Craftsmanship
Edited by Steffan Meyric Hughes: +44 (0)207 349 3758 Email: steffan@classicboat.co.uk
C/O THE BUILDER
Yard News
SECTION HEAD SUB SECTION
HAMPSHIRE
UandI – original speed I recently wrote in these pages that boats are only half of themselves
the original. The result is surely not so different from the boat that raced
without their people. In the case of Uandi (‘You and I’), I was dead right.
in 1897 against her 10 sisters. Now, she is the sole survivor. Soon, I’ll be
When Alastair Garland came across the Fife-designed Belfast Lough day
telling the whole story of how Alastair somehow managed to save 85 per
racer propped in a field back in 1995, it was her lucky day. Alastair is
cent of her planking as he replaced the stem, the wooden keel, the rudder
always busy restoring other people’s boats in his shop on the northern
post and the horn timber while keeping her archboard with the carved
fringes of the New Forest so he wasn’t in a hurry, but at last the yacht is
name. As a sailor, I’ll also let you in on how it feels to helm this remarkably
sailing again. His restoration philosophy is to retain everything he can of
rapid boat. So hold fast, dear reader... Tom Cunliffe
MYLOR, CORNWALL
Oldest Oyster dredger Built by Hitchens & Ford of Feock in the 1870s, Shadow is thought to be the oldest surviving boat built specifically for oyster dredging. She was used as a yacht for a while between the world wars and was last in commission as an oyster dredging boat in 2012. Soon after that she was bought by Chris Ranger (generally known as just ‘Ranger’), an oyster fisherman who also owns the 1966 oyster dredging boat Alf Smythers (they are commonly referred to as Falmouth Working Boats). “I wasn’t looking for another boat,” said Ranger, “but I really want to save Shadow for the fishery.” About a year ago he moved Shadow from the beach at Mylor to a yard in a nearby farm where he hopes to restore her if he can raise the funds to do so, and he has enrolled with Patreon to help with this. See faloyster.co.uk for more information and, to make a contribution, visit patreon.com/Ranger_OystermanArtistMariner.
68
CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2022
