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AUGUST 2021

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

PURIST’S CHOICE

West Solent One Design 100 NOT OUT New Zealand mullet boats AMERICAN POWER 1918 motor yacht

ALL THAT GLITTERS Visit to Davey & Co ALBERTO GALASSI

At the helm of Riva

SHIPSHAPE HERITAGE

Youth conservators

FASTNET 1957 The stormy race that history forgot WOOD DOWN UNDER

NZ timber types

www.classicboat.co.uk

Come and see us on stand J119

A CL A SSIC E N V I RON M E N T FOR T R A DI T ION A L BOATS Birdham Pool is the oldest marina in the UK and our haven for classic and traditional boats. Even its location, just four miles from the historic county town of Chichester, nestled in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, reflects the pace and elegance of a bygone age. S T O R A G E , R E PA I R A N D M A I N T E N A N C E Looking after traditional boats is what we’re exceptionally good at. Our 30 tonne hoist and transport, dry storage ashore and a boat yard of modern

and traditional skills offered by our tenant artisans means we’re geared for storage, repair and maintenance of all watercraft.

To complete the experience, we have five-star customer facilities, café and great transport links complementing the enviable one-hour access to the Solent and sheltered inland location. Birdham is owned by Castle Marinas, a group of 11 coastal and inland marinas each with its own unique character. We are, and always will be large enough to cope, small enough to care.

Boatyard services by

STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES, EDITOR

MIRROR MIRROR ON THE WALL For a decade now, the strapline on our cover has read: The World’s Most Beautiful Boats. I’m wondering though; what are they? I’ve heard many candidates put forward from Hallowe’en and Mariquita (Fife) to the Tord Sunden’s modest Folkboat (pictured). If you had to name just one – gun to head – what would it be? Let’s say you could list six, but you’d still have to name just one. I’d struggle. Hallowe’en and Mariquita would make anyone’s list. The Nordic Folkboat would make mine. So would Marigold (Charles Nicholson) or Partridge (John Beavor-Webb) and maybe one of Alden’s Malabar schooners. There would have to be a GL Watson on there: Peggy Bawn? The boat I was lucky enough to sail in June – the West Solent OD Suvretta in this issue – is a new shoo-in. And I’d put a generic 12ft lug-rigged clinker dinghy on my list too. And perhaps the Riva Ariston or a Ferrari hydroplane for power. But it doesn’t matter what I think. I want to know what you think. You know the rules. Please email me! Your answers will form the basis of a feature this October to mark our 400th issue. COVER PHOTO: JOE MCCARTHY

ISSUE No 398

classicboat.co.uk Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ EDITORIAL Editor Steffan Meyric Hughes +44 (0)203 943 9256 steffan@classicboat.co.uk Senior Art Editor Peter Smith +44 (0)203 943 9246 peter.smith@classicboat.co.uk 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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CONTENTS COVER STORY

4 . SUVRETTA They don’t come any more purist than HG May’s 1920s West Solent OneDesigns. This one’s perfect 12 . SUMMER REGATTAS Photos and reports from Falmouth and Suffolk COVER STORY

24 . 100 NOT OUT NZ’s mullet boats have raced every year for a century, through war and pandemic 34 . ALBERTO GALASSI The CEO of Ferretti Group on the company’s famed brand - Riva COVER STORY

36 . STORMY FASTNET The ‘79 Fastnet is infamous; but was the ‘57 race even stormier? 42 . THE FUTURE IS YOUNG National Historic Ships’ Shipshape programme for young conservators

4 20

SUVRETTA

FASTNET 1957

COVER STORY

48 . CARINA The 1918 Fred Lawley motoryacht restored over 15 years 56 . UFFA FOX’S JOLLYBOAT Our affordable classic this month

CARINA

DAVEY & CO

COVER STORY

58 . ALL THAT GLITTERS A visit to historic chandler Davey & Co 78 . NZ TIMBER GUIDE The mythical kauri, and other species native to New Zealand

with AUGUST 2021 £4.95

BIG SUMMER SPECIAL Scillies cruise  Sat comms for all  High latitude adventure 

BOAT TESTS

FOILING POGO Hang on tight! BALI CATSPACE Apartment on water

FASTNET PREVIEW How course change affects you COWES WEEK 2021 What you can expect

ST+Y&Y August Cover- final.indd 1

HISTORIC BOATYARD

Visitor's guide to Berthon

SAILGP PLYMOUTH

Who’s racing + how to watch

14/06/2021 15:24

For cruising and racing sailors

To subscribe, chelseamagazines.com/marine

SHIPSHAPE HERITAGE

REGULARS 16 30 34 56

. . . .

TELL TALES SALEROOM CLOSE QUARTERS AFFORDABLE CLASSICS

64 . TOM CUNLIFFE 66 . GETTING AFLOAT 80 . LETTERS 82 . STERNPOST

CRAFTSMANSHIP

70 . YARD NEWS 76 . BOATBUILDER’S NOTES 78 . NZ TIMBER

Tom Cunliffe

THE OL D WAYS PAGE 6 4

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

JUST ADD SIMPLICITY The West Solent One Design is extravagantly straightforward. We went for a sail on Suvretta, with her new owner, the chairman of the RYA WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES PHOTOGRAPHS JOE MCCARTHY

SUVRETTA

e have produced a type eminently fit or racing or cruising in all waters, and we anticipate a demand which will enable us to lay down boats in batches during that slack season inevitable in the Yacht-Building industry, and thus provide continuous employment throughout the year for our best hands. These boats have been before the public for four seasons. And their performances have justified our confidence in the design. Their all-round excellence under all conditions of wind and weather has been endorsed by every Owner and helmsman. Notwithstanding the very moderate sail-plan, they are surprisingly fast in light weather, while the ample free-board ensures buoyance and dryness in a seaway. They are beautifully balanced and easy to steer.” So reads the brochure for the West Solent Restricted One Design Class from the builder, Berthon Boat Company, in the sort of prose you only find today in the footnotes of your insurance renewal. But never mind the copywriting: the class was successful with 39 built, at least a third of which remain in commission to this day. And the boasts weren’t idle ones. The W boats have won races consistently for the near-century of their existence, and continue to do so to this day. The idea that they might prove to be good cruising yachts has also been proved over time. Expectations of comfort mean that few today would consider cruising long distance in a W, but for those who could bear the rough living, the boat will certainly get you there. These days a W is simply a glorious day-racing or weekending yacht, far better suited to racing around the buoys than to distant shores; and of course, they sail as well as they always did.

Above: Suvretta (W2) in 1938

we would sit becalmed in the Solent for a while, then have Eric tow us back. Nevertheless, we head out in hope to Suvretta, which is sitting at her swinging mooring in the mouth of the River Medina. A couple of friends are here to help for the shoot: Sam, who drives Eric with photographer Joe on board; and Alessandro, an Italian friend living in England, who comes aboard Suvretta with us. It’s 240 C and we’re getting suncream out, forever the smell of windless days on the beach. The sea is oily calm and iridescent emerald, in the way the Solent so often is. It’s a beautiful sight. Off the English mainland, we see the distinctive shape of Jolie Brise out for the day, her big tan sails hanging. At least that gives us time to talk about Suvretta, and the Ws in general.

WHISTLING FOR WIND

EARLY PRODUCTION CRUISER/RACER

Arriving in Cowes on one of the few sunny days this year in June, photographer Joe McCarthy and I were met by owner Chris Preston and his wife Victoria, both full of excitement about their yacht Suvretta – W-Class number 2, built in 1924 (the first was Arrow, built earlier the same year). Chris had suggested we come another day in the hopes of getting some wind, but we pressed ahead, reasoning we at least had a photographer and some sun. As we sat in Chris and Victoria’s handsome little cuddy motor launch Eric, built in the manner of a Maine Northeaster, I began to worry Chris was right, and that

The design, by HG May and Harry Jacobs of the Berthon Boat Company in 1923, was originally for five members of the Royal Lymington Yacht Club. Over the next 15 years or so, more than 30 others were built, five for export to Argentina. The latest, Winnie Marie, was built in 2010 by Peter Nash of Dartmouth, but she’s an anomaly; no others have been built since the war. On England’s east coast, the class was adopted by the Royal Burnham yacht Club, who referred to its fleet as the Royal Burnham Restricted Class and as the fleet slowly broke up, a few strayed west along the English

Above: Suvretta with the Peter Heaton cruising adaptations, mid-Atlantic in 1977, with Sam and Helen Davis on board

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

SUVRETTA

Main: Enjoying a very brief spell of decent wind on the Solent Inset: There are few details on a W... note the lack of lockers or quarter berth under the cockpit bench seating

SUVRETTA

Channel coast. The yachts were of similar size to a 6-M of the time but heavier and, importantly, less than half the price. They were apparently seen by some at the time as very elegant yachts and by others as a “fatter 6-Metre”. To keep costs down, the boats were limited to one paid hand and one new mainsail a year. It’s well known that the International Rule of 1907 had disappointed many by failing to produce the seaworthy, useful yachts that sailors hoped for. According to Barney Sandeman at Sandeman Yacht Company, the W was “the 35ft cruiser that some had hoped the International Rule would produce.” They were also among the world’s first ‘production boats’, along with Hillyards at Littlehampton, just 40 miles to the east. Clearly we’re not talking Henry Ford here, but the brochure does prominently describe the “very complete set of moulds, jigs and templates” for the building of “standard hulls with exceptional uniformity at a cost little more than half that of designing and building individual boats of similar size and type.” At the time that was written (1928 or 1929) the Ws were delivered afloat at Lymington for £600 – just over £37,000 in today’s money, according to the Bank of England’s inflation calculator, which must be taken with a big pinch of salt for any real-world comparisons. But the W was affordable to many who could not have had a bespoke boat built at the time and happily, the savings were made by simple fit-out and repeatable processes, rather than by using poor-quality materials. The “39 hundredweight” external ballast keel (just under two tonnes) was in lead and the upperworks were in teak. The planking, of red or Oregon pine, was yellow metal fastened to a framework of grown oak frames at 23in (58cm) centres, with two steamed timbers of American rock elm between each pair. Floors were in galvanised wrought iron, and you even got, for your £600, two anchors with chain, a boathook and – to 8

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

SUVRETTA BUILDER

Berthon Boat Co, 1924 DESIGNER

HG May and Harry Jacobs LOA

34ft 6in (10.5m) LWL

24ft (7.3m) BEAM

7ft 6in (2.3m) DRAUGHT

5ft 2in (1.6m) DISP

6.5 tonnes SAIL AREA

575sqft (53.4m2)

wrap up the safety requirements – a lifebuoy! What you didn’t get, another way of saving a lot of money, was an engine, although “an auxiliary motor can be fitted under the cockpit and, if required, the cockpit itself can be made selfdraining. This will doubtless appeal to those who propose to use their boats for extended cruising rather than racing.” Rig was either bermudan or gaff, although most boats were ordered as a fractional bermudan sloop with running backstays, two headsails and a spinnaker. Initially, the Ws were more of a strict one design than a restricted development design. Genoas were allowed from the 1930s, then the standard sail plan was changed to a standard area, and reduced from 575 to 530sqft. Owners experimented, moving their mast positions to change the centre of effort, and adopted various rigs which even included a wishbone gaff and a wishbone boom. By 1936 the boats had truly became a development class, spoiling the simplicity of the original concept and bringing about the demise of the class, which struggled on racing until the 1950s. By then, many of the Ws had been converted to cruisers, and suffered all the indignities that brings with it. It also brought a last flourish of glory to a few individual boats. Suvretta was one of the lucky ones in this respect. Her early history might be unremarkable: she was built in 1924 as Dinah for George S Burge, who changed the name to Suvretta two years after her launch to avoid confusion with another Dinah in the W Class launched after his own. She then belonged for a long spell to a well-to-do sailor named JM Sebag-Montefiori, who raced her for many years. Things warmed up a little in 1962, when Suvretta was driven ashore in Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough, suffering considerable damage to her port side. She was taken to Whiterock Boatyard and shored up, which is when she was

Main picture: The spartan interior has a structural beauty, showing every scantling Above left: Chart table Above right: Even the chainplates are on show

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

SUVRETTA

discovered and bought by a young Colin Nelson. He and three friends, all under 25, repaired the damage and started cruising Suvretta (by then fitted with a Victor 6hp four-stroke petrol engine) to Scotland and back. But as the 1970s rolled around, the yacht would come under new owners with much headier dreams.

DEADLY STORMS AND FAR SHORES At the tail end of 1977, Sam and Helen Davis, a newly married couple in their 20s, sailed Suvretta from Northern Ireland to the West Indies. When family matters forced Helen’s early return home, Sam sailed her home solo. “It was a belated honeymoon” says Chris, speaking today from his island home on Northern Ireland’s Strangford Lough. “And a way of escaping the worst of the troubles in Northern Ireland at that time.” He and Helen converted Suvretta to cabin cruiser in the manner of Peter Heaton’s West Solent W8 Dinah, in which he won his class in the first Round Britain and Ireland Race of 1966. That involved putting on a cabin, glassing the decks and, “once I discovered that she sailed on her ear,” putting on a toerail. “We did it on a shoestring.” Sam sailed Suvretta home in August 1979, solo from the Azores. That passage brought Suvretta through the Force 10 storm devastating the Fastnet fleet about 120 miles to the east. This young solo skipper on his antique, engineless yacht has been forgotten by history, but at one point Suvretta was knocked down violently and Sam was thrown overboard without lifejacket or tether. “I’ve said the Lord’s Prayer once” recalls Sam today, when I ask if he was wearing a lifejacket. “I don’t need to repeat it a hundred times.” Thanks to the low freeboard, he was able to clamber back on and sail home under jury rig. By the time she arrived back in Strangford Lough, Suvretta had crossed oceans, logged 346 miles in 48 hours... and survived the deadliest storm in sailing history.

