Classic Boat January 2014

Classic Boat JANUARY 2014

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CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

T H E W O R L D’ S M O S T B E A U T I F U L B O A T S

Awards

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

2014 This year’s shortlist

PLUS My 17-year wait Rebuilding a cutter Allegra Gucci My father’s boats

Saved from the deep Colin Archer ketch CORNISH MARITIME MUSEUM

The first 10 years

TALL SHIPS AND PILOT CUTTERS

01

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CRAFTSMANSHIP

Contents

CLASSIC BOAT SURVEY

2014 AWARDS

CRAFTSMANSHIP

THE SHORTLIST p31

JANUARY 2014 Nº307

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GERMAINE

FEATURES

10 . MAGIC MOMENT After 17 years the restoration of Germaine is complete. Phew!

50

COVER STORY

26 . FAME AND FORTUNE Allegra Gucci on Creole, Avel and sailing in the classics 31 . CLASSIC BOAT AWARDS We reveal the shortlist for our prestigious annual awards

56

56 . BACK TO LIFE Christiania: raised from the ocean bed and sailing again

NIC COMPTON

50 . HAPPY BIRTHDAY Ten years of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall COVER STORY

26

ANDREA PISAPIA

COVER STORY

C/O NIELSEN

REGULARS 20 . TELL TALES 47 . SALEROOM 48 . OBJECTS OF DESIRE 55 . NEW CLASSICS 95 . LOOKING AHEAD 96 . LETTERS 98 . STERNPOST ONBOARD 56 . 1895 KETCH CHRISTIANIA 63 . LAZARETTE 64 . BOOKS 67 . CLASSNOTES 69 . GETTING AFLOAT

78 . RESTORING ELLAD Part three in our series – restoring deck and coachroof 82 . ART IN HIS CRAFT Meet master boatbuilder Tommi Nielsen

NMMC

COVER STORY

COVER AND RIGHT: RICHARD JOHNSTONE-BRYDEN

7 . LOGBOOK Nantucket’s Opera House Cup; 30 years of the TVBC

17-year rebuild of 1882 cutter

82

CRAFTSMANSHIP 76 . YARD NEWS 78 . ELLAD RESTORATION – PART 3 80 . BOATBUILDER’S NOTES 82 . TOMMI NIELSEN’S YARD 89 . ADRIAN MORGAN CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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O U T S TA N D I N G D E S I G N S & P R O J E C T S

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w E a c T E d a s O w n E R ’s R E p R E s E n T a T i v E s , d E s i g n a u T h O R i T y , E x T E R i O R d E s i g n E R , ya c h T m a n a g E R a n d i n T E R i O R d E s i g n E R O f c R E w a n d s E Rv i c E a R E a s .

Owne r’s r e p r e s e ntatiOn | D esign | Yach t ManageMent p rO j e c t M a nag e M ent | tech nical suppOrt | ar c hive TEl: +44 (151) 601 8080

c l a s s i c s @ g lwaT s O n . c O m

w w w. g lwaT s O n . c O m

DAN HOUSTON

FroM daN HouStoN, Editor classicboat.co.uk Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ Editorial Editor Dan Houston +44 (0)207 349 3755 cb@classicboat.co.uk Senior art Editor Peter Smith +44 (0)207 349 3756 peter.smith@classicboat.co.uk News/Features Editor Steffan Meyric Hughes +44 (0)207 349 3758 steffan.meyric-hughes@classicboat.co.uk Production Editor Andrew Gillingwater +44 (0)207 349 3757 andrew.gillingwater@classicboat.co.uk Contributing Editor Peter Willis peter.willis@classicboat.co.uk technical Editor Theo Rye Publishing Consultant Martin Nott Proofing Vanessa Bird advErtiSiNg advertisement Manager Edward Mannering +44 (0)207 349 3747 edward.mannering@chelseamagazines.com Senior Sales Executive Patricia Hubbard +44 (0)207 349 3748 patricia.hubbard@chelseamagazines.com advertisement Production Allpointsmedia +44 (0)1202 472781 allpointsmedia.co.uk Published Monthly ISSN: 0950 3315 USA US$12.50 Canada C$11.95 Australia A$11.95 Subscribe now: +44 (0)1795 419840 classicboat@servicehelpline.co.uk http://classicboat.subscribeonline.co.uk Subscriptions manager William Delmont +44 (0)207 349 3710 will.delmont@chelseamagazines.com YACHTS Subscriptions department 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, CHELSEA Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8GU CHELSEA ARINE ARINE M M MAGAZINES MAGAZINES Managing director Paul Dobson deputy Managing director Steve Ross Commercial director Vicki Gavin Publisher Simon Temlett digital Manager Oliver Morley-Norris Events Manager Holly Thacker YACHTING

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Classic Boat, Yachts & Yachting, Sailing today the Chelsea Magazine Company ltd Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ +44 (0)207 349 3700 chelseamagazines.com Copyright The Chelsea Magazine Company 2013 all rights reserved Follow the Classic Boat team on Twitter and Facebook

And talking of awards…

You know the grey hairs have been noticed when you get asked to give out an award… or even awards plural, at an anniversary dinner. It’s like reaching a milestone in life and it’s obviously a hugely positive accolade. But I was like: “Who? Me?” whilst instinctively looking behind as if they were asking someone else (even though we were on the ’phone).

Yet, dare I say it, it also carries with it the pathos of the passing years?

It should be a moment of feeling properly grown up but basically I think it means people don’t see you as having much capacity to misbehave anymore.

Clearly this was a dinner where no one was going to challenge me to remove the Colonel’s spurs as happened at the Chelsea Barracks once. Far from it; this would be like being catapulted to the top table, but without having to get married or do much more than just, age. And so it was with a kind of august sense of honour that I agreed to be a special guest at the Thames Vintage Boat Club 30th anniversary dinner in Henley, recently (see p9).

They even let me speak… hang on I’ll re-phrase that, they even asked me to talk as the after-dinner speaker. “So how long do you think I should aim for?”

I casually asked Jane Percival, who had arranged “45 minutes?! my, ah, appearance. I was just assuming a kind of That’s like both 10-minute collection of the best sailing jokes I’d heard, and then to throw it open to general banter, sides of an LP!” questions, even criticism. You see I am quite used to that sort of thing, dear reader: “You don’t do enough on motorboats!”

“You do far too much on motorboats!”

So I was unready when she calmly replied: “Oh about 45 minutes?” Forty five minutes!? That’s like both sides of a vinyl LP! A mild panic set in as I considered whether I had anything that anyone would want to listen to for even half that time. For a ridiculous moment I wondered if I could dig out an old night school lecture on an interesting aspect of navigation, like the running fix, otherwise known as the transferred position line. It would cover 30… I had visions of people falling asleep headfirst into their sorbet and mousse.

We have awards ourselves, in this issue of CB, with a strong shortlist of contenders ready for your vote. Hopefully they are worth talking about.

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

5

loa: 10.97 m

Roa R i ng Wat eR

V i Va oF ConoV eR CoV e

Morris M 36 Modern ClassiC

Very rare ChriS – Craft Sedan CruiSer in mint Condition

|Beam: 3.05 m |Dr aft: 1.69 m | Price: EUR 245,000 | |loa: 9.50 m |Beam: 3.00 m |Dr aft: 0.80 m |Price: EUR 128,000

J a ni n a

FR e Y J a

Fast and Furious: ClassiC seeFahrtkreuzer

international 8-metre CruiSer by erling KriStoferSen

loa: 17.42 m

|Beam: 3.45 m |Dr aft: 2.40 m |Price: EUR 170,000 | |loa: 12.30 m |Beam: 2.60 m |Dr aft: 2.00 m | Price: EUR 115,000

a na lí a

Volon t É

75 Ft alFred Mylne yawl FroM 1925

Very CompetitiVe S&S ClaSSiC r aCer from 1968

loa: 22.88 m

|Beam: 4.39 m |Draft: 2.60 m |Price: EUR 900,000 |

|loa: 11.28 m |Beam: 3.02 m |Dr aft: 1.89 m |Price: EUR 98,000

Member of t he Robbe & B erk i ng fa m i ly

YA C H T S

+49 (0)461 31 80 30 65 · baum+koenig@classic-yachts.de · w w w.classic-yachts.de

Logbook

Out and about

Above: girl power aboard the 51ft (15.5m) racing ketch Saphædra

Opera House Cup

Valiant effort

Above: no prizes for guessing why the locals refer to the Beetle Cats as Rainbows

Above: on board the 1913 sloop Chips – one of two centenarians at this year’s regatta

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS Karen ryan In 1973, Gwen Gaillard and Chick Walsh of the Opera House Restaurant, a fine dining and drinks club on Nantucket Island, Massachusetts, wanted to celebrate the local sailors and their classic wooden yachts by creating a regatta just for them.

With a silver champagne bucket from the Opera House Restaurant for the trophy, the Opera House Cup Regatta was established.

Now in its 41st year, it is the oldest wooden boat regatta in the United States and is now part of the Panerai North American Classic Yacht Series. The regatta is also the culminating event of Nantucket Race Week – a nine-day series of racing and social events – and this year there were 48 entries, comprising one-design racers in the shape of Optimists, Club 420s, Beetle Cats (known as Rainbows on Nantucket for their brightly coloured sails), Lasers, Hobie 16, 12-Metres and a fabulous collection of classic wooden yachts. This year’s winners were: Valiant (12-Metre class), Serendipity (Alerion class), Equus (Spirit of Tradition class), Quest (Classic class) and the overall winner was the 1970 Olin Stephens-designed Valiant.

Above, left to right: the short straw – on the bowsprit of Quakeress II; Rafael Alvarez, President of Panerai North America, and friend CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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LOGBOOK

Thames Vintage Boat Club

Anniversary dinner

Above: the Leander Club in Henley-on-Thames boasts more Olympians than any other single sports club

Above: Mimosa in the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee River Pageant in 2012

Above: (l-r) club boat Tom Tit; David Lister – member of Leander and Commodore of TVBC; Adam Toop’s wonderful Islay at a Thames Traditional Boat Rally

ray LittLe

Celebrating 30 years afloat top: Leander cLuB; Boats By dan Houston

By DAN HOUSTON The splendid setting of the Leander Club at Henley-onThames was the backdrop for the Thames Vintage Boat Club celebrating its 30th anniversary at its annual dinner in November. Around 50 members gathered for the dinner – the fourth time they had been guests at Leander.

The rowing club boasts more Olympians than any other single sports club in the world; it was founded in 1818.

The TVBC probably sports more good-looking motorboats than any other club in the world, with some 250 on its books, and many dating from the early years of the 20th century. As CB’s editor I was an honoured guest – the honour was mine, and gave a talk.

Above: founding member and current president Robin Newlands cuts the anniversary cake

With a few people still awake at the end of that it was time for founding member and current president Robin Newlands to cut the cake. This preceeded the prize-giving, where best amateur restoration went to Roy Hamilton for Chumley (CB305), best boat handling went to Jim Jackson and best boat of the year went to Toby and Di Everett for Snowgoose of Breydon.

More awards went to John and Janine Llewellyn (attendance trophy) and Jane Percival (best contributor to the club’s Boater magazine). The longest cruise trophy went to Magic Rose, while the best new boat at the Thames Trad Rally was Viola. It all finished suitably late and it was a rare privilege to attend an event at one of our most special classic boat clubs.

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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Germaine

Champagne moment This is the image that owner Patrick Bigand never thought he would see. After 17 long years in the shed, his beloved boat Germaine breaks cover. Find out why he kept the faith and finished up with a glorious labour of love STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD JOHNSTONE-BRYDEN

GERMAINE

previous page: c/o iBTc

Clockwise from top left: Germaine sets sail for her new home in Douarnenez; fully restored saloon, complete with a charcoal heater picked up on ebay; up high in the crosstrees; lovely details abound, including this rigging block

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

R

eading a magazine can be a lifechanging experience as Patrick Bigand discovered when he saw a plea from the eminent maritime historian Ian Dear within the 100th issue of Classic Boat for someone to save the oldest surviving Camper & Nicholson yacht.

For Patrick, the chance to save a boat with such a rich pedigree proved irresistible and led to a 17-year-long restoration project that culminated this autumn with the rejuvenated Victorian cruising yacht Germaine successfully completing a 450nm voyage to her new home port of Douarnenez in Brittany.

Germaine’s chequered career began in 1881 when the yachtsman and adventurer F W Leyborne-Popham commissioned Camper & Nicholson to build a modest cruising yacht with a swift enough turn of speed to compete in the occasional race. To meet these requirements, Ben Nicholson drafted the lines for a 42ft (12.8m) gaff-rigged yawl with a plumb bow and

counter stern. On approval of the drawings, the Gosport boatyard started building Germaine under Lloyd’s supervision in January 1882. She was launched six months later and won her first race on 26 August 1882 against Ben Nicholson’s cutter Little Nell.

Instead of laying Germaine up for the winter, Leyborne-Popham sailed her to the Mediterranean in December 1882 to enjoy some winter sunshine before returning to the Solent in the spring of 1883.

Four years later, her next owner, Harvey Dixon, rerigged Germaine as a gaff cutter. Presumably, he wanted to improve her chances on the regatta circuit, although no results have emerged so far to prove or disprove this theory. Either way, she reverted to her former rig in 1897 and was purchased by Major Middleton around 1904. An undated image taken by the pioneering yachting photographer William Kirk, while she was owned by the Major, shows him sailing Germaine with his wife. By then, her white hull had been repainted in a dark colour and she carried a small CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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C/O PATRICK BIGAND

Clockwise from above: proud owner Patrick Bigand; early records appeared in Lloyd’s Register; moored in Heybridge Basin in the ’30s

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

wooden clinker dinghy that was stowed on davits on the port side. She changed hands again in the 1920s when she was bought by HW Whittingham, who joined the RAF on the outbreak of WWII as a medical officer. It is unclear when he parted with Germaine, although Patrick Bigand acquired his personal copy of the 1926 Lloyd’s Yacht Register from Ronald Camp, whose late brotherin-law had served with Whittingham. Interestingly, the book contained the 1935 update form for Germaine together with an undated image of her moored in Heybridge Basin while she was being used as a houseboat. The image may have been taken in the 1950s because she subsequently ended up in a mud berth on the River Blackwater where Leyborne-Popham’s great-grandniece Ann Christgau and her husband Peter found her in the early 1960s. Their purchase of the waterlogged boat marked the beginning of a brief revival in the veteran yacht’s fortunes. They brought her back into commission and sailed her until 1966 when they sold her to a gentleman from Maldon.

beken of cowes

GERMAINE

Clockwise from top right: Germaine under sail in 1883; new deck lights; beautifully finished deck, forehatch, anchor windlass and sampson post

Within a decade she had ended up in another Essex mudberth, where she was discovered by one of Camper & Nicholsons’ directors who arranged for her to be taken to Southampton to be restored in time for the company’s bicentenary. Sadly, the project never proceeded due to financial difficulties, which forced the company to sell its Shamrock Quay facilities together with Germaine.

When Patrick Bigand read about Germaine in 1996, time appeared to be running out as she slowly rotted away in a quiet corner of a car park. The Frenchman had already developed a habit of saving old boats in distress, a habit that began in 1986 when he purchased and restored the 12-Square-Metre day racer Bel Ami. The majority of Patrick’s collection, which is kept in Douarnenez, consists of rowing boats from the turn of the 20th century, including the French double gig Goon, which was built around 1880 by Tellier, and the Burgoyne Thames gig Nymph of 1901. At the time of writing, Patrick’s single gig Nana and his daughter’s single gig Sousou are on display in the San Francisco Museum

of Fine Arts as part of its ‘Impressionists and the Water’ exhibition, together with Patrick’s 1/10th-scale model of the painter Gustave Caillebotte’s One-Tonner Lili and 1/20th-scale model of the 19th-century racing yacht Lison.

The 5-Metre IR Hobby III is the most recent addition to Patrick’s collection. She is one of three identical 5-Metre IRs that were designed by Knud Reimers and built in 1944 by Will Dreher in Zurich. Patrick acquired the sole survivor of the trio from a friend and restored her himself in Brittany before relaunching her in 2010.

Back in 1996, Patrick was based in the UK, as he recalls: “I then lived in Oxford, the proud owner of a rusting Jaguar E-Type, and I drove it down to Southampton to take a look at Germaine, where two senior ladies of distinctly British heritage greeted me at Shamrock Quay. A surveyor I had invited along had a rather grim view of her, but I still took ownership of her and paid just one symbolic pound.”

To keep the restoration costs as low as possible, one of Patrick’s friends suggested approaching the CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

15

GERMAINE

“The production of the interior drawings required a degree of imagination”

GERMAINE Ben Nicholson 1882 Length OverALL

68ft (20.7m)

Length On deck

42ft (12.8m) Length On WAterLIne

34ft (10.4m) beAm

9ft 3in (2.8m) drAught

6ft 8in (2m) dIspLAcement

24,405lb (11.1 tons) sAIL AreA

1,470sqft (137m²)

Suffolk-based International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC). Although the college takes much longer than a commercial yard to complete a restoration, it offers substantial financial savings for those who are prepared to wait. It simply charges boat owners for ground rent and materials plus 20 per cent. This enables clients to save at least 50 per cent of the amount that would have been charged by a commercial yard for the same work. However, the average time taken to restore a boat of approximately 30ft (9.1m) that has been stripped back to a bare hull is roughly seven to eight years, depending on the owner’s specifications and the calibre of the students passing through the college at the time.

Unsurprisingly, the college is constantly approached by people with restoration projects. The majority of these offers are declined because the projected work does not fit in with its curriculum. In contrast, Germaine’s restoration did appeal because it effectively amounted to the building of a new boat, thereby fitting in with several aspects of the IBTC’s training programme.

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

However, before the college could begin the restoration work, a new set of plans had to be produced because the originals were lost in WWII. Thus, Patrick asked his friend, the naval architect and yachting historian François Chevalier, to take the lines off Germaine’s weathered hull.

The production of the interior drawings required a degree of imagination because the hull had been completely gutted down below. Therefore, François relied on his detailed knowledge of 19th-century yachts and the few remaining clues, such as the openings for the skylights, to create an authentic interior. Patrick’s location of the original Lloyd’s survey report from 1882, along with archive photos that had been taken by Beken of Cowes and William Kirk, helped fill in some of the gaps.

The Beken images were to prove particularly helpful because they influenced the size of Germaine’s sail plan.

Initially, it seemed possible to reuse a higher percentage of Germaine’s original timber. However, when the dismantling process began the full extent of her

deterioration became increasingly clear, not least because a previous restoration had been poorly executed and included the fitting of a metal ring frame. Once this badly corroded metalwork had been removed, it revealed that the bulk of the wooden structure was either too rotten or distorted to be reused, including the American rock elm backbone, which in turn increased the amount of planking to be replaced. Faced with these facts, Patrick reluctantly decided that the original hull should be used as a point of reference for the construction of a new wooden yacht that would incorporate as much of the original woodwork as possible, as well as the few surviving metal fittings.

Although this decision was entirely justified from a practical point of view it marked a turning point, which some may argue changed it from being a straightforward restoration into the construction of a replica. However, the reality is not as simple because the finished boat has the same amount of original material as some other undisputed restoration projects and, with the exception

of a few practical concessions to the 21st century, such as the fitting of a diesel engine, she follows closely Germaine’s appearance at the time of her launch in 1882.

This raises an intriguing question that has occupied the minds of sailors and boatbuilders alike over many pints for many years. When does a restoration project turn into the creation of a replica? Is the answer determined by the manner in which the work has been carried out, or the amount of original material within the finished boat and how closely it follows the original design? If the answer is determined by the final pair of factors then Germaine can be rightly described as a yacht that has been restored in a pragmatic manner. By setting up a new backbone and using new timber until the students reached the point where original wood could be incorporated into the hull, they saved a great deal of time and continued to have access to a valuable point of reference in the early stages of the project.

Despite the initial disappointment at this turn of events, it did not compromise Patrick’s principal

Clockwise from top: Germaine has been rigged with her original gaff yawl sail plan; fine craftsmanship on show in the aft cabin; high-quality brass fittings on the skylights

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

17

GERMAINE

objective, as he explains: “For me, authenticity was the ultimate goal of the restoration. At the end of the project I wanted a boat that had the look and feel of Germaine at the time of her completion in 1882. However, I also wanted to make sure that she could be safely sailed in rough weather, which meant having to navigate a fine line between achieving an authentic result and ensuring the highest levels of structural integrity.”

Patrick’s decision to incorporate a diesel engine created one of the biggest practical challenges of the entire project due to Germaine’s limited internal volume.

Ideally, he wanted to fit the engine amidships to minimise its impact on Germaine’s balance. But then it would have occupied the heart of the main saloon while moving the engine towards either the forepeak or the owner’s cabin. Mark French of French Marine solved the dilemma by suggesting that an engine of up to 42hp could be mounted athwartships below the cockpit floor and connected to the propeller via a hydraulic drive.

Above, left to right: Germaine is lowered into the water after her extensive refit; Patrick Bigand (second from right) with his crew who sailed Germaine from Lowestoft to Douarnenez

Thanks To The Royal noRfolk & suffolk yachT club, Rnsyc.neT

STEADY PROGRESS

18

“For me, authenticity was the ultimate goal of the restoration”

For nearly 16 years, Germaine occupied a prime position within the IBTC’s main workshop. Her progress was dictated by the number and calibre of students who were able to tackle the successive tasks as part of their course. At least 476 students are believed to have been involved in her restoration, including Phillip Shaw, who started working on her as a student in 2011. By the time he finished his course at the end of 2012 the bulk of the remaining work consisted of tasks that are not within the IBTC’s core training programme, which meant that a boatbuilder had to be directly engaged to complete the final stages. The quality of Phillip’s workmanship enabled the college to happily recommend him to Patrick for the role.

Thus, Germaine’s restoration picked up real momentum, which culminated in her being launched by the neighbouring Sealake Marine on 28 May 2013.

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

The final fitting-out work took another three months before Germaine could head up to Lake Lothing, near Lowestoft, to the Royal Norfolk & Suffolk Yacht Club from where she conducted two days of sailing trials.

“It was a bit of an unreal feeling after such a long restoration. A change of paradigm, too, since until she hit the water the main issues were more ‘administrative’: getting her duly registered in France, which proved easier than I anticipated, locating a berth, securing insurance, and finally finding a crew to sail her from Lowestoft to Douarnenez.

“The first night in the aft cabin was memorable, being on my own in my boat afloat. But at that stage, many things still needed to be addressed before we could sail away so I did not have much time to sit back and enjoy,” Patrick recalled.

