OGA members enjoyed outstanding conditions for the Seabird Event at Wallasey Yacht Club at the end of June. Whilst the rest of the country were sweltering under temperatures of 30 degrees or more, we enjoyed a cooling north westerly sea breeze sailing off New Brighton at the mouth of the Mersey. The event gave OGA members a chance to sail in a Seabird with Wallasey Yacht Club members. Designed in 1898, Seabirds are the oldest continually raced class in the world. There are fleets at Wallasey, Abersoch and Trearddur Bay in Anglesey. Wallasey Yacht Club’s historic clubhouse includes workshops where the boats are maintained

There was some great sailing at our regatta at Ribble Cruising Club in Lytham.

It was sunny on both days, though on the second day, the sea state was roughier. Excellently arranged by Ann Ingham and Ribble Cruising Club. After sailing on Saturday there was a BBQ and camping at Lytham Creek, where the club’s cruiser fleet are kept on mud berths. On Sunday there was food at their Clubhouse overlooking the estuary on the Promenade. Well done for Chris Pearson and crew for sailing up from the Mersey in their 21-foot-long open cockpit Seabird Half Rater.

Arnside Sailing Club have installed a new maritime heritage display in their clubhouse outlining the maritime history of Arnside and of Severn their gaff rigged yacht.

Arnside has a long maritime history. The estuary was the port for Kendal. Leisure sailing developed in the nineteenth century with the building of big houses on the shore. The Victorians held regattas. Crossfields built Morecambe Bay Prawners and yachts of which a surprisingly large number are included in the OGA Boat Register.

The heritage display was opened by Councillor Helen Chaffey, Westmorland and Furness Cabinet member for Communities and Culture.

The North West OGA AGM took place at Ribble Cruising Club in Lytham on Saturday 28th February with 16 members attending.

The main business of the AGM is to approve the President's Report, the Treasurer's Report and Accounts and elect the committee for the following year. Chris Pearson from Wallasey Yacht Club joined the Committee for 2026 improving our representation from Merseyside. The AGM by a talk on Morecambe Bay Prawners and lunch. The AGM is also opportunity for members to meet out of season.

You can download documents from the meeting below

	2026 North West Presidents Report	[pdf 288KB]
	2026 North West Treasurer Report and Accounts	[pdf 269KB]
	2026 North West AGM minutes	[pdf 83KB]

Our Ullswater Rally attracted 15 boats, including all 6 Gafflings and 12 members from the East Coast Area. Helped by the warm summer weather, we enjoyed three days' beautiful sailing. On Monday temperatures reached 26 degrees, though cooled by the wind on the lake.

We were based at Ullswater Yacht which makes an ideal location for a rally with onsite camping, space for campervans, boat storage, launching, showers, clubhouse and view of the lake and mountains.

On Saturday we sailed to Howtown, an isolated calling point for Ullswater steamers with a quay, small beach, nearby pub and tearoom.

Sunday saw us sail the full length of the lake to Glenridding.. Three hours there against the wind and two hours back with the wind behind us making for a glorious sail. The beach at Glenridding was very busy with sun bathers, paddle boarders, swimmers and kayakers enjoying the hot summer weather.

Evening events included a welcome buffet in the yacht club on Friday, a barbecue on Saturday and a meal in  a pub in a nearby village on Sunday.

See a video of the Event

Gaffling Championship

The Gaffling Championship was made up of three heats with the first and second boats going through to the final.

The winning boat was "Suffling" sailed by Peter Elliston and Beverley Daley Yates from the East Coast Area. The best North West boat came third. Two of the boats were helmed by teenagers.

See a video of the championship

The restoration of Arnside Sailing Club's Severn by David Moss at Skippool is now well advanced. Hopefully she should be on the water in 2025.

All the internal framework has been replaced, the counter at the stern rebuilt, a new keelson fitted and the iron keel reconditioned. A new central cockpit is being made. Severn will have a new mast and gaff. The restoration is funded by the National Lottery Heritage Fund, with smaller grants from other funders and donations. Severn was built in Arnside by Crossfields in 1912 for the Royal Mersey Yacht Club, 

Once the restoration is complete the club will need volunteers to help sail her, You can find out more about Severn and the Club by visiting their website. https://arnsidesailingclub.co.uk/severn/

We were again based at Ullswater Yacht Club at the Pooley Bridge end of the lake. On Friday we had dinner at a pub in Pooley Bridge before walking back to the Yacht Club along the lake in the dark guided by torchlight with mist rising from the water. The Yacht Club offers on site camping making it an ideal location to hold a rally.

