Classic Boat December 2022

£4.95 US$10.99

DECEMBER 2022

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

REGATTA REVIVAL A classic summer in pictures

BUGATTI’S BABY Ettore’s motor dinghy built new MARITIME PAINTING

Best art of 2022

JAMES ROBINSON TAYLOR

Behind the lens

NORTHERN LIGHT Legendary 12-M races again KINGS OF PIN MILL

Ransome’s yard

www.classicboat.co.uk

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STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES, EDITOR

IN THE MEAN TIME...

PAGE 23 SUMMER 2022 PAGE 50

The clocks went back the other day, plunging us into GMT’s gloomy embrace for five months (sorry, I won’t call it UTC+0 or whatever). Outside my window, trees are bending to yet another south-westerly bomb and the air is so thick with driven rain that the sheep on the hill are almost obscured. The lanes and twittens are choked by fallen branches, and yellow leaves are drowning in puddles. The central heating has broken with impeccable timing, but at least the wood fire is keeping the snug snug. It seems a million miles from the summer we just had, the first great season of classic sailing since 2019, the first one in which hope finally returned. It’s worth celebrating, and we’ve done so in this issue with our extended series of reports, covering everything from Saint-Tropez to Essex to the Pacific Northwest. Back in the land of driving rain, we’re turning our minds to next year; our February issue will carry the shortlist for our annual awards. If you know of any great boats new or newly restored in the last year, please email me, with ‘awards’ as the subject line.

ISSUE No 414

CONTENTS

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COVER STORY

EDITORIAL Editor Steffan Meyric Hughes +44 (0)203 943 9256 steffan@classicboat.co.uk Art Editor Gareth Lloyd Jones Sub Editor Sue Pelling Group Editor Rob Peake Publisher Simon Temlett Publishing Consultant Martin Nott ADVERTISING Andrew Mackenzie +44 (0)207 349 3779 andrew.mackenzie@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 PUBLISHING Managing Director Paul Dobson Director of Media James Dobson Chief Financial Officer Vicki Gavin Group Sales Director Catherine Chapman Head of Sales Operations Jodie Green Publishing Consultant Martin Nott

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4 . NORTHERN LIGHT The 12-M legend, fixed up and racing again, now in Germany COVER STORY

24 . STEEL WORLD-GIRDLER A tough, steel-bodied sailing yacht aptly named Cape Horn 32 . STOCKING FILLER Ideas for Christmas presents 36 . PAINTING THE SEA Our winners in the annual show of the Royal Society of Marine Artists 38 . DYARCHY FORESTAYS Tom Cunliffe has some rigging advice 40 . BEHIND THE LENS Yacht photographer James Robinson Taylor, on renaissance art and boats 42 . BUGATTI’S BABY Four new boats to a 1940s design by none other than Ettore Bugatti 50 . SUMMER OF SAIL Round-up of the best action of the year, from Maldon to the Med 62 . BOOKS ROUND-UP Some fireside reading for Christmas 64 . NEW SAIL CARGO SHIP The 150ft, three-masted cargo schooner in build in Costa Rica 74 . ARTHUR RANSOME YACHT We visit Kings of Pin Mill, where Arthur Ransome’s Selina King has been launched REGULARS

For cruising and racing sailors

To subscribe, chelseamagazines.com/marine

12 30 32 34

. . . .

TELL TALES SALEROOM OBJECTS OF DESIRE ADRIAN MORGAN

4 24

42

38 . BOSUN’S BAG 78 . LETTERS 80 . NEXT MONTH 82 . STERNPOST

NORTHERN LIGHT

40

CAPE HORN

BUGGATI BOATS

64

CRAFTSMANSHIP

70 . YARD NEWS 74 . YARD VISIT 76 . BOATBUILDER’S NOTES

BEHIND THE LENS

SAIL CARGO

Tom Cunliffe

Dyarchy forestay s PA GE 38

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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NORTHERN LIGHT

When she was christened in 1938, no one could have envisioned how aptly named she would be 84 years on. Heading south from her home port of Gothenburg, she has lit up the Baltic 12-M circuit with an unending stream of victories WORDS: RON VALENT PHOTOS: SOMMERWERCK PHOTOGRAPHY

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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NORTHERN LIGHT

I

t may seem odd to call a yacht built in 1938 a newcomer but that is exactly what Northern Light is in the Baltic 12-Metre class. She was bought by a group of Swedish sailors who wanted to challenge the hegemony of the Danish owned Vim, the Danish/Finnish consortium owning Wings, and the other predominantly German-owned top 12-Metres racing at various events in the Baltic such as Flica II, Trivia, Sphinx and Jenetta. After her first full season racing in 2022, she has done more than just challenge the old guard but has thoroughly turned the accepted order upset down with deciding wins at Dyvig Week in Denmark and the Robbe & Berking Sterling Cup in Flensburg, Germany. Where did this race horse come from?

By 1938, although only 30 years old at the time, Olin Stephens was already accepted as one of the foremost naval architects in the world. His amazing talent was consolidated into business success with his winning designs Dorade (1929) and Stormy Weather (1934). These powerful ocean racers won both the Bermuda Race as well as the Fastnet several times and, 90 years on, they are still winning races consistently on the classic regatta circuit as well as in more challenging events such as the Sydney–Hobart Race and the Trans-Pacific Race which, for instance, Dorade won in 2013. Together with W. Starling Burgess, Olin Stephens also co-designed the J-Class Ranger, which convincingly beat Endeavour II in four straight races in the 1937 America’s Cup. Between 1958 and 1980

Below: Early days.

Racing in America Facing page: Bottle smooth finish shines during the Sterling Cup in Flensburg

Olin designed six out of the seven successful defenders of the America’s Cup, which during that period was sailed in 12-Metres.

In 1938 Stephens designed his first two 12-Metres, Nyala and Northern Light. Both these yachts were developments of his immensely successful 6-Metre Goose. At the time considered to be a breakthrough yacht, which possibly put down to the fact that, like Ranger the year before, she had been extensively tank tested before Olin arrived at the final design. The influence of this 6-Metre origin can be seen in Nyala and Northern Light in their slightly narrower bow section, when compared to their younger sisters.

Interestingly enough this narrower bow not only seems to work surprisingly well but also aesthetically gives Northern Light a rather slim and aggressive “get out of my way” look which might also have a psychological effect on her opponents! Both the yachts were built at the Henry B. Nevins Shipyard in New York. They were constructed with double planking of mahogany and cedar. This building method, although complicated and expensive, gives an enormously strong and durable hull.

Nyala is now owned by the fashion company Prada whose CEO Patricio Bertelli is an avid sailing enthusiast.

Nyala is in mint condition and sailed by the same professional team that sails Prada’s America’s Cup efforts. She has been world champion several times in the Vintage Division (yachts built before 1955) and is still one of the fastest 12-Metres in the Mediterranean or wherever she shows up for that matter. She is particularly fast in light weather.

In May 1939 the 12-Metre Vim was launched and arguably this was certainly one of Olin Stephens’ most successful and fastest designs. Owner Harold Vanderbilt of J-Class fame asked for an out and out racing boat to win races and he certainly got one. She swept the board both in America as well as in Europe when she came over to race here. She was also packed with innovative technical advances such as an aluminium mast and rod rigging. For the next 20 years she was the boat to beat and nearly succeeded in becoming the defending yacht in the 1958 America’s Cup, which was disputed in 12-Metres after this class was chosen for the Cup. She never stopped racing despite moving to Australia, where the Australians used her as a trial horse to help hone their Challengers for the America’s Cup, and then back again to Europe. Since 2014 Vim has been owned and campaigned intensely on the Baltic circuit by the Dane Patrick Howaldt, and she is in perfect and nearly original condition. Since then she has resumed her winning ways and has come out on top in nearly every regatta including several world and European championships. Unbeatable so to speak until …. June 2022. Enter Northern Light and owner Hans Eliasson and there is a completely new ballgame.

THE BEST PEDIGREE Northern Light was given to Alfred Loomis Jr for his 24th birthday by his father, after he had graduated from Harvard Law School. This possibly kick-started the yachting career of young Alfred Loomis as afterwards 6

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

US-14 NORTHERN LIGHT DESIGNER: Olin

Stephens LAUNCHED: 1938 LOA: 70ft (21.33m) LWL: 45ft (13.72m) BEAM: 12ft (3.65m) DRAUGHT: 8ft 75in 2.67m SAIL AREA: 259sqft (79sqm) BUILD: Double-planked mahogany and cedar on white oak frames with silicon bronze fastenings

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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NORTHERN LIGHT

he became rather famous as the author of several excellent yachting books, and the winner of a gold medal at the 1948 London Olympics in the 6-Metre Class. In the 1970’s he was manager of the Independence-Couragious America’s Cup syndicate that defended and held on to the Cup against ever stronger Australian challenges.

Northern Light had a similar career to Vim where she was continually upgraded and used as a very competitive trial horse for Columbia in the 1958 defence of the Cup as well as again in 1962 and 1964.

She continued racing such as in the gruelling ChicagoMackinac Race but then sadly came on hard times. In 1984 her owner was unable to pay for her berthing costs and the boatyard took over ownership. Sadly during a storm surge she was lifted onto a piling, which pierced her hull and sank.

This could have been the end of this already great yacht if it weren’t for philanthropist and 12-Metre lover Bob Tiedeman. Tiedeman is credited with saving several classic yachts as well some 12-Metres, and extending their useful lifespans by putting them into a charter business out of Newport on the American East coast.

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Above: Concentration and readiness before the tack Above right: Northern Light chases Nini Anker to the windward mark Below left: Hull fully stripped at the beginning of the refit by Vindö Marine in Henån, Sweden Below right: Planning the layout on a 12-Metre

He bought Northern Light unseen in 1984 and raised her from the bottom of Lake Michigan. He then spent two years restoring her before bringing her back to Newport to join Gleam and Mariner, two other 12s he had in his charter fleet.

The original interior had been removed during the late 1970s and replaced with an open set up, with a navigation area, galley, cushioned settees and a private head. Actually a very useful layout for both chartering and racing. Besides her money-earning day-charters, she also continued to race competitively and won several regattas including the Classic Yacht regatta held annually in Newport, RI and her class in the Edgartown Yacht Club 12-Metre regatta. She was placed 10th in the classic division in 2001 in Cowes during the world championship, and second in the vintage division in 2009 in Newport RI. During the restoration he replaced the rusting steel floors with bronze ones, rebuilt the rudder, lengthened her mast back to her original proportions, replaced planking where it had been damaged in the storm, and then gave her a fresh coat of paint and anti-fouling, which had her shining as new. Over the years Tiedeman

Above right (top): Magnus Holmberg helming Above right: Trimming the genoa on the original Nevins coffee grinders Below left: Northern Light with her new racing cockpit by Vindö Marine Below right: Simple but functional interior of a racing 12-Metre

was needed to get Northern Light into regatta form.

Owner Hans Eliasson continues the story: “When we bought her in America she had basically been out of the water for seven years and was in moderate condition. We had seen a survey from another group that had looked at her but thought that was a bit pessimistic so we decided to go ahead with her anyway. In the end, it turned out to be quite correct! Haha! So the cosmetic patch-up turned into a real refit/restoration, which among others, involved reinforcing the hull and deck in several places and especially around her chain plates near the mast. We also routed out the seams below the waterline and then filled them with epoxy and splines. We didn’t do much to her appearance as we were now working purely on improving her boat speed. I didn’t buy a classic yacht, I bought a racing yacht. That’s what she was designed to do and that’s what we intend to do with her. Every decision we made was based on the principle: Will this make her go faster? Will it make her point higher?”

After her first refit last year Northern Light was launched at the end of May. The summer was mainly spent getting to know the boat and working with a number of different crew members who would have the

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

PHOTOS: RON VALENT

continued to maintain and upgrade her, keeping her in a good as possible condition for a “working boat”. When Tiedeman died in 2006, his widow continued his charter business but in 2015 taking care of this fleet of seven large classic yachts proved to much for her and Northern Light was stored ashore and put up for sale.

After Gothenburg Sailing Club organised the 2019 European Championship for 12-Metres in Marstrand two of the organisers, Hans Eliasson and Lasse Molse, started thinking about acquiring a 12-Metre that could challenge the fastest 12s for European and world championship titles. They had been adversaries for decades in the Dragon class but now, as the end of their sailing career approached, they thought a nice round up of that would be by sailing together in a boat. Slowly word of their plan reached other sailors and Leif Möller, another experienced sailor, asked to be allowed to join the group. But they were all Dragon sailors with little or no experience with a wooden boat but when they saw Lasse Molses’exquisitely restored wooden Dragon at the Gothenburg Boatshow they knew they had found another member for the team to fill that slot. Lasse had also sailed on Vim for 10 years and knew perfectly what

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NORTHERN LIGHT

time and interest to race an old 12-Metre. In total about 40 crew were tested out of which a nucleus of 20 of them are expected to form the backbone of the 16-strong crew required to handle the boat. Many of the sailors come from the Dragon class and Magnus Holmberg from the America’s Cup Victory Challenge has acted as helmsman during the summer.

During that summer Northern Light took part in a regatta in Denmark against several other 12s and it was soon apparent that her old mast was too weak and bendy, which affected her upwind performance. The group looked at acquiring a new mast but in the end they managed to buy a second-hand aluminium one off another 12 for a fraction of the price. She also benefitted from a complete new sail wardrobe from North Sails, and new winches and more modern equipment to make sail handling easier. Much of the boat’s current equipment has been with her since she was built in 1938 and these parts will be saved in case any subsequent owner of the boat wants to refurbish her back to original again.

Hans Eliasson continues: “This year we did manage to do a bit more serious sail training, but Dyvig was our very first regatta. We were actually as surprised as everyone else at how well Northern Light performed.

We knew she was a fast boat, but this has completely

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Above: Nini Anker. Launched in 2013 to a johan Anker design from 1939 that was never built Below: From left to right: Northern Light, Nini Anker and Vim. Three of the top boats of the 2022 season

exceeded our expectations. Especially since we expect to make her even faster in the future.”

There was some muttering in the fleet about professionals on board but this was quickly put to rest by Eliasson. “Nobody on the boat is paid. We just put together a good crew of experienced sailors based on friendship and camaraderie. Five old guys and a bunch of kids. I am 75, Lasse Molse, the tactician in Dyvig, is 80, and Magnus Holmberg, Leif Möller and Jesper Stålheid are all in their 60s. We all come from Dragon sailing so we do have plenty of racing experience.”

Magnus Holmberg of course is not just any sailor but one of Sweden’s top helmsmen having represented his country at three Olympic Games as well as two America’s Cup campaigns for Victory Challenge in 2003 and 2007.

Besides co-owning several 12-Metres including Vim, Patrick Howaldt is also vice-president of the International Twelve Metre Association and responsible for the Baltic area. We asked him about the unexpected success of Northern Light and also that of Nini Anker, another new 12 that came second during the Robbe & Berking Sterling Cup. “I am of course really pleased that there is new blood entering the scene with the enthusiastic owners of these two boats helping the class forward. We always knew that Nini Anker would be a fast boat. Last year in Helsinki at the World Championship she was simply unlucky so I am really happy for the owner and his crew that things went so smoothly this year. It was a bit of a surprise that Northern Light did so well but she did benefit from a very good refit and also there has been a lot of top level design input that has optimised her to a higher level. And then her crew are a very experienced bunch of top sailors with a lot of miles built up sailing Dragons and other very competitive classes. If you want to win in the 12-Metre class you need sailors like that.”

The team behind Northern Light has certainly stirred things up in the Baltic and it is of course fitting that this exceptional, historic yacht has found dedicated owners who are putting so much effort into her. The team plan to keep on improving and racing her hard until 2024 when they hope to organise the World Championship in their home port of Marstrand.

NIEBL A 59’ FAIRLIE YACHTS 2005

The Paul Spooner design Niebla was built at the famous Fairlie yacht yard in 2005. She comes as a beautiful and very traditional long keel yacht with considerable design input from the very experienced owner. The deck is set out with all halyards lead aft to the cockpit, so the sails can be easily handled whilst short-handed. The cutter rig allows easy shortening of headsails as the wind comes up, helped by a ‘Formula Spars’ boom mainsail reefing system. Weight was never spared in sacrifice of strength LOA: 17.98 m

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Beam: 3.80 m

and security, but keeping the boat light so she doesn’t need big winds to enjoy the peace of cruising under sail and being able to do it in hard wind conditions and heavy seas. Niebla is the result of the fusion between the elegance and the comfort of a classic hull and the performance given by a latest generation rig and sails, that allows you to sail safely, even shorthanded. After a major refit at Robbe & Berking Classics, Niebla is offered in sound condition and ready to sail. |

Draft: 2.70 m

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Price: on request

VA R EN 1961 G.L. WATSON 41’ SLOOP

In the post-war period and the 1960s, water sports became more popular and, above all, more accessible to a wider public. New materials such as fibreglass and plywood were touted as new products and made their way into boat building. But the world of boats is often one that is slow to change. Not many of all the popular designers of the 1950s used the new materials. Varen was one of such projects and was built in 1961 at Moody LOA: 12.65 m

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Beam: 2.90 m

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& Sons Swanwick in teak, planked on oak frames. Major MSB Vernon commissioned the yard to build her from a design by G.L. Watson’s already well-known design office. Varen has been refurbished and maintained by her owners several times during her life, but she has never lost her charm and charisma. A recent refit offers a new owner the opportunity to start their holiday right away.

Draft: 1.90 m

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Price: EUR 150.000

+49 (0)461 31 80 30 65 · BROKER@ROBBEBERKING.DE · WWW.CLASSIC-YACHTS.COM

Tell Tales

Classic Boat’s address: Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ cb@classicboat.co.uk Follow the Classic Boat team on Twitter and Facebook

PHOTO: SIR ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON ARCHIVE/PPL

Knox-Johnston reunited with compass Sir Robin Knox-Johnston has been reunited

a few rupees in Bombay back in 1964 and I

with his binnacle compass, stolen from

made the Binnacle from teak. The top is a

Suhaili back in 1969, when she was on

typical Lifeboat compass from the time. The

display in Rochdale, writes Barry Pickthall.

compass was handed in anonymously to

The compass was handed in to a local

Holyhead Maritime Museum back in April and

museum earlier this year by an

the curator took the trouble to contact me. We

anonymous woman, thought to be the

don’t know who handed it in but suspect it

wife of the thief, who may have died. Sir

was the widow of the thief. I am very grateful

Robin collected it this month.

to her whoever she is. It needs some TLC. The

Sir Robin said: “The compass, that guided

hinged cover is missing, as is the small oil

Suhaili back from India and the non-stop

lantern at the side whose casing has been

around the world, was stolen from her in

dislodged but can be fixed. The compass

1969 when she was on show in Rochdale.

needs oil but I have that. It’s great to be

The compass and its cover were bought for

reunited after so many years.”

Double award for Britannia The Britannia Sailing Trust, responsible for the restoration in

substantial amount of money. The trust is indebted to various grant

awards at the National Transport Trust’s annual award ceremony.

makers including the lottery fund for providing essential funding.

One for the excellence of the project and the Peter Allen award given to the best of the best of this year’s restoration projects.

The Britannia Sailing Trust was formed in 2014 when the badly deteriorated Britannia was discovered in Brixham. She was initially motored down to Gweek and then, for practical reasons, was transported overland to Winkleigh in central Devon.

Britannia was launched in 1915 out of the Worfolk Brothers’

Sam, at 79, a master boat builder and consultant to the Trust, still works daily on Britannia alongside Andy Cornish, also a master boat builder. Vicki Samuels along with India Guest has worked tirelessly with great success to raise funding. Over a quarter of a million so far.

