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Review of Seafair Haven 2010

By John Arcus, Project Coordinator

On behalf of the organisers of SeaFair 2010 I would like to thank you for attending this year's event. Overall it was great success with 160 vessels joining us for 8 days.

As always the weather played its part in the event. Generally it was changeable through the week with good sailing breezes, sunny spells and patches of rain.

In response to a low pressure system threatening from the west on Thursday 1st July some of the larger vessels arrived early, other vessels sheltered in coastal ports and some skippers contacted us; disappointed that they were unable to join the event. The Saturday Fishguard race was sailed on a shorter course; with only Johanna Lucretia making it to Fishguard.

The week started with Pembroke Pool excursions with the added dimension of sailing into Pembroke Festival, a Mayoral welcome and a guided tour through Pembroke Castle. As always, this was very popular. A Sail and Oar flotilla of 55 vessels managed an early start and were guided by West Wales Maritime Heritage Society crews, Maritime Volunteer Service crews from Pembrokeshire and Swansea and Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre crews.

A force 8 was forecast off the Irish Sea for Monday, which prompted a response from skippers sailing to SeaFair to turn around and sail for home port. It also meant most of the Sail and Oar vessels were able to stay an extra night and enjoy the Pembroke Festival in Pembroke Pool. We rescheduled a trip into the Pool for larger vessels on Thursday, which was popular; we have taken onboard requests to do an overnighter into the Pool for larger vessels in the future.

On Tuesday the Boatswain's Lunch was a fantastic success with 150 vessels of all sizes converging on an isolated site in the upper reaches for lunch and entertainment. It was an informal day with good opportunities to socialise and meet all the crews; and the weather remained sunny, with the boats making a fantastic spectacle on the river.

Despite rain warnings, Thursday was a warm day with good 12-16 knot sailing breeze and 50 vessels from different flotillas sailed to Angle for a relaxed afternoon at The Point House and enjoyed a few pints and steaming bowl of their famous seafood chowder.

On Saturday the Parade of Sail had a damp beginning; with viewers sheltering at Brunel Quay while vessels waiting under Cleddau Bridge for Tall Ship Irene to join them; prompting a plea from a soggy sailor over Channel 72 ‘to get on with it'. This prompted other responses from the smaller vessels that ‘you shouldn't being sailing if you can't cope with a bit of weather'. Irene appeared as the mist cleared and at 10:00 the larger vessels, Irene, Johanna Lucretia, Halcyon and Challenge Wales lead a fleet of 130 vessels down the waterway into a brisk SW before returning to Brunel Quay to join in the public day.

Opened by Neyland Mayor, Margaret Brace, the public day was entertaining with art and craft workshops for children who enjoyed making willow boats, nautical themed headdresses, painting a clinker built dinghy made by MITEC and drawing and painting boats for a commemorative banner. There were also maritime themed stalls and ropemaking with music provided by the Vagrant's Crew and Fiddlebox. The festival was then officially closed by the Dyfed High Sheriff, David Pryse-Lloyd.

Dale Yacht Club was a popular venue for larger vessels; with an excellent presentation on the trip around the island. Three excursions with a 6hr duration were guided by Dale Yacht Club members and took in the marine and coastal wildlife of Skomer and Skokholm Islands; including an exciting sail through the tidal race through Jack Sound. Peter Crane of Pembrokeshire Coast National Park Authority also led a fascinating walk on the archaeological history of Dale.

There were two journeys guided into the upper reaches, beyond Lawrenny with only the smaller vessels reaching Haverfordwest. 55 smaller vessels made it to Cresswell Quay for a BBQ and entertainment; with a great turnout from the community.

The Pembrokeshire Adventure Centre hosted part of Sail and Oar, with staff putting in long hours to look after crew needs; the facilities are excellent for sailors; launch, recovery, escorting and ferrying were very proficient; the breakfasts made a great start to the day and the café food was most welcome after a long day sail. The service was so good, many of the crew said they would like to stay longer and one sailor said she would like to book now for 2012. The Saturday party was a lively farewell with Freewheelers jazz bands playing into the night.

Lawrenny provided a campsite with an excellent view over the waterway; and it was also sheltered from prevailing winds. They created a great community atmosphere for Sail and Oar and larger vessels; with events organised by different groups, running throughout the week. This was capped off by a barn storming farewell by Preseli Pete and the Bluestone Boys at The Lawrenny Arms.

Neyland was a central organising point for the event, delivering daily updates over Channel 72 and 37 and hosting some fine music and great food with Vagrants Crew, Freewheelers jazz band and Howard Bragan classic blues for the Farewell. The race planned for Friday was cancelled due to weather.

La Recovrance did a day sail for the Tall Ships Wales Trust and hosted a reunion for crews who sailed to Semaine du Golfe in 2009.

Many sailors did their own individual journeys; we would like to hear about your experiences of sailing to Pembrokeshire and on the Milford Haven waterway.

There was so much happening across the length and breadth of the Waterway that it was difficult to take in the whole event. I enjoyed talking to crews and visitors about events I was unable to go to.

We designed the sailing event around exploring and celebrating the whole waterway but some of the crews on larger vessels, when they first arrived, were looking to find one central event at Milford Docks. This, combined with the staggered arrival of vessels due to rough weather; meant it took them a while to get orientated to ‘where things were happening'. By the end we had some good comments from the sailors about the event as a whole.

For such a large number of vessels, the event passed relatively incident free. Where there were minor incidents (medical, damage to vessels) and a couple of navigational incidents, these were attended to quickly and professionally by the on water support and the organising team. Thanks for all your cooperation relating to these.

It would be helpful if you can write down your thoughts on the event. Covering what worked well and why; which areas could be improved and linked to this what parts of the event were problematic and how this could be addressed in future events; suggestions for the planning and organisation of future events. I will follow this up with crews and organisers with more direct questions if necessary.

This is your event - tell us how we can make it better!

ID: 1440  Revised:  23/07/2010