The Sailing Boat Britain Afloat

The waterways of Britain are a wonderful world of their own.

From the earliest times, we've sailed, rowed, paddled

and steamed along them.

Whether travelling, trading, hunting, racing

or just having a good time,

we've made a boat that's perfect for the job.

I'm Mary-Ann Ochota.

I like nothing better than getting out on the water.

Boats fascinate me. Their design, their engineering.

And what they tell us about the people of Britain.

I'm on the Mersey, famous, of course, for its thriving port

and its ferry.

But what's less well-known is its role in the development

of pleasure sailing.

These little craft have got thousands of us

out on the water for fun.

But they have a much bigger story to tell.

The history of Britain's boats is our history. This is Britain Afloat.

Liverpool can trace its origins back to the 12th century,

when it was a small fishing hamlet.

And the story of sailing for pleasure here

also starts on a fishing boat.

I'm retracing the journey the fishermen would've taken

into the Mersey, on a boat which played a key part

in the working lives of people here right up until the last century.

It's called the Lancashire Nobby, and Don Griffiths is onboard.

So, why are these boats called nobbies?

It's a term they used for rough wood.

And nobbies were built roughly out of oak and pitch pine

and things like that.

They were working boats, you know, just ready for the job,

-rather than...

-Yeah. They weren't all chrome and glitter.

It was built for the job,

which was fishing, which is a hard industry, as you know.

And my dad fished out of the Albert Dock.

From the 1800s, nobbies were used for shrimping in the shallow,

sandy waters of Liverpool Bay.

The men would boil the shrimps onboard,

before they were sold as a delicacy in local seaside resorts.

So, Don, what is it about the shape

and design of the nobby that suits them so well for the Mersey?

Well, because they were designed that way.

Nice, rounded stern there, you can see.

So the nets wouldn't snag up when you're pulling them up.

And, obviously, it lifts... When you're getting waves at the back,

it lifts a nice, big, broad stern.

The decks are wide, for pulling the nets in.

And, basically, they were designed for the job.

These fishermen learnt to harness the wind for maximum speed.

And when they weren't working, they'd race each other for fun.

They'd challenge one another, probably at weekends.

"My boat's faster than yours", situation.

And they'd go out, four, five, six of them,

have a little go at one another.

And then they'd all end up in the pub.

That was it. That was a Sunday treat.

With the introduction of onboard motors in the 1920s,

nobbies were no longer needed for fishing and went into decline.

But Don and his friends decided to rescue them.

We just got together and said, "Can't let these go down.

"We've got to look after them."

And all the lads were working all hours,

evening, weekends, to restore them back to normal.

When we got the numbers up, "Come on, we'd better go and have a race".

And we ended up, at one stage,

I think it was 13 or 14 boats in the race.

-That's brilliant.

-It was fantastic.

-So you brought them back from the brink.

-Oh, from the dead, yeah.

Because they were a dying breed. No-one wanted them.

The Nobby Owners Association now boasts a fleet of 33 craft,

which are still proudly sailed on the Mersey.

But a lot of work goes into their upkeep.

Thanks to a dedicated team of specialists,

the skills required to get these great boats back afloat

are being passed on to the next generation.

Here at the City of Liverpool College, the Mystery II,

built in 1911, is being restored.

One of the largest in the fleet, she fished until the 1960s.

Boat builder Scott Metcalfe is in charge of the renovation.

Where do you begin on a project like this?

On a wreck like this, am I allowed to call her a wreck?

I think she's quite close to being a wreck, yeah.

Might be a little bit unfair, but, it's quite close to being one.

Because it looks to me absolutely overwhelming.

The first job will be documenting everything.

Then start removing the non-original stuff.

So the likes of the wheelhouse and the deck structure there.

That's all been add-ons, really, over the years.

So it'll be nice to get rid of that.

And unfortunately, on this boat, the deck's going to have to come off.

I mean, that's a definite. You can just see that by looking at it.

Carpentry student Ellie Grice can't wait to get to work on her.

I think it's unbelievable.

It's completely different to what I'm used to.

I'm a third-year joiner now, so I've been doing stuff

from skirting boards to architraves and door frames and hanging doors.

And what kind of skills will Ellie and the other students be learning?

What sort of things will they be doing, hands-on?

Boats are obviously very different to housework

because there's so many curves involved. Making stuff.

Everything's got to be made.

-So, it's part art, part science and a lot of skill?

-Yes. Yeah.

-Ellie, it's so exciting.

