35 minute read
TELL TALES
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Images: Matteo Richiardi
OFFSHORE
1959 Vertue takes on modern fleet in Round Britain & Ireland Race
Competing in this summer’s Round Britain & Ireland Race against a fleet of cutting-edge race boats will be this 1959 Vertue.
The 25ft Laurent Giles design is below the minimum length for the race and has been given a wildcard entry for the race, run by the Royal Western Yacht Club.
Owner Matteo Richiardi will be sailing double-handed with a mate, having been inspired by the o shore reputation of Vertues, as told in classic books such as Humphrey Barton’s Vertue XXXV, David Lewis’ The Ship Would Not Travel Due West, and Peter Woolas’ Stelda, George and I.
The Round Britain and Ireland Race starts on 29 May, open to double-handed and short-handed monohulls and multihulls of between 27ft (8.23m) and 70ft (21.34m), starting and finishing in Plymouth, Devon, with 48-hour stopovers at Galway on the west coast of Ireland, Lerwick in the Shetland Islands and Blyth on England’s north east coast.
Mea (meaning “beauty and grace” in Chinese) is an Ocean Vertue, built in Hong Kong by Cheoy Lee of teak planks on ipol frames.
Matteo, 50, a Professor of Economics at the University of Essex, said: “Why? Because if not now, when? It’s time to stop dreaming about things I might not do. I want to give my sailing a purpose, test myself a little bit. I’m going because every time I went on a sailing adventure, it enriched me.”
He has a team of four, among whom to select one or two mates, given that one crew change is allowed in Lerwick.
He estimates the trip could take between 20 days and a month, while the first boats will be finished in a week or less: “I have created two scenarios: a low speed scenario, with an average speed of 3 knots, and a high speed scenario, with an average speed of 5 knots.”
He added: “Let’s not overestimate the whole endeavour. This is not the Vendée Globe, it is not the Golden Globe and it is not even the other Round Britain & Ireland Race [non-stop, organised by the Royal Ocean Racing Club]. “Our race is a relatively long one, true, and you are pretty sure you’ll find some rough weather – which I don’t like. But you can replenish supply at the three stops, you can even get a warm shower and a cold beer, and perhaps a decent sleep if you do not exaggerate with the beer. So I won’t make too much of a fuss of it. “But I want to make a point: I can do this, with little means, and a little boat, without sacrificing my life, my job, my family, my other interests. And I would like to do it my way, connecting with the geography of the sea and the land, with people present and past, with the wood that grew in Asia decades ago and was cut and shaped into the idea of a ship by craftsmen long gone, with the sailors that sailed Mea through time, temporarily handing her to me. Sailing through history, and through culture, if you wish. Sailing to the edge of time, as John Kretschmer put it in what I consider one of the best sailing books ever written. The competition is just an excuse, an opportunity. But having said that, we won’t be there for tourism.”
Follow Mea’s progress via Matteo’s blog measailing.wordpress.com
$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
Classic class at Volvo Cork Week
Following on from the announcement at the Paris Boat Show last December that a dedicated Classics Class will be run at Volvo Cork Week 2022, the Royal Cork Yacht Club is seeing a steady flow of entries for the regatta, which will be held inside and outside Cork harbour from 11-15 July.
Racing will be conducted using the Jauge Classique Handicap (JCH) system “to allow classic boats with very di erent characteristics to race together as well as other handicapping systems as appropriate”.
In addition, Pascal Stefani, President of the Atlantic Yacht Club (AYC), with the support of the Yacht Club de France, announced that they are arranging ‘Goto Cork 2022’ which will entail up to 20 classic yachts heading to Cork via the Scillies together. A delegation from AYC has since been to Cork to prepare for their visit in July.
AYC member Yves Lambert will be participating in his yacht Persephone, a 37ft Tina designed by Dick Carter, and said: “In 2020 we had plans to attend and help the Royal Cork Yacht Club celebrate its Tricentenary, enjoy some Irish beers with our Irish friends and everything else Cork has to o er. Sadly, Covid put stop to our plans, but when we were advised of a classic class at Cork Week in 2022, we had to come. A 302-year-old birthday does not happen so often!”
