and seen many an old gaffer through the port hole which all makes for good memories for sailing with young children. Henry is becoming increasingly interested in helping, especially helming... but there's a stubborn old goat who isn't quite ready to give up that job just yet... so hopefully see you out there again soon. And if anybody has some fun (preferably low energetic due to sleep deprivation!) games that they have seen children enjoying on board please feel free to get in touch!

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Gafferer 16 Dinghy Pete “the Knife” Elliston There we were, Sarah and I, sailing our old Wayfarer in Shetland one year, then on the west coast of Scotland the next and in Falmouth after that. We both agreed that the only thing wrong with it was that it had the wrong rig ­ it needed to be gaff!!..... So……

Sailing in the Helford photo Don Garman We talked about converting the Wayfarer to gaff rig and there is only one sail plan for us ­ gaff cutter with topsail. I did not have a clue about how to design it so we needed a "Guru”. Now just where were we to find one? On the East Coast there is an obvious answer ­ Mark Butler of James Lawrence Sail Makers, Brightlingsea, UK. In December I was off sick, having had a minor knee operation so I enlisted Ed Roberts of "Skids" (the Sailing Kids of the East Coast) to take the boat over to Mark and set it up. The brief I gave Mark was to "draw the sail plan of a gaff cutter and topsail with the mast in the same position", as I wanted to be able to reverse the whole thing if it all went pear shaped! The boat and the drawing came back with the comment from Mark, "you have

15 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 just GOT to do it as it looks great"! Then we saw the plans for the OGA dinghy at last year’s AGM. I was very taken with the idea and the look of the craft. I found myself wondering whether to commit to that project instead. We had a good think about it and after some discussion decided to go ahead with converting the Wayfarer. One consideration was that the hull construction of the OGA dinghy was not the best for Wrabness beach work and the Wayfarer has a good "stone crushing construction"! Mark had drawn up the Bermudan rig and the gaff rig and laid one over the other using the same position for the mast and re­using the boom. So ‘all’ Ed and I would have to do was build a bowsprit, mast and gaff. We set to, having many discussions over the phone and down at the Red Lion, "designing by discussion". There were many stages of these discussions but a key decision was to use the original mast, not cut down but full height. If we cut down the mast or replaced it we would have to add a pole to take the topsail. The pole would have to be longer than the bit we would cut off the mast! So how to fit a gaff to a Bermudan mast with all the fittings, etc.? I cobbled together a car/skate that would run up the sail luff groove in the mast and attached a fibreglass tapered windsurf mast. On a wet February morning we jury rigged and hoisted it to see how Mark’s drawing would translate to reality. I realised that Mark was right (only a nut would doubt that) and it was GOING to happen, but the car/skate was going to be difficult to build properly. Then we had the Teamac paint event at the Pin Mill Sailing club. After the meal, when there was a table full of great Gaffer brains, Pete and Will Thomas, Paul Masters and James Palmer, the drawing was put on the table. The general consensus was that it would work (a bit of "peer checking" here Mark!) and James suggested looking into fully battened mainsail cars that get used on those white fancy Bermudan yacht thingies ("we know a song about them don't we children"). What a good idea James! A bit of research on Google (how did we do anything before 1996?) and the car system and track was ordered from Harken ("they make the best blocks"­ same song) dammed expensive but it solved a tricky design problem and why

16 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 try to redesign the wheel anyway? Of course the extruded aluminium track came in fixed lengths and I’d need one and a bit. I bought two lengths which together would reach to the shrouds. Rather than cutting one down I just fitted them both. The track attached using a set of ‘slugs’ that slipped into the luff groove. Once fitted the track had the extra effect of strengthening the mast fore and aft. The car slides up the track on very low friction polyamide­imide ball bearings. This is probably overkill but that is prototype work! The car has a 10 mm stud on it which bolted to a fabricated end cap on the gaff.

