TELL TALES

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CHANNEL ISLANDS

First Spirit Yachts regatta this July

The first ever Spirit Yachts regatta will run from 25 June to 2 July in Guernsey, in the Channel Islands.

The event will see a fleet of Spirit yachts take on a six-race series from St Peter Port.

Previously the modern classic designer and builder, which is based in Ipswich on the English east coast, has enjoyed its own class at regattas, but this will be the first Spirit-only regatta, a mark of the company’s sustained success since it was founded in 1993.

Sean McMillan, Spirit Yachts CEO, said: “The idea for the Spirit Regatta was driven by our owners expressing interest in the opportunity to race and socialise exclusively with other Spirits. There is a fantastic community spirit and friendship amongst the Spirit owners and crews, so whilst the racing will no doubt be competitive, the socialising will also be a lot of fun.”

Guernsey Yacht Club Commodore Anna Rivers said: “We are thrilled to be welcoming Spirit Yachts and its fleet of stunning modern classic yachts to Guernsey. Our famously tidal waters and navigational challenges will make for a competitive series and a spectacle on the water.”

The event is run in partnership with Locate Guernsey, established to promote the benefits of Guernsey to relocators. The event’s lead sponsor is WEST SYSTEM, accompanied by supporting sponsors Lewmar, Oceanskies, OneSails GBR (East), Raymarine and Torqeedo.

Entry is open at spirityachts.com/regatta

James Dodds glass window

Marine painter James Dodds has designed a stained glass window for the annexe of St Mary’s Church in Wivenhoe, on the River Colne on the English east coast. The east window work is called Dove and Blue Boat and has been made by Andy Brooke and Pascale Penfold, a four-year project overseen by the church organist Graham Wadley. The featured boat is “a type that would have been built locally, a type that James helped build when he was an apprentice boatbuilder”, the church says.

200 years of livesaving for HM Coastguard

The UK Coastguard is marking its 200th birthday this year, having been formed in 1822 to help combat smuggling.

Coastguards across the four nations that it serves – England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – cast traditional throwlines into the sea as a symbol of the service’s ongoing work.

Today Her Majesty’s Coastguard co-ordinates rescues and other activities from one main centre centre in Hampshire, nine maritime rescue coordination centres around the coast and one maritime rescue ‘sub-centre’.

There are 310 Coastguard rescue teams, made up of 3,500 volunteers, using 10 search and rescue helicopter bases. The Coastguard responded to more than 33,000 incidents in 2020 and its marine surveyors carried out almost 4,500 surveys on UK and non-UK registered ships. The service’s duties have broadened and during the pandemic, coastguards supported the UK’s National Health Service, they attended the G7 summit meeting and COP26 in 2021 and they have responded to flooding and other national emergencies. HM Coastguard provides training to search and rescue authorities around the world and shares knowledge on a mutual basis with others. It is a key player with the International Maritime Organization and o ers insight into the practical application of SOLAS (The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea).

Birth of HM Coastguard

1790s

Henry Greathead designs the first lifeboat in South Shields. Twenty other locations place orders.

1808

Captain Manby experiments with firing mortars to carry lines o shore to stricken ships. The Elizabeth, 150 yards out at sea, sees the first life saved due to this method. Cots hung below safety lines soon follow.

1809

The Board of Customs forms the Preventative Water Guard to fight smugglers, using boats to patrol bays and coves.

1816

The guard is placed under the Treasury. At each station the chief o cer and chief boatman are experienced naval seamen or fishermen. In bad weather they form a shore patrol. The Preventative Water Guard quickly acquires extra duties, taking on responsibility for shipwrecks to safeguard cargoes and vessels from looters. It is also trained with lifesaving equipment.

1821

The Preventative Water Guard is recognised as a major force against smuggling.

15 Jan 1822

Three services set up to prevent smuggling are amalgamated: the Revenue Cruisers; the Riding O cers; and the Preventive Water Guard. The Treasury accepts a proposal that the new force will be called ‘Coast Guard’.

Fridtjof Nansen, 1919

Seas Your Future, a youth development charity and owner of the tall ship Pelican of London, has acquired a second tall ship, the Fridtjof Nansen, to satisfy increased demand. The second ship more than doubles the charity’s capacity for taking young people on sail training, developing maritime careers and ocean science voyages for personal and character development. Seas Your Future was founded in 2008 to support the development of young people. Its tall ship Pelican of London sails for 46-48 weeks each year with up to 35 young trainees and 12 professional crew and volunteers.

The Fridtjof Nansen was built as a ga -rigged freight schooner in 1919 under the name Edith. In 1992 she was converted into a three-masted topsail schooner and christened Fridtjof Nansen at the Peene shipyard by the granddaughter of the Norwegian researcher Fridtjof Nansen.

