Classic Boat July 2014 by The Chelsea Magazine Company

Classic Boat JULY 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

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

Into the

shallows A test of tides at Cowes

J-Class rips it up Double spinnaker blowout Second skin 30 years since cold-moulding CLASSIC BOAT SURVEY

Europe Week 1914

SAILING INTO W34AR

PLUS When less is more Cruising in dinghies

PAGE

TOPSAIL KETCH: BETTY ALAN

Reviving a classic

ALL DRESSED UP

Get sailor smart

MEASURING MASTERPIECE

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The private bank for sailing Proud sponsors of: Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta EFG Sailing Team, Europe EFG Mandrake in Division A regattas, Asia BACARDI Sailing Weeks, Miami & Newport The EFG Pan-American Viper 640 Championships The EFG Star Winter Series, Florida EFG Sailing Arabia – The Tour EFG Moth EuroCup Panerai British Classic Week EFG Sailing Academy, Monaco Yacht Club www.efgsailing.com

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Photo: Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta by Cory Silken

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CRAFTSMANSHIP

Contents

CLASSJIC -CBla OAsTs SURVEY

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Double Spinnaker t u o w o l b FEATURES p19

JULY 2014 Nº313

COVER STORY

8 . BEELEIGH AT BCYC Join us on board the 1913 Fred Shepherd gaffer for last year’s race

17 . LOGBOOK From Monaco to Antigua, we report from the latest regattas COVER STORY

REGATTA RACING

Beeleigh on the water at last year’s BCYC event

COVER STORY

30 . CARIBBEAN CONCOURS Who had the best brightwork at the 2014 Antigua Classics? COVER STORY

ABEL COLLECTION/NMM OSLO

22 . MYLNE MAGIC Find out why Ed and Frances Maggs fell in love with Betty Alan

46 . SILVER LINING Find out why two owners fell for a rotten motor-cruiser called Zaire 52 . SIMPLE SAILING Roger Barnes says forget big boats, grab yourself a dinghy

COVER STORY

DAN HOUSTON

56 . SKIN DEEP Thirty years after Curlew was cold-moulded, this is her story… 70 . DRESS TO IMPRESS From T-shirts to shoes, this is our guide to the latest sailing gear

CLAUDIA MYATT

34 . PARTY TIME To mark Europe Week 2014, we go back 100 years to the 1914 event

TIM AND PAULINE CARR

14 . BCYC PREVIEW Full racing guide to this year’s must-see classic yacht meet

COVER AND RIGHT: EMILY HARRIS

COVER STORY

34 REGULARS 18 . TELL TALES 43 . SALEROOM 44 . OBJECTS OF DESIRE 95 . LOOKING AHEAD 96 . LETTERS 98 . STERNPOST ONBOARD 69 . NEW CLASSICS 70 . CLOTHING 73 . BOOKS 75 . CLASSNOTES 77 . GETTING AFLOAT CRAFTSMANSHIP 84 . YARD NEWS 86 . BOATBUILDER’S NOTES 89 . ADRIAN MORGAN Between issues go to

classicboat.co.uk CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Classically beautiful. Totally contemporary. The new Tempus 90, ‘Tempus Fugit’, got off to a flying start with a fantastic first outing on the Superyacht Regatta Circuit. Building on success in last year’s Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, ‘Tempus Fugit’ achieved 2nd overall in the practice race, finishing the week 3rd in class. Her varnished topsides and stunning classic looks stood out amongst a field of giant sailing yachts. Much admired and talked about, ‘Tempus Fugit’, created by Humphreys Yacht Design and built by Arkin Pruva, combines the latest design techniques and the very best in yacht building. Proving more than a match for the best, ‘Tempus Fugit’ embodies the looks, quality and performance of the new Tempus Class.

‘Tempus Fugit’ in race mode. Photo: Jainie Cowham

www.tempusclass.com info@humphreysyachtsales.com +44 (0)1590 671 727

STOCKBRIDGE YA C H T B R O K E R S

CARL LINNE

Length: 32.3m / 106â&#x20AC;&#x2122; Builder: Holland Jachtbouw Delivered: 2003 refit 2011 Price: â&#x201A;Ź 3.95M ex. VAT

A modern classic built by Holland Jachtbouw, she was designed to replicate the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters, but with modern systems and performance. Recently upgraded and having now completed her 10 year Lloyds survey, she is offered for sale in pristine condition. Please contact Toby Walker for full details.

www.stockbridgeyachts.com info@stockbridgeyachts.com O: +44 1725 510738 M: +44 7788 925337

DAN HOUSTON

Richard, left, and Jesse enjoy our landfall as we pass under Newport Bridge

FROM DAN HOUSTON, EDITOR

Becoming a schoonerman

classicboat.co.uk Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ EDITORIAL Editor Dan Houston +44 (0)207 349 3755 cb@classicboat.co.uk Deputy Editor Steffan Meyric Hughes +44 (0)207 349 3758 steffan.meyric-hughes@classicboat.co.uk Senior Art Editor Peter Smith +44 (0)207 349 3756 peter.smith@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 Subscriptions Department 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8GU Managing Director Paul Dobson CHELSEA Deputy Managing Director Steve Ross ARINE M MAGAZINES Commercial Director Vicki Gavin Publisher Simon Temlett Digital Manager Oliver Morley-Norris Events Manager Holly Thacker 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

The chance to sail a Gannon & Benjamin schooner recently was too good to miss. The chance to sail her from the Caribbean to her home waters is the sort of stuff I dream about. And the boat? None other than Rebecca of Vineyard Haven, the first in a recent series of great-looking schooners from Ross Gannon and Nat Benjamin, of the G&B Marine Railway, on Martha’s Vineyard, the island off the coast of Massachusetts. I joined the 60ft (18.3m) angelique and silver bali on white oak schooner late on an unprepossessing evening, thick with threatening rain at the dock of San Juan, Puerto Rico in mid-May, and met skipper-owner Jesse Smith with my new crewmates Jeff Gonsalves and Richard Feeny. And the next day, accompanied by dolphins in the old Spanish harbour, we left, putting to sea for the 1,460nM passage to Rhode Island. It was going to take at least a week. I love to do this occasionally, as a way of re-acquainting msyelf with sailing and ‘being a sailor’, as much as keeping abreast with the latest gizmos of navigation and to increase the hinterland of my knowledge and skills base. And, as Herman Melville so aptly puts it: “Whenever I find myself growing grim about the mouth; YACHTS whenever it is a damp, drizzly November in my soul; CHELSEA MARINE “I could and especially whenever my hypos get such an upper affirm I was a hand of me, that it requires a strong moral principle schoonerman” to prevent me from deliberately stepping into the street, and methodically knocking people’s hats off – then, I account it high time to get to sea as soon as I can.” YACHTS CHELSEA And the sea never disappoints you does it? With a watch system of four hours MARINE on four hours off we soon got into the rhythm of life aboard, cruising north off the wind and clocking the miles like only a schooner can. Her beautiful lines meant it was predictably comfy below decks, no sudden lurches and the balance of her helm was always quite easy on the hands. And although it wasn’t really time enough to acclimatise the soft office body, the memory of sailing fitness returned so that when we made our landfall seven days and eight hours later I was probably standing taller. And in a shop on my first day ashore in Bristol RI, a woman behind me in a queue asked if I was a sailor? Imagine my pride, dear reader, when I could affirm that I was. A schoonerman, again! YACHTING

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JULY 2014

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A test of tides at Cowes

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FIRST STEPS in sailing How to learn in dinghies and big boats

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JEANNEAU S/O 349

Europe Week 1914

TOPSAIL KETCH: BETTY ALAN

£4.30 Issue #1675 | July 2014 www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk

BEGINNERS SPECIAL

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CLASSIC BOAT SURVEY

SAILING INTO WAR 34

Reviving a classic

GULL’S EYE

COWES HARBOUR FOLD-OUT

Mighty

EUROPEAN CANALS

BEELEIGH . BETTY ALAN . CURLEW . DINGHY CRUISING

J-Class rips it up Double spinnaker blowout Second skin 30 years since cold-moulding

PACIFIC ORDEAL

Clipper Race sailor survives MOB trial

BEGINNERS SPECIAL | VO65 DESIGN FOCUS | OUTBOARDS | WHITSUNDAYS & AUSTRALIA

JULY 2014 – ISSUE Nº 207

JULY 2014 . ISSUE No 313

shallows

JULY 2014 | ISSUE #1675

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Into the

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Winners’ tales from the Caribbean classic

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Get afloat after the 9-5: urban clubs unveiled

BART’S BASH

How to join the biggest sailing race in the world

HERO’S RETURN Olympic Laser star Annalise Murphy’s home triumph

Sparkling performance from a dinghy that can’t capsize

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Draught dodging The British Classic Yacht Club’s long inshore race is a 27-mile duel with the tide. Last year, we were aboard the centenarian Beeleigh – this year we’re the sponsors STORY DAN HOUSTON PHOTOGRAPHS EMILY HARRIS

27-mile long inshore race doesn’t sound like it might take all day, but once you realise that it’s designed to be mostly against the tide, and that the wind might shift, then you are clearly in for the long haul. But I wasn’t thinking of that when I found myself on the deck of Beeleigh, a charming Fred Shepherd gaff cutter, celebrating her centenary year at Panerai British Classic Week in Cowes. It’s a reasonably early start and so we leave the dock quickly with the 44 or so other yachts, to jill around off Egypt Point.

The course for the day is only set a few minutes before the gun, to take account of the latest wind predictions. So the first task is listening to the race committee’s long list of 15 marks, and noting which side they have to be passed. The directions, which we have shown on the race chart on p15, will take us off west to West Lepe in the Western Solent and then back east to North Sturbridge, on the edge of Spithead. I am becoming acquainted with Beeleigh’s crew – there are seven of us aboard today, which will make handling fairly easy. Beeleigh was acquired in 2011 by

DAN HOUSTON

BEELEIGH

DAN HOUSTON

Clockwise from top: Beeleigh’s hound’s head tiller is a recent addition; Charlie Wallrock; a detail of her deck blocks, which are protected by leather

Charlie Wallrock, who was brought up on wooden boats but also raced Etchells for many years out of Lymington. “Beeleigh was lying in Keyhaven, and in 2011 I went to see her with my late father and fell in love with her, so we bought her with some partners. She’s pitch pine on oak with a teak deck laid over ply. She needed work because her deck and seams had been sheathed. And we needed to replace all the running rigging. We got her sailing again for the last season [2012] and her mainsail was just too big for her. We reduced that and we are still learning how to get her going really. But we came first in our class [Class 4 Classic Yachts] in yesterday’s race so we were pleased about that, especially as we’re the only gaffer. So it’s fun.” This is actually quite impressive stuff. Class 4 is dominated by Jonathan Dyke in Cereste, his 40ft (12.2m) Robert Clark 1938 10-tonner, and Robert Veale with his 1958 Danegeld, a 35ft 6in (10.8m) racer from David Cheverton’s drawing board. There is also Robin Whaite’s Mary Lunn, a 35ft (10.7m) Uffa Fox yawl built in Bombay in 1940. It’s not an easy field to beat, and to be honest a fluky wind the day before had caught out Cereste, leading to a “Did Not Finish” – though she’s still the one to beat on points. I’m clearly in for a treat here! Our start gets delayed for 10 minutes (to 0910) as a vast, slab-sided ro-ro ferry negotiates its way around the Bramble Bank, but we have a good crossing of the line under spinnaker and it’s a great sight as the assembled

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

fleet heads downwind for the first mark at East Lepe. We’re sailing next to Josephine, David Messum’s 45ft (13.7m) 1954 Philip Rhodes design, and behind the French 1963 Olin Stephens yawl Stiren, 48ft 7in (14.8m), with her mizzen staysail hoisted to catch the best of the breeze. It’s great also to see artist Michael Frith’s 24ft (7.3m) Blue Eagle, a 1964 Kroes en Zonen bermudan sloop, and Nick Hughes’s 25ft (7.6m) Hatty, a 1963 Top Hat racer/cruiser designed by Captain John Illingworth and built by Souters. The smaller boats, only recently welcomed at this regatta, help create the wide range of styles and size that make a classic boat regatta look so fantastic. The race length will try them, and today both will end up retiring, but not without the huge grins that come from taking part in a great day out on the water. With a lunchtime HW and a range of 4.6m for the day, which is just 0.1m off the spring tidal range, the Western Solent is still in full flood against us. Luckily, we are downwind for the first leg and then have two reaches, south and then north across the Solent, before being able to run off again to West Lepe. This port-hand lateral mark is in comparatively deep water – if you can call 60ft (18m) deep – and the tide is swirling round it. The tactics of the fleet have already seen the leaders starting to stretch away and I feel lucky to be aboard Beeleigh with her crew who are all so used to these waters and adept at making the most of the tide.

DAN HOUSTON

Clockwise from above: heading west again, this time into the wind; negotiating Browndown in lots of tide; Crawford McKeon (helming) discussing iPad tactics with Ben Ducksbury

DAN HOUSTON

In this case, making the most of the tide means trying to avoid it, so we aim to stay out of the main channels where the tide will be running faster. We pick out transits against the far shore – a back transit will do just as well – and watch them opening up to see how the tide is sweeping us across our intended course. I am sometimes surprised that we don’t work up a proper course to steer, but with these cross-tide legs of only a mile or so the eyeball works nearly as well, or a ready reckoner, and the iPad tells you the rest. The wind has been steady, at 10 or 12 knots and Beeleigh is cruising along at a steady pace. Her 10ft (3m) bowsprit gives her plenty of foretriangle, holding her nose well into the tide. I note that Cereste has overtaken us. We got a better start than her but her star-spangled blue spinnaker was a shadow on our taffrail within 30 minutes. We fly back up the Western Solent with the remains of the flood but the race is timed so that we are getting tide against us again once we cross Cowes Roads on our eastwards heading. At noon we are heading back north across to the East Bramble mark before crossing back over the shallows of Ryde Bank to the Peel Bank port-hand mark. From here the tide will be more heavily against us; our course will be due east out to the N Sturbridge Cardinal on the western edge of Spithead. Depths here in the main channel are 62-75ft (19-23m) and so we go seeking tide shadow, hugging the shore and

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

BEELEIGH

Above, left: Beeleigh’s comfy cockpit – note her well spaced winch arrangement... With Mark Keeping on the stern, Crawf’ McKeon helming, Caroline Wallrock, Dan (the ed) and Ben Duxbury; Paul Baker is trimming the spinnaker. Above, right: following Josephine at the start of the long race

tacking east – south of Peel Bank and creeping along the shoreline to Ryde Sands. It’s a tactic that requires some nerve, and constant attention to the depth to avoid the bottom here; Ryde Sands stretch nearly a mile out from Ryde seafront in places and are often marked with a stranded yacht, waiting for the tide to refloat. I’m impressed by our navigation as the depths are regularly called and we go in ’til there’s just about a metre of water under the keel a couple of times. We take short tacks out to remain in the slower contrary tide of the shallows before heading in to almost clip the treeline with our crosstrees. At a given point we’ll have to dash out into the deep water with its tide full against us to make our mark... I look back and see the tactics have paid off. Yachts in deeper water look like they’re standing still, sailing through the water just keeping pace against the tide. Others have sagged away, their once straight course peeled back like an open banana skin as the hungry tide grips their keel and marches off with them in its clutches. But Beeleigh seems made for these conditions. She was built by Stones of Brightlingsea for Bernard Durkin, who kept her for many years, first at Heybridge, then Maldon, in Essex. Lloyd’s originally lists her without an engine, though an American Gaines paraffin motor is mentioned by 1930. In 1963, and by then bermudan rigged, she was bought by Lymington-based Charles Watson’s father, kept first at the Hamble and then, in 1967, Harty Ferry on the Swale. Charles and his brother each had a period

BEELEIGH LOA

36ft 8in (11.2m) LWL

27ft 8in (8.4m) beAm

10ft (3m) DrAught

5ft 9in (1.8m) upWinD SAiL AreA

1,000sqft (93m2)

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

of tenure, bringing her back to the Hamble before selling her in 1976. By 1977 she was owned by Mr and Mrs ML Abbott of Maldon, Essex, who kept her at Benfleet – she still had her 36hp Parsons petrol engine – fitted in 1963. Later, after a period when she was left open and had fallen on hard times, she belonged to Geoffrey Pannell of Huddersfield, Yorkshire, who extensively restored her at Staniland Marina during the 1990s, according to Charlie Wallrock, at which time she was given a modified coachroof and a more modern interior. In 2001 she came to the Solent and was returned to a gaff cutter by Michael Hedger, but was not much sailed before being acquired by Charlie and partners in 2011. Making it to N Sturbridge Cardinal by 1420 feels like an achievement, and after the next mark across the current we turn to shoot downtide under spinnaker to the port mark NE Ryde Middle in around five minutes. Now there’s our last leg against tide, north-east to Browndown – a starboard lateral mark 1nM away, which we reach in failing breeze, clawing slowly up to it, ferry gliding round it and then spinning off for the remaining, blissful, downtide legs. I note that since N Sturbridge we have not seen any boats behind us… We are 30 minutes behind Cereste now, though she is a few minutes behind Danegeld; Mary Lunn is behind us and she’ll be the only other yacht in our class of 10 to finish – 40 minutes after us at 5.18pm. So it’s a long, hard race and our third placing is a very good result. Beeleigh places third overall in class too, which is a great centennial boon. This was the fifth race in the week-long series and with a shifting breeze ranging from 4 to 12 knots it is a challenge for navigators, helmsmen and trimmers in equal measure. With short downwind legs, spinnaker work needs to be good but it’s called the inshore race for a very good reason. The way to do well is to stay in tide shadow as much as possible, avoiding the heavier currents of the Solent’s deeper channels. This requires a lot of confidence in reading the chart and local conditions for depth, and stepping out of the fairway, as it were. Charlie is delighted with Beeleigh’s first attendance at the BCYC and her proving to be a decent yacht in this important year. “I am pretty sure she’ll be there again in 2014, but as it’s only me really who sails her, we’re hoping to pass her on... but I bet we’re there again!” So if you go to this year’s event look out for Beeleigh. She’s the gaffer holding her own with the bermudans!

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Panerai British Classic Week

Preview The BCYC’s Solent regatta from 12-19 July is a mix of racing and parties… and now the long inshore race is sponsored by Classic Boat STORY DAN HOUSTON PHOTOGRAPHS KATHY MANSFIELD

ince 2002 the British Classic Yacht Club (BCYC) has held its Solent regatta, based in Cowes, with a full week of racing and social events that have developed, especially with Panerai sponsorship a few years ago, into one of the highlights of the sailing calendar. The racing is now run from the Royal Yacht Squadron line and each day has a different theme, with Monday’s Round the Island Race and Thursday’s Long Inshore Race presenting challenges of stamina and navigation that will suit the serious crews, just as much as being a proper test for many of us. The BCYC now allows boats of 24ft (7.3m) to take part and it would be great to see a few more of these out on the water, reminding us of the important role played by boats of this length in our yachting history. The Panerai British Classic Week is an invitation event for “classic yachts” of minimum 24ft (7.3m) LOD with a current (or limited validity) IRC Rating Certificate. The entry fee (excluding berthing costs) is £22 per metre per boat for BCYC members, and £30 per metre per boat for non BCYC members. The skippers’ and navigators’ briefing takes place each day at 0830 in the Bar Marquee at Cowes Yacht Haven (Friday: 1000; Saturday: 0900). Fleet Start: RYS Line Warning Signal at 1030; the daily prize-giving ceremony in the Bar Marquee CYH 1845. A full list of racing marks can be found in the sailing instructions.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

2014 PANERAI BRITISH CLASSIC WEEK

EVENT PROGRAMME SATURDAY 12 JULY 1200 Berthing available at Cowes Yacht Haven for regatta entrants. SUNDAY 13 JULY 1200 Race 1 RYS Line (Class Start) First Warning Signal. 1915 to 2045 Welcome reception at the Royal Yacht Squadron.

Signal. 1600 to 2200 ‘Open Yachts’ Pontoon Party – view the yachts while listening to live music with a BBQ serving slow-cooked lamb with rosemary and garlic pittas.

MONDAY 14 JULY 0700 Around the Island Race Sponsored by EFG International; RYS Line (Fleet Start) First Warning Signal.

WEDNESDAY 16 JULY 1000 Race 4 RYS Line (Class Start) First Warning Signal. 1400 Ladies Race RYS Line (Fleet Start, not part of points series) First Warning Signal. Barbecue and crew party at the Royal Corinthian Yacht Club.

TUESDAY 15 JULY 1000 Race 2 RYS Line (Class Start) First Warning Signal followed ASAP by Race 3 RYS Line (Fleet Start) First Warning

THURSDAY 17 JULY 1030 Race 5 Long Inshore Race sponsored by Classic Boat – RYS LINE (Fleet Start). 1600 to 2000. Bar Marquee open with

live music. 1700 to 1830 Hospitality in the Panerai Lounge FRIDAY 18 JULY Race 6 Sponsored by Sandeman Yacht Company – RYS Line (Class Start) First Warning Signal. Bar Marquee open with live entertainment. Prize-giving dinner in the Event Centre in CYH with live music and dancing. Competitors not attending the meal are welcome to come to the Event Centre for the prize-giving. SATURDAY 19 JULY 1100 Parade of Sail past the RYS and Cowes Green. 1200 All yachts depart.

USEFUL INFORMATION Tides 17 July: Portsmouth (BST) LW: 0851, 0.7m; HW: 1626, 4.8m (Range 4.1m); LW: 2119, 0.9m

< <

COURSE MAP IS FOR DISPLAY PURPOSES ONLY. CHECK WITH BCYC FOR CHANGES

Clockwise from main image: Jonathan Dyke’s 40ft (12.2m) Robert Clark yacht Cereste; Pazienza peels a spinnaker; close-hauled in the 8-M Fife Saskia – the overall winner; sail-handling; the 2013 Long Inshore Race winner Murdoch McKillop (of Saskia) receives his trophy

Long Inshore Race 17 July This year Classic Boat, in association with Wight Vodka, is sponsoring the Long Inshore Race – read our exclusive report from last year’s race (course shown above) on page 8. At around 28nM against the tide, it’s an all-day race for most boats but, more importantly, it sorts out the navigators confident enough to sail into

SPONSORED BY

the shallows and benefit from “tide shadow”. How to prepare? The course details are not given out until half an hour before the off, so it makes sense to have some local knowledge aboard to avoid grounding. After that it’s a question of knowing your tides and the chart… Isn’t it always?

