The Houghton Trophy

Until recent years The Houghton Cup used to be a night race round the Cork and Sunk Light vessels off Harwich and back to the river Crouch. The course presented real dangers due to the heavy commercial shipping to and from the busy port of Harwich which also used the Cork and Sunk Light vessels as turning marks.

John Booth who sailed in the 21^st annual race in 1937 remembers one of the competitors being run down by the train ferry out from Harwich. He recalls that crews spent much of the night shining feeble torch lights onto the sails as an aid to visibility.

Sidney Houghton made a memorable voyage to Burnham from America with his newly bought Herreshoff yacht Neith, which he kept and sailed in Burnham. This voyage was single handed from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Burnham and took 25 days to complete in July 1921.

Neith was a wooden cutter rated at 21 -tons Thames Measurement, 14.5 tons net, she was 45ft. 8ins. long, 1Oft. 6ins. beam, 8ft. 2ins. draft and was built by   Herreshoff in Bristol, Rhode Island in 1908.

The Houghton Cup now takes place on the first day of Burnham Week and is organised by the Crouch Yacht club