Reefed for action at Swallows and Amazons photo Pete Sweeney Mark’s drawing was used to position two new mast tangs. One was riveted to the port side of the mast to take the peak halyard and the other on the front for the staysail halyard. The staysail tack was fitted to the stem where the jib would have been. A strop fitted round the mast and through the staysail tang provided a mount for the throat halyard. All of this can easily be removed when reverting to Bermudan rig. Peak and throat halyards were given a 2:1 lead through turning blocks at the base of the mast to cleats at the rear of the centre board box. The staysail

17 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 halyard was fitted with a 3:1 purchase and the jib would reuse the Bermudan jib halyard with its 4:1 purchase. The Bermudan main halyard was repurposed for the topsail. The topsail runs up a leader line like the gill line on a fidded topmast Bawley or Smack. Of course a cutter needs the forestay inside the jib triangle so we had to relocate the top of the forestay down the mast. The tack of the jib would connect to the bowsprit. Ah, yes we still needed one of those… That was going to be the sticking point (yes ok pun intended). Mark wanted to re­measure the rig before building the sails but there was not going to be time before the Swallows and Amazons event so we decided we would build the rig to the drawing and he would make the sails, minus topsail to the drawing and we would put them together. A scale of 1 to 24 meant we might be 1" out, so we would cope. The bowsprit: This was a poser. A conventional bowsprit would be in the way of the forestay, the staysail and the mooring cleat! It would be a thick and ugly unless we fitted side stays. I had a better idea. A wishbone made of two thin laths meeting at the outboard end, fixed with self tappers to the bump rail about 3 feet back from the stem. The smooth fit along the gunwale would provide lateral support while a bobstay would balance the jib tension. It was to be a wishbone bowsprit, laminated from iroko 4 foot lengths. The design was done by fitting . This shape then was the inverse curve of the hull at gunwale. This provided the lateral support and the bobstay would do the jib tension support. To make the bowsprit a moulding jig was made to match the gunwale curve. Four foot lengths of iroko were ripped up to 40 mm by 3 mm strips via the table saw and thicknesser. These were then epoxy laminated in the jig, with ash used for the middle strip on each "arm". The two arms were epoxied together after planning the inner section at the join down to give an end section of 400 mm deep by 50 mm wide. This was thin and strong and very pretty. After the first fitting of the bowsprit, I was concerned over the overall flexing along its length and the side. This problem was resolved by attaching the

18 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 wishbone shape to a modified stem fitting with a cross brace connecting each part of the wishbone which were individually bolted through the gunwale with two 8mm bolts and wing nuts. When this is supported with the bobstay the bowsprit becomes so strong it can be used as a crowbar to lift the boat off its trolley! The bolts were arranged in such a pattern that by removing the crossbar bolt and the two forward bolts the bowsprit can be steeved up to the forestay. If the forestay is then undone and passed through the wishbone it will steeve up even more­ for those marinas that want to charge a Wayfarer for it's bowsprit!! The bobstay was done in wire and fitted to a ringbolt epoxied into the stem baulk which is 2" thick. This wire as it turned out forms 90 deg to the jib luff. Sheeting points for jib were added just inside the wavebreaker with the turning bloc on a car track just outside the handle fitted to the foredeck each side. Bowsprit in position photo Alastair Randal The staysail sheets were fitted to the old jib cars and slid to a better point. Both foresails have roller furling. The Bermudan spinnaker is still functional but needs the jib to be rolled and dropped to the deck. There is rather a lot of string. The helmsman gets to play with the peak and throat along with the jib, leaving the crew to play with the staysail halyard, topsail halyard topsail tack line and topsail sheet plus gill line, two sets of headsail sheets, two roller furler lines and centreboard. I’m sure at some point we will add a water sail!