Another confirmed entrant is Jamie Matheson, owner of the Lallows-built S&S 41, Opposition. She will be arriving by road and supported by mother ship Rhum Jungle, a Nelson 75. Jamie said: “We were very sad that after all their hard work and preparation, the Royal Cork had to cancel their 300th celebrations in 2020 – though I applaud their decision to cancel early. We are now delighted to have the chance to come over albeit a little late to help the Royal Cork celebrates its momentous anniversary. It will be great sailing again in the most beautiful part of the world.”
Royal Cork member Terry Birles’ Erin (pictured top left), a 1919 Fred Shepherd design, is also entered. Erin will arrive in Cork from the south of France in May to allow her crew to get accustomed to sailing the boat in Cork Harbour. She will be accompanied by her mother ship, Shamrock, a sea-going luxury commuter yacht built in 1957 in Seattle. Shamrock will also serve as Committee Boat for the classic fleet throughout Volvo Cork Week.
Terry is keen to revive classic sailing in Cork and said: “I wouldn’t have forgiven myself for not entering as it is such a delight to see classic yacht racing returning to Cork Harbour. Those beautiful ladies can again grace Cork waters with their alluring presence, crispy white sails and varnished teak decks.
“I must commend the Royal Cork in having a dedicated Classic Class for the first time in the biennial regatta’s history. It is a relief to be able to sail gloriously into post-Covid times in the company of other classic yachtsmen, especially as the 2020 plans were cancelled despite the tremendous e orts put by former Admiral Colin Morehead and his team as the pandemic unfolded. I am therefore very much looking forward to taking part.”
Elsie, owned by Patrick Dorgan, will also feature on the start line of the classics class in July. A William Fife-designed Cork Harbour One Design, built in 1896 at the Gridiron Works in Carrigaloe in Cork Harbour, she will also be joined by at least one, Jap, if not two more of these Fife classics in July. Jap (top right) was racing in the Med last season, fourth at Cannes Regates Royales and winning her class at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez last September.
Volvo Cork Week has always been regarded as a ‘must-do’ regatta for modern yacht racers, due to its reputation for exhilarating racing in fair waters, as well as its renowned social scene ashore.
Mike Rider, who is Chair for the Classics Fleet at Volvo Cork Week and Rear Admiral of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, said: “The worldrenowned biennial regatta, first held in 1978, is expected to attract a bumper fleet of entries and as always, the atmosphere in Crosshaven, home of the Royal Cork Yacht Club, will be second to none both during and ahead of Volvo Cork Week 2022. The addition of a dedicated Classics Class is proving to be very popular and I look forward to welcoming as many as possible to Crosshaven in July.”
Online entry to Volvo Cork Week 2022 is open at corkweek.ie.
SOLENT
Cowes Classics Week
Entries have opened for Cowes Classics Week 2022, with racing from 27 June to 1 July.
The regatta – billed as the “world’s biggest classic yacht regatta of its kind” – takes place right after the Island Sailing Club’s Round the Island Race, making a week afloat for yachts and smaller boats.
Cowes Classics Week, run by the Royal London Yacht Club, is open to a wide range of yachts and o ers multiple race courses catering both for large one-design fleets and for all-comers in handicap fleets.
“Classic yachts built in wood or steel before 1975, or GRP yachts designed at least 50 years ago, are eligible,” says the club. “So too are all classic S&S-designed yachts, including Swans and S&S 34s, regardless of design date. Spirit of Tradition yachts designed to classic lines are also welcomed. There will be a non-spinnaker division for classic yachts above 30’ in length.” Entries are anticipated from multiple dayboat fleets including Dragons, Swallows, Solent Sunbeams, Loch Long ODs, XODs, BODs, Squibs, Flying Fifteens and many more, together with metre boats, old ga ers and cruiser/racers such as Folkboats, Contessas, SCODs, Twisters and Nicholsons. On Sunday 26 June, around 60 classic cars and classic boats will assemble on the Parade and the Trinity Landing for the second edition of Cowes Classics Day.