Now, nine years after rescue she is shaping up well. Hull planking is completed, decks on, bulwarks in place and the railing done, including the beautiful curved taff rail. The cabin tops are ready to

yard in Kings Lynn. She was the largest of her type ever built and

fit. The Trust is looking very positively at a launch date in the

is now the last one of her type left in the world. After stripping

Autumn of 2023 in Exeter. The final tranche of funds will be needed

her back, removing substandard timbers the trust was surprised

to complete her and get her certified for chartering.

at how many of her original timbers, harvested from the Royal Forest of Sandringham, were still sound.

12

As with all large vessel restorations, Britannia has soaked up a

Devon of Britannia, a 60ft East Coast smack, recently won two

As with all these large projects, the Trust is constantly looking for funds. While Vicki and India concentrate on the large funding

Sam and Vicki Samuels who owned, lived aboard and

applications, The trust is always in need of small monthly donations

brought up their two boys on Britannia from 1973 until 1996

to cover static costs such as insurance, power etc. Donations can be

when they sold her, are both heavily involved in this award-

made at britanniasailingtrust.org, and anyone donating to the

winning restoration.

project on a regular basis will have the chance to sail on her.

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

TELL TALES

Classic Channel Regatta 2023 The next Classic Channel Regatta will run from 17-25 July 2024.

This is later in the month than usual owing to the tides needed for the lock at Paimpol. For those interested in signing up for next year's event, here's the outline of the programme: 17 July – Registration at Dartmouth 18-19 July – Racing off Dartmouth 20-21 July – Classic Channel Race – Dartmouth to St Peter Port 22 July – Passage Race – St Peter Port to Paimpol

Falmouth Packet Ship

23 July – Rest day in Paimpol.

24 July – Round Île de Bréhat Race & Danse des Classiques 25 July – End of Regatta Prizegiving and Party in Paimpol Updated information will follow in due course.

An ambitious project is getting underway in Cornwall, to build and then operate a replica of a Falmouth Packet Ship, writes Nigel Sharp. In 1688, Falmouth was

Meanwhile the 2022 Classic Channel Regatta was

appointed as the Royal Mail packet station and, from then until the arrival of

another resounding success, proving once again that this is

steam in the mid-19th century, Packet Ships carried mail and messages under

more than just a regatta, it’s a celebration and festival and

sail to and from various parts of the British Empire.

regatta all rolled into one. Competitors at this year's event

Ian Woodford is now heading up the project to build a replica of Walsingham,

were also treated to glorious Mediterranean weather –

an 80ft LOD 'standard' packet ship, the lines for which still exist. The original

sunny and hot with light winds filling in just enough for all

vessel was built in 1794 and then served all over the world for more than a

the week’s races to go ahead.

quarter of a century, during which time she was taken as a prize by a French frigate before being re-taken by the Royal Navy soon afterwards. When

To find out more about the Classic Channel Regatta, visit classic-channel-regatta.eu

complete, it is expected that the new Walsingham will take part in worldwide regattas and maritime events, and will be used for sail training, education, charter work, TV and film roles, and transporting cargo under sail. Regarding the build, Ian has been in discussions with boatbuilder Luke Powell who is being very supportive.

To get things under way, Ian needs to raise funds and he is keen to hear from volunteers who might help him do so. thefalmouthpacketship.org ian@thefalmouthpacketship.org

Marjorie was built in wood by Orvis for the Ipswich grain

MARJORIE, 1902

merchants R. & W. Paul Ltd in 1902, writes Sandy Miller.

She spent her working life in the East Anglian grain trades, interrupted by World War I duties as a coal carrier to the continent, and is a rarity among current barges in that she has never been de-rigged, even as a tea-room at the West India Docks in the 80s! She was sold straight out of trade in the 60s, competed in the last series of Thames Matches in the 60s, and has been owned by barrister Simon Devonshire since 1993, based at Hoo on the Medway and wintering at St Katharine Docks. She initially underwent a substantial rebuild at Stargate Marine (Robert Deards) in Hoo, with green oak for replacement frames, and opepe for planking. Simon raced her in the staysail class before adding a bowsprit in 2003. Highlights have included wins at the Colne Match in 2003, 2010 and 2021, and ‘Champion of the London River’ in 2008 (with barging legend Jim Lawrence at the helm). She was holed and nearly sunk in a racing collision with Repertor at the 2008 Swale Match and has since also had her starboard quarter rebuilt in 2013, new steel lee-boards fitted in 2020 and port quarter planking replaced this year. She is a regular at barge matches and a real crowd-pleaser.

SANDY MILLER

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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TELL TALES

CORNWALL

Plastic-free pirates aiming to change minds The self-styled plastic free pirates, Clean Ocean

around mental and physical

Sailing in Cornwall, ran a project to coincide with

health, including climate anxiety

World Mental Health Day 10 October, inviting

and reconnection to the self

people “to join them in the fight against plastic

and the natural environment.

pollution and look after their own mental health

These conversations about

at the same time”.

mental health provide practical

On board the charity’s 115-year-old boat,

coping tools and a greater

Annette, and assisted by a therapist, participants

understanding of the benefits

in the Ocean Well-Being project learned positive

of physical activity and time

ways in which active participation in sailing and

spent in nature.”

other activities can improve wellbeing, while

Meanwhile, ship's

simultaneously contributing to the conservation

cook Stuart Woodman led wild

of the marine environment.

food foraging trips. One

Monika Hertlova, co-founder of Clean Ocean Sailing, said:

participant said: “We went sailing and collected plastic waste. But I

“During sailing trips on our 115-year-old traditional wooden boat

had no idea what that would actually be like. I was surprised by the

“Annie”, participants can experience sailing, kayaking, rowing, and

kind and welcoming atmosphere and the very unpressured approach;

wild swimming alongside activities with a positive environmental

there was a warm invitation to try things. It was a hugely empowering

impact like beach cleaning, processing marine plastics for recycling

and inspiring day, which has really changed things for me. I’m

and re purposing.”

desperate to come back, learn more and grab more plastic!”

The Annette was built 1908 as a gaff-rigged schooner, 66ft (20.11m) LOA and 55 tonnes, built in carvel oak planks on oak frames.

The charity said: “Project therapist Sarah MacQueen helps provide a safe space and opportunity for individuals to explore concerns

The charity collaborates with Band of Brothers, Thera Sea, Simons House in Falmouth and NHS referrals to recruit participants who would most benefit. justgiving.com/crowdfunding/cleanoceansailing2020

Helsinki Classic Yacht Symposium returns The Helsinki Classic Yacht Symposium will resume with a 10th edition after a two-year break due to the covid-19 pandemic.

The event runs over the weekend of 24-26 March 2023, with a six-hour symposium, dinners, a historic boatyard excursion, and an international naval photography workshop, writes Martin Nott. The theme for the 10th edition will be Design and Desire in Times to Come.

The symposium will “take a deep dive into the future of classic yachting and classic yachts of the future, discussing evolving aesthetics, design and restoration principles and crewing and ownership”.

The event is organised by Helsingfors Segelsällskap (HSS) in collaboration with seven other major yacht clubs in Finland.

For more information contact Kristina Lindqvist, programme coordinator, at hss@helsinkisailing.com

Join us at the British Yachting Awards A limited number of tickets are

the 22-year-old White triplet

available for the British Yachting

brothers who won silverware at

Awards, the annual celebration of

Cowes Week, and the school-age

the mainstream racing and

crew of Embley, who won the

cruising worlds, run by our sister

Round the Island Race’s ISC

title Sailing Today with Yachts &

category, beating more than 500

Yachting. The ceremony takes

entries – as well as the best

place at 6.30pm on 28 November

boats, events, marinas and sailing

at the Royal Thames Yacht Club,

kit of the year.

Knightsbridge, London.

The nominations are listed

14

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Book your ticket, including a Champagne and canapés

online at britishyachtingawards.

reception, for £90 via www.

com. Among the nominees are

sailingtoday.co.uk/news/

16-year-old Cal Currier who

exclusive-offer-to-join-us-at-

sailed solo across the Atlantic,

british-yachting-awards/

FOR SALE REDUCED $1.5 million

Photo Gallery

Broker Participation

M/V NYMPH M/V NYMPH

HISTORIC, 1913 Early American Motor Boat with Edwardian Old World Charm Last of a special breed, beautiful fiberglass hull, 30yr T&T hauls with 50 ton travel lift.

This amazing vessel has been meticulously restored over a eight-year period.

Originally built in 1913 by The Matthews Boat Company in Clinton, Ohio.

1913

75’- 0”

For more information: samwright0887@gmail.com

www.nymphyacht.com

TELL TALES

Strippers show off their wares The Newfound Rendezvous is an annual gathering of cedar strip

“Many attendees had built strippers and brought them. Others learned

canoes, kayaks, rowing craft and enthusiasts on Newfound Lake, New

about low impact boating, which these strippers exemplify. Also,

Hampshire. Participants could learn about the build method and see

attendees discovered how to build these boats and see the process in

how the boats perform. Sponsored by Newfound Woodworks, Inc, the

action, some researched their next project, and it was fun to learn

day took place on the Newfound Lake beach at Wellington State Park.

about safety and helpful rescue techniques. Most of the people who

Rose Woodyard of Newfound Woodworks said: “Enthusiasts,

have built these boats haven’t seen others, let alone 100 or more

dreamers, home builders, and professional builders all enjoyed

examples of different designs, each with the builder’s own artistic flare

activities at the rendezvous. We had demonstrations of cedar strip

incorporated into the process.”

boatbuilding and other facets of small wooden water craft. It was a hit.

newfound.com

Cruising celebration The Centennial Celebration of the Cruising Club of America was held at Newport, Rhode Island in September.

The esteemed yacht club invited all its Blue Water Medal recipients to attend, including our correspondent Bob Shepton, who was given the medal for a circumnavigation he completed with a crew of young people some years ago.

Others included Jean-Luc Van Den Heede who has sailed six circumnavigations, and Randal Reeves and Steve Brown, who completed figure of eight voyages round the Americas via the North-West Passage and Cape Horn. Sir Robin Knox Johnston gave an entertaining talk on his life at sea. There was also a talk called Heavy Hitters on Heavy Weather, by Sail Magazine, combining the wisdom of Randall Reeves, Rich Wilson, Jean-Luc, Steve Brown and chaired by Frank Bohlen, Emeritus Professor of Marine Sciences, on ways of combatting heavy weather.

Bob Shepton presented a talk about the late Bill Tilman, also a Blue Water Medal recipient, called Tilman’s Legacy in the Modern Age. Bob said of his own exploits, sailing in high latitudes: “It was Tilman’s innovative vision to sail to remote regions and climb mountains from the boat. Maybe we were taking his vision to extremes.”

Porvoo yard turns 90 More than 50 wooden boats and their owners gathered at the Wilenius boatyard in Porvoo, Finland, on 10 September for an event celebrating the many yachts built at the yard since it was established in 1932.

16

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

AVAILABLE ONLINE & IN-STORE | STONES BOATYARD, SALCOMBE www.stonesboatyard.co.uk 01548844122

TELL TALES

OBITUARY

Jeremy Rogers MBE, 1937 –2022 Jeremy Rogers, father of the classic Contessa 26 pocket cruising yacht, died in October, aged 85.

A hugely successful yachtsmen, he made a life out of sailing from

The 26 was followed by the Contessa 32, also in collaboration with David Sadler. Fifty years on, this model is still in production with more than 650 built. Jo Sammons, the CO32 Class Captain paid tribute to

an early age, from making model boats as a small child to winning

Rogers. “It is a testament to Jeremy’s skills that these boats are still

the annual Round the Island Race three times in his little Contessa,

being raced, cruised and loved across the world.”

which was often the smallest in a very large fleet, writes Barry Pickthall.

Rogers was as skilled with his hands as he was

In 1977 and 1979, Rogers and his crew were selected to represent Britain in the three-boat Admiral’s Cup team.

Joining Sir Edward Heath and his Morning Cloud, and

at the helm, and after serving an apprenticeship

Chris Dunning’s Marionette, They won the 1977 series,

under Jack Chippendale, then the most respected

with Rogers’ Contessa 43 Moonshine finishing top

racing dinghy builder in the UK, he set up his own

scoring yacht.

business in Lymington in 1961, building a wooden

The 1979 Admiral’s Cup coincided with one of the

Folkboat class cruising yacht in the family garage.

worst disasters in ocean racing history when near

He was one of the first to appreciate the potential

hurricane conditions swept across the 303-strong fleet

of glass-reinforced plastic construction, and after

and led to 19 deaths, 24 abandoned yachts and five

a period building GRP dinghies, he worked with

sinkings. The results became insignificant, but Rogers’

designer David Sadler to develop a variation of

Contessa 39, Eclipse, came in second overall to Ted

the Folkboat in glassfibre. Called the Contessa 26,

Turner’s Tenacious, a yacht twice her size.

this one-design was an instant success and, over

The following year Rogers received an MBE.

the years ,more than 400 were built, some sailing to the four corners of the globe.

One to do so was young adventurer and artist

decimated the British boatbuilding industry leading to

Nick Jaffe who sailed his to Australia. Recalling

many failures, including J C Rogers. Undeterred, Jeremy

Jeremy’s life, he said “To build and create boats is a

pulled himself back up. Restarting in a former cow shed,

rare art form. Jeremy’s work inspired an entire generation of dreamers and adventures to find the sea and ultimately themselves, for which myself and countless others are eternally grateful.”

he eventually returned to the current boat yard in Lymington Yacht Haven now under the management of his son Kit Rogers Jeremy’s last years were clouded by Alzheimer’s, but though he lost

Another to mark his gratitude is Contessa 26 class stalwart Mike

sight of his whereabouts, he could still helm a boat as naturally as

Harrison. “We remain so grateful to Jeremy for his foresight with David

before. Sailing with his son David in a little Keyhaven Scow in June

Sadler in the design and construction of what has become such a long

2020 and the family Contessa 32 Assent in early 2021. “It was as if the

lasting and respected small classic cruiser. His three overall victories in

tiller was a natural extension of his arm.” recalls his wife Fiona.

the Round the Island Race aboard his own Contessa 26 Rosana is a record hard to beat.”

VCYC 2022 Cup winners After 19 races across five regattas the winners of the Vintage & Classic Yacht Club Presented by BOYD Mediterranean Champions Cup have been announced.

Vintage Marconi was won by the 1939 S&S Varuna, Vintage Gaff by Patrizio Bertelli’s Scud, Big Boat by the 1929 schooner Viveka and Classic

by Arcadia. vintageclassicyachtclub.com

18

By the early 1980s, his company was building a range of Contessa yachts sized from 26 to 43ft until a recession

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Jeremy Rogers is survived by his wife Fiona, sons, Simon, Kit and David, and nine grandchildren.

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

43’ Kim Holman Sloop built by Tucker Brown in 1967. The pinnacle of wooden yacht design and construction in the UK, a superb fast and elegant yacht with separate skeg hung rudder. Major refit in current ownership followed by several years of Atlantic cruising. Looking smart and ready to go sailing. Recent engine and rigging. 9 berths in an excellent cabin.

Cornwall £125,000

39’ Looe Lugger built in 1907, now dandy rigged with gaff main and lug mizzen.

Detailed maintenance records since 2016, a well cared for and up together yacht.

Recent sails and rigging, new keel bolts and recent hull repairs. The last of the sailing fishing boats from Looe, a yacht with a long and rich history.

Devon £75,000

42’ Looe Lugger built by Pearce of Looe in 1904 as an engineless fishing vessel. 9 berths and 2 heads with showers, ample headroom in a very comfortable interior. Twin Nissan diesel engines. Major hull refit in 2014/2015, completely refastened hull. Easily sailed by 2 crew. October 2022 buyers survey just completed, good quality vessel with so much history.

Cornwall £95,000

37’ Percy Crossley Bermudan Sloop built by the Ponsharden Shipyard, Falmouth in 1934. Pitch pine on oak hull with a Kauri pine laid deck. Major refit in 2018 including all new keel bolts and strap floors plus a new interior, rigging and sails. Superbly elegant yacht in good structural shape, full of pedigree and charm.

68’ Falmouth Pilot Cutter PELLEW built by Luke Powell and his working Sail yard, launched in 2020.

Designed and built as a commercial sailing vessel, she is on her second successful charter season. Capable of Category 0 Worldwide commercial sailing for 8 guests plus crew. A unique opportunity to purchase the largest wooden vessel built in the UK for many years.

UK £695,000

31’ David Moss Gaff Cutter launched in 2017.

Traditionally built with iroko on oak frames, all copper and bronze fastened with a solid teak deck. 4 berths with good headroom. Built to a very high standard and sailed extensively in her first few years so that she is a well proven and properly set up yacht. A beautiful boat in excellent condition.

Hants £165,000

Hants £49,500

35’ Charles Nicholson Jolina Class built by Camper and Nicholson in 1960. Very nice example kept up to a good standard with professional hull repairs in present ownership. 2009 Yanmar diesel engine. 5 berths in a comfortable interior. A fast and easily handled cruiser racer with elegant lines.

Scotland £39,500

35’ Sole Bay motor sailer ketch designed by Francis Jones and built by Porter and Haylett in 1968. 2021 refit

by Harbour Marine Services. BMC Commodore 66hp diesel. 5 berths with 6’3” headroom and 2 heads with a shower. Comfortable saloon and very nice wheelhouse for sailing in wet weather. Ideal cruising boat for UK sailing.

Suffolk £32,000

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.

TELL TALES

1

2

SAINT-TROPEZ

Gstaad YC Centenary Trophy Victory went to Richard Matthews' Fife Kismet in the 3

Gstaad Yacht Club's Centenary Trophy Race at Les Voiles

9

de Saint-Tropez in September, as reported last month. This spectacular event is a highlight of the classic calendar, as Juerg Kaufmann's photographs here show.

1 Corinthian, the 1911 P-Class yacht, at pace 2 The other two P-Class boats in the fleet, Chips (red hull) and Olympian (green) race with the NY50 Spartan to windward 3 Looking nonchalant on the bowsprit!

4 The crew of the Herreshoff Bar Harbor 31 Scud celebrate their second place 5 Madcap was the oldest boat this year, a pilot cutter from 1874 6 Not on the podium this year but Spartan's crew look happy after a great race 7 and 8 The Fife yacht Kismet took a clear victory this year, helmed by owner Richard Matthews 9 Gstaad Yacht Club has run the race for 11 years now 8 4

5

20

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

6

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STEEL GOING STRONG

A

lexander Hoare had no intention of buying a boat when he set off on his St Mawes One-Design Merlin that day in May 2008.

He had happily raced the pretty 14ft wooden dayboat while on holiday in St Mawes for many years and had managed to avoid the onerous responsibilities of owning a bigger boat. But, as he sailed out of the pretty Cornish harbour, he spotted a striking-looking ketch anchored off Tresanton Beach, between the quay and the castle. It was an unusual boat, with classic lines reminiscent of the 1930s but a rugged look about her, as if she had travelled far and wide. A classy dame with a heart of steel.

“Her lines were elegant but also fantastically seaworthy,” he says. “She had ‘ship-like lines’, which I loved.”

After eyeing up the boat most of the day, Alexander eventually plucked up the courage to sail over and call out ‘Ahoy!’. The owner told him the yacht had been built at the famous De Vries Lentsch shipyard in Holland in 1948 – not the 1930s as he might have assumed – and, in typical Dutch style, she was made of steel. Curiously, she was called Cape Horn. He told

24

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Above: Cape Horn shows off her elegant, seaworthy lines

It was love at first sight for Alexander Hoare who first spotted the steel beauty Cape Horn lying off Tresanton Beach WORDS AND PHOTOS NIC COMPTON

him he was thinking of selling the boat, but Alexander told him he wasn’t interested. Instead, having satisfied his curiosity, he sailed back to shore and carried on with normal life.

