Turkey Race
First held in 2018, the Turkey Race is the annual season closer for the Mersea Fisherman Open Boats (MFOB), writes Seamus Masters. Also known as winkle brigs, these charming old clinker boats now enjoy a new lease of life racing on the waters they once worked over 100 years ago. This autumn, a fleet of 19 brigs set o from the Dabchicks SC start line, o West Mersea, before threading their way through the moorings and out to the open waters of the River Blackwater. Woodpecker (inset right), skippered by Phil Plumtree, was first across the finish line and took the win on corrected time ahead of Gerard Swift’s Gipsy. Also competing, in a separate pursuit race, were nine Essex oyster smacks. Setting o in three staggered starts, slow, medium and fast, the smacks raced a course in the Blackwater with the Brightlingsea smack, Priscilla taking overall honours.