Early bird rates are available at cowesclassicsweek.org
Ranger is J-Class winner at Saint Barth’s
A smile for Skylark
An enthusiastic owner new to racing under sail and a crew of experienced sailors at their first J-Class regatta together proved a winning combination as Ranger clinched the Saint Barth’s Bucket J-Class title in March.
Under America’s Cup-winning skipper Ed Baird, Ranger finished one point clear of Hanuman and Velsheda after four races at the French Caribbean island’s annual superyacht regatta.
Ranger was built of steel in Denmark from 2002-3 as the first of the ‘replica’ Js, constructed to the original Starling Burgess and Olin Stephens lines of Harold Vanderbilt’s ‘Super J’ which won the 1937 America’s Cup 4-0 against Endeavour 2.
At 28.6m Ranger is the longest on the waterline of the trio racing at St Barths, compared to 27.7m for Velsheda and 26.8m for Hanuman, and even after losing six tonnes in a recent refit is the heaviest at 196 tonnes, compared to Velsheda’s 180 and 172 tonnes for Hanuman. John Kostecki is Ranger’s tactician, supported by Jordi Calafat and Jules Salter, a unit that can boast two recent TP52 world titles. Recent updates to the boat included improvements to the hydraulics to give more winch power, as well as better weight distribution, aiming to move weight forward “as Ranger has always sat stern down”.
Hanuman’s skipper Ken Read said: “Getting these boats around the race course on a light airs day isn’t easy and so I am very proud of the team, especially how we were doing in today’s conditions. But congratulations to Ranger and to an owner who is new to the sport."
Boatbuilder Rebecca MacAskill and colleague Ronnie Mckechnie are pictured alongside the Dunkirk Little Ship Skylark IX, at a new exhibition, Hope Floats, at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, Ayrshire. The exhibition shows how the Dumbarton-based Skylark IX is maintained and how the boat’s story “of hope and resilience” is used to help people recovering from addictions, through engaging them in boatbuilding training.
Ryegate – classic wooden motor boat restoration
Joshua Major | SYH Boatyard Services Director
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OBITUARY Solo circumnavigator Les Powles, 1925-2022
Les Powles, who died earlier this year, was one of those eccentric, Corinthian Brits who was content in his own company and never understood the public admiration or fuss he received for sailing solo around the world three times during the 1970s and 1980s, writes Barry Pickthall.
A land-based engineer from Liverpool, Powles began to crave the freedom of the seas during the early 1970s and spent his £7,000 life savings self-building his 34ft Bruce Roberts designed yacht Solitaire. Somewhat recklessly, he set out to cross the Atlantic in 1975 with only eight hours’ sailing experience. He was heading for the Caribbean on the first stage of an around the world cruise, but poor navigation led him to land in Brazil. “I didn’t have GPS in those days,” he lamented. “There is no excuse now for getting it so wrong.”
Les also recalled some of the scariest moments, including a week of storms: “There were times when I was aware the waves could kill me. I had no control; I just had to hope we wouldn’t roll over.”
Sailing always on a shoestring budget, he set out on his first non-stop circumnavigation without a radio transmitter and did not speak to another person for 329 days. Towards the end of his second, non-stop voyage in 1980-81, Les struggled with hunger and survived only on rainwater, a few spoons of rice and a third of a tin of mince per day. At the end, he was down to eating just rice mixed with curry powder, which he called “a horrible recipe”! On his third, eight-year voyage, in the late 1980s, he was given up for dead, but surprised everyone when he returned to Lymington four months after setting sail from New Zealand. He had lost five stone and hardly had the strength to lift the sail. For this extraordinary feat, Powles won the British Yachtsman of the Year award Lymington Yacht Haven, on England’s south coast, gave Powles a free berth for life and until very recently he was still living aboard Solitaire. Following the publication of his book, Solitaire Spirit, published by Bloomsbury, telling his life story and circumnavigations, Powles received unsolicited letters from all over the world congratulating him for his unpretentious pioneering spirit and the inspiration he provided. It remains required reading for any who have the inclination to cock a snook at convention. “I’m glad I did it the way I did. Some people thought I was an idiot, but I couldn’t care less. It’s what I wanted to do,” he recalled.
