Yarmouth has a very rich history including religious, political, cultural and more recently, a long history of carnival and sailing events. One historical sailing event took place in 1924 when the first Yarmouth Scow was built in Theo Smith’s Boatyard (the current site of CHOYD) by boat apprentice Bernard Hayward, who fought in the Battle of Jutland in 1916.
Although scows had been built in Lymington, the Yarmouth scow was designed slightly differently to cope with the Western Solent ‘sea chop’. The first two scows were built for Mr Reynolds and Dr Drummond, who named his boat ‘Pill Box’. The purpose of the scow was for either a single or double sailor or for 1-2 children to enhance sailing skills and enjoy the local waters.
In 1926, the West Wight Scow Class was formed and their base was the Solent Yacht Club (now Royal Solent Yacht Club) and stayed for 44 years. With the Yarmouth Sailing Club being established in 1969/70, offering the more sheltered waters of the River Yar, the scows moved across and have been the main stay of the YSC sailing programme for 54 years.
GRP scows took to the water in 1990 and for many years, these have sailed and raced alongside wooden scows ever since. As the number of GRP scows have grown they formed the YSC GRP Scow association. The array of fantastic colours these boats (both wooden and GRP) show with their hulls and sails, is a wonderful sight and is often commented upon by visitors.
Like the Yarmouth Carnival’s long and distinguished history, scows and scow sailing have a rich history in Yarmouth; over the years, many have taken part in the Decorated Dinghies and Harbour sports either rowing events or in the Dirty Shirt Race (which I won a couple of times!!)
Although many other types of single or doubled handed boats have since flooded the market (oppies, picos, teras and lasers to name 4), the scow has remained as a staple boat to be enjoyed and celebrated. The main day of celebration will be @ YSC on Sunday July 21st from 1030 where there will be a sail pass, an American style luncheon, an exhibition, live music, a short talk
and a celebratory tea and cake.
Good luck to the Yarmouth Carnival in 2024; may both the carnival and sailing in Yarmouth continue to flourish just as our predecessors had intended at the start of the 20th century.
Pete Giles
Muttbuzzley3@outlook.com
