YORKSHIRE ROSE

NORTHERN SOUL

A Yorkshire beauty now strutting her stuff in the West Country

WORDS SIMON ALLAN PHOTOS KATIE, NOAH, HUGO ALLAN

The story of Voluta begins with her first owner George MacAndrew, a businessman who took his holidays at Seaview on the Isle of Wight and who wanted a boat that could be moored close inshore. MacAndrew was a serial boat owner and astute yachtsman who had already commissioned boats and yachts from several Solent boatbuilders. In his notebook ‘Notes Relating to my Sea Boats and Yachts, 1886-1902,’ he describes his adventures in said craft and his dealings with the boatbuilders, in a charming glimpse back into a distant age, when yacht cruising was still a fledgling sport. A yachtsman could walk into a boatyard through the wood shavings and sawdust, see the craftsmen at work and stop and talk through his conception for a new yacht build with the boatbuilder and/or designer, who would then add his expertise to those ideas to create a unique new yacht.

In 1886, MacAndrew commissioned a 15ft (4.6m) open centreboard boat from Picket of Southampton, before taking on and finishing to his requirements Snowbird, a 35-footer (10.7m) in 1890. That same year, he commissioned Lukes of Hamble to build a 17ft (5.2m) “scientifically designed miniature yacht” – Cyproea. He was very taken with Cyproea’s sea keeping and speed, and it led to the conception of Voluta. In 1893, with his family of an age to take more involvement with his yachting, he commissioned Ianthina, a 34ft (10.4m) yacht, choosing Stow and Sons of Shoreham over Paynes of Southampton to build her, the quotes given being £300 versus £450 respectively, leading him to conclude that “one has to pay for contracting a fashionable firm!” He had no regret in choosing Stows, as he was highly impressed with their quality, and even more so with the boat’s punctual delivery – compared to the “vexatious slackness” of other boatbuilders! In 1898 he commissioned a Redwing from Camper and Nicholsons, and in 1899, he contracted Stows again to build him Voluta.

Above: Topsail weather o St Mawes

VOLUTA IS BORN

“I had often thought when sailing the Cyproea, what a fine cruising yacht would result from multiplying each dimension of her by two; this was my guide in deciding dimensions, but the waterline length was increased 4ft 6in (1.4m) beyond twice the Cyproea and, above water, the length was further extended by a long counter – on the whole, the model and characteristics seemed very similar to the smaller boat with all her excellent qualities.” By early June 1900, Voluta was first under canvas in Shoreham Harbour, before leaving on 9 June for her summer base at Seaview on the Isle of Wight.

“Though the Voluta was of rather light draft and fitted with a centreplate, she was very far removed from

the ‘skimming dish’ type of boat usually associated with this contrivance and which is neither suitable nor safe for open sea work. On the contrary she was an excellent hard weather yacht, of great initial stability, and a constantly increasing righting power as she heeled to the pressure of the wind, having sufficient draft of water and ballast to make her a powerful sea boat; indeed she never showed to better advantage compared with other yachts we met sailing, than when beating against a strong wind and hammering into a sea. Of course, when on the wind, the grip of the centreplate was a great aid, but it was not an absolute necessity, as she beat to windward very fairly without its use, and we often did not lower it for short spells of this point of sailing. Indeed during our first season we sailed the ship constantly for about six weeks without the use of the plate, having by mismanagement had to spend two or three hours at low water upon a gravel bank, when the slot became jammed with small stones, and the plate could not be lowered.” The MacAndrews used Voluta for three seasons in all, laying her up at Lukes yard after the 1902 season and offering her for sale.

“My contract price with Messr Stow for building this vessel in 1900 had been £900, and I spent some £40 more on her full inventory. I sold her, after being laid up for over a year in the beginning of 1904, for £480, times then being rather unfavourable for selling.”

The remarkable survival of MacAndrew’s notebook paints Voluta’s early years in beautiful vivid colour, fleshing out hazy details and bringing to life the Solent sailing community at the turn of the last century. In the days when yacht sailing was still a new sport, and great diligence had to be applied to every part of the craft sailors ventured forth in, MacAndrew had conceived and had a yacht built, which through her peculiar and unique qualities, would still be sailing 120 years on.

