Southend Barge Match

2023 Southend Barge Match 2nd September

Lastest Update:

As we are unable to guarantee sufficient participants to stage a satisfactory race, we have decided to cancel this year's match in order to concentrate our resources towards our match in 2024.

Please note our planned date for 2024 - Saturday June 8th.

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Having had a successful event in 2022 hosted by Thorpe Bay Yacht Club, we will be holding this year's event, in a similar manner, on Saturday 2nd September.


Start time will be around 1400 hrs. 


 We have a JustGiving page and would invite donations to help towards event costs. For sponsorship options please contact info@southendbargematch.co.uk

 We are sorry to hear of the passing of Grant Littler on May28th. Grant was chairman of the match committee for a considerable time, and an important contributor to keeping the Match going.
Our thoughts and best wishes go to his family at this sad time.
@
@barges wishing to enter the match, please see the Info for Barges link above, where all the necessary paperwork is available for download.

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Southend Barge Match Report 2022

The participating barges opted for a start under way, and the start was moved to 1230 to allow them some time to sail around in preparation.

The start line was off the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club inshore of the Mulberry harbour, and the barges both approached the start line on opposite sides of the Mulberry, with Marjorie crossing the line first, and Repertor just 27 seconds behind.

The course was:
Start line East to West
Special mark to port
Pierhead to starboard
Leigh Low Way Buoy to port
West Shoebury Buoy to port
Start line East to West
Special Mark to port
Pierhead to starboard
Leigh Low Way Buoy to port
Special mark to starboard
Finish line West to East

The barges had a fast run downwind to the first mark off Jubilee Beach where they had to gybe followed by a fast reach along the eastern side of the pier.

They then gybed around the pier head to run down to the Leigh Low Way buoy. With another gybe here, they they turned to beat back past the pier and headed up to the next mark to the West Shoebury buoy.

The barges made a long tack over towards the Kent shore with Marjorie leading. In a single long tack she winded to come across to the West Shoebury buoy, with Repertor winding shortly afterwards, and appearing to have gained on Marjorie on doing so.

After passing the West Shoebury they the re-crossed the start line East to West, this counting as the outer mark. At this point there was just 1 minute and 1 second between them.

They then went back down the gybe round the inshore mark, the pierhead, and Leigh Low Way buoy and then have to tack inshore on their return to the buoy off Jubilee beach before working to windward and finally across finish line West to East.

Marjorie eventually finished ahead of Repertor by just 4 minutes and 15 seconds. They had completed the course in just over 2 and a half hours.

Prizes were presented afterwards at the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club by Dick Durham, and a hot meal was provided in the Clubhouse.

This was a new format in an attempt to re-instate the race with a lot of necessary changes.
The participating barges liked the course, and it is a significant contrast to those sailed in other barge Matches.

We were very well supported by the officers and members of the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club, who provided a Committee boat, trot boats and a very warm welcome to the barge crews in their clubhouse.

We are very much looking forward now to develop the Match in this format and plan to publish a date for next year's after a review of the event.

Many thanks also to those who made donations to our match funds.

Photo credit Martin Harvey

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Here's a transcript of Dick Durham's light-hearted review of the days event, from the prizegiving:

Southend Barge Match 2022 – Dick Durham

It is unfortunate that not enough time was available  this year to have a mayoral chain forged for Adrian Bunting, Commodore of The Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.

Certainly he, and his fellow sailors deserve recognition for having stepped in to save the Southend Barge Match from extinction as the good burghers of our won town turned to 2022 August Bank Holiday weekend into a Bankrupt Holiday weekend for organisers David and Dilys Renouf.

No matter that the pair have in the past spent all year rounding up the world-famous Thames sailing barges to race off our town, providing models, exhibition boards, and historical literature for the many hundreds of interested visitors.

No, the local councillors demanded several thousands of pounds from the couple to stage the event. They may have the longest pier in the world but they have the shortest vision in the city.

Not to be thwarted David contacted Allan Barttram of the RNLI and his lifeboat came to the rescue – by using his contacts with the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.

David and I were graciously offered berths aboard Spartacus, the well-appointed Parker 285 belonging to Rupert and Linda Snow, who with help from ace racer Howard Warrington acted as the Southend Barge Match Committee boat.

It was a two-horse race as the sub-editor penning the Bingo blurb for The Sun newspaper used to say: ‘Everyone’s a winner’ as both the lovely 1899 Cann-built Marjorie and the iron-hulled 1924 Mistley-built Repertor were in a class of their own.