IN ASSOCIATION WITH

Sunrise 17 July: 0511, Sunset: 2111; Moonrise: 2334; Full Moon: 12 July Radio channels: Committee Boat transmissions: VHF 02, 05 and 22; Cowes Harbour Radio VHF69; Harbour Taxi VHF77; Marinas VHF80. Solent Coastguard routine traffic and other information VHF67; DSC MMSI 002320011 Weather Solent and Portland weather forecasts VHF67 @ 0730; 1030; 1330; 1630; 1930; 2230; Google: Met Office Inshore Contacts: Cowes Harbourmaster +44 (0)1983 293952 or chc@ cowes.co.uk; Event organiser office +44 (0)1983 245100 or +44 (0)7790 770526, admin@ msjevents.co.uk; Solent Coastguard +44 (0)2392 552100 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Dates:

21-25 July 2014 Organised by:

The Royal London Yacht Club

www.charles-stanley.co.uk

www.cowesclassicsweek.org

Logbook

Out and about

Above, left to right: Albane de Villard on board Jericho; Laurence Diane Ramès; Djinn owner Andrée Gibert and Patricia Barasc; Pascale Ligier, skipper of Maria Giovanna II

Ladies’ Day in St Tropez The fairer sex

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS PATRICIA LASCABANNES Ladies’ Day this May must have been a refreshing sight to those tired of seeing the same old ganseys and greybeards on show. There were only eight boats at the first St Tropez Ladies’ Day in 2012, but this time there were 18, all skippered by women, with mainly female crews (77 per cent to be precise) out racing in a capful of wind. The eventual winners were Griff Rhys Jones’s S&S yawl Argyll (16m and over class) and the Fife III cutter Eva (16m and under class).

Main image: preparing the spinnaker on Eva, the eventual winner of the 16m and under class. Above, left to right: the 1997 SoT sloop Savannah chased by the 1930s schooner Lelantina in the 16m+ big class; dressing up in feather boas and masks CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Tell Tales

See more news on our website: www.classicboat.co.uk CB address and tel; please see page 5

ISLE OF MAN

C/O MANx NATIONAL HERITATE

Above: as Peggy is now and (left) the cellar where she was being kept at the maritime museum

C/O MANx NATIONAL HERITAGE

Manx National Heritage has started an ambitious five-year programme to conserve and study Castletown’s 18th-century armed yacht, Peggy, housed in the cellar of the Nautical Museum, reports Kevin Desmond. She was built for successful politician, banker and ship owner George Quayle of Castletown. One of three similar vessels built for the Quayle family between 1789 and 1793, Peggy, named after George’s mother, was launched into Castletown Harbour in 1791. From this harbour she saw many years of smuggling and trade. In 1796 she was sailed to England then brought

C/O MANx NATIONAL HERITAGE

World’s oldest “yacht” dug out of cellar

Opera House Cup winner burns

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

With the installation of a new support cradle, excavating the boat from the cellar has involved moving more than 50 tonnes of 19th-century landfill and finding a slipway leading from the building to the harbour. Peggy is the world’s oldest surviving schooner and the oldest surviving example of the shallop hull form. She was fitted with sliding keels (progenitors of the modern daggerboard) not long after the invention of the technology by John Schank.

Moonbeam IV 1914

INGRID ABERY

A W46 Spirit of Tradition yacht has caught fire and sunk off Rhode Island, we heard while going to press. The 46ft (14m) strip-planked Equus belonged to Nantucket philanthropist Wendy Schmidt and won the 2011 Opera House Cup. She caught fire between Rhode Island and Cuttyhunk Island and sank in 67ft (20m) of water. Nobody was injured. The cause of the fire is not known, said Ross Ruddell of the US Coast Guard.

overland to Windermere to sail in the ‘regatta’ and only barely made it back home through rough seas. Not long after, George Quayle’s mother died and he locked the Peggy in her boathouse for the last time. There she lay for almost 120 years, until rediscovered in 1935. She is clinker built and was schooner rigged. Oxford Archaeology North is carrying out a five-year programme to remove, stabilise, naturally dry and study the vessel, a process that could take up to seven years.

Grace Kelly’s honeymoon yacht Moonbeam IV’s centenary celebration began with the Gaastra PalmaVela regatta in Mallorca last month, where six yachts competed in ‘classic’ and ‘vintage’ divisions. Moonbeam IV (CB178) sailed from Monaco and ended up taking second. The 95ft (29m) Fife III gaff cutter has enjoyed more glorious moments in her long racing career, though. She was built in 1914, but the outbreak of war prevented her being commissioned until 1920, when she won the King’s Cup, then again in 1923. She was bought by Prince Rainier III of Monaco in 1950, who took his bride Grace Kelly for a honeymoon sail on her. She has since been one of the most campaigned and recognised classics on the Med circuit, and she’s now for sale again for a cool ¤4.5M (c£3.6M). See edmiston.com. Ingrid Abery

Thames Trad cancelled This year’s Thames Traditional Boat Rally, scheduled to have taken place at Henley-onThames from 19-20 July, has been cancelled due to standing water left over from the floods. The future of this major, long-standing rally is now in jeopardy – see our website if you can help.

First classic for Lymington A new regatta, Lymington Classic, will take place on 13-14 September and include classes for ‘classics’, Spirit of Tradition and Gaffers. See rlymyc.org.uk for more.

MENORCA, SPAIN

The most expensive gust in history Two modern J-Class yachts, Hanuman and Ranger, simultaneously ripped their spinnakers on Day 3 of the Menorca Maxi in May, during intense rivalry with Lionheart, reports Catherine Severson. The J-Class trio of 130ft+ (40m) yachts came to battle it out in the Med, racing head-to-head in 30-mile coastal races with big swells. But the slam-bang glamour of the Js turned to destructive drama as the two kites suddenly burst apart, causing £25,000-worth of damage to each boat. Ken Read, president of North Sails and helming Hanuman at the time, explained: “Large leftover waves met the boats that day – not from

the wind-blown direction but from the direction of the overnight gradient breeze. Lionheart had a heavier asymmetric up on that leg as they had run over and ruined their lightest kite the day before while hoisting. “Ranger and Hanuman had near-identical kites up and were side by side. One particularly bad wave hit them both head on, in unison, sending a fatal shock load to the asymmetrics.” Recently refitted with new carbon-fibre rigging, Lionheart posted a clean sweep. J-Class rivalry will intensify with Velsheda and Rainbow set to join the trio at the Superyacht Cup in Palma, 18-21 June.

JeSuS ReNeDO, C/O CONSeLL INSuLAR De MeNORCA

JESTER CHALLENGE

The biggest got bigger Registrations for Cowes Classics Week were 14 per cent up on last year (129 boats) as we went to press. This will also be the event’s first year under new title sponsor Charles Stanley. New attendees include the National Swallows and a reinvigorated Flying 15 presence for the keel boats. Twisters and Nicholson 36s will be swelling the ranks of the Classic Cruiser Class, which started to really work last year. The regatta runs 21-25 July and there is still time to enter – see cowesclassicsweek.org and next month’s issue.

MeRVYN MAGGS

COWES CLASSIC WEEk

The third, 2,800-mile Plymouth to Newport Jester Challenge started on 11 May, although in the F9 gusts, only one skipper left – Andy Lane in his Jouet Regent Gwezer. Five more left the next day and three more soon after. Norm Bailey, former Newport YC commodore (below, second left), was at Plymouth for the start. The event is for 20ft to 30ft (6.1m to 9.1m) boats. First held in 2006 in response to a minimum size limit for the OSTAR, the race is named after the Folkboat Jester, which Blondie Hasler sailed in the first solo Transat race (the OSTAR) in 1960. Nigel Sharp

PENDENNIS CUP, FALMOUTH

Closest racing yet

NIGeL SHARP

TIM JeFFReYS, C/O RLYC

Taking on the Atlantic

Two weeks of extremely close racing at the biennial invitational regatta held by the superyacht yard of Pendennis ended on 31 May with a Red Arrow flypast. The 85ft (26m) steel ketch Velacarina, an Andre Hoek Truly Classic design built in 2005, won overall, with victory in the Little Dennis Class (for smaller yachts) going to the 43ft (13.1m) sloop Cerinthe. In total, 11 yachts took part including the newly restored Kelpie, featuring next month. CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

TELL TALES

FUNDING

Highs and lows of the Heritage Lottery Fund Clockwise from below left: HY Tyne at her mooring near Blythe; Tyne in her light vessel days; Torbay Lass

Tall Ships in London

FUNDING: NORFOLK BROADS

This year’s Tall Ships Festival, the biggest London event since the Olympics, will include four smaller fleets to parade the river on each of the four days when the 50 or so Tall Ships will be moored at Greenwich (5-9 September). Go to sailroyalgreenwich.co.uk for details.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Sunbeams at play

Top helmsmen, including Olympic gold-medallist Mike McIntyre (Star Class, 1988), arrived in Chichester Harbour on 17 May to sail aboard 22 Solent Sunbeams, in the class’s annual invitational rally. The winner was Archie Massey, four times International 14 world champion. CB was also out with the Sunbeams recently – more to follow.

WORD OF THE MONTH

DUNNAGE

MAURICE GRAY

A new ale named Jenny Morgan was unveiled at The Maltsters pub at Ranworth on the Broads, reports Maurice Gray. Henry Gowman, Trustee and Albion skipper, said: “Support for the iconic 116-year-old Wherry comes in many forms, but this year we are pleased to have a new ale specially brewed for us by the award-winning Green Jack Brewery in Lowestoft.” The owner of the brewery, Tim Dunford, has a soft spot for the old Wherry and recalls, as a boy, fishing from her deck at Lake Lothing. Now, as a successful brewer, he says he can help keep Albion in sailing condition for future generations by brewing and selling a special ale, then donating the proceeds to the Norfolk Wherry Trust. The Norfolk Wherry Trust struggles to find sufficient annual funds to keep the Wherry Albion afloat and sailing. This year marks 65 years since Albion was acquired as a ‘dumb’ barge from Colman’s Yard in 1949. Since then, hard work by volunteers from the Norfolk Wherry Trust eventually returned her to sailing condition and they have been continuing work and fundraising ever since.

MAURICE GRAY

Charity starts in the pub for Wherry Albion

See wherryalbion.com for more

without a sponsor to underwrite £400,000 of “match funding”. Trinity Sailing, who already manages three of the Brixham Heritage Fleet as training vessels, secured first-stage funding and hopes were high, but then in these times of austerity Torbay Council couldn’t guarantee match funding. Meanwhile, Torbay Lass is rotting in Tilbury Docks where she has long overstayed her welcome. If the pumps are switched off she could sink into the mud, as she did once before. Clare McComb

C/O TRINITY SAILING

every sacrifice. He says: “Our aim has been not only to save the club yacht for our 700 members, but to share her history and heritage with everyone in Blythe. The full application for £670,000 will go in in December and we are now looking forward to the future.” Meanwhile, down in Torbay the emotions couldn’t be more different. A hard-fought campaign to save Torbay Lass, which is (possibly) the last unrestored Brixham Sailing Trawler, has run aground

C/O THE AUTHOR

Friends and members of the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club have been celebrating recently, following the news that their famous House Yacht Tyne, aka LV50, has been awarded £69,600 in the first stage of support from the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF). She is on the National Historic Fleet register as “being of pre-eminent national or regional significance”, and is one of the last fully timbered light vessels afloat, retaining her original metal mast and lantern-lifting mechanism, although the lantern itself is long gone. LV50 was rescued by the club in 1952 and her massive structure with its double-skinned hull and teak on oak frames takes you back in time the moment you step aboard. In recent years, dehumidifiers and dripping leaks have hinted at rotten timbers, but Mike Wade, the tireless vice commodore, feels their huge effort to secure funding is worth

Dunnage: (1) Loose wooden battens, boards, gratings, etc, used to keep cargo clear of water at the bottom of a hold; also called dumping boards (2) A seaman’s name for luggage. FH Burgess, A Dictionary of Sailing (1961)

TELL TALES

hans lammens

mAyoTTE

Schooner sinks at mooring We recently received these pictures from Hans Lammens, of Dwyn Wen, the 106ft (32m) 1906 auxiliary schooner, which sank on her mooring in Mayotte, reports Theo Rye. She was one of the few remaining yachts designed by Alexander Richardson, a successful British designer largely forgotten but who, in the 1880s, drew many famous racing yachts such as Samoena, Irex and later Iverna. Built by Philip & Son of Dartmouth as a gaff schooner

of teak and elm on steel, Dwyn Wen made innumerable long-distance cruises during her life. She saw service in the US Navy patrolling the west coast during the Second World War and returned to cruising in peacetime. It was then that the young Doug Peterson was introduced to sailing on board Dwyn Wen; he went on to be one of the pre-eminent yacht designers of the 1980s and 90s, particularly as the primary architect of the 1992 and 1995 Americaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s Cup

Clockwise from top: masts showing; in her heyday; sheâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s still intact underwater

winners. Doug has also been a great supporter of the classic revival in recent years. Dwyn Wen, after a charter career in the 70s and 80s, had reportedly been on her mooring, unmoving and neglected, since 2006. She succumbed to the inevitable in January this year, and sank in Dzaoudzi Harbour, Mayotte, an island off Madagascar. With her mastheads clear of the water, she is proving popular with divers, but there seems little or prospect of salvage.

some 300 spectators watched the first unfurling of the sails of hermione, the 166ft (50.6m) French frigate replica, on 17 may in Rochefort, France. The 15 sails make up 21,530sqft (2,000m2) of area on three masts, the highest standing 154ft (47m) off the deck. They are controlled by 20 to 30 hands and 15 miles (25km) of rigging, all in natural fibre. The festival, attended by the minister of ecology, marks the last stage of build before the boat sails for the Usa next year. Gillian Broome

nIGel PeRT

Hermione rigged

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Living

Dream

the

Keen sailors Ed and Frances Maggs wanted to swap their Stella for something more substantial. Then they stumbled across an advert for a majestic gaff ketch with more than a hint of 1920s Mylneâ&#x20AC;Ś STORY PETER WILLIS PHOTOGRAPHS EMILY HARRIS

I PETER WILLIS

t’s not often in this magazine that the owners are of at least as much interest as the boat itself, but that is certainly so with Betty Alan (the boat) and Ed and Frances Maggs (her owners). Even their house threatens to steal the limelight. It’s a 400-year-old clapboard building, set on the quayside at Burnham-on-Crouch, Essex, and overflowing with books and pictures – plus, on the Saturday evening when I arrived, jazz, people, conversation and good food and drink. With a glass of red wine in my hand, I’m guided to an upstairs window, from which the object of my visit can be viewed. She’s riding to her mooring in mid-river, bathed in low, golden light and living up to her original “like a Mylne, only smaller” design specification. Though not that much smaller; she’s almost 50ft (15.2m) on deck. Ed and Frances only acquired Betty Alan about two years ago, and indeed only acquired each other not a lot earlier. Ed is tall and gangly, and has been likened to John Cleese. From the neck down, perhaps; facially he

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

BETTY ALAN

c/o ed maggs

Clockwise from bottom left: proud owners, Ed and Frances Maggs; the cabin is so vast and well appointed it looks more like the interior of a gentlemen’s club!; despite her size, her svelte lines convey purpose, speed and grace

evokes memories of Groucho Marx mixed with a dash of Alastair Sim. He carries some fame in maritime circles as the present head of Maggs Bros, an extremely old-established (1853) family firm of antiquarian booksellers, which in the early part of the 20th century helped Sir James Caird build the library for the National Maritime Museum. At the same time the Cruising Association (CA), was doing something similar with the other great book dealer of the day, Francis Edwards. Coincidentally Edwards is the maiden name of Ed’s wife Frances – and Ed’s father John Maggs was at one stage the honorary librarian at the CA. The library eventually became too valuable to keep, and parts went to the Cambridge University Library, in a deal that paid for the present CA House. Maggs Bros itself enjoyed a similar windfall in the 1930s when its client, King Manuel II of Portugal, died owing the firm £35,000. The debt was paid by the Portuguese State, and was enough to buy the firm’s present premises at 50 Berkeley Square in Mayfair.

Despite the seemingly high value of the business, Ed insists he’s not wealthy. As far as boat ownership is concerned, he says they’re “trying to live a millionaire’s lifestyle on a schoolteacher’s income”. There’s probably an element of exaggeration in this, but one knows what he means, especially when he adds, feelingly: “The misery of owning a boat you can’t afford is an awful thing. I’ve been there.” Despite the vagaries of the book trade, they partly squared the financial circle by letting out their London flat and living aboard Betty Alan in Limehouse in the winter. The fact that Frances is a neuroscientist at UCL also probably helps.

the name game Frances is from a scientific and artistic lineage – her great-grandfather was Frederick McCubbin, an Australian Impressionist, whose works still command serious prices at auction. However, her step-grandfather was Alan Mackerras, who designed and built his CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

BETTY ALAN

Betty ALAN Designer

Jeremy Lines Built

1999 length OverAll

49ft 11in (15.2m) length On spArs

59ft 3in (18.1m) BeAm

14ft (4.3m) DrAught CB up/DOWn

4ft 9in (1.5m) 9ft 9in (3m) DisplACement

32,200lb (16.1 tons) engine

60hp Nanni Diesel sAil AreA

main 520sqft (48.3m²)

own boat – a 27-footer (8.2m) influenced by Uffa Fox (“We still have his Uffa Fox books, annotated by him,” says Frances proudly). The boat was, and is, called Antares and she is sailed in Sydney harbour. So that’s where the Alan part of Betty Alan’s bi-gender and bi-dynastic name comes from. The ‘Betty’ is from Ed’s mother. She is still, at 87, very much a sailor – as was her father, who owned Arthur Ransome’s Racundra for a while (“But didn’t everybody?” smiles Ed). He also owned Nyala, “possibly a Maurice Griffiths”, but most significantly within family history Talis II, which was bought on the day Paris was recaptured by the Allies. On one of Betty’s first cruises, Ed’s grandfather saw Nevil Shute on his boat and called out: “Look, there’s Nevil Shute.” Betty came up from below just as the whole boat exploded – possibly due to petrol having been put in the water tank – and was rescued from the sea by the famous novelist. “Talis II was written off by the insurers,” Ed adds, “but my grandfather re-bought and rebuilt her – 26

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

he’d built a house on Hayling Island and had an interest in Sparkes Boatyard there. She passed out of the family in the 1960s, and wasn’t heard of again until 1998, when she was reported sunk in Tasmania. She was raised again, rebuilt and is now owned by Peter Cheek on the Isle of Wight.” Ed and Betty went to see her; Ed with some trepidation. “I felt Talis II was like a gun held to my head: I feared the emotional ties would be irresistible – but they weren’t. And certainly not for Frances.”

prized possession And so to Betty Alan. Inevitably, she too has a history, albeit one that’s surprisingly short. She was only launched in 1999, though she looks more like a Mylne yacht of, say, the 1920s. The reason for this is simple and obvious. Her first owner, who had her built, saw a photo of a Mylne ketch and said to his designer: “I want one of these, but only 50ft (15.2m) on deck.” The owner’s name was Mark Varvill and his designer, and close friend, was Jeremy Lines, then the house designer at Camper

c/o ed maggs (top), BeKeN oF coWes (aBove)

& Nicholsons. “A major part of the pleasure of the boat has been getting to know Jeremy Lines,” says Ed. “He’s a man of great energy, charm, integrity and skill and something of his personality is carried in every curve.” The design combines a tall ketch rig with a centreboard, which doubles the draught (from 4ft 9in/1.5m to 9ft 9in/3m) when down, and, when not, is cunningly concealed in the spacious saloon layout. Varvill and Lines built the boat together, over about six years, beginning by having the hull built at Lathams yard in Poole. The work was done to an exceptionally high standard, a lot of it by Mark himself. The bronze deck fittings, for example, are all individual one-off castings. The hull is African mahogany, carlins are Columbian pine and the cabinsides teak. She was originally named Diligent II, after a steam yacht in Mark’s family, but it was at her launch party in 1999 that Mark felt the first symptoms of the cancer that was shortly to kill him. Diligent II took part in the 2001 America’s Cup Jubilee regatta, but an ailing

Mark had to be content with being driven around the Isle of Wight on land watching his boat perform. Diligent II had been built as a daysailer but her next owner, a businessman called Peter Muir, had ideas of blue-water sailing and commissioned Berthons to do a refit, no expense spared (“I know,” says Ed drily. “I’ve seen the invoices.”) Her name was changed to the slightly mysterious Samphire TM (these being the initials of his children). But in 2008, his business, like many others that year, went bust. Samphire TM was part way to Antigua at the time and the log simply says she turned back. Ed and Frances bought her in 2011 with what he describes as “an insultingly low offer”. It all started when they broke the mast of their Stella, Polaris, in a windy race at Suffolk Yacht Harbour. “That started a long, painful and traumatic process of flirtation with this boat. We’d always wanted a more substantial boat than a Stella, not least to fulfil my vow to take Frances to the Marquesas Islands in French Polynesia,” says Ed.

Clockwise from top left: Betty Alan strikes a formidable sight under full sail; Antares is still sailing in Sydney and she won the classic yacht race at the 175th Australia Day Regatta in 2011; Talis II photographed by Beken sailing in the Solent

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Above, left to right: Frances Maggs tends to a young crewmember; Ed Maggs takes on captain’s duties behind the wheel

PETER WILLIS

BETTY ALAN

“We stumbled across an advertisement for Samphire TM. It seemed an appalling piece of presumption to think that the likes of us could aspire to her, but nevertheless it led us to Berthon in Lymington one summer weekend. Sue Grant, the broker, left us alone in the boat for 10 minutes, during which we began to dream seriously. An intoxicating mix of desire and fear came over us, and when Sue returned I had my feet up on the settee in the most proprietorial of attitudes. I remember her little nod of recognition and the realisation that something might come of this. “A lot of wrestling with conscience and finances followed. When we finally dared to mention it to my mother, the senior sailor of the family, her reaction summed up the abnormal psychological condition that a boat like this brings on by saying: ‘You must be mad. Do it!’”

setting sail

“She loves a blow and above 20 knots of apparent wind she comes alive”

On the Sunday morning we are ready for the promised sail, and take Priors’ yard launch out to Betty Alan. It’s a chance to appreciate her hull, and concur with her owner’s evaluation of her lines: “Her sheer conveys substance and style, purpose and grace, and her ends are impossible to fault, none of the curves too obvious, full of references to earlier vessels, but never a slavish copy.” There are about a dozen of us aboard and we gradually divide ourselves into three areas. The cosy but spacious saloon becomes the centre of childcare and food prep. “The attraction of the saloon is obvious,” comments Ed, later. “There is no furniture at eye level and her wide beam gives a great sense of volume, while the fireplace adds a note of self-aware comedy.” On the forward bulkhead are three monochrome photographs in frames: Talis II, Antares and Betty Alan, the latter fully rigged with no fewer than seven sails set, including topsails on both main and mizzen masts. “The ketch rig, aesthetically, is hard to beat,” comments Ed, as the foredeck crew, under Frances, hoists some of those sails. “Everything people say about the rig is true, as the relative smallness of each sail makes sail handling relatively easy,” he adds. Ten of us are 28

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

crewing today and everyone gets their own string to play with. In their first full season in 2012, Ed and Frances took Betty Alan to Guernsey and back, and found they could handle her with just the two of them. In the spacious and sociable cockpit, Ed installs himself behind the wheel and gradually orchestrates proceedings. Once we’ve cast off, the foredeck party gets to work on the jackyard topsail. “We finally found out how to get it to set properly last weekend,” confides Ed, referring to the Commodore’s Cup race in which they took part. Today, though, the topsail is not being so compliant. There’s something wrong, and down it comes again. In fact, it keeps going wrong – a rope in the wrong place, a corner of the sail caught up. The topsail is going up and down like… well, it’s going up and down a lot. Eventually, everyone agrees it’s not perfect but it’ll do. “We’re still learning the boat,” admits Ed. Apparently the rig was originally specified because it was “more entertaining”, but the topsail, says Ed, “is essential for getting the best out of her in winds of up to 15 knots: without it one’s effectively sailing with a reef in.” All of a sudden, what was a placid Sunday trip up the Crouch turns into a series of squalls, and short, sharp tacks with screaming winches and shouted commands. Soon everybody is soaking wet and Ed, still grasping the wheel, is looking deliriously happy. “She loves a blow and above 20 knots of apparent wind she comes alive, charging over and through the seas like a rampant steeplechaser. Before today the best sail of the year had been a charge to weather in 20 knots of wind through the race at The String in Orkney [where they took Betty Alan for her summer cruise] – I have seldom felt so alive, and to feel her accommodating all that power without the slightest sense of strain or overpowering was intoxicating.” By the time we’re heading back, the squalls have blown through, the sun is out and we’re drying off a bit – and Ed is now talking about doing the Fastnet in 2015, handpicking from today’s crew to join in. He and Frances are grinning the deep, satisfied grin of people who have found their boat and have just discovered a little bit more about how to enjoy her.

