The 2021 Regatta will feature a Parade of Traditional Boats starting at 1.30pm from the Hard and parading down the harbour and out to Bateman’s Tower. Members of the pubic will be able to view the parade from anywhere along the Harbour and Promenade between approximately 1.30pm and 2pm.
Owner’s of traditional vessels are invited to participate and are asked to contact Oonagh Werngren at Colne Yacht Club giving details of their vessel (name, age, name of builder and where built, type of boat, any interesting information or stories about the boat, name of skipper and if appropriate crew, etc) to allow for commentary to be provided as you pass by. Vessels will assembly in the vicinity of Morgan Marine from 1pm and the Parade down the harbour will commence at 1.30pm. Further details will be sent to all registered participants prior to the event.
For those participating there will be a competition for the Best In Parade and the prize for the winning boat will be a historic Pusser’s Rum decanter and a bottle of Pusser’s finest rum!
Boats participating in the parade will include:
Maria – CK21
Built 1866 Harris Bros at Rowhedge, Maria is a Colchester smack built for stowboating (fishing) for sprats, and she fished the Wallet and local waters for over 50 years. Fully restored between 2004 – 2008 by Paul Winter who has owned the smack for 27 years, Maria is engineless, 20 tons and has a working sail area of 1,750 sq ft.
My Alice – CK348
My Alice is a Gaff Cutter, designed and built locally by Charles Kidby of Brightlingsea in 1907, at the height of the Edwardian period, when yachting was the pursuit of the wealthy and local fishermen provided the crew. With a length overall of 20.44 m and a beam of 3.54m she was originally designed to fish for sprats under sail only, but she also proved to be a fast, racing boat and winner of many trophies. My Alice is now recognised as part of the National Historic Fleet. For the parade she will be skippered by owner Stephen Heppell and his family and friends.
Duet
Formerly based in Brightlingsea with the Ocean Youth Club Fleet, Duet is now part of the Cirdan Trust. She is a fine example of a gaff-rigged yawl retaining the features of an Edwardian classic yacht. She is 21.95 metres long (including spars) and has a beam of 3.38 metres. Duet is built of wood with beautiful teak decks and has most of her original high-quality fittings including the original rig. Designed by Linton Hope and built at White’s yard on the River Itchen in Hampshire, Duet was launched in 1912 as ‘Gaviotta’. She will be skippered by Steven Hunt, with Rose Ravetz as Mate.
Shona May
Shona May is a Mevagissey Tosher gaff cutter, built in fibreglass by the Heard Brothers at Mylor in 1984 from hull moulds taken from a 1890 Cornish fishing boat named Yoyo. She is 18ft LOD, 23ft LOA and 6ft in the beam. For the Parade she will be sailed by Andy Conroy.
Modom – Brightlingsea Built Sea Ranger
Locally built by Brightlingsea Boat Builder Fred Mitchell in the 1950’s, this is a 12 foot clinker built, general purpose dinghy with a small jib and modest mainsail and a gunter rig. Fred’s first customer was Mrs. Nichols, who ran the Brightlingsea Sea Rangers at the time. The boat proved popular around Essex with fleets in Clacton, West Mersea and the Gunfleet but also reaching as far as Wales and the South West.
Flora
Subject to the weather Jeremy and Nicky Newman will be taking part in the Parade in Flora, a 23 ft white hulled Norfolk Gypsy with cream sails (no Number ) built by Neil Thompson boats of Norfolk in 1990. They will have the bunting out.
Brightlingsea Regatta 