The Thames sailing barge Repertor competing in the Colne Barge Match 14th September 2014
S B Repertor is a traditional Thames sailing barge built in 1924 in Mistley, on the River Stour in Essex. She was the first of a fleet of seven steel barges built for Horlocks of Mistley. Her name is a Latin word meaning “leader; discoverer; innovator”, possibly chosen because she was the first of this new all-steel fleet. When built, she relied purely on her sails for motive power; but in the 1930s she was fitted with auxiliary engines. Gradually over the following four decades her reliance on engines increased and her sailing rig was reduced, until eventually she became a motor tanker. In the mid-1970s she was sold out of trade, with her engines stripped out, and became, for a time, a houseboat; but later that same decade she was converted back to a sailing barge with an auxiliary engine. On deck, she now once again looked very much as she would have in her trading days under sail. In the late 1980s, she was bought by the present owners, David and Elaine Pollock of Whitstable, and reconverted for comfortable charter cruising and racing. The Colne Barge Match, was the eighth and final match of the 2014 season, took place out of Brightlingsea on September 14th when eight barges contested a course from Bateman's Tower to the Colne Bar, Clacton Pier, the Spitways and back.
Size: 4288px × 2848px
Photo credit: © John Worrall / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: association, barge, brightlingsea, cargo, charter, coast, england, essex, match, north, repertor, sailing, sea, thames, trade, trader, uk