Clockwise from top left: Captain Sharpe seated and Dr TC Jackson in suit at Bridlington; Capt JF Sharpe – picture from RYYC centenary handbook, 1947, (although photo would have been pre-war); Commodore’s flagship at the Bridlington Regatta (note bunches of flowers at bowsprit end and mizzen boom)

THE YORKSHIRE YEARS

Voluta was bought by a yachtsman who was to go on to be one of the leading figures of Yorkshire yachting over the next 40 years. Dr TC Jackson, Royal Yorkshire YC member, along with his skipper of over 20 years, JF ‘Pez’ Sharpe, would race Voluta consistently until World War Two, making her probably the best known yacht in the area – I have found more than 200 articles mentioning her in the local press from this era – and after his rise to commodore of the club in 1922, Voluta was the RYYC’s flagship. After the RYYC’s move to Bridlington in 1901, its prestige grew. Large yachts like L’Esperance, Rosalind, Cariad and Adelaide sailed the waters of Bridlington Bay competing for valuable trophies, and spectators would line the quays for Regatta Week. Voluta competed every year, winning many prizes, and presiding over the annual

Regatta Review, when the fleet would sail by the town dressed overall in what sounds like quite a spectacle. Dr Jackson was a great yachtsman, commodore of the RYYC for over 20 years, a leading member of the Humber Yawl Club, member of the Yacht Racing Association and, it seems, a passionate supporter of all things sailing and all things Yorkshire! Skipper Sharpe was a respected skipper, having crewed in the Shamrock II America’s Cup challenge, and he kept Voluta in top order.

Here is an excerpt from a letter by the late Commander Robert Blythe OBE, formerly of the RYYC. “I met Capt John Frederick Sharpe a few times when he was skipper of Voluta. He was known locally as Pez Sharpe (but not by me), lived on board Voluta with a youth as paid deck hand during the summer and sailed Voluta back to the Crouch where she was laid up by him and fitted out in the spring and sailed back to Bridlington. At that time, the 1920s, practically all the yachts at Bridlington had paid skippers or paid hands even the one designs. Voluta was then the largest yacht in the harbour and was kept in immaculate condition although, apart from Regatta Week, she did not often go to sea. You might say she set the standard of what a gentleman’s yacht should be.”

As the years passed towards World War One, the number of large yachts making the annual trip up to Bridlington for the regatta dwindled, and as yachting restarted after the war they had stopped coming altogether.

After losing her rig in a fire while laid up ashore in World War Two, it seems Voluta was re-rigged as a bermudan yawl, as attested to by photos taken in the 1950s under George Miller’s ownership. She shows up in the race results a few times after the war at the RYYC, but then is mentioned in an intriguing newspaper article describing her imminent trip from Goole to North Wales! She was then bought by Sir Hugh Bell and I M Pease in 1959, and in 1964 she drops off the Lloyds register. The trail goes cold now for 10 years or so when it comes back with various accounts of her being in the Falmouth and Helford area under the ownership of Frank Lang, a local character who owned and kept Voluta going, in what seems an ageing state of repair during the 1970s and 80s. She appeared in the BBC documentary ‘Under Sail - A Lady of Leisure’ in 1986, by which time she was working out of Newton Ferrers as a charter boat. The trail goes cold again then for a while.

I found her on the hard in Rhodes, Greece, where she’d been baking under the hot sun for five years and was in a poor state. I made a low offer reflecting her condition, which was refused. I thought no more of it until two years later when the yard manager Giles got in touch to say she was going to be on eBay that month. I bit the bullet and flew out for a look. She was a strange sight, with an ugly doghouse, massive gaps and splits in the planking, a failing keel repair and filthy inside. Despite all that you could see that this was an old lady of great character who had lived a life and was still holding her head up, although the end could have been perilously near. Little did I know when clicking ‘bid now’ how much influence this boat would have on my life, but also what a story, which has come slowly to me in bits and bobs, this lady of leisure had to tell.

Facing page, clockwise from top left: Carrick Roads; Original Reids of Paisley capstan windlass; Florence towing the boys; A fine bow wave; Lots of varnish

Overleaf, page 28, clockwise from top left: Fastening planks in La Ciotat; Finishing the counter in Gweek; Voluta doing what she does best; Fair topsides and a great paintjob in Gweek

My own 17 years of ownership have involved more rebuilding than sailing! The initial delivery trip from Rhodes to La Ciotat, where I was to start the renovation, was when I properly fell for her. I got a crew together including my brother Graham and best mate Kevin Burns to refit, launch, and sail her the 1,200 miles to France.

Through three full gales in a windy November Mediterranean, she performed superbly: seakindly, fast, biddable, and like all my favourite boats, one who looks after you rather than vice versa. In more moderate winds she kept up good speeds with a very kindly motion. As MacAndrew said back in 1900, she is a boat of great initial stability, slow to spill the G&T!