The hard work finally paid off when Germaine slipped out of Lowestoft on 5 September bound for Douarnenez via Ramsgate, Brighton and Cowes.

Describing how she handles, Patrick said: “She was a lot easier to helm than I had feared: the tiller is actually quite light.

However, she is not easy to manoeuvre in tight spaces thanks to the combination of her long keel, comparatively modest engine, and her heavy displacement.

“At sea, Germaine’s movements are very gentle and she is a rather comfortable boat, with a hull that ploughs through the waves rather than skimming over them.

Although the engine proved powerful enough for harbour manoeuvres, and gave us four to five knots in light airs and a calm sea, it was barely enough to keep us moving in rougher conditions, especially with strong headwinds.”

Germaine will now be based in Douarnenez and is sure to become a familiar and immensely popular sight at the many regattas and events for classic boats on both sides of the Channel. Perhaps one day she may even retrace her epic 19th-century voyage all the way back to the Mediterranean. Now that really would be something to savour.

Tell Tales

Classic Boat

LONDON

Thames heroines come home

Stand E165 Excel, London 4-12 January 2014

to Gillingham, Medway Queen has not only returned home, but she will one day reprise her original role taking sightseers on trips. First, the volunteers of the Medway Queen Preservation Society must complete the fit-out to return the ship to full working order. This lengthy task is dependent on funding.

BLITZ FIREBOAT Meanwhile, the 1935-built London fire tug Massey Shaw has come to the

Below, left to right: Medway Queen arrives in Gillingham; Massey Shaw on her trials

end of her four-year long restoration in the west of England, too (see p82).

The 78ft (23.8m) craft, again in riveted steel plate, has undergone trials to demonstrate that her steam propulsion and fire hoses are in good working fettle.

The restoration has cost more than £1 million and has been mainly paid for by the Heritage Lottery Fund. As we went to press, she was ready to be transported to London by road to become the city’s first floating, mobile museum, commemorating her role in the war, putting out fires in the Blitz and rescuing soldiers at Dunkirk in 1940.

She will appear at the London Boat Show this January (see above).

C/O MEDWAY QUEEN PRESERVATION SOCIETY

C/O MARINE VESSELS PRESERVATION SOCIETY

The 1924 paddle-wheeler Medway Queen arrived at Gillingham on Kent’s Medway River on 19 November after being towed from Bristol’s Albion Dockyard where she underwent a restoration of her 180ft (54.9m) riveted steel-plate hull with the aid of a £1.86 million Heritage Lottery Fund grant.

She’s the last survivor of the type of pleasure steamers that would take sightseers from towns and cities for day trips to the seaside in the late-19th and early-20th centuries. In returning

LONDON BOAT SHOW

CORNWALL

Frostbite race for oystermen – no yachties allowed!

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

working boat fishermen. The licensed oystermen must carry their dredging tackle on board during the race and are restricted to their usual rig and sails (no giant gennakers). The 2013 race saw six working boats compete, with only one never-licensed boat, Moon. As the race is held in

Below: Alf Smythers leads the fleet, and the trophy

November it often has to be cancelled due to too much wind or not enough. This year, however, the weather was perfect for a thrash round the Carrick Roads course and a new ‘young Turk’, Christopher Ranger with his two crew, won their class in Alf Smythers.

JOHN CADD

For as long as the oyster fishery in Falmouth Harbour has been licensed exclusively for the use by sailing working boats, 5 November has been designated as an oyster fishery holiday, reports John Cadd.

Falmouth oyster fishermen have always raced and been competitive but the Falmouth Working Boats have also been adopted as a racing class and owned and crewed by ‘yachties’. These Falmouth Working Boat racers compete all summer, and their boats, rig and sails have evolved expensively from their working cousins. The Silver Oyster Race with the present trophy is exclusively for the

C/0 IBTC

UK

New course teaches historic vessel conservation National Historic Ships (NHS) and the International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC) are offering a new course for vessel conservators. The Level 3 BTEC in the Conservation of Historic Vessels, to give it its full title, is more curatorial than hands-on, although plenty of site visits to see conservation in action will complement the classroom element.

“This course would suit an owner of an historic vessel who is about to commission a restoration. Our practical boatbuilding teaches the skills required, so this course is all about the planning and implementing and importance of a conservation strategy,” said Gill Wilson from the IBTC. The course, which has

grown out of the influential NHS publication Understanding Historic Vessels, is in seven modules and covers topics such as the evaluation of a vessel, replica building, project planning – even deconstruction. “It’s the first formal course of its kind offering a nationally recognised qualification,” says Hannah Cunliffe of NHS. It is aimed at curators and boatbuilders wishing to add (or formalise) their conservation and restoration activities.

The 14-week course starts this January (so hurry!) and costs £2,300 plus VAT. National Historic Ships is offering two means-tested bursaries of £1,000 to the right applicants. See nationalhistoricships.org.uk and ibtc.co.uk for more.

SOUTHAMpTON

Only surviving, sailing New York 50

Britannia: sponsor pulls out

YANA COPEK

Dolphin 1914

Dolphin is most likely the most modern-looking centenarian to grace these pages. This is thanks to the analytical genius of Nathaniel G Herreshoff that allowed him to fly in the face of the shapes of the day and produce a boat with short overhangs and a wickedly wide, flaring hull that even today out paces much larger boats.

Dolphin has had such a successful career since her launch in 1914, and recently on both sides of the Atlantic, that she has inspired a new build, strip planked with modern conveniences, rig and systems. Even with cream-coloured Dacron sails, Herreshoff Designs, Inc’s new boat does not match the full grace of Dolphin. She is well cared for with her fifth owner, Hunt Lawrence, and is kept in Lawrence’s fleet of classics in Oyster Bay, New York, on the north shore of Long Island. The fact that her previous owner held Dolphin for 62 years speak to the allure and passion derived from this unique Herreshoff design.

The replica Big-Class yacht Britannia has moved from Venture Quays in East Cowes, to a temporary home at Solent Refit at Hythe, Southampton.

Project director Scott Ward said: “We are going to put everything on hold for the next 30 days with the sole purpose of getting the entire amount we need, which is almost £6m.

Our current sponsor is unable to commit to the sum needed to complete the rebuild, which is why everything has been put on pause for a while.”

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

21

NEWS

THE GREAT CLASSIC DINGHY REVIVAL

You could call it a dinghy revival but the reality of the eighth annual Rhode Island Archipelago Rally is: “If you build it, they will come,” writes Chris Museler.

The mid-autumn rally has lucked out [sic] with sunny skies and gentle breezes every year and the result has been a growing fleet of dinghies, from wooden C-Class Canoes to glassfibre Dyer Dhow ship’s tenders.

“It never surprises us the variety in craft we see,” says event co-founder Ezra Smith. “Everyone has some old dinghy that they dust off because this is a reason to go sailing.”

The 35-boat fleet, which races ‘pursuit’-style with the slowest boats starting first under Portsmouth Yardstick ratings, is decidedly vintage with more than half the fleet older than 40 years.

Two of the biggest head turners were a replica of the original clinker Dyer Dinghy Lobster, and a concours restoration of a 1960s French Zef. The event rotates around the state and this year it was held on the crystal clear Quonochontaug Pond alongside Fishers Island Sound.

The success noted at the beach barbecue and prize-giving ceremony that was sponsored by Jamestown Distributors was measured two-fold.

First, by the fact that a windsurfer won for the first time and second, the majority of competitors were children under the age of 13. The main prizes were handed out to those in first and last place, but there were also some other left field awards, most notably the Lonely Loon, for the rallier who, for some reason, was left out and unable to finish.

PHoToS BY MATT DunHAM

“Build it and they will come” Top to bottom: a varied collection of dinghies; Tim Fallon and his two-year-old son in their Beetle Cat Reminder; under-13s made up half the crew at the event

BRITAIN

C/o MeRlinRoCkeT.Co.uk

Classic dinghy revival faces authenticity issues

22

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

The huge increase in classic dinghy racing in Britain is resulting in unscrupulous owners taking advantage of the relaxed atmosphere to exploit loopholes in the current Portsmouth Yardstick scheme, reports Dougal Henshall, concours judge at this year’s Bosham Revival, Britain’s biggest classic dinghy event.

The Merlin Rocket, a broad developmental class, is at the forefront of the competition and the scene has reached the stage where good, usable examples of desirable designs (like Jack Holt Passing Cloud boats) have been snapped up. This has led to new

boats being built to old designs, posing as old boats by adopting a thwart or knee from an old one.

Many helms, not just in Merlin Rockets, are concerned that classic dinghy racing is heading towards chequebook racing and the death of authenticity. Some sailors have already discarded any pretence of originality by stepping carbon spars and high-tech sails. This blurring of definitions could yet see a fragmentation of the scene into true classics and ‘spirit of tradition’ but one thing is certain: the PY system as it stands today will struggle to keep up with these new developments.

NEWS

SCOTLAND

Big year for Reaper The 111-year-old herring drifter Reaper (pictured right), flagship of the Scottish Fisheries Museum, has been laid up for winter after an incredibly busy 2013 season that included 1,200 miles of sailing between Whitby in Yorkshire and Portsoy on the Moray coast; welcoming an amazing 16,000 visitors aboard; and completing her fifth schools programme, giving more than 1,000 children from Eyemouth, Dunbar, Port Seton and Leith the opportunity to learn more about 20th-century herring fishing.

Her entire rig (including masts) is now out for maintenance and storage. In a few months’ time, she will be readied at Mackay Boat Builders in Arbroath for another busy year. Also this year, museum volunteers will launch their newly restored Fifie Rose Leaf. The museum now has a new website, scotfishmuseum.org C/O SCOTTISH FISHERIES MUSEUM

SYMPOSIUM ARTICLES

GEORGE STUBBS, C/O NMM

MAXIMILIAN GHOSE, C/O NHS

Clyde classic book

CORRECTION

NHS Photo award

GIBSON ARCHIVE, C/O NMM

On p60 in last month’s CB, the primary school category in the National Historic Ships Competition should have been named as Maximilian Ghose from Eaton Square School, London, not Finley Stirk from Keston CE Primary, as we said. Our apologies.

ARCHIVE

Gibson wreck photos

The famous Gibson photographic archive of Cornish and Scilly Isles wrecks has been bought by the National Maritime Museum at auction. Pictured here is the wreck of the Norwegian Hansy that ran aground in 1911.

Copies of the Clyde Classic Official Programme are available at clydeclassic.com. The event, held last June, included Britain’s first symposium of yacht design and this 56-page booklet includes five supporting articles on the importance of the Clyde to yacht design. Price £10

STUBBS PAINTINGS

Saved for the nation

The two 18th-century Stubbs oil paintings (CB304) have been saved by a £1.5 million donation from Eyal Ofer, heir to the late marine philanthropist Sammy Ofer. The paintings, The Kongouro from New Holland and Portrait of a Large Dog, are visual records of Captain James Cook’s first voyage of discovery (1768-1771).

SEA AWARD

NEW WEBSITE

Gary Jobson

Cheverton

American sailor Gary Jobson has received the 2013 American and the Sea award from Mystic Seaport Museum. His achievements include winning the America’s Cup and the Fastnet, plus writing 18 books on sailing. He is currently vice-president of the International Sailing Federation.

A new site devoted to the yacht designs of David Cheverton, prominent in the 50s and 60s, is now online. It describes the origins of the two main designs – Caravel and Crusader – and has detailed histories of Danegeld (CB299) and her sister yachts. The site also lists yachts for sale. cheverton.org.uk

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

23

TELL TALES

“We don’t pretend that this is a comprehensive list because we do not have every copy of every yachting magazine over that period. But we think we have found most of them”

NMMC

George Hogg

SPECIAL REPORT

Converging lines: yacht design archive A team of volunteers from the Bartlett Library and Research Centre at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall led by trustee George Hogg, who was instrumental in the library’s founding in 2003, has spent tens of thousands of man hours engaged in the most labour-intensive archival project we can remember.

The team has gone through 18 different British yachting magazine titles from as far back as 1891 to 2013 to index them for boat plans.

The index is now live on the museum’s website (nmmc.co.uk – see panel on right) and contains the plans of more than 14,000 vessels.

The index includes every issue of Yachting Monthly since the first one in 1906; every issue of Motor Boat & Yachting since 1904; and every issue of Yachting World in the 1930s. Vessels can be searched using boat name, designer or type, or alphabetically.

“We don’t pretend that this is a comprehensive list because we do not have every copy of every yachting 24

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

magazine over that period, but we think we have found most of them,” George Hogg said.

We went online to test the system out and returned a match for most boats we tried. Once the user has found the boat in question, a scan of the article can be ordered for about £10. Anyone who has tried to research the history of a yacht will know the difficulties involved in searching many sources to find

answers: this new initiative puts an unprecedented amount of information within fingertip access of anyone with web access. If you know an article was published “somewhere” on your boat “at some point in the 30s”, you will most likely be able to find it here.

George has also been busy with archives of real, original plans, among them those of Alan Buchanan. He has made an appeal for issues of Yachting World up to and including the 1930s.

Above: CR ‘Kim’ Holman’s Stella design, one of the 14,000 indexed articles with plans

National Small Boat Register on the up Another project that has been gathering pace since it started in 2006, also under George’s impetus, is the National Small Boat Register (NSBR). Like the plans index, it is a strong attempt to consolidate the fractured nature of our maritime heritage in one place, in this case by recording small craft (33ft/10m and under) on a single database. The list is a complement to (and runs closely in association with) the longer-established register run by the National Maritime Museum for vessels over 33ft. The free NSBR now numbers 2,157, with the more complete records (1,140 of them) online. Existing entry holders can update their vessels’ records with up to three extra photos; and those with vessels that might be eligible are encouraged to apply. See p50 for our story on 10 years of the NMMC. Yacht design archive: nmmc.co.uk and search for ‘yacht design archive’ (or type in http://goo.gl/f4M8F8) Small Boats Register: nmmc.co.uk, then search for ‘small boat register’ (or type in http://goo.gl/2hKtKv)

ESSENCE 33

TC 51 ALEXA

55 ft. TINTAGEL

56 ft. BARTELLI II

58ft. ARATINGA

59 ft. LISA

65 ft. SATANTA

TC 65 WINDROSE

65 ft. CHELIACAROCA

70 ft. JAN DE VRIES

70 ft. KIM

TC 90 ATALANTE

118 ft. TIZIANA For more information please visit www.hoekbrokerage.com or contact Mr. Pieter van der Weide: +31 (0)299 315 506

Allegra Gucci Close quarters with…

Sailing and maintaining the schooner Creole and the racing cutter Avel is a way of keeping her father’s memory alive Story DaN houstoN

T

here’s a moment as I step from the gangplank on to the quarterdeck of the magnificent 214ft (65.2m) schooner Creole and I think to myself: “Wow, I’m about to meet a Gucci girl, I wonder how she’ll be?”

The rain has arrived in force in Monaco on the last evening of Classic Week (CB305), and I duck under the awning of this historic vessel with a few moments to admire her varnish and brass fittings, while a crewman goes for’ard to look for Captain Chris Austin.

Like many in the classic sailing set I’ve watched Creole following the 1896 59ft 9in (18.3m) Avel from event to event knowing these beautifully kept, professionally crewed Camper & Nicholsons yachts were being sailed by Alessandra and Allegra, daughters of Maurizio Gucci, the head of the famous Italian fashion house, shot dead outside his office in Milan in 1995.

But there’s always been a kind of hush around the subject, and Creole is often anchored off at events like these, shut away with blinds drawn over her deck saloons. It has been Avel, with her crew in their jaunty, ochre-coloured neck scarves, which has raced, often successfully, on the Mediterranean circuit, and one could often pick out Allegra working on the foredeck.

But Avel was missing from the regattas this year and it was the mighty Creole with her 17,000sqft (1,579m2) of sail that was out racing.

So when Chris meets me and takes me to meet Allegra in the forward deckhouse – a navigating area with a table and leather seating around it – one of the first questions I ask is where was Avel? It should, perhaps, have been elementary, since Allegra is showing an obvious “bump” but us men don’t always put two and two together on such matters. “I am five months pregnant,” she replies, “and I was advised not to do any heavy work on the foredeck of Avel, so we retired her just for this season.”

It turns out it was the first time Creole had raced at a regatta for 20 years. “Dad got Creole in 1982 when I was still a baby,” Allegra says. “To race her, a lot of work was done by Lürssen Yachts in Germany, Beconcini in La Spezia and Astilleros de Mallorca. But he found she

was just too big to race and have fun. So he decided to buy and restore Avel, also a Camper & Nicholsons yacht, which was restored at Harry Spencer’s yard in Cowes.”

Maurizio had found Avel, then a houseboat in the mud at Mersea, Essex (CB80), and bought her for £15,000.

Avel was back sailing on the then early classic regatta circuit in 1994. Some readers will remember CB’s report of being aboard, with John Bardon as skipper, and yes, the crew in their ochre neck ties being mentioned as well (CB79). Maurizio Gucci was one of the first yachtsmen to restore classic yachts faithfully – at the same time Harry Spencer was working on Avel, the Fife 15-M Tuiga was being restored over the water at the newly founded Fairlie Restorations on the Hamble.

By then Gucci was separated from Allegra’s mother Patrizia but the young Allegra had already inherited her father’s passion for the sea and sailing.

She began sailing when she was small, though not on Creole or Avel. “I would go on summer camp with friends in France, sailing wooden dinghies. I wanted a dinghy of my own and when I was nine I had a Laser, which I sailed on the lake at St Moritz [Switzerland].

“Dad’s spirit of sailing came down to us, he even saw the business potential in it, sponsoring the Italian America’s Cup challenge 12-M Italia for the 1987 Cup in Fremantle.” (Gucci backed the Consorzio Italia syndicate for the Yacht Club Italiano bid.)

With his new interest in classic sailing realised when he restored Avel, it was a tragedy when Maurizio was murdered as he arrived at his office in Milan in March 1995. In 1998 Patrizia was jailed for life for her part in hiring a hitman; she was freed from jail on parole two days after this interview, in September 2013.

For Allegra and Alessandra the best way to honour their father’s memory was to continue to campaign his yachts and the spirit of authenticity he had fostered with the family’s two C&N restorations. “I first raced Avel in 1996, at the Conde de Barcelona [Palma, Mallorca],” explains Allegra, “I was 15 and I remember that the other yachts were able to point higher than us and the skipper John Bardon saying we needed to alter the rig.”

At this point Captain Chris Austin, who joined the crew of Creole in 1989, added: “When she was restored

ANDrEA PISAPIA/yCM

“What is the price of winning? You should be doing this for fun”

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

27

ALLEGRA GUCCI

NIGEL PERT

Above, left to right: Allegra (at the helm) and her crew on board Avel; Creole in all her majestic magnificence

DAN HOUSTON

in 1994 she had a massive rig, and it was too big for the boat. William Collier found some original plans of the first rig in a French yachting magazine [many of C&N’s early plans and records were destroyed in a fire in 1941] and a new rig was put in her in 2000.”

“Our spirit is to keep the boats in as original condition as possible,” Allegra confirms. “So, for instance, we only have a balloon jib on Avel – we would never have an asymmetric spinnaker.”

Despite the tragic family events, Allegra still remembers her early sailing days on Avel fondly: “It was great in 1996; I wanted to be in the action up on the foredeck with all the guys, but people were worried about me and my safety. I was small then and elastic and it was quite fun, so I spent the first years learning – maybe trimming on the staysail. And I always wanted to race as part of the crew, so I worked for it and finally, after many years, I’m there!

There is a lot to learn, and every year I learn more. In fact, every race you learn something new.

“Avel had only raced once in her early years – she was laid up in the mud in 1927…” Allegra continues.

“The race had been a coastal race of five yachts and Avel, designed as a cruising yacht, had come fifth so she was never raced again – until the Gucci family took her over.” Creole and Avel share 18 crew.

In keeping with the spirit of authenticity Avel still has no engine, and it is quite a sight to see her being towed along behind Creole: “We can tow at nine knots, it works fine,” says Allegra. “We used to cruise Avel but without an engine it’s quite difficult to manoeuvre her – she’s a big boat to be without power. There was a time at the regatta in Porto Cervo when we were accused of having our engine on and we could reply: ‘We don’t have one!’ But it also makes us cautious; if it gets too windy during a race

we would retire, because we don’t have an engine and the boat is less safe if we are racing with others like that.”

From that safety point of view, it might make sense to put an engine in the boat. “I would not consider putting an engine in because she is as original as possible,” Allegra avows. “But we have had a few close calls…

We were headed straight for the dock once and the photographer Carlo Borlenghi came to our aid in Tuiga’s tender to push us off. And we came alongside Creole too fast once and snapped one of her spreaders; it’s a big learning curve! But it can also be useful because if we are coming into a harbour like St Tropez, I can just shout out that we have no engine and they let us right through!”

What’s her favourite regatta? “That’s difficult. Maybe Mahon; the atmosphere is great and it’s beautiful, but it’s been great to sail here at Monaco because many people don’t think Creole even has sails! I think the most important aspect of classic regattas is the spirit of the event. And old boats should be kept as original as possible, changing maybe a plank at a time. When I started there were not many boats but there was a show element: the old boats of the sea. You wouldn’t race aggressively or cause a collision, but since 2000 there has been an increase in the number of boats and so there is less space, but people push to win, which can cause accidents and it’s dangerous. If everyone sails well and knows the rules it’s OK, but we have seen people who take risks and that is crazy. What is the price of winning? You should be doing this for fun!

“My father would be so happy to see the boats now and how his philosophy of them is continuing,” Allegra surmises wistfully. “And next year we will sail Avel again. I am due to have a boy so he will have a little uniform and he’ll be able to see us from the deck.”

“I always wanted to race as part of the crew. And finally I’m there”

28

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Price: Euro 3,500,000

NeilThompsonBoats

The Norfolk Smuggler Dimensions

The Norfolk Smuggler 25 has been carefully designed to ensure a single-handed sailing ability when required. The cockpit is large to allow comfortable sailing for up to six adults and to provide ample stowage space in the cockpit lockers.

The cabin trunk provides standing headroom through the yacht without looking cumbersome, and ahead of this there is a safe foredeck to provide security for the foredeck hand. This vessel has been designed to be shoal draught with a centreboard increasing draught from 2’9” with plate up to 4’11” with plate down.

The centreboard is raised and lowered with an easy to operate manual winch.