Seas Your Future CEO Adrian Ragbourne said: “Please come and visit us over the weekend of the Bristol Harbour Festival on 16-17 July when Pelican will also be there.”

seasyourfuture.org FRIDTJOF NANSEN

1919

AUCKLAND

101st Lipton Cup continues unbroken record

The 101st Lipton Cup was raced in near perfect conditions in March by the L Class Mullet Boats, the class featured in Nigel Sharp’s August 2021 issue of Classic Boat, writes Janet Watkins.

The trophy is rare because it has been raced for in every year since the competition was started, 1922. The Mullet boats were a fishing fleet in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf in the 1800s, before the mullet stocks became depleted and the boats became private vessels.

The 2022 event was regular crews depleted because of Covid, so crew numbers were limited to a minimum of five and maximum of six. It was an 11th win for Orion II and Martin Robertson and the 12th win for the Ponsonby Cruising Club. Martin’s crew were Orsa Levent, Grant Ewing, Reg Sparrey, Graham Andrew and Chris Ward.

East Coast sailors of a certain age will mourn the passing of Colin Albert Turner, a sea dog of the highest pedigree who died in Ireland in March, writes Jo Burge.

Born in Wivenhoe, Colin grew up in a fabulously sea-faring family. His grandfather Captain Albert Barr Turner was skipper of King George V’s yacht Britannia, and his father too.

Colin’s first command wasn’t quite J-class but an aircraft fuel drop-tank; salvaged, sliced and fitted out with lug-rig, this was the ideal boat for a young lad putting to sea with the war over at last. Many other craft followed, some featuring make-do construction methods such as roofing felt over clinker, his native seamanship and ingenuity making up for any shortcomings the vessel might have.

His resourcefulness led him to be recruited into the RAF and see duties as navigator on Short Sunderland flying-boats. He spoke of the fascinating sight of lightning over the Atlantic, travelling up the aircraft’s radar system. Back in civilian life Colin followed an engineering career with Paxman Diesels and numerous maritime businesses, including commissioning Sir Donald Gosling’s yacht, Brave Goose. Leaving Tough’s Yard at Teddington, the 126ft vessel developed engine problems in the Thames; strings were pulled in urgent fashion and permission was granted to raft up alongside HMS Belfast, where repairs were made, using the warship’s considerable workshop.

Colin had many yachts in his sailing career. He always favoured the classic, timber and steel, and despite never being in the least bit sni y about boats, he would say: “I draw the line at anything without a drinks’ locker.”

Some he lived aboard, all he sailed with pleasure and twinkle-eyed accomplishment. Not a club yachtsman, he was to be found cruising and sounding the swatchways; a natural and gentle teacher, never happier than when passing on the skills of boat handling and seamanship.

Not so long ago, he was teaching my son, then aged nine, to navigate “properly – with a pencil”.

Colin married Brenda in 1962 who predeceased him. He spent his last years in Ireland with their daughter Emma.

OBITUARY Colin Turner, 1935-2022

Falmouth Classics

Entries are flooding in for the 35th edition of Atkins Ferrie Wealth Management’s Falmouth Classics, from 17-19 June.

The event will include racing on Friday and Saturday, public access to the pontoons on Saturday, a rowing and sculling competition at the Royal Cornwall Yacht Club from 4.30pm on Saturday, two parades on Sunday and a Maritime Village on Custom House Quay over the whole event. The regatta takes place at the same time as the Falmouth International Shanty Festival with its 71 groups providing musical entertainment around the town.

Meanwhile leading marine coatings manufacturer Teamac will sponsor the Saturday race on 18 June, which will be known as the Teamac Race.

falmouthclassics.org.uk

$3 million

Broker Participation

M/V NYMPH M/V NYMPH M/V NYMPH M/V NYMPH

HISTORIC, 1913 Early American Motor Boat HISTORIC, 1913 Early American Motor Boat with Edwardian Old World Charm with Edwardian Old World Charm

Last of a special breed, beautiful fiberglass hull, 30yr T&T hauls with 50 ton travel lift. This amazing vessel has been meticulously restored over a eight-year period. Originally built in 1913 by The Matthews Boat Company in Clinton, Ohio.

75’- 0”

1913

CORNWALL

Pirates ship to meet 'blue health' demand

Cornish charity Sea Sanctuary has taken ownership of Irene, the tall ship featured in the film Pirates of the Caribbean.

The 100ft tall ship, built in 1907, arrived in Falmouth in April to help support the charity’s work in ‘blue health’ – the concept that blue spaces, like the sea, are profoundly beneficial to people’s mental and emotional wellbeing.

Irene replaces a smaller boat, a move which “reflects the increase in the demand of these critical services and the evolution of the charity who expertise and services are growing year on year from private clients, as well as corporate charters”.