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Oh and the colour of the topsail, errrrr, PINK of course! The rig has now proven itself with 12 days of sea trials. Walton, Wrabness, Falmouth, Helford River, and Colne. The helm is neutral and light with a tad of weather helm in a 4 when gusting. As one would expect there is loads of low down power with any angle of heel being turned into drive and climbing up to windward. She carries the topsail nicely in a force 4. Force 5 is comfortable with a single reef in the main and no topsail. Of course if you are members of the East Coast Youth, you’ll carry full rig with crew out on the trapeze and Ed trying to get boat planing! I think she is very pretty and judging by the amount of photos that get taken I might not be alone. Mark Butler IS a "Guru" many thanks to him and his dedicated loft crew. Many thanks also to Ed Roberts for his assistance and design discussions. Will we ever use the 1 hour it takes to reverse the rig to Bermudan? Well, to quote another song "…who wants to do that"!!

August Cruise Ahoy!

Saturday, August 12, 2017 to Sunday, August 20, 2017 Here is the outline programme for our new­look August Cruise. We may be starting in the standard way with a fun regatta at Ipswich dock, but after that we head south, to explore the Blackwater. The cruise last went there in 2013, and this felt like a good year to do it again!

Saturday 12th August ­ meet at Ipswich Dock, with the Great Boatish Bake­ Off (more details soon on the website). Starters / hors d’oeuvres 6.00 – 7.30pm Sunday 13th ­ Regatta and evening meal aboard the Sailing Barge Victor Monday 14th / Tuesday 15th ­ passage race to the Colne / Blackwater, Tuesday evening drinks at West Mersea Wednesday 16th ­ Gafferteering (what we called the Crazy Race last year),

20 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 finishing up at Osea Island for a BBQ Thursday 17th ­ early start to lock in to Heybridge Basin, followed by a day in Maldon including a “drink as much as you like” brewery tour Friday 18th ­ Two Rivers race to the Pyefleet, with a Safari Supper Saturday 19th ­ Presidents Race finishing in Brightlingsea and Prizegiving Dinner in the Colne YC, with music from John and Mario. There will be a choice of meals, not just chicken in sauce! Sunday 20th ­ head for home, or to Burnham if you plan to join the bank holiday celebrations there. You may be too late to book a meal at the Colne Yacht Club, but you can always join in for part of the cruise if you can not participate in the whole event. Please book now if you have not already, with [email protected]

OGA Members Welcome!

Burnham week, 26th August to Saturday 2nd September It is the 125 anniversary of Burnham week, and they are keen to have a wide range of boats sailing to reflect how long it has been running. They are running an Old Gaffers Class racing class as well as the standard modern ones. Book directly through the Burnham week website. Gaffers have been promised free moorings in the week between the end of our cruise and Burnham week. Maritime Woodbridge, Saturday 9th September This is a Maritime Woodbridge year, and while not organised by the OGA many of our boats will be in attendance. This year we will be holding the final race in the Small Boats Point Series, watch the website for details.

Maldon Regatta, Saturday 23rd September The Maldon Regatta also encourages OGA boats to join in, and their race counts towards the Large Boat points series. With the Crouch Rally race only

21 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 having two finishers, this may be the one to balance the August Cruise bias in the points! This year the Little Ships Club in Maldon have decided to organise their own dinner, rather than leave it to the Gaffers, but OGA members will be more than welcome to attend. This will be held in the MLSC on Saturday evening, 6.30 for 7pm – main course beef casserole with vegetables, and a vegetarian alternative – followed by crumble and custard. £10 per person. Please book and pay by Wednesday 20th September with Sue Woods 01621 853015 [email protected]

Excelsior in 2018 The East Coast Committee have thought long and hard about how to celebrate the 55th Anniversary of the OGA. The Golden Anniversary saw many boats travelling to Cowes, but it is a long way to come! In 2018 we will be based at the Folly Inn, up the Medina river on the Isle of Wight, rather than in Cowes itself, with the idea that the small boats and trailer sailors might join by road. But what about the rest of us, who did not fancy the long slog round to the Solent? There is camping nearby, but it would be nice to stay on a boat and have a sail….