Once his sailing days were over, Powles was asked: “Do you miss the open sea?” The 96-year-old answered: “I’m completely satisfied with what I’ve got.”
Jonathan Cook, from Lymington Yacht Haven said: “Les was an extremely popular character around Lymington and for over five decades he has truly been a part of the Yacht Haven family. His story resonated around the world and he continued to receive post from those he has inspired to discover a life of sailing and adventure.”
2021 OVERALL WINNER
Thames Sailing Barges by Fraser Gray
National Historic Ships UK Photography competition 2022
In partnership with Classic Boat, National Historic Ships UK is running its popular annual photography competition for the 13th year. Following on from last year’s theme of ‘Back to the Water,’ we are looking for images that celebrate the theme of “Journeys”.
How you interpret this theme is entirely up to you. You could capture the physical voyage of an operational vessel on our seas, lakes, rivers or inland waterways – a fi shing boat setting o at dawn, a lazy sunny afternoon on a pleasure boat, or a lifeboat returning from a late-night call. It could be a vessel’s conservation journey; an owner or volunteer hard at work on their boat or celebrating a milestone in the long life of their craft. We’re hoping for photos showcasing a wide range of vessel types, whether big or small, afl oat or ashore. We’d love to see images featuring people as well – enjoying a day trip to a museum ship or simply messing about on the water at a Jubilee Regatta. Wherever or however you engage with the water this summer on your own personal journey, don’t forget to share it with us!
Great prizes to be won, including a Go-Pro camera and £500 of vouchers
THE JUDGES
Paul Atterbury
Antiques expert
Tracey ClarkeSullivan
Event producer
Tim Beckett
Director, Beckett Rankine
Fraser Gray
2021 Photo Competition Winner
Ste an Meyric Hughes
Editor, Classic Boat
Simon Stephens
Curator, Royal Museums Greenwich
Christian Topf
Creative designer
Overall prize
£500 of vouchers of your choice + Yarmouth Oilskins Classic Smock Highly Commended: The Sea Chart book by John Blake + Yarmouth Oilskins Classic Smock
Classic Boat Award
Winner: Trophy & two-year subscription Highly Commended: The Sea Chart book by John Blake
People’s Choice Award
Voting on Instagram throughout the summer Winner: Go-Pro camera Monthly prizes: Farewell Mr Pu n book by Paul Heiney or Uncommon Courage book by Julia Jones Newcomer of the Year Award: £250 of vouchers of your choice
Competition Rules and Guidelines
The competition runs from 1 April – 31 August 2022. For terms & conditions, and to enter, go tonationalhistoricships.org.uk/ PhotoCompetition
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THE Winners
After a huge voting turn-out, here are the winners of the 2022 Classic Boat Awards
Awards 2022
IN ASSOCIATION WITH
RESTORED SAILING VESSEL OVER 40FT
VIVEKA
Restored by Rutherford’s Boatshop, Designed by Frank C Paine, Built by Fred Lawley, 1930, LOD 72ft 9in (22.2m), Rig bermudan schooner Everything about Viveka is distinctive, from her fi rst owner, JP Morgan, to her double-carvel hull construction, but most of all in her rig. Viveka is the only schooner-rigged yacht built to the International 12-M rule that we have ever come across. Her restoration, which was completed at the very tail end of 2020 for an English owner, was pretty much the complete works, and a very signifi cant project even for someone of the standing of California boatbuilder Je Rutherford, the conservator who, over the years, has been behind the restorations of the Universal P-Class yacht Joyant, the 126ft (38m) steam yacht Cangarda and the ongoing job on the mind-blowing schooner Coronet.