Tack & Gybe Responsibly

CLASSIC A classic is born from a vision. You know one when you see one; the beautiful lines, the right 'look and feel,' and the sheer perfection which inevitably prompts the observer to want to reach out and touch it (or taste it in some circumstances). Wight Vodka was designed from the beginning in the spirit of a classic marque. And, being distilled 7 times here in Great Britain, embodies the ethos of a perfect finish. Enjoy, and please remember to Tack & Gybe Responsibly!

â&#x20AC;&#x153;SHEER PERFECTION.â&#x20AC;?

Antigua

sh ines

Racing to the finish at the Antigua Classics Concours d’Elégance

STORY JANET HEIN

ays before the Antigua Classics start, crews are busy polishing for the Concours d’Elégance. For some boats, it’s blue-tape season, meticulously applied for last-minute layers of paint or varnish. Other vessels prepare with a fresh coat of oil and pine tar. Cans of compounds and cleaners litter decks. Below, engine rooms are tidied, gear stored, brass buffed and pillows fluffed. Out of lockers pour fine china, cut glass and silver to be shined. Art and artefacts are displayed with outrageous tropical flower arrangements. Some take it more seriously than others. Matt Barker of The Blue Peter keeps his boat in a manner

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

that makes little extra effort necessary. “I might fluff up a cushion; make my bed,” he joked. “We don’t have any china, and cut glass on board isn’t very real, is it?” According to Jerry Bardoe, owner of Chippy Fine Yacht Woodwork in Antigua: “We look at age and authenticity.” Having been a judge for years, Bardoe has seen some interesting displays. “Once, we went aboard a boat and below was a crew member reclining in a bikini.” Laughing, he added: “I wondered: are we supposed to judge this, or take it as a bribe?” See CB312 (p19) for more news on the regatta and full race results. Alternatively, go to antiguaclassics.com

TIM WRIGHT

4 5

COnCOUrS

Elita

CHaMPiOn

Overall

Whitehawk winner

COnCOUrS D’elÉGanCe: 1 The wheel of Whitehawk receives another coat of varnish. The 1978-built wooden ketch, designed by Bruce King, was inspired by L Francis Herreshoff’s Ticonderoga, which was also present at the regatta and also won a concours prize. Whitehawk is a whopping 105ft (32m) long! 2 This photo was actually taken in 2011. It shows the perfectly flaked mainsail on Fife III’s masterpiece Latifa – a past concours winner, as well as recent winner of our very first “hull form” award (CB311) 3 Boatbuilder Ross Gannon (of Gannon & Benjamin) and owner of the 45ft (13.7m) sloop Elita (see above and below) receives the coveted Arne Frisell award for “greatest attention to structural integrity and safety”. In fact, it was a good year for Gannon & Benjamin, as another of their boats, the 65ft (19.8m) schooner Juno, won her class on the water 4 Despite the lovely antique rocking chair, Koukla was not in the prizes this year. She’s a 60ft (18.3m) gaff schooner, Taiwan-built in 1984 in the manner of a Gloucesterman 5 Elita in all her glory, close-hauled. Note the double-headed sloop rig, reefed main and club-footed jib PHoToS 1, 3, 4 AND BELoW By JANET HEIN. PHoTo 2 By DEN PHILLIPS. PHoTo 5 TIM WRIGHT.

Main: overall winner Whitehawk. Right: the verdigris bronze look as seen on the counter of the 82ft (25m) Fife III schooner Adventuress (CB293). Left: A crew member on Spirited Lady of Fowey shines the steelwork

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

ANTIGUA

bOTH IMaGeS: TIM WRIGHT, c/O SpIRIT YacHTS

Left to right: the J-Class Rainbow; the 76ft (23.2m) Nazgul of Fordell, cumulative winner in the Spirit Yachts class, and in Spirit of Tradition overall

Antigua sh ines Spirited racing

TIM WRIGHT

Above: the 88ft (27m) Sincerity, a 1927 ketch down from Maine, racing in Vintage A class

It wasn’t all varnish and scatter cushions at this year’s Antigua! Giants like the J-Class Rainbow were out racing in the big ocean swell that makes this regatta every photographer’s favourite. At the other end of the scale were perennial favourites, the Carriacou Sloops (Genesis took the silverware). Perhaps the biggest winner was Spirit Yachts who, with nine boats present, were given their own class. They also won the general Spirit of Tradition class. The British boatbuilder is giving its boatbuilding rivals in Turkey, the USA and Netherlands more than a run for their money. 32

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

JaNeT HeIN

STORY ANTHONY MORRIS

Left: The Blue Peter flying her special white ensign, courtesy of her charter for the regatta, the Royal Naval Sailing Club

Yachts for sale Seljm 36m/112’, Sangermani, 1980/2010, €2,900,000 Vat paid Jonathan Syrett +34 971 40 33 11 – jsyrett@camperandnicholsons.com Bob O’Brien +1 561 655 2121 – bobrien@camperandnicholsons.com — Custom-built in 1980 and refitted in 2010, the world cruiser, SELJM was built to the highest standards by the renowned Italian shipyard, Cantieri Sangermani and with a beautifully finished classic interior, the art of craftsmanship can be experienced both inside and out. SELJM has performed very well in regattas like the The Antigua Classic Regatta where she proudly took first place in her class and won the ‘Concours d’Elegance’ in 2013 for professionally maintained yachts. An excellent and fast long distance cruiser that has sailed around the world.

Unrivalled knowledge Unbeatable experience –

Antibes / Fort Lauderdale / Geneva / Great Lakes / London / Miami / Monaco / Newport / New York / Palma de Mallorca / Palm Beach

Antigua Classics Week 2013 winner of the Classic Division and the Beken of Cowes Trophy

Main picture: (left to right) 15-Ms Isabel Alexandra, Beduin III and Paula III sailing into Horten. Left: the 1914 regatta programme. Inset: Kaiser Wilhelm II

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

NorwegiaN MaritiMe MuseuM, oslo / abel collectioN

ail after sail appears on the horizon, amid a forest of masts. Great white balloons fill the sky as the boats scud along from the Kattegat, all sails set. Their destination is Norway and the tiny coastal town of Horten, which has invited all of Europe to a series of international yacht races. An area of low pressure off World’s End has captured some 50 boats and they glide slowly, side by side, on the warm summer breeze. They will soon round the first point of Bastøya Island and sail up towards Horten. Meteor IV is the first to arrive. Emperor Wilhelm II is out to impress with 164ft (50m) of sheer elegance. The main mast towers 150ft (45.7m) up into the sky, and her 16,117sqft (1,497m²) of sail brush the clouds. Behind her comes a giant in steel: Krupp’s Germania and the schooner Hamburg II, owned by a consortium of Hamburg sailors. The voyage has been slow, with Hamburg II taking 60 hours to arrive from Copenhagen. The 12-Metres and 15-Metres scattered on either side of these three enormous boats look tiny by comparison. Johan Anker knows practically every boat. He watches as two German 15-Metre yachts glide past further out. He recognises the first one immediately, it is Dr Luttrop’s Isabel Alexandra, which he himself designed and built in Vollen the previous year. Johan waves to the 12-Metre yachts from Sweden, Sibyllan and Erna Signe. Sibyllan is one of his own designs, built by Anker & Jensen the year before. Erna Signe, designed by William Fife III, is probably hungry for revenge after her defeat in the 1912 Olympic Games. Ten Swedish boats have registered for Europe Week. The Danish flotilla of yachts is even more impressive –

1914

Sailing on the

brink of

war

Just weeks before the outbreak of the First World War, a diehard group of yachtsmen gathered in Norway for a racing regatta extraordinaire. Here, we remember the events of Europe Week 1914 and look forward to this yearâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s centenary anniversary story nic compton

EUROPE WEEK 1914-2014 or at least their crew apparently is. According to the Seilas correspondent in Horten: “the Danish vessels carried over the sea to Norway’s fjords a rare contingent of lovely young ladies.” He had hoped to see Mr Whitaker’s Margarita arriving from England to provide the two German schooners with some proper competition, but only two British 15-Metre yachts have made the voyage over the North Sea: Pamela and Maudrey. Johan had done his utmost, writing several articles in The Field, to encourage the British sailors to take part in Europe Week in Horten, without success. Many of the British sailors thought that Europe Week should be arranged by one of “the three major countries” (ie, UK, Germany and France), in well-known harbours that were suited for such events. Up until a few months before, it was not even certain where the Norwegian Yacht Club (KNS) would be allowed to host the regatta. The first had been held in Cowes, the second in Kiel, the third in Le Havre, and Spain had applied to hold the fourth in Bilbao in 1914. But KNS chairman Sam Eyde was able to seek audience with King Alfonso XIII, who promised to encourage Spain to wait until 1915. Although Norway was a nation with a small population, it had quickly developed an impressive fleet of racing yachts. Lloyd’s Yacht Register of 1914 placed Germany at the top of the Metre-rule league table with 210 Metre boats, followed by France with 99 and Norway with 92, ahead of Great Britain in fourth place. Eyde travelled to France and Germany to secure the participation of Emperor Wilhelm II, while deputy chairman Johan Anker worked on his British and German contacts. Eventually they were successful, and the decision was made to host Europe Week in Norway.

In total, 132 boats were expected to arrive in Horten, an impressive number by modern standards. In addition to the three German schooners, the boats registered included five 15-Metre yachts, 11 12-Metre yachts, six 10-Metre yachts, 11 8-Metre yachts and a number of 9-Metre, 7-Metre and 6-Metre yachts – and that was only in the Metre-rule classes. The boats arrived from Germany, England, Finland, Holland, Russia, Sweden and many from the host nation of Norway. Another 400 boats of all sizes came carrying spectators and nearly 3,000 people rented lodgings in Horten. The captain of Hamburg II, Max Hayn, later said: “The town, with 1,200 inhabitants, has a very picturesque setting, but is not particularly suitable for the commotion brought about by Europe Week, so there were many difficulties regarding accommodation and provisioning – difficulties which were nonetheless overcome.” Many participants at Europe Week were sailing newly bought or newly built boats. Sam Eyde had the first Norwegian 15-Metre yacht, Sophie Elisabeth, a William Fife III design from 1912 that he had renamed Beduin III, as he did with all his boats. Johan Friele had Skum III, designed by Nicholson and built by Jac M Iversen in Son. Skum III was the first 12-Metre in Norway not to be built by Anker & Jensen, and was Jac M Iversen’s first large yacht. Olaf Ditlev-Simonsen was there with his new 9-Metre Vav, built by Anker & Jensen, and Georg Von Erpecom took part with the Anker-designed 10-Metre Irina. The races started on 15 July 1914 with a good sea breeze. In the KNS’s anniversary book of 1958, Kr Anker Olsen reminisces: “Most of the boats had gaff rigs with topsail and jib boom. Not only did they brush the skies, they also swept the seas like queens of the ball from the age of crinoline, with their mainsail booms

Above: Johan Anker relaxing on the boom. Right: two 12-Ms, Beduin II (left) and Magda IX (right), racing in Oslofjord against the 8-M Amazone (centre) 36

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

NORWEGIAN MARITIME MUSEUM, OSLO / ABEL COLLECTION

“In total, 132 boats were expected to arrive in Horten”

erect and their balloons and spinnakers stretching upwards, while the schooners flew their jackyard topsails and flying jibs. As the wind rose and filled the enormous sails, and spray tumbled over the bows, which was all one could see of the hull under the conglomeration of sails, a gasp of delight was heard from the spectators on board the many boats and along the shore. This was a parade never before seen and never to be paralleled. None of the sailors present, whether on the racing yachts or in the committee boats, realised that this beautiful spectacle also had a serious side. For the sport of sailing, it was the culmination and finishing point of more than a hundred years of development; as a symbolic social event, this was the conclusion of an era of grand style.’ The sailors, however, were there for the regatta. As many as 73 of the boats taking part had been built to the 1907 International Rule, meaning they could compete equally among nations. And it was not just the helmsmen who were competing here, it was also the designers. The regatta lasted four days, under increasingly strong winds. Most of the prizes in the schooner class went to Meteor IV, despite the general consensus that Germania looked faster. The German Emperor, who was spending his annual summer holiday in the Norwegian fjords, received daily telegrams updating him on Meteor IV’s

excellent performance. Isabel Alexandra from Germany was the best yacht in the 15-Metre class and was the largest Metre-rule boat designed by Anker. Seilas reported on the second day of racing: “The 12-Metre race was exceptionally fun and exciting, and their arrival towards the finishing line was a delight to watch – one which most sailors agree will most likely never be seen again. Eleven 12-Metre yachts, one after the other, all at equal distances, be it large or small. Four Anker boats in the lead: Sibilla from Sweden followed by Symra, Magda IX and Figaro. A number of boats designed by Johan Anker took first place in their class – the 15-Metre Isabel Alexandra, the 10-Metre Skum II and the 9-Metre Vav. Also taking first place were the 7-Metre Martha II and the 6-Metre Mosquito – competing against an entire swarm of Norwegian and international 6-Metre yachts. This was a day of honour for Anker & Jensen!” Anker’s wife Nini was at home in Lillehaugen, relaxing in the lovely weather. Every day, she received a telegram from her husband: “15 July, Johan sent a telegraph saying that the gathering in Horten is a huge success – lots of participants and wonderful weather, the guests from abroad are delighted. “17 July. New telegram saying that most of the Anker boats have taken first prize today in Horten in

Above: Emperor Wilhelm II’s Meteor IV and the 1908 Germania

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

EUROPE WEEK 1914-2014 As these three vessels followed each other across the North Sea, the remaining participants spent Monday sailing to Kristiania (Oslo) for the closing party. After the regatta, Anker’s wife wrote: “20 July. Johan is exhausted, but also perfectly satisfied with the result of his hard work. He has not eaten enough and has had too much sun and dust – but the results are excellent. During the evening, he attended a garden party hosted by Sam Eyde and his wife at their new home in Bygdø. This was a large party with orchestra, coffee, diplomats – and the entire event was filmed for cinema.” The Emperor was to attend Mr Eyde’s garden party, but decided to remain on holiday in west Norway. He was probably anxious after a number of alarming telegrams, including news of a young Serb who had shot and killed the Austrian successors to the throne on 28 June. Despite this, he chose to remain on holiday for another five days and did not return to Germany until 25 July. On 1 August, the Emperor declared war on Russia and France and, by 4 August, German troops had started their advance on the Belgian border. In Britain, which was a French ally, Germania and the 15-Metre Paula III (owned by the popular sailor from Hamburg and friend of England, Ludvik Sander) were welcomed with open arms – only to be taken as spoils of war. This was the start of the First World War.

SUPPLIED BY PETER ENNALS

a fresh breeze. He may fall in the water, fully dressed. “18 July. Great enthusiasm for the boats from Anker & Jensen boatyard in the newspapers.” After five races, the Anker boats remained dominant. Isabel Alexandra won the 15-Metre class, despite damage on the fourth day, which prevented her from racing in the last race. As the wind picked up, Sam Eyde’s Beduin III gained speed and won the 15-Metre races on the last two days. The 12-Metre Symra, with Anker at the helm, took first place in four races and second place in another. “Isdahl’s boat proved itself the best new boat of the year, performing just as well when the wind drops as in a fresh breeze,’ wrote a journalist on the Aftenposten newspaper. ‘The old Adorna (ex-Magda VII) from 1907 won the 10-Metre class. In the 9-Metre class, Vav took every first place available. The only Metre class not dominated by Anker-designed boats was the 8-Metre, in which Astrid was victorious. Martha II achieved a narrow victory in the 7-Metre class, while Mosquito won the 6-Metre class taking three first places.” There was no doubt that Europe Week 1914 was a major success. On Sunday evening, 19 July, while celebrations were still under way, the schooner Germania slid out of the harbour in Horten. She was followed by the English 15-Metre Pamela and the German 15-Metre Paula III, all heading for England. They had no time to waste if they were to make it to the UK for Cowes Week.

Ten historic yachts return The following yachts raced in Europe Week 1914 and will return again for the centenary Erna Signe – One of 10 Swedish Metre boats to compete at Horten in 1914, the William Fife III-designed 12-Metre lost her mast in the last race. She sailed in Denmark for 50 years before being restored and brought back to Norway in 1998. Flirt IV – After coming second in class in 1914, the Anker & Jensen 9-Metre was bought by John Illingworth in the 1920s. She was raced in Scotland until the 1990s when she was brought back to Norway and fully restored.

Magda VIII – Designed by Fife III and built by Anker & Jensen in 1909, Magda VIII is thought to be the oldest 12-Metre in existence. As Magnolia, she underwent a 17-year restoration in 1982-99, and again in 2008-09. Martha II – Narrow and massively overrigged, this Anker 7-Metre had mixed fortunes in 1914, including one win and a broken mast. She was brought back to Oslo in 1990 and fully restored in 2008-11. Pandora – (above right) The 1907 Anker & Jensen 9-Metre was the first yacht built to the Metre Rule in Norway and, possibly, the world. She sailed under bermudan rig from 1920 until she was converted back to gaff in 2002. Raak – Designed by Bjarne Aas, this 12m Spissgattere (double-ender) managed a 4th place in 1914 and was later seized by the

Germans during the Second World War. She returned to Norway in 1995 and has been gradually restored. Star III – The 7-Metre by Danish designer Werner Hansen was finished just in time for the 1914 regatta and competed in only one race. Storm – (above left) One of eight boats competing in the Spissgattere 10m and over class, Storm finished 5th, 2nd and 1st in 1914. She is still largely original. Suzanne – Built as a cruiser by Anker & Jensen in 1907 and later rated as a 9-Metre, there is some doubt whether Suzanne actually competed in 1914 – though she is old enough. Tarpon II – The Russian first owner of this 1911 Anker 10-Metre clocked up 179,000 miles and sailed her into his nineties. She was brought to Norway in 1998 and restored in 2008.

Turn over for full details about the 2014 centenary event 38

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Swiss movement, English heart

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eurOPe Week 1914-2014

2014 norWay

centenary celebrations HenricH@seiLAs

With more than 70 yachts signed up for the 100th anniversary regatta, Europe Week 2014 looks set to be just as spectacular as its 1914 forebear story nic compton

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

No sailor can go to Oslo without visiting the Viking Ship Museum at nearby Bygdøy. Walking around the three ships is akin to a religious experience and something that will stay with me for the rest of my life. At the time of going to press, the organisers had 70 yachts signed up, representing eight countries – with Kelpie, so far, the only British boat going (only two British boats, Pamela and Maudrey, attended the original event in 1914 and none came in 2000). The biggest is the 91ft 10in (28m) Alfred Mylne ketch Eileen II, while the smallest is the 15ft 9in (4.9m) Oslojolle (a class of training dinghy) Hura. But the most impressive sight will be the fleet of Metre yachts, led by the 15-Metre Magda XIII, accompanied by no less than seven 12-Metres, six 10-Metres, four 9-Metres and seven 8-Metres, with a few 7- and 6-Metres thrown in for good measure. With so much to do and see, you won’t want to waste any time sleeping.

Clockwise from top: kelpie; Suzanne on Sandefjord; the striking church in the centre of Sandefjord

OSLO Vollen Inner OSLOfjOrd

nOrWaY

Son Horten Outer OSLOfjOrd

Sandefjord Skagerrak

Left: cB ArcHiVe; top: peter MuMford, Beken of cowes

A word of advice for anyone planning to go to Norway for Europe Week 2014: get some sleep before you go. Norwegians don’t sleep in summer. After spending most of the winter holed up in their well-insulated homes, they make the most of every hour of sunshine that summer brings, which means sailing hard and partying hard. Even when it’s dark in Oslo in July, it’s never very dark, which means you can go to sleep in what feels like early evening and wake up two hours later in early morning. No wonder Norwegian sailors of all ages indulge in their beloved snus, or smokeless tobacco, to keep them alert in the wee hours. They need it. That said, the programme laid on for this year’s regatta looks a lot more relaxed than the two-week, seven-leg epic laid on in 2000. The festivities kick off at the former whaling port of Sandefjord, at the mouth of the Oslofjord. More than 100 whaling ships were based here during the first half of the 20th century, mainly fishing in the Antarctic, and carried on up until 1968. It’s worth a visit to the whale museum (said to be the only one in Europe) if only to see the impressive remains of one leviathan laid out on the floor. After two days of racing, the fleet heads up the Oslofjord to the old town of Son, with its lines of brightly coloured wooden houses dating back to the Dutch period. Once an important boatbuilding centre, it’s now the haunt of artists and tourists. From there, the wooded banks of the Oslofjord narrow as the fleet enters the inner fjord, past the Anker & Jensen yard at Vollen (now a marina) and on to Oslo itself for a champagne reception at the town hall.