In La Ciotat, over three years, I embarked upon the first large refit I did. In 2007 I moved back to Cornwall, so launched Voluta in a part-finished state, and she came home up the Rhone, through Paris and into the Channel at Honfleur. The French canals are beautiful and make a wonderful trip, this certainly highlights the advantages of a shallow draught vessel – you would be pushed to get another 50ft (15.25m) classic to the Med by this route.

In 2009 I had my second big push at restoring her and was lucky be helped by Nathan Puttock, a fantastic shipwright who really boosted the project. My old ship mate Andy Mongan, along with Matt and Chris, also helped out doing an incredible job of fairing and painting the topsides: a shinier boat never came out of Gweek.

During these years, the family lived aboard and we sailed in severall Falmouth Classics, winning our class twice, although it was while racing in a good breeze one year that I contrived, by mismanagement, to snap the bowsprit and topmast. Although catastrophic at the time – I had not the time nor finances to rectify this damage, so we didn’t do much sailing for a while – it turned out for the best, as the topmast rig, which I had put on her believing it to be close to the original, turned out to be completely wrong. When I bought her I received two historical photos, one showing her in Shoreham sporting a topmast. I copied this rig to be close to the original, but as my research advanced and I unearthed more and more historical photos of her pole-masted, it became clear I had made an error. To correct it, Ashley Butler built a mast to dimensions similar to the original, and Jay Redman-Stainer worked his magic splicing up the traditional standing rigging.

Anyone who knows wooden boats will agree it does not take long for problems to arise if you take your eye off the ball. During the period I was busy sailing another gaff yawl home from Canada (Anne Marie, CB passim), Voluta’s 30-year-old plywood subdeck rotted, another blow to time and funds; but in November 2019 I hauled her out in Flushing and started the third, and last, big stage in her renovation. I redecked reusing the old teak, so once again she is looking pretty, structurally sound, and in a state I hope MacAndrew and Jackson would approve of!

In my journey with Voluta, I have been constantly amazed by the wealth of her history, of which there is doubtless more to learn, and the physical survival of this boat that was built with the best materials available at the time, by wonderfully skilled craftsmen, to a unique design, one that has proved so very successful for so very long.

REFITS

LA CIOTAT REFIT 2004 – 2007

Removed rusted solid steel centreplate and steel centreboard box which was leaking badly Fixed the keel issue, at the same time closing the centreboard slot in a way that it is a simple procedure to open again and restore the centreboard, if so desired Replaced the stern post Replaced the stern knee Did large hook scarf repair to the stem Replaced the rudder Started rebuilding the counter Repaired the horn timbers Removed doghouse, lowering it to original height, tied it in with the rest of the coachroof by laminating 18mm ply on top of the existing tongue and groove pine Removed the engine and replaced it under a new part of raised deck at the front of the cockpit with a V drive box, improving interior space Removed, cleaned up and replaced all the original wrought Iron floors, replacing a couple where it was necessary, and refastened with bronze bolts Replaced one dozen or more frames Replaced the garboards, stealers and half a dozen more planks, (iroko) Refastened the boat entirely under the water with silicone bronze screws Refastened the boat where necessary above the water with silicone bronze screws Replaced all centreline bolts with new bronze bolts Removed and restored the original Reid and Sons capstan windlass New forehatch matching historical photograph

GWEEK 2007

Replaced one dozen or so frames Rebuilt counter stern Fitted new bulwark stanchions, bulwarks and cap rail Installed rudder trunk tube Fitted coaming cladding and deck margins Built new topmast rig Built new boom Built new bumkin Renovated existing spars Took boat back to wood and repainted – traditional paint below waterline and Awlgrip above Re-formed scarf at front end of lead keel by cutting and recasting Replaced approximately 50 per cent of bilge stringer each side and refastened with copper bar riveted and silicone bronze screws Refaired and repainted coachroof top with non-skid Awlgrip Fitted samson posts Fitted new stem ironwork incorporating lifting bowsprit system with twin forestays New ironwork for masts and booms

(MINOR) FLUSHING REFIT 2016

Replaced oak mast step Replaced 1in bronze keel bolts Refaired and replaced forward deadwood Repaired forward knee Fitted new mast built by Ashley Butler, standing rigging by Traditional Rigging of Bristol