Norfolk Urchin

Norfolk Oyster

Norfolk Gypsy

Length Beam Draft Sail area Weight of boat

Norfolk Smuggler 25

25’ ( 7.69m) 8’9” (2.69m) 2’9”/4’11” (0.85m/1.51m) 404 sq ft (38.3 sq m) 4.25 tonnes (inc equipment)

Norfolk Trader 45 & 65

Home of the Norfolk Range Neil Thompson Boats, Manor Farm, Glandford, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7JP +44 (0) 1263 741172 • info@neilthompsonboats.co.uk • www.neilthompsonboats.co.uk

Restoration OVER 40FT (12M)

Awards SPONSORED BY

2014 Classic Boat Award logo 2014.indd 1

15/11/2013 15:34

NOMINATIONS It’s that time of year again when we ask you to vote for the best of the best in the world of classic boats. Over the next 10 pages we’ve shortlisted the candidates, so go online or email us and have your say…

TO VOTE

SPONSORED BY

Since 1790

42 Medina Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight PO31 7BY T. (01983) 294051 E. ratseysails@ratsey.com

www.ratsey.com

Photo © Piérick Jeannoutot

online classicboat/awards2014 email vote@classicboat.co.uk CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

31

Restoration under 40ft (12.2m) sponsored by

c/o ballentine’s boat shop

c/o the owner

TRASNAGH built in 1913 by hilditch of carrickfergus, trasnagh is an islands one-design yawl drawn by alfred mylne. she was discovered as a bare hull by owner ian terblanche who has painstakingly restored her with help from broker peter gregson and boatbuilders peter nash and brian pomeroy to a high level of well-researched authenticity – the teak decks were laid after seeing a photo of her winning the king george cup in 1927.

TO VOTE

online classicboat/awards2014 email vote@classicboat.co.uk

loa 39ft 6in (12m) beam 9ft 1in (2.8m) draught 5ft 3in (1.6m)

ELLAD

32

BEN MY CHREE ben my chree (gaelic for ‘darling of my heart’), a 1932 l francis herreshoff bermudan sloop, sailed among the islands of casco bay, maine, in relative obscurity. that all changed in 1983, when she was borrowed by ballentine’s boat shop to take moulds for a grp variant, the stuart knockabout (82 built so far!). ben my chree was restored so authentically that she even has canvas decks, as well as grown frames and original hardware. loa 28ft (8.5m) beam 6ft 11in (2.1m) draught 5ft 6in (1.7m)

nigel pert

GYPSY

c/o the owner

one of fife’s last (unbuilt) designs before wwii forced him to turn his yard to the war effort, she was built in 1957, 13 years after his death. she is one of seven built to the design in the 50s at fife’s fairlie yard and kept at la rochelle, but voyaged to the clyde this year where we sailed her. we are running a series on her restoration (page 78), which controversially uses stainless steel keelboats and fittings below the waterline. a real beauty.

after a five-year restoration by owners John pryor and Jill hetherington, gypsy was sailing at her ‘debut’ regatta in auckland in January 2012, when she was hit by a vessel under power – an accident that nearly tore her in half, and badly injured Jill. gypsy, arch logan’s last design built in 1939, sank in seconds. they raised her and started again, with robert brooke of the auckland traditional boat building school. only this time, they did it even better, reverting from gaff to the original bermudan, and to her original cabin trunk and hatch layout.

loa 34ft 6in (10.5m) beam 8ft 5in (2.6m) draught 5ft 10in (1.8m)

loa 34ft (10.4m) beam 8ft 6in (2.6m) draught 5ft 3in (1.6m)

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Restoration oVer 40ft (12m) sPonsored by

c/o scott metcalfe

c/o the Pilgrim trust

c/o felix ott

VALERIE

GREETINGS

PILGRIM BM45

a bolt from the blue! scott metcalfe phoned from Waterfront marine in bangor, Wales, to say that he’d finished the ‘yard boat’ after a few years of part-time work! she’s an 1895 stow & son gaffer and her restoration has involved some hull work, total refastening and a new rig.

design 38 from the great laurent giles was built in 1939 and found by swiss/english felix ott and roman stoessel in barcelona. they trucked her to Portugal’s algarve coast for an authentic restoration at beb boat carpentry and she is now available for charter.

this is the oldest surviving brixham trawler, built and rigged nearly 125 years ago. she is back sailing again after a 14-year campaign and three years of restoration and £1.1m help from the heritage lottery fund. authentic on deck, she’s been transformed below to charter standards.

loa 47ft (14.3m) beam 10ft 2in (3.1m) draught 6ft 6in (2m)

loa 43ft (13.1m) beam 11ft (3.4m) draught 10ft (3.1m)

loa 74ft 5in (22.7m) beam 17ft 9in (5.5m) draught 9ft 2in (2.8m)

KASKELOT

barry Pickthall/PPl media

GERMAINE

richard Johnstone-bryden

kathy mansfield

SASKIA

kaskelot has just undergone a major refit at tommi nielsen’s yard p82 – one of the biggest jobs they’ve undertaken. the work took her down to bare shell and included a new ed burnett-designed wheelhouse and deck furniture by fairlie yachts.

thought to be the oldest camper & nicholson design afloat, she was restored at the ibtc over 17 years (see page 10). now kept in brittany, it is hoped she will appear at the douarnenez festival in 2014. her restoration has been very close to the original in terms of materials and layout.

this famous William fife iii 8-m proved to be a fast boat in 2013, after a restoration under different owners. most recent work was at the Ventis shipyard in enkhuizen, netherlands, who put in the new rig and strengthened the hull to enable her to race fast again.

loa 153ft (46.6m) beam 25ft (7.6m) draught 11ft 10in (3.6m)

loa 42ft (12.8m) beam 9ft 3in (2.8m) draught 6ft 8in (2.1m)

loa 48ft (14.6m) beam 8ft 6in (2.6m) draught 6ft 6in (2m) CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

33

Traditional new build uNder ANd OVer 40Ft (12.2m) SPONSOred bY

C/O JONNY NANCe

ST IVES SCULLER Jonny Nance, he of the St Ives Luggers, is a man with a mission.

And his mission is to teach the world the ancient art of ‘scullying’ (Cornish for sculling). His latest replica of a traditional punt was launched last spring and although she’s only 13ft (4m), she can carry eight souls. Or bristol’s Ambling band…

LOA 13ft (4m) beAm 5ft 2in (1.6m) drAugHt c1ft (0.3m)

VIKING BOAT

C/O tHe buILder

Oak left over from the build of the 115ft (35m) Viking longship Harald Fairhair was used to create this little sister from the same Nordlandsbåt yard in Norway.

She has square sails in silk, hemp rigging and painted tar and linseed oil finish.

LOA 17ft (5.2m) beAm 4ft 3in (1.3m) drAugHt 8in (20cm) 34

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

TO VOTE

online classicboat/awards2014 email vote@classicboat.co.uk

INTERNATIONAL 12-FOOT

dAN HOuStON

the design created for the boat racing Association by amateur george Cockshott has remained popular, albeit mostly abroad in recent years. Now, in its 101st year, this archetypal clinker-hulled class is finding favour in its home country again, built by the likes of Anglia Yacht brokerage and good Wood boat Company.

LOA 12ft (3.7m) beAm 4ft 8in (1.5m) drAugHt 1ft 9in (0.6m)

NigEL SHARP

GRAYHOUND Huge for a plank-on-frame charter boat, grayhound combines the enthusiasm and drive of owners Marcus Rowden and Freya Hart, the shipbuilding skills of Chris Rees and the lines of a 1776 Cornish revenue lugger of the same name, which was built not far from where her modern replica took shape. Everything about this boat is remarkable – from the trenail construction and home-grown timbers, to the partly crowd-sourced funding.

LOA 63ft 6in (19.4m) bEAM 19ft 5in (5.9m) dRAugHt 10ft 9in (3.3m)

C/O tHE MOORS

C/O AdAM WAy

OBAN SKIFF

WHITE ROSE

Here’s a trailer-sailer, but in real wooden clinker and to the lines of an 1886 salmon fishing boat. She’s an elegant double-ender, roomy enough to accommodate six adults yet narrow enough on the waterline for some decent speed. She was launched this year by A & R Way boatbuilding in Argyll.

White Rose of Mevagissey is a new gaff sloop traditionally built from a half-model by Henry and Peter Moore in Cornwall, who do considerable work for nearby superyacht yard Pendennis. Everything about her is traditional, from design and materials, to build and fittings. New builds at this size are very rare.

LOA 18ft 4in (5.6m) bEAM 5ft 11in (1.8m) dRAugHt 2ft 8in (0.8m)

LOA 25ft (7.6m) bEAM 7ft 10in (2.4m) dRAugHt 5ft (1.5m) CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

35

Spirit of tradition UNder 40FT (12.2m) SPONSOred bY

TYLer FIeLdS, C/O bALLeNTINe’S bOAT ShOP

NICOLe jACqUeS, C/O The bUILder

DoughDISh

CARY ALI

“Few boats depict tradition in New england like the herreshoff 12 ½, a design that has not changed for 100 years,” says Amy ballentine Stevens of ballentine’s boat Shop. The doughdish is a grP replica able to race equally with her wooden sisters. Like the originals it is used for teaching youths to sail and for class racing. ballentine’s is now working on doughdish No538, amazing when you consider that only 330 or so of the 12 ½s were built.

She’s supposedly inspired by the old maine Lobster boat type, but really, these Friendship Yachts have become a category of their own in recent years. This one, a Friendship 36, is a Ted Fontaine design realised by rockport marine, maine, in mahogany and cedar coldmoulded on laminated fir timbers with a teak deck. She’s a beamy centreboarder in the American tradition… but this one has two rudders.

LOA 15ft 10in (4.8m) beAm 5ft 10in (1.8m) drAUghT 2ft 6in (0.8m)

LOA 35ft 9in (10.9m) beAm 11ft 3in (3.4m) drAUghT 2ft 8in (0.8m)

C/O SCOTTISh COASTAL rOWINg PrOjeCT

jeNNIFer STeer

36

gLÓEY

ST AYLES SKIFFS

The loveliest boat to be launched from the boat building Academy in Lyme regis, dorset, on a bright december day in 2012 was glóey, a Paul gartside-designed centreboard gaffer, built in western red cedar by Swiss student dominic geschwind. With gartside’s help, he added a cabin to the design and it looks great. She’s now on Lake Constance in Switzerland.

This rowing skiff has exploded since the Iain Oughtred design was first realised in 2009. Now there are at least 65 built with another 46 in build in the UK and around the world. Part of the appeal is the cost – £3,500 all in – but it is the community effect that gets people excited as you can form a ‘team’, build the boat from kit in a few weeks, practise on week nights and race at the weekends.

LOA 18ft (5.5m) beAm 7ft (2.1m) drAUghT 1ft 10in (0.6m)

LOA 22ft (6.7m) beAm 5ft 8in (1.7m) drAUghT 5ft 10in (1.8m)

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

C/o north Quay MarinE

dan houston

ALCYON With spars that extend nearly three times her length, this replica 1871 Marseille houari (similar to a sandbagger) is one of the most radical craft we’ve ever seen. she’s a copy of a family boat, which belonged to the grandfather of Edith Frilet, who built her partly to celebrate the forgotten yachting history of Marseille. she’s in the epoxy-strip method by Marseille’s daniel scotto to a first lines plan by Gilles Vaton. We sailed her at Monaco Classic Week and have the full report on this wonderful boat next month.

Loa 23ft 11in (7.3m) bEaM 11ft 9in (3.6m) drauGht 6ft (1.9m)

TO VOTE

SPITFIRE 18 she’s a new design from Kent’s north Quay Marine, a father-and-son team who have built lovely trailer-sailers in strip plank for many years. this one’s a flyer, with a curved gaff and planing hull and much lighter weight. she’s also intended for camping with a boom tent.

online classicboat/awards2014 email vote@classicboat.co.uk Loa 18ft (5.5m) bEaM 6ft 10in (2.1m) drauGht 3ft 5in (1.1m)

PC 37 spirit of tradition yachts have tended to emulate boats from the first half of the 20th century, but a growing number are claiming working craft as their inspiration, like the Pilot Classic range from designer andre hoek in holland. this one, a 37, was built by her owner in cedar core with epoxy laminates and features an unusually large cockpit.

Loa 37ft 5in (11.4m) bEaM 10ft 2in (3.1m) drauGht 6ft 7in (2m) C/o hoEK dEsiGn

CW HOOD 32 the new CW hood 32 is a spirit of tradition daysailer in foam sandwich from the yard of the same name in Marblehead, Massachusetts. With her ‘mini-J’ looks, purity of purpose and light weight, she looks as though she’d be weatherly – and fast.

Loa 32ft 5in (9.8m) bEaM 6ft 11in (2.1m) drauGht 4ft (1.2m) C/o CW hood

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

37

International Boatbuilding Training College. www.ibtc.co.uk

18’ Daysailer

Richard Johnstone-Bryden

Building Boatbuilders Conserving Historic Vessels 01502 569663 info@ibtc.co.uk

Shipshape East Anglia Hub

Ancient & modern Large and Small All come to one place for the proper equipment

www.ClassicMarine.co.uk +44(0)1394 380390 38

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Spirit of tradition

C/O HOek deSiGn

OVeR 40fT (12.2m)

ALEXA Alexa is the 35th yacht in the Truly Classic range from dutch designer Andre Hoek. She was built by metur Yacht in Turkey in cold-moulded wood, and is the 7th ‘TC51’, the 51-footer in the range. These are blue-water yachts with several circumnavigations to prove it. The classic 1930s look is complemented by a refreshing lack of complexity – so, less to break down while at sea. The rig is a modestly canvased bermudan cutter with furling headsails sheeted to electric winches on an aluminium mast. The 80hp engine will allow powering into head seas and the boat is easy enough for two to manage. One of the nicer-looking SoTs out there.

C/O TemPUS

niCOLe JACqUeS, C/O BROOkLin BOAT YARd

LOA 51ft 9in (15.8m) BeAm 13ft 8in (4.2m) dRAUGHT 7ft 9in (2.4m)

TEMPUS FUGIT J-Class yachts are prohibitively impractical and expensive, not that authentic or fast. This set of circumstances has led to a few ‘inspired by’ boats over the years, like this wood-epoxy sloop to the Tempus 90 design by Briton Rob Humphreys. She was built at Turkey’s Arkin Pruva yard and launched this August.

LOA 90ft (27.4m) BeAm 18ft 5in (5.6m) dRAUGHT 10ft 6in (3.2m)

TO VOTE

online classicboat/awards2014 email vote@classicboat.co.uk

EGGEMOGGIN 47 Brooklin Boat Yard in maine has built three boats to this new eggemoggin 47 design in just over a year. She’s a timber cold-moulded daysailer that looks shockingly quick with a modern underwater body and basic accommodation to sleep three overnight.

LOA 47ft 6in (14.5m) BeAm 9ft (2.7m) dRAUGHT 7ft 6in (2.3m) CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

39

Powerboat of the year sponsored by

c/o riva world

peter willis

LAmBORGHINI RIVA built for carmaker Ferruccio lamborghini, riva’s legendary aquarama, hull 278, was fitted with twin 4-litre v12s (the engine from the first lambo 350gt) to give 48 knots. after Ferruccio’s death in 1993, his boat was found by riva world in uithoorn, netherlands, and it was restored with copies of the original engines with help from retired engineers at riva and lamborghini. she’s a very special aquarama.

TO VOTE

online classicboat/awards2014 email vote@classicboat.co.uk

loa 27ft 11in (8.5m) beam 8ft 6in (2.6m) draugHt 2ft (0.6m)

Henri tHibault

40

CHALLENGE sent to dunkirk and active in the run-up to d-day, saved three times from the scrapyard, bought by the dunkirk little ships restoration trust for £1, and restored over 20 years with a £900,000 HlF grant and at last a new boiler, the 1931 steam tug challenge is a born survivor, and a living, steaming piece of marine history – a reminder of the days of the thames shipping trade. loa 110ft (33m) beam 26ft 3in (7.9m) draugHt 14ft (4.3m)

ricHard joHnstone-bryden

SNOWGOOSE

when the swiss think of mahogany runabouts, the marque that comes to mind is not riva or chris-craft. it’s the 90-year-old, four-generation family firm of boesch, based on lake Zurich. they build about 30 boats a year, combining laminate technology with hand-built skills.

snowgoose was built in 1962 by the wroxhambased ec landamore & co as a five-berth cruiser. the owner emmet Hart brought her to ibtc’s commercial division for restoration in october 2012 and the work carried out included hull planking and timbers, interior and more.

built of lightweight 9mm epoxy ply, greta is an easily driven motorboat from nigel irens – best known for his world-beating trimarans. on a trip to Fowey from the dart, we noted: “against foul tide, it took 5h 40m averaging 9 knots, using 13lt of fuel.” what more could you ask of a mobo?

loa 22ft (6.7m) beam 7ft 3in (2.2m) draugHt 1ft 9in (0.6m)

loa 37ft (11.3m) beam 11ft 9in (3.6m) draugHt 2ft 3in (0.7m)

loa 26ft (8m) beam 6ft 6in (2m) draugHt 1ft 10in (0.6m)

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

GRETA

william stanton

BOESCH SUNSKI 625

Discover more at www.tnielsen.co.uk +44 (0)1452 301117

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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Person of the year

c/o shackleton epic

TIM JARvIS

early this year, six men spent 12 days on a hellishly uncomfortable small-boat voyage, travelling 800 miles across the southern ocean in the wake of ernest shackleton’s great escape from the ice of nearly 100 years ago. their little lugger was an exact replica of the original ship’s boat, at just 23ft (7m). when they reached south georgia, they hiked across the mountainous interior in shackleton’s footsteps. the anglo-australian expedition was led by aussie tim Jarvis and used only vintage kit.

MATT BROOKS

cb archives

on 20 July, history was repeated when the s&s ocean-racing yawl Dorade crossed the finishing line of the 2013 transpac ocean race in first place. the first time was in 1936, when her designer olin stephens was at the helm. overall victory in a largely modern race like this is an unprecedented achievement for a classic yacht, and it’s largely down to Dorade’s owner matt brooks’ determination to race her as she ought to be.

FIONA & ALASTAIR HOUSTON

TO vOTE

online classicboat/awards2014 email vote@classicboat.co.uk

SUE LEWIS

welcome to the brother and sister double act behind the Fife regatta, held every five years, on the clyde. the regatta is special, attracting Fife boats of all sizes from far afield to race in these amazing waters, to which many return for the first time since launch. the houstons are volunteers – ali describes himself as the frontman, Fiona as the organiser – and have created something that is as special to the old boating families of the clyde as it is to the event’s sailors.

c/o sue lewis

the event of 2013 was undoubtedly the old gaffers 50th Jubilee and their round-britain challenge. lots of people contributed to its resounding success but sue lewis somehow managed to be everywhere. she combined the job of secretary and tireless information source with taking part in the round britain, in her yacht bonify, and contributing an entertaining blog to the cb website.

nigel pert

GEORGE HOGG

c/o nmmc

every winter here at cb, some poor soul has to index all articles from the year gone by. george hogg, volunteer and trustee of the national maritime museum cornwall, led a project to index 18 marine titles from the last 120 years, to list articles with yacht plans. in total, the project yielded 14,000. he was also behind the launching of the small boat register, which now numbers more than 2,000. see p24 for more.

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

43

The experts CB ARCHIvES

This year, we are introducing a panel of yachting professionals to judge the specialist categories. Over the coming weeks they will campaign (and no doubt argue) for their favourites. Stand back and let the sparks fly…

Theo Rye

Dan Houston

Jamie Clay

Peter Willis

Steffan Meyric Hughes

Naval architect Theo Rye recently became our technical editor.

His background is in both sailing and working on many classic yachts from 15-Ms to the Fife II Ayrshire Lass.

Dan has been CB editor since 2000. He has kept, sailed and restored two yachts of his own – the Scarborough Sloop Salote and the 1936 FBR Brown-designed yacht Nereis.

Jamie Clay, boatbuilder in Maldon, Essex, works across the range, from new-builds in clinker to restorations of yachts

by Fife and Strange (for whom he has a particular fondness).

Peter Wills, ex-CB deputy editor, is a self-confessed Ransome nut, and for many years ran the Nancy Blackett Trust, keeper of Arthur Ransome’s yacht that starred as Goblin in We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea.

Steffan has been keeping a finger on the pulse of traditional restorations and replica builds in boatyards since launching Yard News back in 2005, as well as being our news and features editor.

Lifetime achievement

John Leather award

SPONSORED BY

SPONSORED BY

Best below decks SPONSORED BY

Editor’s choice SPONSORED BY

Since 1790

Best hull form 42 Medina Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight PO31 7BY T. (01983) 294051 E. ratseysails@ratsey.com

44

www.ratsey.com

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Photo © Piérick Jeannoutot

Boatyard of the year

NeilThompsonBoats

The Norfolk Gypsy Manor Farm, Glandford, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7JP • +44 (0) 1263 741172 info@neilthompsonboats.co.uk www.neilthompsonboats.co.uk

Norfolk Urchin

Norfolk Oyster

Norfolk Gypsy

Dimensions Length Beam Draft Total sail area Weight

Norfolk Smuggler

23’ 8” (7.28m) 7’ 6” (2.31 m) 1’8” (0.51m) 212 sq ft 1300kg

Norfolk Trader

ritish Class B i

sponsored by

eek ic W

Paner a

Panerai British Classic Week British Classic Y acht C lub Cowes

Cowes, 12th-19th July 2014 Entries open April l l l l l l

l

Super Zero Class 75ft and over IRC Classic yachts 25ft and over Modern Classic Division Full Social Programme Solent racing and long inshore race Full Race Programme Sunday 13th to Friday 18th July, including Classic Around the Island Race.

Parade of Classics Saturday 19th July

PHOTOGRAPH BY CHRIS BOYNTON.

Further information and entries, please contact, Mary Scott-Jackson, info@msjevents.co.uk, Tel:+44 (0)1983 245100 www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta

C/0 CHARLES MILLER

Saleroom

CHARLES MILLER LTD

Artefacts from a forgotten man

BY DAVE SELBY This may well be the last time you see these century-old photographs and collectibles from the archive of little-known naval architect and marine engineer Edmund Walter Higley Halliday (1875-1962).

In his day, Halliday was highly regarded in his field, first working for Thornycroft then coming to wider public notice when, in 1905, he undertook a single-handed passage in Iris, a 30ft (9.1m) motor launch of his own design, from Southampton to London in 27½ hours. After setting up business in Chiswick in 1907, his creativity peaked in the 1920s with

experimental and innovative craft, including steam launches, airpropelled hydroplanes, and electric and hydraulic-propelled launches.