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Artisan_ClassicBoat_2014Final2.indd 1

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

2/18/14 9:12 AM

Saleroom BONHAMS, LONDON

Sopwith’s superyacht BY DAVE SELBY Provenance, history and craftsmanship all combine in this exquisite model of a 263ft (80m) classic superyacht built in 1937 by Camper & Nicholsons for America’s Cup challenger Sir Thomas Sopwith. The 1,600-ton displacement SY Philante served as a tender to Endeavour II in the 1937 cup challenge, was requisitioned in World War Two to play the part of a convoy ship in British Navy submarine exercises, then in 1947 was bought from Sopwith by the Norwegian government for King Haakon VII as a measure of the nation’s gratitude for his resistance to the Nazis. Today, as Norge, she is

one of only three European royal yachts still in commission. If that were not enough, the 65in (165cm) model was commissioned following the vessel’s 1947 refit from renowned model makers BassettLowke, best known today for their highly collectible model trains. All those factors added up to a realisation of £17,500 when the model was sold at Bonhams’ Gentleman’s Library auction earlier in the year.

BONHAMS

Above and left: fine detailing includes brass-edged portlights and windows

CHARLES MILLER LTD, LONDON

BONHAMS, USA

Touchdown in style If you really want to make an impact at a classic regatta, then consider touching down in this majestic SavoiaMarchetti S-56 three-seater seaplane, built in the USA in 1929 under licence from the Italian manufacturer. Just two wooden S-56s survive in airworthy condition, but unfortunately this is not one of them. Restored for museum display in the USA, it may, however, be possible to return it to airworthiness. The S-56 embarked on many epic expeditions, including a 17,000-mile (27,359km) adventure from England to China by American tobacco heir Zachary Smith Reynolds, who used his yacht as a tender. The pictured S-56 sold at Bonhams in the USA for $125,000 (c£74,000). at.co.uk/ classicboroom/ sale stories for extra

e See mooorm Salerine onl

An incredibly rare 16th-century mariner’s astrolabe, bought in a curio shop in the 1950s for £450, made a whopping £84,000 when it came under the hammer at Charles Miller Ltd’s latest maritime auction in London. The Portuguese astrolabe (see CB311), forerunner of the sextant, is one of around 100 known to survive worldwide and stands for its remarkable condition; most survivors are distressed wreck-finds. Today’s collectors are prepared to pay top money for quality, craftsmanship and rarity, and the instrument was one of a number of objects that busted their pre-sale estimates in the £485,000 auction on 30 April. A fine builder’s model of the steam launch tender to the 1894 SY Wintonia (below left) cantered past its £2,000-£3,000 estimate to sell for £5,520. The early 19th-century mahogany model for a double capstan (below right) was also hotly contested, selling for £3,600 against an estimate of £1,000-£1,500.

CHARLES MILLER LTD

BONHAMS

Mega money for ancient astrolabe

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Objects of desire Picture this Although we’ve always loved James Dodds’s wonderful floating paintings of clinker hulls, when we visited his recent exhibition at the Bircham Gallery in Norfolk, it was his woodcuts and linocuts that really caught our eye. Depicting classic scenes from boatyards, creeks and the sea using mostly black on white or with a single additional colour, his woodcuts utilise the natural grain of the wood and his linocuts have the tranquil motionlessness that complements the careful nature of the work itself. One of our favourite pieces is shown opposite, namely Brooklin Boat Yard, Past & Present, which is a 510mm x 710mm two-colour linocut, produced in a limited-edition run of 150. A treat and an investment. £400 inc VAT (unframed) birchamgallery.co.uk, jamesdodds.co.uk james@jamesdodds.co.uk

Take note The twin traditions of sailors writing a logbook and sketching new coastlines, flora and fauna are good ones, but many boats’ logs don’t invite more than the cursory remark on conditions. So step forward the personal notebook, integrating sketchpad and remarks… And we love these colourful, clothbound A5 Pop and Art versions from Gnu, with markers, perforated “tear” sheets and a useful pocket in the back. Lined and plain versions are also available. £9.99 plus p&p imagnu.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1273 488005

Saw good Last month, in our special traditional tool section, Robin Gates extolled the properties of the Gentleman’s saw. And so we’re delighted to find that these are still available, being made in the traditional way by Sheffield-based Thomas Flinn & Co. These are the Pax saws with a rosewood handle and brass ferrule, and as they are very easy to control, they cut smoothly and cleanly. But the best thing? It has to be the price: this beautiful 8in (20cm) version costs £18.08 plus p&p. flinn-garlick-saws.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)114 272 5387

A cut above

The Opinel knife is so ingrained in our psyche I swear that we could recognise it if we were handed one blindfolded. At first glance, this seems like a mere nostalgic upgrade, but a Damascus blade is a thing of proper function. Firstly, the No 8 is the best size, easily dropped into the pocket and with a proper 3¼in (8.3cm) blade. This crystalline-scale sintering method preserves the fine-grained texture of the blade and makes the alloy highly resistant to corrosion, as well as being aesthetically pleasing and constantly sharp. This Damas model is limited to 500 units worldwide and is destined to be one of the most collectable Opinel knives ever produced. c£200 opinel.com/uk Tel: +33 4 79 69 46 18

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

live was brave, giving you a price for restoring this boat. I wouldn’t have.” That was what Thames Traditional Rally judge Mark Stanley told Zaire’s owners last summer prior to handing them the Osland Trophy rosette for “Best Structural Restoration”. Clive was Clive Emerson, late owner of Gweek Quay Boatyard in Cornwall. Zaire is a 40ft (12.2m) Silver Leaf motor-cruiser, built in 1933 by J A Silver of Rosneath, Scotland. She was Clive’s last major project, unfinished when he died suddenly in 2009. Her owners are Graham and Becky Boule (pictured left) who live in Gloucestershire (though Becky hails from California). They already owned (and still do) a day launch – a 33ft

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Queen

African

After four “horrendous” years in the yard and a bill for nearly £40,000, Zaire is back cruising again. Here, her passionate owners tell the full story STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS PETER WILLIS

(10.1m) Admiralty-built, double-diagonal ex-police boat called Vixen, but had begun looking for something bigger that could provide accommodation. They found Zaire “rotting away” in Mylor Yacht Harbour at the very end of 2004. “I just walked down the pontoon and as soon as I saw her, I said: ‘That’s the one!’” says Becky. When they took Clive to look at her, his reaction was: “If you don’t buy her I will.” It was already clear that she was a project, despite the assurances of the broker’s salesman: “He said ‘I think you’ll find she’s structurally sound’, but we could see mushrooms growing in the lockers!” recalls Becky. “She was clearly doomed to be bought for next to nothing and retired to a creek while she finished falling apart,” says Graham. “We bought her for two reasons:

she was clearly a quality boat, very original, which deserved saving, and she was a boat we could go round the coast on. She’d be properly used.” They paid “next to nothing for her” – far less than the £20,000 asking price – but rather than park her up a creek, they motored her across Falmouth Harbour and up the Helford to Gweek – a two-hour trip on just one engine (the second one had died). Becky admits this gave her a glimmer of false hope: “I was thinking ‘Oh, she’s all right’. The next day we got the first email from Clive showing a screwdriver stuck into the rotten transom.” Clive did indeed give them a quote – £36,000, based on the work revealed in the survey report. But he wasn’t all that brave, or daft. As Graham puts it: “The survey couldn’t see everything. Every plank he took off revealed

Above: Zaire in all her magnificent restored glory at last year’s Thames Trad Rally. Far left: proud owners Graham and Becky Boule

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Above: Zaire is a classic 40ft (12.2m) Silver Leaf class cruiser. Built in 1933, she underwent a thorough restoration at Gweek Quay between 2004-2009

more cracked timbers. We kept getting emailed more photographs of screwdrivers stuck into pieces of rot. We proceeded by Clive giving us a price for the extra work as it came to light.” There followed three or four years of work. “It was horrendous, every time we went down there was more destruction.” It was frames and planks to begin with – “the aft section was in real trouble”. Then there was rot in the stem, and the breasthook had to be replaced. The keel was dropped, ready to be sandblasted. Then Zaire moved into the shed to have her deck, beams and beamshelves attended to. “There was a lot more work than we’d anticipated, but it was worth it,” both Graham and Becky agree. “Clive had this confidence about things that made all the difference to us – he’d say: ‘You’ve got to live with this boat – don’t make her into a museum piece. She’s got to be used. And don’t lose all the dinks and dents – they all add to her story.’” But then it all stopped. At about the end of 2008 the recession hit Graham and Becky’s structural engineering business. Graham went to work in Germany, Zaire went into a plastic bag. Then, in the summer of 2009, Clive died. Zaire, fairly close to being completed, remained in the storage shed.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

It was the Thames Jubilee Pageant in 2012 that got things going again, though it nearly didn’t. Graham and Becky put in an application on behalf of Zaire – she is, after all, on the National Historic Ships Register – but were turned down, they think because of their lack of RYA certificates, though both have sailed since childhood. Fine, they thought, she’ll stay in the shed. Then, six weeks before the pageant, they got an email from Ian Welsh, who was organising the historic boats. People had dropped out. Were they still interested? Ian, who is Scottish, confessed to “a soft spot for Silvers”. Even though they were both working in Germany by then, when the email arrived: “We looked at each other and knew she had to go to the party,” says Becky. “Six weeks! I decided to hightail it back to Cornwall.” However, when she rang Gweek Quay she found the yard in the midst of its handover to new owner Ashley Butler, and without any manpower to put on the job. Graham emailed a few boatyards in Cornwall, to find one that could undertake transportation (Gweek Quay wanted its shed back) and “a few finishing-off jobs”. One was Brian Pope’s Ocean Yacht Company (OYC), not too far away in Penpol, and they collected

“We could see mushrooms growing in the lockers”

ZAIRE

Clockwise from left: original bulkhead lamps will be replaced at some point; folding cots in the fo’c’s’le; ornate luggage rack in the stateroom; the newly painted deck basking in the soft light; original teak woodwork

Zaire from Gweek. Then Becky went down to visit the yard: “I found Brian and his team standing in a row with their arms folded, sucking their teeth and saying ‘this won’t happen’. I told them: ‘I’m an American. Anything can happen.’” Surprisingly, it did. There was more work – again – than Becky and Graham, and probably Brian, had anticipated. The keel was still off and the boat had begun to hog. “The surveyor took me forward in the forepeak and showed me where the planks bulged at the stem,” recalls Becky. “But Brian got the keel back from the shotblasters and fitted it, with a full set of new keel bolts, and pulled her straight.” Once OYC had recognised that these weren’t just “chequebook clients”, as Becky calls it, they pitched in and got things moving. Becky herself – after turning up on day one with her Dyson, vacuuming all the old sawdust out of the interior and sifting through the jumble of parts – rented a cottage nearby and started baking a constant stream of cakes for the team. Even so, it was a huge job. The engines were in, but not commissioned, and when they were, gearbox problems showed up. By this time, Becky was back in Gloucestershire, sewing cushions for the boat in her free time. “I got a phone call from Ian Knowles at OYC during her sea trials. He said:

Above: cute pet dog, complete with lifejacket, clearly approves of his owners’ decision to buy and restore Zaire

‘We’re going across Restronguet Creek at nine knots and she’s magnificent! She was built for this!’” On top of all that, there was a heads storage tank to go in, a new hydraulic steering system and mast rigging. They’d lost a fortnight getting Zaire out of Gweek. “Brian and his team did all that in under four weeks. Amazing!” say Graham and Becky. They decided to buff her up, but not attempt a revarnish. Brian did, though, picking out the scroll motifs on the bows in gold leaf, before sending her on her way to London, just days before the Pageant. Becky and Graham flew into Heathrow on different flights and each, separately, had the thrill of getting onto the M4 and overtaking first Pyronaut, the Bristol fire tender, and then their own Zaire. When they made it to the specially arranged, after-hours scrutineering session on the Friday before the event – one of the MCA scrutineers told Graham: “Your boat’s leaking.” Graham’s reply was: “I’m not that surprised. She’s only been in the water a week, for the first time in seven years, and she’s just done a 400-mile road trip.” Despite having to talk their way through police cordons on closed roads to get themselves, their guests and their provisions aboard (despite the filthy weather on the day, and despite Graham not having had much of CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

gwEEk qUAy

ZAIRE

Above, left to right: a new sliding hatch and companionway doors were made, but given a matt finish; Zaire’s hull was a mess with myriad cracked timbers, particularly in the aft section; one of the many photographs showing the extent of the rot

a chance to practise handling her yet sticking to the belief that “I knew we’d be all right once we were on the mooring at Putney”) they were utterly delighted and proud to have taken part. Which was probably just as well, because the rest of the year was a washout. The river was closed due to heavy rain, meaning the 2012 Thames Trad Rally, and Zaire’s planned debut, were cancelled, and movement restrictions seriously affected their use of her. In 2013, however, she came into her own and the win at the Thames Trad Rally was a genuine surprise. “I only entered her in a few categories as a way of putting some money into the event,” explains Becky. “I’d read that it was having a tough time financially.” It’s appropriate that the award is for structural restoration as, cosmetically, particularly on the interior, there is still work to do. The woodwork, though original and teak, is matt rather than varnished. Most of the

bulkhead lights, with their neat little glass shades, are awaiting refitting, and there are a dozen-and-one other jobs awaiting attention. There is even a bulkhead panel in the saloon bearing a few scribbled calculations in Clive Emerson’s own handwriting. “But we’re not going to paint over those,” they say firmly. Graham is particularly pleased that Zaire’s present condition is the result of work by Clive and a team that combined skilled shipwrights with apprentices. “We don’t want to rush it now,” says Becky. “She’s floating and she’s sound and it was her 80th birthday last year. We plan to take it easy on the Thames for a while longer – while we’re flying to and from Germany at any rate – and maybe offer her for some day charters. Then a more ambitious usage plan will develop.” For the time being they will be happy just enjoying their boat and thinking about what else they should do to get her how they want her.

The life and times of Zaire ZAIRE BUILDER

James A Silver BUILT

1933 LOA

40ft 3in (12.3m) BEAm

9ft 6in (2.9m) DRAUghT

3ft 9in (1.2m) DIspLAcEmEnT

33,069lb (15T) EngInEs

Two 1957 BMC Commander diesels (46hp) 50

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Zaire was built by James A silver of Rosneath to a design by the yard’s designer and mD, John Bain, and launched on 29 April 1933. she was the third of the 40ft (12.2m) silver Leaf class of cruisers. she had a conventional, twin-screw motor yacht design, with a saloon, galley, small cockpit, two-berth stateroom and a fo’c’s’le with folding cots. Under the wheelhouse were two 15hp kelvin Ricardo paraffin engines with electric start, together with 46-gallon (209Lt) paraffin tanks and 5-gallon (23Lt) petrol tanks for starting. The planking was of 1in (25mm) pitch pine and mahogany, with canvascovered pine decks and teak fittings. Zaire was built for a Robert Barr of kilmacolm. no explanation of the name survives, but it probably relates to the former name of the congo River. however, mr Barr did not keep her long. In 1935 she was sold to samuel hardy holmes, who renamed

her kia-Ora V (the last but one of six kia-Oras he owned). Then, in 1939, she went to gavin smith of Edinburgh, who renamed her nivag (get it?), the name she still held when graham and Becky found her in mylor in 2004. During the second world war, nivag was requisitioned by the Royal Army service corps (RAsc). Officer transport was one of her duties, but she also transported silica sand (for making high-quality glass lenses) from the quarry on Lochaline to Oban and glasgow. There is also a story, unconfirmed, that she rescued downed bomber crews. A wooden plaque in the wheelhouse lists the names of those who served on her. In 1945 she was bought by harold p murdoch, a director of singer sewing machines, who kept her until 1965 and replaced her original kelvin paraffin engines with the two Bmc diesels that she still has. murdoch was in the Royal scottish motor yacht club.

her next owner was Ray m Bradburn, commodore of the north wales cruising club, conwy. In 1975 she was registered to mr T hopton of castleford, yorkshire, who sold her to peter Alan camfield of south milford, yorkshire, who registered her on the national historic ships Register. Jon Freeman, great-grandson of samuel holmes, remembers seeing nivag in naburn on the great Ouse, but didn’t realise her connection to his ancestor (he discovered it while researching the six kia Oras sometime later, around 1994). In 2000, nivag was sold to Adrian Tilley, at Deacons Boatyard on the hamble, and then in 2002 gregory Alan stephens of Frome, somerset, took ownership of her. he installed new water systems and some rewiring, replaced the masts and presumably moved her to cornwall, where graham and Becky found her in 2004.

FOR SALE BY OWNER Th e 1 9 3 0 J o h n A l d e n S c h o o n e r {Design No. 458}

70’ loa • 61’ lod • sail area 2,200 sq. ft Full compliment of sails & equipment On the market after 30 years of ownership, this meticulously maintained schooner is currently available for sale by owner. Located in San Diego, California, USA, Dauntless has been featured on several covers and issues of Sailing Magazine, Wooden Boat, Nautical Quarterly and Santana magazines. Dauntless has a competitive record including races from San Diego to Hawaii, biannual Master Mariners Regattas, and numerous races and cruises along the California coast. History, Specifications, Gallery & Contact Information

www.schoonerdauntless.com Photos ~ Bob Grieser Dauntless_CBHP_0513.indd 1

5/13/14 9:04 AM

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A personal view

Why I sail dinghies The romance of shoal waters and a way of sailing that confronts conventional notions of contentment... Roger Barnes, author of The Dinghy Cruising Companion presents a compelling argument to ditch your cabin Story ROGER BARNES IlluStratIonS CLAUDIA MYATT

he masts of fishing luggers used to thicket the old harbour, the cobbled wharfs were laden with nets and pickling barrels, and the air was thick with the smell of the fish. Now the fish dock has been invaded by cafés and pleasure craft, and the few remaining fishing vessels have been banished to the outer breakwater. The old smokehouse is replaced by a kiosk selling cappuccinos. A block of contemporary apartments overlooks the pontoon berths that fill the harbour basin. Halyards clatter against aluminium masts and diesels throb as pleasure craft manoeuvre into the finger berths, fenders swinging from their white topsides. Beyond the red beacon on the end of the breakwater, the Atlantic swells heave against the dark cliffs, as they did in the heyday of the local fishing fleet. The harbour may have changed, but the sea remains the same. A white lugsail rises and falls in the waves: a small dinghy rushing towards the shelter of the harbour. She surfs down the face of the seas, her sail well reefed down. Her helmsman concentrates on holding her dead before the wind, to avoid a gybe in the overfalls off the harbour mouth. The dinghy surges into the wind shadow of the breakwater. She wallows in the sudden calm, insignificant among the yachts and fishing vessels. Then she heels to a gust and accelerates into the crowded harbour. The boatman luffs her into the wind a few yards from the quayside, lugsail shaking. Leaving the tiller, he strolls forward to the foot of the mast and lowers the sail smartly into the boat. Then he lifts an anchor from the bottom boards and drops it over the side into the harbour.

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I look down into the little boat. She exudes an air of seamanlike competency: neat, simple and uncluttered, with spare ropes neatly coiled and kitbags securely lashed down. The boatman is dressed like a fisherman, in a faded cotton smock and chest-high PVC trousers. He unclips his buoyancy aid and chucks it down into the boat. Pulling a sea oar out from under the sail, he drops it into the sculling notch and nonchalantly brings the bow of his dinghy gently alongside a quayside ladder. Laying down the oar, the boatman moves forward to the bows, grabs a rung of the ladder, passes his painter round and makes fast. Then he hauls on the anchor warp and belays it on a stout cleat in his dinghy, finishing with a locking turn. A moment later he has untied the painter and started climbing. On reaching the quayside he walks along the wharf, paying out the painter as he goes. Then he throws a half turn over a bollard and hauls in on the painter. The dinghy swings away from the quayside and moves out into clear water. She comes to a rest well clear of the quay wall, held between the anchor warp and her painter. The boatman gives her a bit of slack, then throws a lighterman’s hitch over the bollard. Tugging the knot tight, he coils the rest of the warp and lays it on the cobbles. “Good to see someone using a Pythagorean mooring,” I say. “Never heard it called that,” he says. “Look, I must be off – shops are about to shut.” A nod and then he is gone, striding off in his yellow trousers and seaboots. Once this scene would have been a common sight around the coastline. Small seaboats were everywhere.

They bobbed at the foot of quayside steps or lay anchored in the shallows. No one gave them a second glance. These workaday craft were used for fishing and knockabout duties: generally clinker built and without any form of decking, they were sturdy and stable at sea. Originally used under sail and oar, in later years a Seagull outboard was usually clamped to their transoms.

n the 1950s these traditional clinker dinghies became scarcer, as plywood building techniques began to undercut traditional methods of construction. Racing fashion increasingly influenced dinghy design. The old workboat types were seen as old fashioned and inefficient under sail. Sailing performance had not been the uppermost consideration of their builders: their crews wanted to be safe and comfortable when working. Leisure dinghy owners were much more interested in exciting performance. They wanted boats that were close-winded on a beat and lifted readily onto the plane when reaching. Many of the new plywood dinghies were designed for family sailing, as well as racing, and remained effective seaboats, as well as having greatly improved performance under sail. Frank Dye’s ambitious ocean passages, sailing a standard plywood Wayfarer across the North Atlantic from Scotland to Norway and to Iceland, showed what was possible in this type of dinghy. Designed in 1957, the Wayfarer dinghy is conservative compared with more modern designs. As glassfibre and rotomolded polyethylene replaced wood

“

as the dominant materials for hull construction, new types of dinghy were designed to exploit the new materials. The influence of dinghy racing became increasingly dominant. A typical modern dinghy has no rowlocks, no rowing thwart and nowhere to clamp an outboard. The traditional transom is omitted, so that any water shipped in a capsize will flow smoothly back out again. Modern dinghies tip their crews into the water with so little provocation that many sailing clubs now prohibit sailing when a manned rescue boat is not on standby in the water. Dinghies are considered that dangerous. It was the lack of a contemporary dinghy with the seakeeping ability of a traditional workboat that led the former Royal Navy officer John Watkinson to devise the Drascombe Lugger. The design of the lugger was revolutionary. Inspired by the cobles of north-east England, Watkinson created a sturdy and stable hull with a traditional low-aspect rig, which would be safe to take his young family out sailing in. Put into GRP production by Honnor Marine in Devon, the lugger soon built up an enthusiastic following. Their open water capabilities were tested when Webb Chiles sailed a standard Lugger most of the way around the world. Watkinson went on to devise larger and smaller dinghies, which joined the Drascombe range. Drascombes are rarely seen in the dinghy parks of sailing clubs. Their natural habitat is the tidal estuary, where they lie on drying moorings like sleeping seabirds. They appeal to people who want a sturdy dinghy to take their children out sailing in, that will not

The dinghy surges into the wind shadow of the breakwater

”

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

DINGHY SAILING

frighten anyone or threaten to flip over, and can be motored home when everyone has had enough of sailing for the day. Soon, other manufacturers were emulating the Drascombe formula. There is now a wide range of seaworthy dinghies on the market for people looking for a seaworthy cruising dinghy. The best of them combine the efficiency of modern racing dinghies with the traditional virtues of the old working craft, to produce performance seaboats that are also safe and seakindly. A trailerable boat has many advantages over a cabin yacht. She does not need to be kept in an expensive marina berth, or on a mooring. She can be kept at home and simply launched each time she is taken sailing, giving her owner a choice of places to sail. She can even be taken abroad on her trailer, to explore the waters of other nations without a long and expensive delivery passage.