-It really is.

I'm buzzing to be working on this project.

By 1844, Liverpool had transformed from a small fishing hamlet

to a wealthy port.

A gateway to the British Empire.

Merchants got rich trading cotton and slaves,

and they built fine houses like these

in the city's Abercromby Square.

So, while the fishermen were out racing for fun,

the wealthy were also enjoying their trips out on the river.

A lively social scene started to develop around sailing.

A group of wealthy merchants,

together with solicitors, architects, an optician,

and other men who described themselves simply as "gentlemen",

got together to found the Royal Mersey Yacht Club.

It's still here today at Rock Ferry, on the Wirral side of the Mersey.

In a nod to naval traditions,

the head of the club is still addressed as "Commodore".

Former Commodore John Smith is a fourth-generation member.

Most of the yacht clubs in those early days,

soon after they started, became royal yacht clubs

because the royal family were very interested in yachting.

And King George V and his father, Edward VII,

they owned the wonderful Yacht Britannia,

which actually sailed in the regattas

run by the Royal Mersey on the river here.

Some of these people were sailing their own boats,

but other gentlemen would simply have the money

to have a really beautiful yacht,

but he wouldn't want to get his hands dirty himself.

I think, in those days, the yachts were of such a size,

and they hadn't got the winches

or the modern pulley blocks that you have,

that the boats were...

You're talking about boats that were sort of 30, 40, 50 tonnes.

They were 40, 50, 60, 70, 100ft long.

And so they needed people to help crew them.

And because they were made of wood, they needed a lot of upkeep,

and paid hands were employed by these wealthy merchants

to look after their boats.

The archive you've got here at the yacht club is pretty impressive.

We have here the first minute book of the Royal Mersey Yacht Club.

When the Albert Dock was opened in 1846,

we have here the arrangements for the yachts

of the members of the Royal Mersey Yacht Club,

how they had to line up in the Albert Dock.

"Members are to be in full uniform,

"ie club coat, white waistcoat, and white trousers".

It's pretty stern stuff, isn't it?

It was all fairly formal in those days.

And I love here, you've got a complaints book from 1882

all the way through to 1986.

-So, maybe not that many complaints?

-No. Well, I think it was...

Some of them, perhaps, were a little bit silly,

but there's one wonderful one here

that was written by a member in 1882.

And he's written here, "The whisky is wretched.

"When you bring friends into the club,

-"you expect something better."

-SHE LAUGHS

-Do you have a complaints book now?

-No.

-No more complaints?

No more complaints. Everyone's happy.

Whilst women were sometimes allowed to race,

they were often banned from clubhouses

well into the 20th century.

My aunt won a race one day, but because she was a lady,

she was not allowed into the clubhouse to collect her prize.

She had to stand out, and her prize was given through the window.

-That's outrageous.

-Yeah.

-She's won the race

and she's not allowed in the room to collect her trophy?

Yes, and that was in the 1930s, I think.

The big yachts were all very well,

but not very practical if all you wanted was a quick sail.

It wasn't long before the gents started eyeing up those

belonging to the fishermen, and soon,

smaller pleasure boats, based on the nobby,

began to appear on the Mersey.

As the clubs became more popular,

simply adapting fishing boats wasn't going to cut it.

Keen sailors started to design their own boats -

boats that were perfect for local conditions.

It led to a new way of organising racing boats into classes.

That meant a big change.

It became a test of skill, not money,

and the Mersey was at the forefront of the new idea.

David Henshall is a sailing historian.

The North West was long overlooked

as a centre of excellence, you could almost say,

because there was so much innovation,

there were a lot of classes springing up along the estuaries,

as there were all the estuaries around the UK.

But there was a very, very strong demand

for different boats here on the Mersey.

Tell me a little bit about how the different types of boat

that you get on the Mersey developed.

There's two ways of doing it.

You can either have just everybody designs their own boat,

but that's actually quite expensive because it's...

If you're not careful, it becomes cheque-book sailing.

Or everybody sails the same sort of boat,

and then they become what's called a class.

And all boats are built to that design,

so then all the boats are the same,

and then it comes down to the skill of the helmsman

for who's going to be out there able to win the race,

rather than how deep his pockets or how big his cheque book is.

So, this idea, when you hear the One-Design class,

that simply means that all the boats that are racing together

are effectively identical, or near identical,

and then it's a level playing field,

and it's about the skill, not the equipment?

Very much so. The boats are all identical,

and that really is the best test of sailing skill

because all the boats are the same.