His fascinating story came to life as I spent hours delving into the hundreds of documents, photos and mementos in his personal archive before it came under the hammer at Charles Miller’s most recent London marine sale. Enticingly estimated at £400-£600, I prepared to bid, but following our preview in Issue 304 international interest took off and a Canadian collector paid £3,360 for the treasure. At least in private hands, rather than with the trade, the archive is likely to stay intact.

Clockwise from top: archive photos; Scolopendra, boats on the slip near Chiswick bridge; the copper and brass model yacht

Sold separately for £456 was Halliday’s fascinating patent model of turned-shaft steering gear with assorted aluminium and brass propellers. That was another lot I should have bought, but I was saving my money for Halliday’s finely crafted copper and brass model yacht with detailed internal planking and fixings. Against an estimate of £100-£150, the exquisite 13½ in model passed beyond my grasp to sell for a decent £576.

I may not be lucky enough to own any Halliday artefacts but at least I’ve had the privilege of getting to know the work of a truly talented maverick.

RM AUCTIONS

Bond’s sub car steals the show

See mo

e Saleroorm online www.class

C/O RM AUCTIONS

This Lotus 007 submarine car raises the stakes in the debate as to whether plastic can be classic. It also outperformed the fastest risers in the classic car market, when it came under the hammer at a recent RM Auctions sale in London.

Built on the glassfibre chassis of a Lotus Esprit, it’s the actual submersible used in the 1977 Bond caper The Spy Who Loved Me, starring Roger Moore. It is more of a “wet car” than a submarine, though, as the cabin quickly filled with water, so the stunt driver had to wear full scuba gear. That’s why the windows are obscured by louvres, thus preserving the magic of the dramatic underwater sequences, shot in the Bahamas.

It was built by Florida marine engineers Perry Oceanographics at a cost of more than $100,000, but after filming it was abandoned in a Long Island storage container until it was snapped up by a local building contractor for $100 in a blind auction in 1989. In the sale, it sold for a whopping £616,000!

icboat.c saleroom o.uk/

for extra storie s

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

47

Objects of desire

Time travel This marine chronometer from venerable British clockmaker Thomas Mercer is a celebration of two incredible sea voyages. In 1916, Ernest Shackleton and his crew climbed aboard the James Caird to fetch help for the rest of his party stranded on Elephant Island, and in 2013, that journey was reenacted by Tim Jarvis and his crew (CB299, p56) – and both expeditions used Thomas Mercer chronometers. This one, the Legacy, has myriad features, including a body of 316 stainless steel, a 17-jewel movement with eight-day power reserve, and a double-gimballed cradle to keep it all upright. £POA thomasmercer.com Tel: +44 (0)208 334 8106limited edition of the new Legacy marinechronometer.

The power of paint This dramatic painting by Norman Wilkinson was commissioned

by Col Bill Whitbread to celebrate Sir Francis Chichester’s pioneering one-stop circumnavigation in Gipsy Moth IV, and presented to the yachtsman after his return in 1967. His son Giles Chichester says: “It remained a favourite of his because, he said, the seas were so very realistic – and frightening.” We have 100 limited-edition prints (78cm x 51cm) available, each one numbered and signed by the painter. £99 including p&p Available from PPL Media at http://bit.ly/1e3hO2R Tel: +44 (0)1243 555561

Message in a bottle This scene represents the first Atlantic crossing of two fully rigged pinnaces, Fogel Grip (foreground) and Kalmar Nyckel, on their voyage to Delaware, USA, to set up a new colony in 1638. Upon setting off on their expedition they met a terrible storm, which is depicted in this scene. The Kalmar Nyckel made four consecutive crossings of the Atlantic, a number unmatched by any other sailing vessel of her time. £4,600 skipjackmarinegallery.com Tel: +1 757 399 5012 48

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

ADVERTORIAL

BRUSH WITH THE PAST An innovative and progressive company with traditional roots and values? That’s the Teamac way…

T

his is Teamac’s second year of sponsorship in the Classic Boat awards. Like a few companies in the marine world – but unlike many other things in the modern world – Teamac has belonged to the same family for more than 100 years and still manufactures its paints, varnishes and other finishes on-site in Hull.

In 1908, the world of marine paints and finishes was very different to the one we know today: blacks and whites did not yet exist, and yachtsmen mixed their own paints from recipes in the yachting press.

Arthur Teal and Harold Mackrill joined forces to sell existing products and, in 1913, bought their first premises at No 30, Lockwood Street, Hull, where the company is still based to this day.

Early jobs included sending groups of workmen out to paint Hull’s fishing-boat fleet with the first paints they developed themselves. The name the company is known by today – Teamac – was registered in 1920, and in the next 20 years they supplied paint to everything from boats to the city trams. By the mid-1920s, products included Teamac Distemper, Petrous, Lakola, and Teamac Flat Oil paint. With the focus on the marine industry, anti-corrosive, antifouling, quick-drying,

Co-founder Harold Mackrill and son Benjamin Top: Nereis

aluminium and paste paints were made. A new white enamel was launched in 1930 in response to demand from boat owners. Salesmen were recruited to call on industrial users and railway wagon manufacturers. In Hull the firm’s paints were used on the city’s trams. By the 1930s, Teamac Distemper was available in 20 shades.

The company remained active in the war, supplying paint to the Admiralty for its minesweepers, and after the war, moved into shipping, expanding its premises with a purpose-built research and development laboratory in 1955. The technical facilities have been modernised and expanded again recently.

Today, Teamac makes paints and varnishes for all marine applications, and has won many awards for the longevity and sustainability of its products. The paint in a Teamac tin represents not only the 100 years of experience but also incorporates the latest contemporary technical thinking. And all this from a helpful, friendly company based in one place and just a phone call away.

We are proud of our association with Teamac as a major, and ongoing, sponsor of our awards. teamac.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1482 320194. New website arriving soon CLASSIC CLASSIC BOAT BOAT JANUARY JANUARY 2014 2014

49 25

National Maritim e Museum Cornwall

The fIrST

10

From its avant-garde architecture to the striking hanging boat display, the National Maritime Museum Cornwall strikes a chord with boat enthusiasts young and old. Here is your inside guide to the key exhibits

By STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

H PETER EDWARDS NMMC

50

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

NMMC

yeArS

alf our catchment area is blue,” says museum director Jonathan Griffin enigmatically as we sit with coffees by the big picture windows of the café in the National Maritime Museum Cornwall. It only takes a glance out of the window to Carrick Roads and the sky above to see what he means. On this day, half the catchment area is grey with a teasing Force 5 setting halyards chiming as they flick metal masts. Here though, all is calm. Above us hangs a rare ‘Eton 10’ racing rowing boat, part of the museum’s hanging boat collection, but Jonathan gropes under the table for a minute and... treasure!... holds up a shiny little disc of used chewing gum to dispose of. That’s dedication.

When the museum, entirely clad in green oak from the south-west of England, was opened in 2003 on an unused corner of a Peter de Savary residential development, it was immediately venerated for its architecture and ridiculed by Falmouth residents. “They thought a spaceship had landed,” Jonathan said. “It’s a big building for Cornwall. Cornwall is confident about itself, but not about the outside or things like this.” It will not look so alien to a CB reader, however; the principal design cue was in the large fishermen’s and boatbuilder’s sheds that

TOP: NMMC; MIDDLE aND bOTTOM: SHMH

stood on the land before the museum arrived. “I treated it as part of a harbour, rather than as a city museum,” architect MJ Long told CB. With that in mind, the building literally has its feet in the sea, with a visitor’s pontoon for boats, as well as all-round passageways for pedestrians. The other principal aspect that informs the building’s character is the natural light and ventilation: “I didn’t want the museum to be hermetically sealed. It was a challenge to control temperature and humidity without air-conditioning.” Inside, the premise is simple and brilliant, revolving around a high central atrium, in which boats are hung from the ceiling, with smaller exhibition rooms clustered at each end.

Local attitudes have brightened in those 10 years, thanks in part to a dispensation that lets local residents in for a year on the price of a single ticket – a stipulation of Gift Aid. It’s a great place to amuse the kids, Cornish friends tell me, and sure enough, below us, tense little child/adult summits are being held to determine the likelihood of ice cream.

First impressions for an adult are of a light, modern, open space – a cathedral with 18 small boats hanging from the ceiling. Here is a drama created from dinghies, fishing boats, a paint-spattered set of caulking irons, a shop window of curiosities like turtle shells and boat

models… By and large, this is a collection inspired by the living memory of a few generations – stuff you’d find knocking around in the back of your dad’s head. And it’s a great contrast to the old-world glamour of London’s National Maritime Museum, a place high on Dutch masters, heavenly bodies and the Georgian Navy.

It was in the mid-90s that the idea for the museum was first mooted, and supported by many individuals (including Queen drummer Roger Taylor), as well as the Heritage Lottery Fund, which ended up stumping up most of the money. The major objects donor was the original National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, with the gift of 103 boats from its small-boat collection, which arrived in 2001 and 2002 in a steady convoy of artics from depots in east London and Kidbrooke. Together with the museum’s subsequent acquisition of another 35 or more boats, this museum now boasts some of the most important small boats of all time: the first Fireball, Heron, Firefly and Mirror – the latter displayed proudly at the entrance, with another on the roof of a Mini. The annals of small-boat voyaging are represented by, among others, Frank Dye’s Wayfarer and Hugo Vihlen’s 5ft 11in (1.8m) Father’s Day, in which he crossed the Atlantic. The other main collection to be subsumed was that of the original Falmouth

Clockwise from main image: the hanging boat display; the look-out tower; classics in the library; part of the display inspired by a Falmouth shop

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

51

NMMC

THE NMMC IN NUMBERS OPENED

2003 COST

£28 million FOOTPRINT

58,000sqft (5,388m2) VISITORS PER yEaR

120,000

ShMh

STaFF

35 paid, 180 volunteers BOaTS IN COllECTION

140

gallERIES

15

Museum, much of which has a more traditional appeal that some of us will miss in today’s museums. An ex-Trinity House Museum display has waxwork men playing an interminable game of Scrabble in a mock-up of a lighthouse; elsewhere, there is a shopfront of curiosities like turtle shells, stuffed fish – even a twoheaded piglet in a jar. It is inspired by the 19th-century John Burton’s Old Curiosity Shop in Falmouth. A Claire’s accessories shop now stands on the site.

One of the museum’s other great glories is the huge glass display case containing around 50 models of, mainly, small working craft. Dramatically lit, they seem to float in space. Museum curator Sarah Riddle tells us that it has set a trend for the way models are now displayed in museums.

The business of new acquisitions is difficult. Sifting through the regular offers of boats and objects takes a long afternoon of heated debate four times a year for the six members of the Acquisitions Committee (three trustees and three staff members). “It all boils down to that dreadful phrase ‘heritage value’,” says Andrew Wyke, boatbuilder turned collection manager.

We have a quick tour of some of the other attractions: the library; the look-out tower with its view over Carrick Roads; the floating display outside, with a 53ft (16.2m) Bronze Age boat built recently at the museum from five tonnes of oak, with yew trenails for fastenings and moss 52

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

ShMh

14,000

NMMC

BOaT PlaNS

and tallow for caulking; and the amazing Falmouth Quay Punt Curlew, sailed to Antarctica by Tim and Pauline Carr (more of that in another issue…). Sadly, we do not visit the tidal gallery at the bottom of the observation tower. Depending on the state of the tide, this is under the sea, which can be seen through plate-glass windows.

On a day of high water visibility, this must be amazing.

There used to be an AIS system at the top of the tower, installed at great cost when the technology first appeared.

“A couple of years later, it came out as a free app for smartphones,” Jonathan related. By and large, the museum seems to have understood the unique attraction of objects, eschewing the modern fashion to fill the place with computer terminals. Behind the scenes, it’s a different story. A particularly exciting project is the 3D scanning of vessels in the collection. The moveable laser installation that the museum has rented in partnership with the Port-Musée de Douarnenez in Brittany creates accurate and detailed records that will outlive the vessels’ lifespans.

“It’s a curator’s dream,” says Andrew. “It brings lines to life.” In that sense, it’s a good metaphor for the museum itself, which has achieved a good balance of instant appeal and innovative play for children – and a much deeper experience for children with grey hair. Not to mention 21 awards and nominations in its first decade. nmmc.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1326 313388

Clockwise from top: the model boat display; off-site boat store; architect MJ Long with the Queen

On now or coming soon The present blockbuster exhibition, Search and Rescue, featuring a real Westland Sea King helicopter to board, will run until 2015.

February will see a new exhibition on smuggling; and the museum will change its hanging display in January. There is also a steady stream of smaller events, talks and exhibitions.

JAMES LAWRENCE SAILMAKERS LTD BESPOKE SAILMAKERS Made with pride in Great Britain

“Rainbow” 3rd in class at the Fife Regatta 2013

Chandlery for traditional ships and classic yachts Webshop: www.toplicht.de Free catalogue: „The little Brownie“

toplicht Hamburg O Germany

Phone: +49 (0)40 88 90 100 Fax: +49 (0)40 88 90 1011 toplicht@toplicht.de

22-28 Tower Street, Brightlingsea, Essex CO7 0AL Tel: 01206 302863 • Fax: 01206 305858 Email: mark@gaffguru.com or lawrencesails@btconnect.com

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

53

SAIL AGNES 2014 www.workingsail.co.uk

SSA A Tradi)onal Sailing Experience with her builder Luke Powell.

Join us to explore Cornwall, Isles of Scilly, & BriEany-­‐ from quiet anchorages to lively fes)vals.

Details of our 2014 schedule can be found on our website or contact Joanna 07790 638084 or info@workingsail.co.uk

The Authentic Choice NEW! Classic Tan Ocean Sailcloth

Tel: 01489 776010 email: info@bainbridgeint.co.uk www.sailcloth.com

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

New Classics C/O HOEK DESIGN

Pilot ClassiC 37

Pilot ClassiC 37

Workboat-inspired design

LOA

37ft 5in (11.4m)

The Pilot Classic design from the Dutch office of Hoek Design is something of a departure for a Spirit of Tradition yacht, with looks inspired by a workboat – in this instance a Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter. Or you could see her as a return to the first Spirit of Tradition boats like the Cornish Shrimper, designed by Roger Dongray in 1978-9, similarly with workboat DNA. The PC37’s looks – long counter, plumb stem and a swept sheer – are complemented under the water by a modern boat shape, with a deep T-bulb fin keel and spade rudder. Cabin space has been shortened to give an unusually large cockpit, although some good usable cabin space remains, and it can be customised by the client. The first two PC37s have been built in cedar core with epoxy laminates, but the boat can also be built in a standard composite construction. Prices for the PC37 range from c€250,000-€350,000 (£210,000-£295,000), depending on the yard building it and type of finish, etc.

BEAM

10ft 2in (3.1m) DRAuGHT

6ft 7in (2m) DISPLACEMENT

12,787lb (5.8 tonnes) SAIL AREA

hoekdesign.com, Tel: +31 (0) 299 372 853

1,055sqft (98m2)

CoNtEssa 32 PuRE

First launched from Jeremy Roger’s yard in 1971 in GRP, the Contessa 32 (C32) was an instant hit for her balance of speed and seaworthiness.

The class was venerated after a C32 was the only Class V yacht to complete the 1979 Fastnet. The 32ft (9.8m) cruiser-racer was designed

by David Sadler, with a bermudan sloop masthead rig and a lovely shape: sawn-off counter stern, low-profile cabin trunk and sheer.

Key to the new boat’s eco credentials is the addition of an electric engine (with four 100 amp hr batteries). Below the water, keel and skeg are separate but moderate and the boat has a 47 per cent ballast ratio.

The new production C32 (see also CB270) comes in three guises: Pure (£146,000), Expedition (£149,000) and the Classic (£159,000).

NIC COMPTON

jeremyrogers.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1590 646780

C/O ACCF MARINE

Eco C32 in production

CoRMoRaN

Tough Breton daysailer We first noticed the Cormoran at the 2012 Southampton Boat Show, where we admired her nice lines and what looked like a very solid build quality.

She’s based on a 1924 design and built at ACCF Marine in Brittany in heavy lay-up GRP. According to her builders, she’s “exceptional in a light breeze and keeps her seaworthy qualities in moderate and strong breezes”. Well, they all say that, but the Cormoran does have the ratification of having sold nearly 100 boats since its launch in 1999. She’s just 14ft 9in (4.5m) long, but feels and looks like a proper dayboat with broad beam, solid displacement and heavy centreboard. Prices start at €24,400 (c£20,000). accfmarine.com; Tel: +33 (0)2 9887 1279 CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

55

Onboard CHRISTIANIA SAILS AGAIN

CRUISING . SEAMANSHIP . EQUIPMENT

Back FROM

THE DEAD In 1997, the Norwegian ketch Christiania sank to the bottom of the ocean. Believe it or not, she’s back, restored and sailing again. We jumped aboard on the Caledonian Canal STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS NIC COMPTON

Inset and far right: Christiania emerges from her resting place; sitting ‘mast up’ on the seabed

JOHAN PETERSEN

JOHAN PETERSEN

STOLT COMEX SEAWAY

I

t’s almost dark when I spot Christiania at the end of the pontoon in Dochgarroch, a few miles east of Inverness on the east coast of Scotland. Even from afar, there’s no mistaking the distinctive colours of the Norwegian rescue service, with her white hull, red stripe and Maltese cross on the bow. Designed to stay out in all weathers in the exposed Norwegian fisheries, Colin Archer’s double-enders have rightly earned a reputation as some of the most seaworthy vessels ever built. Which is why Christiania looks so much like a fish out of water here, several miles inland, surrounded by the verdant fields and trees of the Scottish Highlands.

I knock on the topsides and call out: “Hello, anybody aboard?” There’s a rumble below decks and Carl Emil, the eldest of the three Petersen brothers who own the boat, appears at the hatch and invites me on board.

I follow him down to the saloon and am suddenly confronted by four pairs of curious eyes. It’s Carl Emil’s daughters, Iben and Kaia, and two friends, Embla and Oda, who have come along for the ride. They’re unmistakably Norwegian: all blond hair, blue eyes and beautiful. There’s a moment’s hesitation, as we take each other in. Then I reel back in mock horror, and they all giggle loudly. The ice is broken, and we are soon chatting over bottles of juice (for the children) and single malt whisky (for the adults).

It’s all very different from the last time I saw Christiania. That was at the annual Risør Wooden Boat Festival in August 2000, when the 47ft (14m) ketch was being fêted as a Lazarus newly returned from the dead.

Less than three years before, while making a routine passage across the North Sea, Colin’s Archer’s rescue boat No 10 fell off a wave and started taking on water.

The combined efforts of the ship’s bilge pumps and two gasoline pumps lowered by a rescue helicopter couldn’t keep up with the flow of water, and within a few hours she sank in 1,640ft (500m) of water (CBs116, 137, 153).

It was a devastating loss not only for the Petersen family, who had owned the vessel for 20 years, but for Norwegian maritime culture as a whole.

Christiania is no ordinary boat: she is a Colin Archer rescue cutter and no ordinary Colin Archer either: she is one of only three surviving Mk I rescue cutters, built to the original lines submitted by Colin Archer to the Norwegian Society for Sea Rescue in 1891. Launched in

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

57

ONBOARD CHRISTIANIA SAILS AGAIN 1895, during the course of a 37-year career, she went to the assistance of 2,881 vessels, saved 90 ships from shipwreck, and rescued 257 people from certain death – a record only bettered by her sistership Oscar Tybring.

But the Petersens wouldn’t let her story end there.

Through connections in the oil industry, they hired a remotely operated vehicle (ROV) and managed to locate the boat on the seabed. Incredibly, the valiant little ship was sitting upright in the mud, with her hull and rig apparently intact. “She looked just fine sitting in the mud bottom, just as she would normally float on the surface,” says Carl Emil. “She had just waited.”

It took 18 months of planning and persuasion before they were able to return with an oil exploration ship to raise Christiania from the seabed. With the boat out of the water, the cause of the leak was finally revealed.

One of the mast step supports had been constructed from two pieces of wood, rather than out of a single length of timber as specified by Archer. In time, it had worked loose and acted like a wedge, forcing the garboard planks open. It was a small mistake but 102 years later it was enough to sink the boat.

A 12-month restoration programme followed, during which 30 per cent of the hull structure was replaced, including 40 per cent of the planking and all the damaged keel timbers. In addition, the area around the mast step was substantially reinforced by a steel plate and additional laminated frames. When Christiania appeared at Risør in the summer of 2000, there was little to show that she had been underwater for nearly two years, apart from a few worm holes on the companionway ladder – left there deliberately, as a reminder of her ordeal.

followed by a trip to the far north to Spitsbergen the next year. Then, in 2005, Christiania headed west (via the Caledonian Canal) to make a complete circuit of the Atlantic, visiting the Cape Verde Islands, the Caribbean, Cuba, USA, Canada, Greenland and Iceland, returning home four years later in 2007.

For, as Carl Emil makes clear, despite having lost their beloved family boat to the ocean once, they have no intention of preserving her as a museum piece out of fear of losing her again. “She’s both a cultural artefact and a family boat,” he says. “It’s a good feeling to maintain that heritage – but she also has to serve as a family yacht. And that means going sailing, which means taking risks. It can’t be helped.”

highland fling Back in Dochgarroch at the start of her 2011-12 odyssey, Christiania is firmly in family mode. Carl Emil and his partner Tone, along with long-time sailing companion Eirik, take a relaxed approach to parenting, and the boat is soon turned into a wonderful, living playground. The girls move with the easy familiarity of lifelong sailors: climbing the rigging, hanging on the boom, swinging down from ropes, jumping in the water, paddling around in the dinghy. For the next few days, Christiania is a constant maelstrom of activity, almost none of it to do with sailing.

But then Carl Emil is in no hurry to go anywhere.

With a week to travel the 60 miles (97km) from Inverness to Fort William – crossing from the east to the west coast of Scotland, effectively from the North Sea to the Atlantic – he is planning a leisurely cruise, with time to visit delights such as the Highland and Rare Breeds Park and the Clan Cameron Museum, as well as a good bit of Loch Ness monster spotting, and maybe even a jaunt up Ben Nevis. Although it’s probably colder than Norway in June, it’s an ideal spot for a relaxing family holiday, and no one has an agenda or timetable to comply to.

Built between 1803 and 1822, the Caledonian Canal is said to have been the first state-funded transport project in the UK. Although it was never commercially viable as a transport route, it soon became popular as a tourist destination and, following a major restoration

“Incredibly, the valiant little ship was sitting upright in the mud”

the generation game The salvage marked the beginning of a new era for Christiania in another way. While the yacht was on the seabed, Carl Emil Snr formally handed over ownership of the vessel to his three sons – in order of age: Carl Emil Jnr, Børre and Johan – for the nominal sum of 1 kroner.

