Inaugural Engineless Sailing Jolly is a huge success

Inaugural Engineless Sailing Jolly is a huge success 

Taking place over the August bank holiday weekend, the first ever Engineless Sailing Jolly, organised by the Wind, Tide and Oar film project, was a huge success. 

Eight engineless craft of all sizes participated in this unique event celebrating the skills of engineless sailing, including small open boats, a Nordic Folkboat, a Smack, a catamaran, a Bawley, and two Thames barges; Edme, and Blue Mermaid (with NHS-UK Projects Manager Peter Green aboard!). 

The event included a range of seamanship contests, including a Start from Anchor, Figure of 8, Man Over Board, Controlled Speed Race, Sail Alongside, "Splatsuma" and Finishing Spectacle.  The contests were a mix of skill-testing manoeuvres and hilarity, maintaining the sense of fun over competitiveness.  Afterwards, everyone came together for food, stories, prizes, music and singing.  

They couldn’t have asked for a better celebration of engineless sailing and the camaraderie of the sailing community, all filmed by Huw Wahl for the Wind, Tide & Oar project.  

The project is intended to be fully accessible to an audience with no prior knowledge of sailing.  It will be screened at documentary and artist's film festivals internationally, shown through sailing trusts, maritime museums and institutions, and used to develop interest in sailing for an ecologically sustainable future.  It will encourage vital and timely debates around ecology and mental health, and lead to further events that explore these topics and related environmental campaigns.

Read more about Wind, Tide and Oar, one of our Shipshape East projects.