SAILING SUVRETTA Stepping off Eric onto Suvretta, the idea of a transat seems crazy. Everything that makes the W a paragon of ascetic purity would make her singularly unsuited to crossing oceans. The use of space is so defiantly aesthetic that you might sooner expect to see Suvretta in a design museum than in 10

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Above left: Victoria on relaunch day in summer 2020 Above right: Stepping the mast on an old half Sovereign in the family

Below: The 1937 Royal Southern Yacht Club centenary race entries and overall winners at Cowes Spring Classics 2020

the middle of an ocean. Everything is visible. The cockpit seats are slatted like those in a dinghy – there are not even lockers under, let alone a quarter berth. Below decks, there is barely sitting headroom and the cabin ends abruptly in a bulkhead either side of the companionway. For a loo, there is a bucket and for a flush there is the chuck it. This transparency of purpose extends to the chainplates, which are visible inboard of the cabin sides. There is no ceiling here, just bare frames and timbers. Luckily, we’re not crossing the Atlantic today, but we do still need wind. Joe the photographer on the launch, and Victoria on board with us, both spot it at around the same time. The sea has darkened towards the English mainland. Jolie Brise’s big sail plan, hanging slack and brown earlier, has filled. Eric drops us in it, and suddenly I’m helming us upwind in a few knots of breeze – enough to raise a chuckle from the bows and induce a bit of heel and a big grin from your humble correspondent, for whom it was the first sail since lockdown. Helming a simple, beautiful boat like this is visceral. Knowing now that a W can race around the buoys or cross the Atlantic, I have little to add from a 10-minute close reach in 5 knots of wind, however glorious it felt. There are running backstays (but not, thank God on highfields), the tiller falls to hand, and there are comfortable, flat slatted seat bases on the side decks outboard of the coamings each side, so the helm can sit high for great visibility. It’s a lovely feeling. In 2008, Maldon boatbuilder Adrian Riva almost entirely rebuilt Suvretta, leaving 60 per cent of her original planking in place and not much else. When the Prestons bought her in February 2020, just before lockdown, she needed two knees replaced and a lot of vanish, all done in time and to a high standard at Lallows. Chris and Victoria have spent half their working lives in Switzerland (he in banking, she in arts consultancy) and now their main aim is to give their time to the voluntary sector. Victoria is a trustee of the Cowes Classic Boat Museum and Chris is chairman of the RYA. Their other focus is day-racing Suvretta. Their last boat was a J-109, the modern equivalent of a W, some say. And although they clearly have a deep love of Suvretta’s history, it’s not stopping them wining races – nearly all of them in 2020, it seems, including Cowes Spring Classics (overall), Hamble Classics (in class) and the NAB Tower double (in class). Under their ownership, Suvretta’s future is bright, and with the W boats Harlequin and Ripple in rebuild, there should be a good showing for the class centenary in 2024.

MEMBER OF THE ROBBE & BERKING FAMILY

LOA: 17.98 m

LOA: 18.90 m

YA C H T S

NIEBL A

HE AV EN C A N WA I T

2005 FAIRLINE YACHTS 59’

2001 NISSEN CUTTER RIGGED SLOOP 72’

Beam: 3.80 m

| Draft: 2.70 m |

Price: on request

LOA: 22.00 m

Beam: 4.55 m |

Draft: 3.90 m

Price: 1.100.000 €

SER EN A DE

A NA LÍ A

1938 SHELDON POTTER SLOOP

75 FT ALFRED MY LNE YAW L FROM 1925

Beam: 4.20 m

+ 49 (0) 4 61 31 8 0 3 0 65

| Draft: 2.55 m |

Price: 750.000 €

LOA: 22.88 m

Beam: 4.39 m

B AU M+KO E N I G @ C L A S S IC-YAC H T S . D E

Draft: 2.60 m

Price: 580.000 €

W W W.C L A S S IC-YAC H T S .C O M

Logbook

FALMOUTH CLASSICS

Better than the G7 WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS NIGEL SHARP While Falmouth accommodated the media centre and the police accommodation ship for the G7 Summit on Cornwall’s north coast, for many people another event simultaneously hosted by the town was of somewhat greater interest. The return of Falmouth Classics after cancellation last year was a huge success in terms of entry numbers and the weather. The event was sponsored by Falmouth Harbour Commissioners who are celebrating their 150th anniversary, also postponed from last year. Although entries in pre-Covid years were approaching 200 boats, this year’s turn out of 150 was significantly higher than the 50-or-so initially expected. “We were overjoyed by the response,”

said event vice chairman Don Garman. The format was the same as it has been for several recent years: two races on Friday, one race on Saturday and a parade of sail on Sunday. While Friday’s races took place in a steady south-westerly, Saturday’s race started in a gentle sea breeze that was gradually replaced by the forecast northerly. The class for the biggest Bermudan rigged boats was dominated by the Nicholson 43 Sarabande of Dart, while in the equivalent gaff-rigged class, Ayesha (1922) and Cynthia (built in Falmouth in 1910 and returning, it is thought, for the first time in 94 years) battled for honours, the latter coming out on top. Among the boats that had a clean sweep of victories in their class was the 1939 Robert Clark-designed Maid of Islay, while the biggest class by participants – gaffrigged boats of 23-30ft (7-9.1m) – was won by the 1897 Kathleen. The oldest boat in the regatta was the St Ives lugger Barnabas, this year celebrating her 140th birthday.

5 6

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Congestion at St Just mark

2 Real figurehead on the artha Primrose

3 Crew of Alva 4 Fleet moored up at Falmouth Haven 5 Falmouth Working Boat Helen Mary 6 Crew

and helm on pilot cutter Agnes 7 Maybe, Marguerite and Eda Frandsen 8 Jazz duo on Hillyard Maffick at Falmouth Haven 9 The oldest boat in the fleet Kathleen 10 Cornish pilot gig Fear Not 11 Crew of Falmouth Quay punt Curlew 12 Falmouth Working Boat Victory and Cornish pilot gig Penarrow

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

SUFFOLK YACHT HARBOUR REGATTA

At last... it’s party time PHOTOGRAPHS CLIQQ PHOTOGRAPHY This year’s Suffolk Yacht Harbour Classic Regatta attracted beautifully maintained classic sail and – for the first time – motor yachts to Suffolk Yacht Harbour on Friday evening ahead of a wet and not so windy evening race on Friday 25 June. Despite the damp weather, spirits were high, with everyone happy to be back at a regatta again. Saturday morning broke in a blaze of sunshine. After bacon sandwiches and staggered, Covidsecure briefings, the yachts headed out to the start line in the estuary of the River Orwell.

The Slow, Stella and Fast classes all set off on time for race one, which was soon abandoned for lack of wind and the strong tide pushing several of the fleet back towards the start line. After reports of more wind out in Dovercourt Bay, the race committee moved the start line and

set a course for the second race. More suncream was applied and picnics were eaten in the sun, while the fleet re-set for the staggered Slow, Stella and Fast class starts. A gentle upwind leg in the glistening sunshine preceded a port rounding of Stone Banks, where some yachts hoisted their spinnakers for the reach across to Outer Ridge before dropping them for the upwind leg a second lap. The classic motorboats put on a show of their own with a parade of power across Dovercourt Bay. It’s not often you see five Fairey Huntsman 28s and a Fairey Christina at once; the scene was reminiscent of From Russia with Love. Back at the harbour, entrants were greeted with cold beers and gin-and-tonics straight to the boats. Some kicked back in their cockpits, while others tucked into the woodfired oven pizzas or dined aboard Haven Ports Yacht Club’s lightship. As the sun set, live jazz floated over the water as people enjoyed some much-needed camaraderie.

Sunday was a very different story. Racing began for all three classes in 18 knots but had to be abandoned after over

half the fleet retired in choppy seas and rising wind speed. Back at the harbour, drinks were poured, and lunch served while entrants waited for prize-giving. With only one race from the series to go on, the Slow class was won by the Tumlare Zest, which also took the Windpower trophy for the highest finishing boat without an engine. The Stella class was won by Andrew Gilmour in Timoa and the Fast class by Mark Wincer in his International One Design Whisper, which also retained the overall regatta trophy from the last edition in 2019. The Spirit Yachts “in need of a stiff drink” prize went to the Kim Holman sloop Shaker, which missed Sunday’s abandonment announcement and persevered gallantly to sail the whole course. A regatta newcomer, the elegant International One Design Mitzi won the Safir Concours d’Elegance trophy. The Fairey Marine trophy for classic motorboats went to Fairey Hunstman Europa II. SYH’s Jonathan Dyke commented: “After the challenging times we have all endured, the overwhelming feeling was that everyone was simply happy to be back out enjoying the buzz of a regatta once again.”

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

The fleet at Suffolk Yacht Harbour 2 Crew of the early Holman yacht Phialle 3 Illiria chases Cereste on a spinnaker run on sunny Saturday 4 Cereste poled out 5 Tumlare Zest, winner of her class and the engineless class 6 Jamie Wilkins takes the Fairey Marine trophy for his Europa II 7 Relaxing on sunny Saturday evening 8 The Fast class in action on the Saturday 9 Three Huntsman 28s on the Parade of Power 10 Stella Acamar 11 Stella Rolliker and Spirit 52 Flight of Ufford 12 Overall winner IOD Whisper, which also took the overall win in 2019 CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

PAUL WYETH

Tell Tales

FASTNET 2021

Classic yachts in the Rolex Fastnet Race Classic yachts from different eras will be taking part in the

Above left:

Francis Chichester was her navigator. On board for this

Rolex Fastnet Race on 8 August. And as the race

Finola.

year’s race, it is hoped, will be several people with

approaches its 50th edition in 2023 and the 100th

Inset: a Bond-like

connections to Stormvogel’s formative years.

anniversary of the Royal Ocean Racing Club, which

Desperado crew

organises the event, two years later, RORC is encouraging

at the Rock, 1991.

Bodrum, at Metur Yacht, with Ian Hulleman, the yacht’s

more classics to take part, particularly those that can boast

Above: Amokura.

Kiwi skipper for the past 12 years, overseeing all work.

prior association to the bi-annual blast around the Fastnet

Below:

Stormvogel’s manager and Rolex Fastnet Race skipper

Rock, finishing this year for the first time in Cherbourg.

Stormvogel.

Graeme Henry, who has been involved with the yacht since

Oldest in the fleet of more than 400 boats in 2021 is

Stormvogel has recently completed an extensive refit in

1987, describes the refit as “bringing Stormvogel back to a

Amokura, the 50ft yawl built by Moodys in 1939, originally

new level of performance while maintaining the original

for Lord Mountbatten’s Aide de Camp, Ernest Harston.

1961 concept and 1960s’ style”.

Amokura competed in the 1959 Fastnet Race and again 60 years on in 2019, but finished neither. She was famously owned by George Millar, who wrote the sailing classics Oyster River and White Boat to England. Current owner Paul Moxon bought Amokura to take his family cruising, but has since got the racing bug and the boat has been strengthened for racing by Butler & Co in Falmouth. Paul races double-handed with Steve Jones and says: “Rather than it sitting there looking pretty, it’s designed to sail long distance and there is a real attraction to throwing it back into that world.” Some of the most significant maxis from the third quarter of the 20th century are entered in the 2021 Fastnet. The 63ft S&S designed yawl Rafanut was built in 1955 for Jacob Wallenberg of the Swedish banking and business dynasty. She is now campaigned by his grandson Fredrik, who has followed in his grandfather’s footsteps by winning The 1961 van de Stadt-designed 73ft ketch Stormvogel is also entered in the Fastnet, celebrating the 60th anniversary of her Fastnet line honours victory, when

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

C/O RORC

the Gotland Runt in Rafanut, albeit in the classic division.

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

FALMOUTH

St Mawes pilot cutter race St Mawes Sailing Club’s Pilot Cutter regatta at the end of May seemed to provide extra pleasure to competitors and spectators alike after the 2020 event had been cancelled. Twelve boats took part – not all, strictly speaking, Pilot Cutters, but all welcome – in three races which took place in glorious long-awaited summer weather. The individual race winners were Alice Wragg (1999 Westernman), Cornubia (1911 Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter) and Eve of St Mawes (the first pilot cutter built by Luke Powell, in 1997). The overall winner was Holly Mae, a gaff cutter based on West Country work boats of a century ago and built near Penzance in 2010. Her impressively consistent

NIGEL SHARP

results included a third and two seconds.