Charity CEO Joseph Sabien said: “Our sailing days and residential therapeutic voyages are perfect for organisations looking to improve the mental health and wellbeing of their employees. "Those who participate in our programs are not the only ones to benefit as any profits from the operation will subsidise the cost of people in the local community who need our support but cannot a ord it. We are looking forward to a busy summer.”

seasanctuary.org.uk

Classic regatta support for youth charity

British Classic Week has announced the launch of a fundraising campaign for its charity partner Tall Ships Youth Trust.

The UK’s oldest and largest sail training charity, Tall Ships Youth Trust brings together crews aged 12-25, of di erent social backgrounds, for residential sailing voyages which often transform their lives.

Organised by the British Classic Yacht Club, the 20th edition of British Classic Week will take place in Cowes from 16-23 July 2022. Club commodore Jonathan Dyke said: “Whether it’s due to circumstance, an accident, or mental health, Tall Ships Youth Trust instigates a step change for young people when they are most in need. We are calling on British Classic Week attendees and classic yacht enthusiasts to donate to this invaluable charity and help support their life-changing sailing voyages.”

People can donate via justgiving.com/

fundraising/britishclassicweek2022

Donations can also be made throughout the regatta week using the charity’s contactless payment machines and by taking part in the prize-giving dinner fundraising activities.

britishclassicweek.co.uk

Film about engineless sailing

A project to shoot a 12mm movie about engineless sailing will go ahead after it won a UK Arts Council grant. Wind, Tide and Oar will premiere in 2024 on the Cutty Sark in Greenwich. The launch will be followed by “a 10-week, sail-powered, screening voyage” onboard the Thames sailing barge Blue Mermaid (pictured below), which is operated by the Sea-Change Sailing Trust. Around 120 young people and adult trainees will join as crew to deliver the barge to English ports, where the public will be invited onboard for screenings. As well as Blue Mermaid, the film will feature the ketch Birubi, Looe lugger Guide Me, ga -rigged Defiance, Leigh bawley Helen & Violet and Essex smack Fairy. Director Huw Wahl, who is making the film with sailor Rose Ravetz, describes the project as “an artists’ documentary film that will explore the absorbed attention and artistry of engineless sailing”.

windtideandoar.com

Eros on YouTube

Eros, the US-flagged schooner that was built in Lowestoft in 1939, now has its own YouTube channel, with regular videos documenting life aboard for the crew when not on charter. Search for ‘Sailing Eros’.

Logbook Out and about

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Awards 2022

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IN ASSOCIATION WITH

SUPPORTED BY

Classic Boat Awards 2022

PHOTOS JOSH ISKANDER

Nearly 200 guests came from around the British Isles, Europe and the US to collect their trophies or just to soak up the atmosphere at the Classic Boat Awards, held at the Royal Thames Yacht Club in London on 12 April. The audience of boatbuilders, owners, sailors, designers, historians and more was rewarded by a brilliant overview of classic sailing from John Lammerts van Bueren, reproduced overleaf. Congratulations to all!

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1 Classic Boat’s Rob Peake presented the ceremony 2 The Royal Thames YC kept the drinks fl owing 3 Anticipation for the unveiling of the winners is always high! 4 The trophies were handmade by Classic Marine in conjunction with Su olk Yacht Harbour 5 Steve Morris of Kilrush Boatyard (right) and fellow boatbuilder Fabian Bush 6 Paul Horton of Harbour Marine Services (centre) whose restoration of Dunkirk Little Ship Lazy Days was Highly Commended 7 Winners (l-r) Fionan de Barra; Stephen Morris; Marcus Lewis (behind)

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whose restoration of Barbara was a category winner; Hal Sisk (kneeling); Je Rutherford (with trophy); Katie McCabe; Penny Leander; Jamie Clay (with Centenarian’s bowl); Matt Lis (kneeling); John McShea; Carter Richardson (with trophy); Karen Underwood; with Spirit 30 owner Robert Gillespie 8 Classic Boater of the Year was Hal Sisk 9 Spirit Yachts MD Karen Underwood accepts the Highly Commended prize for the Spirit 30 10 Matt Lis of Woodbridge Boatyard

11 Penny Leander, who raced the restored Fairey Huntsman Flower Power, a category winner, in Cowes-

Torquay races in the 1960s 12 Young Classic Boater of the Year Katie McCabe, who sailed around Britain solo aged 14 in a Morgan Giles design 13 Lincoln Redding, navigator on Highly Commended Stormvogel in last year’s Rolex Fastnet Race, with David Cheesman, owner of Tenacity, Highly Commended in the New Powered Vessels 14 Carter Richardson of East Passage Boatwrights, whose EP24 won the New Powered Vessel category 15 Owner of the 100-year-old Albert Strange Firefl y, Jamie Clay, with William Riordan of the Gstaad Yacht Club; Firefl y won the Gstaad YC Centenarian of the Year trophy 16 For the Dublin Bay 21s, Fionan de Barra, Hal Sisk and Steve Morris 17 Je Rutherford, over from California with his wife Gladys Fleitas, accepted the trophy for Viveka, Restored Sailing Vessel of the Year 18 Jonathan Dyke of the event’s title sponsor Su olk Yacht Harbour (centre) with The Hon Lady Judy McAlpine (left) and Classic Boat’s Martin Nott