You know, you can jump into any boat,

and it'll be the same as the others.

The oldest One-Design class of boats still racing in this country today

is the Seabird, and legend has it its design was first sketched out

on the back of a cigarette packet,

under a gas street lamp in the 1890s.

Nowadays, the plans are such a closely guarded secret,

you have to be carefully vetted to even get access to them.

To see a Seabird, I've come

to Wallasey sailing club

on the Wirral Peninsula,

where the boats are lovingly preserved.

Member Peter Jacobs ropes me in for some varnishing.

This Seabird is absolutely beautiful.

-She's gorgeous.

-Thank you.

-What was the origin of these boats?

Effectively, they're a Southport class.

They were boats that were designed in 1898,

after a dinner at West Lancashire Yacht Club.

And what they decided was that they wanted a One-Design class of boat

that they could race when they couldn't use the great big boats.

These were exceedingly rich people.

It had to cost only £35.

-Well...

-£35 was still a fair amount of money.

£35, in 1898, was an awful lot of money.

It's a year's wage for somebody.

But I suppose, in the grand scheme of massive sailing yachts,

this was kind of an affordable number.

This was somebody's toy.

When they wanted to sail them was usually

just after high water or low water,

and Southport is a very, very flat, slowly shelving beach.

And what they wanted was something that

didn't have a huge keel on the bottom.

You could actually lift the keel up and sail closer in to the beach,

so that when you actually touched,

you were only in a couple of feet of water,

which meant that you could either pick up your mooring

or drop the anchor, and then just hop over the side and wade ashore.

To show me how Seabirds handle on the water,

Peter's taking me for a sail.

Hello!

Nice one. Thank you. Hello.

-SHE LAUGHS

-We're sorted. We're done.

So, what is it that you like so much about Seabirds, Peter?

Well, what we have now,

which is we're making a nice bit of way against a tide,

and all you can hear, apart from me talking,

is the lapping of the waves.

And it's so quiet and tranquil.

It doesn't matter what sort of day you've had at work,

whether the kids have been screaming or whatever.

You come out here and you just chill out.

-And isn't it nice?

-It's beautiful.

It's gorgeous. It's kind of...

It's the picture-perfect, storybook version of sailing -

a little wooden boat, kind of bright-coloured sails.

What is it that's so important about the One-Design class?

Why are the designs for Seabirds such a closely guarded secret?

If anyone could build them,

they could make slight alterations here,

slight alterations there, and you actually lose the One-Design class.

It's fantastic to hear how proud and protective

the Seabird owners are of their class.

Right, let's put her through her paces,

-see what she can do.

-Right, OK.

This is everything I love about sailing.

You've got the wind on your face, you've got the sun in your eyes,

a beautiful little stretch of canvas,

and all you've got is the water rushing under the keel.

-It's absolutely super.

-It's ace.

During the 20th century,

sailing clubs sprang up across the country.

As well as their own boats,

they also had other ways of displaying their identity.

Hidden behind this 21st-century facade

is a bit of a heritage gem,

because this is the home to Ensign Flag Company,

who have been making yacht flags and boat club flags since 1949.

But as you'll see,

some of their methods are definitely not 21st-century.

This is our factory, where it's all made.

Everything's made by hand here. As you can see,

here's all the sewing machines where all the flags are made.

They go over to the artist over here, where...

Those giant brown papers -

-they're the actual, life-size sort of template?

-That's the life-size...

Yeah, that's the life-size artwork.

-And we have two artists who draw everything by hand.

-Wow.

People send us just simple sketches and they're scaled up,

-and they've all got to be in the correct proportions.

-Yeah.

And they get filed, as you see,

in all those files in alphabetical order.

-They're all the original artworks?

-All the original artworks.

Some of them go back 50, 60 years.

OK. So, which bit am I capable of having a go on?

Yeah, well, maybe you can have a go at this one.

Albie gets me trimming a small pennant,

or burgee, as they're known.

These represent individual sailing organisations.

-Yeah, sit there.

-Right.

This is the Falcon burgee, which is...

-It's a type of boat - a Falcon.

-Right.

And they actually have a falcon on it,

which is all done by hand.

Oh, wow. So, then, this'll be the bit on the other side?

That's the reverse side.

-Right.

-So, maybe you can try the reverse side.

It won't be too bad if you get that wrong.

-THEY LAUGH

-That's it.

-Then you trim that away.

-Yay!

-Yeah!

-There you go.

-How's that?

-OK.