We took advantage of Saturday's warm sunny weather to sail through increasingly mountainous scenery to Glenridding at the head of the lake, a distance of 7 miles. With a light easterly wind we had a glorious sail on a beam reach. At Glenridding where we stopped for a picnic lunch, we were greeted by paddleboarders, swimmers and people sunbathing on the beach enjoying the summer weather.

Lulled by the pleasant sail in the morning, we were expecting an easy sail back. However the wind was against meaning us that we had tack all the way back. At Glenridding end we had to cope with light winds and wind shifts. At times we felt as we were going backwards. Once past the Narrows into the final  Northern Reach of the lake winds picked up with sudden gusts of 30 mph appearing from nowhere. As it was getting late, we abandoned sail with one boat towing another boat back.

Notwithstanding the above a great day's sailing.

We had a great weekend at our rally at Windermere Jetty Museum at start of August 2024

On Saturday we enjoyed a cruise in company up to Ambleside with sunshine and good winds. Sunday was slightly greyer and windier. Having enjoyed a tour round the Museum and boat conservation workshop, we sailed to the beach at High Wray Bay (photo) for a picnic lunch (with permission from the National Trust to land there). 

The Museum is an excellent venue for a classic boat regatta. It tells the story of Windermere's boating history. The Lake was at the forefront of boat design with rich Victorians competing to have the best boat. Its collection features sailing, steam, speed and flying boats. One of its boat Merlin lead the recent 120th anniversary parade of Royal Windermere 17 foot class.

We were joined by a boat from Blackwell Sailing on both days, a charity who use gaff rigged Lune Whammels to take disabled people sailing. They also kindly lent us their safety boat for the event. You can find out more about Blackwell Sailing on https://blackwellsailing.com

The new Morecambe Bay Prawner Trust have brought buy Spray, a boat built in Arnside by Crossfields in 1896. She is one of the oldest Morecambe Bay Prawners in existence. Crossfields were leading builders of Morecambe Bay Prawners and yachts from the 1840s to 1940s. Several North West OGA members are involved with the charity. 

Spray was originally built for John Gardner a Morecambe fisherman. In the 1890s there was a fleet of around 100 prawners based at Morecambe. Spray was raced in 1921 Morecambe Regatta by James Baxter whose company still sells potted Morecambe Bay shrimps. During her long career Spray has been kept on the Solway, Mersey and Dee Estuary, as well as at Morecambe.

The new Trust will operate on similar lines to the Nancy Blackett Trust, which owns one of Arthur Ransome's boats. There will be a small membership fee with people paying additional sailing contributions each time they go out on her, 

Joining the Trust gives a unique chance to sail and maintain a Morecambe Bay Prawner and help preserve a part of the area's maritime heritage. As a charity the Trust can claim 25% gift aid back on any donations..

It is planned that Spray will be kept at Sunderland Point south of Lancaster in summer. Sunderland Point is a small eighteenth century trading post at the mouth of the Lune Estuary with a timeless air approached by a tidal road across the salt marsh. The village gives good access to the Lune Deep and Irish Sea, yet sheltered from the westerly winds. The Lune Deep is a natural deepwater channel on the south side of Morecambe Bay leading to Heysham.

The boat has been extensively cruised in the Irish Sea in the past including Isle of Man, Ireland, Firth of Clyde and North Wales.

If you are interested in joining the Trust contact alasdairsimpson2@gmail.com.

The AGM of the North West Area took place in Ribble Cruising Club in Lytham on 2nd March 2024. It was attended by 18 North West members.There are several gaff rig boats in the Cruising Club..

Reports and Accounts for 2023 were approved. The North West Area has had a successful year running events at Arnside, South Windermere and Ullawater with membership growing by 50% with 23 memberships in the past year. In January 2024 we hosted the National AGM Weekend in Liverpool.

The new committee for 2024 were elected. They are

President Jeremy Lambert

Secretary Alasdair Simpson 

Commitee members Robin Ashcroft and Ann Ingham

Subsequent to the meeting Nick Costen agreed to be Treasurer.