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OPENING ADDRESS, GIVEN BY JOHN LAMMERTS VAN BUEREN

Ladies and gentlemen: As Cambria’s captain Chris Barkham would say: “beautiful boats attract beautiful people” and, as I look around, how right he is. Thank you all for being here tonight to honour and celebrate the most beautiful boats in the world. Thank you for the honour of having me speak tonight.

I would like to start by taking you back to 1982, to Lymington, and an old Thames barge stuck in the mud near the bridge. I was told the man on board had some old winches I could use for my boat so I went below to meet him and have a look. As I climbed down the companionway, a phone rang. I couldn’t help overhearing the conversation and it went like this: “Hi Harry, Joe here! Hey, I heard you broke up with Sue. That’s too bad. But you know, once you’re married the boat gets in between and you have to make a choice, well, you chose for the boat, you did the right thing believe me!”

Well, that set the tone as we chatted and I showed him a picture of my boat. “Ahh, she’s a real beauty and I can tell you what these things are all about too, you see, once you get used to the smell of dry-rot, you can’t live without it”.

She was a 31ft Teal Class, designed by Luke, pitch pine on oak, built by Eddy Williams. She came on the market in 1980 and I fell for her, but like every normal student I was broke and couldn’t afford her. Until the moment her owner realized I was the only one who came every couple of months, just to dream and say hello to a pretty boat. No offer came forward, but for some reason he entrusted the boat to and let me have her for a song. She was my first really beautiful classic boat.

So let’s define beauty. Let’s for now agree to disagree. You see, we all look at things differently, judge differently, enjoy different aspects. To me, beauty goes beyond the lines, beyond craftsmanship and the choice of materials. To me it includes personal memories of friends on board, of stories told under the cabin lamp, of fun and laughter. To me beauty is also defined by the courage, the madness and passion to own, create or preserve something unusual. At least to me, without the latter, beauty has no meaning.

So here we are: we judged each other’s boats and projects, judged craftsmanship, dreamed away with stories told and untold, gazed through the shortlist, and like me, you probably realised we are about to make a few people happy while disappointing even more.

So how do we judge? Does effort and determination count? How about the ‘one-man band’ in a tin shed, hanging upside down in the bilge to replace a broken frame while his mates are getting drunk in the pub? How about the person fortunate enough to just write a cheque to get the job done?

Who and what are we awarding? Is it just beauty, is it the yard, the architect, the owner? What about vision? Should those breaking new ground be awarded or should we award authenticity and tradition?

Is the project where the yard is able to exceed the budget more valuable than the kid who saves an old wooden dinghy from the boneyard and fixes it up on a shoestring budget?

All of us weigh things differently and most of us weigh things differently on different days. This evening we celebrate those who the majority admired and inspired most. But not so long ago it would have been unthinkable for us to be here at the Royal Thames to celebrate classic and wooden boats. Less than 40 years ago the usual reason to buy a classic was simply that you could not afford to buy a proper fibreglass boat!

Another reason could be that you needed a cheap home. Stuck in canals and mud berths were some lovely J-Class yachts, 15, 12 and 8-Metres and of course lots of cruising boats of the early 20th century. They were saved from the scrapyard because their scrap value was lower than the cost of moving them.

So, off to the DIY to get some two by four and a sheet of tarpaulin, add a heater and that old boat suddenly was a comfy home. With the notable

Above: John in full flow at our awards. The speech was by turns funny, informative and moving – an ode to the classic boat revival

exception of Scandinavia, wooden boat traditions had faded around the world. I remember the nicknames for the old 8-Metre fleets like “The Rentokil Fleet” and “The Rotting Row”. Still, many of them survived. What saved them was their inherent beauty and the thrill of driving them to windward. What fun it was to pity the guys who pitied you when you raced an old clunker in a modern fleet and finished ahead of them all.

What saved them was the low cost; you could buy them for a song, slap some glassfibre on the planking and have fun. Sure enough, some were butchered, transoms were cut to get a better rating under RORC rules, rigs were changed, doghouses were added to get headroom, engines were added, old interiors were replaced by nice fashionable Formica ones. Winches were added, rigs were reinforced, keels and rudders were changed. Of course the rust of the steel frames leaked through the planking and the steam-bent frames broke. Gradually, planking became soft and the bilges were filled with concrete and epoxy to stop the leaks. Labour cost was high so the owners and crews learned to maintain their boats and keep them afloat. I am ever so grateful to these people as they saved many of the boats we admire and celebrate this evening!