Mascot, Agnes and Alice Wragg

NIC COMPTON

From the early 1970s, built in wood, is the German One-Tonner Oromocto. She is a family ‘hand me down’ and has for the last 11 years been raced by Kai Greten, whose grandfather Ernst had commissioned and campaigned her during the 1970s. Also entered is Eager, the first Nicholson 55 launched, when she was the Lloyd’s of London Yacht Club’s Lutine, until she was sold in 1999. The 1967 Swan 36 Finola is a Sparkman & Stephens design skippered by regular RORC racers Chris Frost and Welsh transoceanic rower Elin Haf Davies. Stuart Greenfield’s Morning After is an S&S 34 from the same era, while one of the most heavily campaigned yachts in RORC races throughout the last 22 years has been Harry J Heijst’s immaculate S&S 41 Winsome, dating SAM FIELDHOUSE

from 1972 and built by Royal Huisman. This year’s race will be the Dutchman’s tenth, having missed one due to ill health and another in 2007, when he admits there was a crew mutiny, with 35 knots of wind at the start. He says he proceeded to sail her home to Holland in 40 knots downwind. Currently on the waiting list for the Rolex Fastnet Race

YARMOUTH I.O.W

heavily by Eric Tabarly. The 73ft André Mauric-designed

Yarmouth old gaffers celebrate

aluminium ketch competed in the first Whitbread Round

Fifty-nine boats, colourfully dressed with flags and pennants, graced the

the World Race in 1973-74, during which she dismasted

harbour in early June for the Yarmouth Gaffers Regatta, organised by Solent

twice. Most impressively Tabarly entered this same maxi

OGA, ranging from the diminutive 12ft Smacks Boat, Joy, owned by Steve

yacht in the OSTAR in 1976 and entered the history books

Mitchell, to Pelham Olive’s mighty Alfred Mylne-designed Kelpie. Also joining

when he won the race for a second time (following his

in the event as part of their annual cruise were 16 Cape Cutters. The

victory in 1964), despite the 32-tonner usually requiring a

programme comprised two days of racing, an expedition up the river Yar in

crew of 12 to handle her.

dinghies, fish and chips from the Blue Crab and a meal at the Royal Solent

is Pen Duick VI, the last of the series of yachts campaigned

Pen Duick VI competed alongside the 1977–78

Yacht Club. There was a quiz and a creative challenge to amuse non-racers.

Whitbread Round the World Race as an unofficial entrant,

The overall winner was Andy Paterson’s Codling. Class Winners were Class 1:

due to her keel being ballasted with spent uranium.

Kelpie, Class 2: Spinaway X, Class 3: Lady Belle, Class 4 : N/A, Class 5: Codling.

rolexfastnetrace.com CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

TELL TALES NORFOLK BROADS

24hr Three Rivers Race The 60th anniversary of the 24-hour Three Rivers Race on the Norfolk Broads saw a rare win by a river cruiser, after some tactical sailing by Moonraker helm Chris Pank, writes Sandy Miller. The 50-mile course over the rivers Ant, Bure and Thurne, hosted by Horning Sailing Club, is a famous test of endurance. Seamanship and judgement of wind and tides, as well as avoiding potential congestion hot spots, can make all the difference. Boats can round four turning buoys in any order and Moonraker was one of only five of the 100-plus starters to opt for Hickling before Acle, having avoided the two busy short legs off the Bure at the start. She finished with a corrected time of 12hrs 58mins. Norfolk Punts and Thames A-Raters are traditionally favourites and this year took second and third. A-Rater Atlantis was the first home and third on corrected time, with punt Comet in second. There were plaudits, too, for Broads One Design Dipper, which finished an impressive fifth, as well as Helen, a 1914 Yarmouth One Design, which finished ninth, and the 1923 built Waveney One Design, Snakeshead, (an Eastwood Whelpton hire boat), which finished 11th. The 1914 Rogue (CB393) finished in 14th place and the two 1950 Rebels, Rebel Rothay and Rebel, finished 17th and 18th respectively.

SANDY MILLER

THAMES

Princess Royal visits Thames Sailing Club in its 150th year

COWES

Cowes Spring Classics is back, in summer

visited Thames Sailing

Cowes Spring Classics has announced revised dates this year of 20-22 August, 2021.

Club, best known to CB

Having successfully run the regatta in September 2020

readers for its Thames

under strict guidelines, the organisers are looking forward

A-Raters, on June 22, to

to this year’s Cowes Spring Classics being "as close to

launch the club’s

normal as possible – apart from being in summer, not

redevelopment. The

spring". They say: "We are ready to welcome the owners,

Princess was given the

skippers, crew and their fabulous classic yachts, some

first copy of the club’s

more than 100 years old.

HRH the Princess Royal

new book, linked to

"With the support of Cowes Harbour Commission, the

Thames’ 150-year history,

regatta will again be based at Shepards Marina. We will

making it Britain’s oldest

have exclusive use of the Sugar Store for our evening social

river sailing club.

events, crew BBQ on Friday and dinner on Saturday, but

Commodore Matt Kyte

this year the Sugar Store will be open during the day

said: “A great history is

offering coffee, beers and pizza every day from 11am for

no guarantee of a future,

friends and family not out on the water."

but this redevelopment

The Isle of Wight Distillery will again be supporting the

will help ensure the club

Friday evening welcome drinks with a Blue Mermaid Gin &

continues to be home of

Tonic, and Henri-Lloyd are continuing their support as

both classic boats and

Official Race Clothing Partner with a range of regatta

modern watersports such

clothing. There is a full programme of races on Saturday

as SUPs."

and Sunday, with racing organised by Cowes Corinthian Yacht Club, with separate classes for Bermudan and gaff.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

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TELL TALES

VENICE

Classics race off Venice Tourists barely knew which way to look as 30 classics paraded off St Mark's Square in Venice, in the eighth edition of a stunning regatta organised by the Monaco consul to Venice with the Venice Yacht Club and the Sailing Club Il Portodimare. It goes by the unwieldy name of the Principality of Monaco Trophy Le Vele d'Epoca in Laguna Coppa BNL-BNP Paribas Private Banking & Wealth Management. The winners were Ciao Pais in the Epoca category and Nembo II in the Classics category. On the Saturday the boats raced on a triangle course in the waters in front of the Lido, while on Sunday morning they headed towards the basin of San Marco for the traditional parade. This year onlookers were able to admire the Palinuro, a three-masted naval schooner. An awards ceremony was held in the Arsenale. The first three in each class won prizes given by Venetian lighting company Barovier & Toso. yachtclubvenezia.it Top: celebrations on 15-Metre Mariska. Above: awards ceremony in the Arsenale.

VENICE

Fully charged to race at e-regatta Electric boats made their mark at the Saline Nautico Venezia, held in the first week of June. With an E-Village with 30 exhibitors, the E-Regatta was also a success. On the evening of 2 June, a procession of 23 electric boats

Points were awarded for manoeuvrability, music and originality. This too was won by e'dyn. The afternoon saw six boats head out to the offshore waters between the islands of San Clemente and San Spirito. Officials of

made a circuit of La Serenissima, from the Arsenale, along the

the Italian Motorboat Federation timed the boats over two

Grand Canal, out into the San Marco Basin and back to the

stretches, a total of 1km. The Anvera clocked a speed of 41 kmh,

recharger-equipped parking jetty.

with Vita second at 33 kmh. Day three saw the autonomy trial, 'I 90

Day two saw eight boats participate in a come-and-go slalom,

Minuti di Giudecca', with seven boats building up laps around a 2.5km circuit. With a total of 110 points, e'dyn won the gilded

in a world first – the E-Ballerina – with each boat 'dancing' to their

Trofeo Saline Nautical di Venezia. During the next three months,

chosen music. Choices ranged from The Beach Boys and Freddy

inspired by the Venice event, e-regattas may be held in Montreal,

Mercury to Tarantella and Barcarole.

Connecticut, Lake Windermere, Nantes and Berlin.

FRANK WERNER

won by the Slovenian-Austrian e'dyn. The same fleet then took part

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Clockwise from left: Corsair and Amorita; Halsey Herreshoff, Captain Nat's grandson; Spartan;

DANIEL FORSTER

Marilee

NEWPORT HARBOUR

Herreshoffs on show at 50th anniversary party Restored Herreshoff yachts were the focus of attention at the first of a

Over the past five years, the museum has delivered STEM-focused

year of events marking the Herreshoff Marine Museum’s 50th

experiential education programs to thousands of Rhode Island

anniversary.

students. The museum is now partnering with the National Sailing Hall

Around 200 guests gathered, following the loosening of restrictions, at a waterfront reception at the New York Yacht Club’s Harbour Court grounds on Newport Harbour on June 24. The yachts

of Fame on an America’s Cup Hall of Fame exhibit at its new Sailing Museum in Newport, RI. “We estimate today that some 28% of more than 2,000 vessels

were the New York 30 Amorita, the New York 40 Marilee and the lone

built by HMCo. survive; a vanishingly small portion of those are power

remaining New York 50 Spartan, accompanied by the power launch

vessels,” said Evelyn Ansel, curator of the museum. “The boats on the

Corsair, built as a tender for JP Morgan’s 343ft yacht of that name.

dock behind us here are, in many ways, incredibly rare birds. On the

Since its founding in 1971, the Herreshoff Marine Museum has grown

other hand, it almost seems a miracle that 28% still survive,

from being a ‘floating museum’ of Herreshoff boats to its status today

considering a good average lifespan for any wooden vessel is about

consisting of a number of original company buildings, the Herreshoff

30 years without serious restoration efforts. We are so glad you are

family homestead, and a modern exhibition building, the Isaac B

here to celebrate this incredible milestone with us today, but even

Merriman Jr Hall of Boats.

more, to celebrate these boats on the dock, and you all for being a

Named for one of the museum’s earliest benefactors, this displays more than 60 Herreshoff boats, steam engines and an array of artifacts. The Nathanael G Herreshoff Model Room & Workshop exhibit

part of the community that continues to care for them, and to keep their legacies alive.” The Herreshoff Marine Museum is also marking its anniversary year

is a recreation of Captain Nat’s own model room and workshop, and

with a series of articles on an Anniversary section of its website

contains more than 500 original design models, tools and documents.

herreshoff.org/50th

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

TELL TALES

In memory of Bill MacGregor, 1940-2020 A lifelong marine surveyor and a

naval architecture and becoming

valued presence on the English east

first Surveyor to the Port of

coast sailing scene, Bill MacGregor

Felixstowe, with his office on the

died in December at the age of 80,

dock. He then developed his own

writes Jonathan Lewis. Bill surveyed

surveying business. All the while, he

over 4,000 vessels and had a

and Cherry restored, sailed and

particular affinity for wooden boats,

raced old wooden boats. Perhaps

both as an owner and restorer and as

their best-loved was the smack

a surveyor superintending the

Nellie, a Scottish Herring Drifter.

rebuilding of sailing barges, smacks

For three decades, John Buckley

and bawleys. Admitted by the Royal

of Harbour Marine Services in

Institute of Naval Architects in 1983

Southwold worked on vessels

and a surveyor member of the Yacht

whose surveyor was Bill MacGregor.

Designers and Surveyors Association

John says: "Bill was always an

since 1988, he acted for owners,

even-headed and extremely

insurers, builders and financial

experienced surveyor who could

institutions. His expertise spanned

smell trouble from at least a

welded steel ships of all classes, as well as fishing vessels, yachts

hundred yards. He had such superb knowledge and experience that

and workboats.

he became the go-to person for boatbuilders and associated

Bill was born in 1940 in Glasgow to a merchant seaman father

surveyors of the YBDSA in time of need.

and nurse mother. He wanted to be a doctor, but the family lacked

"Likewise if employed by private clients to defend them against

the resources to support him. He joined the RAF at 15 but

alleged wrong-doing, he always stated the facts sensibly and in

discovered his sight wasn’t good enough to fly, so he trained as a

very certain terms, normally proposing a settlement to everyone’s

mechanic. Leaving the RAF in 1958, he decided to travel around the

agreement.

country before heading home and it was on the beach at

"He will be sorely missed by anyone who knew him either

Felixstowe that he met wife Cherry. Bill found work as a stevedore

socially or professionally, not least by me for being so generous

at Felixstowe Port, working his way up the ranks and later studying

with sage advice for over 30 years."

WORD OF THE MONTH

Windhover 1904

DRABLER A piece of canvas laced on the bonnet of a sail to ROYAL MUSEUMS GREENWICH

give it more drop, or as Captain Boteler says – "As the bonnet is to the course, so in all respects is the bonnet." It is only

Luke Brothers winner

used when both

One of the first boats to be rated by CIM in the

course and bonnet

Mediterranean and a regular participant on the classic

are not deep

regatta circuit there, Windhover was built at Luke Brothers

A new Nannie figurehead has been installed on the

enough to clothe

on the Hamble in 1904, originally called Waterlily,

Cutty Sark. The original figurehead was damaged in

the mast.

sometimes listed as Water Lily, in mahogany with a spruce

a storm in the 19th century. A replacement, installed

Sailor’s Word Book

mast. She was an early Albert Luke design and bears

in 1957, has suffered due to environmental damage

of 1867

features typical of the Edwardian era. Sailed today as a

drabler to the

LONDON

Nannie upgrade

and rot. The new one was produced by Andy Peters,

Marconi sloop, the 36ft (11.2m) LOA Windhover has had no

who was inspired to become a carver after visiting

more than four owners in her life and remains remarkably

Cutty Sark as a boy. Inspiration came from a drawing

authentic after a refit in Marseille 20 years ago. Among her

by the Cutty Sark’s designer and builder, Hercules

many Med victories – she will sail at 10 knots in the right

Linton, for the design in the 1860s. The name Nannie

conditions – Windhover has been a regular competitor in

comes from Tam O'Shanter, the Robert Burns poem

the Gstaad Yacht Club’s annual Centenary Trophy, held at

that was the inspiration for the name of the ship.

Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez, the traditional finale to the Med season. She remains competitive at 117 years young.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

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MULLET BOATS 100 NOT OUT The Mullet Boats of New Zealand were originally built to fish, but for an unbroken century, they have chased a different prize: the Lipton Cup WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS NIGEL SHARP

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Main picture: Valeria

any racing classes have a particular trophy that owners covet more than any other. But over long periods of time, the continuity of competition for such a trophy is usually interrupted (wars and gales spring to mind as likely causes); or classes die out and their trophies are allocated to other classes. Auckland’s 22ft (6.7m) Mullet Boats are a remarkable exception to both those trends because, in May of this year, they completed a century of unbroken annual competition for their own coveted trophy: the Lipton Cup. It wasn’t until the 1880s that the term ‘Mullet Boat’ came into general use, but these local fishing boats had been developing since Auckland’s foundation in 1840, specifically for catching mullet in the estuaries within the Hauraki Gulf. Over time they evolved into craft with common characteristics: mostly around 24ft (7.3m) long, generous beam for load-carrying and stability, a shallow draught with a centreboard to allow them to access the shallow waters where the mullet were, and a small

cuddy to allow the crew (usually two, sometimes three) to occasionally sleep. Once a boat reached the fishing grounds the crew would drop the sails, brail the boom up parallel with the mast and out of the way, remove the transom-hung rudder and deploy the net over the stern, often in tandem with another boat. One or two large sweeps would be used for manoeuvering. Once the crew had loaded a respectable catch – often a ton or more – they would set sail for home. This was when the generous gaff sloop or gaff cutter sail plan of around 400sqft (37m2) came into its own. The fishing grounds were typically a good 20 miles away from the wharves of Auckland and directly downwind in a prevailing westerly, but the first boats to get back would secure the best price for their catch. Once back alongside, they would usually sell the fish direct from the boat to fish merchants, canners and individual members of the public. But by the early part of the 20th century the days of fishing for mullet under sail were numbered. This was CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

NZ MULLET BOATS mainly due to the development of powered vessels (and many sailing Mullet Boats were converted as such) but also because Auckland’s rapidly expanding population had exhausted the mullet stocks. Like so many other working vessels all over the world, the Mullet Boats had, for some years, been used for occasional recreational sailing, both cruising and racing. But what is unusual about the Mullet Boats is that the first boat built solely for pleasure purposes was launched as early as 1885. This was the 24ft (7.3m) Manola produced by Charles Bailey Snr – one of New Zealand’s best-known boat designers and builders of the time – for an architect called William Holder. It wasn’t long before other builders started producing Mullet Boats for racing in various sizes (18ft, 20ft, 22ft, 24ft and 26ft) and in significant numbers, and this coincided – not surprisingly – with the formation of a number of sailing and yacht clubs in the Auckland area around the turn of the century. During that period there were something like 70 Mullet Boats actively racing. In 1903, Ponsonby Regatta Committee took steps to introduce some rules on scantlings and principal dimensions of the three main classes (the 22s, 24s and 26s), but it was to be a few years before these were accepted by the boat owners and the clubs. Mullet Boat racing for all sizes thrived in the early part of the century but after the First World War the classes other than the 22s and 26s declined. In 1921 several of Auckland’s racing classes were given identification letters and from then on the 22ft Mullet Boats were designated ‘L’ while the 26s were ‘H’.

THOMAS LIPTON STEPS IN In 1904, Auckland’s Ponsonby Cruising Club, which had been founded just four years earlier, elected Sir Thomas Lipton as vice president, and the club’s secretary wrote to him to tell him. Lipton – who at that time had competed three times for the America’s Cup – wrote back to express his gratitude and they then exchanged photographs: he sent one of each of his three Shamrocks and the club responded with pictures of the club’s officers and various racing events. Lipton became well known for donating sporting trophies to clubs all over the world and so it was that in April 1920 he wrote to Ponsonby CC to say that he had commissioned a trophy which, he specified, should be “for annual competition,

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

and be open as far as possible to New Zealand yachtsmen generally.” There was then some debate among the club’s members about which class should compete for this magnificent trophy. Some thought it should be one of the Metre boat classes but eventually it was decided that the 22ft Mullet Boats were most deserving because they provided the keenest racing at that time. The first Lipton Cup race was held in April 1922 and was won by Valeria which had been designed and built by Arch Logan in 1913. The 26s died out as a racing class soon after the Second World War but the Lipton Cup, along with the continuing support of Ponsonby CC, is generally acknowledged as a fundamental reason why the 22ft Mullet Boats have survived as an active racing class to this day. Over 30 new 22ft Mullet Boats have been built since the Second World War, all but five of which were of timber construction (the exceptions being GRP boats built from a mould that was taken off seven-times Lipton Cup winner Taotane).

RECORD BREAKERS AND SINKINGS

Above: The Lipton Cup

Below: The interior of Valeria Below right: Arawa, a 26ft Mullet boat

The most successful Lipton Cup boat is Tamariki which Chas Collings designed and built for himself in 1934. She won the cup in 1935 and on a dozen subsequent occasions, including three hattricks (and is now in need of a new owner to restore her). Three other boats have won it four times in a row, Tamarau twice. Martin Robertson designed and built Orion II for himself in 1975. Whereas the older boats were built of single skin carvel planking – usually the wonderful New Zealand native timber kauri – on sawn frames in the early years and then steamed timbers, Orion II was cold-moulded with three 3/16in (5mm) layers of kauri, longitudinals in kahikatea and an iroko keelson and floors. Martin won his first three Lipton Cups in her, and very nearly his fourth, before selling the boat. But in 2007 he bought her back and then made some fundamental changes to her, mainly to the underwater sections which, he felt, were too fine forward and too full aft. He remedied this by cutting away the kauri skin and replacing it with new sections in strip-planked kahikatea glassed inside and out. Martin and Orion II then won two more hattricks of Lipton Cup victories. Veteran Mullet Boat sailor David Nigh has sailed in an astonishing 53 Lipton Cups, winning two of them in Tere Kanae, “And I am not sure how many times I’ve

MARITIMEMUSEUM.CO.NZ

NZ MULLET BOATS

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

GRAIG CARR

NZ MULLET BOATS

Main picture: Valeria Above clockwise from top left: The happy team aboard Rangi Manu; Onboard Valeria with MARITIMEMUSEUM.CO.NZ

Rueben (steering) and Ben; Racing; Orion II

Above:Tamaraki Winning 1937

MARITIMEMUSEUM.CO.NZ

Lipton Cup

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

come second,” he told me. He recalls that the heyday in terms of turnouts was the 1960s when there were generally 20-odd boats taking part. Despite their huge sail area, Mullet Boats can withstand severe conditions and David can remember sailing in two Lipton Cups in winds as strong as 40 knots. “On one occasion,” he said, “we were setting a spitfire jib and a full main because we couldn’t reef, but the main tends to billow inside out and hold the boat up.” On the day of the Lipton Cup in 1940, racing for all other classes throughout Auckland’s Waitemata Harbour was cancelled due to stormy weather, but the Mullet Boats still raced. But Mullet Boats have been known to sink. In the space of a year in the early 1920s, for instance, four did so and the owner of one of them drowned along with his 8-year-old son.David Nigh sunk twice in Tere Kanae due, he thought, to a narrow stern with insufficient buoyancy. He then modified her and solved the problem. One aspect of Orion II’s modifications had the opposite effect. By Martin’s own admission her side decks are now too narrow and were instrumental in a sinking resulting from the mainsail getting pinned against the new leeward backstay which wasn’t released during a tack. That was one of just two sinkings in the Mullet Boat fleet in the last ten years. Over the years Mullet Boat rigs have been modernised and nowadays almost all boats have aluminium spars, bermudan sloop rigs and mainsails with very pronounced roaches. Class rules limit mainsail sizes to 550sqft (51m2) and spinnakers to 800sqft (74m2) while there is no limit on headsail sizes, but the rigs must be fractional. The rules also limit the minimum weight of the bare hull to 1,800lb (816kg) and the internal ballast to 2,240lb (1,016kg). A couple of years ago, I enjoyed a cracking sail in Waitemata Harbour in Valeria, which at that time was co-owned by Ben Freedman, a professional boatbuilder, and Reuben Cameron. A spell on the tiller quickly gave me the opportunity to experience the enormous power of the rig translating itself, at times, into significant weather helm. But considering the size of the roach and the fact that the class rules still call for a rudder of the “barn door type”, that came as no surprise. Reuben and his girlfriend Emma had just come back from four weeks cruising on Valeria up to the Bay of Islands (about 120 miles north of Auckland) and out to Great Barrier Island. This seemed to me an impressive feat for a centreboard boat but Mullet Boats have established a reputation as great cruising boats over the years. David Nigh had a 22ft Mullet Boat called Martana built in 1988 for cruising and racing because, he said, “I was getting on and wanted some comfort but wanted to race at the same time.” In 1948 and 1949, the Lipton Cup took place despite a polio epidemic but Covid 19 nearly put paid to the

GRAIG CARR

NZ MULLET BOATS

Above: Eight of the nine mullet boats taking part in the 100th Lipton Cup

NZ MULLET BOATS LOA (MAX)

22ft (6.7m) LWL (MAX)

22ft (6.7m)

BEAM (MAX)

9ft (2.7m)

HULL AND BALLAST WEIGHT (MIN)

1,832kg (4,039lb) MAINSAIL AREA (MAX)

550sqft (51m2)

99th. This was initially due to take place in March 2020 when it had to be cancelled but, by the end of the year, the NZ Covid situation had improved considerably and so it was held in December: in the next southern hemisphere sailing season but still (just) in the right calendar year. The 100th Lipton Cup was also postponed, but this time to ensure it would take place without the distraction of another sailing competition which some people thought more important: the America’s Cup (in fact the two trophies currently reside about 200 metres away from each other, the latter at Ponsonby CC’s neighbours, the Royal New Zealand Yacht Squadron). On the day, nine 22ft Mullet Boats (which had previously won 46 Lipton Cups between them) came to the line, the oldest being the 1913 Valeria (now owned by Grant Macduff, commodore of Ponsonby CC) and the newest the 1998 Tamarau. The race started and finished with short legs in Waitemata Harbour, just downstream of Auckland Harbour Bridge, with the fleet venturing around North Head into the Rangitoto Channel between times. Tamarau and Tamatea (built in 1979 and eight-times winner) took turns to dominate the first half of the race, but coming back up Waitemata Harbour against a strong ebb, along with several other boats they kept close to the city shore, allowing Limited Edition (built in 1985 and five-times winner) to go from fourth to first after following the north shore. Orion II, after three brief spells at the front of the fleet, emerged as the best of the city shore boats but was two minutes behind Limited Edition as they began the last short legs. But Orion II gradually caught up and at the final mark overtook Limited Edition to take the winning gun by just 11 seconds. Racing was close for most of the fleet, with the first seven boats finishing in an eight-minute window after four and a half hours. “It was an extremely hard- fought race” Martin told me afterwards, “and I felt great joy and relief when it was over.” Many watched it from vantage points afloat and ashore, and afterwards there was a big celebration in Ponsonby CC’s packed clubhouse. “Needless to say, it was a good evening!” said Martin. See our short feature on New Zealand’s great boatbuidling timber types on pages 78-79 CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Saleroom

By Dave Selby

ONSLOWS

The art of poster impressionists

In the 1930s, as the super liners RMS Queen Mary and French rival SS Normandie battled for supremacy of the seas, regularly swapping the Blue Riband prize for the fastest crossing of the Atlantic, there’s no doubt the French contender won the publicity battle. French graphic artist AM Cassandre (1901-1968) was at the very forefront of the art deco movement, and his truly iconic 1935 Normandie poster, much pastiched in modern cruise ship advertising, is among the most collectible travel posters in the world. This example, with the odd blemish and slight tear, fetched £7,750, though pristine examples have commanded prices skyward of £10,000. However, if that’s beyond your pocket, the same auction offered nautical images that are eminently affordable. Many a sailor living in Ramsgate must be kicking themselves that they didn’t fork out £175 for the 1955 railway poster depicting the Kent port. Likewise the mere £87.50 paid for the 1960s French rail poster for the Côte D’Azur emphasises the accessibility of great lithographic splashes of colour that were once pasted all over hoardings but today survive in very limited numbers. Indeed, the last

ONSLOWS

two posters are far more rarely encountered than Cassandre’s iconic Normandie poster.

BONHAMS

With their lives depending on accurate timekeeping,

wryly noted, “it wouldn’t leave your person without

British navy divers were issued with the best and

an arm attached to it”. Today the very rare Royal

toughest waterproof watches from Omega and

Navy issue “MilSub” 5513 with oversize rotating

Rolex. However, though the pricey chronometers

bezel is among the most collectible Submariner

were specially developed for the rigours of military

variants, this 1973 example selling for £35,970 at

use, it seems that what went down didn’t always

a recent auction.

