Features
and Reviews
Trawlers round the
Bay!
This year the annual
Trawler Race got underway from Brixham on Saturday June 19th
, with two laps of the Bay and fun and festivities on the quayside
all raising money for local charities. |
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Over
1150 people boarded 36 boats involved in the Race. The MCA boarded
six vessels to ensure they were compliant with maritime regulations
and the boats all met with the requirements. Local boats were
joined by two Dutch vessels: ‘Cornelis Senior', a trawler operating
out of Holland in the North Sea and ‘Hibernia', a mussel dredger
operating in the Irish Sea. |
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Amongst the different
classes of boats were Beam Trawlers, largest of the boats,
which normally go to sea for 7 to 10 days, catching the majority
of prime fish i.e. Sole, Turbot, Brill, Plaice and Cuttlefish.
Alongside were the smaller Day Boats which normally concentrate
on such varieties as Red Mullet, Squid, Sea Bass, Mackerel,
Cod and Lemon Sole and then there were the Scallopers and
Crabbers adding to the fleet that set sail from the start
opposite Battery Gardens.
For
photos of individual trawlers click here...
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This
year's winner was BM188 the Lloyd Tyler, a Brixham Beamer skippered
by Alan Scales who retains the prize bell donated each year
by the Maaskant Shipyard , whilst the second place beamer
trophy went to the Kerrie Marie and receiving the cup for third
place was the Catharina, who was also awarded the prize for
the Best Dressed Boat. |
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The
Pre-Race dinner dance was held at the Berry Head Hotel the evening
before the Race with this event raising substantial funds. The
total amount of money raised will be known shortly and then
monies will be allocated to local charities and organizations,
although this year the Trawler Race Association had to buy six
hundred lifejackets to comply with MCA regulations, so this
year's donations may be somewhat lower.
Last year £10,000
was given to local charities including: Brixham Youth Rugby,
Brixham In Bloom, Brixham Youth Enquiries Service, Torbay Sailability
Ltd and Ibex Canoe Club. The Trawler Race, resurrected in the
1960s, was a social rather than a charity event, but by 1987
the Port of Brixham Trawler Race Committee decided on the new
format designed to raise funds for local charities and to date
over £150,000 has been raised. |
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| John Traves
on behalf of the Port of Brixham Trawler Race Association Committee
said,' All in all, another successful Brixham Trawler Race. Our
thanks to all that took part, competitors, exhibitors, stall holders,
dignitaries, police officers and many others that supported the
event in many ways.' |
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| For the Scallopers, Geeske
was first, Van Dyke came in second and Sea Lady third. This
year the winning Scallopers also benefitted from the generous
donation of tooth bars from Bee-Jay Scalloping Gear. In
the Day Boats category Harvester was followed by Gina Louise
and third Gretel K,
whilst the winning Crabbers
were the ‘Ebonnie' (also winner of ‘Most Accurate Speed'), followed
by ‘Superbus' (which also won the ‘Smartest Start') and third
‘Fiona Mary'.
Other awards handed out by Superintendent of the Royal Mission
of Deep Sea Fishermen John Anderson included an
award for Pat Beasley with the ‘Eldest Serving' cup and a new
award was made to Dennis Kimble for his persistence in having
entered a vessel for the race for 48 consecutive years, whilst
the Cornelis Senior was presented with a cup for the boat
travelling the furthest to join the race. |
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Features
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