Alexander came from a family of sailors. He had learned to sail in a Cadet dinghy on Frensham Pond in Surrey followed by a Mirror at Itchenor Sailing Club, and had sailed up and down the English Channel many times with his father, who was an avid sailor. The family had owned a string of boats, starting with a Warrior 35, followed by a Sunbeam, a Folkboat and, most recently, a Twister – so classics were, as he puts it, “inadvertently in my blood”. The previous year, Alexander had sailed at the Voiles d’Antibes and the Régates Royales at Cannes on the 1946 Sparkman & Stephens yawl Cometa, which had opened his eyes to the pleasures of sailing on classic yachts in the Med. By this time, Alexander was chief executive of C Hoare & Co, the oldest private bank in Britain, which his family has owned since it was founded in 1672.

The 11th generation of his family to run the bank, he was at the peak of his professional life in the City.

Over the coming months, however, he found himself

Above: Many happy days spent at the helm Below: Cape Horn was finally relaunched in spring 2021

thinking repeatedly of the boat he had spotted anchored off St Mawes. He was a bachelor. He had a year’s sabbatical coming up. What if he bought the boat and had an adventure on her? The idea grew and grew in his head, and one day he decided to track her down. He soon discovered she wasn’t moored in St Mawes any more but had returned to her owner’s native Scotland. His only clue about the owner’s whereabouts was that he was a boatbuilder based in Falmouth, so he duly wrote to every boatyard in the area and eventually tracked him down.

After a lengthy discussion, a deal was struck and in October 2008 (“just as the wheels were coming off the financial system”) Alexander became the proud owner of a beautiful (and, as it turned out, slightly rusty) classic yacht. Little was known about the boat, except that she had entered into Europe through the Canaries in the 1970s and paid a surprisingly small amount of VAT – suggesting that she had spent time in the United States and returned to Europe in poor state (hence the low VAT valuation). Had she rounded Cape Horn at this time, as her name suggested? No-one seemed to know. The previous owner had bought her in Holland

(or possibly Denmark) but didn’t have any information about her earlier owners. Enquiries at the De Vries Lentsch yard revealed a blank.

After buying Cape Horn in Scotland, Alexander sailed her for a few weeks around the Outer Hebrides before heading back down to Falmouth, where Brian Pope was running a small boatyard in Penpol. The problem was corrosion at the join between the steel deck and the wooden cabin. Brian gave him the option between patching it up or “making it good for 10 years in the Med”. Alexander chose the latter, little realising how prescient Brian’s words would turn out to be.

When Alexander left Cornwall in April 2010, his only plan was to head south and spend his sabbatical year sailing around the Med. He had little thought beyond that. But what he describes as “an evolution of happy events” was already underway which would change his life forever. One of these ‘events’ was already on board Cape Horn as they headed across the Bay of Biscay: Claudia, the sister of the girlfriend of the friend who had crewed with him on that trip to the Outer Hebrides, had signed up for the trip to La Coruña.

“Claudia wasn’t a sailor, but she wrote to me and said she’d always fancied sailing,” says Alexander. “So she sailed with me to La Coruña, and sure enough there was a gale – and she thought that was normal!”

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

25

CAPE HORN

It was an auspicious start to their friendship, which would develop over the following months as Claudia visited Alexander and his boat at various ports around the Mediterranean.

After sailing the boat with Claudia and his brother in a single, glorious tack to La Coruña, Alexander was joined by a group of friends for the next leg of the voyage, down the west coast of Spain and Portugal.

And so it carried on, as he headed east across the Med, joined by a series of friends along the way, and visiting the Balearics, Corsica, Sardinia, Sicily, and finishing up the first year in Malta.

It was a steep learning curve, as Alexander got to grips with handling an 18-ton steel yacht in often challenging conditions.

“She carries her way, so I go into harbour at one, maybe one and a half knots, because it takes me 300 or 400 yards to stop at that speed.”

By the end of his sabbatical, Alexander was hooked on sailing and in love with his boat. Reluctant to give it all up, he persuaded his work partners (ie his family) to take three months holiday a year so he could sail Cape Horn.

That “evolution of happy events” was influencing other aspects of his life too. Having established a good sea-going rapport on board Cape Horn, Alexander and Claudia got married on Fleet Street, London, on 6 January 2012. Just over a year later they had a son, Christian (aka “the cabin boy”).

“Most people get a girlfriend, save some money to buy boat, and then find their girlfriend doesn’t like sailing,” says Alexander. “I didn’t do that. I got my act together and bought a boat, and then found a suitable wife!”

A season in the Adriatic was followed by the Ionian, then through the Corinth Canal to the Aegean and across to Turkey. For the next eight years, they sailed between Turkey and Sifnos.

Claudia loved the calm of Göcek and the Gulf of Fethiye, while Alexander loved the wind of the Cyclades. When Christian came along, they rigged up a pen in the cockpit and, when things got a bit hairy, they strapped him in a car seat lashed to a corner of the cockpit.

It was an unconventional life for a City banker, but then Alexander wasn’t your typical 26

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Above left: The coachroof taken right back Abover right: Preparing for the re-launch Below: The ‘cabin boy’ takes a well-earned rest

City banker. For years, he’d pioneered a new brand of ethically responsible banking and in 2017 his efforts were rewarded when he won the prestigious Beacon Award for his philanthropic work. The family’s free-wheeling sailing days eventually came to an end, however, as they were drawn into the orbit of school and school holidays. By then Alexander found himself unexpectedly missing the more rugged sailing conditions of his home waters. “By the end, the Med felt too good to be true, and I started missing the tide and the weather!”

Cape Horn was shipped back to the UK in 2020 and, after taking part in the Cowes Classics, headed back to Falmouth, where Ashley Butler had taken over Brian Pope’s yard at Penpol, for what was to be a major refit.

“I had a hunch she needed some attention, because we’d already had to patch up the keel to take part in the Cowes Classics,” says Alexander. “Another sign was when the engine broke down crossing Lyme Bay and it turned out water was leaking into the fuel tanks through the hull. When Ashley took a hammer to the hull, he found five holes – it turned out we’d been sailing entirely on antifouling!”

For Ashley, who has a well-deserved reputation for building and restoring wooden boats, refurbishing a steel boat was an entirely different kettle of fish.

“The whole approach to a steel boat is so different because it is essentially a monocoque construction rather than a collection of individual components,” he says. “Although I’d paid my way through college working at John Thomas’s yard in Penryn building steel boats, I’d never restored a steel boat before.”

Luckily, one of his shipwrights had worked on several restoration projects at the nearby Pendennis Shipyard – including the 165ft Camper & Nicholson motoryacht Melahne – and was familiar with the special challenges posed by old steel boats. Aaron’s experience was to prove invaluable in the months ahead.

First off, the hull was shotblasted to get rid of all the paint, before being thoroughly tested with ultrasound – and where that didn’t work, a hammer was used! Any areas that had degraded more than 20 per cent of the original thickness had to be replaced. This surveying work was complicated by the fact that the bilges were full

Clockwise from top left: The compact yet well organised cockpit; Simple, clean deck layout; Navigation station down below on the starboard side; Warm, homely feel with plenty of seating; The lighting has been well thought out to give soft feel in the cabins; When the weather takes a turn for the worse, the doghouse is a popular place to navigate from

VOLUTA CAPE HORN

of ballast – poured lead aft of the mast and poured concrete (mixed with rivets) forward of the mast. In the end, an oxy propylene (gas) torch was used to remove the ballast, with lumps of lead dropping out of the hull whenever a thin patch was reached.

“It was a health and safety nightmare, as the yard had to be evacuated while we were doing it and big extractor fans used to clear the air,” says Ashley. “We ended up cutting all the plate from the tuck down, so the boat was hanging in the air, only attached to the keel by the frames and the keel plate.”

Another complication was that Cape Horn had a mix of riveted and welded seams. Built in the early days of welding, the De Vries Lentsch yard was clearly still experimenting with the technology, so the long, fore and aft runs were traditionally riveted, to avoid heat distortion, while the shorter, athwartships runs were welded. This meant that, when it came to welding the new plates, any rivets close to the new welds had to be re-riveted or welded.

With most of the hull stripped out for replating, it made sense to refurbish other parts of the boat, rather than just refitting all the old stuff. And so the job list grew, seemingly inexorably.

“The plan was to repair the hull,” says Alexander.

“But while she was in the shed, Ashley said, now’s the time to rewire boat, now’s time for a new engine, now’s the time to replace the clunky old steering system – so it turned into major refit. He was right of course, and the boat is much better for it.”

And so the unreliable old Perkins was replaced with a new Beta engine, the old fixed blade prop was replaced with a Brunton folding prop, the old chain and cable steering was replaced with a Jefa transmission system, and the cockpit was completely reconfigured, with lower, more comfortable seating and more user-friendly wooden locker lids. Below decks, the old manual heads and functional shower was replaced with an electric loo and modern shower (at Claudia’s request), the galley was refurbished with a front-opening fridge (ditto), and the whole interior given a fresh lick of paint.

28

CLASSIC BOAT NOVEMBER 2022

Above: Cape Horn looking beautiful powered up under sail Below: The deck, showing the varnished wooden capping rail that extends all the way round the yacht

One of Ashley’s suggestions was to remove the tubular steel lip on top of the bulwarks with a varnished wooden capping rail, all the way round the boat. It was relatively small change but somehow transformed the boat’s appearance, accentuating her lovely sheer, and lifting her from a hardy, Moitessierstyle ocean cruiser to a truly elegant classic yacht.

In July 2020, Cape Horn was ready to go back in the water when disaster struck and she fell out of her cradle. The only consolation for Alexander was that the accident happened during the Covid pandemic, so for most of the time he wouldn’t have been able to use the boat anyway.

Cape Horn was finally relaunched in spring 2021 and was based in Cornwall that summer due to the ongoing Covid situation. Summer 2022 saw her compete in the Classic Channel Regatta from Dartmouth to Paimpol. Just before the race, she received a suit of sails made by Penrose Sailmakers in Falmouth, which he’s convinced have added a knot of speed to the boat.

Cape Horn is certainly powering along at a fair clip when we spot her from the camera boat approaching St Anthony Head. So much so that I suspect she must be motorsailing, until we got closer and see that’s clearly not the case. As I climb on board, Christian rushes up to me and says, “Can I show you around?” And so I’m treated to a tour of Cape Horn by what might be a 12th generation Hoare banker in the making.

It’s an impressive refit by any standard – wood or steel: smart and efficient without being overly fussy.

Yet, as the boat settles on her mooring in St Mawes – just a few yards from where Alexander spotted her all those years ago – he seems slightly taken aback by owning a boat that does what it’s supposed to do. “It feels bit unusual not to be doing everything on a wing and prayer,” he says. “So if I turn that key, the engine will start, I think!”

As for the question that has been on my mind ever since I came across the boat in Ashley’s yard three years ago, he doesn’t have any clear answer.

“Has she been around Cape Horn? I don’t know – but I know she can do it.”

LAK II

CLASSIC BOAT NOVEMBER 2022

29

Saleroom

By Dave Selby

BONHAMS

NATIONAL HISTORIC SHIPS

A 104cm-long (41in) model shows Esperance in her prime, and (left) as she is today at Windermere Jetty Museum

BONHAMS

Arthur Ransome’s Windermere ice-breaker The rather extreme and strangely shaped

taxi for industrialist HW Schneider. Built of

immortality as the house boat of Captain Flint

Esperance is not only a Guinness world record

the highest grade iron with countersunk

in Arthur Ransome’s 1930 Swallows and

holder as the first ever twin-screw steam

riveting to provide a smooth finish to the hull,

Amazons children’s novel.

yacht; the 19.8m loa (65ft) vessel with a beam

Esperance also featured a peculiarly shaped

of a mere 3.1m (10ft) is also the oldest

bow designed to break ice on the lake.

surviving boat on Lloyd’s Yacht Register.

Built in 1869, Esperance resides today at

After operating for more than 50 years as

Salvaged after sinking in 1941, Esperance is now on the National Historic Ships register. A 1:20 scale model crafted in 2007 by renowned

a pleasure boat and ferry, Esperance’s engines

model maker Keith Townsend was expected

the Windermere Jetty Museum on the lake

were removed when she became a houseboat

to fetch £3,000-5,000 at Bonhams’ 25

where she began her life as a luxury water

in the 1920s and gained another kind of

October marine sale.

ELDRED’S

Whale oil WD40 In the latter 19th and early 20th centuries, whale oil was not just used for lighting but was the WD40 of its day, to be found in virtually every home, office and factory in RM SOTHEBY’S

the industrialised world. As spelled out on this box of whale oil refined in New Bedford, Massachusetts the wonder product was used for “lubricating, cleaning, polishing and preventing rust” on

Flight of fin-tasy If George L Herter were alive today he would

registers, to horses’ hooves, flutes,

with period Johnson 35hp outboard probably

furniture, golf clubs, scissors, sewing

accounted for less than a fifth of that

machines, surgical instruments, telephones

Bear in mind Herter also produced a “sonic

claim beyond a doubt that the person who

bullet,” which he claimed increased in

paid $61,600 for a 1960 Plymouth Fury with a

velocity after it left the rifle. A true American

colour-matched Herter’s speed boat hitched

odd-ball, unfettered by fact, and a grandiose

to it paid all that money for the boat and got

self-publicist who refused to be

a worthless car thrown in for free.

photographed, he was also a prolific self-

Herter, who ran a US outdoor goods mail-

30

everything from bicycles and cash

Plymouth Fury made $61,600 combined. The boat

unopened bottles in original box are unlikely ever to be sampled, not least because they sold for $8,125, a costly and cautionary memento of bygone times.

publisher of survival and how-to books,

order company, made claims as outlandish as

including a cookery tome in which he claimed

his boats. In his catalogue he described his

“The Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ, was very

bizarre, finned glassfibre boat as “actually a

fond of spinach” and had cooked a spinach

composite of the two fastest boats in the

recipe on that first Christmas eve. Most were

world… The forward part uses the proven design

co-written with his wife, but for some reason

principles of Slo-Mo-Shun, North America’s

his 1969 relationship guide, How to Live With

fastest boat and safest high-speed boat. The

a Bitch, was a solo effort: today it’s a

rear of the hull uses the design principles of

collector’s item among enthusiasts of the

the English Bluebird boat, the fastest and

misogyny genre. The claims he made for his

safest European fast boat.” Yeah, right.

boats were no less fin-tastic.

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

and much more. Like rare whisky, these 12

ELDRED’S

RM SOTHEBY’S

Above: The 1957 Herter’s Eldorado Rocket and 1960

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31

Classic Gifts

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❄ JUERG KAUFMANN GALLERY They may be modern sails but the bow is unmistakeable. A J-Class duel captured by top photographer Juerg Kaufmann and available as a large-scale print to hang on your wall.

CLASSIC SAIL CALENDAR Now in its 21st year, the Classic Sail calendar from Kathy

Juerg is as passionate about classic boats as anyone alive and has a range of

Mansfield is popular all over the world, featuring images of

spectacular shots available as prints. He’s also the man behind the images of the Gstaad

the full gamut of classics from this respected writer and

Yacht Club’s Centenary Trophy in Saint-Tropez (see Tell Tales). Check out Juerg’s gallery

photographer.

on his website.

£16.95 via bookharbour.com

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Known for her striking black and white

Decorate your Christmas tree

images, Den Phillips offers two

with an ornament designed by

calendars, one covering the world of

the RNLI, and raise funds for the

classic yachts, including shots of

life-saving charity.

Mariquita, Aschanti IV, Moonbeam IV,

If santa on a paddleboard

The Blue Peter and others, while Den’s

doesn’t take your fancy, there are

second calendar, always popular,

plenty more options available.

features shots from her native English

From £8

east coast, with that area’s smacks, barges and other historic boats

shop.rnli.org

depicted with romance and admiration. £19.50 for each

YETI SOFT COOLER Stones Boatyard, Britain’s biggest stockists of Yeti outdoor gear as well as timber suppliers and boatbuilders, have the highly sought-after soft coolers back in stock. These portable, stylish bags keep gear chilled for days on end and come in three sizes. This is the smallest, the Hopper 8. At just 1.3kg empty and with a waterproof zipper, it’s ideal on smaller boats. Available in navy or charcoal at £199.99.

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32

DEN PHILLIPS CALENDARS

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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33

CHARLOTTE WATTERS

Adrian Morgan yachts; the stripping of entire interiors at a whim; the ditching of fine furniture (although much of it is spirited away into the hills where it is said, whole villas are furnished with the cast offs); and, of course, the ripping up of decks, laid with the best, flawless, irreplaceable teak.

Sally’s sole is, to be fair, teak faced plywood, laid to look like a deck, perhaps 10mm of timber, no more. There were signs of staining, which I put down to sun tan oil, apocryphally a major reason why decks are replaced. I have heard first hand, of piles of smashed teak in marina skips, and no way to recycle other than burn. Does teak make a good timber for burning in stoves, I wonder?

Sally’s anchor windlass is also salvaged, probably from the barge up the top of the Hamble where you could find pretty much anything, in my time usually about 30 years out of date, or older. That meant the bronze fittings from wooden yachts from the post-war era, now broken up: Blake heads, Highfield levers, blocks and such like. Today, if the barge still exists, it’ll be the hand-me-downs of the ’80s and ’90s, electronics for which spares are no longer available, roller reefing gear by a defunct manufacturer, and maybe, just maybe some of the good stuff that we classic boat owners cherish, of the kind we drool over in old Simpson Lawrence catalogues – of which I have two – or the current Davey’s.

Long gone, and replaced by housing, on the banks of the Itchen, Belsize Boatyard used to be a favourite stamping ground. I remember near the entrance, high above the jumble, two huge Deltic diesels, from what wartime patrol boat, who knows, but surplus to requirements. One entire shed was filled with Bell & Howell projectors, of the kind that flickered in smokefilled cinemas and village halls. Maybe the owner – who went by the name of ‘Squeaker’ – thought one day they might become popular, if only as props in a nostalgic movie shot in black and white.

Of rather more interest to those seeking maritime memorabilia, but hidden from prying eyes behind barred and padlocked doors, was half a yacht which, from her good side would have looked intact. Dashed against the rocks inshore of the Mixon, this was Ted Heath’s unlucky Morning Cloud, wrecked on a delivery passage with loss of life. Everything in ‘Squeaker’s’ yard was for sale, from the Deltics downwards, but not Morning Cloud. There were limits then to what was right and proper to strip and pass on.

Ultimate hand-me-downs Recycling in the best possible taste

I

am standing on the teak deck of a superyacht’s gym; it might even be a bit of the captain’s personal gym, or even the crew’s gym – after all, they above all need to keep in trim with all those heavy trays of canapés to hand around, as well as all that hoisting of sails at the push of a button, which must exacerbate any tendency to repetitive strain injury something terrible.

Facetiousness apart, the square of decking under my feet is now the cockpit sole of Sally, a tiny bit of recycling or repurposing, stripped and saved from the bonfire when the new owner, or perhaps his wife, decided that the previous owner’s ideas were not to his liking. The gym, possibly, is now a beauty salon, dance floor, basketball pitch; who knows, for the rich, as the saying goes, are not like us.

His loss is Sally’s gain. I’ve always wanted a teak laid cockpit sole and there was spare enough to floor my workshop. On which once the high glitterati would cavort in leotards, is now covered in wood shavings and – I have to admit – badly stained with paint splodges, glue, and bird poo from the resident robin redbreast.

Sally has a few more bits and pieces, salvaged from various places, including the ornate brass bars used to raise the sash windows in a certain Victorian house in Stockbridge, a gentile part of Edinburgh where curtain twitching has been raised to a fine art.

