TV series coming soon

General chat about boats
chris
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TV series coming soon

Post by chris »

My nephew is the producer for this forthcoming series. I might point out to him that dinghies, which probably got more numbers afloat post war, have been forgotten! Starts on BBC2 30th Sept, 8.00. here's the blurb:


***Britain Afloat - A history of the British people told through six of its best loved boats***
The six-part documentary series for BBC Two

Mary-Ann Ochota travels the waterways of Britain, discovering how boats have shaped our lives.
Britain Afloat is a six part series that explores the regional distinctiveness of boat design and the floating way of life, from the modest coracle – whose shape was adapted to suit individual rivers across Britain – to the imposing Thames sailing barges – boats that helped build London.

In each episode, Mary-Ann uncovers the story of a different boat’s design and evolution and discovers the impact it had on the people and communities who have used it, both in days gone by, and today. Although many of the boats in question are no longer used for their original purposes, the series shows why they are still such an important part of ‘British heritage’.

Along the way Mary-Ann meets the people who are passionate about the boats: people who maintain traditions and are a link to past-times, further on in the series Mary-Ann meets up with celebrated Olympians Anna Watkins and Sir Steve Redgrave, as well as veteran boat builders, learning how technology and the athletes’ quest for speed continues to drive design to the limits.

The series explores:
The Thames Sailing Barge – Mary -Ann discovers the boat that helped build Victorian London and played an important part at Dunkirk. There are still about 30 of these boats on the water – once there were more than 2000 – though nowadays the emphasis is very much on pleasure, something Mary-Ann experiences for herself when she joins the annual Thames Barge match.

The Coracle - Mary-Ann finds out about the coracle, an ancient boat that can be made from twigs and a bed sheet, yet which has saved lives in desperate times. She also makes her very own, which she uses to race in the annual Ironbridge Coracle Regatta, an event that proves there is still an enduring popularity to these little boats, even if the focus is now very much on fun.

The Narrow Boat – this episode explores the story of the working Narrow Boat discovering how this boat helped power our great Industrial Revolution and shaped the lives of those who earned their living from the canals.

The Punt – From a Bronze Age craft dug up in the mud of East Anglia to the extraordinary gun punt, Mary-Ann discovers how these boats allowed people to hunt, fish and trade. Archive film tells the story of their transformation into an Edwardian leisure craze that still endures today.

The Mersey Sailing Boats – This episode discovers how the Mersey, famous for its port, also played a vital part in the development of pleasure sailing. What began with fishermen racing each other, led to the formation of numerous sailing clubs, all with their own particular design of boat.

The Rowing Eight - Mary-Ann discovers how the Rowing Eight – the fastest rowing boat in the world – can trace its origins to Thames river taxis from the 1600s. From its working class origins the boat has become the centre-piece of regattas all over the world. Yet despite its origins – entertainment for river workers – the Rowing Eight found itself at the centre of a class war that ended up in Parliament.

Series producer, Ed Barlow comments, “Britain Afloat is a series that really embodies ‘great’ British tradition, enterprise and ingenuity, and shows how some of our most well-known boats have developed throughout the centuries – often in ways their original designers and users could never have anticipated.

“It’s not just about the boats though – Britain Afloat is as much about the people and communities that have used them, both in centuries gone by and today, and around the country Mary-Ann meets the dedicated and passionate enthusiasts who are maintaining traditions and preserving old boats, ensuring that they stay on the water for years to come.”

The series will take us from pole to paddle, sail to steam – from the disarmingly simple to the state of the art. Britain Afloat can be watched on BBC Two on 30 September at 8.30pm.
Last edited by chris on Wed Sep 27, 2017 2:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Mikey
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by Mikey »

Looks good Chris, should be back in time after DeMay event at Banbury.

Mike.
davidh
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by davidh »

Chris,

I can set your mind at rest as dinghies have not been forgotten. In the episode on boat development in the North West/Mersey area, the story of how the BRA 1 - the Boat Racing Association 1 went on to define racing dinghy development gets a lengthy mention. I can say that with some confidence as I said it to camera - sadly that programme will have me at various bits talking about the importance of the area and how the boats developed. I came to the Series late on but if a second series goes ahead then I am hoping to be involved from the outset.

From what I saw, the BBC had done a good job in spreading their net far and wide, getting lots of interesting views and input, so I for one am looking forward to the series appearing on screen!

I may get some interesting feedback as there are a lot of people who do not really know the story of the BRA 1 - the boat that became the International 12, yet it - and designer George Cockshott really ought to be right up there on a pedestal - for this is the first time that you get a design competition with the specific requirement for a boat whose primary purpose if going fast. You can look at the hull lines of the BRA 1 and see a DNA lineage that comes right the way forward to today..... but I'll say no more - wait for the programme!