And the boys didn’t take long in making the most of their new custody. A voyage east through the Göta Canal to St Petersburg and the White Sea in 2003, was

NIC COMPTON

Below, left to right: Embla and Iben taking a snack break; the unmistakable sight of Urquhart Castle; Tone busy at work

58

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

ONBOARD CHRISTIANIA SAILS AGAIN

programme in the 1990s, it now attracts around half a million visitors a year – including a sizeable number of yachts from Norway and Germany.

A gentle breeze springs up as we cross Loch Ness, but we don’t bother raising sail. Christiania was built to go out in stormy weather, and it takes a bit of a breeze to get her moving. Instead, Carl Emil and Eirik make the most of the unusually calm conditions to make repairs to the running rigging. They are soon throwing in splices and whippings like old salts. The Turk’s head ‘stops’ at either end of the mainsheet horse also need replacing and, as Eirik weaves the rope under and over, the three oldest girls become spellbound by the knot’s soothing geometry. Before long, they are all sporting Turk’s heads on their wrists, and later, Tone ties one for the first time.

Halfway down Loch Ness, we pause at Drumnadrochit, which is home to Urquhart Castle, a small ruin poised picturesquely by the loch, as well as various Loch Ness monster ‘experiences’. But the girls seem quite content to make their own Nessy out of a ship’s fender and a boot, so we keep going to our first stop, Fort Augustus. There, over a few whiskies (Dalmore: caramelly and mellow), Carl Emil tells me more about his family’s long relationship with the boat.

The Petersen boys were brought up “with one foot on the deck”, starting with the family’s 1925 pilot cutter Rundø, which their father famously sailed around the world between 1957 and 1960. When Rundø was crushed by ice while sailing in Greenland, the family bought Christiania as a replacement and, after restoring

Clockwise from top: with her Colin Archer build pedigree, Christiania tackles strong seas with aplomb; entering the loch at Fort Augustus; Mum Tone takes a break

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

59

ONBOARD CHRISTIANIA SAILS AGAIN

NIC COMPTON

her to “good as new”, set off on a circumnavigation of the UK. By then the boys were teenagers, and the family decided to take part in the Tall Ships Races, where the rules stipulate that at least half the crew are aged between 15 and 25. From 1980 to 1997, Christiania took part in eight Tall Ships Races, taking on board dozens of trainees and winning at least one leg both in class and overall.

For the boys, Christiania was everything. When they weren’t sailing the boat, they were busy carrying out maintenance and repairs, and when it was too cold to sail or work on her, they were planning the next trip or devising various improvements. She was the focus of their lives, providing both a rallying point for the family, and a means of exercising their independence. It would be no exaggeration to say that they learned to become men on Christiania. Family holidays notwithstanding, 60

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Carl Emil Snr believed in giving his children free reign – to an extent that would shock many parents today.

“My father’s attitude was that whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger,” says Carl Emil Jnr, who, aged 16, was allowed to skipper Christiania from Heligoland, in Germany, home to Norway with a bunch of friends.

“We broke the rudder and had to pull in to Gothenburg, where we got up to all sorts of mischief. For instance, we discovered that you didn’t need to anchor the boat – it was much easier just to run her aground.”

Times have changed, and the boys (now men) have changed with them. Old boats are revered, and healthand-safety regulations mean everyone is much more aware of the dangers lurking at every corner. But some of that free spirit lives on in the younger Petersens.

Between them, the three brothers have seven children.

Clockwise from top: Carl and Tone on her 15ft (4.65m) wide decks; time for some knot-tying tricks; Loch Ness in all her summer splendour; the kids take a well-earned swim.

Far right: Christiania as a rescue cutter

ONBOARD

AL

Inverness

IA N D

O

Aberdeen

Fort Augusta

LE CA

ChANgINg tIMES Carl Emil is all too aware of the similarities – and the differences – between the generations. For a start, these girls wear lifejackets, something I doubt their fathers had to do. “We are not going to be strict with our children if they want to climb the rigging, because we all had that.

We grew with responsibility and learned by our mistakes.

But we are much more cautious with our kids than our parents were with us. It’s the way of the world.”

After a couple of days exploring Fort Augustus, the family decides it’s time to move on. Christiania slowly climbs the five locks that will raise her 40ft (12.2m), from Loch Ness to the River Oich. It’s then a short, leafy cruise to the adjoining Loch Oich, which, at 106ft (32m) above sea level, is the highest point of the Caledonian Canal. From here, water flows in both directions to the sea: east to the North Sea and west to the Atlantic.

It’s time for me to head home but after working their way down Neptune’s Staircase, they exited the Caledonian Canal at Corpach and sailed down the Sound of Mull to Oban. There, they handed over to Børre and family for the crossing to Ireland, but bad weather brought an abrupt end to the proposed circumnavigation and instead Christiania spent the winter in Cork.

The Petersens were back the next summer, sailing the boat to Brest for the traditional boat festival. From there, they headed south across Biscay to Spain and Portugal, before eventually fetching up in Morocco. As ever, most of the trip was undertaken with a swarm of children on board, and they were only discharged for the final passage home – this time via the Kiel Canal, thereby avoiding the spot where Christiania sank 15 years before.

It’s a pretty impressive voyage by most people’s standards, but then the Petersens are extraordinary people and Christiania is not your average boat.

You get the feeling that this 5,500-mile journey is regarded as little more than a family jaunt. It might give the historians out there the jitters, but as long as she remains in the Petersen family, that will continue.

LOCH NESS

N

CA

N

Watching the girls play on Christiania, it’s clear how much they adore the boat and how much the experience of being on her must influence their personal development – as it did their fathers before them.

LOCH LOCHY

Fort William

SCOTLAND

Perth

Oban

CALEDONIAN CANAL BY NUMBERS

60

total length in miles, of which 22 are man-made and the rest are natural rivers and lochs

29 locks

4

10 19

aqueducts

swing bridges

number of years to complete (12 years longer than originally anticipated)

£910,000

total cost, nearly double the original estimate

106ft

the highest point is Loch Oich, 106ft (32m) above sea level

1,000ft

the deepest point, which is in Loch Ness

150ft x 35ft x 13ft Length, beam and draught measurements of the biggest ship the canal can accommodate

ChRIStIANIA tIMELINE 1895 Launched at Christiania Shipyard, Oslo 1932 Retires from active service, converted to cargo carrier 1960 Converted to a yacht by Erling Brunborg (Carl Emil Snr’s former sailing partner) 1968 Acquired by Richard Cook (dies in car accident, 1975) 1977 Acquired by Petersen family 1983 Wins second overall, Tall Ships Races 1987 Wins second overall, Tall Ships Races 1988 Wins best restoration, Douarnenez festival 9 September 1997 Sinks at 57°48’N 7°39’E 3 May 1999 Raised from seabed 10 May 2000 Relaunched after restoration

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

61

CW Hood Yachts

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T: +44(0)1603 782223 E: sails@jeckells.co.uk W: jeckells.co.uk Jeckells of Wroxham Ltd, The Sail Loft, Station Road, Wroxham NR12 8UT 25/11/13 14:25:14

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Dutch sheet block This is a special block for sheet purchases, with which the sheet is attached directly to the block. It’s made from exceptionally durable elm with fittings of high-strength aluminum bronze. Built using Dutch patterns, unlike American designs, the axis is not screwed in, but covered with bronze safety plates. The sheaves run on bronze bearings and have a Delrin core to save weight. The smaller sizes are also available with swivel eye or shackle. From £230 plus p&p

Measuring tool Originally manufactured from 1888 to the early 1930s, then forgotten about, this pocket-sized odd-job measuring tool is as impressive as any modern multi-tool: inside there’s a mitre and try square; scribing tool for arcs and circles; T-square; depth marking gauge (for mortises, etc); plumb level and a rule. We tested all of them and they all work fine. Machined from solid brass with a hardwood rule. £29.99 plus p&p

toplicht.de Tel: +49 (0)40 8890 100 nauticalia.com Tel: +44 (0)1932 235550

The Quba x10 is an impressively tough high-performance jacket that now comes shaped for women too.

Made from fully waterproof nylon fabric with taped seams, the jacket also features a super-soft microfleece lining to help retain warmth. It’s also been updated, adding a double collar for improved neck and face protection, a redesigned storm placket, new quilted interior ‘drip strip’ and extra pockets.

From £299 inc p&p

Waterproof rucksack In days of old, any waterproof holdall used to be so heavy you could hardly lift it. This one, though, is different, because it manages to be fully submersible and lighter than any bag we’ve come across. It features a large mesh zip pocket with elasticated webbing, reflective strips, shoulder straps and waist belt. Unless you’ve filled it with gold bars (again!) it’ll float if dropped in water. From £39.99 (20 litres) plus p&p over-board.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)845 208 5755

Neck warmer This reversible tubular neck buff has polar fleece on one side and intertwined yarn (tricot) on the other.

It’ll morph into a hat, headband, mask or, er... neck warmer. This allows you to wear thinner clothing under foulies, and stops the wind and rain going down your neck. £25 plus p&p buff.eu

Sailing jacket

quba.com Tel: +44 (0)870 777 1651

Tablet for sailors In the tech world this is the talk of the town. The Sony Xperia Tablet Z encompasses everything a sailor could need (books, GPS, web browsing, apps and email) with the added assurance that it’s waterproof up to 3ft 3in (1m) for 30 minutes. It’s also very thin, super light, has a long battery life and a quality screen, making this the most sailor-friendly tablet on the market. It’s not cheap but let’s see what the January sales throw up.

From £329.95 (16GB) inc p&p amazon.co.uk

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

63

ONBOARD

Books Pilot Cutters Under sail

SUNDOWNERS WITH GUY VENABLES

by Tom Cunliffe So at last we get the third instalment of Tom’s series on Pilot Cutters, the first two appearing under the Chasse Marée imprint around 10 years ago.

And this is the volume we have waited for – Britain and north Europe, including the Scillonian and Bristol Channel, English Channel and Le Havre – plus a chapter on the Thames and on up to Norway. There is a section on the new Pilot Cutters taking in some of the replicas and a chapter on seamanship. Although this is a historical book describing local evolution and pratice, it is also more personal, bringing in some of Tom’s own past knowledge and experience from sailing Hirta (now rebuilt and renamed back Cornubia) and understanding the superlative seamanship of the pilot service. DH RRP £30; seaforthpublishing.com

Catalan Castaway

by Ben Crawshaw The publishers were so pleased with this book, they phoned us up and made us review it. It tells the story of Englishman Ben Crawshaw, who builds a light plywood 15ft (4.6m) skiff to the ‘Light Trow’ design by Gavin Atkin and takes it on a series of adventures along the coast of his adopted home of Catalonia. This is a pretty flimsy, flat-bottmed craft for an extended ‘one-man raid’ but its advantages (light of foot and easily propelled) make up for it. This is a very readable series of stories and mini-essays on his experiences, with photos to give you wanderlust and dishes to make you hungry (the pork and clam stew, together with photo, made my stomach rumble). But there is plenty of good seamanly advice about small-boat cruising here, too. SMH RRP £15; lodestarbooks.com

Den Phillips calendars Den Phillips has produced two 2014 calendars. It’s the 26th year for her stunning East Coast Calendar with black-and-white images of barges, smacks, classic yachts and seascapes around the East Anglian coast. Or try the the Classic Yacht Calendar, which features breathtaking images from various classic yacht regattas. Each one is A3 (420mmx297mm) and costs £17 plus £4 p&p (UK). Contact Den for postage rates outside the UK. denphillipsphotos.com Tel: +44 (0)1621 788589 64

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Bring out the bubbly The name “champagne” comes from the latin Campania translated as the thoroughly unromantic “flat open countryside” and if you’ve ever driven through champagne it’s mostly like Norfolk in February. Champagne is made by a complex process. Firstly a base wine called a cuvée is fermented, bottled and allowed to ferment again in horizontal bottles. As the second fermentation ends the bottles are placed upside down and turned and tapped daily to dislodge any sediment, a process known as riddling. The bottles are then chilled until an ice plug forms in the neck. This is removed and a small amount of sweet wine is then added (the dosage) and the bottle is corked. This is called méthode champenoise and is an indication that it’s good champagne and is often written on the label. Another pointer is the words “fermented in THIS bottle”. Fizz made by the transfer method (filtering and then bottled) has “fermented in THE bottle” on the label. If it’s done using the Charmant method (fermented in bloody great tanks) it won’t say anything about bottles (presumably from embarrassment.) When it was first made and glassmaking was an imperfect art, not only did they lose one in five bottles, there are two recorded cases of people being killed whilst working in the cellars by exploding bottles. This stopped only when they started using stronger British glass. The Brits were also the first to use corks, as it was sent to us in barrels to do with as we wanted. Previously the French used rags dipped in oil as stoppers.

If, by some astonishing turn of fate, you open but cannot finish a bottle of champagne (you may have been killed, for instance) you can restore some of the fizz the next day by popping a raisin in the bottle. Or use a stopper and keep it cold.

That spoon in the neck does nothing.

In July 2010, 168 bottles were found on board a shipwreck by divers in the Baltic Sea. The divers instantly opened and shared a bottle. The shipwreck was dated between 1825 and 1830, and the bottles discovered pre-date 1825. The wreck contained bottles of the now defunct Juglar, as well as Veuve Clicquot and Heidsieck in perfect condition. One of those Veuve Clicquots sold in 2011 for a world record-breaking £26,700. Happy New Year. (see CB251 for the CB champagne guide.)

CLASSIC YACHT BROKERAGE 60ft. WINDFALL ABEKING & RASMUSSEN KETCH 1935 One of the famous 100 sq. metre Olympic Fleet. UK racing history as Gladeye. Layout for nine. 50hp Perkins. On-going 2013 winter re-fit. £115,000 / Offers Algarve

36ft. OTTER CLASS MOTOR-YACHT 1967 Just returned from a three year, 2,500 mile French Canal cruise. Iroko hull, Porter & Haylett, Wroxham. 5 berths. Recent twin 55hp Beta diesels. £42,500 Suffolk

42ft. ALDEN CLIPPER KETCH 2003 Traditional style yacht, moulded GRP hull. Professionally fitted, quality systems. Seven berths, three cabins, 75hp Yamar diesel, bow-thruster. £129,000 Dorset

28ft. MITCHELL SEA-KING MOTOR-CRUISER 1983 Purposeful, sea-kindly cruiser, moulded GRP. Four berths. Twin 48hp Bukh Turbo diesels. Participant Jubilee Pageant, London Boat-Show. £26,950 Surrey

42ft. CORNU BERMUDIAN KETCH 1968 Stylish and successful cruiser racer on the Med. Circuit. Six berths, 28hp Volvo diesel, comprehensive re-fit 2012/13. French Flag. £126,000 Brittany

36ft. TRINTELLA 111A BERMUDIAN KETCH 1978 Long distance, poop deck Van de Stat design. GRP. Seven berths in three cabins. 37hp Beta diesel. Out of commission, seriously for sale. £29,000 Southern Ireland

21ft. THAMES CABIN LAUNCH 1935 Ideal for lazy days on the river. Teak decks and cabin. Two plus two berths. Recent Honda10hp engine in cockpit well. End of season condition. £5,950 / Offers Worcestershire

39ft. COLIN ARCHER STYLE CUTTER 1980 Sailed many thousands of miles in long ownership. Moulded Agba hull, teak decks. Five berths, 29hp Volvo diesel. Winter re-fit 2013. £25,000 Dorset

25ft. HARRISON BUTLER CUTTER 1932 Well balanced Cyclone 11 cruising yacht. Four berth layout, 20hp Yanmar diesel, Hamble re-fit 2007. Long family ownership. £12,950 South Coast

38ft. STANILAND MOTOR-YACHT 1939 Traditional pre-war style cruiser. Original mahogany interior, three cabins, six berths.

Twin 65hp BMC diesels. Well maintained. Interesting history. £45,000 / Offers Worcestershire

30ft. HARRISON BUTLER CUTTER 1934 Metacentric Askadil design cruising yacht. Quality Burmah teak hull, decks and brightwork. Four berths, Sabb diesel, professionally maintained. £20,000 West Sussex

46ft. WATSON LIFEBOAT 1938 Professional conversion to ideal liveaboard / cruiser. Comfortable six berth layout. Twin 65hp Ford diesels. Formerly City of Edinburgh at Wick. Recent haul-out. £27,000 / Offers West Scotland

www.classicyachtbrokerage.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0)1905-356482 / 07949-095075 • info@classicyachtbrokerage.co.uk

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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ONBOARD

Classnotes The Windmill class

BY VANESSA BIRD

T

he name Clark Mills may not be instantly recognisable to everyone, but mention the name ‘Optimist’, and there are few people who haven’t heard of it, or indeed sailed on one. It was Mills who designed the Optimist in 1947, and since then the 7ft 7in (2.3m) pram dinghy has become one of the most universally recognised dinghies in existence. The Windmill, in contrast, is probably not instantly recognisable outside the USA, and although the Optimist’s bigger sibling, designed by Mills in 1953, has not gained international recognition to the same extent, or indeed come near to the number of boats built, it is unusual in being one of the only high-performance dinghies that has been designed specifically for home construction.

Mills’s desire was to produce a boat that could be built with minimal boatbuilding skills. It was designed as the natural successor to the Optimist, one that required honed skills to sail, and which could be crewed by two in local races. Although not fitted with a spinnaker or trapeze, the hard-chined planing dinghy was still designed to be challenging, and to put on a similar performance with contemporary, professional-built designs.

It was a bold remit, but one that Mills soon achieved, quieting the doubters as it took to the podium at several major events. Ten years after it was conceived, in 1963, a Windmill was pitted against its contemporaries at the One of a Kind Regatta sponsored by Yachting magazine in Miami, and despite winds exceeding 26 knots during the racing, finished third in class, behind the Thistle and International Finn. Three years later, the design proved its success wasn’t a one-off either, when it crossed the line in first place, leaving 32 boats in its wake. Remarkably, in 1967, the Windmill won the Heavy Weather One of a Kind Regatta on San

M SHERMAN

Francisco Bay in 40-knot winds that left few boats upright – not bad for a 15ft (4.6m) foredeck-less dinghy!

To look at, you wouldn’t think it was suitable for heavy weather sailing, but the Windmill is a capable little dinghy and fast, too. With its long run aft, sharp forebody and high-aspect ratio daggerboard, it will plane in just 10 knots, but its narrow beam of 4ft 9in (1.5m) means that it can be quite tender to sail, so crews need to be nimble-footed. Originally, Mills intended the design to be sailed by 14 to 16-year olds, but it soon became apparent that these boats needed a reasonable amount of crew ballast to prevent them being overpowered, and today the Windmills are mostly sailed by adults.

The Windmill was designed with ease of construction in mind, and wooden hulls can be built from four sheets of ¼in (6mm) ply. Unlike many of its contemporaries, the Windmill has no frames within the hull, relying entirely on stringers, or longerons, for stiffness, in addition to the transom and two thwarts.

This means that the hull is relatively lightweight at 198lb (90kg) – an International 505, in comparison, which was designed in the same year and is just 1ft (30cm) longer, is nearly double that weight. Glassfibre has proved popular, too, as has composite wood/epoxy construction, and all methods are permitted by the class.

Celebrating its 60th anniversary in 2013, the Windmill is now popular in 42 states across America, and in Canada and Finland, too.

Above: despite its size, the Windmill is well suited to sailing in heavy weather

BUILD TIME According to the class association, building a wooden Windmill takes c200 hours, excluding finishing work.

BUOYANCY Full-length buoyancy tanks run from bow to stern. Ideal crew weight is 275lb-350lb (125kg-159kg).

ONE-DESIGN

SPECIFICATIONS

The Windmill is a One Design so strict rules have to be adhered to, and the boats have to be officially measured before they can race.

LOA

ANOTHER WINDMILL?

LWL

Don’t confuse this Windmill with the GRP simulated clinker Windmill built

by JEP Marine. The latter was 12ft (3.7m) LOA with tan sails.

15ft 6in (4.75m) 13ft 8in (4.2m) BEAM

4ft 9in (1.5m) DRAUGHT

4ft 2in/6in (1.2m/15cm) SAIL AREA

119sqft (11m²) WEIGHT

198lb (90kg) DESIGNER

Clark Mills

HOME BUILDING Plans for the design are still available from the Windmill Class Association, and cost $60 (£37.50).

COST To build a wooden Windmill from scratch costs between $3,500-$5,000 (£2,190-£3,129), but kits and hulls for fitting out are also available.

New GRP Windmills cost around $8,000 (£5,000).

CONTACT windmillclass.myfleet.org Vanessa’s book, Classic Classes, is a must-buy.

For more details, go to www.classicboat.co.uk CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

67

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www.northquaymarine.co.uk

Peter Freebody & Co

NQM005 Classic Boat ad 129d x 99w.indd 1

26/11/13 11:31:40

Confirmation/amendments Confirmation/amendments by by email, email, tel tel or or fax fax should should be be address address

JACKIE JACKIE AUBREY, AUBREY, COAST COAST -- BECAUSE BECAUSE LIFE LIFE IS IS BETTER BETTER BY

BY THE THE

Boatbuilders, Designers & Restorers TEL: of Traditional River Launches A fine selection of classic launches for sale Moorings available Est 300 years

Kelsey Kelsey Publishing Publishing Ltd, Ltd, 14 14 Priestgate, Priestgate, Peterborough, Peterborough, PE1 PE1 1JA 1JA

01733 353387 FAX: 01733 5 EMAIL: adprod@kelsey.co.uk

Mill Lane, Hurley, Berks, SL6 5ND

+44 (0)1628 824382

www.peterfreebody.com 68

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

ONBOARD

Getting afloat PAZIENZA

I was stunned when I saw Pazienza sailing down-Channel in 2009, writes Steffan Meyric Hughes. The styling is typical of Laurent Giles who, says her broker, “achieves a seamless transition between modern and traditional”. In 2010, she was voted one of the two prettiest boats in France.

Pazienza was built of teak planking on acacia frames by Cantieri Navale V Beltrami in 1956 and has since made several transatlantic crossings. In 1957, Yachting World described her thus: “A great deal of thought has been

C/O SAndeMAn yACHT COMPAny

1950s stunner

given to comfort and convenience.”

Certainly that is true today, with the ease of a bermudan cutter rig (albeit with runners), electric winches and jib furler, a pilothouse with chart table, seating and plenty of flexible accommodation below, including an

Above: Pazienza is an arresting sight under sail

aft owner’s cabin with a separate heads and shower. The sails are mostly 2008, with a 135hp Perkins diesel installed in 2007. POA, lying UK. Tel: +44 (0)1202 330077 sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

Top tenders by the same designer A tender by the same designer/ builder as your yacht is the perfect authentic accessory, but they are not always easy to track down. Here, we’ve found three good examples, including an historic J-Class tender – and a new example.