Sally’s modest contribution to the problem of waste is in contrast to the profligacy of many owners of large

34

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

“On which once the high glitterati would cavort in leotards”

Stephens Brothers 43’ Commuter 1931/2019

Sympathetically, but throroughly restored into beautiful condition by her experienced and knowledgeable owner. Nothing was left untouched but all in phase with her original build quality and classic character. New 2019 twin Yanmar diesels. Twin cabin layout, 4 berths, 2 bathrooms. Dimensions; 13,00 x 3,50 x 1,00 mtr, headway 3,50 mtr (for French Canals).

Asking price Eur 178,000 incl. VAT (delivery 0-vat basis for export is possible)

DE VALK YACHTBROKERS Tel: 0031 166 60100 Email: sintannaland@devalk.nl

www.devalk.nl

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

35

WINNER

AWARD SRIRINGAM MOHANKUMAR

CB winner Srirangam Mohankumar has worked for a number of years as an orthopaedic surgeon within the NHS. From a young age he was interested in sketching and painting, particularly in watercolour and preferably outdoors. His sketches are often developed into the final piece in his home studio. Sriringam regularly travels the British Isles to find inspiration, and of course to paint on

ROYAL SOCIETY OF MARINE ARTISTS ANNUAL EXHIBITION

DRAWN TO THE SEA We select eight works from the 2022 RSMA show at London’s Mall Galleries. See many more at mallgalleries.org.uk 36

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

location. “The subjects I paint are varied,” says Sriringam.

“These include landscapes, rustic buildings, rolling skies, waterways, street scenes, boats and harbours.

“Painting and drawing are part of being human for me.

The great living artist Ken Howard, whom I admire very much, once said ‘painting is about revelation, communication and celebration. It is also about interaction between artist and audience.’” Sriringam regularly exhibits paintings in various galleries in Britain and has won some awards over the years. He supports various charities including Feet First and Great Ormond Street Hospital.

The common theme of the RSMA exhibition is the sea and tidal waters but subjects range from deep-water shipping to coastal scenes, competitive sailing to quiet harbours, marine wildlife to still life and carefully researched historical paintings.

The Royal Society of Marine Artists (RSMA) exhibition is available to view (and buy art from) at rsma-web.co.uk.

Mandolin Player, Rise of Argyll, Mousehole Tim Hall, oil-on-board, 61x56cm, £2,500

Passage Race John Scott Martin PRSMA, oil-on-canvas, 50x50cm, £2,250

Battle of Copenhagen, 2 April 1802 Geoff Hunt PPRSMA, oil, 61x69cm, £15,000

Sunset on the Deben Marshes David Howell PPRSMA, oil, 51x77cm, £4,500

Rugs and Floats III Gareth Brown RSMA, oil, 90x58, £4,800

The Boatyard, Heswall, Wirrall Robert Brindley RSMA, oil, 51x51cm, £1,100

Coaster David Bradford, carved fir, 28x50x11cm, £850

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

37

BOSUN’S BAG PRACTICAL TIPS FOR THE TRADITIONAL BOATER

WORDS TOM CUNLIFFE ILLUSTRATION MARTYN MACKRILL

I was recently speaking with an old friend who is restoring a Fife-built yacht from the 1930s. As work on the hull was nearing completion he was thinking about rigging. He is, as one might say, approaching seniority in years and was unwilling to set his working jib flying as per Mr Fife’s original specification. The reasons will be obvious to anyone who has had the experience.

The possible solution of a Wykeham Martin furling gear had been set aside for aesthetic reasons. It wouldn’t look quite right with the yacht at rest, he felt and, like many of us, he had suffered varying results with these gears. As we discussed his problem we recalled that the great designer, Jack Giles, had come up with a different answer for his famous 45-foot cruising gaff cutter Dyarchy. This masterpiece of innovation was built in 1939 for Mr Roger Pinckney, vice-commodore of the Royal Cruising Club, to replace his previous yacht, a Bristol Channel pilot cutter of the same name. Pinckney certainly knew his stuff. He and Giles came up with a solution to this perennial problem which has stood the test of time. It incorporates the handling advantages of hanking a bowsprit jib onto a stay with the benefit of being able to do the whole job while safely inboard on deck.

The jib-stay is of flexible wire. It dead-ends up the mast in the immediate vicinity of the jib halyard blocks, either stropped round the spar with a leathered soft eye, or shackled to a tang via a hard eye. From there it leads down to a turning block rigged fore and aft at deck level. This can be either shackled to the cranse iron if the bowsprit is very short, or hooked to a traditional traveller if the wire will be out of reach from the deck when set up. After passing through the turning block, the stay is finished off with a hard-eye. The clever bit is that, at rest, the jib stay is under no tension at all, so the bight above the block can be grabbed and held in hand. The jib tack is shackled to the eye and the luff is hanked to the floppy standing part which is comfortably within reach. The halyard is shackled to the head of the jib and the traveller sent out to the bowsprit end. When the sail is hoisted the hanks slide up the jib-stay and as the halyard is tensioned the luff of the sail transfers the pull to the tack, thence to the stay itself, which tightens up magically around the turning block The wire then acts as an extra forestay, strengthening the mast, and giving the luff of the sail a far better chance of standing straight than any jib halyard purchase can do with a flying sail. If there’s no winch, of course, there’s no law against having a halyard purchase on the other end of the one or two-part halyard because, as we all know, any attempt to persuade a yacht to sail to windward with a soggy jib luff is doomed to disappointment.

38

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

As the sail is lowered with this arrangement, it remains under control at all times. When the halyard tension comes off, the standing part of the wire is allowed to sag inboard with the sail still hanked on to it. Let fly the traveller and the whole shooting match is safe in hand. The task is far less fraught with potential horrors than when a decent-sized jib is set flying or handed on a breezy day.

This system has been used on a number of well-found boats in recent years, including the fabulously slippery gaff cutter Zinnia, designed by Ed Burnett for Ian and Sue Pople of Keyhaven. Like Roger Pinckney, Ian Pople (also RCC) knows more than most of us about how to make a boat go. He and Sue sailed Zinnia from the English Channel to the Caribbean and back with no engine, no heads and no holes in the hull at all. She absolutely flew and Ian reported that changing jibs on a dark night was a relatively seamless process.

My pal with the Fife plans to follow suit. He won’t be sorry.

THINKING BEYOND THE BOX Messrs Giles and Pinckney’s idea also provides as good an answer as I’ve seen to the vexed question of tensioning the luff of a gaff topsail while keeping it under control. On a large vessel with the sail permanently bent to the topmast using hoops this is no special problem. It’s the majority of sails hoisted from the deck that cause head-scratching, which is where the Dyarchy forestay system comes in. Here’s the spec: Use suitably traditional-looking, light-weight, stretch-free Dyneema for the leader. Wire is unwieldy here, causes chafe and wrecks varnish. Nobody will notice and the results are a joy. Strop this around the mast at the upper mast band or some other high point that will stop it sliding down - perhaps the top peak block. Bring it to the deck outside everything and pass it through a turning block. The free end can be much longer than on the Dyarchy forestay. When the load is off, this allows the bight of the leader to sag a long way from the mast, making it easy to hank on the sail. A tackle is permanently rigged with its lower block on the free end of the leader. The upper block is hitched to the topsail downhaul and you’re ready to hoist in the usual way with halyard and sheet. Masthead the halyard and belay, take up some slack on the sheet, then heave down hard on the tackle. This pulls the leader tight like magic while tensioning the luff of the sail. When the time comes to drop, ease off the tackle, surge away on the halyard and sheet, then smile as the hanked-on sail comes down under perfect control on its now-slack leader.

Squadron. His depictions of classic boats, from clinker rowing boats to Edwardian schooners, have made him one of the most sought-after marine artists, and his work forms part of major collections worldwide. He and his wife, Bryony, sail the restored 1910 gaff cutter Nightfall (Classic Boat 328).

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

FOR THE WORK OF MARTYN MACKRILL, VISIT MARTYNMACKRILL.CO.UK OR MESSUM’S GALLERY, ST JAMES’S, LONDON

MARTYN MACKRILL Son of a marine engineer and grandson of a trawlerman, Martyn is Honorary Painter of the Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht

39

JAMES ROBINSON TAYLOR

Don’t Look Now Whining outboards, big lenses, sunny skies – this is the life of photography legend James Robinson Taylor. Just don’t look into his lens when you hear him coming…

WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES. PHOTOGRAPHY C/O JAMES ROBINSON TAYLOR

40

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Y

ou hear him before you see him. While would-be game was to work out how to do it, and make money. The best photographer journalists at classic yacht regattas in spot to show the photos was between the boats and the beer. I’d the Med are politely shepherded around in a sedate shoot max 12 rolls of 35mm slide film from the RIB, rush into the chase boat, James approaches with an outboardback of the van [a white VW Syncro] to develop them, then sort screaming, hull-slapping scream of jubilation, one hand on the them all by boat names that night. I’d have them out for viewing wheel, the other cradling a large Nikon. You could say he’s the on trestle tables by 7am the next morning when the old owners lone wolf of yacht photography, but off that RIB, he laughs woke up before the day’s racing. It was a mad period. I finished at freely and speaks in the laid-back tongue you might expect from one or two in the morning and would be up at 6am the next day a surfer of old – American but with an Italian tang after just to get my orders. I only survived by speed dining at local over four decades of living in and around Florence. Since his restaurants, and by friends bringing sandwiches to the van. I was first classic regatta, the 1989 Nioulargue (now Les Voiles de making decent money at that point.” That van went as far south Saint-Tropez), he has become a well-loved figure on the scene… as Palma, as far east as Corfù, up north to Helsinki and as far west more even: a mascot to classic yacht racing in the Med. as Cowes in England, not least for the 2001 America’s Cup Jubilee.

James was born in Norfolk, Virginia, but only as a dint of his “Then digital came along. The quality is fantastic, and later it father’s posting there in the US Navy; his roots are New England meant I could eat and sleep again.” James’s first digital camera was a – Connecticut to be precise. The answer to the first, most Nikon-Kodak. “When I bought my first film camera, I choose obvious question, is that sailing came before photography, in the Nikon after comparing to Canon and Olympus; it felt good in the form of family holidays at Castine in hand. But once you’ve bought into one Maine. “Dad was big into sailing – he manufacturer, you’re in that ecosystem sailed with the guys in the Alan Villiers forever.” James now has a “whole box” tradition like Irving Johnson [Cape of salt-encrusted dead Nikon F2s. “There Horn legends].” is nothing harder and more demanding After moving to the west coast in on the gear than yachting photography.” the 1970s at the age of 14, James took These days, “the magic has gone” a degree in political science at the from photography: as a result of digital University of Oregon. cameras and image processing software James had seen Italy aged 18, while (James mainly uses Lightroom for this backpacking, and gradually in his early – “Photoshop on steroids”), the 20s, moved in for good. “It started in machines do the thinking, so James’s “No one cares about Genoa. Obviously, there was a girl…” ability to calculate exposure in his head After a series of odd jobs, including is now redundant, along with many quality any more” teaching sailing, in the early 1980s others of the secrets imparted to him by James Robinson Taylor James found employment on a big, that old master in the museums of Italy, national scheme run by the ministry of Raffaello Bencini. Digital has proved to culture, to capture and eventually be a double-edged sword though: the digitise Italy’s great cultural treasures. After a three-month crash ease that it gives photographers is now accessible to everyone, yet course in fine art photography, he was touring the nation, the rapid improvement of mobile phone photography only installing big lighting rigs and stages to photograph renaissance endangers photography further. “No one cares about quality any frescos, painting, sculpture and more, on medium and largemore” says James. “It’s all about convenience and speed.” format film cameras. At this level of photography and in that When pressed to name influential photographers, James cites era, large-format cameras – the big contraptions with bellows American expat Bert Richner, the original van-and-RIB man, and a sack over the photographer’s head – were king. Modern working in the 50s through to the 90s. “I copied him! He was a DSLRs are still light years off the sheer data capture of these sweet, wonderful, honest guy, but he took no shit. He was the monsters, which produced images of around 500mb once last of the independents.” Franco Pace has also, of course, been a digitalized; more than five times the information captured by a big influence in James’s life. James also cites Beken, for their rigid modern DSLR. With a stopped down aperture of F16-22 and adherence to the subject matter: “It’s about the boat, stupid!”

100 ISO film speed for quality, exposures could easily be several Laughs James, paraphrasing generations of the Beken family. minutes per image, often taken on 30ft high shaky platforms.

“For me, the rig has to look right, the sails pulling perfectly. It’s “Raffaello Bencini was my mentor. I went in as an apprentice – just boat, sea and sky. You need all three.” Unlike Beken, James basically slave labour. I ended up being the first guy he ever works in an era where it is acceptable to “cut off the boat”. To paid!” Photography was an art then, with its secrets. If anyone get an entire boat into the frame is not always the most dramatic wanted to know Raffaello’s techniques, he’d just say ‘I’m image. And unlike Beken, James has to deal with an array of making coffee’. After three or four years of this, there followed modern spoilers. “People looking at me and smiling, plastic a brief stint in news photography. Then, everything changed, water bottles, someone smoking… even bum cracks as crew bend when James met a man called Franco Pace. over to do something on deck! I’ve been known to elongate “I was told this guy takes sailing pics, and I’m thinking – tee-shirts a bit by digital cloning, to hide a bum crack!” James, that’s a job? Franco invited James to a regatta in Capri and there now in his early 60s, is not really showing any signs of slowing began the chapter that so many people know James for today. down. He’s still a wild man at heart, an independent spirit whose Starting with his first Nioulargue (now Les Voiles de Saintwalk-on music is a howling outboard motor. Just remember, if Tropez) in 1989, James embarked on a 15-year period of van you hear him coming, don’t look. But if you see him on land, life, not easy when he became the father of twins in 1995. “The don’t be afraid. He’s really quite nice.

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

41

BUGATTI’S BABY It all started when a motoring journalist happed upon a cleat… but the story ended with the reincarnation of Ettore Bugatti’s 1940s motor tender, the You-You WORDS DAVE SELBY PHOTOS KATHY MANSFIELD

I

t’s not known whether Ettore Bugatti ever read Wind in the Willows, but I can confirm that there is very little half so much worth doing as simply messing about in Bugatti boats. The quirky, almost cartoonish Bugatti You-You – which takes its name after the colloquial French term for “little boat” – could not be further removed from the legendary French racing blue grandprix cars, or the luxury grand routiers produced in the company’s pre-war pomp. Moreover, the You-You is as rare, or rarer still, than some of the most exalted and valuable Bugatti cars made in those glory years.

42

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

In a changed post-war world order in which the pared-to-thebone Citroen 2CV fitted the mood of austerity, Bugatti struggled to adapt, producing no more than a handful of cars whose outdated engineering and styling, not to mention the grandiose pricing, failed to hit the mark.

It was then, perhaps as a side line or merely to bring in some much needed cash flow, that the Italian-born Ettore Bugatti turned to producing the You-You at a boatyard he owned on the banks of the Seine in a suburb of Paris.

However, the double-skinned

The original You-You tender is one of the rarest of all Bugattis; the four new ones nearly double the number of known survivors

mahogany-planked You-You was most certainly not the 2CV of boats. It seems the You-You was produced from 1946 to 1947, the year too of Ettore’s death, but as with everything to do with the You-You, hard facts are in scant supply. No one knows how many of these minnow motor launches were built, nor quite when, nor for sure how many still exist, though it seems survivors are rarer than Bugatti’s great folly masterpiece, the gargantuan Type 41 Royale, of which just six were built, all surviving to this day.

What is certain though, is that ‘le

patron’ was a keen yachtsman, owning a string of yachts, some eccentric and the last, a supremely elegant 90ft (27.4m) John G Alden-designed ketch bristling with design and engineering innovations. Ettore never got to enjoy Barbara III, named after his wife, as the fit out was incomplete at the time of his death. Neither is it known for sure that he ever got to helm a You-You. According to a rare original sales brochure I own, the Bugatti You-You motor launch was offered in lengths of 2.8, 3.3, and 4 metres.

That brochure also tells me that the

You-You was powered by a single-cylinder Bugatti inboard of 2-5hp. But my fascination with unearthing the whys, wheres and whats of the You-You began earlier than that, in 2008, when I

This cluster: The author’s rare original brochure and cherished cleat with Ettore Bugatti monogram

saw one in not much better shape than the wreck of the Mary Rose at a classic car show in Paris, no more the 10km from where it had been built. I also own an actual part of a YouYou. As a basis for a complete rebuild it’s going to be quite a challenge, as the bronze piece, imprinted with Ettore Bugatti’s monogram, is only 5in (12cm) long, but hey, there’s many an authentic restoration of both cars and yachts built on less.

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

43

BUGATTI YOU-YOU

One thing I know now that I didn’t then, is that the bijou barrel-sided You-You is a barrel of laughs. This revelation is thanks to two Bugatti enthusiasts. “Greg from New York,” as we’ll call him, also owns a Bugatti-engined world waterspeed record-breaking hydroplane; the other is known as “someone else from somewhere” – more than that I cannot say, mainly because I don’t know. In 2018 the pair approached Jack Livesey of Paradise Boat Co to recreate a brace of Bugatti You-Yous for each.

We’re on the upper Thames just down river from Shillingford Bridge near Wallingford, Oxfordshire.

This is Three Men in a Boat territory. On the north bank, the long tendrils of a screen of weeping willows reach down to tickle the placid green water into a chuckle. On the south bank, four new You-Yous are moored alongside a 1937 Chris Craft 40ft motor cruiser that is boatbuilder Jack Livesey’s home. For Jack, who trained at the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy, the You-You has been a near all-consuming odyssey, running far deeper than my mild recreational fascination. With us too is boatbuilder Tom Hopper, 33, who previously restored Ferraris until he discovered that wood is more alive than cold steel.

That accounts for the three men and is, I would argue, perhaps some mitigation for the antics that came later.

What you need to know about Mr Bugatti is that he was once described as “the high priest of unorthodox notions,” a genius certainly, but one whose free-thinking mind at times embraced novelty to the point of eccentricity. For example, his dismissive riposte to justified criticism of his cars’ brakes was: “I build my cars to go, not stop.” Aspects of the You-You are similarly unconventional. The You-You’s single-cylinder Bugatti Type 75 engine is not amidships but right forward under the short foredeck, where a prop shaft travels the length of the boat to deliver drive. That seems eccentric, but doesn’t surprise me. For more than 30 years my real job has been in the classic car business, where I’ve been entranced by the beauty of Bugatti’s creations, and at times mystified to the point of puzzlement.

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Above left: Boatbuilding partners Jack Livesey and Carolyn Arnold live on a 1937 40ft Chris-Craft motor cruiser they restored together. Jack says: “Chris Craft patterned every single piece and I think Bugatti may have been done the same. It suggests the You-You may have been intended for series production in far greater numbers than were actually made.”

Above right: Classic car investment analyst Dave Selby’s fascination with the You-You began in 2008 when he saw the mortal remains of one in Paris.

Now he finally gets to drive one

Right now, studying the quartet of You-Yous in the dappling late September sun, I’m a little enchanted and a lot intrigued by the lustrous varnish, the twinkling heads of many thousand copper rivets in each of the 3.3m (11ft) craft, and the dazzling bronze bright work dancing on the surface of the water like a glitter ball playing on a disco ceiling.

I spot the You-You’s starting crank handle, which in itself is ‘so’ Bugatti. Bentleys, which Bugatti disparaged as “trucks” had starting handles with all the finesse of an iron-age cudgel. This, on the other hand, is hallmark Bugatti, its sleeve rippled with curved notches that fit the clench of your fisted fingers like Grace Kelly’s satin evening glove.