AWARDS SPONSORS
RESTORED SAILING VESEEL UNDER 40FT
BARBARA
Restored Marcus Lewis, Des/built Archie Watty, 1947, LOD 18ft (5.5m), Rig bermudan sloop On 20 January 1947, Olive Bate of Polruan, Cornwall, gave birth to a baby girl, Barbara. This was also the day that she and husband Arthur were set to put down their deposit on a house. Her reaction at discovering, the same day, that Arthur had instead spent the money on a Fowey One-Design, can only be imagined, even with the boat named after the girl. By the 1990s, Barbara (the boat) was in pieces in the Hebrides, but class sailor Richard Kitson and boatbuilder Marcus Lewis brought her back home to Cornwall and performed a rebuild that makes her today, e ectively, a brand-new boat, albeit on her original ballast keel.
C/O ROLEX
HIGHLY COMMENDED
RESTORED SAILING VESSEL
OVER 40FT
STORMVOGEL
Restored by Metur Yacht, Designed by Ericus van de Stadt, Laurent Giles and John Illingworth, Built Cornelius Bruynzeel, 1961, LOD 74ft 6in (22.7m), Rig berm ketch The story of Stormvogel is a fable of glory and reincarnation. She’s e ectively the world’s first maxi yacht, and she was built by and for the Dutch plywood king Cornelius Bruynzeel, in solid carvel planking. He campaigned her to line honours in the 1961 Fastnet. After a thorough rebuild at the Metur Yachts yard in Turkey, Stormvogel took on the same race again in 2021, six decades on. While lesser (read ‘modern’!) vessels retired in the harsh conditions, the storm bird flew home in seventh place, in the very fast time of just 3 days and 19 hours.
NIGEL SHARP HIGHLY COMMENDED
C/O WOODBRIDGE BOATYARD
RESTORED SAILING VESSEL
UNDER 40FT
FALCON
Restored by Woodbridge Boatyard, Designed by Bjarne Aas, Built 1956, LOD 33ft (10m), Rig bermudan sloop When Sir Michael Harrison died in 2019, aged 83, he’d owned and sailed his wooden International One Design on Su olk’s rivers for 35 years. After a thorough refit, including new transom, replacement of many ribs and frames, all of her deck beams, both shear planks, a new Lignia deck and new wooden spars to replace the old aluminium ones, his son Edwin will continue the tradition.
Awards 2022
THE Winner
NEW SAILING VESSEL ALL SIZES
DUBLIN BAY 21 FLEET
Built by Steve Morris of Kilrush Boatyard, Designed by Alfred Mylne, LOD 36ft 5in (11.1m), Rig ga cutter The Dublin Bay 21s were drawn by Alfred Mylne in 1902, at the invitation of the Dublin Bay Sailing Club. The next year, fi ve boats had been built and two more soon after that. Amazingly, all lived to see the present day, when class afi cionado Fionan de Barra and yachting historian Hal Sisk came up with a plan to rebuild the entire fl eet of seven, all on their original ballast keels, but in strip plank. As a concept, its audacity is perhaps unparalleled, but by 2021, Naneen, Garavogue and Estelle were racing in Dublin Bay under collective ownership. The other four will follow soon.
KEES STUIP
HIGHLY COMMENDED
WATERLINE MEDIA
NEW SAILING VESSEL ALL SIZES
SPIRIT 30
Built by Spirit Yachts, 2021, Design by Sean McMillan, LOD 30ft (9.2m), Rig bermudan sloop She’s the fi rst open day-sailer from the world’s leading Spirit-of-Tradition builder, whose yachts have featured twice in the Bond fi lms. The Spirit 30 is a fast, opulent, modern fl yer, with a skimming dish hull, fi n-and-bulb keel, carbon spars, rod rigging and moulded sails. Above the water, she’s pure 1930s gent’s keel boat, though quite a bit faster in practice, as we discovered. Best of all – she’s all wood, built in 15mm Alaskan cedar.
