1998 Album

Here is a shot of Zest having been moved from her mud berth in Boston harbour to the yard of Parker Lift Keel Yachts. Though immaculate inside, the mud berth had resulted in a hard coating of Boston mud being formed on the hull which had to be removed to expose the copper cladding.	Not the most pleasant of jobs and one which took almost two days to accomplish; but worth while if it saved the need to antifoul.
Only the keel needed antifouling and the 'mate' (and major shareholder!) undertook that job.	Though the sun shone this May bank holiday weekend, it was very cold; hence the foul weather gear!
At last Zest was delivered over land from from Boston to Beaulieu by Colin and Dick Parker (now retired from the company) and here she is being lifted off the trailer...... ....with Colin on board.	Here is Dick Parker 'supervising' the fitting of the mast.
And so into the waters of Beaulieu river.	At last ZEST is ready to go on her mooring. This is just past the boat on the extreme left on the first bend after Bucklers hard.
Finally, two shots of ZEST under sail.
This was taken from 'Harlequin' when sailing between Yarmouth and Weymouth on the 18th July. A number of SSA boats assembled at Weymouth to sail in Company across Lyme Bay as part of the 25th Anniversary cruise.	And this was taken from Shiraz in the second week when sailing to Brixham after the celebrations were over at Topsham.
And as a complete contrast... On the following weekend a trip was made out to the Solent in time to meet some of the boats returning from the Whitbread Round The World Race.
Here is Lawrie Smith's UK entry 'Shark Bite..	...and here is Sweden's entry 'Swedish Match'

This shot was taken at the Butt and Oyster pub Pin Mill on the evening of the March 28th on

the occasion of the East Coast fitting out dinner. It shows the presentation of the banner to Bill Parker. Bill undertook to pass it to John Coulthurst who was to start the passage on taking possession of his new boat, a Parker 275 'Anegeda'

At this event Bill Parker, the current builder, was presented with a commemorative mug from Martin Hopton, the Commodore.

And so to the journey of the banner from Boston to Topsham Sailing Club on the River Exe.

Here is 'Anegeda' with John Coulthurst, Bill Parker and Colin Brockett who many will know as he has delivered many Parker boats to owners in the UK and abroad. 'Anegeda' was to carry the banner from Boston to Brancaster on the 20th April.

This was Thursday the 23rd April and shows the Seal 26 'Aurora' owned by Ian Blackburn, carrying the banner in steadily worsening conditions, from Brancaster to Blakenley, a trip of two and a half hours. The wind was to rise to over 30 kts later in the day. The shot was taken from 'Sanderling' a Parker 275 owner by Tony Cross.
Not in the shot was 'Flamingo' (John Holder) another Parker 275. These two boats went on to take the banner to Lowestoft.

'Sanderling' and 'Flamingo' did the 53 mile trip to the Royal Norfolk and Suffolk Yacht Club in just over 11 hours.

Here they met up with Phil Mitchell and his wife Jane (Parker 21 'Emmer 4') who took possession of the pennant. They were also joined by Lindsey Moscrop (Parker 21 'Amy')

'Emmer 4's' home port!

On the 13th May 'Emmer 4' with Phil and John Ward arrived at Woolvestone where the banner passed to 'Pindara' owned by George and Ola Howard.

George and Ola carried the banner to Barham and handed it over to ...

.....Andrew and Margaret White ('Wat Tyler', Seal 26) for passage across the Thames Estuary

Bernard and Margaret Bright (Seal 26 'Nasseem') then took possession from Andrew and carried it to Dover.

An unusual shot from 'Nasseem' as she passes the Red Sands Towers in the Thames.

Here are Bernard and Margaret lowering
the banner in Dover...

....where it was then moved to 'Elsa' (Seal 26) on which Chris Turner was to carry it to the Solent Area solo. Chris's return was delayed for eight days by bad weather..

...but he eventually got away and here is Elsa rounding Beachy Head.

Having picked up his wife Alice, here is Chris entering Chichester harbour.

Later that day there was a SSA rally at the Royal Oak at Langston. Here is Chris and Alice transporting the banner to shore there. (This is not a registered Seal class boat!)

Having arrived in the Solent area it was carried by various boats before moving to Weymouth for the final leg of its journey.

Here are a couple of those boats.

'Shiraz' owned by Royce and Freda Naylor. 'Shiraz' has been known to carry a crew of seven; three adults and four dogs!!

'Kotick, a Parker 27, sailed solo by Rick Thompson (as is often the case) carried the banner while sailing in the SSA Round The Isle Of White race in July.

This shot, taken on Saturday the 18th August, shows 12 Seal Class yachts in the old harbour at Weymouth (Parker 21,Seal 22s,Seal 26s, Parker 27s, Parker 275, Parker 31 and Parker 325). Four others had left to cross Lyme Bay the previous day.

As it turned out they made a good decision as the weather on the Sunday was to make the trip across Lyme Bay fairly unpleasant. A promised 4/5 South Easterly turned out to be South Westerly turning an expected broad reach into an 8 hour beat.

But there was no thought of tomorrow as all crews gathered on 'Shemar' and 'Harlequin' for drinks that Saturday evening.

