Sailing Coble Festival

The Bridlington Sailing Coble Festival in east Yorkshire featured 11 cobles, the largest gathering of traditional sailing vessels at Bridlington, writes Paul L Arro. Among the fleet was the recently restored pilot coble Venus, restored by John Clarkson and volunteers from the Bridlington Sailing Coble Preservation Society (BSCPS). Built in 1900 Venus is the oldest coble still afloat. She was lowered into the water after being christened with a bottle of rum by Julie Coultas, secretary of the society, as the event got underway.

Other participants included the 40ft Three Brothers, built locally by Baker and Percy Siddall in 1912, and visitors Providence from Whitby, built in 1949 at Amble, and the keelboat Granby, built by the Elton Boatbuilding Company of Kirkcudbright in 1983, both of which sailed to the event. Spider T, a 62ft iron-hulled Humber Sloop built in 1926 and one of only three of her kind on the National Register of Historic Vessels, was present from Grimsby. Other visiting cobles included Julie B, built 1988, from Scarborough and Grace, built 1990, from Staithes. The double-ended beach boat Crystal Sea, of 1954, had also arrived by road after making the journey down from Cockenzie, Scotland.

The tide had made su¥ciently by mid morning for the sailing cobles to get alongside the quay and for crews to board. With visitors taking up the vantage point of the North Pier, the cobles made their way out of the harbour to the delight of those watching. The 11 cobles created a very impressive and nostalgic picture as the wind filled the tan-coloured sails and the fleet made its way across the bay towards the Flamborough Headland. One could imagine a similar scene from the late 1800s and early 1900s when the humble but ubiquitous coble was the mainstay of the inshore fishing industry.