Awards 2022 THE Winner
JOE MCCARTHY
RESTORED POWERED VESSEL ALL SIZES
FLOWER POWER
Restored by Josh Major/Su olk Yacht Harbour, Designed by Alan Burnard, Built Fairey Marine, 1967, LOD 28ft (8.5m) Power: twin diesel As a marque, Fairey Marine is so soaked in glamour, it could be Britain’s answer to Riva. The company’s quintessential motorboat was the hot-moulded timber, twin-engined Fairey Huntsman 28, as featured in From Russia with Love. This one was built as a 21st birthday present for model Penny Carter, who raced her in three Cowes-Torquay races. She now belongs to Josh Major, shipyard director at Su olk Yacht Harbour. After a thorough restoration and re-engine, Flower Power is better and faster than ever; her two 215hp diesels give her a thrilling 37.8 knots.
C/O HMS HIGHLY COMMENDED
RESTORED POWERED VESSEL ALL SIZES
LAZY DAYS
Restored by Harbour Marine Services, Designed and built by Cli and Jones of Castleford, 1930, LOD 34ft 2in (10.4m) Power: twin diesel Lazy Days might have been rather optimistically named, given the wartime service this little river cruiser saw, not least at Dunkirk, where she spent three days ferrying troops in Operation Dynamo, breaking most of her ribs in the process. She was rebuilt as a yacht in 1952, and her most recent stint of work at Harbour Marine has seen 50 to 75 per cent of the hull re-planked due to rot on the port side, and an engine refi t to give a fl at cockpit sole. Now, nearly a century after she was launched, she’s ready to live up to the promise of her name.
2 Southford Road, Dartmouth, South Devon TQ6 9QS Tel/Fax: (01803) 833899 – info@woodenships.co.uk – www.woodenships.co.uk
40’ Millers MFV built by James Miller and Sons of St Monance in 1953 for George Clark of Clarks Shoes. Refitted to current standards in present ownership with a nicely proportioned gaff ketch rig with new rigging and sails in 2011. Gardner 6LX 110hp diesel in lovely condition. 5 berths with double cabin forward and large wheelhouse. Tidy yacht, well equipped and fit to put to sea this season. Isle of Man £75,000 49’ Danish gaff ketch built as a fishing vessel in 1918. Worked until 1995 when she was converted to a yacht. Oak on oak hull with very sweet lines. New sails 2019. 155hp Volvo diesel, 9 berths with separate aft cabin. A very nice example of her type, small enough to be sailed by two crew but with lots of deck space and comfortable interior. Germany €100,000
41’ Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter replica built by RB Boatbuilding, Bristol, in 2017. Traditionally built boat with all non-ferrous fastenings, pine planking on grown oak fames. 6 berths including aft double cabin and 4 singles. 6’3” headroom in the saloon. Used as a private sailing yacht since her launch, not for commercial sailing. 2021 survey available. France €220,000 Iain Oughtred Guillemot sailing dinghy professionally built by Jamie Clay in 2014. Gabon marine plywood glued with epoxy for a light low maintenance hull. Beautifully finished with all bronze fittings and hard wood thwarts. Balanced lug rig. Oars and bronze rowlocks. Comes with cover and launching trolley. A truly immaculate dinghy finished to a very high standard. Oxfordshire £5,750 North Quay 19 built by North Quay Marine in 2008. A well respected design with great performance and sweet lines, perfect for day sailing and coastal exploration. Epoxy strip plank Cedar hull, the complete boat weighs only 975kg. On a 2016 road trailer, easily towed behind a moderate car. complete with camping awning giving 4 berths. Very smart fun family boat. Cornwall £16,950