“

A trailerable boat has many advantages over a cabin yacht

inghy sailing means different things to different people. People attracted by the adrenaline rush of racing naturally gravitate towards performance dinghies. Others are at their happiest pottering about in sheltered waters, and choose the more stable and forgiving dinghies. A smaller number go coastal cruising in their dinghies, which demands a seaworthy and well-found craft, properly equipped for open water. Dinghy cruising retains a reputation for toughness and discomfort, suitable only for superhumans like Frank Dye. Yachtsmen are incredulous that anyone would want to sleep aboard their dinghy under canvas, as members of the Dinghy Cruising Association are famous for doing. However, this is not a mandatory part of dinghy cruising. It is perfectly acceptable to stay in a hotel every night. In non-tidal waters like the Baltic Sea, dinghy sailors generally pack a land tent aboard their dinghy and pitch it on the shore each evening. This is more problematic in tidal waters, so most dinghy cruisers eventually gravitate towards sleeping aboard, finding it more convenient. You can drop anchor just about anywhere, even in the middle of the most stupendous view, put up the boat tent and start cooking dinner. The spartan comfort of a cruising dinghy runs contrary to the prevailing trend in contemporary yachting towards the sybaritic and showy. Yachts grow larger and ever more luxurious by the day. Hot and cold running water is now normal, as well as a fridge and central heating. The traditional chart table has become a

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

sophisticated ‘nav station’ equipped with a vast array of electronic instruments. Typical on-deck systems include a powered anchor winch and sophisticated sail-handling equipment. The yacht will have a powerful auxiliary engine, capable of maintaining hull speed in all weathers. As the sails are functionally unnecessary to propel a modern yacht, they are generally only used in open water. Most yachts spend more time motoring than navigating under sail. Close-quarters manoeuvres are always done under power. Dinghy cruising is a diametrically different attitude to sailing: a delight in simplicity and minimalism. It is the same sensibility that attracts fell-walkers and climbers into the upland landscape on foot. A powerful 4x4 vehicle would be much more comfortable, but the experience of wild country is heightened if you only take the minimum of simple gear with you. The sea is the last great wilderness on Earth, a place of escape from the stress of modern life. To go out onto it in a small open boat is to experience all its beauty and splendour in the most direct and powerful way. If dinghy cruising can be compared to wild camping, yachting is like caravanning – the urge to go into the natural environment, taking all the comforts of home with you. There is nothing wrong with caravanning, but it appeals to a different sort of person. To cruise in a dinghy is to confront many conventional assumptions about the best route to contentment in life. A cabin yacht displays status and success, and this is important to many people. The owner of a cruising dinghy does not cut the same social dash, but the modesty and simplicity of dinghy cruising brings its own particular rewards. A small boat can wriggle into the loveliest nooks and crannies of the coastline. There are many more inlets and sheltered havens than are mentioned in yacht pilots. Dinghies can carry the tide far up a tidal creek to spend the night among the waterbirds and the whispering reeds. All you need is an honest boat – seaworthy and sufficiently robust – as well as the skills to sail her. I do not see the boatman leave the harbour. Disappointed, I walk out to the end of the breakwater and look out to sea. The horizon is empty. Then I see his white lugsail far away up the estuary, threading its way between the withies, taking the tide upriver. Maybe he will pull his boat up on the foreshore, pitch a tent and light a driftwood fire to cook his supper on. I buy a cappuccino from the kiosk and then stand on the quay looking over the crowded pontoons, where the yachts lie in ranks like parked cars.

”

Latifa

William Fife III 70 ft Yawl 1936

€2.5M Lying Italy

Designed by William Fife III at the peak of his powers in 1936 - not only has LATIFA been widely regarded by yachting luminaries to the present day as the best of all his designs – but the great man himself considered her to be his finest. Mere mention of her name imparts a legendary tone to any yachting conversation and as one of Fife’s last designs kept one foot in the past while putting the other firmly in the future. Second in the 1937 and ’39 Fastnet Races, she also had a class win in the first post war race in 1947. Thoroughly, sensitively and immaculately restored, LATIFA is strong with up to date systems and equipment and sensible accommodation for long distant cruises in great comfort. In her current ownership LATIFA’s special capabilities are marked by achieving 12 single handed transatlantic crossings and a circumnavigation with her owner’s family as crew. It is a very special 70 ft yacht from any era that can be sailed by one man alone!

33 High Street, Poole BH15 1AB, England. Tel: + 44 (0)1202 330077 email: info@sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

COLD comfort From New Zealand to Nova Scotia, Tim and Pauline Carr have cruised the world. But that wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t enough, so they had their Falmouth Quay Punt Curlew cold-moulded and set sail for Antarctica. Hereâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s their epic story story and photographs tim anD pauLine Carr

Above: thankfully, Tim and Pauline shot this dramatic scene in Antarctica from the relative comfort of a cruise ship. Right: snowed in, up to his waist in fresh powder! Previous page: Curlew sailing past Mt Paget and out of King Edward Cove in South Georgia

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

urricane-force winds were blasting through the Drake Passage. Cape Horn lay ahead, offering protection if only we could reach it. The white spume that laces the waves in strong gales was now covering the sea, only a little of the underlying indigo showing at times. Blue patches in the sky belied the gravity of the situation and the little ship lurched uncertainly, no longer the reassuring, predictable motion of past voyages. The scene was all too familiar, but this was a 4,200-ton ship carrying 160 souls. It was February 2014 and the ship had set out on an Antarctic cruise. We were on board as guides and lecturers having sailed these same seas with our beloved 28ft (8.5m) engineless wooden yacht Curlew, and eager to share our experiences where they could enrich the journey of the 100 passengers mostly from the UK, the USA and Australia. Five large windows and two doors had been stoved in by a rogue wave and the main lounge was awash with the ocean. Chairs and tables lay piled up, glass tops shattered

cold-moulded cuRleW

and the grand piano was wrecked. On deck, chunky teak cap rails had been stripped from their metal railings. All this chaos was contained by the watertight bulkhead and the ship was making slow progress back to port. This was now, immediate and uncomfortable, but it vividly brought back a time in 1991 when Curlew was also surviving a fierce storm after meeting another rogue wave, or at least one so out of kilter with the surrounding seas that the little cutter had been nonchalantly tossed on her beam ends and beyond, mast pointing down to the ocean floor and gravity defied for a few seconds before she had settled back into the waves as though nothing had happened. In fact, very little had, so strong was the boat and rigging; so well thought out had been the layout and the securing systems. Only the small radio, on board for time ticks as well as BBC World Service broadcasts, had ricocheted across the cabin. Later we were to discover that the dinghy thwarts and trim had been somewhat disassembled by that wave and a securing U-bolt bent. It was negligible damage and we counted our blessings.

The differences between the two rogue wave experiences? With all its mass the ship stood up to the wave, took the blow and came off poorly. Curlew yielded and bounced back. But we also had to deal with a vast number of icebergs, bergy bits (small icebergs), growlers (floating ice) and bad visibility leading us to say that no storm would ever hold the same fear. Curlew’s wave was on about the same parallel of longitude, but further south in the Antarctic, this time on our return from an amazing month cruising that magical, enchanted place. Any problems had lain with the ice, not extreme weather, and we had left our final anchorage at the US Palmer Base with a good weather forecast and high hopes for a fine passage and following winds. Sadly, this was not to be!

clockwise from top: Gentoo penguins on the spur of a giant iceberg off South Georgia; Pauline’s father’s “forecasting” barometer helped them secondguess the weather; Tim wrapped up and ready for action!

sailing salvation Sailing to the Antarctic Peninsula with Curlew was definitely a high point, both in latitude and adventure. But it was the culmination of almost 25 years of sailing the globe, steadily pushing the limits to higher latitudes CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

cOld-mOulded cuRleW

Radical remedy

Learn how the Carrs radically cold-moulded Curlew ready for the rigours of the Southern Ocean

New Zealand. Subsequent veneers were then laid next to the original and spiled so they fit exactly. About 10 were cut and measured in one session. Then they were glued into place, one by one, and stapled with steel staples through a plastic banding tape that is commonly used in packaging. When the epoxy glue had sufficiently set, but was still “green”, the whole tape could be ripped off, bringing all the staples with it. A very few staple “legs” would get left in, but we always checked carefully and removed them. I think we used about four tapes per veneer, which was a nominal 6in (15cm) wide. We used filler powder with the WEST System epoxy rather than the more expensive glue powder. This was WEST System’s own recommendation as the surface area was so massive that the extra strength of glue powder was not warranted. We had an air compressor to fire the staples in easily and efficiently and we only glued on low-humidity days. One low-tech way of keeping an eye on humidity was a plum bob hanging off the stem. When it was dry the

Original frames Original planking

First new diagonal layer Second new diagonal layer

Third new diagonal layer

Four different coloured layers of epoxy resin

as we became more confident and our venerable vessel became more seaworthy. It had all started in 1967 when we found Curlew in Malta, close to derelict – a state confirmed by her £750 price tag. All we really saw in her was a place to call home, a bunk under the hatch with an outlook of the stars, and the potential to sail locally in the Med while we earned a living on much larger private yachts. It was not until she was craned out onto the hard that we realised what a wonderful shape the boat had. One of our earliest memories is of Irving Johnson (Cape Horner 60

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Below, left to right: kauri veneers laid diagonally across the hull; cold-moulding under way – hence the signpost: “Optimists Only Beyond This Point”

string shortened and the plum bob swung free. When it was humid the string lengthened and the plum bob lay on the ground! Our original plan was for two diagonals and a third laid fore and aft and spiled like planks. But since Curlew’s old planks were so strong, we later decided to do a third diagonal. As far as we know it is still difficult to pick out the diagonal lines except in very low morning or evening light and only if you are really looking hard! Where the ends of the veneers joined the iron keel, they were stopped short and a strip of teak was used to isolate the end grain from the keel. This was entirely successful. We wish we had done the same thing at the hull/deck joint as we discovered a small amount of delamination in the extremely harsh freeze-thaw conditions of South Georgia. There was fairing between the hull and the first new skin, between new skins, and after the third one. This was done with homemade longboards (aka torture boards). These were long enough to be operated by both of us at one time with three handles

THE ART OF COLD-MOULDING

IlluSTrATION BY THEO rYE

urlew’s new cold-moulded skin was a brilliant solution for a basically sound (ie, not rotten) hull with nail-sickness. She had been refastened several times during her lifetime so that there were far too many holes in the planking and frames – a point that made us fear the “tear along the dotted line, postage stamp syndrome!” In addition, the fastenings were iron and there was a lot of rusting around the heads causing a reaction with the acids in the wood and localised rot. Previous solutions were temporary involving putting lozengeshaped graving pieces over each area after cutting out all the bad wood. Armed with The Gougeon Brothers on Boat Construction as a brilliant reference book (albeit for new builds) and hauled out in a private Kerikeri boatshed, we dried the hull out for a couple of months. This time was spent usefully doing repairs, countersinking the old fastenings and roughly fairing the hull. In addition we had to rebate for the new 3mm x 4mm-thick veneers where they met the iron keel and then gradually taper this out from the elm keel, garboards and then further up the planking. At this point, visitors tended to look at the pulled-apart boat and shake their heads at the task we had set ourselves. So Tim put a sign up to say “Optimists Only Beyond This Point”. Most people got the message! (see photo opposite) Full-length 4mm kauri veneers were then laid diagonally across the hull, starting from midships. Kauri pine is a very durable boatbuilding timber that grows exclusively in

of Yankee fame) walking around Curlew in the boatyard and saying under his breath: “That boat has sweet lines, sweeeet lines!” He didn’t know we were living on board and silently hugging each other as his comments floated through the open porthole. And we had no idea then that for the next 30 years Curlew would take us on a series of adventures, each one more exciting and occasionally more extreme than we could ever have dreamed. Curlew’s sweet lines made her a phenomenally capable cruising boat and an amazingly successful, though anachronistic, racing boat. Her straight stem led

cold-moulded cuRleW

(we shared the middle one) and we would fair as long as we could, or until one or other of us called for mercy! And we worked through the grits of sandpaper from 60 upwards. Finally, four coats of epoxy resin were rolled on. First clear, then tinted black, grey and white so that in the future we could always assess how deep any damage would be. At this time we had absolutely no idea we would be ricocheting off ice in Antarctica or we would have put Dynel on too. But we wanted to keep everything as light as possible so that Curlew would perform and race to her optimum. The keel was professionally sandblasted and treated a few months later. After the five-month-long job, Curlew weighed in about 500lb (227kg) heavier than before and her displacement increased, which cancelled out the weight as far as the waterline was concerned. And then, because she was drying out from the inside and had a protective barrier of epoxy to keep her dry on the outside, she actually floated quite a bit higher so we could see more of the “stem” of her wineglass transom. Was the process a success? Absolutely. Would we do it all again? Yes, in a heartbeat! Curlew was relaunched in spring 1983, competed successfully all summer in the local (New Zealand) Bay of Islands races, and then took us through some of the roughest oceans to the Arctic and Antarctica. She is still afloat more than 30 years later and with a thorough refit could probably do it all again!

down to a relatively cutaway forefoot and rockered keel so she made smooth buoy roundings and tacked with predictability like the best. Once we learned to lighten her ends, the lack of buoyancy in the bows was not a problem. Her sections were surprisingly fine with a deep blade of a keel running full length, so her windward performance became legendary. Even the 4-tonne iron keel was beautifully shaped and cast, and supported by eight 1¼in (31mm) keel bolts tightened through a massive pitch pine keelson. We would swear to each other, not on the Bible, but “on Curlew’s keel bolts”!

WIND POWER PLEASE When we found her she had a one-cylinder, 9hp Coventry Victor diesel. It thumped away for a couple of years around the Mediterranean until we took it out for an overhaul. Sailing Curlew without it was a revelation. With no weight in the stern to drag her down from her designed waterline, she began to show us her potential, so it would have been criminal to put it back. The effect was dramatically increased when the propeller, sterntube, A-bracket, tanks and batteries all disappeared from beneath the cockpit. And the icing on the cake was a

clockwise from top: cruising at its best in Jason Harbour, South Georgia; curlew lying in malta, 1967; the carrs in 1968 proudly showing off their first new mainsail

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

NeilThompsonBoats

The Norfolk Smuggler 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

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

Norfolk Trader

Cold-Moulded CuRleW

Clockwise from top: dinner is served with a well-earned tipple; Brrrr… it’s definitely not the Med; modified bronze rowlock fits into the top of a Barlow winch; iced in with just a peephole view through the washboards

Maltese fisherman who paid us good money for the engine and all its paraphernalia, too. Enough to buy an Aries self-steering gear, which was to be our constant companion for the next 30 years and more. Taking the engine out was indeed a drastic step, but we were heavily influenced by reading old cruising yarns from some of our heroes, such as Erling Tambs’s The Cruise of the Teddy and Peter Tangvald with Dorothea. In all our years we only once felt close to losing Curlew for lack of an engine. And then her ability to sail like a witch, and our skills honed in getting the best performance out of her, gybing the kite in the darkness with the roaring of the reefs in our ears and bucking a 4-knot current, meant that Old Proprietor Shoal (off Grand Manan Island in Nova Scotia) did not claim another victim.

caribbean calling We learned to navigate “on the job”, so to speak, with Mary Blewitt’s Celestial Navigation in one hand, bless her. But islands seemed to heave into sight where they were meant to – more or less – so the fall back plan of “sail south until the butter melts and then turn right” was not required. Since we could only afford margarine it may not have worked anyway. So, by 1972, Curlew

was sailing into St George’s, Grenada, to the sounds of a steel band playing on a floating barge. After a 17-day passage our ocean-washed eyes were overcome by the shiny greenness of it all. All we wanted to do was decompress, but we had an urgent need to restock the coffers as we were down to our last £5 traveller’s cheque! However, delivering bare boats and working on the schooner Lord Jim soon took care of that. A couple of years later it was Pacific waters lapping on Curlew’s waterline as she was towed through the Panama Canal by another yacht for just $6 as we were officially designated cargo, and that was the price for 10 tonnes! A big refit in Hawaii saw us refastening Curlew and caulking with a polysulphide compound, which turned out to be a rather fortuitous move. Tahiti was good for refurbishing coffers as we looked after and re-rigged a large American ketch for six months. Most of our cruising was a stop-start affair, stopping to earn enough money to see us to the next place for potential work. Much of the time, we eeked out a cruising life by catching fish and eating rice. Suvarov, in the Cook Islands, was one of the highlights during several years in the Pacific, and then New Zealand – best place on earth we thought, but itchy feet and lack of a visa kept CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

NeilThompsonBoats

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

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cold-moulded cuRleW

CuRlew BUILT

R S Burt Type

Falmouth Quay Punt BUILT

1905 LOA

28ft (8.5m) BeAm

9ft 2in (2.8m) DrAUghT

6ft 2in (1.8m) DIspLAcemenT

22,000lb (10 tonnes) sAIL AreA

1,100sqft (102m²)

erIc jOse

Below: curlew sailing in Falmouth Harbour in the early 1900s

us moving. It was here we learned the joy of racing and we returned three times, loving it more each visit. Backtracking a bit, on our first visit to Australia in 1977, Curlew had been run down at anchor by an alcohol-fuelled fisherman in the early hours of the morning. Two planks had been sprung but that polysulphide caulking compound had been sufficiently flexible to minimise damage to the rest of the hull. We had to replace stringers, a beamshelf, sister a couple of frames and the cabin was wrecked. But there was a silver lining. The long-cherished dream of a flush-decked Curlew was now her saving as the continuous beams supporting the flush deck strengthened her enormously. An Australian coachwood marine-ply deck with Oregon tongue-and-groove planking on the deckhead, Dynel and epoxy on the outside and seven pairs of grown tea-tree hanging knees completed the transformation. It was now a joy to move around the clear sweep of flush deck when sailing. It was much easier to put up

topsails, handle the 18ft (5.5m) spinnaker pole, and to launch the dinghy straight over the side. Having no permanent lifelines also made it a breeze. All this led to more racing and by now Curlew was sporting large, well-cut sails, two differently sized topsails and two tri-radial spinnakers of different weights. Spectra lines limited stretch, big bronze Barlow self-tailing winches tweaked and fine-tuned, but there was one thing left… We were working on the hull a couple of years later in Sydney, Tim making graving pieces to set into the planking where there were large, rusting soft streaks around many fastenings. Curlew also had wide pitch pine planks, often having become slightly concave over the years. A humorous passerby reflected she was multi-chine. We laughed, but the comment hurt!

A cold-moulded mirAcle Curlew had a bad case of nail sickness. One well-known boatbuilder in Tasmania called it terminal and suggested we might as well burn her. We sailed to Queensland, trying to decide what to do and an article in WoodenBoat magazine was the salvation. A cold-moulded restoration had been done on just one boat, but it sounded feasible. We sailed to New Zealand where we encountered more serendipity. Arnie Duckworth had introduced WEST System epoxy to New Zealand and was racing against us on a Monday night round-the-cans race. Impressed with Curlew’s performance, even against his state-of-the-art machine, he zapped over after the race. Sometime in the wee small hours of the morning the plan was all resolved. Another piece of the jigsaw fell into place when we heard about a local boatshed available for lease. It even came with an on-site caravan with an exotic blossoming passionfruit vine winding its way through the window. A few months later, Curlew was sitting on chocks in the shed with a big repair job on her existing hull (see p60). With the new smooth and super-strong hull we could hang onto sail like never before. Curlew didn’t CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

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cold-moulded cuRleW

know the meaning of broaching so we could plough on regardless, while all around the lighter boats were getting into strife. Granted, she did plough a furrow with her heavy displacement, and hull speed was limited to about 7 knots, but she reached it easily. Evidence of the success of the cold-moulding was shown by the number of trophies we won the following year when racing to the previous handicap. Full of appreciation for the miracle wrought by the WEST System and keen to sail this wonderful machine to her optimum, we set sail for the east coast of the USA. Curlew averaged 7 knots across the Indian Ocean from Christmas Island to the Cocos Keeling Islands and on to Rodrigues and Mauritius, double-reefed much of the time, but roaring across the boisterous ocean. At night it felt totally magical to stand on the bow, perhaps adjusting the preventer, and riding between two boiling bow waves lapping over either side of the foredeck. This was Curlew at her very best, optimised, almost 100 years old, yet proving to be a more stable, comfortable and fast platform than any of the other yachts making the crossing at that time. In fact, on arrival in Rodrigues after the 12-day passage, we happily went for a short sail the next day.

sailing the southern seas There is no room in this article for a blow-by-blow account of 35 years of partnership, so to cut a long story short, Curlew returned to Falmouth in 1989, but itchy feet got the better of us once more and a year later she headed for the Falkland Islands, the Antarctic Peninsula and, her ultimate and best cruising ground, the Antarctic island of South Georgia. We lived on board for a further eight years cruising frequently in summer and, with care, winter too. But we found ourselves increasingly committed to the South Georgia Museum where we had become the curators.

Our duty to Curlew meant sailing on to find her a new home. Sitting in Curlewâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s cabin, listening to the BBC World Service, we heard of the National Maritime Museum Cornwall (NMMC) being built â&#x20AC;&#x201C; just a few hundred yards from where Curlew had been built a century earlier. So we offered to donate her. The NMMC director talked with the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) director and plans were made to ship Curlew home. En route she went further south than any other yacht has been, albeit in the hold of the RRS James Clark Ross, so it hardly counts! So now Curlew is looked after and loved in her home port of Falmouth and we are living the good life with a couple of acres in rural New Zealand, working each year on the expedition ships that ply the Drake Passage to give people a once-in-a-lifetime experience of Antarctica and South Georgia. Just sometimes, though, the nostalgia becomes overwhelming. Not, of course, when confronted by rogue waves and storms, but when you hear a certain little ripple chortling along the side of the hull that spells a new breeze beginning and a whole new adventure ahead.

clockwise from top left: curlew racing in Queensland; sailing into Stromness Bay, South Georgia; loading onto HmS endurance for repairs to her stem

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

‘Out of Africa’ - Nielsen’s riveting experts inspect ‘Chauncy Maples’ on Lake Malawi.