-Marks out of ten?

-Very good.

Give you nine out of ten, now, for that one.

Yeah! I think you're being a bit kind there, Albie.

Yeah, we're being generous.

I'm not just doing this for the cameras, though.

I know just the people who are going to love this.

By the late 1930s, there were about 500 sailing clubs in the UK,

but World War II changed everything.

As a busy port, Liverpool took an absolute hammering

during the Second World War,

and young men who would have been sailing, were sent off

to the Army or Navy to fight.

According to the Liverpool Daily Post,

wartime restrictions meant that

racing on the Mersey came to an absolute standstill.

There's a report here from the 11th of April 1945, and it says,

"Many boats are laid up, especially the larger craft

"of the Royal Mersey Yacht Club, which are laid up in North Wales."

But post-war was boom time for Liverpool,

along with the rest of the country, and by the 1950s and '60s,

people had the time and money for hobbies like sailing.

The number of clubs trebled,

and a new breed of faster, lighter boats were born.

And this is a good place to see them.

West Kirby Sailing Club is the biggest

and busiest sailing club in Merseyside,

and they've got access to this marine lake,

which means that they are the only people

in this part of the world who can sail unrestricted by the tides,

365 days of the year.

The boats and the people sailing them

are very different from those early, stuffy days of yacht clubs.

John Burthem is the club's commodore.

We've got medics, a lot of ordinary people -

plumbers, builders, brickies, joiners, accountants.

We have everything, across the board.

We've got openings for people to learn to sail.

We've got openings for people to crew in existing boats.

There are people always looking for crews.

So, you should be able to just come down here,

and if you like sailing, take it from there.

It's a modern club, but some traditions remain.

You're the commodore of the sailing club,

rather than the president or the leader or the chairman.

Is it important that you're a commodore,

that you're keeping that tradition alive?

When I walk through the club every day,

even new members, they all say, "Good evening,"

or, "Good morning, Commodore," which is rather nice.

I'm sure I'm more shocked than they are, but...

West Kirby sailors wanted to have their very own class of boat, too,

and this is it - the Liverpool Bay Falcon,

designed in the 1950s specifically for these waters.

She's really a product of post-war Britain -

cheaper to buy, and built for fun and a faster pace of life.

Kay Eggleton is the Falcon class captain.

It was designed by a West Kirby member, Harry Dennis,

in the early '50s, and he suddenly realised

that there was an absolute need for a fast boat -

one that skilled sailors could sail,

but wouldn't put off the novices, and one that was...

It didn't require an acrobatic crew, so it was a good family boat,

and ladies could sail, as well as gentlemen.

And, of course, it had to be able to lie on the moorings

on the River Mersey, and on the River Dee,

so it had to have a lifting centreboard.

So, it sits very nicely, and it won't blow over or get too damaged.

And he built this in wood, originally.

So, it was built in marine ply.

Then, in the '70s, we decided that, for ease of maintenance -

because what you didn't want to be doing was getting up

at six in the morning, before you go to work, you know,

to scrape the boat and things.

So, you just wanted to have easy maintenance,

and we started building them in GRP.

-So, GRP is fibreglass?

-GRP is fibreglass.

-Absolutely, yes.

-Right.

-So, if you switch your wooden hull for fibreglass...

-Yeah.

-..suddenly, your maintenance requirements just...?

-Disappears.

Well, almost disappears. Not entirely.

But you could get away with a bottle of Flash

and a wipe of a cloth every season, if you needed to.

But it certainly beats having to work on boats

every weekend during the winter.

-Are you proud to have such a lovely boat...

-Oh, I love it.

-..just for Merseyside?

-Yeah. I've sailed a Falcon since the 1960s,

which is rather a long time, but they're great boats to sail.

They're comfortable to sail. They're fast. They plane.

They're exciting and yet they're really versatile,

cos you can use them for training,

you can use them for a little cruise out on the estuary,

if you just fancy a day out.

And, of course, racing, which we all love here.

And it all gets very competitive when the gun goes.

-I can't wait to take one for a spin and see how she goes.

-Absolutely.

You'll be brilliant at it, I'm sure.

So, going to put the main up.

Kay is one of lots of women who sail here today,

a far cry from the days when they were banned from the clubhouse.

Karen Cummins is taking me on her Falcon,

which she's been sailing for the last six years.

Push it, push it, push it through the wind. That's it.

And we're off. OK, now we're sailing.

How did you first get into sailing?