Kevin Goulding stood down as Area President after 14 years in the role.. There was vote of thanks for his leadership of the Area over the last 14 years. His leadership, experience, knowledge and advice has been invaluable to the OGA in the North West. He played the lead role in organising the National AGM in Liverpool in January.

Talk by Adrian Denye (Character Boats 1998 - 2016)

The AGM was followed by lunch and a fascinating talk by Adrian Denye who ran Character Boats from 1998 to 2013. Boats built by Character Boats include Whammels, Pilot and Post Boats. Adrian's family were from Belguim, where they had been boat builders for generations, Adrian's grandfather had escaped Belguim in a fishing boat during the First World War, setting up Star Model Yachts in Birkenhead, the largest supplier of model yacthts in the World. At the age of 13, Adrian was a sand yacht champion designing his own yachts. After a career in the furniture industry, Adrian did a degree in yacht design and subsquently took over Character Boats from Bill Baliff. Adrian made several change to the design for example making the hulls double skinned.

We would like to thank Ribble Cruising for hosting us and for arrranging an outstanding food spread at lunchtime. We hope to hold an event there later this year.

Around 50 people gathered for the Crossfields’ Conference in November 2023. Crossfields of Arnside were leading builders of Morecambe Bay Prawners and yachts from 1840s from 1940s. There are 41 Crossfields’ boats on the OGA Boat Register, though sadly not all still in existence.

There were talks about the history of Morecambe Bay Prawners and individual boats.The conference was chaired by Eric Crossfield, the great grandson of William Crossfield who set up the Beach Walk Boatyard in Arnside,

Nick Miller, author of the Lancashire Nobby covered the history of nobbies from the early nineteenth century onwards and the different fishing techniques used. The skill involved in sailing, fishing, and sorting with the catch often single handed must have been immense. Maurice Evans talked about the decline of  Morecambe Bay Prawners.. Crossfields built their last prawner in Arnside in 1937. Factors included the availability of cheap ex naval craft after the Second World War, engines and wheelhouses.

Mike Beckett, the OGA’s President talked about Bonita’s OGA 60 round Britain voyage. Built in 1888, Bonita is the earliest boat built by Crossfields’ still sailing. She is one of their first to have an elliptical counter rather than a square stern. Crossfields took the idea from Windermere racing yachts.

Laura (picture), now owned by Michael Leahy, the OGA’s North Wales Secretary, has one of the most interesting histories of any Crossfields boat. Built as a yacht in 1909, she featured in the 1953 book “I brought a Prawning Boat” by Edward Delmar-Morgan about his purchase of Laura. The book includes a fictionalised version of her history. Edward later lived aboard Laura with his young family commuting by train to work in London. In 1985 she was brought by Gayle Heard the Tollesbury sailmaker, winning nearly every OGA race she entered in the 1990s. Micheal gave a very interesting talk about Laura’s history, how he came to own her and his ownership of the boat.

David Moss, a wooden boatbuilder based at Skippool Creek near Blackpool, gave an update on the restoration of Arnside Sailing Club’s Severn. The internal framework on Severn has now been replaced  and the ounter rebuilt. The boat will have a  hollow mast on a tabernacle to make lifting easier. Adam Kyffin and Ruth Taylor recounted their experiences of sailing in Severn as children. Severn was owned by Adam’s parents and subsequently Ruth’s parents at Porthmadog in North Wales in the 1960s. Severn was built for the Royal Mersey by Crossfields in 1912 and brought by Arnside in 2018 to have a Crossfields’ boat in the village.

Simon Williams, a local historian gave a talk about Matchless a boat taking holiday makers from Morecambe to Grange-over- Sands which capsized in 1894 drowning 25 people. The boat was being sailed by one person. With 33 people on board, probably overloaded.

John Hobson talked about the Pride of Liverpool, which is being restored by NOA Classic Boat Association to provide an opportunity for people who do not own their own boat to sail a nobby. The Pride of Liverpool is one of around 12 boats made from the mould of Sir William Priestley, the Morecambe Fisherman’s lifeboat built in 1934 by Crossfields.

There were talks about Pastime, a yacht built by Crossfields in 1909 by Andrew Price and Melinda Elder, whose father / uncle, Peter Price kept the boat at Menai Straits in the 1960s and Dave Walters, a folk singer who owned her in 1970s. Subsequent, to David’s ownership Pastime sunk off Anglesey in a Force 11 gale. 