Onboard

VOYAGES . SEAMANSHIP . EQUIPMENT

New Classics SPIrIT GaFFEr

The first gaffer from Spirit Yachts Among the fleet of no fewer than nine spirit yachts at the Antigua Classics in April was the 42ft (12.8m) gaff-rigged spirit of Callisto, which won her class (D) and a Concours d’Élégance award (see page 32) in her first big outing. she’s the 54th boat built by spirit yachts (four more are currently in build) and she’s strip-planked in Douglas fir and epoxy-sheathed outside. The hull is, according to spirit yachts, “relatively traditional but with an excellent power-toweight ratio resulting in sparkling performance”. she’s not just for regattas though – the 42-footer has six berths in three cabins and an RCD ‘A ocean’ rating. Maintenance should be light thanks to modern coatings used throughout, and she is, according to spirit yachts, “exceptionally light on the helm and easy to handle”. Prices start at £600,000 plus VAT. spirityachts.com Tel: +44 (0)1473 214715

ANThoNy MoRRis, C/o sPiRiT yAChTs

The Duchy 27 classic launch The Duchy 27 classic GRP motor launches from Cockwells (CB282) have been something of a success over the years by providing good looks, day-tripping for six, overnighting for two, good seakeeping ability and 25 knots. The yard’s latest creation is Farouk, the fifth Duchy 27, and she’s very different to her predecessors. The hull shape is the same – albeit with around 5in (13cm) less freeboard to give her a sleeker look – but the standard GRP deck, cockpit and superstructure moulding have been replaced entirely with wood, with mahogany coamings, extensive areas of gloss-varnished tongue-and-

groove teak panelling, and a teak laid deck and cockpit sole. With no enclosed wheelhouse, the helm area is part of a large open cockpit, which also includes an al fresco galley. There is still room for a small cabin forward, which contains two berths and a discreetly hidden heads. A 115hp Nanni Diesel engine gives her a top speed of 18 knots. Custom Duchy 27s to a similar design will be available for around £180,000 plus VAT. The ‘standard’ Duchy 27 (it’s always a semi-bespoke boat) starts at £144,000 plus VAT. The new little sister, the Duchy 25 (also open) is now available, too, and looks a picture, but is not much cheaper. NiGel shARP

Farouk

cockwells.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1326 377366

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Collection

ONBOARD

Classic

Take our advice and add some seasonal style to your sailing attire

Gill Crew Jacket

Helly Hansen hoodie

Helly Hansen shirt

Inexpensive and simple all-round jacket without the compromise of a big in-collar hood. Made from Gill’s patented 1 Dot fabric, it’s tough, waterproof and breathable and has a fleece liner. The elasticated hem tucks everything in, but it’s long enough not to ride up when bending down.

Already a favourite item of clothing among our testers, this is a soft, stretchy cotton hoodie with a good chunky metal zip and hand-warming ‘kangaroo’ front pockets. It has a thin double lining that makes it warm and light, and also features some natty graphics on the front.

For those moments when you might be going ashore to a restaurant or for a drink on a nicer boat, it’s good to have a smart shirt in tow. This one has striped inner cuffs, stylish buttons and a classic-fit collar. The dark blue works well for a casual, open-neck look, or go for the white if you want to wear your club tie.

£90, gillmarine.com Tel: +44 (0)115 946 0844

£85, hellyhansen.com Tel: +44 (0)800 142 2210

£70, hellyhansen.com Tel: +44 (0)800 142 2210

Dubarry Shamrock boots

Similar to the classic Dubarry boot, but with a hard-wearing Cordura canvas leg section, instead of all leather. Unusually for Dubarry, this one snapped a finger hook when we pulled them up. That aside, this particular style seems to have been adopted by all the serious sailors, which is a pretty high recommendation.

We took a pair of these on a transatlantic passage where they really took a beating; at one point they looked so salt-blown we thought they were through. But after a quick wash they were as good as new. They are super comfy too.

£219, dubarryboots.com Tel: +44 (0)1608 677622

£149, dubarry.com Tel: +44 (0)1608 677622

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Clipper deck shoe

ONBOARD

Chambray shirt Originating in US Navy aircraft carrier operations in the Pacific, the Chambray shirt was later adopted by Hollywood greats such as Steve McQueen, Paul Newman and Marlon Brando, who wore this manly shirt in and out of films. It’s constructed like a proper utility garment, with reinforced seams, double topstitching, urea buttons and authentic labelling. See far right for description of the Captain Currey trousers. £119.99, buzzrickson.com

Tel: +44 (0) 1752 896 874

Gill Polo Shirt and Tec Shorts

Armor-Lux shirt and Captain Currey trousers

A relaxed-style polo shirt in faded blue with design details. Gill uses a soft-touch, non-pill pique fabric and for the big-shouldered grinders among us, there’s plenty of room in the armpit too. The Gill Tech Shorts are quick drying, lightweight and smart. They also have some handy velcro side adjusters, which cover a three-inch change in waistline, meaning no matter how much weight you lose or gain, they can stay with you.

Here is a long-sleeved, interlocked cotton Breton shirt. Some say the classic pattern was designed to be visible in a man overboard situation; others claim the sleeve’s 21 white stripes represent Napoleon’s naval victories. All we know is that it looks great, especially in this faded look. Match it to a pair of Captain Currey Crewman trousers. The 100 per cent cotton canvas is strong and durable – perfect for on or off the boat.

T-shirt: £35; Shorts: £55, gillmarine.com Tel: +44 (0)115 946 0844

Top: £39.95, flamboroughmarine.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1262 850943; Trousers: £44.95, captain-currey.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1243 572182

Gill Baltimore

Billy Ruffian Leander

Skagerak slip-on

Nice leather uppers and laces that go all the way round the heel so they tighten the whole shoe rather than just the arch. Under your feet is a non-stinky insole and a slight heel, which is handy for ratlines or leaning on the toerail.

These traditional, handmade moccasin deck shoes have a flat sole for good grip and feel fabulous when you slip them on. In fact, they mould to your feet so you barely know they’re on. Plus, you get some free natty socks too!

The advantage of the old-school “pump” slip-on as a deck shoe is they’re very light, enabling you to be much more nimble around the deck. These have good grip and are comfy. We’d recommend a size up if your feet are wide, though.

£80, gillmarine.com Tel: +44 (0)115 946 0844

£79, billyruffianshoes.co.uk Tel +44 (0)1234 720897

£40, hellyhansen.com Tel: +44 (0)800 142 2210

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Collection

ONBOARD

Classic

Hamburg Skipper We love this wool cap from Poland. It has a real leather band and great detail. c£16, sterkowski.com Tel: +48 512 547 018

Liverpool Linen cap Guernsey and a Garry Beverley hat

Ocean Sailor shirt and Doughboy hat

This looks like a new jumper, but it’s actually 15 years old. Water rolls off it as does years of hard use, so it’s likely to last longer than you! We’ve matched it with this Standard Yachting Cap, designed by Garry Beverley. He’s worked for our Royal family, so he’s got pedigree.

Sometimes even just the most subtle changes make a huge difference. Take this Ocean Sailor shirt: it’s based on the classic recipe with a square-cut fit, but the base stripe is white not blue, which gives it a clean, crisp look. The US Navy-style “doughboy” hat is instantly recognisable from hundreds of war films.

Jumper: from £34.99, guernseyknitwear.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1481 251187; Cap: £99,

gbeverleytailors.co.uk Tel: (0)1489 890941

New this year is a set of medium-weight waterproofs that use a three-layered “Ocean Vent” fabric. The salopette-style trousers have adjustable over-shoulder straps and ankle grips for a snug, dry fit. The cuffs are made watertight with a double Velcro fastener and the designers have also thought to make the back longer than the front so it doesn’t ride up when you’re rushing around on deck. Those front pockets are waterresistant – tailor-made for mobile phones, maps, torches, etc. Overall, these oilies are light and comfortable and keep water out… but they’re not super-thick, so don’t forget a base layer if it’s chilly. A great all-round suit that’s ideal for all types of sailing. Jacket: £225; Trousers: £175, hudsonwight.com Tel: +44 (0)1983 300144

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

c£13, sterkowski.com Tel: +48 512 547 018

US Navy Watch cap So named from the sailors’ duty of keeping watch. Made from worsted wool, the design is matched to the original construction. Good quality too.

Top: £33.95, bretonshirt.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1423 325366; Hat: £6, eBay: goo.gl/Y27SA9

Hudson Wight HW1 waterproofs

Also from Poland, this captain’s hat is superbly cool in the heat and well made.

Musto BR1 Channel jacket and trousers

Designed to protect coastal sailors from a right old soaking, thanks to a special coating and taped seams, these are totally waterproof, yet they breathe well and are extremely light. The trousers have strengthened knees and bum and stretchy braces so you can bend right down. The jacket has a well-shaped hood and rubberised zip pulls for wet and cold fingers. Unless you’re going to the Southern Ocean, this is the stuff. Jacket: £200; Trousers: £135, musto.com Tel: +44 (0)1268 495824

£59.99, buzzrickson.com

Tel: +44 (0)1752 896 874

ONBOARD

Books The Wreck of the Zephyr Written and illustrated by Chris van Allsburg This magical tale should be on all parents’ and grandparents’ Christmas books list as a classic tale of fantasy sailing. The main character is a boy, a keen sailor, who takes his gaff-rigged cabin boat out in all weathers, risking all to be thought of as the best sailor in the harbour. One night he sails off and gets caught out in a storm. When he wakes up he’s stranded on the beach of a mystery island. Exploring, he sees yachts sailing through the air and determines to learn this new kind of navigation. Befriended and given a new set of special sails, he masters the art and sails off for home. He’s certain that now he’s the best sailor who ever lived, but his hubris gets the better of him and he crashes the boat. We learn this story from the beginning of the book as we are introduced to an old man with a limp, sitting by a wrecked yacht, high on the cliffs; yes, guess who? This book, now re-released for its 30th anniversary, is gorgeously illustrated and sparsely narrated by a master of the craft. You’ll love finding any excuse to read it to children… and wishing wistfully, that it was true. DH RRP £12, 32pp, hardback, published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2013

Maritime History of Falmouth The Port, its Shipping and its Pilotage Service, by DG Wilson This landed on our desk with a reassuring thud recently. It is a fairly scholarly history of the maritime past of one of Britain’s best loved and most sailorly, scenic and important natural harbours – Falmouth. The author, a Fal Estuary sailor, has provided plenty of detail on pilot cutters, maritime trade and maritime wrecks. The wealth of illustration, from early maps to more recent photos (all black and white) is extraordinary – one gasps at the impressive depth of research, which includes appendices and an index. Be aware that, as the title implies, there is nothing about Falmouth’s more recent history and renaissance as a maritime centre. No mention of Sir Robin Knox-Johnston or Dame Ellen MacArthur’s record-breaking circumnavigations, the £28 million maritime museum built in 2004, or the recent boom in British boatbuilding as evidenced by Rustler Yachts and others. It is also rather dry for the general reader, but probably required reading for historically-minded pilot cutter owners, serious maritime historians and Falmouth historians. All in all, an impressive, accomplished study of Falmouth and its pilotage service. SHMH RRP £19.95, 160pp, hardback, published by Halsgrove, 2014

SUNDOWNERS WITH GUY VENABLES

The grape, not the grain Not far from where I live the first English gin to use alcohol distilled from grapes, rather than grain, is to be born. And Chilgrove is its name. Praise be. For gins that use wine-based spirit are in a different class. It’s akin to the differences found in the gap between cognac and vodka. There’s a silkiness and a depth. Incidentally, the Dutch jenever gins all used wine-based spirits until they were forced to switch to grain after the Little Ice Age in the 16th century caused a significant wine shortage. A few have since reverted to wine, but most have stayed with grain. Chilgrove co-founders Christopher Tetley and Celia Beaumont-Hutchings jacked it their day jobs and said: “I know, let’s invent our own brand of gin.” Brave words and even braver is the deed because embarking on a single-brand voyage through the booze trade means being ready to battle with colossal giants. They began years of exhaustive gin tasting and researching. They found their favourites and slowly started analysing the flavours and what they liked about them. I met Christopher in the White Horse in the eponymous Chilgrove and we started to compare notes. I’d also been on a gin odyssey last year and tasted nearly 200 varieties and here’s the thing: because the individual botanicals put into gin are often quite strong, they have to be counteracted with an opposing or complementary flavour. Many of these are totally different so it can end up like a game of Buckeroo on the palate. Finally, they agreed upon a concoction of 12 ingredients, but something wasn’t quite right. Then they took out the grapefruit and bingo! On my first taste (when tasting gin you always start by sipping it neat) I was surprised to blurt out that it was good enough to be that rarity of drinks – a sipping gin. And, like my favourite, the wine-based Mahon Xorigeur, it stands to be sipped neat followed by sips of very cold water. It does, however, make a fine gin and tonic, a gorgeous martini and is my gin of choice for my favourite cocktail, a Negroni. Not only that, the rectangular bottles are the perfect shape for stacking on the bookshelf in your boat. chilgrovegin.com

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Solent Sunbeam

Photo: Peter Mumford, Beken of Cowes

Classic Hull + Modern Rig = Pure Enjoyment

V27 “Jenny” 1923 wood • V25 “Query” 1924 wood/epoxy • V64 “Maisy” 2011 GRP • V46 “Spray” 2000 wood • V61 “Betty” 2010 GRP

Every picture tells a story From 1923 to today. Traditional, Wood /Epoxy or GRP. All racing equally together. For the Best One Design Keelboat Racing, Sail and Race a Sunbeam at Itchenor. Come for a trial sail. Enjoy the Sunbeam Experience. www.solentsunbeam.co.uk Tel: 07836 768225 Ask about crewing vacancies and opportunities to join the Solent Sunbeams.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

ONBOARD

Classnotes Brightlingsea One-Designs

he Brightlingsea One-Design (BOD) class is undergoing something of a renaissance at the moment. This Easter saw the launch of a new glassfibre BOD, the fifth to be built since 2007, and the first of four which are due to be launched this year. Like many designs of traditional dayboats – Estuary and Victory one-designs, to name a couple – the injection of GRP has done much to prolong the life of these classes. However, although it is playing a major role in the BOD’s revival, interest in wooden boats remains high, too, with five currently undergoing restoration. Described in the 1948-9 Yachtsman’s Annual as being “well adapted to the steep lop of the Essex coast, and not afraid of hard weather”, these 18ft (5.5m) dayboats have been a popular class on the River Colne since 1928. They were designed by Robbie Stone after Brightlingsea Sailing Club expressed a keen interest in introducing a new one-design that would move racing on the Colne away from the handicap classes and allow members to compete on an equal standing. The first BOD, Jean, was built in 1927 as a prototype at his family yard of D Stone & Sons at Brightlingsea, but Mavis (C2) and Lapwing (C3) followed in 1928, and by the end of 1939, 14 had been launched. Similar in design to the Morgan Giles-designed Thames Estuary One-Design of 1911, the BOD was clinker-built of elm and later mahogany on oak. Measuring 18ft (5.5m) LOA, with a LWL of 17ft 3½in (5.3m), the three quartersdecked design had a straight stem and transom, and carried a 220sqft (20.4m²) bermudan sloop rig,

TIM BEES

setting the tack of the headsail on a short bowsprit. Construction resumed in 1949 by James & Stone, who built a further 14 BODs until 1957. Three more were built by TC White, and by 1962 37 had been launched. During this time, the design changed little, but in 1951 a controversial new rig was introduced. The short bowsprit was removed, and the bermudan mainsail was set on a taller mast with a shorter boom, but it divided the BODs, and until 1960 the class competed as two separate fleets. By the 1960s, however, the majority of the boats had adopted the rig. The fleet continued to race regularly in the 1960s and 1970s, and in 1989 was joined by a new wooden BOD, Avocet (C32). Built by Malcolm Goodwin, the chief BOD restorer, she was joined in 2007 by a GRP version, Greta (C51), built by John Mullins who had previously built Blue Peter (C31) in 1962. Identical in all but construction material, sailing proved comparable with the wooden boats, which encouraged Mullins to build three more, before White Formula took over in 2010. Of the 43 boats built since 1927, 27 are now in sailing condition, eight have been broken up or lost, five are under restoration, and three more GRP boats are in build.

“In 1951 a controversial new rig was introduced”

Above: the 87-year-old design is enjoying a revival with the launch of several new GRP boats

SAIL INSIGNIA The BODs carry the sail insignia ‘C’, although the reason for this is unknown. One theory is that it stands for the ‘River Colne’, on which these boats have sailed since 1928.

FILM STARS A BOD was featured in the 1986 TV film The Ted Kennedy Jr Story. Directed by Oscar-winning director Delbert Mann, it focused on Edward ‘Ted’ M Kennedy’s cancer diagnosis and subsequent loss of his right leg. BODs were used for their similarities to the boats sailed by the Kennedy family off Cape Cod, Massachusetts.

BOATS FOR SALE SPECIFICATIONS

LOA

18ft (5.5m) LWL

17ft 3½in (5.3m) BEAM

6ft 1in (1.9m) DRAUGHT (C/BOARD UP)

9in (23cm) SAIL AREA

220sqft (20.4m²)

DESIGNER

Robert Stone

Second-hand BODs do occasionally come up for sale, and are often listed on the class association’s website. For a boat in reasonable sailing condition, expect to pay around £2,500; boats in need of some TLC usually go for between £500-£1,500. GRP BODs are also being built by White Formula.

ROYALTIES The Brightlingsea One-Design Owners Association (BODOA) currently owns the rights to the design, and anyone building a new boat must pay the association a royalty of £250. Vanessa’s book, Classic Classes, is a must-buy. Please bear in mind that this book provides only a snapshot of the myriad classes in existence. CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Anglia Yacht Brokerage New 12’ Dinghy available with either larch or Mahogany planking. Class celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2013. Prices from £8,500 Inc VAT

New 18’ Deben Lugger day/ camping dayboat. Prices from £13,500 Inc VAT

New 10’ GRP clinker lug sail dinghy. Prices from £2,950 Inc VAT

Come and see us and the above boats at the Beale Park Show 6th-8th June

2001 David Moss designed/built Sea Otter 15’ standing lug yawl in stunning condition and ready to sail. Complete with covers, electric outboard and Break-back road trailer. £7,750

1980 Drascombe Drifter fully refurbished. Work done includes epoxy coating, new interior, new masts, new windows, new electronics, recent sails, trailer and Mercury 5HP 4-stroke outboard. £7,250

1992 modified Drascombe Lugger Mk3. She has a raised teak fore and aft deck with bespoke sprayhood/camping tent. She offers lots of storage and is a dryer sea boat. Complete with 06 Mercury 6HP 4-stroke outboard and 07 Bramber Easylaunch road trailer. £5,750

See full listings at www.anglia-yacht.co.uk Tel. +44 (0)1359 27 17 47 www.anglia-yacht.co.uk Email. sales@anglia-yacht.co.uk

e e n ad id ai M pr Brit th t wi rea G in

JAMES LAWRENCE SAILMAKERS LTD BESPOKE SAILMAKERS

“Kelpie of Falmouth”

Photo by Anna Boulton, Marine Artist

22-28 Tower Street, Brightlingsea, Essex CO7 0AL Tel: 01206 302863 • Fax: 01206 305858 • Email: mark@gaffguru.com or lawrencesails@btconnect.com 76

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

ONBOARD

C/O BERNARD GALLAy

PETER MUMFORD, BEKEN OF COWES

Getting afloat

ROSENN

Only surviving Solent OD Believe it or not, Rosenn is the only surviving example of the world’s oldest one-design keelboat fleet, the Solent One-Designs, instigated by the Royal Yacht Squadron in 1896. It’s a big claim, but veteran yachting scribe Bob Fisher, her most frequent crewman, has done a lot of research to back it up. Some 23 were built of larch on oak from 1896-7 by their designer, Whites of Southampton. Rosenn, built in 1896, is 31ft (9.4m) on deck and received a cuddy cabin in

1992. “She takes seven to race competitively,” says owner Barry Dunning, who is planning to race Bob Fisher’s boat, the 30ft (9.1m) 1898 Fife daysailer Mignon, in the Med this summer. Rosenn has rbeen overhauled prior to sale and will remain in her barn on a custom cradle for potential buyers to make a full inspection. Lying Lymington. Asking £80,000. barryf dunning@gmail.com, Tel: +44 (0)1590 622095

alTaIR

Top designer, original boat Never has the centre-cockpit configuration looked this good. Altair (not to be confused with the eponymous Fife schooner), was drawn by the famed French naval architect Eugène Cornu and built of mahogany on oak by the equally well reputed yard of Pichavant in 1968. She’s completely original and, according to her broker, in good condition (2013 refit) and ready for offshore passagemaking. The 42ft (12.8m) ketch has berths for six in two cabins. Gear includes an eight-person liferaft, autopilot, radar, scuba gear and a Zodiac tender. Lying Vannes, France. Asking €125,000 (c£102,000) VAT paid. bernard-gallay.com, Tel: +33 (0)4 6766 3993

MyRa

Steam project

DAN HOUSTON

Mike and Sue Phillips, known to CB readers as owners of the Itchen Ferry Tom Tit, drove to Dresden in Germany to rescue this 46ft (14m) 1893 steam schooner. Although her teak hull is “98 per cent good”, it will take at least double her asking price to put her back to sea as she needs some reframing, a new deck and an overhaul of her steam engine and gaff schooner rig. Alternatively, her original compound engine is for sale at Preston Services in Canterbury, Kent. Lying Hampshire. Asking £55,000. echopilot.com, Tel: +44 (0)1425 476211

Black PENNy

C/O MIKE PHILLIPS

Silver motor yacht project For some readers, the words “68ft (20.7m) pre-war Silver yacht” will be enough. Black Penny is 1936-built, larch on oak, canoe-sterned and slimmer than post-war Silvers. Shipwrights at Iron Wharf Boatyard have finished the hull and “boring bits” (plumbing, etc), but the new owner will have to sort out her (original) interior. She’s copper-sheathed and a recent survey was very positive. This is a chance to acquire a serious gentleman’s yacht at a relative snip. The price will rise as the boat nears completion, with or without a new owner. So move quickly. Lying Kent. Asking £90,000+. Tel: +44 (0)1795 537122 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

BOATS FOR SALE

Boats for sale Looking to sell your boat? Reach over 50,000 readers each month

To advertise call Edward Mannering +44 (0) 20 7349 3747 Edward.Mannering@chelseamagazines.com Copy Deadline for next issue is 26/06/2014

1968 John Alden design

WHO WANTS TO TAKE HER HOME?

Built 2000. Excellent build quality. A pretty boat with good performance under power or sail. LOA 42 feet. Lying Portland. Offers on £115,000. For details contact 07508 278980 or eajrowe@yahoo.co.uk

Miranda of Lleyn, an 8 ton Gauntlet built by Berthon Boats. Lying in Bodø, NorthNorway. Fair condition,

FAIRWIND

An-eye catching classic Harrison Butler 25ft LOD, built in 1935, Perkins diesel, recent sails by Quantum. Lying Aldeburgh Suffolk. Price £20,000. Contact Rory Wilkinson 07921310559

Reasonably priced at £19,000 Contact: kembo@online.no

INTERNATIONAL ONE DESIGN

A great example of this classic racing class, Sanchia (built 1958) has raced regularly with the IOD fleet in St Mawes and in Falmouth Week. She has been based in the Carrick Roads, Falmouth for many years and has been well looked after. She has been upgraded for racing since 2007. Length 33ft 5”, draft 5ft 6” £15,000 negotiable. Call 01872 580184 or E-mail: ncoppin@gmail.com for more information.

