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When not saving lives. Lifeboat crews took part in the fiercely competitive sport of lifeboat racing. Brian Faulkner reveals the nature and spectacle of lifeboat racing. The Cornish coast has long been known as a graveyard for unwary ships. The skill and courage of the Duchy’s lifeboat crews in rescuing luckless sailors from these vessels is well documented but what do lifeboatmen do on their days off?  I don’t know about now but, during the mid-1800s, lifeboats in West Cornwall would race against each other at local regattas. These were supposed to be fun events but, for a charitable organisation, they were fiercely contested. Local pride was at stake, and it was not uncommon for gamesmanship and downright illegal tactics to have a major bearing on the result. These lifeboats, which could be in excess of 30 feet long, were known as ‘pulling boats’, and were powered by as many as ten oars. The Illustrated London News of September 21, 1867, announced that: ‘a novel sort of aquatic contest had taken place in Mount’s Bay the previous week.’ In fact it was on September 10, at Penzance and followed the opening of St John’s Hall, the new council offices. As part of the celebrations, the new Mullion lifeboat the DJ Draper was paraded through the streets of the town along with the lifeboats of Penzance, Hayle and St Ives. Each boat was brightly decked with ribbons and flowers, and pulled on their carriages by teams of immaculately groomed horses. Their proud crews sat on board in full sea-going gear, including cork lifejackets. Once the pomp and ceremony of the opening of St John’s Hall was over, it was the turn of the Mullion lifeboat to take centre stage and for the Penzance Mayoress to lead the dedication ceremony. Following this, the new boat was launched off her carriage into Mount’s Bay where she was joined by the three lifeboats that had accompanied her in the procession and by the boats from Sennen Cove and Porthleven. The West Briton reported that: ‘the latter crews tossed their oars and cheered lustily as the new lifeboat slipped gracefully from her carriage into the water.’ The Illustrated London News said that: ‘the beautiful appearance of the boats and their skilled management gave much gratification to the thousands of spectators who crowded the noble Penzance promenade.’ In fact the local press reported that 10,000 thronged the seafront. The six boats then took part in a close run race around the Gear Pole, with Sennen Cove just taking first place, followed by Penzance and Hayle. The DJ Draper, with her inexperienced crew, was not disgraced and beat one of the other boats. Prize money was awarded of £6.6s for 1st place, £4.4s for 2nd and £3.3s for 3rd with consolation prizes of £1.1s to the other boats that took part. Two years later Penzance Regatta saw a race in Mount’s Bay, full of gamesmanship, controversy and not a little animosity. All was well until the boats reached the mark at the Gear Pole, with Sennen Cove out in front. St Ives had just moved into second place when the man in the bow of the Penzance boat, which was just behind, was seen to take the rope that was hanging over the stern of the St Ives boat and tie it fast to his stem. Tempers flared as one of the St Ives crew threw a knife to the coxswain who frantically tried to cut the rope. Their anger was plain for all to see and a punch was aimed at the Penzance bowman that, by all accounts, would have killed him had he not ducked. All this was purely academic though as the shenanigans allowed Sennen Cove to forge even further ahead for another easy win. It transpired that, before the race, one of the Penzance crew had been heard to say that he didn’t care who won so long as it wasn’t St Ives. Locals said that the Sennen Cove crew were the only real opponents to Penzance and, if the arrangements for the start had been fair, perhaps the ‘athletic’ Sennen men would not have won. A correspondent in the Cornish Times the following week said he thought it was likely to be some time before another boat went from St Ives to create so much jealousy and bad feeling. Tragedy unfortunately overshadowed the 1872 race, held at Hayle, when James John, the driver of the carriage carrying the Sennen Cove boat was killed when he fell under the carriage wheels. It was uncertain up to within a few minutes of the start whether the boat would actually take part as the devastated Sennen Cove crew decided not to race but, just before the off, a scratch crew was hurriedly formed. The race was delayed by two hours due to the lack of water and, even then, the boats continually hit the bottom as they bumped around the course. This led to what was described at the time as: ‘some unpleasantness and a little misunderstanding at the close’. In an attempt to try and prevent the unfortunate scenes witnessed in 1869, each boat had its own lane to race in with a mark at each end to go around. From the start, the Penzance and Hayle boats jockeyed for the lead and by the time the boats reached the first mark Penzance was considerably ahead. Unfortunately the continuing lack of water caused Penzance to ground at this point and the crew had to climb out and manhandle the boat around the mark, a not insignificant feat as these boats would have weighed in excess of a ton. Hayle, having slightly more water under its keel, now gained an advantage and took the lead. St Ives was third, with Sennen Cove, which also grounded at the mark, languishing behind. The Cornish Times reported that: ‘Hayle were pulling with a strong steady stroke, Penzance a magnificent swinging stroke lifting the boat ahead, St Ives their usual finished short, but useful stroke and ‘Capt. Mathey’ with his scratch Sennen crew pulling well in spite of all odds.’ The next mark was the committee boat where the positions remained unchanged. Rounding the first mark again the Penzance boat, in an attempt to get more water, went around the St Ives buoy. It made no difference to the result and the final positions were Hayle, Penzance, and St Ives, with Sennen Cove some way behind but not disgraced. The St Ives coxswain immediately lodged a complaint that Penzance, by taking his water, had hindered his passage. The Penzance coxswain, Mr. Blackmore, dismissed this, saying that he was forced to take another mark because of the lack of water around his own. The committee, while admitting that Penzance had laboured under a disadvantage, decided in favour of St Ives who were now placed second with Penzance third. There was an increase in prize money this year to £8 for first place, £5 for second, £3 for third and £1.10s for the other boats. These races must have been quite spectacular, much as gig races are today but, with the gradual silting up of estuaries and harbours, regattas such as these slowly died out and with them lifeboat races. I can’t imagine the RNLI allowing today’s boats, costing up to £2m each, to race each other, however spectacular it might be. |