Dave wrote “Ballerina” which featured in his 1982 Album “Kites” about Pastime. He wrote the first two verses when owned the boat in partnership with a friend adding the final verse after she had sunk. Dave performed the song during the conference and subsequently in a concert in Arnside Sailing Club’ clubhouse in the evening. Dave took part in OGA 50 Round Britain Cruise in 2013 on Syene helping to provide music on the way. Many of Dave’s songs are about sailing.

As well as being a conference, the social aspect of the conference is important giving a chance for people to meet up and make new connections.

Arnside Sailing Club hope to repeat the conference in Autumn 2025.

The second annual Arnside Classic Boat Regatta took place in warm sunny weather in the first weekend of June, attracting eight boats with traditional rigs. With club racing taking place as well there were a lot of boats out on the estuary. With people watching from the beach, there was holiday atmosphere in the village

The Regatta was organised in partnership with Arnside Sailing Club. Arnside has a long sailing history with the Victorians holding regattas and Crossfield building boats, including Bonita which is owned by Mike Beckett, the OGA President.

The Club own Severn, a yacht built by Crossfields in 1912 which is currently been restored by David Moss at Skippool with the help of a £58,000 National Lottery Heritage Grant. Hopefully Severn should make the 2024 Regatta,

Winds were quite light with several boats having to be towed back.

Arnside Sailing Club hope to build on this year's event, for example by adding a Regatta supper and dance afterwards.

Organised by the Wooden Boatbuilders Trade Association, the first Wooden Boat Gathering was held at Windermere Jetties Museum in May. The event aims to bring together people with an interest in wooden boats to share ideas, catch up and talk. It seeks to retain the social aspects of wooden boat shows at Greenwich and Beale Park that no longer take place.

Three OGA members from South Windermere Sailing Club came up in their boats: Tim Jenner in Nutmeg, a David Moss Sea Otter and Jemery Lambert and David Hindle in Kria, an Artic Tern an Iain Oughtred double ender based on the design of Shetland fishing yoals.

Windermere Jetties which opened in 2019 has a fascinating collection of craft associated with the lake including steamboats, gaff rigged yachts, speed boats and sea planes. The Museum welcomes people arriving in the own boats.

The Gathering included talks, museum tours, social events and a chance to see boats that wooden boat builders and visitors had brought to the event.

Speakers included Andrew Wolstenholme, the designer of the Gaffing Dinghy and OGA member. Stephen Beresford, the head boatbuilder at Windermere Jetty talked about the different approaches to boat restoration. For example, how a boat is preserved for display indoors in a museum is very different from to the approach taken with a boat used to take out passengers on the lake. As the appearance and use of a boat changes over its life, for example a fishing boat might become a yacht, what period of a vessel’s life do you restore it to is another question.

The boatbuilding team lead tours of the museum and each gave their own, in-depth, perspective on the collection and the work that was underway in the workshops.

The Wooden Boatbuilders Trade Association plan to hold a second Gathering in 2023.

Shipshape Northern Hub Conference

The day before the Wooden Boat Gathering the first conference of the Shipshape Northern Hub was held.

The Shipshape Network has been set up by the National Historic Ships Register to bring together people and organisation with an interest in maritime heritage. It has eight regions, with hubs or centres of excellence. Windermere Jetties are the Northern Regional Shipshape Hub. Speakers included museum curators and people looking after historic boats. 

Sailing to Windermere Jetties in your own boat

For owners of small gaff rigged boats (or bigger boats) it possible to launch from the Council owned slipway by at Ferry Nab, south of Bowness or at Fellfoot Country Park at the south end of the Lake and sail up to the Museum following the new RYA Windermere Dinghy Trail. You can moor on one of the jetties at Museum free of charge for three hours.

The Nobby Owners Association are restoring the Pride of Liverpool, so that people who are not able to own or maintain a Nobby themselves, can get a chance to go out in one. 

The Pride of Liverpool is one of the boats made from the moulds taken from the Sir William Priestley by Eric Bergqvist in 1979. The Sir William was built by Crossfields in Arnside in 1934 as the Morecambe lifeboat. In Morecambe the town's lifeboat was provided by the Fisherman's Association. Sir William himself was a Bradford mill owner and MP. 

To find out more about the project, volunteer to help or just follow progress on videos. Nobby Owners - Pride of Liverpool