BONHAMS

Mystery of the missing Rolexes

come up, as on more than one occasion surfacing

But curiously, despite its solid strap bars, the

divers were heard to lament: “Oops, sorry sarge, it

MilSub 5513 has a much lower known survival rate

seems to have fallen off me wrist.”

than most other Rolexes, for of the 1,200 issued

“T” above depth rating denotes

only around 180 are accounted for. That could

tritium luminescence in place of

developed a military Submariner with a solid strap

explain why current Royal Navy

radium which was found to have

bar and nylon strap to ensure, as one Rolex expert

standard issue is a Casio.

To avoid these unfortunate accidents Rolex

unsafe radioactive levels

ELDRED’S

Token of humiliation Quite why GL Watson (1851-1904) should produce a half-model of the schooner America, which in 1851 initiated the longest losing run in history, is just one ELDRED’S

of the mysteries behind this exquisite half-model attributed to the esteemed Scottish designer who penned four defeated America’s Cup contenders. Another is the inscription “To WGJ from GLW”.

Watson and William G Jameson (1851-1939), scion of the Irish whisky

Watson present his colleague with a model of the schooner that is a

distilling family, were certainly intimately connected on the water;

totem of British humiliation? On second thoughts, that may be

Jameson, a renowned amateur helm, not only managed the 1901

exactly why American collectors battled it out to pay $16,250, an

Cup challenge of Watson’s Shamrock II, but was sailing master on

exceptional price for a half-model and more than twice top estimate.

the Prince of Wales’s Britannia, also by Watson. But why would

Eldred’s next marine sale, 19-20 August

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

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

40’ Starling Burgess Bermudan cutter built by Julius Petersen in 1934. Major rebuild completed in 2016 with new deck, frames, planking, rig, systems and interior, all professionally finished. Beta diesel, as new sails, 4 berths. A superbly finished and very elegant period yacht, ready to sail away. Class winner at Falmouth Classics 2019, a very competitive yacht. Devon £65,000

42’ McGruer Bermudan Sloop built in 1946. Mahogany on oak hull, lead keel and bronze bolts. Fractional sloop rig on alloy mast. Yanmar 29hp diesel installed new in 2019. 6 berths with plenty of original joinery. Dog house provides shelter at sea and 2 good berths. Well maintained yacht with very good performance and elegant looks, a true pedigree classic. Scotland £56,000

33’6” Dallimore gaff cutter built by Kings in 1924. Major rebuild in present professional ownership completed in 2015. Very pretty yacht in totally sound condition. Beautiful interior with much original pitch pine joinery. 2 good berths with plenty stowage space. Very beautiful and nicely finished classic yacht. Cornwall £25,000

21’ Herreshoff Islander Class built by Port Hamble Ltd in 1953. Designed as a small but capable day sailer with enough cabin to accommodate 2 berths. Mahogany on oak hull with iron keel. Rigging and sails new in 2015. At only 1.25 tons she can be towed on the road easily for cost effective sailing. In commission and ready to sail. Hants £5,750

39’ W.A. Souter and Son motor yacht, built by Clare Lallow Ltd in 1968. Interior fit out by Port Hamble Ltd. Cold moulded diagonal mahogany, cascover sheathed. In present ownership for over 40 years, new 315hp Yanmar diesels fitted in 2015, 24 knots cruising speed. 8 berths including 3 doubles with 2 heads compartments. Hants £59,950

45’ Gaff cutter built on Pilot Cutter lines and launched in 2012. A clever adaptation of the traditional design making her ideal for modern sailing with an elegant doghouse for shelter and slightly higher topsides giving a spacious interior with 10 berths. All bronze fastened larch on oak frames. Immaculate build and a stunning yacht, tried and tested over many voyages. Sussex £220,000

33’ Miller Fifer designed and built by Millers of St Monans. One of the finest examples of a Miller Fifer to be found, owned by a professional shipwright for many years she has a meticulous annual maintenance program. Ford 95hp diesel with 4 blade prop gives 7 knots cruising speed. Well equipped and ready to go. A superb example, 2020 survey report available. Devon £45,000

32’ Buchanan cutter built by Kings of Burnham in 1963 for Bernard Hayman, then editor of Yachting World Magazine. Iroko on CRE timbers, lead keel with bronze bolts. New mainsail in 2018. New Volvo Penta D1-20 fitted in 2016. 4 excellent sea berths. Capable and meticulously thought out boat with great pedigree. 2020 survey. Scotland £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.

Objects of desire NAUTICAL NOTES Another fascinating extract from the most recent Peter Harrington Rare Books 2021 Travel and Exploration catalogue, showing different rigs for the J-Class Shamrock, as drawn in a set of unpublished journals kept by a Royal Navy midshipman during a tour of the Gulf in 1930-33. Full set £125,000

peterharrington.co.uk

BRASS GALLEY PUMP Spectacular in the right location. The lever handle can be rotated for convenient operation. £235

classic-marine.co.uk

SAILING ART

SAILOR SOCKS

Sheena Bevis-White won the Classic

We can testify to the deluxe quality of

Boat Award at the Royal Society of

these Sailor Socks from Seasalt Cornwall,

Marine Artists four years ago. Since then

a company worth checking out for other

she’s produced many glorious sailing

nautical clothing. These stripy numbers

scenes and her recent online exhibition,

are made with enough elasticity to

on her website, has been a pleasure.

ensure they stay up and as you can see

This 10in by 8in oil of a ‘July Evening,

are quite eye-catching when sitting

Rock’ was sold for the Royal Cornwall

down. They are made of 80% bamboo,

Hospitals Charity Covid Fund, for £375,

which we’re assured is a “biodegradable

but there are many more available.

and sustainable crop, growing quickly on rainwater alone without the need for

sheenabevis-white.co.uk

harmful pesticides or fertilisers”. £35 for a box of seven pairs in giftbox.

SPINNAKER WATCH We are always a sucker for a nautically themed watch – so feast your eyes on the new Spinnaker Fleuss, available in two “colourways”, branded as an “elegantly functional dive watch dipped in an ocean of iconic design elements”. The Spinnaker pays homage to its namesake, the pioneering diving engineer and master diver, Henry Fleuss. £250

Spinnaker-watches.co.uk 32

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

seasaltcornwall.co.uk

NeilThompsonBoats

Built in North Norfolk Sailed the World Over

NeilThompsonBoats

Built in North Norfolk Sailed the World Over

Bjoern Kils / New York Media Boat

North Norfolk Marine Centre, Stiffkey Road, Wells-Next-The-Sea, NR23 1QB 01263 741172 info@neilthompsonboats.co.uk Bjoern Kils / New York Media Boat

www.neilthompsonboats.co.uk North Norfolk Marine Centre, Stiffkey Road, Wells-Next-The-Sea, NR23 1QB

ALBERTO GALASSI

At Riva’s helm Ferretti Group CEO Alberto Galassi on the strongest brand in boating – Riva

C/O HSD GSD GSDGSDG SDG SD

WORDS CLAIRE GRIFFITHS PHOTOGRAPH MARCO BUCCO

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

“W

hat’s most difficult is striving to keep the there. That was 15 years ago more or less.” Galassi still has quality at the same level as the maestro of it, the Aquarama 1970. “One of the last with a perfect hull. I yesteryear. I still sit at the desk he had in keep it at the Riva museum or at Casarola on lake Garda.” 1971 and I feel his pressure and the “Riva was that rare thing, a genius, like Enzo Ferrari” responsibility of the legacy.” says Galassi. “He took a company that made fishing boats So says Alberto Galassi, CEO of the yachting group Ferretti and turned them into the crème de la crème of day boats. that took over Carlo Riva’s shipyard in 2000. The desk sits in the Everyone – tycoons, icons of the decade, wanted to have one. ‘plancia’, (‘main Bridge’) designed by Carlo Riva, on the shores He was a genius but also super smart, funny, humble, and of Lake Iseo, near Bergamo in northern Italy. obsessed with detail. He was always looking at things/boats It’s up to Alberto Galassi to nourish the brand’s reputation as and saying ‘we should have done it this way’ – always the builder of the most beautiful motorboats in the world. looking for ways to improve. He was also brave: he crossed Born on 23 December 1964 in Modena, near Bologna, the Med to Greece in a Riva. He bought engines from the US, Alberto Galassi enjoyed “a fantastic state education in a system took gambles on innovative ideas. He drove a hard bargain! that was tough, serious and very committed”. He went on to “He was a manufacturer but his eye for beauty and style study international law at Modena University. Modena is still his were the key. He would not compromise on beauty, quality hometown, or at least the place he goes to change his shirt and and style. Riva was tremendously overpriced but he pulled it repack his bag. off thanks to the style and quality.” In 1999, Alberto joined Piaggio Aero Industries (now Piaggio Carlo Riva began his modern approach of taking a Aerospace), a multinational aerospace manufacturing company working vessel and turning it into a thing of luxury and that designs, develops, manufactures and maintains aircraft, pleasure in 1946. He chose precious woods like mahogany or aero-engines, aerospace components and aero structures. streaked oak which had to be perfectly seasoned, perfectly He says: “So I’ve done thirteen years cut and the exact right colour. The in aviation and seven in yachts. same method of varnishing and Aviation is a far more difficult and painting the boats hasn’t changed: complicated industry than yachting. 24 coats to make the wood as There’s nothing more difficult than highly polished and resistant to aviation, which is clear when you water and salt damage as possible. consider that there are only seven or All screw heads are orientated in eight major players in that industry. It’s the same direction and the screw super complicated.” heads painted exactly the same He adds, “I love yachting, it’s less colour as the hull. capital intensive and you can design, Riva tapped into the post-war build and launch a boat and see the fascination with speed and fast “Riva was results in a relatively short space of cars, from which a series of tremendously time. It’s much more rewarding. You runabouts flowed in the 1950s and can start a new generation of yachts 60s. It was the Aquarama that overpriced, but he and see it develop, see the customer’s made the company synonymous pulled it off, thanks pleasure.” with elegance and style. Twenty one to style and quality” Galassi has been boating on Rivas Aquaramas were sold in the first since he was 10 years old, when his year of production and a total of father bought “an elementary” level 769 models were built. The 60s and Rudy in 1974. “I love the sea,” he says, 70s were the years of strong “I love being on the sea in anything that floats, even a life vest hydrodynamic lines and horsepower. Later models included and I’ll be in the water. I can’t sit on the beach, it’s impossible, the Riva 2000, Saint-Tropez and Superamerica. you’d have to chain me down.” After the Ferretti takeover, the Aquariva 33 made its debut At the time of our chat, Galassi’s most recent foray onto the in 2001. Some 260 Aquariva 33 Super models were sold, water was the previous week when he spent one night on board making it Riva’s symbolic boat today. his yacht (just after Italian lockdown lifted). “Weather-wise it Alberto Galassi reflects, “I think the Aquarama is the most wasn’t the best night to be on board, but being back there again beautiful Riva but in some ways the Ariston is even more so. was like coming back to life. My boat is a Custom Line Navetta “Some brands are unbeatable, can’t be copied. There has 37 called MY Telli berthed at La Spezia.” The nickname his two to be a good reason for brands to last the distance; style and sons gave each other, a diminutive of ‘fratelli’, meaning brothers beauty don’t age. Today you see people on their 80-90m in Italian. The boat is a 121ft motor yacht. motor yachts, and they look over to watch a Riva go by. His favourite cruising grounds are the Amalfi coast for its They’ll wave, probably want to invite the passengers onboard!” “unimaginable beauty” and Sicily “for its history of civilisation, Carlo Riva clearly had vision but also a nose for marketing the food and hospitality.” and branding for which Galassi now carries the baton. His Galassi met Carlo Riva while keeping his Rudi 64 in Riva’s advice to others? “First, do you have a brand already? If so, marina at Porto Calo, Rapallo. It was Riva who persuaded him stay loyal to that tradition. Evolve, don’t change. Make sure he needed an Aquarama: Galassi explains. ‘‘You must have you stay loyal to tradition. If you’re a start up, don’t copy. It’s her!,” Riva cried. I said they were super expensive so he said go sad to be a lookalike, sad to be a follower. Enzo Ferrari used to Nautico Casarola on Lake Garda and get a secondhand one to say second place is first place of the losers.”