Just as I kneel down to retard the ignition, tickle the carburettor, set the throttle and, as an extra precaution, swing incense, say a few Hail Mary’s and light a candle – those last three aren’t strictly necessary unless you’re trying to start or stop a Stuart Turner – Jack flicks a period brass Bosch switch – the magneto, I presume – and says “Right, you’re off,” as he nudges me into midstream. Smiling as enigmatically as the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, he adds cryptically: “Try the gear lever.”

As he does so I can’t help being minded that the inspiration for Lewis Carroll’s fantastical world came from a rowing trip on the Thames, nor that the Cheshire Cat purred: “Most everyone’s mad here… You may have noticed I’m not all there myself.” Fair point, I’m thinking, as Jack’s just cast me adrift before I’ve even attempted to start the engine, and a big glassfibre cruiser has just belched by, and another one might be coming round the bend any second, and when it does it will leave quite a lot of beautifully varnished Bugatti mahogany matchsticks in its wake.

Being in three novels at once is perplexing enough, but I decide to humour Jack and push the Bakelite gear knob forward, even though the engine’s not even started… and of course nothing happens… and then it does. Silently, magically, the You-You begins to make a little way and a chuckling ripple appears in the wake. The darn

Clockwise from top left: The only Bugatti equipped with a compass; Positioning engine in bow maximises accommodation space; Custom- made nav lights are modelled from period Bosch interior car lights; To reproduce unique Bugatti lifting cleats (each boat has three), Jack tracked down original Bugatti drawings; Period Bosch switches; With wheel steering, stub tiller doesn’t intrude into accommodation space; Dummy fuel filler conceals charging socket; Lock-over handed bow fairlead cast from original Bugatti manufacturing pattern found in France; Double-planked mahogany, ribs of English oak and 4,000-plus copper rivets!

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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BUGATTI YOU-YOU

Above left: Dummy engine casing conceals Lynch 2.5kw electric motor Above: 24V batteries, Victron battery monitor: power, range, etc, on phone app Below left: External planking is 6mm mahogany, internal planking is 4.5mm Below right: Bugatti You-You spotted by the author in 2008, now conserved in collection of prominent Bugatti collector Peter Mullin

wasn’t me, it was him.” Frankly, that’s no way for a 36-year-old to behave – that’s Jack’s age, by the way.

I’d often wondered, ever since I first saw the mortal remains of a You-You back in 2008, whether this plump little barchetta had any true merit as a boat, whether it possessed true pedigree Bugatti breed points, or was just part of a last-gasp effort of a company to stay afloat, but had been left behind by the tide of change.

The first thing that’s clear is that this is no aquatic 2CV, nor ‘a people’s boat’ equivalent of the Volkswagen Beetle. The You-You was no knock-about pontoon-bashing utility work boat but intended as a yacht tender for the smart set. However, its configuration is as inspired as the rear-engined layout

PHOTO: DAVE SELBY COLLECTION

thing’s electric, and what I – a supposed authority on classic cars – took to be a super-rare can’t-buy’em-for-money antique Bugatti boat engine is a cunningly fabricated CAD-modelled carbon fibre and cast aluminium dummy casing concealing electric innards.

I’ve disappeared down a rabbit hole and emerged in a parallel You-You universe of 2022. I mean, You-You’ve gotta laugh, and when Jack and Tom join me on the water we can’t help it. There’s something playful about You-Yous, with the exaggerated scaled-down comicstrip curves you find on old fairground carousel kiddie rides that we three full-size adults shouldn’t really be allowed on. In fact all that seems to be missing is a coin slot. They’re perky too, with instant torque. OK, the top speed of around 4.5-5 kts is about on a par with a pensioner’s mobility scooter, but the wheel steering is far less wayward, at least when you’re not giggling. In no time, we’re buzzing one another, performing tight turns, playing dodgems and generally behaving like Mr Toad at his worst. That’s what happens when you get three men in three You-Yous… that was until Jack’s partner Carolyn, who’s also part of Jack’s boatbuilding team, joined us in the fourth and threatened to send us to bed without a story, at which each whined in turn: “It

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of the Beetle, which maximised space. Placing the engine in the dead space of the bow turns the 11ft You-You into a tardis, with easily enough space for five aboard plus Louis Vuitton hat boxes. I know of few, if any, tenders of this size that are wheel steered: and that creates even more space. The You-You works.

Billionaire Bugatti enthusiast Tom Perkins had a You-You on the deck of Atlantide, his supremely graceful 122ft (37.3m) 1930 Alfred Mylne-designed motor yacht. After his death in 2016 the You-You fell into parlous dereliction, but is now being restored by Artisan Boatworks in Maine, USA.

Another American, Peter Mullin, who in 2010 paid $35 million for a 1936 Bugatti Type 57SC Atlantic, one of two surviving (for CB readers I should explain that this Atlantic is a car, not a boat) also has a You-You at his Californian museum, which Jack visited early in his odyssey to examine the construction and, for lack of any original plans, take measurements.

“They were beautifully constructed, with more than 4,000 hand-rove copper rivets and no bruises from misjudged hammer blows” he says. “It took two of us two weeks to plank and rivet each hull. The curves too are extreme, with the forward 8in (20cm)

Above: Tom Hopper (left) and Jack Livesey reining in their inner Mr Toad Above right: Famous Bugatti logo Below: In July 1948, Motor Boat and Yachting published this sectional drawing of a You-You, and Ettore’s extraordinary experimental rig for his John Alden ketch

turning through 600. I don’t think Bugatti had a lot of compassion for his artisans, but it works. The hull form is particularly stable and not the least tippy. One thing that amuses me is that with the driver forward, you’re effectively being chauffeured rather than carried like cargo.”

So the You-You clearly was no budget utilitarian, but exotic and exquisitely crafted, with, presumably, a price to match, but as Bugatti put it: “Nothing is too beautiful, nothing is too expensive.”

They say God is in the detail, and so was Ettore Bugatti. My 5in sliver of Bugatti You-You, mentioned earlier, is an astonishingly rare original Bugatti bronze cleat of typically novel design, with a raised loop in the

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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BUGATTI YOU-YOU

middle; atop that, it’s stamped with the famous EB monogram. While pretty much any other boat manufacturer would simply have bought in standard hardware, it’s typical of Bugatti that he would have gone to the bother of re-designing the mundane cleat, building one he believed did the job better and putting his signature to it.

None of the four more or less intact original You-Yous I know of, has this genuine piece of Bugatti jewellery. Before I knew of Jack’s You-You project, he managed to track down another in France, from which he made a pattern. The most noticeable

PHOTOS: BUGATTI TRUST

Above: Typical of Bugatti, that he would redesign the humble cleat ???????????;

Bugatti’s other boats

unfinished twin-engined twin-screw 90ft

more conventionally rigged, Orphee III is the

Around 1925, Ettore Bugatti came up with a

(27.4m) ketch Barbara III (above left) was

largest Alden-designed yacht surviving.

proposal for an extraordinary eight-

towed to England for safekeeping, returning

passenger, wave-piercing powerboat (above

after the war. An extraordinary post-war

was a curious 21ft 4in (6.5m) centre-cockpit

middle) that could cross the Atlantic in two

picture taken at Bugatti’s Maisons-Laffitte

motor boat built in 1931; the later Barbara II

days. With a submarine-like conning tower,

yard shows the teak-hulled Barbara III with an

(above right) was also an oddity, a motorised

the semi-submersible was to be propelled by

A-frame of two wire trusses supporting the

day boat with large, open cockpit, cabin

six 15-litre, 8-cylinder engines. Although that

mast. A contemporary 1948 article – published

forward and a mast close to the bow.

project never left the drawing board, he had

just after Bugatti’s death – explains that these

equally radical thoughts about sail.

had been part of Bugatti’s experiments with

Bugatti-engined hydroplanes all named

an electric rotating mast-furling system. Now

Niniette, the nickname of his daughter Lydia.

As you could imagine, when Bugatti

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difference is that mine has the EB monogram. Mine is currently with traditional boat fitting company Davey & Co, which is appraising it with a view to producing a modern interpretation of the form in different sizes.

The cleat is but one example of Ettore’s attention to detail, and too, Jack’s quest for authenticity, which has lured Jack down many a rabbit hole, from which he’s emerged with a profound appreciation of the charismatic car maker. “That

cleat with the odd loop,” says Jack, “makes all sorts of sense when you consider the YouYous were designed to be lifted aboard yachts. With three fitted, one near the bow and two at the stern, they serve a two-in-one function, both as cleats and ring bolts for hoisting on davits. An ingenious solution.”

Of course, we’ll never know how many You-Yous were originally built, nor how many Ettore intended to make, but one thing’s clear: to the very last, the idea of compromise was inconceivable to “the high priest of unorthodox notions.”

There were two earlier Barbaras: Barbara I

By way of extreme contrast was a series of

commissioned what would be his last

In 1933, Niniette III (left) powered by

sailing yacht from renowned

a supercharged 1,493cc Bugatti

American naval architect John G

straight-eight, raised the 1.5-litre

Alden (1884-1962), ‘le patron’ was not

World Water Speed record to

merely a customer, but intimately

57.9mph (93.3kmh) on Lake Como.

involved with the project, specifying

This only known surviving Niniette

and designing key features such as

hydroplane has just emerged from a

anchors, windlasses and bilge pumps,

five-year restoration. Her owner is

and filing a flurry of patents, as well

‘Greg from New York,’ the gentleman

as using it as a testbed for his ideas.

who commissioned Jack Livesey to

In 1940, shortly after its launch, the

build the new You-Yous.

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SUMMER OF SAIL

GENEVA

Growing 8-M fleet at Worlds WORDS BY RON VALENT, PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR AND TOBIAS STOERKLE The Société Nautique de Genève celebrated 150 years with a week of racing and a full social programme this 21-31 July. Moderns mingled with classics on Lac Leman, home to a large fleet of 6-M yachts. This year’s special guests were 24 8-M yachts racing their Worlds.

There was only one modern 8-M racing. The top classic, wooden 8s can make it difficult for a modern but in the end, particularly downwind, a wing-keeled polyester design from 1984 should win, as designer

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Jacques Fauroux’s Yquem did, repeating her world titles of 2015 and 2019. Those times, she faced the fastest modern boats, as well as classics.

Participants were unanimously generous about Yquem’s win, understanding that the International Rule is a development class to promote ever-faster boats.

Any criticism was reserved for Yquem’s modern rivals for not taking part. Furthermore, Yquem, based on the lake, would hardly not take part!

To keep the ingenuity of designers in check, a few adjustments were made to the International Rule in 1919 and 1933, so we now have First, Second and Third Rule yachts depending on build date. Loosely based on this are sub-divisions in which one can become world champion. The International 8-Metre World Cup is for the fastest 8 of any age. The Sira Cup is for boats built before 1960. The Neptune Trophy is for yachts built before, or based on a design, from before 1960, but where the yacht is still built and rigged in the authentic manner. This means wooden masts, traditional deck fittings, no exotic sails and no reinforcements in the hull with epoxy etc. The First Rule Cup is for all 8-Ms built before or built to a design from before 1920 or sailing with a gaff rig.

Finally, there is the Coppa d’ Italia for the European Champion in any 8. So, there are actually four yachts that can become world champions in class but, for instance, a Neptune yacht could in theory win in three categories.

Where the overall World Championship was somewhat lacking in excitement, the Neptune Trophy and the Sira Cup were absolutely not. I am a big fan of the Neptune yachts and not just because many of them have my winches. The Neptunes are sailed with more respect for their age and historical value, whereas the Siras, I feel, are heavily stressed by the modernisation of their rigging and gear. Many only come out of the shed to sail a championship for a week, then head straight back to their winter storage.

The Neptunes are sailed more intensively. Dutchman Jan Willem Ypma’s Dutch Falcon for example, competed in the Fife Regatta in Scotland earlier this year and is also often seen in Cannes and St-Tropez.

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1 Not an inch to spare. Hard on the wind at the start with (left to right) Carron II, Starling Burgess (GER 16) and Sira 2-Metre class start 2 A study of elegance and beauty, the World Cup fleet moored at the SNG 3 Concentration on board as Vision powers upwind 4 Carron II, another beautiful Fife from 1935 5 The pack at the start of a race with K20 Falcon on the right 6 Sira prepares her spinnaker for the downwind leg 7 The striking gaff-rigged Taifun from 1911

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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SUMMER OF SAIL

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Twelve boats competed for the Neptune Trophy, no fewer than six of which had won this class earlier. On Lake Geneva, pure boat speed isn’t everything. Due to the difficult conditions on a lake between the Alps, luck or rather bad luck sometimes has a greater influence on the results than many would like. For example, the 1930 Fife Falcon, a former world champion in the Neptune Class, scored three first places, as many as Bona, the eventual winner, but despite a well-trained team with Volvo Ocean crack sailor Bouwe Bekking as tactician, a false start and two ninth places made them come fourth.

Those ninth places were entirely due to wind shifts and what in the end turned out to be a wrong choice. Simply bad luck, in other words. This same effect could be seen on several yachts, as on one day they would finish two races in the top two or three by going left. The next day they would score tenth or worse by doing the same!

The Fife design Vision was launched a few weeks before this World Cup after a thorough restoration by Mario and Andrea Quaranta at the Sibma Yard near Imperia in Italy. Owner Paolo Manzoni had gathered a good crew of mainly Dragon sailors and saw this regatta as a kind of training for the World Championships to be held next year in their home port of Genoa. To their delight and surprise, they sailed a very consistent series of second, third and fourth places that eventually brought them second overall. We knew Vision was fast because between 1983 and 2000, she won the Sira Cup seven times but fresh out of the box like now was a surprise result!

Bona was the eventual winner of the impressive Neptune Trophy. After 15 years in a shed, Véra Mogna, daughter of the last owner, brought her out and after only a few weeks of training she proved unbeatable, even leaving several Sira boats behind. In two races she even came to the windward mark before the modern 8-M Yquem. Véra did

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not settle for a cosy spot on a winch but helmed her boat all week! This is a great development in the 8s. Owners, sometimes in their 70s, 80s or, as with King Harald of Norway on his striking green Sira who is 85, helm their boats.

In the Sira Class, the brand-new Starling Burgess was unbeatable, with a string of firsts, seconds and thirds once again proving the genius of her eponymous designer. It should make Sira boat owners wonder if those aluminium masts, exotic sails and powerful three-speed, self-tailing, aluminium winches really matter when ‘real classics’ are so close behind them with considerably cheaper material and do not open up all their seams after a Championship!

With several recently restored and a brand-new boat on the starting line, as well as more, like Fulmar and Suzette, undergoing full restorations, the future of the 8s looks very bright. It’s clear that the 115-year-old International Rule has more than stood the test of time and that racing a fleet whose average age is 90-100 years old can be just as exciting and spectacular as ‘flying’ carbon monsters on foils with professional crews wearing helmets and kevlarreinforced protective clothing. Give me a classic any day.

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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1 The fleet powers downwind to the finish. On the right Z9, the Bjarne Aas-designed Froya owned by Dutchman Roel van Merkesteyn, centre Luna, a 1930 Nicholson, left Germania III (GER 9) and far left, Pandora, co-designed by first owner Glen Coates and Mylne in 1938 2 85-year-old Kind Harald of Norway and his pride and joy Sira 3 Left, Edit and, right, Taifun, both from 1911. Taifun won the Gaff Class 4 Owner Hanns Georg Klein helms his Anne Sophie of 1938 5 Owner/helm Véra Mogna with her prizes including the Neptune Trophy 6 Vision rounds the mark with owner Paulo Manzoni helming 7 The jubilant crew of Bona after the last race and the traditional dunking 8 Happy crew on Vision after the last race: tactician Tommaso Chieffi left, owner Paulo Manzoni (centre) and foredecker Vittorio Zaoli

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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PORT TOWNSEND, USA

Comeback WORDS AND PHOTOS JAN HEIN After a three-year hiatus, Port Townsend’s infamous Wooden Boat Festival returned in September, better than ever. Hundreds of vessels crowded the slips of Point Hudson Marina with the overflow filling every space on shore. The 112ft tall ship Lady Washington graced the show for the first time in 30

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years, along with jumbo schooners Adventuress (133ft), Martha (68ft), Alcyone (81ft), and Grace O’Malley (65ft). Over 12 new builds debuted this year, sandwiched between old

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favourites dating back to 1903. The scene was a canvas of fresh varnish, paint, and glowing bronze.

In contrast to tradition, designer/builder Sam Devlin’s 41ft 7in solar electric catamaran, Electric Philosophy, showcased the latest in eco-yachting. New this year, the Green Stage featured non-stop presentations on the future of electric propulsion, systems supporting green yachting and the latest innovation for environmental sustainability.

Festival headliners Nigel Calder, Steve Callahan and Lin Pardey

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topped a three-day schedule of talks and demonstrations, on every angle of wooden-boat lore and lust. Nine stages featured cruising stories, educational tips, workshops and inspiring films. Future boatbuilders crammed the new Kids Cove area, making model boats and testing new skills aboard longboats, SUPs and paddle wheelers. Three stages hosted non-stop musical performances including the Sea-Chantey Sing-Along and Port Townsend’s biggest dance party.

When not on display, vessels were on the water during four distinct competitions, though weather, as always, was variable. Brisk winds pushed the under26ft fleet around the buoys; rowers whipped across flat calm seas; and the schooner fleet, barely able to move, hoisted every piece of canvas to no avail.

Sunday’s Sail By, the festival finale, was bittersweet.

Docks emptied, sending vessels into the bay where sails, oars, and motors propelled the fleet in a random order until slowly, each departed on a different course with a promise to return next year – for the 46th Wooden Boat Festival.

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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1 Crowds jammed the docks of the 45th Wooden Boat Festival Admiral of the cutter Silva Bans 3 Flags up at sunrise 4 Paddle boats made their festival debut 5 Schooner Adventuress and gaff ketch Wonderland during the sail-by 6 Classy outboards on Harpoon VII 7 Boats in all sizes, shapes, and colors 8 David Smith on his Swampscott Racing Dory Chesuki 9 Arty kayaks by builder Dave Lake 10 Mike Higgins aboard his catboat Jean Alden

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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SUMMER OF SAIL

MALDON TOWN REGATTA 2022

BY PETER SMITH AND MERVYN MAGGS The equinox provides the high spring tides that are perfect for navigating the narrow reaches of the River Blackwater at Maldon. However, with the new moon yet to appear, the flood tide for the weekend would only allow for one race this year, which turned into the parade of sail past the quay side at Maldon.

A bright morning greeted the gathering fleet at the race start off Osea Pier on Osea Island. A moderate northerly wind provided a reach out to the Thirslet buoy and a fast reach back with the tide. The smacks were closely ranked at the start but soon spread out. It’s a glorious sight so often seen on the East Coast. They were

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followed by the OGA gaff rigged yachts, classic wooden yachts, a Solent One design, and an East Coast One Design.

Included in the line-up are modern yachts most of of traditional design like the Twister Susanne looking wooden but of composite design using modern materials for hull and deck. She did well with her young captain of the day, Ben, supervised by his father Lawrence Weldon as crew.

It’s a joy to see such a wide variety of yachts sailing in such close quarters. The challenge of the race was reaching the finishing line off the prom in Maldon, taking careful tacks into a light northerly wind, while

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avoiding the narrowing shallow banks of the shore.

For me I was pleased to be sailing my eight ton Gauntlet Bardu - even with the disadvantage of a hull hosting rather too much wild marine life joining in.

Prizes were handed out in the sail loft upriver from the

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Queens Head, and included a fine supply of Captain Bob brewed by the local brewer The Mighty Oak. Awards went to Sunbeam for large smacks and Peace taking first in the small smack category. Dirty Girty won the old gaffers, and the Laurent Giles-designed Droleen II took the classic yacht prize. The West Solent One Design Mischief and the East Coast One Design Delphine took their inevitable prizes. Maybe next year they’ll have more competition – put 16 September 2023 in your diaries.

