PIN MILL BARGE MATCH AT 50
Left: Engineless Edme racing off Harwich with traditional sail plan, 2006
had not quite got the hang of the new enthusiasm for racing. When the start gun went off to start the barge match below Butterman’s Bay we were still sailing off Pin Mill’s muddy Hard, a mile or so upstream. There was very little wind, but we got round the course and even overtook the Maid of Connaught.
SAFETY CONCERNS
In 1966 two small passenger vessels in the West Country and Wales had sunk with loss of life. With a media outcry about safety on pleasure craft, the government promised to bring in tougher safely measures and for a while it looked as if they might stop sailing barges carrying passengers. In fact the situation cooled down, though the Pin Mill race that year was not allowed outside Harwich Harbour. Generally speaking sailing barges have done quite well in a world with increasing safety regulations, probably because they sail on inshore waters in the summer months.
Sailing and maintaining a traditional spritsail barge is a highly specialised subject and government agencies have tried to give them a wide berth, leaving regulation to skippers’ and owners’ organisations. However, many of the barges offering charter are confined to 12 passengers, which makes it extremely difficult for them to generate enough income to cover their costs. Until 1973 the early races were dominated by the Edith May, which won 11 times. Then Mirosa became the most consistent winner, with 13 firsts. She had traded until 1954 and then became a timber lighter before being rigged out to sail again. May has also done well, with nine firsts, and Xylonite has had seven firsts. After a long period as a timber lighter and then being slowly rebuilt, Edme won the Match for the first time in 1993 and has dominated the Pin Mill race since then, with six firsts. Both Mirosa and Edme are sailed without engines and are kept in traditional work appearance above deck. In 2007 Edme was entered in the Pin Mill race and sailed to Butterman’s Bay, but refused to start as a protest against motorised leeboard winches being fitted on a barge. This
48 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2011
“Edme refused to start as a protest against motorised leeboard winches”
threw the barge race world into turmoil. Some skippers were angry, saying barges were easier to sail with modern fittings, but the majority agreed that they should be kept as near as possible to working condition, otherwise there was no point in preserving them. In the early days Jack Haste, race secretary, remembered 22 barges racing. The average was down to18 by the time Julian Ackland took over in 1992, and is now about 13. In 2010, due to the cost of keeping barges going in the recession, the number fell to eight with some spectator barges.
REBUILDS RETURNING
Pin Mill Ipswich
S U F F O L K
River Orwell
Harwich
The good news in the 2009 race was that the 84ft (25.6m) steel Melissa, which the Webb brothers of Pin Mill had taken many years to rebuild, sailed in the race for the first time ever and won. She had not been under sail since 1944. Cambria has never raced in any of the post-war races, but just relaunched after a total rebuild she should take part for the first time in 2011. The Pin Mill race has achieved its founders’ aims and helped to keep barges sailing. Barges don’t last for ever, so thank goodness for the Heritage Lottery Fund that has financed the rebuilding of the Dawn, Thalatta and Cambria. It would be unthinkable for the Thames Estuary to be without the sight of a spritsail barge sailing on the horizon as they have done for 250 years.
Parade of Sail for for 2011
To celebrate its 50th event, Pin Mill Sailing Club has organised a Parade of Sail for Friday 24 June, leaving Pin Mill at 1630 and passing under the Orwell Bridge at about 1700, arriving at Ipswich at 1800. Next morning, Saturday 25 June, the Match starts in Butterman’s Bay from 0930. More details
www.pmsc.org.uk
ROBERT SIMPER
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68 |
Page 69 |
Page 70 |
Page 71 |
Page 72 |
Page 73 |
Page 74 |
Page 75 |
Page 76 |
Page 77 |
Page 78 |
Page 79 |
Page 80 |
Page 81 |
Page 82 |
Page 83 |
Page 84 |
Page 85 |
Page 86 |
Page 87 |
Page 88 |
Page 89 |
Page 90 |
Page 91 |
Page 92 |
Page 93 |
Page 94 |
Page 95 |
Page 96 |
Page 97 |
Page 98 |
Page 99 |
Page 100