We looked at hiring a vessel that members without their own boat could sail and stay on, and found Excelsior. Measuring 23.5 metres long with a 6 metre beam and a draught of 3 metres,

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Excelsior LT472 was built in Lowestoft in 1921. She was purchased by a local consortium to replace their 1885 smack that had been condemned after a collision with a steamer in foggy weather. In 1935 Excelsior was sold and converted to a motor coaster in Norway. She survived the war, despite a near miss from a British air attack! Later she was sold on to Sverre and Ole Borrüfsen of Svinor, near Mandal which was her port of registry. John Wylson bought her in 1971 and the following year sailed her back to Lowestoft, where he became partners with Mark Trevitt to restore her to sail. The pair spent the next few years replacing Excelsior’s framing and in 1983 formed the Excelsior Trust to complete the restoration using work experience students, many of whom found full­time employment after their training. In 2006 National Historic Ships rated Excelsior as one of the nation’s 60 most important historic vessels. Today she is proudly part of the National Historic Fleet of vessels ‘of pre­eminent national or regional significance’. The Trust offers sailing to youth groups and people training for their Duke of Edinburgh awards, as well as being available for charter. Excelsior has a professional skipper, but there is plenty for the rest of the crew to do, and as a sail training vessel there is plenty to learn even for experienced sailors. Watches are normally 3 hours long with a crew member as watch leader, so there is also plenty of time to socialise with the other people on board. The Excelsior Trust have agreed to join the OGA at the OGA regatta on Aug 16th ­19th. This requires them to leave Lowestoft, where they are based, on Aug 6th, with the aim of arriving in Portsmouth on Aug 12th. The route is obviously weather dependant, but may include Ostend. After the regatta they would head back to Lowestoft, aiming to reach home base by 26th August. The trip is in three parts, with each being bookable separately, no need to commit to the trip there, during, and back! There may also be day sails available in the Solent. This programme is dependant on OGA members actually booking places on the boat! Food on board is included. Charges are £90 per person per night on board for all voyages, with a 15% deposit being taken with the booking, 50% at 12 weeks, and the full balance 8 weeks before the trip. The trip has not yet

23 Eastcoaster 112 East Coast OGA Newsletter August 2017 been advertised elsewhere, so is currently exclusive to the OGA. It is possible that part of the voyage might be used for young people's sail training, but first we need to get enough people booked on Excelsior to make sure the trip goes ahead at all. The Trust try not to mix youth groups with other charterers, but if we can fill a one way trip and the OGA regatta section then the voyage in the other direction might end up as a youth sail, and everyone remembers how much Pioneer's youth group enjoyed the last anniversary! If you are interested, get in touch with Rachel at the Trust, who will answer any questions you may have and take bookings directly. This can be done on the phone 08453082323, or through email; [email protected]

Backstay I would like to thank all the contributors as we come to the end of a longer than usual issue. I am sure that the concentration on small boats this time will be balanced by events during the August Cruise, but for that to happen I need contributions! If you attended the Southwold event please let me know how it went, did you have a perfect day during the August Cruise? What did you think of your trip down the Wallet to the Blackwater? What did the weather do to you at Maldon? Please write up these and other events, then send in words and pictures to me at [email protected] by Monday 23rd October, ready for publication in the November Issue. If you have no internet, please post articles to me 146 Stortford Hall Park, Bishop's Stortford, Herts, CM23 5AP Alison Cable. Editor, Eastcoaster

For Sale Finesse 24 Bermuda Cutter. Built 1969 of mahogany on oak. 4 berths, Yanmar 12hp diesel ( just overhauled) 4 good sails and complete inventory NEEDS WORK to DECK AND COCKPIT. Ashore N. Essex £850. Please phone David Skinner on 01255 675358 or 07740 636158

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