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1 Composite Twister Susanne 2 Ben Weldon young

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supervised skipper of Susanne 3 Gudrun 4 Crew of Nightfall previously owned by marine artist Martyn Mackrill 5 Jewel and Stella Mai 6 Martha II, Sunbeam, Polly, Alberta 7 Sunbeam winner of the big smacks 8 Laurent Gilesdesigned Droleen II took the classic yacht prize 9 Fanny of Cowes

10 Maldon water front 11 Dirty Girty and Mischief

11 CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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SAINT-TROPEZ

Summer’s last hoorah As most of northern Europe lines its nest for the long hibernation of autumn and winter, summer has one last fling in the south of France at the annual Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the biggest event

KATHY MANSFIELD

WORDS CB PHOTOGRAPHS INGRID ABERY

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of its kind in the world, and the season’s last stronghold on bare feet and tee-shirts. This year actually saw very mixed weather, with a ferocious mistral gale cancelling racing early on in the proceedings, although the week cleared up for some good sailing.

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Unsurprisingly, given the regatta’s size, there are many classes reflecting a century or so of sailing. Shenandoah of Sark beat off six other schooners to take the Rolex Cup. The 12-M France beat the 15-M Tuiga in the Club 55 challenge Cup. The Grand Tradition class was won by the great ketch Sumurun and the two gaff classes were won by the 1903 Herreshoff Bar Harbor 31 Scud and the 1897 yacht Lulu. The two vintage bermudan classes were won by the S&S-designed Skylark of 1937 and the 1934 8-M Bona. There were also two classes for more modern bermudan classics – typically from the 1960s and 70s – and an miscellaneous class for everything else, which was won by the 1897 Fife yacht Jap, with the smallest competing boat, the Sunbeam Dainty, in hot pursuit.

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1 Shenandoah of Sark leads the fleet 2 A sight like no other – the quay at the regatta.

Week one is classic yachts, week two is moderns Shenandoah of Sark (black hull) and Elena, a replica of Herreshoff’s schooner Westward 4 Shenandoah of Sark, built in 1902, won the Rolex Trophy after beating six other schooners 5 P-Class yacht Chips 6 Spinnaker pole manoeuvres!

7 The Herreshoff-designed New York 50 Spartan, fastest boat in the class, but not fast enough to shake off her handicap. The smaller Bar Harbor 31 Scud, another Herreshoff, took the win 8 Competiion was as tight as ever in the relatively newly revived Universal-Class yachts 9 Schooner Elena, replica of Westward of 1910 10 Saint-Tropez in the late evening sun

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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Class c Yachts 2023 The must-read annual for admirers of the most stunning boats afloat

D

CELEBRATING OUR

THE

400 th ISSUE!

WORLD’S WORLD’S MOST MOST BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BOATS BOATS

MARIQUITA As Classic Boat’s senior art editor I have seen many, many photographs of boats. The best aspects of boats sailing are BEN WOOD

generally photographs showing the stern or bow quarter with the deck leaning towards the camera. But throughout my 20 years at Classic Boat, the one yacht that I always return to, to represent the best of classic boats, is the 95ft (29m) gaff cutter Mariquita, designed and built by William Fife III and launched in 1911. She became a houseboat (see our feature on p46) before being restored to her former glory in 1990s. Peter Smith, senior art editor, Classic Boat

It’s our 400th issue, so we’re having a go at tackling the statement that’s been posed on our front cover for a decade

WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

f John Ruskin was right, that boats are the most beautiful things created by man’s hand, then the question I casually posed to 100 contributors, photographers, yacht designers, boatbuilders and general friends of CB carried a weight of agony I hadn’t thought through. Beauty can’t be separate from purpose after all, so what I’d really asked was: what is the best thing ever made? “Don’t do this to me again!” wrote back one correspondent, overflowing with the pain of selection and agony for those he could not list (“six votes max, still alive, and not your own” were the only rules).

Another one prevaricated for a fortnight, then said “I’m sorry – it’s too hard. I can’t do this.” The art editor had anticipated the winner correctly. There actually is a winner, in the sense that there was one boat that was voted for over all others, by quite a margin (eight votes).

She’s unsurprisingly from the hand of Wm Fife III, the naval architect who has dominated this list. Her win is as

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much a result of her regular appearances in the Med, her string of recent, enthusiastic, high-profile owners, and the fact that this yacht attracts photographers like flies to wet varnish. But, of course, she’s amazing too. The sail number is C1. Her name means ladybird in Spanish. It’s the 19-M yacht Mariquita. The S&S yawls, as a class, garnered 10 votes, but in second place for individual vessels, it was a tie between the stupendous motor yacht Nahlin and Fife’s 23-M yacht Cambria. Riva runabouts also got five votes, but split between three models. Olin Stephen’s Stormy Weather came in with four, and the rest of the boats on this list received either two or three votes.

Personally, I was disappointed to see nothing from the hand of Albert Strange – his little canoe yawls are poetry.

And nothing from John Gale Alden, whose Malabar schooners had such a way of marrying the sobre good looks of a yacht to the schooner rig. What do you think we missed?

NORDIC FOLKBOAT

The Nordic Folkboat, just 25ft 2in (7.7m) long and with a form designed purely for sailing, had to sacrifice a lot of accommodation to look this good, with its clinker planking runs and low cabin trunk. The many variants it spawned increased the accommodation, but they never looked as good as this again. This little bermudan sloop was first built in 1942 to a collaborative design under Tord Sunden. Four thousand more followed, making it the most popular cabin yacht of all time. “If design and beauty follow function, such a seaworthy, record-holding, inexpensive little creature could figure well as a ‘most beautiful boat’; plus she reminds me of a Viking longboat!” James Robinson Taylor, photographer

CLASSIC BOAT OCTOBER 2021

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CLASSIC BOAT OCTOBER 2021

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TIM WRIGHT

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01/09/2021 12:14

CARVEL CARVELMARVEL MARVEL The new 8-M yacht Starling Burgess, built to a 1937 design, has redefined the accuracy of carvel build for the 21st century. This summer, she’ll take on 30 other eights in the heat of the 8-M Worlds in Geneva WORDS JOHN LAMMERTS VAN BUEREN PHOTOS JAMES ROBINSON TAYLOR

2022 Awards NOMINATED

CB405 Starling Burgessv2.indd 4

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etailing some of the most sumptuous restorations of recent years, this lavish luxury magazine is a visual feast, and the must-read publication for admirers of the most stunning boats afloat.

We reveal the incredible stories behind the finest yachts on the water – stories of abandonment and rediscovery, stories of passion and ancient skills kept alive.

We delve deep into the history and we share the secrets of traditional shipwrights today as they recreate the magic of yesteryear. Among these is the story of the new 8-M yacht Starling Burgess, built to 1937 drawings by her eponymous designer. Her build is a modern evolution of carvel and is probably the most dimensionally precise boat ever built to that method. There’s romance, in the story of an old campaigner gearing up to relive past glory in the Fastnet. There’s glamour and speed as we take a 40-knot ride on a ‘James Bond’ Fairey Huntsman 28 from 1965. There’s beauty, in our round-up of the 17 most beautiful yachts of recent times. And to round it off, we have a great selection of yachts for sale and nautical gifts for sailor, yacht or home; and a preview of the best that 2023 will have to offer. This 132-page special edition will be delivered direct to your door.

Order online at chelseamagazines.com/ classicyachts, priced £9.99 INC P&P (UK), $20.75 + P&P (USA), $19.99 + P&P (AUS)

Classic

SPECIAL SOUVENIR EDITION £9.99 US$20.75 AU$19.99

YACHTS ACHTS

LICENCE LICENCETO TOTHRILL THRILL We take a ride on a motorboat legend – the Huntsman 28, star of the Cowes-Torquay races and the silver screen

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WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES PHOTOS JOE MCCARTHY

17 most beautiful

PAGES

boats afloat

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KNOTS IN A 1960’s BOND BOAT

FOR SALE: GORGEOUS CLASSICS NAUTICAL GIFTS: FOR YOU AND YOUR BOAT PERFECT 8-METRE: TIMBER MEETS TECHNOLOGY 42

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2021

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2021

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Historic Fastnet winner goes again

CY Cover 2022 FINAL.indd 1 CB402 Fairey - GL.indd 42

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MENORCA

The 18th Vela Classica WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS CHRIS POTTER This summer saw the 18th annual Vela Classica Menorca for classic yachts. The event, also known as 2

the Cope Del Rei, or King’s Cup, had a bumper entry of 53 boats, no doubt boosted by the recent scarcity of regattas owing to Covid. Entries ranged in size from the Falmouth-based Hereshoff schooner Mariette down to a West Solent One-Design. The host, Club Maritimo, was delighted to be able to once again hold a class of ‘Big Boats,’ although sadly the big Fifes – regular attendees Mariquita and Moonbeam – were absent. As much racing as possible was held inside the harbour to maximise the spectacle for locals and tourists. The first day was ideal for it, the fleet providing a spectacle as they powered out the harbour to the race course.

The Big Boats class was won convincingly by Sir Keith Mills on the schooner Viveka (CB410). The Herreshoff NY50 Spartan won the Gaff class; the Vintage Bermudan class went to the 1938 S&S yawl

4

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Varuna; and the Classic class to Barbara Trillin’s Holman and Pye-designed Argos. Griff Rhys Jones made an excellent start to the week in his S&S yawl Argyll with a second in class.

The second day saw light airs, which not only precluded a harbour start but also necessitated a shortened course. Amazingly after the second day, three of the classes were tied for first place, with the last race to decide the winners.

The third and final race was started and raced outside the harbour in a cracking breeze, and finished inside the harbour.

Viveka was the clear winner in the Big Boats; Vintage Gaff went to Spartan; the Vintage Bermudan class was won by Varuna; Classic class went to Barbara Trilling’s Argos; and the S&S yacht Calima won Spirit of Tradition. Griff

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7

Rhys-Jones failed to capitalise on the promise of his first race, eventually finishing ninth, soundly beaten by arch rival Tara Getty in the nearsistership Skylark of 1937.

1 The in-harbour start 2 Tara Getty’s S&S yawl Skylark of 1937 leading the Frers yawl Recruit

3 The Camper and Nicholsons Dunkirk Little Ship Bounty, leaving harbour

4 Last minute rig tuning

5 Mariette powering out of the harbour

6 Spartan charging to the finish line to win her class 7 Concentration on Griff Rhys-Jones’ Argyll after the in-harbour start

8 Looking down Mahon Harbour from the Yacht Club roof terrace 60

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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3

CLEAR PENETRATING EPOXY SEALER THE WORLD’S FINEST WOOD PRIMER Makes varnish or paint last Glues the top coat to the wood Glues wood fibres back together Waterproof but breathable Made largely of wood resins Penetrates deeply Stops tannin bleed

Christian Carleton used Epifanes varnish over CPES on Taurus (pictured right) in 1991. He writes: “You are welcome to use my name, my experience, and any photos of the boat in your testimonials. I am a true believer in your CPES product. I have been using it since 1991 on every piece of wood I put into a boat.”

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Support and advice on: +44 (0)1732 824 700

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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A round-up 0f the latest

BOOKS The latest releases in the world of nautical publishing are as eclectic as ever, from the memoirs of a marine engineer to art, travel, history – even some sailing...

REVIEWS BY CB STAFF

THE FIVE YEAR VOYAGE STEPHEN LADD Stephen Ladd is probably best known for his adventures narrated in Three Years in a 12-Foot Boat. A trip through the rivers and waterways of Central and South America that took in paddling, portaging and a bit of sailing too – all carried out in extreme discomfort as you can imagine. Following on from that, Stephen managed to convince his adventurous wife Ginny to take a similar trip in a 21ft boat – this time with an outboard – to carry out a similar trip on a slightly grander scale. Setting out from Florida, they head to the Caribbean along the coast of Central and South America then ascend the Orinoco River to a remote stream connecting to the Amazon.

They descend this to Manaus, then climb another tributary

INTRODUCTION TO YACHT DESIGN IAN NICHOLSON

south through Bolivia. They then transit the world’s largest swamp then float down the Paraguay to Argentina. As is so often the case, at this point Ginny falls pregnant and Steve opts to do the decent thing and sail the boat home himself.

I always approach these

Regrettably the boat is wrecked on the way home. This is a

books with a mixture of

book that is hard to get bored with and is written with a

excitement and trepidation;

certain degree of long-suffering humour. It’s a good contrast

the former because I am

to Tristan Jones’ Incredible Voyage, which covers many of the

fascinated by yacht design,

same routes but is an altogether grumpier book. Sam Jefferson

the latter because I fear,

Seekers Press, $16.95

once again, I won’t understand it. This time, against prismatic coefficient

SHIPWRECK: GIBSONS OF SCILLY BJORN HAGBERG AND CARL DOUGLAS

(I now understand it), I dived

Gibsons of Scilly, to those not in the know, is the name given to

in confidently. And what a joy

five generations of the Gibson family who, over the span of

it was to see that the very first

around 130 years, documented the many shipwrecks that

page details five golden rules

occurred in Cornwall and the Scilly Isles. They are to disaster

of aesthetics. These are: that

what then Bekens have been to yacht racing on the Solent. This

most lines should be curves;

new book brings together nearly 100 of the Gibson photos, some

most of those curves should alter their curvature throughout

of which were published in this magazine earlier this year, with

their length; no part, however short, of the sheer may be flat;

text by maritime historian Carl Douglas and marine archaeologist

the stem and stern should not rake at the same angle, or

Bjorn Hagberg. What emerges is a graphic reminder of a time

have the same height; and that lines which are in the same

before engines and electronic navigation aids, a time when going

area of the structure above the sheer should have the same

to sea was to significantly risk one’s life.

slope. Next, we move onto the very first stage of designing or

Pub Bokforlaget Max Strom with the National Maritime

commissioning a yacht; coming up with a sensible brief and

Museum, £35

renewed by a recent victory

considering one’s needs and desires. Next, sketching the appearance. This is a description of the process, rather than a guide how to do it. After that are two chapters on designing a vessel: the tools of the trade, then how to do it.

Subsequent chapters cover weight and displacement; performance; sail plan; construction; engines; accommodation; deck plan; costing; alterations; and CAD. The book is short – just 94 pages, which encourages the boat owner or novice student to dive in. It’s also easy to understand. If I understand it, you will too.

Fernhurstbooks.com, £15.99

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

SHETLAND’S BOATS: ORIGIN, EVOLUTION AND USE MARC CHIVERS Shetland’s sturdy double-enders is

STOCKHOLM ARCHIPELAGO, THE 50 BEST HARBOURS ANDERS HELLBERG, KERSTIN BENCKERT, GUSTAF HANNAR

that they are direct descendants of

Until recently sailors in search of a

Viking ancestry. In this book,

comprehensive cruising guide to the

ex-boatbuilder Marc Chivers uses his

Stockholm Archipelago were left a

years of research, which include a

little bit stumped unless they spoke

recent PhD in the subject, to paint a

Swedish – not ideal given the intricate

truer picture, one that shows a

nature of this stunning cruising ground. Well,

divergence of Shetland’s boats after around 1780 into a truly

all that is set to change with the publication of this excellent guide

vernacular style. He also explores every aspect of the four- and

which has been translated into English for the first time.

six-oared boats and others that have played such a vital role in

Here the yachtsman can find a mixture of well-established ports and

Shetland life over the years.

marinas, beautiful natural harbours and small, little-known gems – all

Pub Shetland Times Ltd, £40

presented with aerial photos, charts, pictures, texts and advice on how

The popular conception of

and where to anchor. It also includes special advice concerning the sailing waters of the Stockholm Archipelago – which differs from

SAIL THE WORLD WITH ME JIMMY CORNELL

almost any other sailing water in the world. All in all, a long overdue book to a hugely desirable cruising ground.

See brixhambooks.se, £32

Jimmy Cornell’s adventures blue-water cruising span many decades and he is few tips on planning trips and to spin a

QUIRKY HISTORY

BY JOHN QUIRK

few yarns at the same time. This is the

John Quirk has established a

concept behind Sail the World with Me

reputation over the years for his…

and it’s a good one, as Cornell has a

well, quirky… look at things, in a

treasure trove of adventures to relate,

series of books, usually illustrated by

from early circumnavigations through to

his own cartoons. The subtitle of this

later epic trips such as his traverse of the

one says it all: Maritime Moments

therefore in a great position to provide a

Northwest Passage. Cornell is also clearly a prudent skipper

Most History Books don’t Mention.

who enjoys careful planning, so this makes him a good guide and

Subjects in this collection include the

reference point for anyone planning a similar trip. In common with

time in the Second World War that a

earlier publications by Cornell, this is also a beautifully put together

German U Boat was captured by a

book. The narrative style is good and the blend of stories of

camel-borne corps in the desert, the

adventures mixed with tips works well, as it means you learn as you

birth of the US Navy, plague ships, the

go along. All in all, it will leave you wanting to go sailing to far

age of flying boats (including the S6B for fellow fans!) and quite a

distant horizons.

bit else just as unexpected.

Amazon.com, £29.95

See fernhurstbook.com, £17.99

THE CHINA CLIPPERS BASIL LUBBOCK Aside from possessing the most evocative name in nautical literature, Basil Lubbock is also the most successful chronicler of the golden age of sail, having had the advantage of writing during the final flourish of commercial sail with some of the crew and skippers still alive. Perhaps his finest work is The China Clippers because the subject was the most evocative. The annual tea races that took place between China and London in the 1850s and 60s brought together extraordinary levels of seamanship in a whole blend of conditions. From battling down the South China Seas against the SW monsoon, booming through the trade winds of the Indian Ocean and Atlantic, and then storming up the channel, scanning the horizon for a sign of one of your rivals, each annual race was full of real drama, beauty and joy. Lubbock manages to convey all that in prose that is both controlled yet enthusiastic and wonderfully evocative. Some of the first-hand accounts are truly magical. Sam Jefferson Pubskipper.co.uk, £24 CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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A MOVING TALE

64

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Could Ceiba, the cargo schooner in build in Costa Rica, be part of the solution to zero-emission shipping?

WORDS AND PHOTOS MAX CAMPBELL

T

he sail north through Costa Rica had been challenging. Variable winds, big tides, electrical storms and many reluctant hours running the engine. I can understand why few boats come here. Yet, we’d made it to The Nicoya Peninsula.

An overgrown thumb of land protects a deep gulf from Pacific groundswells. We let out 30m of chain, and set the anchor into a bottom of soft mud.

Unobstructed views of rolling hills and Central American rainforest spread out around us.

The anchorage is far from ideal. Wind chop builds quickly in the 20nm gulf. A terminal for exporting sugar provides a constant rumble, and a glow of artificial light. The water is a thick brown. Uninviting for swimming, even without the three metre long crocodiles that stalk the riverbanks.

To visit an anchorage like this, you need a reason.

And to stay here for an extended period of time, it had better be a good one.

SAIL CARGO Up a nearby river, hidden somewhere in the mangroves something unique was coming to life. The Sail Cargo project had been on my radar, long before arriving in Costa Rica.

My friend Artur is a lead shipwright on the project.

He rowed out to meet us in a bright pink launch, the most ‘home made’ vessel I’d seen in a while. As soon as I saw its long wooden oars, and improvised tarpaulin sail, I knew that we were in the right place.

After a quick catch-up, we set out to find the yard.

We followed the faint buzz of electric planes to a small, muddy beach. A hole in the mangroves led to a large open courtyard, and that’s when we caught our first glimpses of Ceiba.

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

65

A MOVING TALE

CEIBA I was consumed by the enormous wooden structure towering over us. A colossal stem pierced the sky, and a sun bleached assortment of timber and tarpaulin hid the neat curves of an un-planked ship.

