28th British Open Crabbing Championship at Walberswick, Suffolk

28th British Open Crabbing Championship

28th British Open Crabbing Championship. The 2008 British Open Crabbing Championship took place on a lovely sunny afternoon on August 10th. This year over 970 entrants, some previous crabbers, some very new to it all, came to Walberswick from all over the country, with attendant familes, pushchairs, bicycles and dogs. The pungent smell of bait wafted over them all. Some Mums, Dads and family members sat back in their picnic chairs to enjoy the fun while others joined in with children of all ages sorting out the logistics of bucket, line, bait and weight. Bait varied from fish heads, bacon and whole fish to unidentifiable lumps of 'something tasty' - tasty to a crab that is. Stalls included delicious RNLI cakes for sale, the raffle, ice creams, Uncle Ben's crabbing necessities stall, and of course, the unique 'I Caught Crabs at Walberswick' souvenirs. The winner was 25 year old James McReady from Norwich with a crab weighing in at a tad over 5½ ounces. James confirmed that he used fish bait purchased on site. Runner-up and silver medal winner was Team I-Mag - 10 teenagers - based at Beccles, who nominated Mel Piper to accept their award. Third prize bronze medal winner was 9 year old Mimi Haycraft Nee who has travelled annually from Gloucestershire since a wee bairn and this year managed to catch a crab bang on 4½ ounces. Mimi used a mature bacon lovingly cared for from a previous days’ successful crabbing. [ Photo Slideshow ]
	Record crowds signed in at the start of the 2008 British Open Crabbing Championship. 976 people registered to compete and that beats last year by over 200 making 2008 a record year for attendance at the British Open.
	The ladies of the RNLI cake stall were on hand to feed the masses with their usual tempting display of home made cakes, sandwiches, snacks and cold drinks. Great food, and all in a good cause.
	The sun shone and a light breeze kept us cool. Freak weather conditions in the North Sea had an unexpected effect on water levels which were a couple of feet lower than usual making for quite a lot more land available from which to catch crabs. This area in the foreground was under water at this stage of the Competition last year.
	Not everyone chose to follow the mass. The lower water levels meant there was much more opportunity to choose a more individual location and maybe access to more crabs!
	One thing that is important is to take your crabbing seriously and get close to the task in hand. If these two had got any closer they would have needed snorkels!
	The technique is pretty simple, tie a bit of old fish (or bacon) on the end of your fishing line and then dangle it in the water until Mr Crab takes a bite, then haul it out quick whilst crabbie is holding on. Place him gently in your bucket of water and then await the weigh-in!
	If there is not really enough space on the bank then you might need to take an offshore position although I am not sure if this is wholly within the rules - after all there is a fine for falling in as that disturbs the crabs.
	Not quite all the crabs presented for weighing looked completely authentic. I suspect someone was trying to pull a fast one!
	Mimi Haycraft Nee from Gloucestershire watches as her crab is weighed for the third time. She won third place as the judges decided that her crab was just a fraction heavier than her nearest competitor. Mimi has travelled to Walberswick every year for the British Open since she was big enough to hold a line!
	There was a nail biting third weighing for this monster too - a lively chap too, who was not keen to sit quietly in the scales. He weighed in at just over 5.5 ounces and thus won the competition from the Team I-Mag crab which took second place.
	Here are the three winners. James McCready took the First Prize, the team from I-Mag (represented by Mel Piper from Beccles) were a very close second and Mimi Haycraft Nee from Gloucestershire took third place with a crab that weighed in at 4.5 ounces.
	The British Open Crabbing Championship is great fun and much enjoyed by all the people who flock here every year but the event is under threat from the Sea and the refusal of the Environment Agency to protect this special coast. Last year's profits were presented to Barbara Priestman to help support the vital work of the Walberswick Sea Defence Fund who are working to protect Walberswick's essential sea defences and especially the shingle bank that protects this area from the sea.
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28th British Open Crabbing Championship.