A MAJOR English Channel sailing event will be having a ‘stop-over’ in Looe for the first time next week, writes John Collings.

The West Country Classics Series for vintage ‘Old Gaffers’ (sail-powered boats) has traditionally visited Dartmouth, Falmouth and Fowey during the holiday season but the organisers are delighted that the re-vamped Looe Lugger Classics Regatta has invited them to join a special class in a race around Looe Bay.

The Gaffers award prizes for the skippers and crews gaining most points from regattas at various South West locations and the addition of Looe to the roster is a big coup, not only for the owners of these classic sailing yachts but also for the port of Looe which is expected to be exceptionally busy on the water over the July 25-27 weekend.

The Lugger Regatta, an impressive and much-loved biennial addition to the port’s calendar, is returning this year and it promises to be bigger and better than ever before.

After Covid ruled out the 2021 edition, the 2023 reunion of famous old fishing boats – the ‘lugger’ name comes from the vessels’ traditional ‘lug’ sail rig – attracted a slightly disappointing entry, partly because the most suitable tides were in May and that proved too early in the sailing season for many of the likely participants.

New lugger chairman David Darlington and his vice-chairman Jonathan Brice, who used to be secretary in the Looe-based Cornish Lugger Association’s early years, knew something had to change, especially since at least eight of the traditional lug-rigged fishing boats had been ‘lost’ (either retired or scraped) in the past decade.

Clearly doing nothing was not an option. The very future of the regatta would have been in doubt, since many of the remaining boats, several of them also built in Looe, are now more than 100 years ago and the cost of their upkeep continues to rise year-on-year.

Armed with that rather disheartening situation, the new, younger lugger committee embarked on a re-brand that will still appeal to traditionalists, since it remains focused heavily on the old fishing boats whose town regattas can be traced back to 1911, but will now also attract a host of other ‘eye-candy’ boats of all shapes, sizes and colourful sail patterns.

Lugger owners, skippers, crews, as well as many of the old Looe families, for whom the fishing port has been home for many years, fondly remember the days when huge fleets of sailing luggers – the wooden-built fishing boats are peculiar to the Cornish, Brittany, Isle of Man and Scottish fishing fleets – fished off the Cornish coast, working long lines, deep out in the English Channel, for conger, ray, turbot and the like, or shooting miles of drift nets to catch pilchards, once the mainstay of the UK’s fishing industry.

This year’s event has been re-titled the Looe Lugger Classics, so that the lugger numbers will be buoyed by a varied fleet of other sailing boats, all of which also embrace the ‘classic’ spirit of the working boat tradition.

Looe’s re-invigorated heritage reunion – which will also include the Made-in-Looe Regatta, again championing the port’s rich boatbuilding history – will feature two races in the bay on the Saturday and another one on the Sunday (July 26-27). Boats are expected to start arriving from the evening tide on Thursday.

The weekend will be followed by a ‘Rest Day’ in harbour on Monday, July 28, after which the fleet will have an opportunity for a ‘feeder’ race to Fowey Classics on the Tuesday.

Moorings and facilities have again been provided by the Looe Harbour Commissioners, whose continued generosity allows the regatta to thrive.

Similarly, West Looe Town Trust readily acknowledges the historical importance of the regatta, and has offered to help with the provision of a temporary state-of-the-art portable toilet block.

An event village on West Looe Quay will feature live music on two stages over three nights, including sea shanties, rock bands, choirs and acoustic troubadours.

A licensed bar (again run by Looe Sailing Club), barbecue and other food outlets will be available and quayside attractions include talks on heritage maritime topics; Ashley Bussell’s photographic exhibition (which was so well-received at last year’s Made-in-Looe Regatta); crab-pot and oar-making demonstrations, and a model boat display.

Entries are still being received (e-mail: [email protected]) already the owners of three of Looe’s most famous luggers, the Guide Me, Our Daddy and the Guiding Star, have expressed their intention to be present.