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Sutton Harbour gears up for classic festival
15 July 2010
Sutton Harbour is gearing up to host the Sutton Harbour Festival and Sutton Harbour Classic Boat Rally when up to 100 traditional vessels pack the harbour for what promises to be a weekend of waterside fun and entertainment.
This year’s event takes place over the weekend of Friday July 30 to Monday August 3 and features for the first time a major shoreside boatshow with up to 40 marine traders on the Saturday and Sunday.
This is the fifth consecutive year that Sutton Harbour has hosted the Plymouth Classics, formerly known as the Plymouth Classic Boat Rally.
Nigel Godefroy, chief executive of the Sutton Harbour Group, which is once again sponsoring the festival, said: “This year’s festival promises to be the best yet and has already attracted some fantastic entries to the Sutton Harbour Classic Boat Rally. There will be lots to see and do right round the historic harbour and it’s a great day out for all the family.”
Highlights will include:
• the Tamar sailing barge Shamrock, which will be making the journey to Sutton Harbour from the National Trust’s Cotehele Estate in the heart of the Tamar Valley
• the replica Cornish lugger Spirit of Mystery in which Pete Goss completed a re-enactment of an 11,800-mile journey from Cornwall to Australia last year
• the stunning 55ft Gaff ketch Donna Capel, originally built in Belgium in 1942 as a fishing boat and now lovingly restored
• the 52-foot, Fowey-built pilot cutter Cornubia, dating from 1911
The shoreside boatshow will include local boatyards and marine suppliers, marine artists and historians Ian and Eve Heard, world renowned artist Tim Thompson and local sculptor Penny Hardy. Sailing gig Spirit of Rame will be part of the shoreside exhibits, together with other traditional craft, and there will be live music throughout the day.
The Sea Chest Nautical Bookshop will have a stand, as will the RNLI and Royal National Mission to Deep Sea Fishermen.
Sutton Harbour Classic Boat Rally chairman Jonathan Brice, said: “Boats will start arriving on the Friday and will be in Sutton Harbour throughout all of Saturday and Sunday for people to come along and see. There will be a Parade of Sail on the Monday, which is a sight not to be missed, and the boats will be leaving from Tuesday morning.”
There is still room for more entries and boat owners can download an entry form at www.plymouthclassicboatrally.co.uk, where further details and a programme of events are available.
SUH.L