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Left to right: Corabia, Astra II, Myth of Malham, Griffin II, White MIst and Disdaine at the start of Class II

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

THE STORMY FASTNET OF 1957 The 1979 Fastnet is a race of unassailable infamy; but was the ‘57 race just as stormy? Was it, in fact, even stormier? WORDS NIGEL SHARP AND PHOTOGRAPHS BEKEN

he weather conditions in the 1979 Fastnet race, in which 15 sailors lost their lives, were notoriously atrocious, but for some sailors the conditions in the 1957 race were just as bad, if not worse, although luckily there were no serious casualties. The race started on the morning of Saturday 10 August in a south-westerly gale which soon took its toll amongst the 44 boat fleet. In the western Solent, the French yacht Aile Noire and the Windfall yacht Overlord

both retired into Yarmouth, the latter having broken her forestay. The rest of the fleet had a strong, favourable tide in the Needles Channel but that came at a price, of course, with the opposing wind resulting in big seas. It was here that the Household Brigade YC’s Gladeye carried away some gear and also returned to Yarmouth, and the American schooner Malabar was dismasted. 1957 was also the year of the first Admiral’s Cup. There were only two teams, however: the USA (the Philip CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

1957 FASTNET RACE Rhodes-designed Carina, and the S&S Figaro and White Mist, all three of them yawls) and Great Britain (John Illingworth’s Giles-designed Myth of Malham, the Robert Clark Jocasta and the Arthur Robb Uomie, all three cutters). The British team held an eight-point lead going into this fourth and final race of the Cup series. Carina had won the previous Fastnet and sailing aboard her this time was EP de Guingand, vice commodore of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC), who later wrote that in the area of the Bridge Buoy they had “as bad a sea as we had in the whole trip.” It was here that Carina fell off a wave, split a panel in a forward bunk and carried away her staysail tack strop. “The foredeck crew on the job were frequently invisible from the cockpit when they were covered by the sea and spray driving over Carina’s weather bow,” de Guingand wrote after the strop was replaced. As the fleet made its way down Channel, the retirements continued. Evenlode (with steering problems), Santander (with a serious leak, later found to be caused by a broken keelbolt) and the yawl Kormoran (with her running backstay deck plates tearing out) all returned to Cowes, while Uomie went into Poole with serious leaks. The Weymouth lifeboat had a busy night, first towing in the Dutch yawl Maze which had been dismasted in the Portland race, then going to rescue the German yawl Inschallah whose doghouse windows had been stove in. Among the boats that retired after crossing Lyme Bay were Max Aitken’s Drumbeat, most of whose winches were slipping, having stripped their pawls; Right Royal which had blow out her mainsail; RORC commodore Vernon Sainsbury’s Water Music, whose petrol tank was found to be leaking into the bilges; and Galloper from which, while she was making her way towards Brixham under trysail, a crewman fell overboard while emptying the gash bucket. He was recovered at the second attempt.

CLASS III – THE SMALL BOATS

BEKEN OF COWES

This was the first Fastnet Race for which Class III boats were eligible; up until then they had been considered too

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

small. One of the Class III entries was Adlard Coles’s Cohoe III designed by Charles A Nicholson whose son, Peter, was on board as principal helmsman. It was Peter’s first Fastnet race and he still clearly remembers the “frightful bash through the Needles” and the “horrendous conditions off Portland Bill on the first night.” The following evening, in better conditions but poor visibility, Cohoe was just east of Start Point. “By this time we were all pretty tired and our clothes were soaked through as oilskins in those days were not as efficient as they are today,” Peter told me. With the tide just turning against them, they decided to go into Dartmouth where they dropped anchor. Having launched the pram dinghy from its stowed position upside down on the coachroof, Adlard’s son Ross rowed ashore to buy some dry matches from a pub and to ring his mother to say they were safe. Once he was back on board they lit two primus stoves, and then “we put all our completely saturated clothes in a sail bag and chucked it in the fo’c’s’le, and we hung the clothes that we could salvage as merely damp on a wire through the saloon to be dried as much as possible. We then all turned in for a few hours rest.” Just before the tide turned, they set off again “feeling much happier and more comfortable.” On Carina the anthracite stove had already been lit, for the same reasons, on the first night and was kept alight throughout the race. “It was a great boost to morale,” wrote de Guingand.

CONDITIONS MODERATE Below: Maze from Holland sought respite in Weymouth but after leaving had th emisfortune to lose her mast

According to Yachts and Yachting magazine, the Royal Artillery YC’s St Barbara had “a gruelling time in the dangerous overfalls off Start point” where a sheet winch tore away from the coaming, forcing her to retire into Plymouth where she was joined by two other boats: Marabu with her mainsail luff track tearing out of the mast and serious deck leaks; and Hamburg VI with a crewman badly injured. Twenty-five boats had retired before the Lizard but by the time the leading boats got

1957 FASTNET RACE

Above: Bloodhound

Above: Crew of Carina

was fourth place

and the elapsed times

Main picture: Calliope VIII and

BEKEN OF COWES

Jancis

1957 FASTNET RACE there, the wind had moderated considerably. However, it was also veering which meant that, for many boats, the beat to windward would continue all the way to the Fastnet Rock. Carina rounded the rock first, at 1305 on the Tuesday, and, according to JD Sleightholme, writing in Yachts and Yachting, “her crew posted letters with some of the keepers who were off in a boat.” Behind her two more boats retired. Black Soo, which on the first night had sheltered off Weymouth for six hours having cracked her mast step, subsequently got to within 75 miles of the rock, when renewed gale warnings persuaded her skipper not to go on. Meanwhile Jancis, in big seas and light wind near the Wolf Rock, lost her mast when a shackle aloft let go. She managed to sail most of the way, very slowly, under jury rig to Newlyn, before accepting a tow for the last few miles.

HEAVY WEATHER WITH ADLARD COLES Cohoe III was having a very close race with her Class III rival, Elseli IV, designed, owned and sailed by Swede Gustav Plym. Elseli was about 15 minutes ahead when they rounded the Lizard on the way out and by now the wind was building again. “We had another hard blow across the Irish Sea and went down to mainsail or reefed mainsail only which Adlard was inclined to do,” Peter told me. “I didn’t like it very much at all and we went across the Irish Sea with the mainsail flogging. I thought the mast was going to fall out of the boat.” When they reached the Irish coast, they found themselves about 50 miles downwind of the rock and had “a nice beat in the sunshine” before rounding the rock just over 24 hours

Above: Carina’s prizes from the 1957 season

THE FASTNET COURSE Not surprisingly, last year’s announcement that the 2021 Fastnet Race would finish in Cherbourg – rather than Plymouth – caused some controversy. But it won’t be the first time it hasn’t finished in Plymouth and, in fact, it wasn’t until 1949 that what many consider to be the traditional course – starting in Cowes, through the Solent to the west and finishing in Plymouth – became established. The first race, in 1925, started from Ryde with the Isle of Wight left to starboard; the next six races also left the island to starboard, but started from Cowes; in 1933, having started from Cowes

after Carina and about 20 minutes ahead of Elseli. Coming back from the Rock, Cohoe had “an uncomfortable run, once again under mainsail only with very steep seas.” At one stage she went down a steep wave and hit the back of the next one which “came straight along the deck and knocked me off the tiller into the pushpit. I’ve never forgotten it,” said Peter. But Cohoe managed to maintain her lead over Elseli which was pooped twice and later carried away her spinnaker pole.

DRIVING LIKE THE DEVIL Ahead of them, Carina averaged 8.3 knots between the Fastnet Rock and Bishop Rock, then “drove like a devil for the line,” wrote Sleightholme. “She was leaking, her deck was lifting, her stringers, bulkheads and structures forward grinding and shifting, but she drove and kept driving.” She crossed the Plymouth finishing line soon after 8pm on Wednesday, having “pumped her way round the course with the water sometimes gaining on the pumps,” according to Yachting Monthly. Carina had seen no other competing yachts since leaving the Solent, apart from Black Soo after her retirement, and as soon as she finished, her crew were told that Drumbeat had arrived three hours earlier and had therefore beaten her by about 20 minutes on corrected time. By the time Carina had moored up, the misunderstanding was cleared up when it became apparent that Drumbeat had retired “and then the party really started,” wrote de Guingand. Carina’s victory and Uomie’s retirement allowed the Americans to close the gap in the Admiral’s Cup but the British held on to win it by just two points. Cohoe III arrived in Plymouth late on Friday afternoon, just over half an hour ahead of Elseli IV and more than four hours ahead on handicap. “Adlard was determined that we were going to beat this famous Swedish sailor and we did,” said Peter. These two were the only Class III boats to finish, from a race total of just 12: a higher DNF percentage than it would be in 1979. “It’s likely that the 1957 Fastnet will long be remembered as a classic of heavy-weather sailing,” wrote a Yachting Monthly reporter. “It was quite an experience for a first Fastnet,” said Peter, who went on to take part in the next 11 races.

and leaving the island to port for the first time, the race also finished in Cowes; and in 1935 it started from Yarmouth and in 1939 from Ryde.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

This year’s Rolex Fastnet Race starts on 8 August. See rolexfastnetrace.com

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

THE FUTURE IS YOUNG The Shipshape Heritage Training Partnership has been training a new generation of conservators to care for the future of Britain’s maritime heritage WORDS NIGEL SHARP

COURTESY BARBARA BRIDGEMAN

JESS CLAY

he Shipshape Heritage Training Partnership (SHTP) created and managed by National Historic Ships UK (NHS-UK), has its origins in 2010 when NHS-UK set up the Shipshape Network to promote regeneration of traditional skills and bring together people engaged in training schemes. As part of that, a survey was carried out to see what traditional skills might be in decline, and around the same time Hannah Cunliffe, then NHS-UK’s policy and project manager before being promoted to director in 2017, was approached by various operators of traditional vessels having difficulty recruiting people with a knowledge of rigs such as gaff, lug and sprit. So NHS-UK set up a working group to consider a training scheme. By good fortune, around the same time the Heritage Lottery Fund launched its Skills for the Future programme, “which was very much about trying to promote and regenerate traditional skills through training across the whole heritage sector,” said Hannah. After a bid from NHS-UK to be part of this proved successful, the first two-year programme – SHTP 1, which set out to develop knowledge and skills for maintaining, conserving and operating historic vessels – began in 2014. A fundamentally important part of the programme is the involvement of the partners of which, for SHTP 1, there were five: Sea-Change Sailing Trust, Excelsior Trust, Dauntsey’s School Sailing Club, Trinity Sailing and Scottish Fisheries Museum. Five trainees were selected for each year and each spent most of that year working with one of the partners “so that they could follow the whole cycle of what went into conserving and maintaining and operating a historic vessel over a 12-month period,” said Hannah. They also spent some time at the International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC) in Lowestoft which had devised a course to teach trainees a range of practical and maintenance skills. A few years later, the Heritage Lottery Fund launched a second Skills for the Future programme and this allowed NHS-UK to initiate two more one-year programmes: SHTP 2. “Having seen all the things that were great about SHTP 1,” said Hannah, “we had a

Main picture: Alanna Cameron and Teymour Kashani Dinghy building at IBTC Right: Trainees aboard the Lynher barge CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

SHIPSHAPE HERITAGE TRAINING PARTNERSHIP

COURTESY OF NHS UK

good look at everything that we could improve and build on.” The biggest change was to introduce two different training routes – traditional seafaring and museum ship-keeping – which had been effectively merged in SHTP 1; and three more partners were signed up – Royal Museums Greenwich (Cutty Sark), the National Museum of the Royal Navy and Pioneer Sailing Trust. This would allow five trainees to follow the traditional seafaring route and three to go for museum shipkeeping in each year. After almost 100 applications were received for the second year of SHTP 2, selection days were held around the country aboard traditional vessels, a deliberately informal setting. “No maritime experience or qualifications were required,” said Becky Treneer, SHTP project co-ordinator “but we could clearly see people’s passion, who had the aptitude and who worked well as part of a team – important qualities the project was looking for.”

from SHTP 1. For six weeks all eight trainees honed their practical and theoretical skills in diverse areas: joinery including planing, sawing, mortise and tenon joints, dovetails and scarfs; timber technology; lofting, planking and caulking; and fibreglass (but only a bit). After Christmas the three museum shipkeeping trainees left to take up their placements while the other five trainees remained at Lowestoft for another six weeks when they concentrated on more specific boat maintenance skills: planking repairs; painting, oiling and varnishing; spar making; sail making and repairs; rigging, including wire splicing, and leatherwork; welding, diesel engine maintenance, plumbing and electrics; and safe use of power tools. Then it was time for these five, too, to take up their placements.

Above left to right: Alanna Cameron and Pioneer; Belinda Cree small boat sailing; Kate Tatlow cleaning a figurehead at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich

TRADITIONAL SEAFARING TRAINEE

EXPANDING THE CONTENT

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Below: Teymour Kashani

COURTESY OF NHS UK

Another development from SHTP 1 was to expand the length and content of the induction period. So, after two days in Portsmouth in October 2019 – during which time, among other things, the graduating first-year trainees shared their experiences – the new trainees headed to the West Country. Over the following three weeks they visited the National Maritime Museum Cornwall including the small boat collection storage facility and workshops; the Rhoda Mary Shipyard in Truro where they saw Luke Powell and team nearing the end of the build of the pilot cutter Pellew; the Shipwreck Museum in Charlestown; the Brixham Heritage Museum; and they heard talks from experts in their fields. They spent several days on the Lynher barge in Plymouth Sound learning rowing, sculling, dinghy sailing, knot tying and navigation; and a day sail on the Brixham trawler Pilgrim. “The induction provided a valuable time to come together as a group and gain a broader insight into the maritime heritage sector,” said Becky. “And meeting various people who work with and share a passion for traditional vessels and heritage was incredibly valuable for the trainees, not least in picking up on their infectious enthusiasm.” On top of that they all gained various formal qualifications – VHF radio, Sea Survival, First Aid and Powerboat Level 2 – all of which would enhance their usefulness and employability in the future. Then it was time to move on to the IBTC at Lowestoft where the bespoke course had been developed following consultation with the partners and feedback

Jess Clay previously had a ten-year IT-based career in the education sector but had latterly developed a love of the sea while sailing on the brig Morgenster and then as a volunteer crew on the pilot cutter Amelie Rose and on Pilgrim. “It became harder and harder to go home to the nine-to-five after each trip,” she said. She was thrilled to get a place as a traditional seafaring trainee but just a month before she was due to start, Trinity Sailing, where she was due to take up her placement, went into administration. This only proved to be a temporary setback as it wasn’t too long before a suitable new partner was signed up, Falmouth Pilot Cutter, the organisation run by Luke and Jo Powell to build and operate Pellew and other vessels. “So it did work out quite well,” said Victoria Wallworth who had taken over as policy and project manager, “and we were still able to maintain the project’s geographical reach.” By starting their placements at the end of February, it was planned that the seafaring trainees would be able to take part in the last stages of winter refit work and fitting out before the start of the sailing season. “That’s much better than just getting on a boat when it starts sailing,” said Toby Marris, skipper of Dauntsey’s school’s Jolie Brise, “as it helps them get to know the boat intimately.” The unforeseen circumstances brought on by Covid 19 meant that this carefully planned timing would be affected, particularly for the traditional seafaring trainees as their time at sea would be significantly reduced. In the initial lock-down, the trainees kept in touch with each other and the NHS-UK staff with regular Zoom meetings. A series of online masterclasses were organised

JESS CLAY

COURTESY OF NHS UK

JESS CLAY

SHIPSHAPE HERITAGE TRAINING PARTNERSHIP

Clockwise from top left: Bessie Ellen on the slipway at Polruan; Bronwen Brakspear sculling; Josephine Leertouwer at Pioneer Sailing Trust; Jess Clay helming Pellew CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

SHIPSHAPE HERITAGE TRAINING PARTNERSHIP helping to make a plan to stall its degradation, conserving a section of one of Victory’s masts (which survives from the Battle of Trafalgar), and cleaning the brass and helping the riggers “doing everything from seizing to serving” on HMS Warrior.