FLUSHING REFIT 2019

Removed plywood subdeck and replaced with 2 x 9mm Robbins marine plywood epoxied together and glued and screwed to deckbeams Re machined and replaced 17mm thick teak deck epoxied and screwed to ply subdeck, caulked with TDS to full depth of planks. Screws plugged to give minimum 10mm wear New aft king plank New bronze rudderstock bearing New tiller New cockpit ply and teak Fitted 4 Gibb 9CR sheet winches Repainted Awlgrip topsides Revarnished everything at least 10 coats Le Tonkinois and Epifanes Repainted and decorated interior Rewired and serviced engine New water pump for engine Fitted new 200 Ah batteries x 2 and new wiring for DC panel Fitted new 12v submersible bilge pump Fitted Taylors para n 30 cooker Fitted restored antique tip up sink in head New Jabsco head and pipework Fitted diesel heater – Eberspacher ducting, copper exhaust New mainsail made by Katie Allan and Simon Palmer New hatch and sail covers by Katie Allan New fuel tank New flexible water tank New mizen ga Many new elm blocks with bronze bindings Nearly all new running rigging New interior upholstery by Katie Allan

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

37’ Percy Crossley Bermudan Sloop built by the Ponsharden Shipyard, Falmouth in 1934. Pitch pine on oak hull with a Kauri pine laid deck. Major refit in 2018 including all new keel bolts and strap floors plus a new interior, rigging and sails. Superbly elegant yacht in good structural shape, full of pedigree and charm. Hants £49,500 39’ Looe Lugger built in 1907, now dandy rigged with gaff main and lug mizzen. Detailed maintenance records since 2016, a well cared for and up together yacht. Recent sails and rigging, new keel bolts and recent hull repairs. The last of the sailing fishing boats from Looe, a yacht with a long and rich history.

Devon £75,000

62’ motor yacht designed by Archibald MacMillan and built by the Fairlie Yacht Slip Ltd in 1968. An elegant yacht built for a wealthy Scottish couple. Mahogany hull with solid teak decks. Aluminium superstructure. 4 sleeping cabins with 10 berths and 7’ headroom. Twin Gardner 6LX diesels with new 2021 generator. An excellent yacht with plenty of pedigree and class. Turkey £250,000 25’ Itchen Ferry design built by Berthons as a yacht in 1926. Pitch pine hull with all bronze and copper fastenings. Major rebuild in 1990’s, very nicely maintained since. Vetus 16hp diesel installed 2009. Very smart boat with varnished teak interior and 2 single berths plus heads and galley.

Hants £19,750 25’ Laurent Giles Vertue built by Elkins of Christchurch in 1954. Teak and mahogany planking with lead keel and bronze keel bolts. Yacht laid teak deck and varnished teak coamings. Nanni 21hp diesel new in 2015. New rigging in 2014 with a full sail wardrobe. Very nice quality yacht with recent survey and detailed history.

Devon £25,000

35’ Sole Bay motor sailer ketch designed by Francis Jones and built by Porter and Haylett in 1968. 2021 refit by Harbour Marine Services. BMC Commodore 66hp diesel. 5 berths with 6’3” headroom and 2 heads with a shower. Comfortable saloon and very nice wheelhouse for sailing in wet weather. Ideal cruising boat for UK sailing. Suffolk £32,000 36’ Kim Holman Bermudan Sloop built by Kimber and Blake in 1961. Successful offshore racing boat in her day with numerous Fastnet finishes and survivor of the infamous 1964 Santander Race. Fallen on hard times in recent years she now needs a full refit but he delightful lines and sailing provenance mean she is a yacht well worthy of the effort. Cornwall £10,000 16’ Paul Gartside rowing skiff built by Adrian Morgan in 2019. Used only a handful of times, she comes with 2 pairs of oars, as new road trailer and a fitted all over cover. Planked in Vendia, a processed timber board, she weighs only 60kg in total. A delight to row and in superb condition.

BONHAMS Riva’s mahogany makeover

As the glassfibre revolution gathered momentum companies like Chris Craft and Riva entered a transitional period, still producing vessels in mahogany but making them look like glassfibre so as not to appear behind the times.

The 40mph 1966 Riva Junior, billed as “the young people’s rocket,” was on that very cusp. Though its white-painted hull mimicked polyester, the entry-level 18ft 6in (5.7m) sports boat was the last all-new Riva model to be built of mahogany in the traditional way. And while the immortal Aquarama endured into the 1990s, when Carlo Riva sold out in 1969 all new models introduced by US owner Whittaker were of glassfibre, including the 1972 Riva Rudy, which was basically a revamped Junior.