33’ Miller Fifer motor sailer ketch built by Millers in 1961. Usual heavy construction giving a capable vessel with lots of internal volume. Easily handled Bermudan ketch rig with a Lister Blackstone 36hp diesel. 4 berths with separate heads and galley. Large wheelhouse for comfortable passage making. Good maintenance history over recent years, a very clean and tidy yacht. Cornwall £35,000 41’ Woodnutts Bermudan cutter designed and built by Woodnutts & Co. in 1938. In the same family ownership for over 45 years, she is professionally maintained regardless of cost. Pitch pine planking on oak timbers. Large volume interior with 6 berths and good headroom. A smart, substantial and capable yacht. Sussex £50,000 28’ Quarter Tonner designed by David Thomas and built by Frank Hoare in 1975. Cold moulded mahogany hull with laid teak decks. Very favourable IRC rating of 0.866 making her a very competitive yacht. Complete with double axle road trailer and outboard engine. Cost effective and exciting racing with a boat that will stand out from the crowd. Hants £15,000
Awards 2022
THE Winner
NEW POWERED VESSEL ALL SIZES EAST PASSAGE 24
Built East Passage Boatwrights, 2021, Designed Walt Ansel, LOD 24ft (7.3m), Power: single diesel At around two tonnes, this is a substantial Down East style picnic launch, built to a very high standard in traditional American double carvel timber, which gives great strength and the stability to hold paint fi nishes without cracking. This fi rst one has been in development for some time, but by the looks, it’s been worth the wait. The 150hp Yanmar gives 15 knots cruising, 20 tops.
C/O EAST PASSAGE BOATWRIGHTS
C/O CW HOOD
HIGHLY COMMENDED
NEW POWERED VESSEL ALL SIZES
TENACITY
Designed/Built John McShea, 2021, LOD 19ft 6in (5.9m), Power: single diesel We visited John Shea’s yard in 2021, but here is one of his creations afl oat in all her glory. Tenacity was built for David Cheesman, in mahogany planks on an oak keel and timbers, with teak decks, and styled after the Salcombe launch, but with a glowing varnished fi nish to suit her role as a stylish, traditional gent’s day launch. Tiller steering and a 14hp Yanmar complete the very traditional picture.
RICHARD JOHNSTONE-BRYDEN
Awards 2022
Winner THE
GSTAAD YACHT CLUB CENTENARIAN OF THE YEAR FIREFLY
The 34ft 6in (10.5m) Albert Strange yawl Firefl y reaches her centenary this year with a near-unblemished record. She entered Clay family ownership in 1934 and now belongs to the grandson, boatbuilder Jamie Clay. She’s never needed rebuilding and is almost all original. Aside from the war, she has only missed a single sailing season. Firefl y was a runaway victor in this year’s voting, proving that in terms of appeal, a Strange-designed yacht is the equal of anything. HIGHLY COMMENDED
GSTAAD YACHT CLUB CENTENARIAN OF THE YEAR SUMURUN
This heavy-weather legend was designed and built by William Fife III in 1914 as a cruising 19-M yacht, but the 94ft (28.7m) ketch would still beat everything in sight when it blew hard. She was restored at Chantier Guip from 2017-19 and today, Sumurun is as active as ever in classic racing. Sumurun sailing is simply one of the great sights in the world of traditional vessels.
The Gstaad Yacht Club was formed in 1998 by a group of sailors with the vision to “create a unique global yacht club away from water”. The Centenarian of the Year trophy ties in with the club’s annual Centenary Trophy race, at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, attracting some of the oldest yachts afl oat. The Centenarian of the Year silver bowl and silver champagne fl ute (above) are made and donated by Robbe & Berking.
