MARITIME FESTIVAL PASSES KEY MILESTONE

 

 

Pembrokeshire has long been regarded as a UK tourism hotspot, famed for its stunning coast line and award winning beaches. This summer, there is no better reason to return to the Welsh County, as it hosts a maritime festival set to rival the very best in Europe.

Milford Haven Port Authority has announced that its Seafair Haven festival has now attracted the interest of over 200 traditional and classic craft, that will visit the county between 18 - 25 June.

Taking place as the major attraction in the Authority’s year-long celebration of its 50th Anniversary, the event will be unlike any other currently hosted in the UK. On-water flotillas and shore-side events will combine in a week-long event that will welcome visiting sailors and spectators from all over Europe.

Mirroring the atmosphere and success of similar maritime festivals in France, the Port Authority will play host to a variety of traditional and classic vessels, in a celebration of Pembrokeshire’s maritime heritage and famed Haven Waterway.

Highlights of the week include the visits of five Tall Ships including the Earl of Pembroke, Jeannie Johnston, Kaskelot and La Recouvrance – all of which will be offering the opportunity of sailing trips on the Haven.

A number of Waterway communities are also heavily involved in ensuring the success of the festival, with over ten host ports planning a variety of on-shore events during the week. From live music and entertainment to the sampling of traditional Pembrokeshire produce, visiting flotillas and spectators will be welcomed by villages that line the shores of the Haven.

In contrast to the traditional craft, mid-week will also see the arrival and overnight stay of boats competing in the 2008 Round Britain Offshore Power Boat Race – a spectacular high-speed event of International fame.   

The Port Authority is working hard to finalise plans with its Seafair Partners, but the message is clear – weather travelling by sea or road, Pembrokeshire is undoubtedly the destination of the summer.

 

SEAFAIR HAVEN 2008 PROGRAMME

The Seafair Haven 2008 Programme is now available, please note that it is correct as of the 14th March, but is subject to Marine Imperatives and to possible change.

Click on the following link to navigate to the Seafair Haven 2008 Programme

Seafair Programme

News Update

MARITIME FESTIVAL PASSES KEY MILESTONE

Pembrokeshire has long been regarded as a UK tourism hotspot, famed for its stunning coast line and award winning beaches. This summer, there is no better reason to return to the Welsh County, as it hosts a maritime festival set to rival the very best in Europe.

Milford Haven Port Authority has announced that its Seafair Haven festival has now attracted the interest of over 200 traditional and classic craft, that will visit the county between 18 - 25 June.

Taking place as the major attraction in the Authority’s year-long celebration of its 50th Anniversary, the event will be unlike any other currently hosted in the UK. On-water flotillas and shore-side events will combine in a week-long event that will welcome visiting sailors and spectators from all over Europe.

Mirroring the atmosphere and success of similar maritime festivals in France, the Port Authority will play host to a variety of traditional and classic vessels, in a celebration of Pembrokeshire’s maritime heritage and famed Haven Waterway.

Highlights of the week include the visits of five Tall Ships including the Earl of Pembroke, Jeannie Johnston, Kaskelot and La Recouvrance – all of which will be offering the opportunity of sailing trips on the Haven.

A number of Waterway communities are also heavily involved in ensuring the success of the festival, with over ten host ports planning a variety of on-shore events during the week. From live music and entertainment to the sampling of traditional Pembrokeshire produce, visiting flotillas and spectators will be welcomed by villages that line the shores of the Haven.

In contrast to the traditional craft, mid-week will also see the arrival and overnight stay of boats competing in the 2008 Round Britain Offshore Power Boat Race – a spectacular high-speed event of International fame.   

The Port Authority is working hard to finalise plans with its Seafair Partners, but the message is clear – weather travelling by sea or road, Pembrokeshire is undoubtedly the destination of the summer.

 

February's news

Here we are in february and teams of people are hard at work organising. The host ports are all planning their events and the enthusuiasm is growing everywhere.

Meanwhile entries are still coming in, with registrations of interest now exceeding 200! We have 84 Sail and Oar vessels interested, in what could rapidly become one of the biggest gatherings of sail and Oar in this country.

Old Gaffers too are numbering over 60 and we are delighted to think that we will have such a wonderful flotilla of gaffers, what a sight they will make on the Haven.

An area where we seem to be developing, is the classic Bermudian fleet, with 45 yachts registering interest. These craft too have a wonderful future in Seafair and I hope that we will see more South Coast classics keen to come to share our fabulous cruising grounds.

My apologies for delays in updating the web site, but as you can imagine things are becoming very busy here, please bear with me and of course give me a call to clarify any of your queries.

I will add another news flash soon with some vessel details, but as you have probably seen, on the real traditional front we are lucky to have the wonderful sailing trawler Keewaydin and the absolutely traditional Manx Nobby, a real working lugger, Gladys.

Richard James

 

 

 

London Boat Show

Here we are again, back from a busy week at the London Boat Show where we met old friends and made lots of new ones. My buzz line of the moment is "connecting people with their Maritime Identity" and I hope that you all agree it is what Seafair is all about (besides of course having a great deal of fun with like minded people). The interest at the Boat Show was fantastic and I have to thank Dan Houston, from Classic Boat magazine for inviting us there and to thank in particular John Goode for his enthusiasm for Seafair and continual help in getting us a stand of our own, thanks also to National Boat Shows for their support.

So where are we now with Seafair 08? Well the initial registrations are taking off and I can now report to you that we have over 170 registrations accross the flotillas! Nearly double last years, already and I can almost feel the excitement building here. We have some Tall Ships coming and I am immensely pleased to report that La Recouvrance is coming up from Brest for the festival. She, like some others will be sailing on down to Brest for Brest 08 and anyone interested in sailing either their own boat or joining another boat for that trip, by all means give me a call.

More news to follow as soon as I get my feet back under the desk

Richard James

 

 

News Update January 08

Registrations grow for Seafair

Happy New Year to you all, here we are in 2008 and each day brings us closer to Seafair 2008. I must say that the excitement is building, we posted out cards to you all and to my delight we have recieved a fantastic response and as the New year begins we see that numbers of initial registrations have exceeded last year already.

The format will once again be 4 flotillas, Sail and Oar, Old Gaffers, Classic Bermudian and Large Traditional Vessels and those of you in Sail and Oar will be glad to hear that we will be hosting you in Llangwm again this year. Milford Docks will be the start point for all the other flotillas, with welcome parties and Seafair celebrations all week. Once again we thank the Semaine du Golfe and the Brest team for working with us to help us put on a better and better festival. We have listened to all of you, who have given us ideas and thoughts about improvements and we hope we make your experience here a most enjoyable one and that we in the Uk can build an event half as good as our Celtic cousins from Brittany.

We have now produced the first draft of the weeks programme which follows the format of 2006 and which worked so well on the water. This year we have eleven ports to visit, with Haverfordwest at the extreme end of navigation, a venue for a days raid by the sail and oar flotilla, Landshipping, Llangwm, Lawrenny, Creswell Quay, Neyland, Pembroke Dock, Pembroke, Angle, Dale and Milford Haven. The communities and the Yacht clubs around the area are all busy organising and talking about your visit everyone looking forward to the spectacle and the entertainment this summer.

January see me in the London Boat Show and I am being hosted by the Classic Boat Magazine so I look forward to seeing you there, but if you have any questions give me a call and the team and I will find you an answer.

Richard James