Pretty much the only mahogany element of the Rudy was the grab rail. But it also lacked something else: glamour. Brigitte Bardot and actor Peter Sellers were among the jet-set Junior owners, but you’ll find no such A-list roll-call for the Rudy.

This 2014-restored 1967 Junior, fitted with 5.7-litre Riva Crusader 190hp V8, recently sold for £41,400; that’s considerably more than a comparable plastic Rudy would fetch. And here’s another pleasing irony. The hand-built Junior notched up 626 sales from 1966 to 1972, while the “mass-produced” Rudy found only 364 customers over its 14-year life. Wood, it seems, won the day.

CHARLES MILLER LTD Lots of provenance

More than 150 years of British yachting history – much of it with royal associations – is coming on to the market on 1 November as Portsmouth’s combined Royal Naval Club and the Royal Albert Yacht Club closes its doors for good.

Approximately 100 lots, o ered on behalf of the administrators, trace a path through the pantheon of yachting from 1864, including: silver trophies named in memory of Charles Nicholson; mementos from GL Watson’s 1892 Britannia, which was so beloved by King George V that on his death in 1936 the famed racing cutter was stripped and sacrificed to the sea o the Isle of Wight; photographs, books and historical archive material.

For collectors and historians it’s a rare opportunity. For those lacking in history it’s an opportunity to line a library or den with all the ephemera you need to suggest that your family has pedigree and once achieved something.

Perfect provenance: (above) A racing flag from George V’s Britannia comes with a letter from Buckingham Palace stating “I am commanded by The King and Queen Mary to send you these flags” Top left: a Beken of Cowes photograph of Charles Nicholson at the helm of CandidaBottom left: a circa 1910 yachtsman’s pocket dispute set adds a touch of decorum in di erences of opinion about who rammed whom

SOTHEBY’S Casting a glow over Nelson’s last hours

A circa 1800 naval tin and horn lantern might command a low four-figure sum on a good day, but when its provenance confirms that it was on the gun decks as Nelson fought and died at Trafalgar, that considerably ups the ante.

Not only is the lantern accompanied by a letter confirming it was on board HMS Victory in the run-up to Trafalgar and was later presented to Admiral Sir Roger Keyes in 1929, this exact form of lantern is depicted in a celebrated early 19th century painting by Arthur William Devis, who was given access to the exact location where Nelson was treated. The result at auction was £47,880.

Objects of desire

SILVER WHISKEY TUMBLERS

“The world belongs to those who enjoy it,” says the Robbe & Berking brochure and we’re sure we wouldn’t disagree, especially after knocking back a shot from these fi ne silver receptacles, which you can fi nd in the German silversmith’s Dante Bar Collection. “The high thermal conductivity of the silver allows every drinking vessel to immediately assume the temperature of the beverage,” they say. Reason enough to pour another. €248 (around £212) for the 90g silverplated model; €357 (around £305) to have it gold-plated inside

robbeberking.com

BINOCULARS

Built to go anywhere, they say. Fully waterproof, best in class optics and coming with a lifetime warranty. US binocular manufacturer Nocs make some bold claims. They also make the point that these compact binoculars are undeniably stylish. Nocs say: “We began our search for the perfect travel binocular: great optics in a compact, rugged housing, at a price that didn’t break the bank. They didn’t exist, so we built them.” Various models available, from $95 (around £80)

nocsprovisions.com

DARTMOUTH GIN

We’ve had a number of requests as to where sailors can fi nd this fi ne gin, which has been spotted at various English south coast regattas this summer including British Classic Week and the U a Fox 50 event. Both events, indeed, have been supported by Dartmouth Gin, with fi nishers at a very hot British Classic Week rewarded by a fresh bottle as they crossed the line – the bottle presented by the distiller himself, Lance Whitehead, shown here. Lance is a lifetime sailor and the owner of the Cockwells pilot cutter, Merlin. His Dartmouth Gin was named Craft Gin of the Year 2020 and is distilled in Dartmouth, Devon, “very slowly” to produce a remarkably smooth, full-fl avoured spirit. It comes in a handsome bottle, carved to depict a replica of the wrought-ironwork on St Saviour’s Church door in Dartmouth. Also available to US and other non-UK readers. £40.50

HUGO BOSS WATCH

This chunky ocean blue chronograph from Hugo Boss is made with sailors in mind, water-resistant, and complete with a rugged fabric strap and solar-powered movement. £329