100 years ago, when ‘Cherub’ was built and launched at Everson’s Boatyard in Woodbridge, Suffolk, nobody would have thought that in 2024 she and four of her sisters, built to what became the Deben Cherub design, would be sailing together still.
Matt Lis of Woodbridge Boatyard writes:
Over the late May bank holiday, Woodbridge and Waldringfield boatyards hosted the East Coast OGA (The Association for Gaff Rig Sailing) for the biennial River Deben Rally, this year including a special centenary celebration of the Deben Cherubs synonymous with Woodbridge Boatyard as Everson’s became. The two yards both have long legacies of building and maintaining dinghies and small yachts designed for enjoying the simple pleasures of enjoying estuarine exploration, a picnic under sail, sculling up secluded creeks or visiting remote beaches, and this weekend exemplified those joys.
On Friday the fleet assembled, coming principally from the Deben and neighbouring rivers in Suffolk and Norfolk but also from as far afield as Southampton. A colourful ensemble included Drascombes, Cornish Shrimpers, Deben Luggers, a Dutch sailing barge built in 1900, a fishing smack built in 1889 (the same year that Everson’s was founded), ‘Peter Duck’, the famous ketch built for author Arthur Ransome, the Albert Strange-designed ‘Mist’, two tugboats, one retired, one working, Deben Cherubs and other Everson-built dinghies and yachts to name but a few.
The sight of the flotilla arriving into Woodbridge at the end of Saturday’s first good-natured race drew a crowd of spectators pleased to welcome the boats who moored up and came ashore for a celebration lunch held within the 112-year-old Phoenix Works boatshed at Woodbridge Boatyard.
On Saturday afternoon the fleet raced back to bunting-strewn Waldringfield Boatyard where live music and a BBQ awaited. On the Sunday the fleet headed downriver with a race starting in Waldringfield but this time with a turning mark below Ramsholt and a run back to finish at Prettyman’s Point. Many of the dinghies stopped off at the nearby beach on their way back to Waldringfield where upon arrival the evening descended into convivial passing of the port around a bonfire, storytelling and song.
Monday’s sailing took a different format, with the participants sailing to the beach at The Rocks to set aside their own boats and compete in heats and a final for the first Teamac Gaffling Championship. The Gaffling 4.1 is an Andrew Wolstenholme-designed dinghy of single-chined plywood construction carrying, unsurprisingly, a gaff rig and furling jib. It is designed so that it can be professionally or home-built. All three heats and the final were hotly contested despite many of the sailors being new to Gafflings but in the end the locals prevailed with Andrew Lis, Waldringfield Boatyard Manager, and crew Marvyn Godfrey leading home Woodbridge and Waldringfield Boatyards’ General Manager (and brother), Matt Lis with Jo Masters for the trophies.
Whilst races were used to give the weekend structure, nobody would have mistaken this rally for an open meeting or regatta, non-racing boats who just wanted to sail in the same direction as the competitive boats were just as welcome as were the larger, historic vessels who came just to moor at Waldringfield and soak up the atmosphere. A good time was had by all and 2026 looks set for more of the same with a bigger fleet again and hopefully several more of the enduring Cherubs.
