A great weekend at the Thames Traditional Boat Festival.
The Thames Traditional Boat Festival was upon us again in July of this year, bringing boat enthusiasts, owners and builders together for a weekend full of excitement, interest and uniqueness! The weather brought suspense but to attendees delight it wasn’t as bad as previous years!
This year our chair of the WBTA was one of the judges amongst many including Stephen Dennett from Dennett Boatbuilders and Richard Freebody from the Peter Freebody boat yard handing out the prestigious awards. A well done to all of the winners from amateur restorations to best boat in show - congratulations.
As we know, this Boat Festival has the largest display of traditional boats in Europe, but the show is also made as big as it is due to the extraordinary range of other exhibitors displaying their handmade crafts, cars and associated marine equipment, and let’s not forget the amazing food court and music. As with every year the boat builders were in great attendance from Abbey Boatbuilder located in Norfolk specialising in restoration of classic wooden boats to Marcus Lewis Boatbuilder at the other end of the country located in Fowey, Cornwall. It was great to see The Boat Building Academy (BBA) - who are based in Lyme Regis - showing off a range of boats their students built. On the Saturday sailpast, Obioma Oji a graduate from the BBA, who co-founded BlueTree Boat Builders was joined by Abbey (from Abbey Boat Builder) and Belinda Joslin - to celebrate and promote Women In Boat Building. Thanks to TVBC ‘Young Boaters Cruise’ for hosting so many young and inspiring women on the sailpast.
Also in attendance this year was the largest fleet of Dunkirk ‘Little Ships’ celebrating their 85th sailpast. 22 ships commemorated the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force in 1940. Although this is the traditional boat festival there were newer builds and technology on display, showing how the boating industry is developing with the trends of sustainability and society whilst also celebrating the achievements and remembrance of older boats such as the Alaska which is the oldest boat on the River Thames. It was great to witness the visitors still supporting and keeping the festival alive ensuring the interest and curiosity remains high in traditional (and modern) wooden boating industry.
Wonderful to chat to apprentices and the slightly younger generation from various boat yards at the festival this year, celebrating their successes, such as Dan Lee, who took Colin out on Miss Isle. And lovely to see our affiliate members at the festival such as Joe Sykes from Sykes Timbers and the team from Watercraft magazine.
And finally the festival wouldn’t have been the festival without the evening entertainment at the Crooked Billet and food served by chef Paul Clerehugh’s team. A fantastic way to finish each evening. Always great to see the commandery of boat owners, enthusiasts and yards coming together to chat about life on the water. Thank you Lady McAlpine, until next year!