Centenary outing for Yorkshire’s last sailing coble scuppered over repairs

The group that looks after Three Brothers, which is berthed in Bridlington, had hoped to have her shipshape for her 100th birthday.

But members have now admitted that is extremely unlikely as it will take four months for the repairs, for which they still need to raise funding. However, there will still be celebrations on June 18 – the day the Olympic Torch passes through Bridlington.

Bridlington Sailing Coble Preservation Society, which maintains and repairs the vessel, is putting in a bid for a slice of £1.15m Flag funding from the European Fisheries Fund and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs in a bid to get it into sailing condition.

The society’s spokesman, historian Mike Wilson, contrasted their situation to that of vessels like the Cutty Sark, which reopens next year after a multi-million pound conservation scheme, and the Mary Rose, whose new state-of-the-art museum is costing £35m. Repairs for Three Brothers, which has not sailed for nearly a year, will cost at least £40,000 but the final bill could be far higher.

Mr Wilson said: “We have raised £15,000 over the last few years so we are not short, but there’s a possibility that once a boatyard starts work they will discover more work, rather like you do when you take your car to a garage, in which case the worst case scenario could be much higher.”

Ticket sales from the Harbour Heritage Museum, which the society runs, represent the main source of funds, with tickets costing 30p a visit.

Mr Wilson said members were hoping for private donations to swell their coffers, adding: “June 18 is party day for the Three Brothers as it’s the day the Olympic Torch comes to Bridlington. The torch comes through after 3pm so there’s no reason why people couldn’t come to the harbour to have a look before going to see the torch.”

The 40ft Three Brothers, constructed by father and son Baker and Percy Siddall in 1912, was built to go into and out of the mud-bottomed harbour. In the early days she was used for commercial fishing and later on for angling in Bridlington Bay.