SULYA

Sulya is a very pretty long keel Morgan Giles classic, 1955. Honduras Mahogany on CRE on an Oak backbone. Alloy spars s/s rigging. Complete restoration, traditional style retained, with added modern comforts. Lying ashore nr Inverness. L/0 30ft W/l 26ft Draft 5ft 6ins. Good survey 2011, suggested £20,00. Will accept reasonable offers. Email: rossmoira@hotmail.com

1970 TolcrafT Shark

1970 Tolcraft Shark, originally built for racing, this boat has been carefully restored and had a cabin added. A new Mercruiser 4.3 MPI engine and outdrive was fitted in February 2008. This is a classic motor boat in very good condition for the year. £14,950. Contact 07973537014 or email doug.macleod45@btconnect.com

Stunning 1913 EaSt CoaSt onE DESign

25’ teak launch in need of restoration Once restored, would make ideal boat for Thames or Norfolk Broads. Boat lying Suffolk. £3000. Contact 0744 3119740 or info@teoltd.co.uk

GU Laws design for the Royal Corinthian, Redshank is no’ 5 of only 10 (CB June 2013). Comes with extensive equipment, brand new sails, full TackTick (race, wind, depth etc. and remote repeater), Road Trailer, Cradle and Outboard. Extensive restoration complete, photos available. £14,000 Contact: 0781 5752061 Email: me@paulbrightmore.com

Beautiful Black hulled Norfolk Smuggler

Very well equipped with separate folding chart table and mast lowering ‘A’ frame permanently rigged, (doubles as pulpit) £52000 Ashore South Coast Oliverphilip@btinternet.com

Norfolk Gypsy ‘Tilly’ Boat no. 63. 1st launched 1995. One family owner. Yanmar 1GM. Road/launch trailer. V.good inventory.

Riva BeRtRam 25ft spoRts fisheRman

This classic beautiful 1970’s boat has had a major re-fit in 2010 with all new electrics, cabin linings, bunks,cooker, fridge, oven, cushions, loo, teak swim board, shower, windless and many more new extras. Engines 2 yanmar 200 hp only 500 hr. Top speed 28 knots. £47,000. Contact guytrench@aol.com 07710 021010 Lying Burnham Marina Essex.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Lying ashore, South Devon. £20,950. email: shh.simonhunter@ gmail.com Tel: 0117 9298583

ALEXANDER ROBERTSON, CLYDE 1904

Elrhuna- 28ft unique vintage yacht, 12HP dolphin engine, professionally maintained and near original build. A joy to sail, great fun, well balanced. She is a beautiful sailing yacht in excellent condition. £27,500 mungo_watson@hotmail.com +447970294652

BROKERAGE

Mahogany skiff by banhaMs of CaMbridge Built in 1900. Sculls; removable sliding seat; fast. Lovingly maintained by Olympic oarsman for the last 30 years.

Capriol iii

Pretty 24ft Gentlemans Cruiser built in 1959 to a W.Radcliffe design . Restored 2007. New Yanmar engine & teak decks. This 2 Berth little classic is fast and capable and ready to sail. £12,500. Please contact 07775640287 or simonspreckley@blueyonder.co.uk

Offers over £8,000 Phone Simon Crosse on 01603 621 628

Camper and niCholsons 44 - 1961

Built by Camper and Nicholsons, Gosport, this 44 ft Bermudan Yawl is constructed of teak and mahogany on grown oak frames and built to meet Lloyds 100AI. Only 4 owners in the past 50 years! I still have the original specification with hand-made notes along with 13 line drawings from the Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Hull and topsides repainted in May 2012. Full set of new Ratsey sails. Decent Perkins 4108. Loads of spares. lying south spain. priced reduced to £39,000 For full history see www.classicyachtcharter.eu email. peter@acumenadagency.com

GOLANT GAFFER NO3.

Roger Dongray designed 19 foot, 2 berth cruiser. Built 1998, Yanmar GM10. Well equiped, new cover and hood. Lovely boat, beautifuly maintained. Lying St Just in Roseland. £10,000 ono. Tel. 07802 853203. mgarfath@yahoo.com

ROXANE NumbER 11 (1998)

The GRP hull is from Bridgend Boat Company (Plymouth) and she was fitted out by Gemini-Teak (Enkhuizen). Unique teak cockpit and decks, a deckhouse from mahogany and beautiful wooden interiors. Main and mizzen; carbon/expoxy fibre masts and spars. Bronze winches and cleats. Sleeps 2 in the forward cabin and 2 in the main saloon. Galley with a double burner and a sink with footpump for fresh water. Ample shelves, lockers, cupboards; a marine toilet and a paraffin heater. Motor: 1GM10 Yanmar diesel and a 25 litre fuel tank. More pictures on www.roxane-romilly.co.uk Euro 55,000. Tel +31641934855 or email fwvdhorst@gmail.com

9 ft Duckling Built by Fairey Marine to an Uffa Fox design. Very little used. Ideal for rowing, sailing or outboard. With oars but no trolley. Lying Truro, Cornwall. £2775 ono Tel: 01872 865333

Looking to sell your boat? Reach over 50,000 readers each month 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

Romilly

‘Riant’- could be the lowest priced Romilly for sale ever and she is in excellent condition ready for the new season. Romilly is a unique boat. Perfect for day sailing or weekending in her two person cabin. Masham, North Yorkshire. £14,950 ONO. T: 01765 650079 E: phil@grewelthorpe.org.uk

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 26/06/2014

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

STYLE A. 5cm x 2 columns. Either 160 words or 80 words plus colour photograph. £275 inc VAT and Internet

SAMPLE STYLE B

STYLE B. 5cm x 1 colums. Either 55 words or 30 words plus colour photograph. £155 inc VAT and Internet

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

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

BROKERAGE

Brokerage

To advertise Call Patricia Hubbard +44 (0) 207 349 3748 Patricia.hubbard@chelseamagazines.com Copy Deadline for next issue is 26/06/2014

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

62’ Trawler yacht. Quite simply the best of her kind we have ever seen. Built by Forbes, Scotland 1938. Fitted out for present owner 1995-99. Typical massive Scottish construction. Dedicated engine room with Gardner 6L3 114hp @ 900rpm. 2000 hrs since pro rebuild. 1 + 3 phase generator. 5 double cabins plus owner’s suite aft. Go absolutely anywhere, anytime, any weather in safety and comfort. Devon £175,000

34’ S55 double ender built by the Navy yard in Copenhagen in 1938. Pitch pine on oak hull with solid teak deck. Major rebuild in 2011. New Nanni diesel. 4 berths in superb new interior. An immaculate yacht ready to sail. Mallorca 85,000 Euro

55’ Gaff Cutter built on the lines of one of the famous Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters. Professionally built in steel by A&P Appledore Ltd in 1995. Superb interior fit out in panelled mahogany 11 berths in two separate cabins. Current MCA Cat 2 Certificate for commercial sailing, operated as a very successful charter vessel in present ownership. Offered as a complete thriving business. Very well maintained, sailing this season. Hants £360,000

35’ West Country gaff cutter built in Falmouth in 1982. Major bare hull rebuild 2000 including new decks, interior and systems. New Beta diesel 2011. Cavernous aft cabin, 6 berths and a workshop. Large beam for the length, rare to find a gaff cutter of these dimensions with so much interior volume, manageable and attractive yacht. Hants £39,000

40’ Dandy rigged Penzance lugger built in Mevagissey in 1903. Gaff rigged main with lug mizzen. Major rebuild in previous ownership she is now in great structural condition. Cruised extensively around France and south west in recent years. One of the best quality and most attractive of all the traditional West Country boats afloat. Cornwall £65,000

16’6” Fairey Faun motor Launch built by Fairey Marine in 1960. Usual triple diagonal mahogany construction for a lightweight strong hull. Morris Vedette 850cc side valve petrol engine, seats 6 comfortably. Perfect river cruiser. London £8,000

25’ historic Albert Strange canoe yawl. Built 1905. Rebuilt in current 38 year ownership. Classic Strange canoe stern representing the epitome of the canoe yawl type so popular at the time. Full length pitch-pine planking. New 1995 cedar deck. Gaff yawl rig sets 330sq’ sail. 2 fixed berths. No engine, never needed as she handles like a dinghy. Full history. English yachting culture at its very best. £22,000 Suffolk

Another fascinating selection of traditional and classic yachts only from Wooden Ships. Call for true descriptions, genuine honest values and a service from people who know their boats.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

BROKERAGE

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

52 ft Sparkman & Stephens Yawl 1953 Even by S&S standards BACCARAT stands out with her almost effortless beauty; her immaculate sheer and complete balance viewed from any angle. Currently designers copy boats like this and they are labelled “modern classic” but it is very difficult to copy a masterpiece and BACCARAT has a magic that lifts her way beyond the pretenders. She has cruised Northern Europe and the Med in her current ownership - enjoyed as a family yacht but often sailed by her owner alone; BACCARAT is iconic S&S - need we say more? f460,000 Lying Greece

60 ft Bjarne Aas 12m CR Sloop 1955 Bjarne Aas probably best known for the International One Design Class also achieved much with the success of International Rule Metre boats - he was one of the brains behind the CR (Cruiser / Racer) Rule of 1950. His boats were beautiful, fast and seaworthy, particularly in heavy weather. A 12 m Cruiser Racer is a breathtaking combination of power, grace - and yet accommodation in NORDLYS’ case, to give comfort and effortless style. Built to Lloyds 100 A1 by the renowned Molich yard, she remains little changed. f385,000 Lying Denmark

52 ft Sparkman & Stephens Sloop 1944 Designed by K. Aage Nielsen while at S&S – Olin Stephens considered him the best designer they had ever had. Nielsen’s manic attention to detail extended to his demanding the best from his builders and CICLON was no exception - and benefitting further from being the yard owner’s own boat! Launched in Cuba in 1944 she was rarely off the podium – beating such legends as STORMY WEATHER and TICONDEROGA. Of course beautiful and fast – is it time now to reintroduce her to her sisters? f350,000 Lying Cyprus

36 ft GL Watson Gaff Cutter 1894

44 ft Christian Jensen Cruiser Racer 1946

Spirit 46 MKII 2003

PEGGY BAWN’s 2 year restoration, widely regarded as exceptionally authentic, is recognised in the almost unrivalled “Coefficient of Authenticity” in her CIM rating. Cruised and raced in the seven years following, she is noted for her perfect balance and good manners. Step back in time, into the shoes of her illustrious designer, who created her at the very peak of his career - the year after designing BRITANNIA for the Prince of Wales. Apart from her delightful clipper bow, her hull shape displays her as a miniature “Britannia”. f300,000 Lying Denmark

A breathtakingly beautiful yacht from a wonderful builder, KRABAT is virtually original thanks to the best possible materials, short seasons and only a few very careful ownerships. KRABAT is a direct result of her first owner’s passion for the designs of Johan Anker and Christian Jensen. It is no surprise therefore that this yacht has such purity of lines, exhibiting her International Rule racing provenance yet with the cruising capabilities that these Scandinavian designers seemed to achieve so effortlessly. Why don’t all cruiser racers look like this? £220,000 Lying UK

S’AGAPO is well known to us having given great pleasure to her first 2 owners. Her current owner having shipped her to the US has refined and optimised her cruising and racing capabilities making her possibly a better boat even than when she left her builder’s yard. This Spirit 46 has all the answers, if you want an incredibly elegant hull form, very manageable sail plan and effortless fast cruising along with an interior to cruise & race in total comfort, comprehensive and very high specification sail wardrobe and electronics & navigation package.

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

34 ft Harley Mead Gaff Cutter 1930 The 1930s yielded numerous designs from the likes of William Blake and Harley Mead specifically for “yachties”, many of whom frankly were not confident in the lesser Bermudan rig as they saw it. WANDA is a wonderfully characteristic example of the genre and with the resurgent appreciation of the “gaffers” following the post war fashion for the Bermuda, she represents an excellent opportunity for the aficionado – she is fast and able with incredible volume below for a boat from her era.

36 ft J Pain Clark Ketch 1925 It is for good reason a yacht survives nearly 100 years - LOLA is built from teak at one of the best yards at the time, William King & Sons and her history is colourful. Her current owners of nearly 20 years describe her as well mannered and utterly dependable - proven over 30,000 cruising miles...a definite character combined with almost understated good looks.

£55,000

£48,500

email: info@sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

Lying UK

£219,000 VAT unpaid

Lying USA

Lying UK

www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

BROKERAGE

BEAUTIFUL TRAWLER YACHT Refurbished and maintained by T. Nielsen & Company

STEWART MARINE Classic Boats for sale 1932 Andrews Slipper

1950s Andrews Day Boat

Length Overall: 49 feet 10 inches Beam: 16 feet 10 inches Draft: 2 metres approximately

Built in 1944 by Bolson’s of Poole for the Admiralty, converted in 1984 and then rebuilt by T. Nielsen & Company in 2010. Constructed in larch on oak, Big Saba has full sails and a Gardiner diesel engine. Fully equipped and ﬁnished to the highest standards, both interior and exterior is a testament to excellent craftsmanship. MCA Coded. Lying in Gloucester. Price: Offers in the region of £250,000

BIG SABA

Original Baby Greyhound Fully restored 2005 Original Austin engine Very rare original craft In excellent condition

Ford Watermota engine Lovely interior New Winter cover Re-furbished by Freebody In A1 condition

£35,950

£25,500

Wanted all types of classic launches Classic Boats for Charter 1897 Day Launch “EM”

1974 Fairey Spearfish

Based in Kingston Upon Thames this boat is ideal for special events for up to 12 people with skipper. Catering available on request.

Based in the Solent this boat is ideal for film and TV due to its stability and speed. Available for Cowes and other Solent regattas

www.tnielsen.co.uk/boats-for-sale/ +44 (0)1452 301117

www.hartsboats.com

0208 399 0297

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

35ft Classic Bermudan Ketch, 1948 Finnish built, Pitch Pine, spartan accom. Used for racing/ Regattas. 36hp Bukh eng. Isle of Wight £35,000 OIRO

28ft Falmouth Quay Punt, 1912 Classic sailing, 100yrs on. Sails ‘06/7 Lister 18hp eng. 4 berths. Cornwall £25,000

36ft Sailing Smack, 1860 Gaff cutter, decks renewed. Shoal draft, fast. No mod con’s. Essex £35,000

Nelson 34, 1978 Robust GRP, 2 x Perkins diesels. Aft cabin. Enclosed helm. Full history. Excellent tender Ex RN. Four berths. Essex £24,950

40m Steel Spitz Barge Operational & fully converted. 130yrs Res mooring. 5*facilities Central London £1.5m

27ft Spitzgatter, 1939 Interior refited. Volvo 2MD eng. Bermudan cutter rig. 4 berths. S.E.London £12,500

28ft Friendship Sloop (replica) 1978 American design. Strip plank construction. Volvo Penta new eng, Gaff cutter. Kent £18,500

Norske 35, Gaff Cutter 1977 Windboats of Wroxham.Yanmar 3GM. Seacrete. Lines of a Colin Archer. Exeter £24,950

29ft Felthams Bermudan Cutter, 1929 Pitch pine, teak decks. BMC eng. Accom for 4. Lawrence Sails. Suffolk £17,500

29ft Classic Fred Parker,1961 Carvel, long keel, self draining cpit. ’06 Beta 28hp. Accom. Tidy Refitted. Kent £14,500

20ft Scandinavian One Design BB11, 1958 Varnished keel boat, outboard & road trailer. Much restored. Custom cradle & trailer Open Racer. Essex £5,750

24ft, Albert Strange 1906 Canoe Yawl No; 63 design. Beta 10hp eng. Rebuilt 1990’s. C’plate. East Yorkshire £9,750

11ft Percy Blandford, 1955 Bonaventure by Lewis Marine 20hp Johnson. Trailer & ski’s. Original condition. Essex £1,750

22ft Nicholson Dayboat, 1910 Gaff Rig, Gowens ’08 sails. Pitch pine, lead keel. Much restored. Essex £9,750

18ft EOD No:1, 1966 Morgan Giles design. GRP Copper coated. Gowen sails. C’plate. Essex £2,500

www.heritage-marine.com 82

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

BROKERAGE

Belle Glen - a Dutch style mock clinker GRP diesel day launch with hood and trailer in excellent order. Ready to launch mid Thames.

Celestine - an unusual and unique electric launch with a day cabin from Cumbria, now viewing Thames ashore.

EH 16 - brand new lithium ion electric open day launch, stylish, stable, seats 6 in comfort. Call us for a river trial.

Lady Helen - a bespoke design by Andrew Wolstenholme, built by Henwood and Dean. Electric and elegant. Viewing Thames ashore.

Elysian - one of several slipper stern launches, this one by Brooke and beautifully finished, afloat mid Thames.

Peerless Admiral - one of two 25ft Andrews day launches, both available for viewing at our Beale Park boat store and ready to launch for the season.

Naiad Errant - a Dunkirk Little Ship of renown, lovely interior, 32ft, well maintained and ready to return to Dunkirk in 2015. Viewing Thames afloat

Lorita - a Thorneycroft with red leather furnishings, sleeping for two, heads and great character. Well documented history. Viewing Cumbria afloat

CMY

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

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

42m on deck, Classic Brig two-masted square rigged sailing ship built Steel 1958.

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

25m (82ft) Steel Twin Screw Gentleman’s Schooner part-finished restoration project.

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

Rebuilt to current form, 2005. Can seat 60 for Dinner! World-wide classification. €3,900,000 - Location Netherlands

accommodation for up to 36 in 17 cabins plus 12 crew berths in six cabins; Bar and lounge. Well-equipped, comfortable. €1,900,000 - Location Valencia, Spain

Hull and decks restored, twin Gardner diesels. Drop Dead Gorgeous! 2010 Survey please ask for a copy. £195,000 Offers invited - Location Dorset UK

Construction is cold moulded, double diagonal over strip plank Cedar, all epoxy / glass sheathed. 6 berths. Yanmar 40hp diesel. A real stunner! €139,000 - Location Costa del Sol, Spain

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

10m (33ft) Fairey Marine Swordsman, fast cruiser. Up to six berths, two heads, excellent

10.66m (35ft) Super Sovereign GRP Long Keel Ketch. Built Uphams 1975, to the Kim

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

She offers accommodation for up to 17 in 5 cabins. Engine is 121kw (162hp) 6-cylinder diesel (1979) Recently chartering. €89,500 - Location Gdynia, Poland

galley, twin Volvo Penta TAMPD41P-A 200bhp diesels installed 2000. Superbly maintained. One owner from new. 2010 Survey. £39,000 Offers Invited! - Location River Colne, Essex

Holman design. Comfortable, serious passage maker, with 4/5 berths, good galley, Nav station, heater, fridge, radar etc., and 36hp Diesel. £34,750 - Location North Essex

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

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.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

Craftsmanship THEO RYE

C/O FOX'S MARINA

Yard News

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

HAMBLE, HAMPSHIRE

Fairlie 53 launched

IPSWICH, SUFFOLK

Vintage Feadship rebuilt

The 1961 Feadship Tiky has almost reached the end of a somewhat After nearly two years in build, the new Fairlie 53 was launched on the Hamble in May, rocky road to resurrection rebuild for owner David Japp, as we reports Theo Rye. With a swept bulb keel and skeg-hung rudder, La Dama, as she will were going to press. Two “disastrous” episodes in Spain be called, is a departure from previous Fairlie hulls. According to designer and France were followed by a comprehensive Paul Spooner, the new 53 is intended for short-handed ocean cruising. FIRST two-year rebuild at EC Landamore & Co of Wroxham, At 53ft (16.2m) with a generous (by Fairlie standards) 13ft (4m) beam, ORDER Norfolk. She’s now being finished at Fox’s Marina in the 14.5-tonne cutter certainly looks the part with a bold sheer. The FOR SPITFIRE Ipswich. The 62ft (18.9m) steel Van Lent-built boat somewhat Laurent Giles-esque doghouse and coachroof with two Following our test in CB310, was a superyacht of her day, with a superstructure skylights has allowed the Fairlie joiners to show off their usual skill North Quay Marine has straight out of the Chris-Craft design school and a with traditional details, and there was a fair smattering of custom received an order for a new pretty, rounded stern. bronze deck gear on the laid teak decks. Spitfire. Work had started as we went to press CORRECTION MAINE, USA Our ‘Six Addiction in Sydney’ report (CB309) had some errors. To clarify: Yeoman II, the 1937 6-M yacht, is being restored not A British enthusiast has bought an extremely rare, early Thornycroft by Rob Bishop, but by her racer in Maine, USA. Scolopendra was drawn in 1902 by John owner since 2005, Sydney craftsman and restorer Thornycroft for what was probably the first rule in motorboating – the Geoffrey Docker. This Marine Motoring Association’s 30ft (9.1m) class. She was built the next restoration predates the year in wood by Frank Maynard at Strand-on-the-Green, on the banks next-door restoration of of the Thames in west London. This was the infancy of speed under power, before hydroplane hulls. Nonetheless, she achieved a measured Rendezvous by Sydney 18mph with her single 20hp Thornycroft A4 petrol engine – their first. Wooden Boats by several The owner thinks she is not only the first-ever slipper launch (predating years. Our report stated that the restoration leaves Merk), but the world’s oldest surviving purpose-built racing motorboat. only the lead keel original. She is now undergoing a restoration to her 1903 Harmsworth racing In fact, the keel timbers, spec by boatbuilder Richard Woodman. floors, lead keel, some secondary timber parts Desperately seeking engine… and fittings will remain Scolopendra’s owner is seeking the only original. The restoration Thornycroft A4 available. It was seen in of Yeoman II has no Australia powering a wood saw, but its location is unknown. If you know, please connection to Sydney email him at z49yak@gmail.com. Wooden Boats. Our apologies.

C/O THE OWNER

Racing motorboat in restoration could be oldest

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

CRAFTSMANSHIP

IRON WHARF, FAveRSHAM

A very busy yard

TRADITIONAL SHIPWRIGHT SERVICES, POOLE

Strength to strength Externally, there’s little to suggest that Traditional Shipwright Services (ex-Lathams) is one of the busiest wooden boat restoration yards around. The shed on the shores of Poole Harbour has gone through at least three changes of ownership since our last visit nine years ago (CB202) and is busier than ever. Paul Kendall (left), who apprenticed here with Ken Latham and bought the yard with Tim Frearson in 2011, gave us a tour. Work on the local XOD fleet, previously the stock-in-trade, has dried up, replaced by yacht restoration. There were more than 12 boats there on our visit, with at least six in various stages of serious metamorphosis. Here's a tiny sample of the projects under way:

1 Three biggies This is the foredeck of the 45ft (13.7m) Phillip Rhodes sloop Josephine and she’s having her counter fortified after the backstay worked it. She belongs to art dealer David Messum, who represents Jamie Dodds among others. To the right is the 44ft (13.4m) inboard S&S sloop Laughing Gull, having her interior made more original for owner Barney Sandeman and family. To the right is the biggest project in the yard, Iseult, a manful workboat built in 1909 and turned into a yacht with the addition of a counter stern in 1920. She’s 42ft (12.8m) of heavy-duty wooden ship, about 20 tonnes in weight and undergoing a complete refurbishment for a French owner who is, unbelievably, in his 20s! 2 Nausikaa This 37ft (11.3m) 12-ton Gauntlet is a project for David Messum (see section above) to create a comfortable vintage yacht, including an interior with a double berth, hot and cold running water and a galley. While not original, it’s sympathetic and bright in white paint and varnished wood.