Now let’s imagine that there would be a magazine covering the lives of these old boats. Imagine that the Royal Thames opening its doors for ‘the beaten-up old boats awards’. Something had to change to make that possible. That change came with a lady named Elizabeth Meyer. She decided to do the unthinkable and in 1984 she bought the remains of Endeavour, widely regarded as the most beautiful J-Class ever built.

Elizabeth was 31. Old enough to have childhood dreams, young enough to be not realise what she was getting in to. The first one to sum it up was TOM Sopwith, the man who raced her for the America’s Cup. When Elizabeth told him about her plans to restore his old boat, she didn’t expect his first words to be: “You’re a darned fool!”

But Elizabeth was determined to follow through and three years later the world was in awe. The most beautiful J was no longer stuck in the mud, no longer a house boat. The unthinkable happened and Endeavor sailed again! She took the boat around the world and entered regattas. Elizabeth Meyer’s passion for Endeavour and her dynamic personality changed the yachting scene for decades to come.

She had shown the world that old boats are worth saving, that they can be restored, be raced and cruised and yes, that they can bring huge satisfaction and joy.

With Endeavour, Elizabeth inspired a generation of sailors and encouraged them to restore forgotten classics to a scale and standard unthinkable on that rainy day at Calshot. In the Mediterranean, men like Luigi Lang played a pivotal role in creating rules under

Above: Cambria, a pivotal yacht in the classic boat revival, and one close to John’s heart

which classic boats could race. Naval architects like Olin Stephens, Doug Peterson, Jacques Fauroux and German Frers came to the scene and enjoyed sailing the old boats again.

Forgotten techniques of the past were brought back to life. Young sailmakers called up the old fogies to help them learn to design and cut Dacron sails. Wooden spars had to be built again, forgotten timber species had to be sourced once more. Riggers who just finished their course in PBO and composite splicing had to learn what seemed an ancient art; splicing galvanized wire.

And what about the crew? I remember our first days on Eleonora. We were overwhelmed by the huge sails and complexity of the running rigging. Most of the sailors on the dock knew how to race a Farr40 but few knew how to sail a classic schooner using transfer lines, jiggers, queens and jackyards. But the movement was persistent and so what once was a small and lone group of old boats became a fleet of well over 1,000 and the focal point of the sailing season in places like SaintTropez, Cannes, Argentario, Cowes, Brest and Maine.

And when you think about it, who would have ever imagined we would run out of wrecks to restore? That lost boats of the past would be built again? Ed Kastelein led the way with his reconstruction of Westward, the schooner Eleonora. Soon the schooners Elena, Germania, Wolfhound, Columbia and Atlantic followed. What about the 20 or more 6, 8 and 12-Metres yachts, built brand new to 90-year-old plans?

All that and more inspired a new type of yacht, a hybrid of the old and the new. Sean McMillan led the way in promoting what we now call ‘Spirit of Tradition’ yachts. The feel of a real wooden boat, lines inspired by the past as much as the present, resulting in designs that are in a class of their own.

Covid-19 didn’t bring much good to the world. But, if for us sailors, something good came out, then it has to be the revival of club racing in small boats. And so a whole new movement has started with wooden Stars, Finns, OK dinghies and more being restored and raced around the world. Away from the crowds, even professionals like Rod Davies and Paul Cayard once more enjoy sailing and racing wooden dinghies.

When I was a kid, I gazed at the photos made by Beken, Levick, Kirk and Rosenfeld. I read the stories of pre-war racing in what I regarded as the most beautiful yachts ever built. As a kid I always thought I was born at the wrong time, that I would never see them race like they did back then. I didn’t dare even to dream about witnessing more than 100 restorations from close by, crossing the Atlantic on a schooner or racing aboard Cambria. What about the idea to build a sawmill in Alaska and cut Sitka spruce for wooden spars? I can hear my late father whisper; “Wake up Johnny, time to step out of the dream”.

Well, ladies and gentlemen, look at where we are tonight, look at what we are looking at, look at the nominees we are honouring and the winners we are celebrating. Trust me, dreams come true, they really do.

Thank you and congratulations to all nominees and winners of tonight.

Eleonora, the first of the big schooner replicas

Spirit 44E, examplar of the spirit of tradition

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212ft New Classic Schooner ATLANTIC

2010. Replica of the legendary ATLANTIC which was commissioned by New York Yacht Club member Wilson Marshall, and which was launched in 1903. After owning, restoring, rebuilding or recreating a number of famous yachts, her owner built on his vast experience and has once again constructed a yacht that no-one thought would ever sail again. Her original lines were honoured to the finest detail and her sail plan is identical to that of her victorious 1905 Transatlantic Race which made her immortal in yachting history. Above all, she is again breathtakingly beautiful, turning heads wherever the wind takes her. Her dimensions are simply incredible; 65 m overall, 56 m over deck and 42 m at waterline. Thanks to her spars which tower some 45 meters above the waterline and support a staggering area of 1,750 m² of sail, she performs unmatched speed under sail.