JESS CLAY

TRAINING EXTENSION

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Above: Zoom call in during Covid lockdown

Below left: Hannah Fraser caulking at IBTC Below right: Kate varnishing Cutty Sark name boards

nationalhistoricships.org.uk/SHTP2Project

COURTESY OF NHS UK

and delivered by the project team and partners on subjects like instructional skills, chart work, rigging and the operational and administrative side of running a charter vessel. Tom Cunliffe spoke about different rig types and the finer points of seamanship, and a trainee from the previous year now working for Eco Clipper in Holland told her story. Three of the trainees did the RYA Day Skipper theory course. “So their time wasn’t wasted at all,” said Becky. “They learned a new range of skills, and it proved how important it was for them to work as a team even when spread all over the country.” As things eased, the trainees were able to take up their placements, although that initially tended to involve extended maintenance periods – generally to the great benefit of the boats, at least – rather than extended sailing. The previous year Matt Gregory had sailed with Jolie Brise to France, Iceland, the Faroes and Norway. Now Teymour Kashani, following in Matt’s footsteps, had hoped to log a similar mileage. “But all we were able to do was day sailing,” said Toby, “so Teymour now has a very intimate knowledge of the Solent and Southampton Water. He also got a great deal of sail-handling and boat-handling experience, and by the end of the season was able to park the boat – 60 tonnes, under-engined and with an offset prop – very well.” Although the sailing programmes of all the vessels were affected by the pandemic, alternative sailing opportunities were found. For instance, Jess, after a limited amount of sailing during Pellew’s sea trials, spent a month sailing the 1904 West Country trading ketch Bessie Ellen around the West Country, then helped with her slipping and laying up. Meanwhile the museum ship-keeping trainees were luckier in terms of disruption to their plans. They were able to attend various on-line courses during the initial lockdown and complete units of the NHS-UK Historic Vessel Conservation course; and then, resuming their placements when things eased, they were generally able to carry out their planned conservation and restoration work, in some ways more easily without the complication of museum visitors. Meshellae Payne, for instance, who had been volunteering with the custodian of wrecks on her home island of Bermuda before joining SHTP, was placed at the National Museum of the Royal Navy. Among the many tasks in which she was involved was a condition survey for HMS Victory’s elm keel and

Recognising that the trainees had missed fundamental parts of the programme, the project team was able to raise and allocate additional funds to enable an extension. This gave the museum ship-keeping trainees the chance to continue for an extra month last autumn, whereas their traditional seafaring counterparts chose to pause things during the winter – rather than spend yet more time on extended maintenance work – so that they can, with luck, benefit from a proper sailing season in the summer of 2021. Another essential part of the SHTP programme is the “rotations” which allow each trainee to temporarily leave their primary placements, normally for two periods of two weeks, to get experience with another placement. Not surprisingly, that was all but impossible in 2020 but it is hoped to fulfil this during the extensions. Covid 19 was bound to affect the programme, of course, but the degree to which everyone involved worked together to minimise the impact is impressive. From the points of view of the NHS-UK project team, the partners and the trainees, the four years of the programme has clearly been a great success, and has gone a long way to filling the void in traditional seafaring skills which was identified at the beginning. Furthermore, SHTP 2 has achieved its diversity targets with a total of eleven female trainees and two from BAME backgrounds. “It is a fantastic scheme,” said Richard Titchener of Sea-Change Sailing. “It’s the best of both worlds really because it isn’t too long and it gives people an awful lot of experience and valuable learning off the job as well as on the sailing side.” “The Shipshape Heritage Training Partnership has been our flagship project for the past few years,” said Hannah, “creating a strong network of training hosts from both operational and museum backgrounds, resulting in 26 graduate trainees with an empathy for maritime heritage and a raft of practical skills essential to the survival of Britain’s historic vessels. Although it will shortly come to its formal conclusion, I feel confident that we have established a framework on which we can build a lasting legacy for the benefit of the whole sector.”

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

FLIGHT OF FANCY Restoring the 1918 motor yacht Carina has been a 15-year journey for boatbuilder Joe Loughborough in Rhode Island. Now she’s turning heads in the Solent WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES PHOTOGRPAHS JOE MCCARTHY

Above: CB’s editor with Joe Loughborough in Carina’s wheelhouse

Above: Joe at the helm. The wheelhouse is huge, with headroom for basketball players Below left: The forward cabin, where the drawer fronts come from the Dorade restoration Below right: Saloon with galley through the doorway

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

CARINA

arina has been creating a bit of a stir in the Solent this early summer, ever since she arrived by transport ship at nearby Southampton early in June. Any large classic motor yacht will do that, and in Carina’s case, the black paint job and the canoe stern help the wow factor along nicely. Under way, that big American ensign sets the picture off, a flag that has always signified wealth and glamour and, these days, with an exciting hint of controversy about it too. The picture is intoxicating. Her owner Joe Loughborough is, in fact English. Joe is best known for his boatyard Loughborough Marine Interests in Rhode Island, and he is the man behind some of the most famous sailing yacht restorations of all time including three of the Sparkman & Stephens yawls: Dorade (52ft, built 1930 and probably the most successful racing yacht in history), Santana (55ft, built in 1935, once owned by Humphrey Bogart) and Skylark (53ft, built in 1937, and winner of countless races). When we met Joe in the June of 2018 at his yard in Rhode Island, he and the team were hard at work on the Phillip Rhodes bermudan cutter Kirawan, 53ft long, built in 1936, and winner of the Bermuda Race that year. Under shelter in the boatyard’s car park that summer was Carina, Joe’s own boat that he was busy restoring – or rather not, as every paying customer’s yacht must take precedence over yard boats. Joe’s life has been one long affair with sailing and, as the examples above show, saving the world’s finest sailing yachts, but when he first saw Carina advertised for sale in a 2006 issue of WoodenBoat magazine, he was smitten. After 15 years of TLC – time, labour and cash – Carina is finished, and Joe is looking as happy as ever in the wheelhouse as photographer Joe McCarthy and I make our way down the jetty outside the Jolly Sailor pub on the Hamble to the hammerhead where she is moored. Joe did say he’d bring her to England one day, not that you can ever take

Above: Making time in the Solent

a statement like that too seriously. It’s good to see him again, and on board with us today are brother Dominic and friend Phil Bennett. Those around the Solent who’ve been admiring Carina probably think she and her crew are as foreign as the ensign that flutters from her stern, but really, Joe has come home, for this is where he and his four brothers, all sailors, were raised. Carina was built by Fred Lawley in Dorchester, Massachusetts in 1918, for an LH Spaulding. Not much is known about her original owner or his purpose, much less a design brief or even an original name, which might – or might not – have been Seafarer II. It is interesting though, particularly for non-American readers, to note the build number of 875.

THE BOATBUILDING LAWLEYS

Above: Original features include Tiffany lamps

The Lawley name, though well known in the USA, is relatively obscure in Europe. The Lawley boatbuilding story, which began when British emigré George Lawley founded the company in 1866, expanded rapidly under George Jr (clearly the old man adopted the American style of eponymous succession), and from 1890 to the outbreak of World War Two, the venture spread over 20 separate sheds with more than 500 staff. Fred Lawley (1878-1953) studied yacht design at MIT and took over the yard’s design department two years after that. He became known not for any radical thinking in design but for his “sound construction practices and selection of the best materials for which Lawley and Son was famous” (Encyclopaedia of Yacht Designers). Among the many motor cruisers he designed, Aloma (1927), Pot o’ Gold (1929), Maebell (1929) and Welcome (1910) still survive. Although Lawley’s motor yacht output as a whole was undistinctive, critics of the day “found much to admire in their beauty of line, comfort under way and the excellence of their finish, especially below decks.” Carina, then, comes from a builder with a fine eye for CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

CARINA

quality of build and line, at the height of its zenith, and her own design is highly unusual in the canoe stern. Another distinctive feature is the double-stepped, or ‘scalloped’ sheerline. At some point not long after her launch, she was renamed Old Glory, a name she kept most of her life. In 1923 she was sold to GB Kimball who had the Henry B Nevins yard at City Island, New York, design and build the wheelhouse that she still has today. It is a quirk of her original design that the original, slant-fronted wheelhouse was desperately out of scale with the rest of the boat, but Nevins were highly experienced and well renowned for their sympathetic retrofits. The many yachts today that had Nevins alterations tend to keep them and value them to the same degree that they value the rest of their boats. In 1930 to legendary racing yachtsman Robert N Bavier Sr, winner of three Bermuda races among his long list of achievements. In 1939, she was bought by George P Bonell, commodore and co-founder of the Cruising Club of America. Bonnell held onto Old Glory for more than four decades and took her to Nova Scotia, Greenland, Bermuda and the Windward and Leeward Islands. The rest of the time she was kept at various places on America’s eastern seaboard. In 1980 she was sold to Edgar B Caffrey, then in 1991 to William R Skinner in the Boston area, who raised a family aboard. When Joe found Old Glory in 2006, he changed her name to Carina. That was the easy part. 52

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Above clockwise from top left: The distinctive flat wheel drives the rudder by worm drive, via cables, to the quadrant; The aft deck... note the dinghy davit; Forward heads detail; Aft deck showing seating and hatches

HUNTING FOR SUN We’re hunting for sun from the minute we cast off, so Joe the photographer can get some decent shots. As we go, Joe Loughborough tells me the story of Carina’s 15year journey back to her original condition. He starts his account with the best intention, year by year, but with any restoration project of 15 years’ duration, things blur into each other. And, although, there is not “a square inch on the boat” that Joe has not touched, her original build (as befits the description of Lawley’s careful material selection earlier), seemed to be sound. The hull is classic American carvel, 3/4in (75mm) yellow pine on the outside, 1/2in (50mm) cedar on the inside. The framing is moderate, on roughly 13in centres with every third being a sawn, or “futtocked” as Joe calls it, the intermediates being steamed. This planking, common in American boats of the era an later, is almost a missing link between plank-on-frame and later construction methods like cold moulding or double diagonal, many of which used the strength benefits of multiple, thinner planking layers. The double carvel method with staggered seams used on Carina and many others gives a stronger, lighter, more waterproof boat, but you can imagine it’s the devil to rebuild or repair. In Carina’s case, the damage, as is so often the case, was not internalised from the start in the boat’s build or design, but added by owners over the years. In common with many liveaboards, repairs and alterations were made quickly and cheaply, without the ability to empty

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

CARINA

the interior for access. That meant, in short, lots of plywood panelling over original beams, and Formica in the galley and heads. Formica is gaining in popularity for authentic period restoration work (think 1950s-70s) but it has no place on a yacht built at the end of the First World War. “My mission on this boat was to get rid of Formica and ply” is how Joe put it. As anyone who’s ever ripped panelling off will know, it’s what is hiding underneath that is a concern. Worst of all was the concrete poured into her bilges at some point in her 103-year life. Carina is very easily driven. Joe has seen 10.5 knots out of her, and she’ll cruise happily at just 1 knot less. And that’s from an old-fashioned, simple boat with a single diesel – a solid, 1960s era Caterpillar P3330 of 140hp – driving an old-fashioned propeller on an external shaft and P-bracket. As we motor across the Solent towards Cowes, it’s noticeable that she doesn’t leave even a hint of wake. The sea is criss-crossed with leisure boats, mostly heavy planing craft at low speeds raising tsunamis of wash behind them, we deviate often to take the wash head on, marvelling at how inharmonious the motion of modern motorboats is – never mind their appearance. And never mind the fuel

CARINA DESIGNER

Fred Lawley BUILT

1918 LOA

58ft 9in (17.9m) BEAM

12ft 4in (3.8m) DRAUGHT

3ft 11in (1.2m) ENGINE

Caterpillar 3330 (140hp) REFIT

Loughborough Marine Interests, 2006-21

Left: Gullwing skylights on the foredeck

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

bill. A modern planing cabin yacht of similar size will be burning as much as 10 times what Carina does, which sips about three gallons an hour at a cruising speed of 10 knots. We chuckle about on board. Later, alone, I marvel that it’s still legal. We walk to the aft deck which, with the large wheelhouse completes the main deck accommodation. This was originally almost entirely covered by the yacht’s dinghy, upsidedown on chocks. Now, Joe uses a tiny inflatable with a 2hp, and has kept one of the original davits to hoist it in and out (the foredeck also has an anchor davit, still in use). The aft-deck canopy is not original, but was added during the restoration. It’s been beautifully done in naval brass and (for the bits you can’t see) in stainless steel and the rear-facing bench seats and table are a great place to sit when Carina’s going into the wind - when the wind is following, the foredeck has forward-facing bench seats. Inside Carina, the finish is plain and, being a boatbuilder’s boat, in the best of taste. The Tiffany lamps are original, as is much of the trim, which is in Cuban mahogany, which glows. Joe had no original photos to work from, but at least he had the original general arrangement. Mostly, he has kept things original, or close to it, but to make life more comfortable, he has enlarged both heads. The bow heads, which are ensuite to the double cabin up there, are relatively palatial, with a shower. The aft heads and galley have also been enlarged, and in the later, the Formica replaced with a zinc worktop. Thankfully, despite what might sound like a painfully long restoration, Joe has been able to get good use out of the boat for most of that time, by sticking to the ‘work in winter, sail in summer’ principle. He has now put Carina up for sale, but he’s in no rush. He’s clearly enjoying being back home, and the English regattas await then maybe the French canals afterwards.