Once the giant orange start buoys went down, Howard, Rupert and Linda were in place with their flags, stop-watches and fog horns.

The start came and went but no barges were there. Five minutes later they crossed the line in their own majestic time.

‘We’re not used to this,’ said Howard and we up anchored and set off after the ‘fleet’.

‘My word I can’t believe how fast they’re going,’ Howard said. He clearly wasn’t used to that either.
After they sailed right into Southend’s Golden Mile to round the first mark frightening myopic flounders into thinking the weather had broken at last as their great canvas sails threw the Sea Life centre into shadow. Swimmers raced out of the sea for their camera phones.

It was then out round the pierhead and not a singe cent did Southend Council make from the stilled turnstiles of the normal multitude which flocks to Southend to sea  the tan-sailed ships.

Has the flood ended? Was it slack water? Has the inshore early ebb begun? Asked our sailors as they watched the barges stand out into the river and across to the Kent shore before tacking for the West Shoebury conical.

‘They’ve overshot the nark,’ said Howard again his mindset still influenced by the close-winded Hurricane 5.9X that he sails.

But as the two beauties sent weather going seas over their focs’le heads another Thorpe bay Yacht Club member in tending RIB shouted across to Rupert: ‘Can we have one for the club?’

To which Rupert replied: ‘Yes, you can look after it.’

And so the two lap race ended with an anchor finish.
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Update  27/08/22

Southend Barge Match Update 27/08/22.

Please note the following information may be subject to change at the organisers' discretion.

The match is being organised by the Southend Barge Match Committee and hosted by the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.

We have three barges entered, but one has had to withdraw from the match.

Barges Marjorie and Repertor will be taking part.

Start time will be around 1200 hours.

The start line will be set up between the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club and the Phoenix Mulberry Harbour off the foreshore. A race mark will be positioned between the start line and Southend Pier (Special mark)

Proposed course will be:
Start line East to West
Special mark to port
Pierhead to starboard
Leigh Low Way Buoy to port
West Shoebury Buoy to port
Start line East to West
Special Mark to port
Pierhead to starboard
Leigh Low Way Buoy to port
Special mark to starboard
Finish line West to East

Dependent on weather conditions the course may take around 2 hours to compete. Consideration may be made during the match to shorten or lengthen the course.

As we have not used this format for the race before, we are unsure where the best viewing points will be, but the barges should be visible from most locations between Thorpe Bay Yacht Club and Southend Pier for the whole of the race.

The start will be best viewed from the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club area, and the barges are likely to pass the seafront and the end of the pier four times during the match. 

Afterwards, the crews will muster ashore for a meal and prizegiving at the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club.

We would like to thank the people who have made generous donations to match funds to enable this match to take place.

A date for next year, with suitable tides, will be determined when we do a post-match review, but please note it is unlikely to to continue to take place on August Bank holiday weekend

We are very grateful for the help and support from the members and officials of the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club, and the barges and crew taking part.




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Date - Sunday August 28th. Start time 1130.

We will be working with the Thorpe Bay Yacht Club with a new format, based on courses sailed in early Southend Regatta Matches from the the 1870s through to the early 1900s.

Moving away from our recent base on Southend Pier, we will be working around high water to bring the race much closer inshore. New courses will be created, and the TBYC have offered to assist with the running of the race, so that we can start inshore close to their Clubhouse. Course details will be finalised nearer the date.

The tides are very suitable to hold this event on August Bank Holiday Sunday, just as we have in recent years, but tide considerations will make this a moveable date in subsequent years.

We have set up a JustGiving site, for donations towards the match, as we look for new sources of funding. Anyone interested in sponsoring the event in any way, please contact the Chairman at info@southendbargematch.co.uk

We are very grateful for the enthusiasm and support of TBYC, and look forward to making this event interesting for all concerned.

Entry forms, and other documents relating to the match, can be downloaded below, please register as soon as possible, so we can make sure we can organise accordingly, and get our catering arrangements finalised.

We would like to thank everyone for their continued support and look forward to the challenges this new format will generate.

David Renouf

Chairman, Southend Barge Match Committee
info@southendbargematch.co.uk
 
Downloadable documents:
Invitation Letter 2023
Entry Form 2023
Risk Assessments 2023
Major Incident Plan 2023
Local Regulations 2023
Guidance for OOD 2023
Barge Match Racing Rules 2023