It all seemed very misplaced and I needed a moment to take it in. The giant, half-built frame of a 19th century cargo vessel lay spread out beneath the tropical sun. A mango tree brushed up against the frames on the starboard side, and a papaya tree to port. All over the site, worked a team of mostly-shirtless, young looking boatbuilders.

The second thing that struck me was the friendliness of everyone around us. People worked on various levels of staging, fairing the frames on the starboard side, or peering down through the gaps in the deck beams. Everywhere I looked, a smiling face was gazing back at me.

Artur led us up a series of ladders and onto Ceiba’s deck. A busy team of metalworkers were laying out a web of steel strapping, designed to add strength to the hull.

We climbed down one of the square cargo hatches, and into Ceiba’s hull. Our timing was perfect. Late enough in the build to appreciate the frames, deck beams and enormity of the project. Yet, before the fitting of any bulkheads, allowing us clear, unobstructed interior views from stem to sternpost.

THE COMMUNITY It was late-afternoon. Not long after we arrived, everyone put away their tools. One by one we met the team, each of them stained with pitch, and peppered with saw dust. After a year and a half of cruising, I enjoyed not feeling underdressed.

In the evening we sat down and ate together. The atmosphere was somewhere between a boatyard and a youth hostel. There was a strong communal feel.

Travellers from all over the world had come to Costa Rica to build this ship. Everyone lived either in, or very close to the yard.

THE VISION We met Lynx, an unassuming Canadian, who is both co-founder and technical director of the shipyard.

While working on the Tres Hombres rebuild in Holland with co-founder Daniell Dogget, the pair fantasised about escaping the harsh shipyards of 66

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Above left: First views of Ceiba’s hull Above right: Tara, a Scottish metalworker prepares the steel strapping, which will reinforce Ceiba’s deck Previous pages: Ceiba’s interior and, top right, Aerial shot of Sail Cargo yard

Northern Europe, and building a boat in the tropics.

Somewhere with nice weather, friendly people, and an access to tropical hardwood.

Since then, their dream has developed into the burgeoning hull of Ceiba. Inspired by Scandinavian tall ship Ingrid, Ceiba is a 45m loa three-masted schooner, designed to sail with 250 tons of cargo.

“This is the first time a ship like this has been built in Costa Rica. There’s a lot of inventing to do.”

Said Lynx.

Lynx explained that most of the yard machinery is constructed on site. Laid out at the back of the yard is a 20m spar lathe, designed for the manufacture of Ceiba’s three masts. He is clearly a problem solver.

From speaking to Lynx, I discovered that the project spread far beyond the ship build. The vision of Sail Cargo is to combine traditional sailing and state of the art technology. And by doing so, providing a tangible solution to zero emission shipping.

The first step of the project involved planting trees.

Ceiba’s hull will consist of approximately 400 trees, all sourced from within 50km of the yard, and Sail Cargo has pledged to plant 12,000 before the keel touches the water.

Lynx envisions a regenerative shipbuilding system.

Sailing cargo isn’t necessarily the end goal but the end result. He hopes that in 50 year’s time, the trees planted by Sail Cargo will be used to build another vessel, and the system will be complete.

The whole project is a unique blend of tradition and innovation. As well as 6,3000sq ft of sail area, Sail Cargo intends to fit Ceiba with two electric auxiliary engines and a lithium-iron battery bank.

A team of international investors has funded the project so far, hoping for a return as Ceiba begins to ship cargo. These investors include coffee producers, looking to both reduce their carbon footprint and provide zero-emission products.

SAILING NORTH We left the anchorage at Punta Morales after both a fun and educational week in the shipyard. Our stop at the Sail Cargo yard had made challenging sail north worthwhile. Three of the yardies hopped on Elixir for the next leg, and we ran out of the Nicoya Gulf under spinnaker.

Clockwise from top left: Bitumen and treenails are used for most of the joins throughout the ship; Preparing the steel strapping for welding; Fairing the frames ahead of planking; The yard’s reconstructed ship saw; Ceiba and the Sail Cargo Team; Ceiba’s deck is fitted with two large cargo hatches

BOATS FOR SALE

Boats for sale Looking to sell your boat?

Reach over 50,000 readers each month

To advertise call Andrew Mackenzie +44 (0)207 349 3718 or email andrew.mackenzie@chelseamagazines.com SIBYL OF CUMAE

For sale Sibyl of Cumae, a 51 ft. William Fife from 1902. She is a very beautiful and fast boat. She sleeps 5. Sibyl has always been maintained to a high standard. Recently all the electricity and navigation instruments have been renewed and updated. She is double planked mahogany and ceder under the waterline, oak frames and a lead balast keel. She will be ready to sail in the Fife Regatta in Scotland in the Spring of 2022. Laying in S.W. England.

Asking price £235.000.

For more information, please contact Cornelius van Rijckevorsel on 0044 (0)7816932312 or email at: corneliusvanrijckevorsel@ googlemail.com

‘ PICAROON 17’

GRP ‘Picaroon 17’ drop keel trailer sailer. Includes road trailer with spare wheel and security lock. Recently professionally varnished.

New winter cover. Oars included. Outboard well takes long shaft motor.

(Outboard not included).

Lying ashore near J2 M40. £5,500 Contact: 07836 592300

LE TEMPS PERDU

French gaff cutter, LOA 12,60m, length on deck 9,60m, Beam 3,30m, Draft 1,80m, engine Volvo Penta. Built in Granville, Normandy 1964. Hull iroko on oak frames, coachroof mahagony, teak deck. Successes in several Classic Boat regattas.

Well maintained with boatsmancare and in first class condition.

Owner selling now for reasons of age. Location Andratx, Majorca.

GBP £49.900.

Contact: canvey@hagengrote.de Phone: 0034 606379226

RAFAELLE, 43’ MASTHEAD SLOOP

Robert Clark design, Berthon built in 1962. 10’1” beam. Beautiful lines and fast. Teak topsides, pitch pine below waterline, swept teak decks.

Major, keel up re-fit in 2015 so in excellent condition. Rebuilt engine with modern injection system. Immaculate internally with new cooker and modern electrics/hot water. Runner up in 2015 Classic Boats ‘Restoration of the Year’ awards. Lying: Beaulieu river. Price £87,500 Contact: stephen_bisset@yahoo.co.uk Tel: 07725 983300

GRIMA. 1972 EX SCOTTISH CAR FERRY.

Built to Lloyds A1 spec. High quality steel displacement hull with retro fitted bilge keels. Completely overhauled. Excellent condition. 12 Berth. 2 x English Electric Kelvin TA6 engines driving twin Ulstein gearboxes with VPP. £170,000.00 as seen. NO TAXES. River Severn, Gloucester.

Email: Ken.Lovegrove@outlook.com

SINOE /ARSINOE

A 3 berth, cold moulded 21ft Masthead Sloop to a PAUL GARTSIDE design calling for “a strong, tight, easily handled, no-nonsense boat.” Built new 2003, now with a new BETA 16hp engine and GARMIN electronics fitted in a major 2014 upgrade. Her unique history file has Paul’s plans, a full build record, magazine articles, receipts, manuals + photos from her launch to present. Excellent condition ready to go. Yard bogey inc.. Offers over £24,000.

Enquiries to: rb@blackhornet.co.uk

NORFOLK SMUGGLER

Cuckoo is for sale after 22yrs. 25ft + 5ft Sprit, lifting feel, well serviced Yanmar engine. All new sea cocks, boat safety certificate, comfortable, spritely, safe in a seaway. Extras include recent Webasco, cockpit Tent. Lying Norfolk Broads. So pretty, my heart breaks a little every time I leave her. Price £45,000 (a snip).

Contact Harry: 01692 678644\ 07856 801652.

Looking to sell your boat?

Reach over 50,000 readers each month plus 30k web visitors There are two styles of Boats for Sales adverts to choose from and with our special offer, if you buy two months, your third month will be FREE. Pick the style which suits your requirements and email: andrew.mackenzie@chelseamagazines.com with your text and image or call +44 (0)207 349 3718 68

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Brokerage listing

C L A S S I C A N D V I N TAG E YAC H T S We hope that you enjoy our selection of vintage and classic sailing yachts. Please do not hesitate to contact us if you require any further information on any of the yachts featured here.

A L F R E D MY L N E 5 8 F T B E R M U D A N C U T T E R

19 31/ 2 0 0 3

S PA R K M A N & S T E P H E N S 4 8 F T B E R M U D A N YAW L

19 3 8 / 2 0 0 6

Unhindered by the mathematics of any rating rule when tasked by her first owner to design a fast, spacious and of course very beautiful family yacht, Alfred Mylne’s answer was this gorgeous ‘fast cruiser’ with no vices. EILIDH has charmed only four owners in ninety years, in Scottish and northern European waters, and for the past almost twenty years in the Mediterranean where she has become something of a star. EILIDH owes this extended longevity to two passionate French owners and a necessary 2002-2003 restoration at the skilled hands of Gilbert Pasqui’s Villefranche yard, followed by ongoing upgrades and maintenance – and the fact that Alfred Mylne designed such an attractive cruising boat that she simply deserves - and gives - love.

If any classic yacht is true to the idea that it is using and maintaining a boat as originally intended that preserves it, it’s TOMAHAWK. And she has the Sparkman & Stephens DORADE descendent pedigree and storied career to go with it: of class wins and top placings in the great American inland and offshore races of the 1930s and 1940s. A mid-2000s keel-up restoration, including discreet modern comfort upgrades, ensured TOMAHAWK’s longevity, allowing the cruising and racing adventures to continue, mostly by friends and family, rarely with professional help: in England, the Mediterranean, Transatlantic, the Caribbean, the Baltic, even the Barents Sea. TOMAHAWK is a rare and highly recommended opportunity.

EUR 480,000

Lying France

GBP 420,000

WA N H I L L 45 F T G A F F C U T T E R

18 8 9/ 2 0 01

E D B U R N E T T 45 F T G A F F R I G G E D P I LOT C U T T E R

Lying United Kingdom

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THALIA is an astonishing throwback to the earliest, 19th Century days of organised yachting, yet she’s a thoroughly practical, easily handled classic yacht. Wanhill of Poole is a name etched in the history of that period, and THALIA carries that direct lineage with her, together with the old world charm and amazing looks that have rescued this characterful cutter more than once from the chainsaw. Her Millennium restoration undertaken with skill and passion, honoured and enhanced in current ownership, has ensured a long future life, surely well into her third century. In recent years THALIA has taken part in transatlantic adventures her original designer and builder couldn’t have dreamed of, and she’s been a cherished family cruiser-racer closer to home.

MISCHIEF is the fabulous result of Ed Burnett and boatbuilder John Raymond-Barker’s deeply informed research in creating an as near as possible replica of the 1906 Thomas Baker of Cardiff original Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter - internationally famous in the 1954 - 1968 ownership of mountaineer, explorer, voyager, and author H.W. “Bill” Tilman. Since her 2008 launch, MISCHIEF has been a much loved, far travelled, and well proven family cruiser in Scotland, Spain and the Mediterranean. A first decade refit by her builder, including the replacement of all standing and running rigging was followed by the Covid pandemic, resulting in this vessel of great character, purpose and comfort being lightly used, and thus ready to go again.

GBP 265,000

GBP 260,000

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Lying United Kingdom

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MEMBER OF ABYA

Craftsmanship

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

PETER WILLIS

Yard News

SECTION HEAD SUB SECTION

PIN MILL, SUFFOLK

Selina King comes home Selina King, Arthur Ransome’s largest and finest yacht, newly restored,

then shipped her back to the UK in 2017 and continued the work near

has returned to the yard where she was built 84 years ago – King’s, writes

his home at Itchenor in Chichester Harbour.

Peter Willis. Her delivery, on a low-loader, was complicated by the

King’s has built her a new mast and, over the winter, will also make

difficulty of approach down the narrow Pin Mill Lane, so she was launched

her a boom and complete a number of other small jobs, before a

at Fox’s yard, a few miles up the River Orwell, under the supervision of

planned full relaunch next spring.

King’s owner Gus Curtis, who then towed her down to his own yard.

Her present owner, Martin Pollard, began restoration work on the 35ft 6in (10.8m) Fred Shepherd-designed sloop in Bermuda in 2011,

Selina King will by lying across King’s yard from another of Ransome’s yachts, Nancy Blackett, which will be remaining in the Orwell this winter.

ISLE OF EWE, SCOTLAND

One litre of diesel per hour Here’s yet another newly-built traditional motor launch from Alasdair Grant, AKA Isle Ewe Boats. She’s “a nice wee launch” says Alasdair, and we agree! “The boat is called Dál Riada after the Gaelic kingdom that connected Ireland and Scotland, as she was built here in the highlands, to be used in Ireland,” Alasdair explains. She’s 17ft (5.2m) long, and built in carvel planks of locally-sourced larch, on oak frames. The Beta 16 diesel gives her a 5.5kt cruising speed while only using one litre of diesel per hour. “She has great sea-keeping, which we got to test in our summer gales,” said Alasdair.

OBAN, SCOTLAND

New life for Brixham trawler The 1924-built Brixham Trawler Providence, which was facing an unknown centenary after her owner, Trinity Sailing, ceased operations, has found new owners. Morag Slesser and Steve Jones bought the 70ft (21.3m) boat in February 2022 and have since done much work on her in Cornwall, including some replanking, a complete repaint, servicing of all rigging, cleaning out bilges, and quite a bit more. In August, they sailed Provident to her new home in Scotland: Dunstaffange Marina near Oban.

Work continues to upgrade the interior, including four double guest cabins. From April next year, Provident will be offering cruises of between five and ten days, mostly out of Oban, exploring Scotland’s beautiful western isles and its wildlife. We hope to bring you news of Provident’s happy relaunch next spring. See providentsailing.co.uk

70

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

IPSWICH, SUFFOLK

The latest 72DH (deckhouse) from Spirit Yachts marks a change in

central entertaining space. White satin panels and an LED lighting

interiors. She was designed, by in-house designer and company founder

system complement the natural timbers but stay true to the

Sean McMillan, for a European owner for cruising, racing and chartering

contemporary brief.” More traditionally, the galley is to port, with

in the Med. Sean said: “This the first Spirit deckhouse without a

navigation area and chart table to starboard. The saloon, with seating

‘mid-level’ seating and navigation area linking the cockpit and the main

for eight, is in the centre of the interior space. Accommodation for eight

interior space. The owners wanted to introduce a more modern style, so

is split across one crew and three guest cabins. The cockpit has seating

we opened up the interior to let in more natural light and maximise the

for up to 10 around a central table with an integrated drinks fridge.

PHOTOS: WATERLINE MEDIA

New interior ideas on Spirit’s 72 Deckhouse model

BEMBRIDGE, ISLE OF WIGHT

Update on Peregrine The OM Watts-designed, Fife-built, 39ft (12m) bermudan cutter Peregrine (1936) remains undercover at Attrill’s Boatyard, Bembridge, IoW, writes Ben Wood. Her restoration is now more than halfway completed. After removing all the detritus and extensive broken fittings, marine artist and CB illustrator Martyn Mackrill and wife Bryony have been hard at work measuring, sawing, drilling, fastening, varnishing and measuring again. The doghouse has been removed and the bridgedeck reconstructed using re-purposed teak from it; a new companion ladder has been built, and quarter berth refurbished. Also the galley bulkhead has been repositioned and rebuilt, heads re-chromed and new locker built, deckhead scraped and sanded, saloon revarnished, and the coachroof re-covered in plywood then epoxy sheathed. All deck fittings have been removed and regalvanised. New sails from Ratsey’s have been ordered, together

PHOTO: COCKWELLS

with a new boom and topmast from Lallows in Cowes, and new blocks from Ording.

FALMOUTH, CORNWALL

Jobs at Cockwells After successful shows at Southampton and Monaco this year, the Cockwells order book is growing, as customers put their names down for custom-built motorboats like the two pictured here: TT Malahne on the left and a Titian tender on the right. “With a full order book until BEN WOOD

the end of 2024, we are looking for more staff to join our growing team, from engineers to boatbuilders, from trainees to management level,” said founder and MD Dave Cockwell. See cockwells.co.uk/careers.

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

71

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visit www.classicboat.co.uk 72

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

The Directory listings page for all your classic boat needs, this is a chance to be able to reach an audience that you can take control of really promoting who you are. You can update this as many times as you like throughout the year to stay up to date with what you’re doing and any promotions you have. For more information contact: Andrew Mackenzie +44 (0)207 349 3718 or email andrew.mackenzie@chelseamagazines.com

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73

CRAFTSMANSHIP

HARRY KING & SONS

WORKING MUSEUM Historic Pin Mill yard in fine fettle WORDS CATHERINE LARNER PHOTOGRAPHY THE AUTHOR

I

t was clear that, after almost 150 years, the sign for Harry King & Sons at Pin Mill needed some care and attention. Having taken it down this summer, though, it was sadly beyond repair and was now lying on the

grass beside the new travel hoist.

“We don’t know what to do with it,” says Sarah Curtis who runs the yard with her husband, Gus. “It means so much to us that we can’t quite move it yet. There will be something we can salvage.”

There’s a great deal of history in this yard and its picturesque setting beside the River Orwell on the Shotley

Below: Work on

second new build clinker dinghy, using shipwright Shaun

Peninsula in Suffolk. Boats were built here for the ‘Swallows

the 52ft keel-

White’s design, and he also helps out with jobs where

and Amazons’ author Arthur Ransome in the 1930s, the

stepped mast for

needed – there are seven self-employed and two permanent

wartime history is profound and there are many stories of

Selina King took

staff members in additional to the Curtis family.

smuggling associated with the nearby 17th century pub,

over a year to

the Butt and Oyster now known for real ale and good food.

complete

The hamlet of Pin Mill is popular with visitors for the

“We do restorations, repairs and rebuilds but our bread and butter is storing boats in the winter and hiring out moorings in the summer,” says Sarah. “When Gus started in

riverside and woodland walks, sailing activity and moored

Facing page,

houseboats but it was once a centre for the repair of

clockwise from

Thames sailing barges and a home for small industries such

top left: The

cent living more than two hours’ drive away and the pattern

as sailmaking, maltings and brick yard.

pontoon at Pin Mill

of the year has changed over time, too. “We used to

stretches across

compare ourselves to farming with two harvests,” Sarah

took place,” says Sarah. “They’d build two boats, one

the saltings;

says. “There were two busy times, putting boats in and

behind the other and launch them off the front of the yard

Museum of parts;

bringing boats out. But now we’re still launching when we’re

exactly where our pontoon is now.”

Travel hoist with

laying up. It hasn’t slowed down at all.”

“There was a long tin shed where all the boat building

The boatyard was opened by George Garrard from

1988, there were 40 lay ups, now there are 160.”

Customers come through word-of-mouth with 60 per

Butt and Oyster in

They’ve expanded over the years, making more space

Ipswich in 1850, and his apprentice Harry King took it over

the distance; The

available behind the workshop for the lay ups. It is reached

when Garrard died in 1898. The business remained in the

Mirembe, an Alan

by a narrow winding lane, up sloping land and requires

King family until Geoff, Harry’s grandson, retired in 2005.

Buchanan design,

skilful driving and teamwork.

Gus Curtis had worked for Geoff since 1988 and when,

was built here in

17 years later, he was able to take over the yard, Sarah gave

1961; Sarah in the

a highly skilled shipwright,” says Sarah. “We have to wait

up her teaching career to join him, running the office.

office; Tom Curtis

for the tide to float the boats up into the trailer, then we

has been working

take them round the tight corners into the field where it’s a

from the age of two he was either going to drive tractors or

on the 1930s

bit of a jigsaw puzzle getting them to fit.”

build boats and here he does both!”