CAMPEr & NICHoLsoNs

Gelyce was built in 1930 as the tender to Shamrock V. She has been in her current ownership for 32 years as a cruiser on the Thames. She’s double-diagonal teak, 50ft (15.2m) long, and powered by a 1946 Perkins S6 that’s good for 17-18 knots. The saloon seats 6-8 and has a galley and heads. And there are crew cots in the forepeak. Original but needs work. POA, lying Freebody’s yard, Hurley.

Tel: +44 (0)1628 824382, peterfreebody.com

L-R: C/O THe BROkeR

C/O THe OWneR

original J-Class tender

MCGruEr TENdEr

LAurENT GILEs… or FIFE

THE NEw ALTErNATIvE

‘Time-warp’ condition

Built for a 12-M

This tender was designed and built by McGruer in 1964 at 9ft 3in (2.8m). Broker Barney Sandeman says: “With every budding shipwright building new clinker dinghies, it is rare to find an original McGruer in this condition.” Asking £7,500, lying Scotland.

This 10-footer (3m) was built for the 1939 12-M Laurent Giles yacht Flica II. She has two rowing positions, the original Flica II badges each side of the bow, 8ft (2.4m) oars, builder’s plate and purpose-built road trailer. Asking £2,250, lying Thames.

Iain Oughtred’s tender has become very popular over the years. She’s light (66lb/30kg or so), rows and sails well with gunter or lug rig and offers maximum volume with a pram brow.

Our columnist Adrian Morgan will build a rowing version in larch for around £3,500.

Tel: +44 (0)1202 330077, http://bit.ly/1bmxTO5

Tel: +44 (0)1803 833899, woodenships.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0)1854 666383, viking-boats.com

Humble bee

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

69

BOATS FOR SALE

Boats for sale Looking to sell your boat?

Reach over 50,000 readers each month

40ft Gentleman’s motor yacht

Beautiful classic vintage 40ft Gentleman’s motor yacht built 1903.

Listed on National Historic Ships Register. Double-skinned carvel teak hull, pitch pine decks. 60BHP Lister. Radar/GPS. 7 berths.

New heads & holding tank. £45,000.

Tel: 0778 6515 100 • Email: richardjhaynes@me.com

To advertise call Edward Mannering +44 (0) 20 7349 3747 Edward.Mannering@chelseamagazines.com Copy Deadline for next issue is 13/12/2013

RUSSIAN VOLGA 70 HYDROFOIL (CLASSIC BOAT NOV. 2005)

RELUCTANTLY FOR SALE “TINTAGEL”

Classic ex Police Boat 9.1 x 2.5 x 0.8. Perkins P6 diese. Sleeps 4-5 in 2 cabins. Galley, head & shower, hot & cold running water. Hydraulic Steering. New Engine Beds. New Engine Stringers. Stainless steel Fuel Tank 200 litres. Stainless Steel holding tank 50 litres. Fresh water tank 37 litres. Shore Power wiring 240 Volt. D.C. Power Wiring 12 Volts. £16,500. Tel. 07891 608 672

NOT ACTUAL BOAT

Restoration project.

Classic 1974.

Aluminium and stainless steel 28 ft (8.5m) Russian hydrofoil. Hull and foils good. No engine but long shaft outdrive. Worth over £2,500 as scrap.

View Dart, Devon.

Phone: 01803 865084

RELUCTANTLY FOR SALE THE UNIQUE STILETTO Generally acknowledged as the “prettiest boat on the river”.

SEABIRD

Design by WILLIAM FIFE III in 1889. Built in 2003 by STAGNOL in France. Hull Strip Planking 8,22m, AOL 10,85m. Beam 2,08m. 5 sails + Spi + Covers. Motor YANMAR 9 H.P. Sailing in Costa Brava, Gerona, SPAIN. €65,000. Contact: Louis +34 609 28 08 38 l.mulliez@verdecora.es

Chris Petrie has decided to part with his beloved Stiletto due to encroaching ill health. She in in very good order, immediately available and is lying under cover in Priors Malting shed. £35,000 ono For Full details please apply to Chris Petrie on 01621 782076.

AK BAlflour ex fyffes, HoneyBee

Gabrielle ii

Restoration project for a beautiful classic 51’ sloop - standing in Boatyard, under cover, Scotland. £24,000.

Further details 07443 119740 or jane.maufe@gmail.com

MUDJEKEEWIS was built in 1964 at Largs by W T Boag of Mahogany on Oak frames and raced extensively in the Clyde and Ireland. She was fully renovated 3 years ago with a new Beta 20hp engine, 2 new plastic fuel tanks, new keel bolts, new Sikta Spruce mast and rigging, new sails by the original maker WB Leitch of Tarbet, new Rotostay furling headgear, new Lewmar windlass and 60 metres of chain as well as complete renovation of the 2x4 berth cabins in teak. All standard electronics included. £19500.00 Call 07791254833 or email koreacatty@yahoo.com

Farne Islander 26

Designed by Ian Oughtred . Traditional gaff rigged cutter, 21ft loa with 5ft retractable bowsprit, lifting keel and 10hp diesel engine.

Three berths in one cabin. Beautiful sailing boat in excellent order, comprehensively equipped for river/coastal cruising. She was expertly constructed using stripped plank Western Red Cedar and double diagonal mahogany veneers by McNulty’s using the West epoxy system to a very high standard of craftsmanship, with teak laid decks, launched in 2000. Ashore, South Devon £13,450.

Contact 01803 840136 or prof.ajchadwick@gmail.com

70

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Onward Of ItO

1923 Itchen Ferry Gaff Cutter. 24ft plus 12ft bowsprit. Complete refit by top class yard 1999-2001.

Yanmar 2GM, Bowthruster, Eberspacher Heating. Nexus Nav. Instruments. Furler/ reefing on jib and staysail.

Continuous upgrading of this beautiful boat by current owner over sixteen year ownership. Too many extras to list.

Lying Lymington Yacht Haven. £28,000. Contact: itoboat@yahoo.co.uk Mob. 07812008785

BOATS FOR SALE

Essex Oyster Smack William & Mary CK32 Circa 1860.

Totally rebuilt and in immaculate condition Laid deck. Bronze fastenings throughout Nanni diesel twin hydraulic drives 3no berths

Looking to sell your boat?

Reach over 50,000 readers each month There are two styles of Boats for Sales ad to choose from and with our special Spring offer, if you buy two months, your third month will be free. Pick the style which suits your requirements and email: edward.mannering@chelseamagazines. com with your text and image or call +44 (0) 20 7901 8016.

The deadline for the next issue is 13/12/2012

SAMPLE STYLE A GOLANT GAFFER

No. 8. Excellent 2 berth coastal cruiser, built 1999. Length 18’ 9� Beam 7’ Draft 2’ 9� long keel, designed by Roger Dongray. Yanmar GM 10 regularly serviced. Very attractive boat lovingly maintained, Lying Fowey. £12,000 ono.

Email: name@classicboat.co.uk 0000 11111111

ÂŁ60,000

STYLE A. 5cm x 2 columns. Either 160 words or 80 words plus colour photograph. ÂŁ275 inc VAT and Internet STYLE B. 5cm x 1 colums.

Either 55 words or 30 words plus colour photograph. ÂŁ155 inc VAT and Internet

SAMPLE STYLE B

Tel: Ian Barker 07736816116 Email: Ian_barker@btconnect.com

CUTTER

Built 1991, mahogany & epoxy hull similar to GRP, 1930’s spars & fittings, beautifully maintained. Visit www.idclark.force9.co.uk for photos and specification. £25,750 Contact 00000 111111

Mist ral

41*0567 34436,- 7 365!*7 )%5+27 7"(7)4522.7)4-2,3467

24,98/19,35/4,60/2,50

Have a first look at: www.Mistral-yacht.com Comet Organisation www.yachts-classiques.com ,-2- 7#157 4356347 7(10,2"5+$.$3

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

71

BROKERAGE

Brokerage

To advertise Call Patricia Hubbard +44 (0) 207 349 3748 Patricia.hubbard@chelseamagazines.com Copy Deadline for next issue is 13/12/2013

33 High Street, Poole BH15 1AB, England. Tel: + 44 (0)1202 330077

61 ft J M Soper Gaff Schooner 1932 VERA MARY’s lines enhanced by her unobtrusive low profile superstructure are more than a match for the American schooners of her size and vintage. Joseph Soper her designer was known for his racing yachts and rugged cruising boats tending to rather greater beam than was usual at that time. VERA MARY’s interior reflects that extra volume with good spacious accommodation and a saloon worthy of a much larger vintage yacht ! VERA MARY was famously purchased by King George V and given in appreciation to his sailing teacher and friend Sir Philip Hunloke. Need we say more? €440,000 Lying Germany

54 ft Sparkman & Stephens Sloop 1969 It is very easy to love a bright finished boat. TARANTELLA was built originally for RORC racing by Cantieri Carlini of Rimini. She has only ever had two caring ownerships, spending winters inside ashore at Yacht Club Italiano. From a period when racing yachts were more versatile, her interior is extremely comfortable and moreover in very chic style. It is perhaps no wonder the YCI Genoa refer to this boat as a Stradivarius.

54 ft McGruer Ketch 1973 TALISKER MHOR was designed by James’s son George, a graduate in naval architecture who ran the business from 1969. From this time it seems McGruer’s hallmark yachts were of another aesthetic dimension, reflecting George’s own artistic qualities. Indeed more than one commentator has remarked that three ketches of that era TALISKER MHOR - as she now is, CUILAUN OF KINSALE and GLORY BE IV are among the finest yachts of their size – anywhere.

A superb cruising yacht she has moreover been set up carefully with the aim of sailing shorthanded; her owners sailing à deux with considerable ease – her condition is impressive. £275,000 Lying UK

58 ft John Bain Ormidale Motor Yacht 1959 One of the best known and sought after classes of motor yachts designed

by John Bain; the first of her type was winner of the1948 second post-war, Pavilion d’Or boat race. SEA CREST was built by JN Miller & Sons. Purchased by her current Italian owners over ten years ago and sailed from Scotland to the Mediterranean, she has undergone an important refit at the fabled classic yacht yard Cantiere del Argentario, making her structurally sound while also maintaining – indeed enhancing her charm in understated good taste. €275,000 Lying Italy

47 ft Stow & Sons gaff Yawl 1895 VALERIE has been beautifully and sympathetically rebuilt, commensurate with her vintage, which at nigh on 120 years makes her a genuine historical artefact. Thus an object of such rarity, beauty and desirability can be experienced and enjoyed as was intended by her maker so many tides ago. The simplicity of her finish and fit-out with the re-introduction of her original yawl rig makes her a handy craft capable of being easily sailed by a small crew. Partial completion of her interior enables a new owner to specify his own accommodation arrangements, for which an outline option exists. £200,000 Lying UK

45 ft A M Dickie & Sons Motor Sailer 1936 Dickies knew better than most how to build a strong and supremely seaworthy vessel. Designed on the lines of a fishing boat - but as a yacht – her finer lines make her the more beautiful while retaining all the seagoing qualities of a working vessel. TUNNAG’s wonderful varnished teak hull and the warmth of her characterful interior are fully revealed. These inherent qualities have kept her in long and loving ownerships – Her most recent having lavished a superb refit, fully revealed in her wonderful condition today. She is totally ready. £155,000 Lying UK

48 ft Dickies of Tarbert Gaff Ketch 1920 It is no wonder that MORNA with her canoe stern and fine drawn out ends has found over the years owners who adore and love her - with more volume below and expansive deck space, she has always proved the perfect cruising boat.

Dickie’s yard knew how to build strong and supremely seaworthy boats and in MORNA Peter Dickie’s passion for beautiful yachts is also very evident - along with a little influence from Albert Strange and William Fife II perhaps?

33 ft Linton Hope Thames Rater 1894 Lovingly restored and maintained DOROTHY is about as dainty as a sailing boat can be - but do not be fooled as she has a formidable race record (including BCYC Round the Island Race 2008) and numerous Concours d’Elegance wins.

It would be hard to find an easier way to participate in classic regattas or avoid expensive marina berths – she has her own trailer and extensive inventory – she is absolutely charming.

£135,000

£47,000

46 ft Herreshoff Gaff Cutter Racer Cruiser 1903 A carefully researched, museum quality, keel-up restoration means NELLIE is today in a condition that befits her status as a rare Herreshoff yacht. The care of the 2010 restoration has seen many of today’s modern sailing aids incorporated without sacrificing the vintage Herreshoff feel. In his biography of his father, L. Francis Herreshoff wrote of the trio of 35 ft Waterline Sloops, AZOR, TRIVIA and NELLIE: “These three were among the nicest all-around sail boats of their size ever built.” Fast and able she is hard to fault either structurally or cosmetically. €530,000 VAT unpaid

Lying USA

email: info@sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk 72

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Lying Ireland

€425,000

Lying Italy

Lying UK

www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

BROKERAGE Asterisk - a rare 45ft Bates Starcraft with flying bridge and aft cockpit.

Two double cabins with separate heads, modern galley, wood floors throughout, twin Perkins engines, lying Thames

Fantasy II - Built by Toughs of Teddington in 1958 this 40ft gentleman’s motor cruiser with a flying bridge and loads of entertaining space is ideal for extended sea work. She has been sympathetically redesigned aft of the wheelhouse to have a a large open space incorporating galley, dining for 10 and of course the ship’s bar. Lying Thames afloat

C

M

Y

CM

MY

CY

Passat - Built in Bavaria a century ago and headed for the Nile as a houseboat for two German engineers, Passat (meaning Trade wind) became marooned at the outbreak of the first world war in Switzerland as the train passed the border. She never reached her destination and is now for sale in a boathouse on Lake Luzern.

A charming 30 foot gentleman’s launch for lake or river use with an amazing history

CMY

K

Inviting entries - Motor boats, ephemera, fishing tackle for the inaugural Classic Boat Auction at Beale Park, near Reading, June 7th 2014

For more information about any of these boats call 01491 578870 mobile 07813 917730 email sales@hscboats.co.uk www.hscboats.co.uk

For model boats, dockside clothing and boaty curios visit www.boatique.co.uk

M.J.LEWIS & SON (Boat Sales) LTD DOWNS ROAD BOATYARD, MALDON, ESSEX. CM9 5HG

E-Mail: info@mjlewisboatsales.com • Tel: 01621 859373 • Mob: 07736 553487 Specialists in the brokerage of Classic Vessels, Traditional Yachts and Working Boats

27.6m Thames Sailing Barge, 1923 Complete rig, Ford 6cly.

Coded for charter, Live aboard.

London £225,000

12m Gaff Yawl, 1905 French built. Pitch pine, new engine.

Standing headroom. 6 berths.

Essex £42,000

12.8m Sailing Lugger,1904 1990’s refit, Traditional Lug rig 7 berths, twin engs, 55hp. Charters.

Cornwall £85,000

34ft Essex Sailing Smack CK 375, 1890 Aldous of Brightlingsea. Totally rebuilt.

Oak on Oak, Accoya decks. New dinghy & outboard incl. Essex £49,000

40m Belgian Motor Barge, 1956 For conversion. Live aboard accom, DAF eng, Empty hold Steel hull.

Essex £65,000

Heard 29, Gaff Cutter, 1983 GRP taken from Falmouth Oyster boat.

Hard wood finish, Noble spars, 40hp Perkins. Cornwall £42,000

28ft Friendship Sloop, replica 1978 American design. Strip plank construction.

Volvo Penta new eng, Gaff Cutter Rig. Kent £18,500

8m Falmouth Work Boat, 1978 Traditional design, Gaff Cutter rig 2008 Beta. Long keel.

Essex £18,500

8.3m Kund Reimer’s Tumlare, 1937 Bermudan Sloop. Pitch pine on Oak. Teak decks.

Cradle & outboard.

Pembrokeshire £12,500

24ft Saunders Roe Service Launch, 1930’s Complete restoration with road trailer Accom cabin. Beta Marine.

Essex £24,500

22ft Elton Boatbuilding Co. Gunter Sloop, 1982 “AS new” condition. Charcoal stove.

Centre board. 2 berths, inboard, trailer.

W. Scotland £16,500

18ft Teak Gaff Cutter, 1947 Long keel, restored 10yrs ago.

Needs completing.

Essex £3,500

9m Peter Duck Ketch, 1964 Long keel, solid seaworthy cruising yacht. ’02 BMC, acomplete inventory.

N.Essex £11,500

25ft Vertue V22, 1947 Newman’s of Poole. Laurent Giles design.

Wooden spars, Yanmar eng. 6ft 2 headroom.

In good order. Sussex £12,500

7.92m Wooden Motor Launch, 1960 Perkins 65hp. Enclosed wheelhouse.

Forward accom. Large deep open cockpit.

Essex £12,950

www.heritage-marine.com CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

73

BROKERAGE

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

42’ Trawler yacht built by Weatherheads 1938. Absolute classic Scottish fishing boat lines and construction but built as a yacht from new. Russell Newberry diesel + Perkins wing engine. Almost totally original with 6 berths in 3 cabins. Very rare. Cornwall £28,500

49’ Laurent Giles Dorus Mohr Class ketch. 26TM Built 1961. One of 4 built, a fine big comfortable cruising boat regularly sailed by 2.

Cumins diesel. Two twin berth sleeping cabins + pilot berth + saloon. 2 heads, shower. Must sell, executor sale hence a very reasonable. £75,000 ono Devon

Scottish fishing boat gaff ketch 1963. 40’ x 14’ x 6’6”. Traditional massive construction in larch planking on huge oak frames. New pine deck. Gardner 6LXB. 6 berths. 2 heads, shower. CH. H&C. 650sq’ sail on Collars masts. 2KW diesel generator. A proper little ship. A fraction of the cost of refitting to this standard. £49,750 Scotland

43’ Robert Clark sloop one of four built by Berthon in 1962. Honduras mahogany hull, lead keel, solid teak deck and coachroof, new alloy mast, 5 berths. A very elegant and fast yacht with real pedigree, new rig, very tidy. Scotland £59,950

34’ 10 ton Hillyard. 1971. A late example of the famous Hillyard centre-cock-pit, aft cabin yacht. Cutter rigged. Recent Perkins diesel. 6 berths. 40 years ownership, trans-Atlantic.

All the kit. Nice condition, ready to sail. They don’t come much better. Dorset 22,750

46’ Bermudan ketch built in Sweden in 1948. Pitch pine planking to sawn oak frames.

Powerful ketch rig on wooden spars. New Bukh 38hp diesel. Basic interior with 6 berths and large saloon, races regularly in classic regattas. Big boat for the money. IOW £35,000

33’IOD. A nice example of this classic Bjarne Aas class built 1958. Major refit 2002 with new rig and aYanmar engine fitted. Mahogany hull, recent teak deck. Small week-end camping cabin for 2. Similar to an Int 6m but more practical. A pleasure to own and sail. Hants £15,500

43’ All teak Bermudian cutter. Built in France 1936. In superb condition after UK refits now with new mast, rig, sails, floors, engine, deck, system and much more. Yanmar diesel. 6 berths in original panelled interior. Radar, plotter, auto-pilot etc. An absolute show-stopper. £98,000 UK

30’ Cold Moulded Race Yacht designed and built by Adrian Thompson in 1982. Very successful yacht on the short handed racing circuit in last 25 years. Cold moulded mahogany construction built on the space frame principle. Recent major refit. Beta 13.5hp, New Selden spars and deck hardware, ready for the next adventure Devon £34,000

Boats don’t have to be ancient to be wooden, neither do they have to be wooden to be Classic.

Ann-Caroline III 38 ft. solid and seaworthy cruising yacht.

Ann-Caroline III is a high quality yacht perfect for cruising along the coast.

Design by Camper and Nicholson Ltd. in 1972.

Only first-class materials were used. Teak hull, deck and interior.

The yacht has been well maintained, recently with new rigging and engine.

Same owner for 40 years, who now wishes to hand over to a conscientious buyer who appreciates the yacht’s qualities.

Buy a classic yacht in time to participate in Europe Week, mid-July 2014 in Norway.

Price 500.000,- NOK

For more information visit www.goclassic.no or email Peter Ennals at peter@goclassic.no 74

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

BROKERAGE

www.TallShipsforSale.co.uk www.ClassicYachtsforSale.com

38m (124ft) Steel Brigantine Sail Training Ship.

23m (75ft) Replica Dubrovnik Karaka, built 1901, rebuilt 1996.

10m (33ft) Fairey Marine Swordsman, fast cruiser.

14m (46ft) Modern Classic Sloop built Astilleros Mediterraneo, Spain 2003.

Air conditioned accommodation for up to 36 in 17 cabins plus 12 crew berths in six cabins; Bar and lounge. Well-equipped comfortable. e3,000,000 - Location Valencia, Spain

Up to six berths, two heads, excellent galley, Twin Volvo Penta TAMPD41P-A 200bhp diesels installed 2000. Superbly maintained. One Owner from new.

2010 Survey. £59,500 Offers Invited! - Location River Colne, Essex

10 guest cabins, 25 pax, Air conditioning, Very different! e895,000 - Location Croatia

Construction is cold moulded, double diagonal over strip plank Cedar, all epoxy / glass sheathed.

6 berths. Yanmar 40hp diesel. A real stunner! e139,000 - Location Costa del Sol, Spain

10.7m (36ft) Maldon Fishing Smack, Built Howards, 1889, Larch on Oak.

17.5m, 57ft on deck, Wishbone Ketch, built Oak on Oak in 1928.

Professionally sheathed in 1991, re-decked in 1995. 4 Berths BMC diesel. Great fun! 2007 Survey available, please ask! £15,000 - Location River Colne, Essex

She offers accommodation for up to 17 in 5 cabins.

Engine is 121kw (162hp) 6-cylinder diesel (1979) Recently chartering. e89,500 - Location Gdynia, Poland

8.9m Hallberg Rassy 29, built 1986.

8m Kattegat 26, 1997, designed by John Leather/Jim Spencer.

5 Berths in two cabins Luxury, High class fit out.

Volvo Penta diesel on saildrive, very well equipped including Dinghy, Outboard and launching trolley. £31,000 - Location River Colne, Essex

Colin Archer style Gaff Cutter. 4 berths, Yanmar 18hp Diesel, Windpilot Pacific Self Steering. £23,750 - Location Faro, Portugal

www.EasternYachts.com See Website for Photos, Specifications & Surveys 19 Colne Road, Brightlingsea, Essex, CO7 0DL • Tel: +44 (0) 1206 305996. Planning to sell: Please call Adrian Espin for details.