THE Winner
Awards 2022
YOUNG CLASSIC BOATER OF THE YEAR KATIE MCCABE
For anyone despairing at the state of young people today, we give you our fi rst Young Classic Boater of the Year: Katie McCabe. Her incredible round-Britain voyage at the record-breaking age of just 14 was undertaken on her 1952 West Channel One Design, bought by Katie for £800 made by doing weekend jobs. Falanda, imprisoned on dry land for a decade, was a mess, but Katie brought it back to life with advice from her boatbuilder father and woodcarver mother. The slog, however, was all hers. In June 2021, she set o to sail around Britain. Experienced global circumnavigators often refer to this as one of the most challenging voyages. Katie had no paper qualifi cations and was just 14, but a lifetime of living afl oat had prepared her perfectly.
CLASSIC BOATER OF THE YEAR HAL SISK
The award goes to a man who’s probably the only person to SPONSORED BY have restored yachts by the three great Scottish designers Fife, Watson and Mylne. He’s a retired engineer with a doctoral degree in coastal engineering and he’s lectured on yachting history in fi ve continents. His early years were spent racing Cadets and Enterprise dinghies from Crosshaven in Ireland. Later he raced successfully o shore with brothers George and John, and he was the co-founder Irish Sea O shore Racing Association in early 1970s.
Moving into smaller boats, he kickstarted a revival of the Water Wag class, the world’s oldest one design, by building fi rst new Water Wag in 20 years in 1977. He proudly declares he’s campaigned it for more than 40 seasons!
We give him the award this year for his stunningly ambitious ongoing project to restore all seven of the still-extant Dublin Bay 21s, but it’s just the tip of an iceberg. In 1983, he restored the 1884 Fife III-designed 22ft ga cutter Vagrant, then re-enacted her maiden voyage from Scotland to Dublin. In 1992, he built a replica of Simon & Jude, a 30ft catamaran designed and built for Sir William Petty in Dublin in 1662. There were more, but in 2005 came Peggy Bawn, a 35ft GL Watson-designed ga cutter built in 1894. It redefi ned the bar in terms of small-yacht restorations and became the fi rst boat we devoted a series to the restoration of, written by our late, great technical editor Theo Rye. Hal’s specialist publishing house was behind Martin Black’s acclaimed GL Watson biography. If that weren’t enough, he’s chairman Association of Yachting Historians and was key to the scanning the Lloyd’s Register of Yachts as well as The Yachtsman magazine and more to come. There is perhaps no one in the world who puts as much into the history of small-boat sailing, and probably no one who has spent as much, yet failed to walk away with a 100ft yacht or a J Class. That failure is his greatest success.
THE Winner
Awards 2022
LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT HALSEY CHASE HERRESHOFF
BARRY PICKTHALL/PPL
He was born in Bristol Rhode Island in 1933 and learned to sail at the age of fi ve in a dinghy designed and built by his grandad. In this case the dinghy was a Herresho 12.5 and the grandad was Nathanael Herresho . After reading naval architecture then mechanical engineering at MIT, Halsey’s yacht design career saw more than 10,000 boats launched to his designs. He was instrumental in founding the Herresho Museum in his home town of Bristol, then founded the America’s Cup Hall of Fame, with the benefi t of considerable experience, having crewed in no fewer than four cups, from 1958 to 1983. From birth, Halsey has been steeped in the heyday of wooden yacht sailing and later in life, in its preservation and revival. Where many today will feel pride at having attended the seminal 2001 America’s Cup Jubilee in the Solent, Halsey actually won the event, aboard his New York 40 Rugosa. He followed it up by a grand cruise that took in much of northern and southern Europe, then the Caribbean. These days, Halsey is not only a grandee of sailing, but a decorated public servant to the town of Bristol: the green sward behind the waterfront was named after him in 2018, for his “tireless, unprecedented” advocacy of its improvement. He went back to yacht designing in 2018, at the age of 85. We could award Halsey our lifetime award on his sailing career or At Charlie Barr’s grave, which Bob raised his design career, or his advocacy, campaigning and stewardship of American sailing history and the Herresho legacy. He’s funds to restore and maintain in perpetuity all of those, but more than that, he is simply one of the nicest, humblest people you could ever hope to meet.