I actually didn't get into sailing until I was 42

because I had this concept that it was all for posh people.

-SHE LAUGHS

-And, actually,

it couldn't be further from the truth.

Sailing is for absolutely everybody,

and we've got a lovely club that's got, you know, young, old...

Everybody kind of mixes together. It doesn't matter what your job is.

So, it's absolutely great.

And the reason that I sort of went down in the first place

is cos I'd just met somebody who clearly wasn't posh,

and he said, "Just come down".

-And so I did, and I've never looked back. I love it.

-Amazing.

Everybody races. The kids race...

You know, there's people in their 70s racing against us.

It's just a mixture of all people -

young and old, male, female, whatever your job.

We all just, like... You know, us three met sailing.

Ladies, I got you a present, to say thank you for taking me sailing.

It's a little...

-ALL:

-Oh!

-THEY LAUGH

-Oh, that is lovely!

-It's a little Falcon burgee.

-Oh, look!

-Thank you. How lovely is that?

-Look, will it...?

-Oh, that's lovely.

-Yeah.

-Oh, that's really nice.

-Fly it with pride.

And when you win, think of me.

Ooh, look at that!

Today, Liverpool is a major tourist destination,

with the Mersey at its heart.

Its once-polluted waters are now beautifully clean,

and sailing festivals are a real sign

of the regeneration of the region.

We've seen how much fun the sailing clubs have on the Mersey,

but how competitive are they?

Throughout the year,

each of the sailing clubs host regattas,

and today, it's the turn of West Cheshire Sailing Club

to host their race series, here off the beach in New Brighton,

on the Wirral Peninsula.

C23, and then out to Brazil. Then we go round, up towards...

This is going off towards Hoylake, up the rock channel,

back up to just C23 this time, rather than C21.

It might be sunny, but there isn't much wind.

These conditions for Seabirds are absolutely super.

You've got a nice, flat sea,

so there's no heavy waves to stop us dead, so it's perfect.

Considering these boats were built, or designed, in 1898,

and Dodo was built in 1920, yeah, it's a cracking day for it.

-Are you looking forward to it?

-Of course. Cos it's glorious.

I mean, this is what you want in a regatta, is weather like this.

It's just fabulous.

Kay and Commodore John will be going head-to-head in the Falcon class.

We love coming to New Brighton cos it's a lovely, sandy beach,

and we all had to tow round.

As you can see, boats are arriving, and we just have to get

the mast up and sort it out, and then we go sailing.

We have a lovely time.

-Are you going to win, Kay?

-Doubt it. Doubt it today.

I'd like to think I could. I mean, I think I could, but I doubt I will.

I think the man standing behind you might win.

THEY LAUGH

So, John, how's it going this morning?

Oh, it's going all right.

We're just putting a few final touches...

Do you like it when it's conditions like this,

or do you like it when it's a bit rougher?

Both in equal amounts, to be quite honest.

I personally do very well in strong winds.

It's a challenge, light-air sailing. And a skill.

And some people are terrific in light airs.

Kay, who you were talking to before, is very, very good in light airs,

and she always does well,

and doesn't do as well as some in the blow,

but that's sailing.

It might be their passion and their hobby,

but these two take their racing very seriously.

So, this is the Falcon class.

They've got to round this buoy

and then head back towards where the start was, effectively,

before they carry on with the rest of the course.

Now they're going to go downwind,

so they're going to hoist their spinnakers and get every inch

of speed out of those sails.

There's a lot for the competitors to think about.

The Mersey's a really busy shipping channel,

and the little sailboats have to give way to the big old ferries.

Sort of adds an extra frisson to the racing.

The other challenge for sailing in the Mersey

is that you're not just dealing with the wind and setting your sails

to maximise the speed you can. You're also fighting the tide.

There's a 9m rise and fall here,

and it can sometimes run at seven knots.

And these little Seabirds here, who have rounded this mark,

are now going with the wind, but they're going against the tide.

It's really challenging sailing.

But that's part of the fun,

and if anything can cope with these waters,

it's these little boats.

It's what they were built for, after all.

In the battle of the Falcons, it was victory for Commodore John,

who beat Kay to the finish line.

-Fabulous. Fabulous racing.

-Yeah. And the best man won.

-Aw.

-Aw!

-THEY LAUGH

APPLAUSE

From those early fishing boats

to the light, sleek craft that we have today,

the sailboat is part of the social fabric of this place.

I'm really glad that sailing for pleasure is available to everyone.

It seems so right for the spirit of this place.