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Experience. Reach. Results.

Dickens Class 50ft

This is a superb classic motor yacht which has an interesting and unique provenance.

She has been lovingly and professionally maintained over the last 20 years or so and has benefited from considerable improvement over that time. She features good accommodation in 2 separate cabins plus a spacious saloon and galley.

T: +44(0)1273 673 232 | www.ancasta.com/barnaby-rudge CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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Craftsmanship Yard News

Edited by Steffan Meyric Hughes: +44 (0)207 349 3758 Email: steffan@classicboat.co.uk

CAPE COD, USA

Big catboat restored

C/O AREY'S POnd BOAT YARd

The Cape Cod catboat Conjurer, built by the famous name of H Manley Crosby in 1909, was relaunched on 15 October for owner Frederick Villars after a comprehensive three-year restoration by Arey’s Pond Boat Yard in South Orleans.

She’s 28ft (8.5m) long, which is huge in catboat terms (they have a length/beam ratio of nearly 2:1). Work included replacing the cockpit sole, centreboard case, deadwood, transom, cabinsides, coachroof, coaming, rails and trim. Most of her hull planking remains original.

She is now back sailing on the Cape.

MAINE, USA

C/O MARTin BingHAM

New Taylor 49 in build As we went to press, Brooklin Boat Yard was about to turn the hull of a cold-moulded Taylor 49 yacht. The boat, built to a design by Boston-based Roger Taylor, is for a 49ft (14.9m) spirit of tradition sloop of 1930s appearance but with a modern underbody.

“She’s the third boat we’ve built for our client,” yard owner Steve White told CB. “His last two boats were 39ft (11.9m) and 48ft (14.6m). This time he wanted to downsize and ended up with a boat a foot longer, but his 48-footer weighed 38,000lb (17.2 tonnes).” This one, at just 16,500lb (7.5 tonnes), which is not much for a wooden boat of this size, is light on luxury and built to race.

NOTTINGHAM

A 1933 Sea Arrow powerboat to a Frank Cooper design was relaunched at the end of last summer after full restoration by Phil Clabburn of the British Military Powerboat Trust and her owner, Martin Bingham. She was built by the British Power Boat Company, which was owned by Hubert Scott-Paine. Paine worked with Lawrence of Arabia to convince the military to adopt rescue boats; raced Miss England III against Miss America X for the 1932 Harmsworth Trophy; taught America to build torpedo boats for WWII; and won a 120-mile race on the Danube on another Sea Arrow, Panther Three.

This boat is 23ft (7m) long, double-diagonal mahogany on oak, and powered by a single (non-original) V8 petrol engine producing 260bhp. Phil Clabburn restored the hull and Martin, who keeps her on dry land at home in Nottinghamshire, did the rest. He took her out for her debut at last year’s Cowes Classic Powerboat Rally, where she ran at 35 knots.

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

C/O BROOklin BOATYARd

Frank Cooper powerboat restored

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Two

SUFFOLK, UK

English Dark Harbor for new boatbuilder

American dayboats in the UK

We’ve noticed the dearth of boatbuilding on the East Coast vs the West Country (Sternpost, CB306), so it was good to hear that ex-Spirit Yachts employee Ben Jackson, 24, (above) has set up on his own with a daring new build. His inspiration is not the craft of the East Coast but Artisan Boatworks in Rockport, Maine, who specialise in pre-war American daysailers built new in strip plank (CB288, p85). Ben rented shed space to start his Dark Harbor 17.5 and hopes to launch in spring 2014. She’s a 26ft (7.9m) – the ‘17.5’ refers to her LWL – long-keeled dayboat with a cabin for two, long overhangs and a handy ‘knockabout’ (all-inboard) gaff sloop rig. Ben's boat will go on sale when it’s finished. Watch this space…

DORSET, UK

Buzzards Bay 15 project doing very nicely CB last visited Peter Sedgwick’s farm workshop in Swanage where a Buzzards Bay 15 was awaiting its deck 18 months ago, reports Adrian Morgan. The build is an authentic, to the original plans, Nat Herreshoff daysailer in carvel: Alaskan yellow cedar on oak, with a 15ft (4.6m) waterline, half a tonne of lead on her keel, pierced by a slot for a wooden centreboard.

With a flawless paint job, bronze fittings from JM Reineck & Son and Douglas fir spars from Collars, she was having her buoyancy built in when we visited.

Once her sails arrive from Nathaniel S Wilson of East Boothbay in Maine, Pete will be on the lookout for a buyer. The price has not been finalised but examples are currently fetching c£93,000 (c$150,000) or more.

NETHERLANDS

Alden schooner: daily updates

RICHARD JOHNSTON-BRYDEN

To see how this collection of steel parts becomes a new build of John Alden’s 1927-designed schooner Wolfhound, visit the yard’s website every day at around 5pm for an updated photo.

She’s in-build, as reported in CB300 (and online), at the Graafship yard in the Netherlands. Graafship.com

SUFFOLK

Snowgoose relaunched IBTC Heritage took advantage of a break in the weather to roll out its latest restoration project, writes Richard Johnstone-Bryden. The 37ft (11.3m) Snowgoose was built in 1962 for Mr Edward Suckling by the Wroxham-based EC Landamore & Co. Originally named Eclan in honour of her builders, she was based on the design of the company’s five-berth Vestella Class motor-cruisers. Her present owner, Emmet Hart, brought her to Lake Lothing in October 2012 to be restored by the IBTC’s commercial division. The package of work included replacing half the hull’s planking and timbers, recaulking the entire hull, refurbishing the galley and fore and aft cabins, fitting new floors throughout, adding a 3mm mahogany laminate to the transom, repairing the cold-moulded coachroof, which was re-covered in WEST System along with the side decks and repairing the cabinsides.

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CRAFTSMANSHIP

1

Off with th e cabin trunk

Removal of the coachroof highlighted the disappearing deck plank on starboard, clearly visible (on left) in this view aft. Note cut deck beam at forward end of the cockpit and split mahogany king plank

3

Chainplates

A chainplate (top) and the single fabricated stainless-steel strengthening plate on the underside of the beamshelf that replaced four separate, smaller plates, and which spreads load at this point

2

Replacing th e king plank

Fitting the teak aft deck king plank. Note this was made of three elements to avoid further splitting. PVC sheet spacers were used for the caulking gap as, contrary to wood, epoxy does not adhere to it

4

Portholes in th e cabinsides

Mock-up of the cabinsides made of battens and thin ply to check the aesthetics. Different positions tried for the portholes are seen drawn on the ply. These design elements were in consultation with Dr Collier

ELLAD’S RESTORATION PART 3

Deck and coachroof

ELLAD CB305 Built in 1957 to a Wm Fife III design, she’s a stylish teak-onoak-framed 34ft 6in (10.5m) double-ender 78

The old cabin trunk with its doghouse and the “wrong” skylight

Her old look lacked the classic clean lines of a William Fife design, so the cabin trunk was rebuilt using the expert eye of Dr William Collier STORY NIGEL PERT PHOTOGRAPHS DIDIER GRIFFITHS

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

CRAFTSMANSHIP

5

Th e new cabin design

Building the cabin trunk around the temporary mould, plus temporary beams supporting it. Note aft deck beam rejoined with scarphed new piece, plus one forward to make a bridgedeck and liferaft stowage

6

Cabin structure

L-R: porthole cut-out showing sandwich construction with ply core in mahogany; assemblage of a corner of the cabinsides; two corner posts worked from solid mahogany

TOP TIP Deck

“Spend time getting the line and camber of the co achroof right so that it enha nces the sheer of the deck.”

Didier Griffiths

7

Coach roof beams

The roof structure before covering, illustrating the heavier section beams around the mast, which were later further strengthened with the addition of laminated hanging knees under the beam ends

E

llad’s deck dated from 2005, when Hubert Stagnol had renewed it for the previous owner, hence it was not removed when the hull was inspected. On removing the coachroof and doghouse boatbuilder Olivier Cyrille realised it was not symmetrical. There was a discrepancy of 0.8in (2cm) either side, with the starboard side deck’s innermost plank disappearing aft along the length of the cabin trunk. This was corrected by adding a tapered timber along the inner edge of the carlin, so a complete deck plank could be laid. The deck structure is plywood overlaid with teak laths.

The mahogany king planks – the forward one of which was cracked – were replaced with teak to harmonise with the rest of the deck and to simplify maintenance.

The teak planks chosen for this job were the best of five, sourced in Holland at a cost of €1,000 (£835) and of varying quality. Many elements of the deck plan were altered to strengthen structure and improve both safety and appearance. A raised doghouse and enlarged companionway had been built for a previous owner, cutting away the deck beam at this point to lower the threshold. The new roof was to be lower, more in keeping with the original 1930s Fife plans, and for the integrity of the hull structure this deck beam at the aft of the cabin trunk was reinstated. A second beam was added to support a bridge deck seat just aft of the cabin trunk and to create stowage space for a liferaft. This is now totally accessible yet not visible from the water. When the chainplates, of stainless steel ‘T’ section, were

8

Th e finish ed coach roof

The finished deck and coachroof showing newly created mahogany skylight, hatch and mast surround, before fitting grab rails and other deck gear. A moment of satisfaction for boatbuilder and owner

reseated directly on the deck, a continuous stainless plate replaced four separate ones on the underside of the beamshelf.

The coachroof design was inspired by original Fife drawings, although these were not followed to the letter. Each potential choice was mocked up on the boat and its authenticity verified in consultation with yachting historian Dr William Collier. The same process was followed to decide the position of the portholes.

Although the roof was lowered by 4in (10cm), standing headroom of 6ft (1.8m) was retained by lowering the cabin sole 8in (20cm). The old skylight was too small so a new one was designed and built.

Once the coachroof design was established, a mould was made by screwing chipboard patterns to temporary beams fixed between the cabin carlins. The boards for the sides – of 1/2in (12mm) marine ply with a 1/4in (6mm) veneer of mahogany epoxy-glued to each side – were positioned on the moulds, then assembled with solid corner posts of mahogany. The roof beams were prepared from laminated larch and fixed in place; larger section oak deck beams reinforce them in way of the mast. The roof top was cut from 1/2in (12mm) ply, grooved on the underside to simulate planks and spray painted, before being glued and screwed in place. The beams around the mast were further reinforced with laminated elbows. The coachroof was completed with the installation of the solid mahogany hatch runners, mast surround and new skylight.

Next month: motor and systems.

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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CRAFTSMANSHIP

Boatbuilder’s Notes DIy DEBRIEf

Making bookmatched boards STORy AND pHOTOGRApHS RoBIn GATES

Left: the bookmatched surfaces.

Below: ripping the board along its edge

If you are making a panel for inside the boat – a locker front, for example – you can enhance its appearance by bookmatching the grain pattern. In a bookmatched surface the grain is symmetrical, or nearly so, about a central axis – as though a book lies open with one page being a reflection of the other. On a small scale the effect is achieved by ripping a board lengthways along its edge using a rip saw, yielding two boards that are the mirror image of each other. Here, for example, is an elm board with fairly unremarkable grain, which becomes much more attractive once bookmatched. The thinner boards might be glued to a backing board to improve their stability.

how To… STop youR DEck SpREADInG

Retrofit deck bars

ROBIN GATES

ExpERT ADvIcE

know-how

Dividing a wooden board into equal parts Robin Gates

Boatbuilding advice from naval architect John perryman 80

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Here is a quick technique for dividing a board into equal parts across its width without having to make calculations – a useful technique when marking out the tails for dovetail joints, for example. Decide how many equal parts you want, which was five in this example, then lay a rule diagonally across the board with the zero on one edge and the figure corresponding to the required number of parts (five) on the other edge.

Without moving the rule, mark off from the intervening graduations.

Repeat further along the board and join up the marks to ensure the lines are parallel. Brilliantly simple.

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Traditional Tool

roBIn gatEs

story and photographs ROBIN GATES When steam ushered in a new era of propulsion for boats in the late 18th century, it brought with it a complex machine of finely engineered components moving in close proximity, and, therefore, a vital need for lubrication. Whereas a smear of tallow had been all that was required to keep the old gaffer’s rig working smoothly, suddenly there were wheels spinning, pistons sliding, and bearings rolling, each requiring a film of viscous oil to carry the load between the moving surfaces. Since then the oil can has evolved through almost as many shapes and sizes as boats themselves, in the quest for applying precisely the right quantity of oil in precisely the right spot.

In the boatbuilding shed, too, targeted lubrication has long been essential to the efficiency of both hand tools and machinery. In sharpening chisels and plane irons, for example, a drop of light oil on the stone eases the cutting action and carries away the swarf, a sharpening

system, that many still prefer over the faster-wearing Japanese water stones and diamond plates that are used dry.

Table saws, band saws and planers, meanwhile, driven by steam engines or water power, introduced a whole new demand for lubrication with their dependency on pulleys, levers and slides. Neglect with the oil can would show itself in increased friction, overheating and premature wear.

Two of the shipwright’s favourite oil cans were these ‘banjo’ and ‘force

Clockwise from above: Braime ‘banjo’ (left) and ‘force feed’ oil cans; the screw-cap on a chain prevents leakage in the tool bag; the sliding grit excluder

feed’ designs, both made by TF & JH Braime Ltd of Hunslet, Leeds.

The ‘banjo’, a standard for the craftsman’s tool bag because of its screw-on cap with retaining chain, is operated by squeezing the sides, which flex and click like the safety button on a jar lid. The ‘force feed’ can, operated by button, has a sliding brass cover to exclude grit that would otherwise turn the oil into a liquid abrasive. Essential to both is the tapering spout designed to reach tucked-away lubrication ports.

roBIn gatEs

Vintage oil can

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

81

CRAFTSMANSHIP

t NIELsEN & Co

against the odds In a world where traditional boatbuilding is on the wane, few people are doing more to maintain the old skills than Tommi Nielsen. Here, we find out what makes his business tick story BARRY PICKThALL photographs PPL MEDIA

W

ith so many of the UK’s traditional boatyards like Combes in Bosham (CB134) or the old Thames Barge yard at Standard Quay in Faversham being forced into closure by falling sales, high demand for waterfront housing and the rising popularity of modern GRP-bodied boats, we have lost many of the traditional boatbuilding skills.

However, there is one boatyard that’s bucking this trend. T Nielsen & Co based in Gloucester Docks was formed in 1988 by Danish shipwright Tommi Nielsen and Sarah White – two lovers of traditional sail who, together with their long-serving team, have built the business up to become one of Europe’s most respected wooden ship repair and restoration yards.

Theirs is a perfect partnership in many ways, for while Tommi has been practising his traditional skills since starting as an apprentice shipwright in 1972, Sarah, who has a BA Hons degree in business management, spent five years administrating a company, which operated five Tall Ships. It was on one of these, the three-masted Baltic barque Kaskelot, that the two met. Nielsen, was bosun on board, while Sarah managed the money and logistics.

“We got ourselves a bandsaw, planer, phone and fax and began the business in a covered dumb barge,” Tommi recalls, adding, “And when we started using the dry docks more than the British waterways they effectively gave us the keys.”

At the time, Gloucester Docks was in terminal decline.

Once the great gateway to Britain’s Black Country industrial heartland, the steam ran out long before containerisation transformed shipping. Gloucester’s short-lived importance began with the opening in 1827 of the Sharpness Ship Canal linking it to the River Severn, which continues to allow seagoing ships into the

Gloucester basin. By 1988, all that was left within this once proud working waterfront were two dry docks, and two grain barges that continued to run between Sharpness and Tewkesbury for a further 10 years.

Now, the docks have been completely restored and the once empty stone warehouses have been transformed into desirable flats and offices, and T Nielsen & Co Ltd has become a tourist attraction in its own right.

Nielsen’s have not only built up a thriving marine business in the city, but they also offer their expertise worldwide, mobilising equipment, materials and a skilled workforce to wherever they are required. During the past two years, Tommi’s team have been as far afield as Corfu, Oman, Portsmouth and Pakistan, where the ex-Tall Ships Youth Trust vessel Prince William is now run by the Pakistani Navy.

Major projects are what the yard specialises in – traditional ship repair, rigging, restoration, film work and engineering.

These have included the rebuilding of the 190ft (58m) Victorian fighting ship HMS Gannet in the Historic Dockyard Chatham, and the restoration of the 78ft (23.8m) former London Fire Brigade boat Massey Shaw.

The Massey Shaw is one of the unsung heroes on the Thames. Built in 1935, she served the London Fire Brigade for many years and was one of the Dunkirk Little Ships that took part in Operation Dynamo to rescue soldiers from the war-torn beaches at Dunkirk.

She ferried 500 men to the warships and brought a further 100 men back to England.

Built by J Samuel White of Cowes, the vessel was designed to go under all the bridges of the River Thames and her tributaries at any state of the tide.

The vessel cost £18,000 to build and is powered by twin 8-cylinder Gleniffer DH8 diesel engines, which each produce 165bhp (123kw). These are forward coupled to twin Merryweather, 4-stage 8in (20cm)

“We got ourselves a bandsaw, planer, phone and fax and began the business in a covered barge”

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Clockwise from above: Tommi Nielsen (fourth from left) and his business partner Sarah White (purple top) with the team; shaping new planks for Garlandstone with an adze; spiling in a new plank for Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Cariad; the fireboat Massey Shaw; the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Olga; caulking the decks on HMS Gannet; refastening planks on the Earl of Pembroke

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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CRAFTSMANSHIP NIELSEN BOATYARD

Clockwise from above: Pinta (left) and Santa Maria ready for their film debut; Halcyon’s beautifully restored interior; fairing the frames during the rebuild of Pilot Cutter Cornubia (ex-Hirta) in 2007; Victorian fighting ship HMS Gannet; the Hereford Bull trow undergoing performance and handling trials; Olga with her refit almost complete; inside Olga, showing her plush new galley

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

CRAFTSMANSHIP NIELSEN BOATYARD

centrifugal pumps, which are capable of spraying out some 3,500 gallons per minute (6,819 litres/m).

Now owned by the Marine Vessels Preservation Society, there was much work needed to bring her back to former glory. Her steel hull had corroded to within 2mm in places, and replacement plating, new teak decks and the rebuild of her original engines and fire pumps have all been undertaken by Nielsen’s in-house team.

by royal appointment Nielsen’s were also directly involved with two vessels commissioned for the Queen’s Thames Diamond Jubilee Pageant on the Thames in 2012. The Hereford Bull – a scaled-down replica of a River Wye trow dating back to the 18th century, and Gloriana, the Queen’s own row barge. The traditional trow was built by the yard from trees felled and donated by local Hereford landowners.

This project was overseen by senior manager Dominic Mills and involved researching the original design and archaeological finds in the River Severn, and constructing the vessel in the traditional manner. On the day of the Pageant, she carried the Lord Lieutenant of Herefordshire in style down the Thames, rowed by local Hereford oarsmen.

With Gloriana, Nielsen’s team installed the mechanical and electrical systems to ensure that the row barge fulfilled her tightly scheduled royal role. Their work also included designing and building the beautiful wooden mount that was fixed to the forward deck of Gloriana to carry the Olympic cauldron on the last day of the torch relay from Hampton Court to Tower Bridge. It was only when the list of vessels taking part was published that Tommi and Sarah realised that they had worked on at least 15 of the boats, including the historic 1930 timber narrow boat Gort, which the company rebuilt over a 10-year period.

Another major project is the restoration work that Mills and his team have carried out on HMS Victory in Portsmouth. Working under contract to BAE Systems, they carried out a thorough survey of the entire vessel, replaced deck planks, beams and lodging knees on the middle gun deck, bitt posts and deck planks around the foremast, and recaulked a third of the upper decks.

Their skills are also much sort after by the film industry. Nielsen and his team converted the brigantine Phoenix and schooner Carrie to play the roles of the Santa Maria and Pinta that both appeared in the 1992 movie Columbus. Another major conversion was to transform a traditional Indonesian pinisi into a twodecked man-o’-war for the film Cutthroat Island.

That work was carried out in Borneo and involved building two scale models in Malta. Tommi and his team also spent six months producing an authentic

rig for HMS Indefatigable, the fictional ship built in Turkey for ITV’s popular drama series Hornblower.

More recent film work has included Troy, The Golden Age and Gulliver’s Travels.

“We are often asked to send teams to work on ships across the world. We look after the Prince William and Stavros S Niarchos and maintain the masts and rigging that we built back in 2000,” says Tommi. “We are also engaged in a major replanking project in the Gulf, and over the years have maintained the West Country ketch Irene at our yard and in Venezuela.”

Among regular visitors to the yard are the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters Dolphin, Mascotte, Cariad, Alpha, Cornubia and Olga, which was in dry dock during my visit, having her interior faithfully restored to match early photos and drawings. Another to lay up here each winter is Halcyon, the 95ft (29m) private charter yacht launched in 1929 and completely restored by Tommi and his team.

jolie good show One of their first restorations was the famous Fastnet Race winner Jolie Brise, now owned by the Dauntsey’s School Sailing Club. Built in 1913 by Monsieur Paumelle in Le Havre, the Pilot Cutter was barely used as such, and spent three years working as a tunny fishing boat out of Concarneau until being laid up. In 1923, EG Martin brought her to England and had her converted into a yacht. He was one of the instigators for Europe’s first ocean race run then from Ryde to the Fastnet Rock off Ireland and back to Plymouth. Jolie Brise won that year, and twice more – a record no other yacht has matched.

Her refit in Gloucester in 1992-93 was extensive. Twelve oak planks were replaced together with 21 futtocks, her starboard knighthead and 10 steamed timbers and all of her cant frames supporting the counter stern.

The coachroof, which had always leaked, was rebuilt, and while this was in the workshop, Nielsen’s took the opportunity to remodel her interior, and install a new engine and hydraulic drive. Since then, Tommi and his men have replaced most of her spars and rigging, too.

Mascotte, the largest of the surviving Pilot Cutters is another to have been given a new lease of life at the yard.

Owners Tony Winter and his sons Paul and Simon bought her with film work in mind, and had Tommi and his gang fully restore her inside and out. They found that her bulkheads were not upright, which meant that neither the bunks nor the cabin soles were level.

On deck, the softwood covering boards were rotting on the port side and dry rot lurked within the bulwark cappings. Once the deck was off, they found the beamshelf could do with a clamp underneath it, and while they were at it, additional stringers were

“We are often asked to send teams to work on ships across the world”

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CRAFTSMANSHIP NIELSEN BOATYARD

Clockwise from above: fitting the covering boards on the deck of Cornubia; the original fire pumps on board Massey Shaw; a section of the decks being restored for HMS Gannet

also fitted to the hull. Tommi’s men then replaced 240ft (73.2m) of planking and her keelson as well.

