Tall Ships, Small Ships, craftsmanship, classic boat sailors – all brought alive in photos and captions that capture the revival of old and vintage boats during the decades since the first Brest Festival in 1992
The famous yacht and dinghy designer and Canadian olympic sailor Bruce Kirby has died, aged 92. Among his many designs he drew the Laser Dinghy in 1969 since 1970 more than 215,000 Lasers have been built worldwide. Kirby began his working life as a newspaper journalist at his home town in Ottawa and then on [...]
In the course of researching his new biography of the yachtsman George Millar, the journalist Ben Lowings discovered the former war hero agreed to run guns into the Mediterranean. George Millar (1910-2005) was a soldier who escaped from a Nazi prison camp and became an undercover agent working with the French Resistance in 1944. [...]
SEA CADETS HIGHLIGHT THEIR LEGAsea Naval Charity publishes My LegaSea report – surveying former cadets on the impact of structured youth activity My LegaSea - launching into life is a ground-breaking multi-generational research study commissioned by the Marine Society and Sea Cadets (MSSC) and delivered by independent researchers. It was was designed and guided by [...]
Why are lifeboats the colour they are today... and how did they become like that? Cracking footage in this short video explains some of the history "
Ten incredibly rare chart drawings that show in stages the defeat of the Spanish Armada in 1588, a defining moment in the creation of England’s maritime identity, have been saved from export Last-ditch campaign raised £600,000 in two months, including £212,800 from the National Heritage Memorial Fund, and £200,000 from the Art Fund Members of [...]
Early medieval texts show how the steering star has been a friend to sailors through the ages. “...till atte last gan fall Such a myst among hem that no man myght se other, That wele was hym that had there the blessing of his moder. For thre dayes dessantly the derknes among hem was That [...]
From the BFI library of film this shows maritime Cornwall at the height of the first world war. Clips show Looe, Polperro, St Ives (with artist!) and children climbing over the wreck of a boat. Despite conscription having been introduced in March that year fishermen were largely exempt from the draft as theirs was considered [...]
Charlestown Harbour welcomes a new boat, Mascotte - the largest surviving Bristol Chanel Pilot Cutter - which also marks the launch of a new charitable sailing charity using Mascotte, called Rich’s Boat. The charity, named after Mascotte's longterm skipper Richard Clapham who tragically took his own life last year, seeks to make sailing more accessible and champion positive [...]