80ft Long Range Gentleman’s Yacht Themara

1962. Refit 2022. Designed by the Scottish naval architects G.L. Watson & Co. and built along traditional lines to Lloyds class by Ailsa Shipbuilding, Scotland. She has a top speed of 11 knots and boasts a maximum range of 4,000 NM, thanks to her twin Gardner engines. She has cruised extensively in all latitudes including a circumnavigation. She was also a support vessel for the filming of Luc Besson’s Atlantis. Her interior has been rebuilt using varnished mahogany, in a timeless style, with modern details for comfort. 60ft Gentleman’s Yacht Kiwi

1914. Born from the drawing board of Herbert White and built by the Brothers Shipyard in Southampton (UK), despite her name - in recognition of her Kauri pine construction from New Zealand - KIWI was launched as an English gentleman’s yacht with an incomparable, but a manageable size. A rare opportunity to own a beautifully vintage historic yacht authentic yet very practical and unmistakably aesthetic.

87ft Wishbone Ketch Tamory 71ft Laurent Gilles Ketch Aitor

1952. Designed & steel built by Koser & Meyer in Germany. She is a very nice ketch with a special character. She is ideal for long cruising period while easy to manage even with just one crew. She accommodates up to 6 guests in 3 cabins and up to 3 crew in 2 cabins. 1964. From a Laurent Gilles Design, AITOR is a very nice Gentleman’s classic yacht for blue water cruising and live aboard thanks to her cockpit and deck house. She has a special character thanks to her classic style. She is easy to handle with 2 main engines.

65ft Sangermani Marconi Yawl Giannella II

1966. Refit 2010. This Eugène Cornu’s design has been built by the legendary Cantieri Sangermani, one of the best wooden boat shipyards in the world. She is a wonderful classic sailing yacht ideal for family cruising in absolute comfort. She has won many regattas including The Voiles de St Tropez. She features lovely interiors! 52ft Q Class Classic Bermudian Sloop Jour de Fête

1930. Refit 2017. Built as Falcon by George Lawley & Sons (Boston, USA) and designed by famous naval architect Mike Paine. She is optimised for racing. Since she became JOUR DE FÊTE in 2011. she campaigned very successfully in the Mediterranean classic circuit, earning a name for herself for her immaculate level of maintenance and her outstanding beauty on the water, as well as her ability to win.

FIFE REGATTA 2022

This 10-17 June, the biggest gathering of Fife yachts ever seen will gather on the waters of the Clyde estuary in only the fth ever iteration of the Fife Regatta

The event is, of course, the occasional spectacular known simply as ‘the Fife Regatta’. It has been held previously in 1998, 2003, 2008 and 2013, and this year has a new sponsor in the form of luxury watch brand Richard Mille. Those occasions saw, respectively, fleets of 11, 22, 20 and 20 yachts partaking, but this year, there are 24 on the entry list, making it probably the largest fleet of yachts built by the Fife boatbuilders ever gathered. In fact, with the exception of one or two boats, all those on the list (and most ‘Fife’ yachts worldwide) are the creations of the third, most famous of the family of yacht designers and boatbuilders – William Fife III. The first two William Fifes, however, should not be overlooked. It was the first of the them who, in the early 19th century, started the boatbuilding tradition, moving across from his work as a mill and cartwright. He built not only fishing and other working vessels, but the big yacht Lamlash as early as 1812, and Industry (a steam paddle ship) just two years after that, before settling down to concentrate on “fast and bonnie” sailing boats, the quotation that became the title of May Fife McCallum’s book about the Fife dynasty – as well as the mantra that would drive the business forward, through the next two generations. These days, Fife yachts are venerated around the world for their beauty and craftsmanship, and have been the subject of perhaps more big restorations than vessels from any other designer.

The Fife Regatta is a peripatetic one, with the fleet starting, and eventually returning to, Largs. From Largs, the boats race around Great Cumbrae and home on 11 June. The next day, they race to Rothesay, where they stay until 14 June, when they have a parade of sail to Kames before the Kyles Race to Portavadie, where they remain for two days. On 16 June, they partake in the Bute Race from Portavadie back to Largs, with the final race of the regatta, the King’s Course (Largs to Largs) on 17 June.