The biggest change came with the engine. Getting below via the main hatch meant climbing over the engine. Further, the quartering screw put such weight on the rudder that anything above half-throttle required a relieving tackle on the tiller. Dave Robins, responsible for the engineering work, came up with the idea of fitting a new hydraulic transmission system. This meant that the engine could be hidden away to one side of the companionway, and a normal companionway ladder installed to give access below. More importantly, the hydraulics could drive twin screws, which improved the boat’s handling dramatically.

As for the interior, Tommi found a stock of Honduras mahogany, and Tony Winter set out the accommodation as far as he could remember it from 1957. This may not have been quite as she was built, but now seven people can sit down to a meal around the saloon table, while the coal stove makes out-of-season sailing less severe.

Olga, another historic Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter built in Porthleven in 1909, and now a working exhibit at Swansea Museum, was in Nielsen’s yard during my visit having her interior completely restored. “Part of the funding stipulates that we must restore her into her original state,” says Mills. To do this, he and the curators at the museum got together and studied early 86

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

pictures of her layout. Pitch pine salvaged from demolished buildings from the period has been used for much of this. Close inspection of the photographs showed that much of her interior’s ‘natural’ panelling was in fact faux wood grain known as ‘scrumbling’ in Victorian days, used to improve the look of cheaper grades of wood.

family values Masts and spars are another key element of Nielsen’s business, and, like the new mast made for the replica schooner America, Tommi and his team select the trees in the nearby Forest of Dean and oversee their felling.

Many of Nielsen’s team have worked at the yard for more than two decades. The company operates an apprenticeship scheme and encourages everyone to go sailing. “We’ve all met through sailing. It is important that everyone gets a feel for the environment and understands the importance of doing a job properly,” says Sarah. They have another philosophy, too: that everyone should be aware and competent in the basics of each trade. So, that way, say, a shipwright can use the blacksmith shop and make the bolts that they require.

These principles are key to running a business based on traditional skills. Nielsen’s yard is not only keeping these skills alive, but unlike others, has an expanding workforce and are making a great success from it.

Avel wins overall the prestigious Rolex trophy in St Tropez 2012

Traditional Wooden/Epoxy or GRP It's your choice

Solent Sunbeam The classic racing keelboat

SAILMAKING SINCE 1790

42 Medina Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight PO31 7BY T. (01983) 294051 • E. ratseysails@ratsey.com

www.ratsey.com/ratseysails

Photo © Beken Of Cowes

Sail and Race a Sunbeam at Itchenor Great Racing - Great Company Ask about boats for sale, joining a syndicate or crewing Come for a trial sail. Enjoy the Sunbeam experience www.solentsunbeam.co.uk Tel: 07836 768225

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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CLASSIC FOLDING DINGHIES

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WIN a pair of bespoke, £155 handmade deck shoes worth £155, made by Conker Marine in Totnes

WORTH

Conker has been handmaking top quality shoes in Devon since 1977. A firm favourite with the readers of Classic Boat, it’s the bespoke element that Conker offers that make these shoes so remarkable. After you’ve decided what colours of highly durable leather and stitching you want, the type of sole and the exact size, there’s the added comfort of knowing that they are fully repairable and will last for years.

To stand a chance to win a pair of Conker handmade deck shoes, just answer the following simple question:

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OR POST the form to Conker Competition, Classic Boat, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ

88

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Email:............................................................................................................................................

B) Devon ❒

C) Dover ❒

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CRAFTSMANSHIP

Charlotte watters

Adrian Morgan

Shelf life

West Cornwall, Sell Up and Sail, Fastnet, Force 10, and at the shelf end, James Clarke’s Reeds Superyacht Manual.

That’s just 18in of a bookshelf that stretches the length and height of the gable end: perhaps 500 books or so, most of them with a nautical theme, not counting the copies of Yachting Monthly stacked high, dating from the early 1920s to the late 1940s, hidden in an alcove.

And how often do they get read, or even taken down? Not often.

Sailing Craft, by RG Mathews, Eyre & Spottiswoode’s history of Camper & Nicholsons, Wild Weather, Cruising Scotland, pilot books of the West Coast, The Art of Nautical Illustration, the America’s Cup (various), Rousmaniere’s The Low Black Schooner, The Kings’ Britannia: there cannot be many subjects my little library could not shed light upon. Their physical presence alone is enough to give me a feeling of security in the knowledge that nothing is not within arm’s reach or two of checkability.

Once in a while the urge to purge the shelves of long unopened books comes upon me all of a sudden, and subsides just as quickly when it comes to choosing. How can one choose between a second copy of Ian Dear’s J-Class, several biographies of Nelson, a sea-stained Mary Blewitt and a pristine copy of Rantzen’s Little Ship Astro-Navigation, despite the extreme unlikelihood of my ever again getting my head around the Cosine Haversine Method?

And just as a kid I would sleep with a vital textbook under my pillow in the hope that the knowledge would somehow percolate through the feathers into my brain, so I keep the books despite the fact that most will never get read, let alone (in the case of Rantzen) understood.

They are too much a part of my life; companions through a career obsessed with things that float.

Still they come, like the eagerly awaited Marine Quarterly journals (destined to be classics) until every bookshelf in the house is packed with books with the tang of the sea. Favourites? Vertue, a rare and signed copy of Peter Woolass’s treatise of the Laurent Giles 5-tonner; Edgar March’s wonderful Sailing Trawlers and Sailing Drifters; Adlard Coles’ Sailing Days; various Eric Hiscocks, including an early copy of Cruising Under Sail; The Last Grain Race by Eric Newby… the list goes on.

And my favourite? Why it’s the Axminster Tools & Machinery Catalogue 2013.

Adrian has more books than the British Library. Read on…

W

hat do I see as I write this column every month, apart from a blank screen that has to be filled with 666 words by the end of the day? Books, mostly. To the far left of my (myopic) peripheral vision I can just see the spine title of Pocket Cruisers by EB Cooke, the bottom half obscured by a bottle of International High Strength Stain Remover (recommended for getting rid of peaty marks on a Flying 15 left on a Highland mooring). Then, also partially hidden, there’s a copy of Robin Stevenson’s classic When Dinghies Delight. I too sailed a National 12, but never at his level. However, I did once sail with him, as crew, in Falmouth for one race of the Burton Cup long ago. Sadly, he did not invite me back.

Next there’s Skip Novak’s Fazisi, about his experience aboard the Russian Whitbread boat in 1989/90. Rather him than me; built like a Soviet submarine the boat (and crew) appear to have spent much of the race under water.

Mike Golding’s No Law, No God is next, then a trio of non-nautical books, led by Penguin’s The Complete Saki and Modern Scottish Poets (which I don’t think I have ever opened). Tucked behind a bottle of Sestrel compass fluid, I can just see a Portrait of TE Lawrence (a hero of mine), followed by Last of the Sailormen, Bob Roberts’ Thames Barge memoirs, then Boats and Boatbuilding in

“How often do they get read, or even taken down?”

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

89

MARINE DIRECTORY

Marine Directory

To advertise Call Patricia Hubbard +44 (0) 207 349 3748 Patricia.hubbard@chelseamagazines.com

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visit www.classicboat.co.uk 4/1/11 9:52:27 AM

Marine Directory BOATBUILDERS

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Page 1

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Pag

MARINE DIRECTORY EQUIPMENT

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The finest mattresses afloat Naturalmat Marine have been making the most comfortable custom mattresses for yachts and motorboats since 1999. Every mattress is tailor made to any size, shape and tension using renewable materials that guarantee perfect support and optimum breathability. Naturalmat Marine also make a full range of made to measure bed linen, bedspreads and bed base systems.

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93

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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Things to do in the next few weeks

NEXT MONTH

Learn to paint

ABOVE AND RIGHT: CLAUDIA MYATT

All year Waldringfield Boatyard, Suffolk Have you ever wanted to learn to paint or draw boats? Marine artist and CB contributor Claudia Myatt is offering lessons from her studio in a boatyard on the River Deben in Suffolk. “Drawing is for all,” she says. “The language of the line is as important as the language of words.”

Claudia charges £20 per hour for tuition, whether you have a one-to-one lesson, or book a group session with friends. Subjects covered include basic drawing techniques, keeping a sketchbook travel diary, watercolour sketching, and drawing boats and the sea. Art lesson gift vouchers are available if you want to give someone a Christmas present with a difference!

SANDBAGGER YACHT With an over-spars length nearly three times her hull, Alcyon, a new build on 1870s lines, stole the show at last summer’s Med regattas

Tel: +44 (0)7941 593154, claudiamyatt.co.uk

TALK The wreck of the Primrose Hill

Shop for artefacts Until 31 December Maldon, Essex Photographer Den Phillips and friends exhibit and sell their wares: photos, driftwood art, metalwork and a lot more besides. Open 10am – 5pm daily (including Sunday) and admission is free of charge. denphillipsphotos.com Tel: +44 (0)7957 856242

2 February Cruising Association House, London This one-day course teaches you how to maintain a marine diesel and how to fix simple problems at sea. Includes a comprehensive RYA booklet and certificate.

Wear old clothes. Runs 9am – 5pm, course provided by Hamilton Sailing. £99 (discounted to £89 for CA members). cruising.org.uk Tel: +44 (0)207 537 2828

FITTING AN ENGINE AND SYSTEMS

From the publishers of Classic Boat SAILING TODAY

IN THE LATEST ISSUE JANUARY 2014 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20

NEW GEAR

CHRISTMAS SPECIAL

Spice route Sailing knives

Blown away by sailing the deserted Maldives

 Sunny side up – blown away by the magic of the Maldives  Boat test – the new Premier 45

We test 20 popular blades MALDIVES •

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ROUND BRITAIN •

LARGS •

CLIMATE CHANGE

Rod Heikell: Act now or the storms get worse ST200 Broadside_V1.indd 19 ST201_001 V6.indd 1

CLYDE RIVIERA

Your guide to Largs, the gateway to Scotland

STALWART GAFFER

Coastal cruising in the classic Cape Cutter 19

SAIL FASTER

Expert advice how December 2013 on sailingtoday.co.uk to trim for light airs

19

 Expert advice – how to add speed by trimming for light airs

01

9 770044 000205

Grant Dalton Inside the skin of New Zealand’s top sailor

 Grant Dalton – legendary sailor gets top award  Boats and beaches – sailing holidays ashore

FUTURE OF SAILING

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PREMIER 45

Army’s midwinter mission round the UK

The Transat racer making bluewater sailing greener

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Whisky Chaser INTERVIEW

Hannah Jenner

£4.30 Issue #1669 | January 2014 www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD

LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AWARD | SAILING AND F1 | ARBOR 26 TEST | KEELBOAT A-Z

JANUARY 2014 – ISSUE Nº 201

BOAT ON TEST

Laminate, leather and LEDs

IN THE LATEST ISSUE JANUARY 2014 | ISSUE #1669

GO FURTHER I SAIL BETTER I BE INSPIRED

Premier 45

CURLEW She’s the boat that took Tim and Pauline Carr around the globe, including time spent in South Georgia. Now back in the UK

Winning sailors reveal their trimming tips

RS100 WINNERS How to get ahead in the singlehanded dinghy

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

BEACH CLUBS Sailing holidays ashore with boats on tap

ARBOR 26

Stunning new British dayboat design tested

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YACHTS YACHTING CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

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 On test – sailing the stunning new Arbor 26

The Ellad restoration series continues with the team putting in her motor and electrical systems

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CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

TOP TO BOTTOM: DAN HOUSTON, C/0 CARRS AND D GRIFFITHS

19 December, 12.30pm Merseyside Maritime Museum, Liverpool David Eccles on the voyage of the Primrose Hill (below), which left Birkenhead on 23 December 1900, bound for Australia and was wrecked off Anglesey five days later. liverpoolmuseums.org.uk Tel: +44 (0)151 478 4499

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Letters Letter of the month supported by oLd puLteney Whisky

The letter from Mr Stickland (Time to Celebrate) in your November edition strikes a chord.

He is right in principle, but wrong on one important point.

There is a British port that is doing something about it. Or rather there are sailors in a British port that have grasped the nettle.

For years Falmouth has run a one-day classic event prior to the start of the historic Falmouth Week Regatta. The one-day event then became three days adding a Classic Parade of Sail and Power, as well as the famous Falmouth Classic fleet racing. This year we have taken another step forward

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Above: Falmouth Harbour plays host to an annual classics regatta

because competitors will now have free berthing and they will be grouped together in one area in Falmouth harbour.

The French ports and local authorities (and businesses) recognise the economic effect that a major event brings to an area and support such events in many ways. The British equivalents also wish to help

Plymouth rally in fine fettle south West Gaffers, the south West area of the oGA, helps to organise and run the annual plymouth Classic boat rally. this is exactly the sort of event that dave stickland (Cb305 and above) is talking about. We have a special area in sutton harbour marina adjacent to the historic barbican area of plymouth (from where the pilgrim fathers took their final departure for America) and, although we do have to make a charge to the boats that attend, the berthing costs are subsidised. A good view of the many fine pilot Cutters, yachts, workboats, ex-rnLi motorboats and dinghies can be had from the quayside and while they are racing in the sound. for a small charge the public are allowed onto the pontoons to get a closer look at the boats and the racing. for more information on the event, check out plymouthclassics.org.uk.

Peter Crook, on behalf of the South West Gaffers, by email 96

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

Many, many thanks for publishing Robert Verschoyle’s letter (CB305, p97) – every single word he writes (or quotes) is apt and welcome.

The comments certainly had to be said and should definitely be pondered.

Classics don’t have to be regarded as antiques, do they? Best regards and I’m really glad your magazine exists!

Raymond Salette, by email

Overboard with the facts

C/o theo dAneL

pLymouthCLAssiCs.orG.uk

Words of wisdom

and are doing their very best despite having less available funds.

Unlike Brest, Falmouth town centre will not be closed off with admission by payment only, but open to all to enjoy the spectacular sight of classic yacht racing.

We have taken steps in the right direction by creating an event that will hold its head up in the company of Brest and Douarnenez. Yes, we need financial support, publicity, and encouragement and Old Pulteney were great supporters of the event in 2013 by hosting a splendid reception at the Falmouth Art Gallery. But it takes more than one sponsor to make this type of event work. How about it Classic Boat?

Henry Roberts, Chairman, Falmouth Classics Association, by email

i have just been reading the new december edition of Classic boat and i was surprised to read that the story by kathy mansfield about end of season racing (Cb306, Logbook p7) is based on untrue facts. during the feeder race from Cannes to st tropez, it was my boat rùm (Cb297) that saved marie tabarly and she was not wearing any kind of lifejacket nor a Gps! this event happened extremely fast and i had to decide how to pick her up in just a few seconds. We were moving at 9 knots under a small staysail only. i saw her in the water at about 250 metres from the bow and i steered right at her, hoping that with my low freeboard my crew would just pull her onto the side deck like the marines do.

We lowered the staysail to slow us down a little. it all went so damn fast but we managed it. A huge squall arrived, which then sent us into the darkness. We tried to call mariska (marie was crewing on the 15-m) on any Vhf channel but they were not listening on their radio. so we decided to sail on to st tropez with marie below decks to warm up. We gave her some drinks, food and dry clothes.

When we finally moored up, mariska came alongside cheering the crew of rùm for their help.

Theo Danel, by email ed – well done the crew of rùm! And apologies for our error.

LETTERS Send your letters (and also any replies please) to: Classic Boat, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ email: cb@classicboat.co.uk

Top to bottom: Fleur and David on their special day; their beloved gaffer Pierette

C/O F&D LEWIS

We noticed with interest a letter in the December 2013 edition of Classic Boat (CB306) from a Mr Les Weeks about his gaff-rigged Teignmouth yawl. We have a very similar looking gaffer called Pierette (pictured bottom right), which was featured on the Letters in your magazine a couple of years ago (CB279), complete with a picture of my husband and I in our full wedding regalia (reprinted top right)!

We have been trying to research the history of our beloved Pierette, built around 1900 in Teignmouth, but with limited success. I am sure you wouldn’t be able to pass on Les Weeks’ contact details, but would it be possible to make contact with him to say that we are interested in the history of his yacht and perhaps he could email us? I would be very keen to find out more about White Cloud to see if we can unearth any more history about yachts built in Teignmouth around that time. Thank you in advance for any help you can give. (Ed – you’re welcome) As far as Pierette’s history is concerned this is what we have so far, which we gathered from a visit to Teignmouth Museum. Pierette was built around 1898 by Fred Flemmick, who traded as the Teignmouth Ship & Yacht Co. Originally built as a gaff cutter, later a yawl, she was reputed to have been built as a wedding present for a lady. Pierette was not her original name, which is where we have struggled. In 1948 her name was apparently Harvest Moon, before changing to Pierette at a later date.

We acquired her from an auction at the Admiralty Courts in 2004 and she has since been restored and now resides back in Devon on the Tamar River. Fleur & David Lewis, by email

C/O F&D LEWIS

More info on Pierette

Inspired by Classic Boat I was fascinated and inspired by Giacomo De Stefano’s voyage (pictured above) from London to Istanbul in a small boat (CB296/CB297). I am currently pursuing the same route with one or two friends, but lacking his intrepid courage and energy we have been doing this by a combination of hire boat, passenger ferries, bicycle, and the occasional local train. We have now got to Budapest. Unfortunately, the transport trail goes cold here (except for cruise ships and bikes) and I was wondering if any readers or their friends might be voyaging down the Danube in 2015? I am an experienced boater (qualified to Day Skipper and Powerboat Level 2) and would offer willing hands.

Any responses please to tbcherrett@btinternet.com Trevor Cherrett, by email

Please accept my compliments on the overall excellence of your publication – it makes very fine reading. The following thoughts are a well-intentioned comment.

I was struck by an odd note in a recent piece (CB301, p19) by your correspondent Chris Museler. He wrote a lively account of the St Barths regatta, and that is all to the good. Yet a safety-related consideration certainly stood out. At the start of the piece, Chris writes with apparent approval and admiration of the free climb to the top of Saphædra’s mainmast performed by Amanda Sparks. The captain in this

C/O CHRIS MUSELER

C/O GIACOMO DE STEFANO

Leaving the helm to climb a mast double-handed situation, he reports, “ran between helm and mast winch to take up the slack”. This feat is offered up as if it represents a laudable example of resourcefulness and derring-do. Yet it was in fact a thoroughly ill-advised stunt and an invitation for calamity.

Mr Houston, would you allow anyone to ascend the mainmast on your vessel without a dedicated spotter tending the halyard winch at all times? I thought not.

Neither would I, and neither would any skipper I know. The uninterrupted presence of an experienced hand at the halyard winch during any lift is, in fact, a fundamental safety rule, one ignored only at greatest peril (whether the winch is self-tending or not).

In the future, it would be ideal if reckless actions are seen clearly for what they are, rather than being celebrated in your pages. I trust that you take my point. I most certainly look forward to enjoying Classic Boat for years to come.

Vincent Panetta, by email Chris Museler – good or bad this is what they did, as young athletic people going for it. But of course Mr Panetta is right.

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

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Sternpost

Desert island DIY

Fletcher Christian allowed Purcell, the Bounty’s carpenter, to take his chest in the launch with Captain Bligh, Christian’s fellow mutineers were convinced that Purcell would build “another vessel in a month”.

Crusoe’s further exploration of the wreck uncovers “bags of nails and spikes... and, above all, that most useful thing called a grindstone”. I think you’ll manage without lugging this lot through the surf. Not only will you hone your edges on naturally ocurring stones of the finest grit, but you’ll fasten your boat using wooden pegs and twine twisted from fibrous roots.

The pegs will swell when wet to hold more securely than nails, and the twine will allow a degree of flexibility where needed. In any case the demise of videotape rules out the kind of lashings favoured by Tom Hanks in Castaway.

You might also leave behind the saws carried by Lacy and Defoe.

When Crusoe spends “full two and 40 days in making a board” with his carpenter’s saw, and wishes for “two sawyers and a saw-pit” his thinking is limited by the dockyard technology of his age. Had he known of Viking methods he could have used the axe and the hammer to split boards radially by exploiting a log’s natural planes of weakness. Given the old growth hardwoods thriving on a desert island (which, paradoxically, is not a desert) and the wide boards they yield, a small boat might be planked up in two and 40 days using the timber of a single tree.

Looking back to the 1500s, and artefacts recovered from the Mary Rose, brings to light further boatbuilding tools used throughout history – the adze for smoothing split logs, and the auger for boring holes for fastenings.

In fact, the further back we go the more the picture of the boatbuilder’s essential kit comes into focus with ultimate sharpness reached sometime in the early Middle Ages. In the famous Bayeux Tapestry we see William’s army building his invasion fleet of 1066 using a variety of axes, augers and adzes, while excavations of Viking ships have added drawknives, scrapers and chisels to the list.

Now supposing you could save only one tool before a wave crashed in and washed the rest away, which one would it be? Perhaps consider that when reality bites the idea of building a Fife schooner will be scrapped and, like Crusoe, you’ll knuckle down to shaping a simple canoe from a felled tree. In which case, the most useful tool is probably the axe.

Robin Gates talks shipwrecks and the best tools to take ashore

illustration: guy venables

S

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hould your boat strike an uncharted reef, which tools would you grab before wading ashore? Let’s assume that you will embrace the desert island life but, anxious to reclaim your seat on the 08.15 to Waterloo, you must build a seaworthy craft and hasten home.

Clearly all power tools are junk – there is no electricity – although a riverboat enthusiast might use the copper windings of its motors for sewing planks like the river launch Consuta. What you need for felling trees, splitting logs and shaping timber are pre-industrial hand tools that have remained essentially unchanged since Roman times.

One starting point is Mary Lacy’s autobiography The Female Shipwright published in 1773. Describing her years at sea disguised as a man and subsequent apprenticeship, she noted that her first master issued her with “a saw, an ax and chizzel” and with this modest kit she joined a dockyard workforce building massive ships.

There is overlap between Lacy’s tools and those which Daniel Defoe allowed his hero to recover from the wrecked ship in Robinson Crusoe published 54 years earlier. Having recovered “the carpenter’s chest... more valuable than a shipload of gold”, Crusoe next finds “two saws, an axe, and a hammer”. About the chest Crusoe only says that he “knew in general what it contained” but we can infer from an event of historical fact – the mutiny on HMS Bounty in 1789 – that his evaluation of its worth was not overstated. When

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2014

“I think you’ll manage without lugging this lot through the surf”

Building Dreams Together

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