Saxonia for over

“And now our son, Tom, is here,” she says. “We knew

Tom has taken space at the top of the yard to work on

10 months

“It’s as difficult finding reliable yard staff as it is finding

Gus is the brains behind everything, she says, launching trailers, pontoon construction, the crane lifting arm. “He is

his own projects underneath fixed awnings and in two

the only person able to get the larger, heavier boats into

converted shipping containers. He has just launched his

place and, of course, he is a very skilled shipwright.”

The repairs, renovations and construction take place in the two storey, red brick maltings building. This used to house the bends, sails and rigging, and was where clinker dinghies would be built upstairs and day boats downstairs.

One area of the workshop is filled with shelves and cupboards of parts which might come in useful one day.

“We call it our museum!” says Sarah.

On the wooden side door there is a list of dates scrawled on the surface. It’s where Harry’s son, Sam King recorded seeing the first swallow of the year, Sarah says. “Sam didn’t want to talk about boats. He was obsessed with birds, or his allotment, and he always listed when he saw the swallows.”

74

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

CRAFTSMANSHIP

CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2022

75

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Boatbuilder’s Notes

By Robin Gates

2

1

3

Tools for life, not just Christmas If you are scratching your head over

1 Pincers, four-

shavings from a congenial timber

what to give a young person this

our bijou nail-basher, the four-fold

fold rule and

and they’ll be hooked. I’ve been

Christmas, consider hand tools.

carpenters’ rule (folding down to 6in)

14oz ball-peen

using this Record 102 since 1968.

Today’s electronic gadgets and games

is not only the traditional

hammer

may be old-hat by this time next year

woodworker’s choice of measuring

but a few well-chosen tools – of good

instrument but endlessly fascinating

2 Gents’ saw and

immobilised for which a portable vice

quality and of a size to suit small

with its brass-hinged boxwood

try-square

such as this Record Junior 51 is ideal (4).

hands – could establish the

leaves. An early use for it might be

foundations of a lifetime hobby,

measuring twice before cutting once

3 Record 102

that’s allowed) using card or plywood

perhaps even a career in boatbuilding.

with the gents’ saw (2), a brass-

block plane

offcuts to protect the domestic surface.

So, what to buy? Presenting

Planing, sawing and most other work goes better if the wood is firmly

Clamp it to the desk or kitchen table (if

backed fine-toothed tool with in-line

A good vintage Junior 51, or today’s

impetuous offspring with a carpenter’s

handle offering excellent control –

4 Record Junior

equivalent the Irwin TV150, can be

axe isn’t recommended but you

later to prove invaluable when

51 portable vice

found for £30 or less.

should be on safer ground with a

cutting dovetail joints. Also note the

small hammer which, even as hands

pocket-sized try-square used to

5 Bubble tubes

are neither too pointy nor worryingly

grow larger, will always find a purpose.

mark around the work when making

of wood and

sharp-edged, you can’t beat the

When its young owner has mastered

a square cut.

brass ‘boat’

magic of the spirit level with its

levels

strangely hypnotic bubble tubes. A 6

the eye-hand coordination required

If there’s one tool that symbolises

Sticking with long-lived tools that

for driving nails home, a 4oz ball-peen

joinery more than any other, it is

or 9in ‘boat’ level of the sort shown

hammer (1) will graduate to peening

perhaps the plane, but beware of

here will be sure to occupy an

copper boat rivets. And for the nail

confronting a youngster with a

inquiring mind, investigating surfaces

which goes awry, don’t forget the

plane that’s cumbersome and

around the home or workshop long

pincers to pull it out again if opting for

complicated. Begin with a small and

after the last Christmas cracker has

the ball-peen rather than a claw.

simple block plane (3), taking fine

been pulled.

4

76

Besides giving an idea of scale for

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

5

SECTION HEAD SUB SECTION

Traditional Tool

By Robin Gates

1

GLAZIERS’ DIAMOND The luxury yacht of 100 years ago

used to resist fogging on the bridge,

1 Radcliffe’s

optimum for a given diamond is

could be a veritable crystal palace of

the ‘smart’ privacy glass that

‘Infallible’ and

invariably found by trial and error. The

broad-windowed deck saloons and

switches from clear to opaque, and

Shaw diamonds,

convex back of the Shaw tool is for

prettily glazed furniture. Like their

bullet-proof glass demanded by the

and a steel-wheel

tapping below the scored line, further

bejewelled owners and guests, the

security conscious.

cutter

weakening the glass before breaking

accommodation was aglitter with

by pushing down on that part

The diamond is set in a brass

reflections from lead-lighted display

bezel on a head which may swivel to

2 Running the

cabinets executed in rare woods. But

accommodate curved work.

Shaw diamond

what would the 1920s yacht glazier

Radcliffe’s optimistically named

along a straight

quality of the diamond, the most

make of modern glazing, I wonder?

‘Infallible’ model, shown above left,

edge

expensive being for plate glass of

Today’s designers choose from a

overhanging a straight edge.

Prices varied according to size and

1/4in thickness and above, and in time

has an all-brass head and also a

menu of marine glass that’s

‘rack’ of notches used for snapping

transformed the yacht with

remnants of the break that are too

and replaceable steel wheel. The

possibilities both practical and

small to be gripped by pliers. Notice

brass 1920s cutter shown above

aesthetic. Addressing safety, the

also the ‘jockey’ wheel, which helps

stored spare wheels inside the handle

Jekyll-and-Hyde character of old

steady the tool. The cutter next to it,

– today they are usually mounted in

glass turning from light and

made by A. Shaw & Son, has a steel

a revolving turret.

protective friend into cut-throat

head that’s sloped to suggest the

enemy when smashed, was cured of

working angle, although the

3 A clean break

the diamond gave way to the cheap

NEXT MONTH: Upholsterers’ Hammer

its duality by toughening. But chemically or thermally toughened glass that breaks into small and relatively harmless pieces could be less handy in the event of a capsize on account of the gaping hole it leaves behind. Hence laminated glass in which two layers are bonded to a clear resin is often specified for its ROBIN GATES

ability to hold the broken pieces together. Yet both types would defy cutting with the traditional glaziers’ diamond, as would the heated glass

2

3

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

77

Letters LETTER OF THE MONTH SUPPORTED BY OLD PULTENEY WHISKY

Remembering Overlord You may be interested in a few notes relating to my experiences

this manner. This treatment over a number of years had

with Overlord (Tom Cunliffe, last month) during National Service

reduced the deck thickness allowing salt water to penetrate

1955-57. After my initial training at the RASC Water Transport

below the caulking seam exposing the secret fastenings.

establishment based at Fort Victoria, Yarmouth, IoW, an officer somehow discovered I had considerable knowledge of the

During the 1960 season, while Overlord was under the command of Capt Venables, the forestay parted while in mid

maintenance and handling of small craft. My

English Channel. The crew managed to

call-up at the age of 24 was deferred

place a strop under the forefoot, braced

because my employer, the Berthon Boat

back to the main shroud chainplates

Company, was building Inshore Minesweepers

port and starboard. The jib halyard was

for the Admiralty. At the time I was a young

attached to the strop and sweated up

naval architect and much in contact with the

by the winch on the mast. The boat

shop floor. Following the revelation of my

then limped back to its home port, quite

background, I was placed in charge of the

a feat of seamanship. Although the

maintenance of recreational Small Craft,

mast was saved, it must have received

dinghies and a 30Sqm Windfall yacht called

damage, for an aluminium alloy mast

Sachse. One of my duties was to helm the

was then stepped.

Windfall yacht Overlord while it was towed

In 1961 all Windfall Yachts came up

from its winter quarters at Gunwharf Quay

for disposal. Capt Tony Venables had

(HMS Vernon) Portsmouth, to Yarmouth to its

obviously developed an affinity to

summer berth. Under way, it was normal practice to scrub the deck.

Overlord as he purchased the yacht reputedly for the value of

While helming I watched a Lt Colonel, a Brigadier and two Majors

the lead keel with a view to doing some cosmetic work to sell

beavering away pushing holly stones fore and aft with beads of

on at a profit. Instead he had second thoughts and formed a

sweat on their foreheads. Upon arrival in Yarmouth, one of the

syndicate, which was named The Offshore Sailing Club. It is

officers remarked he had noticed a slight brown stain in several

pleasing to know that both boat and club are in good health.

areas, he was informed by me you should never scrub a fir deck in

Jim Hazel, Locksheath

What is this boat?

I have a fairly competent watercolour (pictured below) about 38cm x 28cm entitled Dione painted in 1972. The signature looks like it could be ‘D Reid’. Can any reader tell me about the class, or anything else to flesh-out the background of the craft? It’s a bit out of my league, having originally owned a GP14 as a youngster and currently a delightful 12ft marine ply clinker built Mallard. Any light on the subject would be greatly appreciated.

Graham Hayes, grahamhayes47@hotmail.co.uk

Grab handles Your article, Inside Job (CB November), is a welcome comment on yacht interiors.

While the photos are very attractive they show the ubiquitous lack of grab handles.

From practical experience, few or no grab handles indicate, to me, a yacht which has not experienced bad weather. The lack of grab handles in the main photo for example, however attractive the interior design and joinery, must make moving around at sea potentially precarious. Even the galley cooker in the photo of the relatively new sloop Cass does not have a crash bar, and nothing at the forward bulkhead doorway.

I have often sailed a recently built 46ft gaff yawl with a wonderful, spacious interior typical of the modern yacht, which did indeed have grab handles – but on the deck head so that I found myself swinging like a monkey from the roof when she heeled. Even my own 1939 built, 25ft Vertue had no grab handles when I acquired her, either on deck or below. I have added a grab handle on the coaming either side in the cabin, either side of the entrance companionway, and on the fore hatch on an otherwise exposed fore deck, all of which have made the yacht much safer for the crew. And how many yachts have adequate, secure and usefully placed grab handles on deck? Perhaps your readers have some experience to contribute to the subject.

Peter Gregson, Wooden Ships, Dartmouth

78

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

79

Next month SAILING TODAY WITH YACHTS & YACHTING

MIKADO The gorgeous, slim Fife rater Mikado from 1904 is not exactly what you might choose as a family

with DECEMBER 2022 £4.95

cruising yacht – but

CARIBBEAN DREAMS

that’s just what she has proved to be in her years

● Charter hotspots ● Season preview ● Route du Rhum

of family ownership

BOAT TEST

EXCESS 14 Speed, comfort and style SCOTTISH SOJOURN A West Coast wonderland TOM CUNLIFFE Secret to stress free mooring revealed

ASCENSION ISLAND

RAMSGATE MARINA

Not to be missed

ALEX THOMSON

Exciting new project revealed

9 771367 586148

Sailing the heights

12

HEAVY WEATHER SAILING Rod Heikell’s masterclass

Cover v2.indd 1

18/10/2022 10:47

IN THE DECEMBER ISSUE  Caribbean dreams: charter hotspots, season preview and the Route de Rhum  Scottish sojourn: sailing the wonderland of the west coast  Heavy weather sailing: a masterclass with Rod Heikell

TINY SHIP

REDWINGS

The 30ft motor cruiser Ryegate built

Uffa Fox’s iconic development class at

in the 1930s was recently rescued and

Bembridge Sailing Club, which celebrated its

put through a complete restoration

first 125 years in 2022

 Boat test: speed, comfort and style in the Excess 14  Ramsgate Marina – all you need to know  Alex Thomson: new project

PLUS…

JANUARY 2022

Sailing and sketching the Irish coast, a guide to spars and

On sale Friday 09

rigging, boatbuilding in the Pacific Northwest, all the latest

December 2022

news and more

Or why not subscribe?

30 YEARS AGO

DECEMBER 1992, CB54

Three decades ago, as we approached Christmas, then editor Robin Gates, who today writes our monthly Boatbuilder’s Notes column, reflected on the year in his editorial. “The take-home message from 1992,” he wrote, “is that people of all ages love traditional boats. In July, 1.5 million people tucked into a feast of old rigs at Brest.” This was in fact the first maritime Brest festival, now a quadrennial event that still attracts crowds of a similar size. I could say the same today – more so. Young people really are getting into boat restoration. I recently listed around 10 people under the age of 30 – and half of those were under 20 – undertaking serious boat restorations or new-builds. These are just the ones I know of. It’s a great sign for the future of maritime heritage preservation, which sounds like an awfully dusty term when you consider that these are generally yachts being restored by young people to have fun and adventures on.

Elsewhere in the mag, it’s a pretty diverse feast: Eric Tabarly himself on Pen Duick; river boats of Bangladesh; a big antique motoryacht called Lillian of Stockholm; a treatise on GL Watson and another on anchoring; but look what we found on page 68! It’s the outrageously curvaceous INSAM motor boat that we featured, 30 years later, in our September issue this year!

80

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

Available online or order now post-free from chelseamagazines.com/shop

Considering an Electric Outboard?

“Using a well-engineered electric outboard has been a revelation.’’

TOM CUNLIFFE Classic Boat

Quiet, Convenient, Reliable and Easy-to-Use In the popular 2-4hp category, the latest electric outboards – with their integral and rechargeable lithium batteries – have transformed the market, rendering petrol motors all-but obsolete. Advantages include: From £1650 Epropulsion Spirit PLUS 1276Wh battery Faster to charge Battery floats if dropped Foldable tiller means only one cable to connect › Three shaft length options › Direct drive (no gearbox) › › › ›

› Ease of Use Switch on, twist the tiller handles, go. Almost anybody can do it; no experience, strength or mechanical knowledge is needed. › Ease of Handling The batteries are removable, and the “pass up and down” weight (the shaft/motor assembly) is then 10kg or less. › Ease of Storage These electric motors divide into components, don’t leak oil or petrol, and don’t mind which way up they’re stored. › Quietness & Smoothness Electric motors are a delight to use.

From £1750 Torqeedo 1103 › 916Wh battery › GPS data on tiller gives speed & range indication › Removable tiller (more compact for storage) › Near‐silent direct drive › Much more robust than the previous model (Torqeedo 1003)

› Power Forget slow speed “trolling motors”, these 1kW electrics have huge torque (more like a 3hp petrol). › Range There are many variables, but most users achieve at least 9 to 10 nautical miles per charge, at 4 to 5 knots (2.5m inflatable dinghy).

Much more if you slow down a little. › Reliability Many outboard motors don’t get used very often, and small petrol motors hate this. Electric outboards have fewer parts in general, and in particular there’s no carburettor to “gum up”.

Of course, it’s not all perfect. The range may still not be enough for some users.

And they’re undeniably More Expensive than petrol outboards, mostly because lithium batteries are expensive. But that extra upfront cost is largely offset by their Lower Lifetime Running Costs, including (almost) No Servicing.

NESTAWAY BOATS is the UK’s number one retailer for both Torqeedo AND Epropulsion. You can find out more on our website, and we are always happy to discuss further – and offer advice – by email or phone. If you’d like to see them before making a purchase, we are based in Christchurch, Dorset (UK).

www.nestawayboats.com mail@nestawayboats.com Tel 0800 999 2535

Sternpost The sleeper from Yorkshire The fine art of sailing on the Solent never ceases to produce surprises, says Martin Black

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nyone interested in the origins of yachting hopes that they will find some overlooked trifle which will prove to be an important part of the jigsaw puzzle which is the early history of our sport. One such item has now come to light to reveal another tussle between British and American yachts, just 17 years after the America won the 100 Guinea Cup. A small firm of auctioneers, based in Yorkshire, was offering the oil painting shown below. It depicts a magnificent looking British schooner crossing the finishing line off the Squadron in Cowes. There was nothing on the picture to indicate her name or what the race was. Smoke from a cannon on the committee boat suggests that she has just won the race – certainly the masthead man up the foremast is waving jubilantly.

So who is she? The biggest clue is her long pennant – white with a light blue border. Most of the great schooners carried the owner’s flag. There was one exception – Cambria, built in 1868 by Michael Ratsey and owned by James Ashbury.

Reference to Lawson’s History describes her pennant and confirms that it is indeed she!

Given the large number of onlookers, both on land and at sea, this was clearly an important race, but not a Queen’s Cup. Such races were only open to Squadron members, and Ashbury was not among the elite. He was trade – his company built railway carriages.

So what race could be depicted and who was the artist?

On 15 August 1868 the recently launched American schooner, Sappho (310 tons) arrived in Cowes from New York. She was owned by her builders, C & R Poillon of Brooklyn. Their plan was for her to race against the cream of the British fleet and after her certain success, sell her in the UK. On her arrival, her manager, PP Baldwin of the New York YC, promptly issued a challenge to all interested parties for a race around the Isle of Wight, the prize being a sweepstake into which, the contestants would contribute £20 each.

Four British boats responded – The schooners Aline (212 tons) and Cambria (185 tons) as well as the large cutters Condor (129 tons) and Oimara (183 tons). Just as had been the case when the America visited in 1851, it was agreed that the race should be round the Isle of Wight on 25 August.

At 132ft overall, Sappho was very much the dark horse, since her one race in America the previous year had been abandoned for lack of wind. The only guide to her form was that she had crossed to Cowes in the very fast time of 15 days. Now she was lined up against her more seasoned competitors. For the race, 17 hands were recruited in Cowes to supplement her own crew of seven.

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2022

It was a fine, sunny day, with a light west-northwesterly breeze and an east running tide. Sappho had the best start, with the tide under her. By Old Castle Point she and Cambria were making the running. Sappho took in her fore topsail and tried to set a gaff topsail, but the yard became jammed against the boom and broke off short.

Off Osborne House, the leaders were Aline, Condor and Sappho. The wind now fell very light, so that by Ryde, Sappho started to fall astern of the fleet. All was not lost, however, as on the run from No Man’s Lands Fort, Sappho brought up better wind than her rivals and “foaming like a mad horse, passed Oimara in a twinkling”, and was fast gaining ground on the others. Now off the eastern end of the island the wind freshened considerably, becoming a true northwesterly. As Sappho rounded Bembridge buoy it all went badly wrong. She carried away her martingale (the fore-and-aft stay running below the bowsprit, which counters the upward force created by the head stays).

Worse was to follow. Off Ventnor, an ominous crash was heard forward. Her huge jibboom was seen to snap short – about a foot from the cap, carrying the jib topsail and jib in one chaotic mass over her starboard side. It took 10 minutes to clear away the wreckage, by which time the British yachts had achieved a commanding lead, which they did not give up.

The British boats had a tightly fought race, but it was Cambria who won, beating Aline by nearly two minutes.

On 12 September 1868 The Field published the following: “FOR SALE – The American schooner SAPPHO of 310 tons, built in 1867; has magnificent accommodation, and is now in every way suited for foreign cruising. She is now fitted out and ready for sea. For particulars apply to the Secretary, Royal Yacht Squadron, Cowes.” There were no takers and by that December Sappho had returned to New York.

Who was the artist? The amount of detail in the picture suggests that the artist was an eye witness. The level of execution was very high and those factors alone suggested that it could be either Thomas Dutton or his contemporary Arthur Fowles. It was Charles Miller of the eponymous auctioneers who tuned up trumps. He located an identical picture which had featured in a Christie’s auction in April 1993, which showed “Cambria winning at Cowes 1868” by Arthur Fowles. The only difference was that that pictured measured 28 x 39ins while my little treasure was 20 x 28ins. It seems that my picture must have been a finely wrought preparatory painting to be shown to the client before the larger version was worked up.

Building the future classics

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As proud Dutch yacht builders with a passion for perfection, we realize dreams that enter the history books.

Truly Classic 78 “Bontekoning” by Hoek Design, refit by VMG Yachtbuilders

“It’s in our DNA. We wake up in the morning, knowing it’s going to be another day of creating history. To us that is essentially different from building a boat. Our yachts not rarely outlive both their owners and their builders…”

Tim van Daal, CEO at VMG Yachtbuilders

Grand Estime 62 “Misha” by Olivier van Meer Design, refit by VMG Yachtbuilders

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