The 2024 Oyster Festival was cancelled due to spiralling costs and the Seven Stars pub on The Moor stepped in and ran a superb intimate, working boats only event with an afternoon race and evening prize giving and social.
In 2025 the main event was resurrected, with a huge tent on Events Square with stalls, bars, oyster shucking, and entertainment. The traditional Falmouth Oyster Boat race was programmed for the morning of Sunday 12th. October. The weather was set fair with an easterly breeze gradually increasing during the day. Several of the fleet had taken the opportunity of the preceding dry weather to lay up for the winter so it was left to the hardy ones to turn out for this ,the last scheduled race of the season.
To everyone’s surprise seven of the racing fleet gathered for the start, five B class and two C class. It was sensible to start both fleets together. A windward start was set at the Flushing race gate off Trefusis Point with the weather mark being Waterloo off the St Mawes shore. This separated the boats before they then entered the inner harbour to do three rounds of Flushing Sailing Club, Trefusis,and the Harbour mark off the Events Square.
Sam Heard in Meloris had a flying start and gained the lead which he held onto and increased to take line honours by some 10 minutes infront of second place Norman Bowers in Rebecca who was only one minute infront of Steve Miles in Florence. A few minutes behind was Arty Williams in Winne and Olley Graffey in Endeavour. The surprise of the day was Brian Steptoe sailing Juanita the C class boat who finished between Endeavour and Winnie winning the C Class trophy, and if handicaps were applied would have been first overall beating all the B class boats! Ross Collet in Truth was second in the C class.
Back at Events Square the organisation issued drinks tokens and pasties to all competitors and at the prize giving each boat received a bottle of wine each and the trophies for the winning boats. The crews were joined by the infamous Falmouth Marine Band dressed in their Traditional sailors outfits. The Band was originally founded out of the Working Boats crews and many old faces were assembled together.
The audience was the entertained by some superb sing by the ‘Oggy Men’ who had the whole tent singing with them as the rang out the brilliant Cornish based songs including the anthems of Harry Glasson.
Trophy Winners this year:
‘Meloris’, Sam Heard
‘Juanita’, Jon Brunyee sailed by Brian Steptoe.