The Old Gaffers Festival 2009 – Celebrating its 50th Year of Racing – 29th to the 31st May

The now well established nationally recognised annual Old Gaffers festival will again be running this year from the 29th May to the 31st May. The first year that races were ran was way back in 1959, so this year we are celebrating 50 years of racing Gaffers on the Solent.

As usual this will not only be a super weekend of sailing nostalgia but a great place to bring the family for all the additional things happening in and around the Yarmouth area over the three days.

The old gaffers themselves will be on display on the water either racing or just looking good. They travel from all over the country to participate in this annual event. Some of the vessels there will be over 80 years old and one this year actually makes it to her 100th and is still going strong.

So what is a “Gaff Rig” a good description of this is where a sailing rig or configuration of sails in which the sail itself is four-cornered, fore-and-aft rigged, controlled at its peak and, usually, its entire head by a spar (pole) called the gaff. This gaff enables a fore and aft sail to be four sided, rather than triangular, and this as much as doubles the sail area that can be carried by that mast and boom (if a boom is used in the particular rig).  Many small craft over the years have deployed this style of rigging as with the doubling of the sail area the speed of the craft and its capability of manoeuvring in restricted waters are greatly enhanced.

Now that we have explained the technical aspects of why they are called “Gaff” we can move on and suggest to all to look out for the many different styles deployed within the visiting vessels. You can spend hours examining thinking about how these little boats were used all over the UK water ways to deliver the everyday necessities of a booming industrial society during the 18th and 19th Centuries.

This year’s festival will have over 100 vessels afloat as well as many things to do ashore such as Live Concerts, Classic Vehicle Displays, Craft Fair and Market, as well as Flower Festival and many places to eat and drink and while away the weekend.

It is expected that thousands of visitors will be attending so please remember to come early and see the opening ceremony being performed by Geoff Holt, he is the fastest disabled person to sail around the Isle of Wight in 2007, and BBC’s sports personality of the year 2007.

So make a note 12 noon on Friday 29th May for the start of a great weekend of fun at the 2009 Old Gaffers Festival, Yarmouth Harbour Isle of Wight.

You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.