In the 19th century yachting became the new sport of the wealthy. Three roads in the parish ( peartree) still perpetuate the names of yachts famous in their time - Ailsa, Defender, and Shamrock. The fears of the ferry men that the coming of the Floating Bridge would take away their livelihood proved groundless, as many of them were sought after to skipper or crew some very famous yachts. Ben Parker became the captain of the German Emperor's yacht "Meteor". Charles Dyke and Henry Parker were skippers in succession of Thomas Chamberlayne's "Arrow", which, bought from a breaker's yard, redesigned and rebuilt, was the only English yacht ever to beat the 1851 Queen's cup winner "America". This happened in a race off Ryde, in the following year.

The German Emperor's Yacht the "Meteor" Captained by Ben Parker

Amongst the crew was Ernie Cock , Uncle(by marriage ) of Tom Holmes



The barometer from the "Meteor" liberated by Uncle Ernie!








The floating bridge terminal at Itchen Ferry became a place for sailors to meet to find work. One skipper recalled that "if a captain of a yacht wanted a crew then he knew where to go to find one. A great meeting place was down at the Toll [bridge] and the men used to gather outside Cockett`s, the little coffee place.". In fact, the Woolston Independent newspaper proclaimed that "no British yachts crew is complete without a [Woolston] `ferryman` amongst it."

Tom Holmes' boat