Harbour Festival

Saturday started with a wonderful breakfast cooked on the BBQ, with sailors offered a selection of menu choices. It was the perfect start to fuel a busy day on and off the water.

Volunteers busied themselves setting up the main festival arena, while the Old Gaffers prepared to sail the smaller boats up to Blythburgh.

Further activities on the water included a rowing race and a visit from Southwold RNLI’s Atlantic 85 ‘Annie Tranmer’

By this time the crowds were pouring into the arena area as Southwold Sailing Club delivered the first harbourside event of its type which attracted over 1000 local residents, families and punters down to Blackshore Quay for a truly magical afternoon of sunshine, music and maritime celebration.

An area next to the visitors moorings was cordoned off and incorporated a large outdoor stage, catering trucks, mobile bar, haybales and portaloos. As the sun went down the festoon lights around the site along with the strobe and effect lights from the stage added to the joyful vibes and immersive festival atmosphere.

Thirsts were quenched with a range of craft beers from Green Jack and Adnams breweries, and catering included bangers from Top Dogs as well as pulled pork buns from The Penny Bun Bakehouse.

The outdoor stage hosted an array of outstanding local musicians (including club members), ranging from solo singer-songwiter Cam T and the Lowestoft Longshoremen to the Indie-rock band Helix, swampy southern sounds from the Big Muddies, funky northern soul band Frank and the Beans with the Informers headlining with some much-loved classics to get the audience dancing into the night.

The club have been overwhelmed by the glowing feedback and rave reviews about the ‘awesome’ ‘brilliant’ and ‘excellent’ event with ‘locals out partying’ at #HarbourFest24 and already calling for HarbourFest25!

And of couse we hadn’t finished yet, Sunday saw some great racing out on the Bay to complete the full showcase of what Southwold Sailing Club has to offer.

Race Officer Henry, set a course that took the fleet past the Town to a buoy off the pier and back to the finish line in Walberswick bay, with the spectacle visible to beachgoers, although sadly it wasn’t quite the beach weather of the previous day.

All that was left was for prizes to be distrubuted to the OGA visitors, inlcluding th expertly judged concours d’élégance, with thanks to Adrian and Katie, before the final burgers of the weekend were served and sailors and volunteers headed off for a good sleep and to reflect on an incredible weekend.

Further reports from the OGA can be found on their website and we’ll be sharing many more photos and videos from the weekend.

Thanks are due to several sponsors and supporters, including East Suffolk Council, East Anglia Competitions, S Harvey & Son Builders, Micropress, Jeckells Sailmakers, AGL Scaffolding, Orange Ocean Electrical, The Halesworth Carpet Shop, Jonathan Sapsford, Fennel Chartered Surveyors, O A Chapman and Son, Clive, Ellam Walker Accountants, Harbour Kiosk and Ollie Platt Events, as well as to all the attendees who made donations on the day.

A huge thank you to Toby, Paul and Henry who were the driving force behind the event backed up by the committee, club members, the OGA and local volunteers, and finally the community who came out in force to support the event. We should all be immensely proud of what we achieved and its safe to say Southwold Sailing Club is on the map.