7 o'clock on Sunday morning and here are two of the smallest boats in the fleet making ready to leave; a Seal 22, 'Shiraz' and a Parker 21 'Saffie' that had the youngest 'crew member' on board, Kate, 2½ years old.

Carrying the flag from Weymouth was a Seal 26, 'Tara'. This shows 'Tara' having just left Weymouth and heading for Portland Bill. Though not shown, the rest of the fleet were also heading for Portland that morning.

Here's one of them, Chris Turner sailing solo in his Seal 26 'Elsa'.

The sight all were glad to see going past, Portland Bill lighthouse.
Though the race was not too strong that morning, the boats were in for a long slog across Lyme Bay with a rough sea and wind on the nose.

There was only one mishap during the crossing, when the Parker 325, 'Tilikum', lost her rudder blade and had to be towed into Dartmouth.

As if 'Tilikum' didn't have enough troubles, Sarah became ill and had to be taken off by the Torbay Lifeboat.

So to Dartmouth, some 35 miles from Portland, on the Monday morning - weather much improved.

This shot shows the fleet that had crossed Lyme Bay on Sunday, rafted up on the Harbour Master's pontoon as all the Dartmouth marinas were full that day.

The Parker 21, 'Saffie', drying out after crossing Lyme Bay

More shots of the flee in Dartmouth.

These shots show Mita Barnes
on their Seal 26 'Maybe' taking over the Banner from 'Tara'

It was decided to use two of the Parker 27s 'Ariel of Avon' and
'Shemar' to carry all the crews up the river Dart to the Ferry Boat Inn at Dittisham, for lunch

'Ariel of Avon' approaching the pontoon in front of the The Ferry Boat Inn
(in pink)

After lunch the crews participated in a game of Boules.

Until the tide brought proceedings to a close!!!

Back at Dartmouth and Walter Brown (Vice Commodore of the SSA and organiser of the 'banner cruise') briefs crews on tomorrows plan (that did not come to pass due to a F6 southerly)

In the event, some boats stayed another day while some went on to Torquay.

Here is the Parker 21, 'Saffie' flying the banner and setting off
for Torquay the next morning.

At Torquay, Ken Surplice handed the Banner to Philip Linsell (sailing solo in his Seal 22 'Tulena')...

....who carried the Banner to the River Exe where it was handed over to Jonathan and Sarah Houston on 'Tilikum' a Parker 325

(thankfully Sarah had recovered from her illness and 'Tilikum' had her new rudder)

Next day (Wednesday) those boats that had sailed to Torquay, indulged in a little 'round the buoy' racing on route to Teignmouth.

Here is 'Kotick', sailed by Rick Thompson taking a mooring in Teignmouth. Rick had joined the fleet after returning from a few weeks in the Channel Islands.

Here is Philip Linsell's Seal 22 'Tulena' (with bowsprit?), flying the banner, alongside the Webmaster's 'Zest', a Parker 275, at anchor in Teignmouth. (see article from the Teignmouth Gazette on Latest News page).

And so to he River Exe the end of the saga.

We are now reaching the end of the journey. Here are Jonathan and Sarah passing the banner to (Vice Commodore) Walter and Chris Brown (not in this shot).

Here is Chris passing it to Martin Hopton, the Commodore, for the final leg to Topsham Sailing Club.

But first a repair to the nav light that was damaged back on the River Dart when Martin went alongside 'Tilikum' to see the broken rudder. Martin's boat was one of the two that took all crews up to the Ferry Boat Inn at Dittisham. As the 'Shemar' was brought alongside 'Tilikum' and the 'enlarged crew' gathered on one side to see the damage, the masts touched and .......!

Some of the fleet dressed overall to welcome.. .

..Martin Hopton, the Commodore, bringing the banner on his Parker 27 'Shemar' on its final leg to Topsham Sailing Club on the river Exe

At the banner handing over ceremony at the Butt and Oyster back on March the 28th, Bill Parker, the current builder, was presented with a commemorative mug. At Topsham John Baker, the previous builder, received his.

And when it was all over...

Here are some of the crews resting at the Turf which stands at the lock entrance of the Exeter Canal.

Here is Murlo Primrose, the widow of the designer of the Seal 22 with Freda Naylor on board Sheraz, one of the best kept 22s in the fleet.

To mark the event here are a couple of shots of a Sunflower of SSA boats taken from the top of 'Tilikum's mast.


Philip Linsell receives the trophy from Brenda Harvey, the Secretary, for the SSA Round The Isle Of Wight race, yet again!	He is joined by the Commodore, Martin Hopton, who looks as if he is trying to take the trophy back!

Ken Surplice received the Parker 21 trophy. Ken together with his wife Sue and daughter Kate was the sole Parker 21 on the West Coast Cruise. (see the photographs of the Banner Relay)	Some of the 80 members who attended the dinner

Walter Brown, the Vice Commodore gives his review of the year and outline plans for 1999. Following the success of the West Country Cruise, the suggestion is that there will be a cruise in company across to France and along the coast of the Seine Bay.


Zest is brought in from her moorings by the crew to the Agamemnon marina on Bealieu river.

Being lifted out by the mobile crane.
	Water blasting the little growth that had accumulated in the short season since her launch in late May.

Moving off to her winter berth...

...in an area protected from winter winds.

Now ready for work to begin.