The oldest boat in the fleet of 24 this year is Red, a 19ft Clyde Class yacht, built in 1886. Ayrshire Lass (24ft LWL), built the year after, is notable for being a rare extant Wm Fife II creation. Both the famous, big Moonbeam gaff cutters will be present: Moonbeam III (1903) and Moonbeam IV (1914). The largest boat in this year’s fleet will be Kentra, the gaff ketch of 68ft 10in (LWL) built in 1923. Also present will be the ‘last Fife’ Sonata, cover feature in this issue. For more information, see fiferegatta.com

THE MISSING MASTERPIECE

The yacht Lola is now thought to be the last designed by J Pain Clark. And she’s restored and ready for another 100 years

WORDS AND PICTURES NIC COMPTON

When John Leather wrote an article about the amateur yacht designer J Pain Clark in the January 2000 Classic Boat, he traced the history of most of the 15 designs he is thought to have created – from the 1899 ‘single-handed cruiser’ Rani III to the 1924 cruising sloop The Hind. Along the way, he introduced readers to a series of elegant yachts with names such as Lora, Lona (three of them), and Rani (five of them!), most owned in quick succession by the designer himself. Leather described Pain Clark as “one of the most talented amateur designers of small cruising yachts before 1914” and ranked him alongside the likes of Albert Strange and George Holmes.

Leather concluded his article by saying: “So far as I can discover, this [The Hind, 1924] was the last of Pain Clark’s designs to be built,” adding that “J Pain Clark’s personal life and his end seem impossible to discover.”

Pain Clark’s designs were undeniably beautiful, as were his lines drawings, many of them beautifully annotated with art décor lettering. I admit I got quite hooked on ‘the elusive Mr Clark’ and, over the years, managed to sail two of his designs, Lona and Lona II, and visited a third, Lona III, while she was on land for sale. You could say I became a bit of a Pain Clark-spotter.

Imagine my delight then, when I was strolling through Baltic Wharf boatyard in Totnes and spotted a boat with the distinctive spoon bow and canoe stern so beloved of Clark. There was a ladder propped up on one side so I clambered up and, after a couple of knocks, the head of local boatbuilder Charlie Hussey popped out of the companionway. Regular readers will recognise him as the restorer of the Fred Parker motor-sailer Fortuna II.

Charlie confirmed that his latest charge was indeed a Pain Clark and built in Burnham-on-Crouch in 1925, a year after the last design in Leather’s article. This time the boat was not called Lora or Lona, but Lola. She was the ‘missing’ Pain Clark; my excitement knew no bounds.

Charlie was halfway through the latest stage in what turned out to be an ongoing restoration project for the new owner, engineering consultant Tim Thurnham. Every winter, Lola was lifted out and put under cover for Charlie to work on, and every summer she went back in the water for Tim to sail on. This was year three: the stem. Once the boat was back in the water, Charlie said, he was sure the owner would be delighted to take me out for a sail.

What none of us knew, of course, was that we were about to be engulfed by a pandemic. It would be a full 18 months (after year four: the anchor) before I saw Lola sailing. Meanwhile, Tim obliged my curiosity by sending me snippets of information – not least, photos of Lola’s Blue Book, with a full list of owners up to 1992.

The documents showed that Lola was built by William King & Sons for Robert Pershouse, a “gentleman” from Aldeburgh, Suffolk, and a member of the Royal Thames YC. She displaced 8.79 tons (gross) and was fitted with a 12hp four-cylinder engine from Bergius & Co in Glasgow.

She then went through a succession of owners, including noted Birmingham architect Samuel Cooke (better known as SN Cooke). Her third owner was also an architect, Claud Reid, of East Portlemouth near Salcombe. She was then owned for 20 years by Keith Wilson, a probationary flight officer in the Royal Navy Air Service during WWI, who raced and cruised her extensively on both sides of the Channel.

Lola’s main claim to fame at this time was co-starring in a BBC documentary about the 1968 Tobermory Race, a three-day event starting at Port Bannatyne on the Clyde and finishing at Tobermory on the Isle of Mull. Lola had by this time been bought by larger-than-life character David Rombach, who later lived in the Cloch lighthouse on the Clyde, where the boat was based. More than 100 boats took part in the race that year, but the BBC film (see tinyurl.com/j8598j67) focuses on just three: the 8-M Christina, the 35ft (10.7m) ketch St Mary, and Lola.

Christina streaks ahead into first place, St Mary hits a rock, and Lola turns out to be deceptively fast. But the best bits of the film are when presenter Magnus Magnusson chats to “that relaxed philosopher” Rombach about the romance of sailing and the latter answers, in his thick Scottish accent, with such gems as: “There’s more thrill in doing six knots to windward in a yacht than there is in doing 80 miles an hour in a car.”

Rombach went on to sail Lola extensively in northern Europe, including to Norway. At some point he broke the original wooden mast and replaced it with an aluminium one. He also fitted a bowsprit, presumably to reduce weather helm. After 14 years of ownership, Rombach sold the boat to Neil and Marie McDougall, a surgeon and a doctor from Glasgow. They too sailed Lola far and wide over the next few years, cruising as far north as the Shetlands Isles and as far south as La Coruña in Spain, winning many trophies along the way, including the Blue Water Trophy in 1984.