Enjoy!

Dougal
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suffolkmerlin
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by suffolkmerlin »

Wasn't the first class in the northwest the Southport Star? which when the channel to Southport silted moved across to the Dee and became the West Kirby Star, Think the Seabird Half Rater also originated in Southport. Most of the Mersey classes still make the annual trip to the Menai Straits to join the local classes that sail there for the Menai Straits fortnight
davidh
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by davidh »

You can go back even further to the Nobby's if you like but in terms of dinghies that were specifically designed for racing then it is 1912, George Cockshott and the BRA 1 - which ended up as the West Kirby Dreadnought and then the International 12.

But I found plenty of time to include Mylnes, Seabirds, Falcons, Stars and so many more...... but who knows what will be cut and what will be included

D
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chris
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by chris »

It is now on at 8.00pm not 8.30
Mikey
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by Mikey »

The first episode on the punt is at 1930 on Friday on BBC1 and the second on Saturday on the thames barge on BBC2 at 2000.

Mike.
JimC
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by JimC »

davidh wrote:You can go back even further to the Nobby's if you like but in terms of dinghies that were specifically designed for racing then it is 1912
Of course the canoe racing classes were decades earlier. The earliest documented history of small sailboat racing in this country is all about canoes. By the 1880s and 90s there were already pure racing craft.
Rupert
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by Rupert »

The story of what happened to sailing canoes in the USA is one that windsurfing should have read 100 years later.
Rupert
chris
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by chris »

From the producer:


Just to clarify one of the comments on the forum ... there are programmes going out on Friday evening on BBC One at 7.30 - what you see will depend on where you live in the country though (and in fact in your part of the world I think they'll be showing a programme on Concorde not boats!). Think of these as previews!
davidh
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by davidh »

But sailing canoes are not, nor have ever been, aligned with dinghies - and after the discussions and debates at their Worlds this year, will never be so!

It was only when we did the technical work behind Real Magic - with all the 3D images of hull form going back to some pre-war thinking, that the progression pathway of racing dinghy DNA became more apparent. This wasn't my enlightened thinking, as I needed to import a lot of expertise into this part of the production.

D
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Ed
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by Ed »

But sailing canoes are not, nor have ever been, aligned with dinghies - and after the discussions and debates at their Worlds this year, will never be so!
he he.....and thank goodness for that!

actually I don't think it is nearly that simple.....but given the choice: Vive la difference!

eib
Ed Bremner
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Rupert
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by Rupert »

I'm not sure that the average person interested in dinghies and Sailing in general sees the racing version of a sailing canoe as that different to a performance dinghy. Certainly they both take part in handicap racing using the same rules.

Personally, I'm glad that the IC wants to keep separate, and I'm fascinated by the history and developments, especially the huge rallies in the late 19th century and the rapid changes that brought.
Rupert
Aquarius
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by Aquarius »

We can say "1912" for "racing in dinghies designed to be raced", but that is to overlook the RN officers racing in "Pengelly skiffs" which were fourteen foot dinghies intended to be raced. They were called skiffs, not dinghies, but they were a direct ancestor of the West Country Conference Dinghy and thus of the National Fourteen. 1912 perhaps marks the start of the use of the term "racing dinghy"?

Anyway, putting that aside, there were certainly centreboard boats built to rate 0.3 under the Length and Sail Area Rule on the River Thames in the 1890's.Since they were designed to a rating formula, they must have been built for people who wanted to race!

So far as I know, "Flying Cloud" - NSBR 2710 - now in Maldon - is the only surviving 0.3 rater.

The 0.3 gave you a sail area of 140 sq ft on a waterline of 13ft or 125 sq ft on a waterline of 14ft (do these numbers seem familiar?)

Looking at the drawings of the Linton Hope canoe "Bubble" in his edition of Dixon Kemp I noticed that - she was a 0.3 rater ! 13 ft waterline, 140 sq ft... Definitely a sailing canoe, but also built to rate level with boats like "Flying Cloud".
CVRDA eligible:
1962(?) Firefly F3163 "Aquarius"
1946 International Fourteen K478 "Galatea"
Not CVRDA eligible:
1991(?) Nethercot IC K229, "Ogaf the Unbearable"
Squib. possibly number 251, "Squirt"
JimC
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Re: TV series coming soon

Post by JimC »

davidh wrote:But sailing canoes are not, nor have ever been, aligned with dinghies - and after the discussions and debates at their Worlds this year, will never be so!
Administratively that's true, but administration isn't everything.

For example the most important Canoe designers in the first half of the 20thC were, arguably, Giles, Hope, Fox, Holt and Proctor. The most important dinghy designers in the first half of the 20thC were, arguably, Giles, Hope, Fox, Holt and Proctor.
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