Broads sailing craft

[Friendly Angler]

This boat, over 100 years old, is still sailing on the Broads. This is a post card from early 1900.

Edited January 12, 2007 by Friendly Angler

[Liam]

As I have no experience whatsoever of sailing boats I'm amazed at how those things don't go over.

[Friendly Angler]

The one with the long red bob is us lot, racing on Oulton Broad.

 

Us lot again.

 

To me this conjours up the magic of Broads sailing.

 

One of the bigger boats, with well in excess of 1000 square feet of sail, and an all girl crew.

 

White sails in the sunset.

A bit of a creative type shot.

Edited January 12, 2007 by Friendly Angler

[nigel carton]

Excellent pictures! I think you should put a couple in the photo of the month comp, specially the third one down.

 

Nigel

[Janet S]

To me this conjours up the magic of Broads sailing.

 

Stunning shot. Why not post it in our monthly photo competition?

 

Janet

 

Edit: you were quicker than me Nigel!

Edited January 12, 2007 by Janet S

[Friendly Angler]

The above are all typical Broads sailing cruisers, evolved to suit the limitations of the Broads. Many have cabin tops that lift to allow the occupants to stand up when not sailing. The cabin tops are also shaped to go under Potter H'am bridge, the lowest on the system. Most draw about three foot six inches and all have a mast set on a pivot, tabernackle, so the mast can be lowered quickly and easily by one person when coming up to a bridge. They vary from comfortable sailing homes to extreme racing machines, from 24' to 45' or so. Some are over 100 years old, some look like they are and some have carried on evolving.

 

Thank you for your kind words.

 

A useful link here:-

http://www.rivercruiser.org/html/History.php

That will tell you more about the boats. There are over 400 of them sailing the Broads, we are almost as obsessed with them as you folk are with your canal boat!

[Friendly Angler]

 

Another one of 'Spray'.

 

If any of you should ever wish to go foreign and take a trip on the Broads in a similar boat then the Hunter Fleet is the place to go:

http://www.huntersyard.co.uk/

 

 

 

Most of our sailing cruisers can trace their ancestory back to the Norfolk Wherry, the 'Black Sailed Trader'. This is a post card of about 1950, but it is a scene that could be seen today. The wherry is a sailing cargo boat. We don't have tow paths so it was either go by sail or by quant. A quant is a long timber pole that you put your should against and push into the bottom of the river, you then walk along the side decks and forward you go!

Edited January 12, 2007 by Friendly Angler

[Friendly Angler]

Some of you might wonder what my avatar is, well, its a Jenny Morgan. Peculiar to the Broads yet it is modelled on a Welsh girl. No one is sure of its origins but it is the traditional vane at the top of a wherry's mast, and it carried a 6' red bob.

 

Early models had N.S.E. and W on them but that was later removed!

[carlt]

Between you and supermalc I can see me heading back to the coast, though I think my sailing days are behind me.

There's a lovely Langoustier (breton crabber) that I've got my eye on in cornwall though. No more BW, no more hauling 30'x1'x2" planks of hot wood about, I'd knock a nought off my annual fees and I could eat the fish.

 

Welcome to the forum Friendly angler, I love your boat and your photos.

[NB Alnwick]

What an entrance! Hiring a boat from Hunters Boat Yard looks really tempting but first we probably ought to establish if they have the right inverter, generator and galvanic isolator.

 

Sorry! In joke - couldn't resist it . . .

Edited January 12, 2007 by NB Alnwick

[fuzzyduck]

Peter, or is that Jenny?

 

Hiya, and thanks for those pics, brightens up my normal ditch crawling.

 

N.B Alnwick

 

The Hunters fleet has to be the most romantic hire boats anywhere in the UK, but there are other Yards, some of the boats even have engines! No, really, they do.

 

my favorite hire base, and they seem to having a bit of a struggle at the moment. http://www.nbyco.co.uk go on, you know you want to....

 

wherrys are ace, I've even hit Albion's tender.

 

one of my all time favorite boats....

 

Edited January 13, 2007 by fuzzyduck

[Supermalc]

Brialliant photos....enjoyed them all.

 

Carl - see if you can organize a day out fishing with us this year sometime. Alan (Fuzzy) came with me on my first trip.

[NB Alnwick]

N.B Alnwick

 

The Hunters fleet has to be the most romantic hire boats anywhere in the UK, but there are other Yards, some of the boats even have engines! No, really, they do.

 

my favorite hire base, and they seem to having a bit of a struggle at the moment. http://www.nbyco.co.uk go on, you know you want to....

 

I want one!

 

Oh dear

[Supermalc]

Or if you want sailing, I'm pretty sure Ken can organize that.

[alan_fincher]

Yes,

 

Some brilliant photos - you could certainly put one or two of the very best into the Photo of the Month competition.

 

I must admit I've never done the broads, and, with a canal narrowboat now costing me an arm and a leg, I feel compelled to use that whenever possible, and I'm unlikely to do much boating anywhere else for many years, I'm afraid.

 

But the broads and their history do fascinate me, not least because I do a bit of family history research on the side, and know that distant cousins of my mother, (who is Norfolk Born), were Wherrymen in the late 19th century, and quite possibly well into the 20th, (I don't know...).

 

Thanks for posting these - super!

 

Alan

[Friendly Angler]

Fuzzy Duck, thats me! Small world.

 

Your picture, is that 'America'?

 

Re the Albion, she's a local wherry, one of our cargo carriers, see:

http://www.wherryalbion.org.uk/

 

If any of you are wondering where Fuzzy Duck has met me then I am guessing it's here:

http://www.the-norfolk-broads.co.uk/

On the Broads I use the name 'jenny Morgan' as its the name of my boat. That has had some quite amusing spin-offs as some quite flirtatious males have e-mailed me! And there was me thinking that all Broadlanders would know what a Jenny Morgan was!

Edited January 13, 2007 by Friendly Angler

[fuzzyduck]

absolutely correct. with where i've seen you before.

 

the boat is Zoe.

 

oh and you have a PM.