Painting the boat annually with a small child proved too onerous and they sold Lola the next year and bought a sensible family boat, though the memory of their beloved old yacht lingered on. “Nobody admired our boat any more,” she says. “People would always say how lovely Lola was, but that changed when we bought a fibreglass boat.” After a brief, fallow period back in Brighton, Lola was acquired by Simon Helliwell, a former English naval architect who had downshifted to become a carpenter on the Isle of Eigg. Lola was by now almost 70 years old and, after being raced and cruised hard for several decades, was starting to show her age. Helliwell embarked on a major restoration, including replacing her deck with 1in solid iroko and building new hollow wooden masts. He also rearranged the interior to her current layout, moving the galley to starboard, creating a proper quarter berth and chart table to port, and moving the heads forward, complete with an articulated door he describes as “the tardis”. Not having access to a slip, he built a cradle and used a tractor to pull Lola out of the water every winter.

Below: Even the bathing ladder is retro – though that self-steering belongs to a later era

Main image: In her element on a breezy day o Dartmouth. Inset left: Owner Tim Thurnham lashes down the liferaft. Inset right: The elliptical cockpit was one of the main reasons Tim bought the boat

Over the next 26 years, Helliwell sailed the boat – by now painted racing green – over 30,000 miles, including to the Baltic and France. “She loves being sailed hard,” he remembers. “She comes into her own in a strong wind. Upwind she isn’t as fast as modern boats, but off the wind she will show any similar-sized boat a clean pair of heels.” Eventually, the toll of continuous maintenance got to him too, however, and he decided to sell Lola and buy a sensible plastic boat (a Contessa 32, in his case).

Tim Thurnham was in many ways an unlikely buyer. Brought up near Windermere, he sailed mostly in modern dinghies and often chartered out of Plymouth. His big adventure was rowing across the Atlantic as part of the 2001 Talisker Challenge, when his team came 6th out of 36. His interest in traditional boats grew after his girlfriend (who has restored a Laurent Giles Peter Duck and a Harrison Butler Z4) bought him a subscription to CB.

One August bank holiday he found himself on Lola, then in Dartmouth under the watchful eye of Richard Gregson of Wooden Ships. He was immediately captivated by the oval cockpit set inside the canoe stern – but was put off by the bad deck leaks. “Too long, too old and too wooden,” he wrote to his mother; yet a few weeks later he became the proud owner of his first wooden boat.

You’d think that buying a 90-year-old, 36ft wooden boat might be an ordeal for a rookie, but Tim seems remarkably relaxed when I finally meet him on board during a lull in the pandemic. This is in large part thanks to the reassuring presence of Charlie Hussey, who’s guided Tim through the perils with a steady hand. Key to this has been keeping the boat in use, working on selected areas every winter and sailing every summer.

Year One was re-caulking the deck, repairing the mast and sorting out some of the interesting mixes of metals that had accumulated in the boat in her lifetime. Year Two was repairing and resealing the coachroof, which had rotted around the perimeter. Year Three was, as noted, repairing the stem, which was damaged in a collision during Rombach’s ownership, and rebuilding the starboard side of the cockpit. Year Four was fitting a new windlass and bow roller so easier anchor handling, and rebuilding the port side of the cockpit. At some point a new 35hp Beta engine replaced the old Perkins. Year Five (now!) was yet more refastening and a discussion about the heads, which Tim describes as a “death trap”.

With a boat as old and as well used as Lola, ‘originality’ is almost irrelevant. So many owners have changed so much over the years, that you would have to completely rebuild her to take her back to original. And what would be the point of that? Instead, Tim, like the owners before him, has taken a pragmatic approach.

“When I bought the boat, it was sold as cruising yacht, and that’s how I use it,” he says. ““I’m not trying to create a museum piece. I love the fact the boat has been changed by almost every owner, and I love trying to work out what previous owners did.”

Watching Lola sailing in a lumpy sea off Dartmouth, it’s clear she is still every bit the practical cruising yacht that Pain Clark intended when he designed her nearly 100 years ago. It’s entirely possible that more Pain Clark designs will emerge in future years, but if Lola does represent the culmination of his career, then she has certainly done him proud. And, for Pain Clarkspotters such as myself, she was well worth the wait.

Above left to right: Elegant glass panelled doors instead of washboards; The new self-launching anchor; New brass rails protect the main skylight

Below left: The much altered interior

Below right: Lola loves a breeze

2 Southford Road, Dartmouth, South Devon TQ6 9QS Tel/Fax: (01803) 833899 – info@woodenships.co.uk – www.woodenships.co.uk

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