3 Fiara Mylne rebuilds are all the rage with Fife III yachts running out. This one’s 40ft (12.2m) or so and built in 1907/9. The job is a pretty thorough rebuild for an owner who’s spreading the work (and the bills) over five years. We looked at the new, laminated iroko stem and inside, where the next job is going to be new floors – lots of them, and in steel rather than the original iron.

4 Tilley This cute Finesse 21 is Paul’s own project. He brought her back to life after the hull was stoved in. She’s varnished iroko and built in 1982 in the dying gasps of the wooden era. 5 Kookaburra Here’s a recipe: insert new ribs, refasten, rake seams and fill with epoxy to form monocoque, glue hull timbers to planking, coat inside and out with epoxy. Paul calls it the full remedial epoxy treatment, and the yard is known for it. This 1929 Menai Straits One-Design was given the treatment 15 years ago and looks new today. Food for thought?

4 ALL PHOTOGRAPHS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

YARD VISIT

Belle the beagle CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

CRAFTSMANSHIP

diy adviCe

A hole in one sToRy AnD pHoToGRApHs robin gates Recently, I needed to make a new wooden plinth, then install the anchor winch. The plinth, which also forms the housing for the heel of the bowsprit, is about 12in (30cm) thick. once installed, I needed to drill holes for the two navel pipes. These holes, 2in (5.1cm) in diameter, guide the chain from the gypsy into the chain locker. As I wanted to use the original holes in the deck, the ones through the plinth needed to be aligned very carefully, but I did not have an auger bit large enough to drill through in one. so, I decided to bore the holes by modifying a hole saw. First, I drilled a pilot hole with an extended 8mm drill bit (see CB305) to ensure it was straight. This allowed me to check I was drilling at the correct angle for the navel pipes to

come through the deck holes; they also formed a guide for the saw. The pilot holes came out in the right place. If not it would have been simple to plug them with long dowels and try again. The next stage was to modify the hole saw to ensure that it would follow the pilot hole accurately, and bore a hole 12in (30cm) deep. I removed the drill bit from the arbor, or centre piece, of the hole saw and replaced it with a 6in (15cm) length of 8mm threaded bar to fit snugly in the pilot hole. Rounding off the end with a file meant it would not start to cut a path of its own. Finally, I took a piece of stainless rod, about 16in (41cm) long, that I used to extend the spindle of the hole saw. on this tool, the part of the arbor designed to fit into the drill chuck had a hole in it already, so I filed down the end of the rod and inserted it into the hole. To hold them together I then drilled a 1/8in (3mm) diameter hole through both the arbor and the rod and fitted a small screw as a locking pin. I then drilled the navel pipes, withdrawing the hole saw every 1½in (3.8cm) or so to clear out the waste timber using a chisel.

All ImAGEs: RoBIn GATEs

Boatbuilder’s Notes

Left: the spindle of the hole saw was extended using a scrap of stainless steel rod held in place with a small screw. As the threaded bar is longer than the original drill bit, and has a rounded end, the saw has no tendency to slip from the pilot hole. Above: the extended hole saw and drill bit

how to… retrofit hanging knees

RoBIn GATEs

expert adviCe Cross-cutting technique

boatbuilding advice from naval architect John perryman

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

The technique for cross-cutting a small board by hand is simple and effective. First, sight along your saw to check for straightness and feel the sharpness of its teeth (above left). In a good old saw plate like this one by Henry Disston (22in/56cm long and 10 teeth per inch), a small kink can be hammered straight and the bite of dull teeth can be restored with a triangular file. Then clamp the board between one knee and any handy support (above right). An old kitchen stool with solid wooden seat is ideal; a padded office chair on casters isn’t! With the teeth on the waste side of the line and the saw plate guided by the thumb of your free hand, draw the saw back a few times to establish the kerf, then saw using the full length of the blade. Clear sawdust from the line frequently so as not to lose sight of it. Then, as you near the end, it is vital to support the waste piece with your free hand so that it may be sawn to the very last fibre, otherwise it will tear free to leave a splintered corner. Robin Gates

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Traditional Tool Rope gauge: made to measure This rope gauge from the early 1900s recalls a time when the shed of a tar-soaked ropery was a feature of every significant seaport. The amount of hemp and wire rope consumed by Britain’s merchant, fishing and fighting fleets was prodigious, while the increasingly popular pastime of yachting created an expanding market for lighter cordage. A contemporary reference work for the rigging of cruising and racing yachts was Dixon Kemp’s A Manual of Yacht and Boat Sailing, which listed the materials and sizes for every part of a cutter, yawl and schooner from a bobstay tackle to a topsail sheet. The gauge was made by John Rabone & Sons at the Hockley Abbey Works, Birmingham, and the firm described it as being “of well seasoned boxwood of good quality”, with its end grain neatly protected by brass chanelling fastened by tiny rivets, which are barely visible. Even now the calliper’s solid-brass slide works beautifully, being dovetailed into the

fine-grained boxwood stock to offer just the right amount of grip to hold the moving jaw as it clamps lightly across a rope’s diameter. In the ropeworks, this slim and tactile gauge would have been in and out of the foreman’s pocket constantly, checking and rechecking the ropes on which people’s hopes and livelihoods would hang. For general measurements there is a 4in (10cm) scale on the edge of the stock, but the scales used in calculating breaking loads are engraved on the calliper’s slide. On one side the rope’s diameter is shown

Clockwise from above: boxwood and brass rope gauge; the calliper converts diameter to circumference; dovetail fitting for the slide

while, reading across, its companion scale shows the rope’s circumference, which is the diameter multiplied by pi (3.1416). Knowing the rope’s circumference and construction (galvanised steel, manilla, tarred hemp), the ropemaker could then read its breaking load from the relevant table printed on the stock. With constant use these tables have become so worn as to be almost illegible, but it can be imagined that, having started in the ropeworks as an apprentice aged 14, the ropemaker would have become so familiar with the figures as to have committed them to memory.

RoBIn gatEs

stoRy and photogRaphs ROBIN GATES

RoBIn gatEs

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

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CRAFTSMANSHIP

Charlotte watters

Adrian Morgan

Metres, rule? Adrian is struggling to go metric; he’s a feet and inches man

iking Boats has gone metric. Had to: we’re building a French boat, which means it’s out with the inches, a good old Anglo Saxon measurement equating to the length of King Alfred’s thumb, and in with metres and millimetres, which, I believe, are based on Napoleon’s shoe size, nail clippings, or something. Out too with all those traditional measurements so beloved of British craftsmen, of which my favourite is “yeah big”. Tads, whiskers, smidgens and fag-paper fits must go – well, maybe we’ll keep the last one as the French smoke like chimneys – and other terms to describe nebulous distances between things. Instead, that tiny gap you cannot fill by exerting enormous clamping pressure and which will simply have to be filled with epoxy and wood dust, becomes “half a mill”. In the past I have mixed and matched measurements as needed. Some things are better, and will always be so, measured in metric, others in imperial. The spacing of steamed timbers and the nails in between will always remain in inches. Old wooden boats under restoration will have been built using imperial. Take out a knee in a 14ft clinker boat and it will be an inch in siding (or is that moulding, I was never sure); same with a riser. Thwarts are invariably 7in wide. Why, I cannot say. Maybe wide enough to support a skinny pre-1950s bum, but not so wide as to make it difficult to rock back and forth on rowing. Or perhaps for reasons of economy, an inch saved on a 6ft thwart is another steamed timber. But plank thickness, measured by Vernier, is invariably in millimetres. Whereas I hear myself say to Sage, who supplies much of my timber, that I am after a piece of oak about 6ft long by 5/8in, when it is fed into the thinnesser (why do they call it a thicknesser?) it emerges at 12.5mm, or as near as damn it, not half an inch.

“Most people under 40 now think in metric”

Truth is that measurements are made by and for man. They are adopted if they are useful and discarded when they cease to be: viz the pecks, groats, bushels, furlongs and acres we of a certain age would learn at school. Remember those textbook questions: “If it takes four farmworkers 12 hours to harvest an acre of wheat, how many bushels would be produced in how long by 10 workers if one acre produced 12 bushels” etc, etc. Most people under 40 now think in metric and that subliminal attachment to the old ways based on rules of thumb (about an inch from nail tip to first joint) has been replaced by units based on a French emperor’s whim. Here’s an interesting fact, though. When the system was first introduced, the only craftsmen capable of producing the bars of metal – the yardsticks (0.9144m by the way) used to define the metre – accurately enough were British. In other words, at the height of AngloFrench tension we were ensuring the opposition’s cannon balls would fit their cannon mouths snugly enough to inflict the maximum damage on our warships. When this French boat – an Ilur, designed by François Vivier – is launched, the old ways will no doubt slip back into the Victorian milking parlour down by the lochside. Out will go the German-made, pocket-folding rule with graduations in millimetres, and in will return the boxwood rule beloved of fine British craftsmen. Back will come the “tads” and even perhaps the “yeah bigs”. But a small part of my brain, wired from youth to think in inches and feet, will have been subverted. And perhaps one day when some poor boatbuilder is deconstructing one of my boats he will exclaim: “Would you believe it. These old timbers are 12.5mm. That means we can date the boat to some time between 2014-2016 when old Morgan finally went metric.” CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

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Looking ahead Things to do in the next few weeks

NEXT MONTH

Scottish Traditional Boat Festival

CB ARCHIVE

27-29 JUNE Portsoy, Aberdeenshire stbfportsoy.com, Tel: +44 (0)1261 842951 Charming mix of workboats and yachts in a very picturesque harbour. Sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management.

FAMILY FUN National Maritime Museums 24-31 JULY Where the Sea Meets an Island NMM London, rmg.co.uk Tel: 44 (0)20 8858 4422 British marine paintings and create a collage. All ages. Admission free. JULY TO AUGUST The Message NMM London, rmg.co.uk Tel: 44 (0)20 8858 4422 Messages from Nelson’s Ship in a Bottle and make your own art. Aged 6+. Admission free.

Until 5 OCTOBER The Friendly Invasion NMM Cornwall, nmmc.co.uk Tel: +44 (0)1326 313388 Exhibition commemorating 70 years since the D-Day landings. Falmouth residents shared their town with thousands of troops preparing for the invasion.

AFLOAT, UK 13-15 JUNE Falmouth Classics Cornwall, falmouthclassics.org.uk Tel: +44 (0)1326 312126 Now three-days long and with free berthing – French style!

AFLOAT, OVERSEAS 12-22 JUNE Greek Classics, Corfu-Spetses ccyr.gr/classicyactrace.com Tel: +30 210 422 0506/ +30 210 4220506 New regatta at Corfu (12-14 June) followed by a c-in-c (15-18 June) through Greece’s less famous isles to the Spetses regatta (19-22 June).

KELPIE The skipper of Mariette tells all about his latest restoration – the 79ft (24m) Sweisguth-designed schooner found in the USA and restored in Britain

15-22 JULY Europe Week Oslo and environs, Norway europeweek2014.no Could be this year’s big event with 150+ boats expected. See p34.

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CB ARCHIVE

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

TOP TO BOTTOM: EMILY HARRIS, MERVYN MAGGS, COWES CLASSICS

CB ARCHIVE

We sail the racy dayboat/weekender Spirit of Tradition ‘glassic’ from the Falmouth builder, and find that class can come in glass

Letters Letter of the month supported by oLd puLteney Whisky

Above: the imposing sight of the ST Portwey

rehearsal for the D-Day landings that went so horribly wrong. You may also be interested to know that we are using her for trips to view the Tall Ships in Greenwich (CB312) on 6-7 September and will be in St Katharine Docks for the Classic Boat Rally later that month. There is a lot more information on our website if you are interested

Cb ArChives

Red Robin mystery

The right restoration? your Classic boat 2013 award for the best restoration under 40ft (12.2m) rest of the World, fife iii’s 6-m rendezvous (pictured above), is not by any measure a restoration – it involved the removal of a cruising fit-out and a coach house. the deck repair is only a temporary patch up and the interior is still bits and pieces of the cruising woodwork. Also, the rig is only a temporary rig, not a 6-m. this 6-m should not have received the award. the rest of the world must be doing pretty badly if rendezvous is regarded as the best restoration in this category! Peter Docker, Sydney ed – We have to take our reports on trust peter and we were impressed by some standards and the care (of original planking) in this restoration. she has a smaller rig, but we understand there is a plan to return her fully to 6-m status soon. so we have to stand by her inclusion, and the votes, that here was a venerable old boat brought back racing again – using original drawings sourced from fairlie restorations. 96

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

As a result of a generous early wedding present, my fiancée and I have recently become the proud owners of a 35ft (10.7m) boat by the name of Red Robin, which we plan to restore to sailing condition over the next few years. We were drawn to her unusual lines; however, we know very little of her origin and history. We know she is teak on oak frames and we believe she was built in Hong Kong in 1939, but we know very little else. We would appreciate any more information that can be provided. Oliver Miles Brady, by email

and we also have a longer history of the tug that I am in the process of preparing, but I would be able to let you have a copy of the older one. If you would like to visit or to know more, please let me know and I will put you in touch with our chief engineer. We look forward to hearing from you. Ruth Selo, membership secretary ST Portwey Trust

Ed: She’s one of my favourtites and is on the To Do list Ruth! In the meantime, if any readers would like to get on board why not take a cruise up the Thames? Over the weekend of 11-13 July there are myriad options taking in many top sights, including Tower Bridge, HMS Belfast, Greenwich Palace, the Cutty Sark and the Thames Flood Barrier. More details at stportwey.co.uk.

The name game the grp memory 19 class yacht called sif featured in your hall of fame (Cb300) should be identified by another name! surely you would recognise that she is not my sif, the 1894 hansen schooner of st-tropez. surely you have seen her in the gstaad yC centenary races at st-tropez these last two years? there are only around 35 yachts, and it would be hard to miss sif. but you were probably sailing in other challenges between “drop dead beautiful yachts”. surely, out of consideration for my sif, i can expect you to identify the memory 19 class with another boat name, or no name at all. William MacInnes, Drimnin, Oban ed – in our Cb300 hall of fame there are several classic classes, of which the open memory 19 is one. but we highlighted sif as being a fine example. but we want the hall of fame to grow like valhalla, so hopefully there will be room for another sif in the future.

sALty dog mediA

I’ve just read the piece about the Massey Shaw fireboat in the June issue (CB312, p50). Our steam tug Portwey is actually moored right alongside her, and we too are a classic boat! So I wondered if you would be interested in visiting and doing a feature on us? Portwey was built in 1927 and is the last coal-fired steam tug in working condition. Although she wasn’t a Dunkirk Little Ship, she has an interesting Second World War history, having been seconded to the US forces and carried out rescue work after the Slapton Sands disaster, the

dAn houston

Room for Portwey?

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

I really liked Mario Pirri’s very interesting and in some way unusual article published in your May issue (CB311) on the Fife yacht Latifa, her restoration and about the joys of sailing around the world singlehanded. I’m an old Swedish sailor, in every sense, 65 years old and sailing for the past 50 years. I always sail singlehanded because the kids are grown up and my wife has no interest; never has had. As Mario, and no doubt many other stressed-out men agree, I found out many years ago that singlehanded sailing gives a new dimension to sailing. It’s fantastic; I’ve sailed around Sweden and most of the west coast and you are always on speaking terms with the crew! The only difference between us is the size of our yachts!

maTS ROSén

Mario Pirri of Latifa is right – singlehanded sailing is fantastic!

People always ask me why I have such a big boat when I sail alone, but when I read this article my yacht really did shrink! I have an Amigo 40 – a 32ft (9.8m) 6-ton double-ender designed by Carl Andersson, the man behind all the famous Vindö yachts. The Amigo 40 was his last design and the first Amigo was made in

Above: Mats Rosén’s Amigo 40

Dr Mats Rosén, Lidkoping, Sweden

Boat search – please help

Dutch dilemma

Dirty tricks by Dorade? While it is fabulous to read that Dorade is still winning after all these years, how much is due to her rule-bending interpretation of a yawl rig? That pocket handkerchief of an excuse for a mizzen is surely against the spirit and intent of the rules that give yawl rigs an advantage. and being able to carry downwind sails from the mizzen mast without penalty is a huge advantage. It reminds me of those photos of the Kaiser’s meteor with that absurd little spar at the back that gave her a rating advantage and was one of the reasons why her royal owner had Britannia withdrawn from racing. Adrian Morgan, Ullapool, Scotland

While at university (University College, London, 1935-39) my father, Hein Kaars Sijpesteijn (initials CHKS), together with a few friends, chartered this yacht (pictured below) and explored the west coast of Scotland. Perhaps this photograph will jog somebody’s memory! What was her name and designer and is she still around, etc? To help, I think the key year is 1936 when my Dad was involved with the Dutch team at the Kiel Olympics. In 1937, he sailed with Kees Bruynzeel on Zeearend, which won the Fastnet Race, and during that year he was also drafted for military service. In 1939, he returned to the UK to complete his studies, then returned to Holland for holidays and shortly afterwards the Second World War started. Hence the reason why we think the sailing shot was taken in Scotland in 1936. Great if you could help. Jan Sijpesteijn, by email

Jan SIJPeSTeIJn

SHaROn GReen

Can you help me? I am trying to find the whereabouts and owner of Roamer of Lochaber. She was a pretty, canoe-sterned 32ft (9.8m) cutterrigged yacht built in pitch pine on oak with a teak interior by Woodnutt’s in 1938. During the war she was stored ashore, and was launched afterwards. My father owned her as Roamer of Beaulieu until 1963. She was listed on the Clyde Yachting Association’s handicap lists for 2011, having been de-registered from Lloyd’s in 2009. I wonder who owns her now, and where she is? John Walker, by email

wood, as most of the Vindö yachts were from the beginning. Mine has a GRP hull, but inside I can promise you a good sum of money if you can see any plastic! It’s a wonderful yacht that can cruise in 12m/s wind with full sails and easily achieve 8-9 knots, and believe it or not, 3 knots at 3m/s wind! I have a furled genoa, but traditional slab reef for the main. The reason I’m writing is not to discuss my boat, but to ask if it would be possible to contact Mario Pirri, since I have some questions I would like to put to him. Thanks for an outstanding boat magazine! And don’t bother about the complaints of small-boat owners who say they don’t like big boat features! Of course we want to see these magnificent yachts in all their splendour.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

illustration: guy venables

Sternpost which has a longer waterline length and greater sail area than Rosenn. It is totally unfair,” says Bob to anyone who will listen. Dick Dawson, one of the Committee members to have his ear bent by the two Rosenn owners, admits there is a problem. “The Old Gaffers’ rule was developed in the late 50s and hasn’t been amended since. Yes, we have some ‘new’ old gaffers, but then some of the old boats have been restored to ‘as new’ condition. Rating such disparate designs spread across 150 years has become a nightmare.” And just to add salt to the wound, two Cornish Shrimpers, the 2010-built Polly and 2001-launched Porthilly Dreamer, finished first and second in Class 3 followed by the 2011 vintage Golant Gaffer Step Back in Time. There was nothing earlier than 1989 racing in this class, so ‘Old’ and ‘Gaffer’ have turned into disparate terms. Up on the East Coast, the local Old Gaffers Association instigated a more flexible system of rating old and new gaffers together and appears to get far fewer complaints. “We reassess each boat’s handicap figure after four races, and adjust their ratings accordingly,” says chairman Peter Thomas. He adds: “We ignore the last two boats in each race because their performance could have been hampered by a dirty bottom or grounding, and either add or subtract a few per cent from the other ratings, depending on how the boats have performed. We even give an additional benefit to those boats that are towing dinghies.” But Peter concedes that rating new and old boats fairly can still be a nightmare. “Take the Welsh-built Swallow Boats’ Bay Cruiser 23 and the River Deben One-Design. Both measure 23ft (7m) long, have identical beams and similar sail areas, but while the Swallow displaces 1,543lb (700kg), the Deben weighs 7,000lb (3.2 tons). Yet, under every rating system the Deben has to give the Swallow time. None takes account of the Swallow’s ability to point higher into the wind and sail faster downwind.” Barry Dunning and crewman Bob Fisher hope to have solved their problem against Foxhound in this year’s Round the Island Race. They are leaving Rosenn on her mooring, and racing their Fife III-designed Mignon in the Classic Yacht Class instead. Newly restored, she won every race at last year’s Fife Regatta on the Clyde, and they are hoping ISC secretary Chris Thomas will not have heard about this particular dark horse. But then, by keeping the ISC rule such a closely guarded secret, who will know – apart from the club secretary of course!

Gaffers rebuilt to race

Barry Pickthall wonders if you can handicap “as new” rebuilds

ating rules – you either love ’em or hate ’em, depending of course on whether you end up winning or losing. The annual Round the Island Race, organised by the Island Sailing Club (ISC) in Cowes on 21 June, attracts 1,000-plus crews, and the handicapping is always high on the agenda in the beer tent wash-up afterwards. In many ways, the ISC has it just right, for the workings of their own rating rule (the ISC rule) is kept such a closely guarded secret by club secretary Chris Thomas that no one can argue against it. But then, the Old Gaffers race round under their own antiquated rule, drawn up in the 1950s when enthusiasts were still dragging old hulks out of creeks, rigging them with whatever was to hand, and bailing as much as bawling around the course. Today, ‘old gaffer’ is a bit of a misnomer. Many are GRP retros, and those that aren’t have been so beautifully restored that they are invariably better – and almost certainly faster – than new. Last year’s race is a case in point. The Old Gaffer Foxhound, entered by Richard Rouse, won Class 2. She was built in 2001 and was followed by Rosenn, the Solent One-Design dating back to 1896, owned by Barry Dunning cursing loudly at the injustice of having the age allowance removed from their rating. “How can anyone believe a 106-year age gap is not relevant? Since the Old Gaffers Association dropped the age allowance component from its rating rule in 2012, we find ourselves having to give time to modern designs like Foxhound,

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2014

“Rating such disparate designs across 150 years has become a nightmare”

pa n e r a i . c o m

design a n d technology. luminor 1950 regatta 3 days chrono flyback titanio (ref. 526)

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