Letters LETTER OF THE MONTH SUPPORTED BY OLD PULTENEY WHISKY
Raising funds to restore my father’s boat
I remeber the ’57 Fastnet The 1957 Fastnet is not forgotten here in Cowes. My family and I watched the fleet that evening from above the Needles as my father, Bill Thirlby, helmed the elderly 12-M Vanity out through seas so rough that one watcher recalls seeing 12ft of her keel visible abaft the mast. As my father later recounted, with almost every sail blown out straight away, he decided to turn her and run before the gale round
I’m trying to restore my late dad’s sea king wooden sailing boat,
the back of the Wight. Under almost bare poles, her long keel gave
Alcyone. My dad passed away in 2017 after a brave battle with
her some steerage way until they got to Bembridge and the shelter to
vascular dementia.
rig a scrap of canvas, just enough to claw her way up Spithead.
After my dad passed away, I started to think about Alcyone.
Having learned to sail in Portsmouth Harbour before the war, my
Alcyone was found behind a shed in Southwold. My parents
father knew a mud bank that would stop her onward rush, but as they
restored her and brought her back to the Norfolk. I had many
shot through the harbour entrance about midnight, the last Royal
happy and memorable holidays with my parents on the Norfolk
Navy liberty boat was crossing from Gosport and the crew managed
broads.
to get a line to Vanity and stop her before any more damage was
When my dad was no longer able to sail Alcyone, He had to make a heartbreaking decision to sell her. Alcyone was sold and
done. So, not forgotten, and much remembered here in ‘79. Rosemary Joy, Cowes, IoW
went to Woodbridge where she was for four years. A few times my parents went to Woodbridge to see Alcyone. My parents loved Alcyone and I knew my dad missed sailing. For three years I looked for Alcyone but didn’t have much luck. After loads of searching I came across a blog by Nick Ardley. I could not believe my eyes, but there she was, looking rather sorry for herself at a boat graveyard in Titchmarsh Marina. Thanks to Craig Trickett and his wife, I could store Alcyone at theirs. Now I have got Alcyone back, I have made it my mission to restore her to her former glory. I have spent the last six months saving money and raising money. By selling items of clothing etc, I’ve saved up nearly half of the money needed for the restoration. I am now in need of help to raise the other half. I have a boatbuilder who his willing to restore Alcyone. The BEKEN OF COWES
£6,000 what I am asking for will be put together with what I have saved. I will then have enough to restore her. In October if funds have been raised the boatbuilder can start. Sarah Spinks, alcyone213k.com
Designer credited for West Solents It is some time since I have
thought in 1924, of a 35 foot (10.6
submitted a contribution to Classic
M) craft as a larger edition of the
Boat. Having read with interest the
Sunbeam Class of 1922 (there is a
article on the West Solent Class
great similarity of profile). The late
(Suvretta, August issue), it
Theo Rye was of the opinion that
triggered memories of my
Louis Jacobs could have been the
employment at the Berthon Boat
designer, not Westmacott. Berthon
Co Ltd, 1947 -1961. On a number of
constructed a large shed especially
occasions it was necessary to
for the winter lay-up of the West
retrieve the beautifully prepared
Solents. Walking by the stored
drawings to answer clients’
craft in the bow down attitude put
enquiries, keel bolts being coloured
one in mind of a group of elegant
yellow to signify bronze and
ladies gazing at something of interest, with their counters high in
centreline structure in sepia to
80
indicate English Oak. The main purpose of this note is to draw
the air! W8 Dinah, now named Ripple, is in the ownership of Brian May,
attention to the fact that the designer of the West Solent Class was
the company’s MD, and restoration is being undertaken by the
Louis Jacobs as signed on his drawings, not Harry Jacob as published.
shipwright apprentices as an introduction to traditional construction
It is quite common practice for the person who commissioned the
methods.
project to be credited as co-designer. I can well imagine HG May’s
Jim Hazel, Locksheath, Hampshire
CLASSIC BOAT SEPTEMBER 2021