Working Sail

Anne T. Converse PHOTOGRAPHY

Traditional Shipwrights Offering New Builds, Restoration & Repair

MARINE • TRAVEL • EQUINE PEOPLE

P.O. Box 209 Marion, MA 02738 | USA 508 728 6210 anne@annetconverse.com www.annetconverse.com ANNE T CONVERSE IBC CB Aug19.indd 1 Untitled-147 1

Working Sail Ltd, Rhoda Mary Ship Yard, Truro TR1 2SU

www.workingsail.co.uk • Email: info@workingsail.co.uk Telephone: 07790 638084/ 07814 008290 26/06/2019 01/03/2019 17:34 14:53

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

AFFORDABLE CLASSIC Jolly Boat

By Peter Poland

BARRY PICKTHALL/PPL

LESS THAN £10K

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Clockwise from top: Jollyboats racing in 1959; London Boat show at Earl’s court 1959; Allan Vines, (left), technical director of Fairey Marine with boat designer Uffa Fox

JOLLY BOAT

LOA

18ft 10in (5.5m) BEAM

On the market

5ft 2in (1.6m) Jollyboat J26 (using

DRAFT CB

borrowed J28 sails in

DOWN

photo!). Fairey hull finished by Blagdon in

4ft 9in (1.4m)

Plymouth. Registered

WEIGHT

in 1955. Guide price

260lb (118kg)

£1,000 andrewrichardson.62@ gmail.com

SAIL AREA

160sqft (14.6 m2)

CURREY ARCHIVE / PPL

PHOTO COURTESY OF: FISHING BAY YACHT CLUB

“I

n the 1950s and 60s, a racing dinghy from Britannia ruled the waves: the Jollyboat. From Massachusetts to Georgia, from Long Island to the Great Lakes, the Jollyboat spread the gospel of high-performance sailing to a new generation of racers.” So wrote a member of Fishing Bay YC in Deltaville, Virginia; one of many clubs in the Chesapeake area to form Jollyboat fleets. Uffa Fox designed the Jollyboat in 1950. Already renowned for designing the first International 14 to plane and post-war winners such as the Firefly and Flying 15, he teamed up with Fairey Marine who started producing Jollyboats in 1953. Established in 1946, Fairey Marine was formed as a spin-off to Fairey Aviation who had built wooden airframes, one of the most famous being the Swordfish Torpedo Bomber. Fairey’s hot-moulded wooden hull construction meant that these post-war dinghies had an exceptional strengthto-weight ratio... and performance to match. So where and when did Uffa’s idea germinate? While competing in a wet, windy Firefly Championship in Ireland, he dreamed up a new design that would suit people of his advancing years. He later wrote in his book Sailing Boats that people in their 50s often get “a bit thick aft,” adding that “being past 50, I was a long way around the equator and this made it difficult to move swiftly in a 12ft dinghy. So during the race, as well as the difficulties in tacking, I also realised that 12ft-14ft dinghies were no longer ‘my cup of tea.’ What I needed was a more sedate boat, and while racing in all this wind I designed the 18ft Jollyboat. “I could see in my mind’s eye just the sort of boat I wanted. It was a boat with all the fun and excitement of a Firefly, but half as long again, because I reasoned that if a 12ft dinghy took twelve seconds from one tack to the other, an 18ft boat would take eighteen seconds and I would have 50 per cent more time to cross onto the other gunwale. Beside this, the 18ft boat would have a crew of three, so I should be relieved of the main sheet and only have the tiller to contend with in tacking and manoeuvring. “I thought that if we put a great deal of beam into this 18-footer we should defeat the object, because the boat, instead of being lively and fun, would get sluggish. I still wanted to sail a fast boat but one that would take longer in tacking. So after the race was over and I had changed, I sketched out the 18ft Jollyboat. “I realised that as well as being fun to sail, she would also make a good picnic boat as there would be room to

put in a net for prawning, buckets and spades; and her length would give room for four or five people to go off for a day picnic. So she would be a dualpurpose boat.” As usual, Uffa’s design took off. He said the Jollyboat was faster than any other single hull dinghy over a measured distance. In 1954 Charles Currey sailed one in a Force 5 over a distance of five cables (926m) at a speed of 13.4 knots. Later in the same year Ralph Vines put up an average of 17.8 knots over three runs in the smoother waters of Edgebaston Reservoir. It’s ironic that Uffa designed the Jollyboat in his advancing years to give himself more room and time to move about when tacking. It turned out to be the fastest dinghy he ever designed and fleets soon sprung up in the UK, USA, Canada and Australia. Over the years, GRP versions were built in the USA and Australia, and developments such as trapezes, bigger rigs and more efficient rudder shapes were introduced. I briefly owned a Jollyboat in the 1970s, keeping her on a trolley beside a slipway in Woodbridge, Suffolk. Each time I took her for a spin on the Deben, I was amazed at her effortless power and speed. The one time I capsized her, my crew and I somehow managed to hang on then clamber back on board without a dunking! The last British Jollyboat Association event took place in 1971 and since then owners have kept in touch via the very informative Jollyboat section in the Classic & Vintage Racing Dinghy Association (cvrda. org, run by Jollyboat owner Ed Bremner). Bosham SC runs various classic series including the Bosham Classic Boat Revival (boshamsailingclub.com) while CVRDA puts on nationwide events (12 scheduled in 2021). So very jolly times can still be enjoyed by Jollyboat owners.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

DAVEY & CO

A POLISHED ACT The world’s most famous chandler is under new ownership, in a new premise and full of fight. High time we paid a visit, then WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

avey & Co is one of those British marine companies that has entered folklore. The name is as ubiquitous as the sky over our heads, but that level of fame is paradoxically quite risky for a company. I remember another great pillar of British yachting history, Ratsey and Lapthorn the sailmakers, explaining that many customers just didn’t seriously think they could possibly still exist, such is their place in the imagination. Davey suffers the same effect. I put my theory tentatively to Jeff Webber, the new MD, who concurs immediately. “We do hide in plain sight” is how he puts it. The truth is that Davey has never been busier since coming under the new ownership

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

of John Buckley, who also owns Harbour Marine Services, earlier this year. Their latest premises is a modestly attractive, large industrial building on the outskirts of Colchester, filled with the optimism of light and air. There’s an air of industry about the place, from the ringing phones in the office to workshop floor, where endless high storage racks contain almost everything apart from timber that you’d need to build or rebuild a traditional boat. A trolley dash here would be legendary. The office itself unremarkable but some of the artefacts here go all the way back to Davey & Co’s beginning in 1885. The old company books are amazing tattered tomes of such absurd size that they make the

DAVEY & CO THROTTLE Brookes & Adams quadrant engine control

FORGED RING

CAST BRONZE DUCTS

BOLTS

Vent grill

High-load FAIRLEAD

manganese

Straight fairlead

bronze

in gun metal

RAKED GUN METAL BOLLARD CLEAT 1129/GM

SILICON BRONZE BOAT HOOKS Left to right: Single boat hook; Double-headed boat hook in bronze; Grabit boat hook

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

DAVEY & CO

Domesday Book look like a free paper. Jeff and I open one up, and just handling one gives you the feeling that you probably ought to be wearing white gloves. The original time clock is here, the original ledger desk, even the original illuminated shop sign dating from the days when the shop was based in West India Dock, London. Amid the endless copperplate handwriting of the order books, we spot Berthons of Lymington in 1903 and 1904. Navies around the world were customers a century ago – and they still are: Davey supplies the French, British and American navies. A recent order was for lead lines for the Royal Navy. This is not because of military cost-cutting: British ships of war do have the latest technology, but sailors must still learn the traditional ways, particularly these days when there is 60

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

THE HISTORY Above left: the popular Grabit boat hook, still picking up buoys today Above right: Old order book

the threat of an EMP (electromagnetic pulse) strike or computer hacking: as the safety of modern ways seems increasingly unsure, the old things offer a physical comfort that’s irreplaceable. Keeping on top of orders is a feat of logistics. Davey’s product line is around 2,500 products and as we wander through to the loading area, we have a quick look at the outgoing post: it’s like a Masefield poem. Today, there’s oakum, bronze portlights, caulking cotton, Jeffrey’s No1 deck glue and more going out to South Africa, Ireland, Holland and New Zealand. The company’s range has been expanded by the recent partnership with another old British metal-working firm: Brookes & Adams Yacht Fittings. Where Davey and Co are sand-casters, a great way of making short runs of

DAVEY & CO

almost anything, Brookes & Adams’ process, forgestamping, can create large numbers of items much more economically: their range of cleats, shackles, bollards, and more come off the fly press ready to sell, whereas the Davey & Co process is far more fraught. Davey, unsurprisingly, makes its hardware the old-fashioned way, and to its own patterns, most of which have remained unchanged through two world wars and a glassfibre boatbuilding revolution. Castings are mostly in bronze, which comes in a variety of formulations to suit the job in hand: there is LG2 bronze (gunmetal), aluminium bronze, which is even stronger, naval brass, normal brass, dezincified bronze for use below the waterline, where it is more resistant to galvanic action, and more. The raw metal is first melted

THE PROCESS Clockwise from top left: Pouring the scum off molten bronze; Pouring the bronze into sand casts; The cast items, still on the runner; Linishing; Polising; Machining

then poured into moulds in sand boxes for casting, then broken free once set. This happens at a variety of foundries, all in Britain. The reliability of this stage of the process is nothing like die-casting: in fact, by the time they reach Davey and Co for quality control, only around 26 out of every 40 cleats pass muster. The problem is generally caused by voids, which is where moisture in the casting sand boils under pressure and causes light pitting in the surface of the finished article. Machining and finishing is finished at Davey, in the new workshop there, where we watch Tony and James at work. The process starts with cutting the finished items from the runners and risers on the bandsaw. Any cutting or drilling is carried out on a simple drill press, the metal lathe or the huge Ajax milling machine. From CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

DAVEY & CO

there, they are linished (sanded) on huge, 3hp polishing lathes. This, and the polishing that follows, with compound and felt disc, are skilled jobs, and not without their dangers. It is only at this stage that metalware can be inspected for quality, and Davey sets the bar high, leading to that ruinously high rejection rate of 35 per cent. Next we meet James, who has been associated with Davey on and off for so long that neither he nor Jeff know quite how to count it. Let’s call it half a century. James is the engineer here, leading the modernisations that even a company like Davey has to put in place. He’s fiddling with LEDs inside old-style lemon squeezer lamps while we chat. He’s nearly 80 and will soon hand over to Kyle, who we also stop to talk to on the shop floor. Kyle started as an apprentice at the Pioneer Trust and learned shipwrighting under Brian Kennel. “We take people on sometimes without a firm role in mind,” says Jeff. “As we get to know each other, we work out what role would best suit that person.” There is currently a total of just seven employees, which seems quite slim for a light manufacturing company with orders around the world, but Davey works with many subcontractors in Britain to reach that product range of 2,500. With year-on-year turnover looking to double since the new ownership and management, that eighth new employee is sure to be followed by others. Upstairs, we look through the old things – this is the stuff of Aladdin’s dreams. A large mezzanine is almost entirely covered with treasure. A huge congregation of old oil navigation lamps takes centre stage and around it lies every sort of chandlery under the sun, dating all the way back to the late 19th century. One cardboard box after another is filled with coir fenders, cowl vents, cleats, boathooks, shackles, mast hoops, rowlocks, fairleads, ensign sockets, stanchions, cabin lamps and more. There is even a set of old letter press style printing blocks hand-engraved with beautiful images of wooden blocks and everything else that used to appear in their well-known catalogue, a book that still assumes the status of the Bible at Davey. The last thing Jeff points out is a mysterious bladed implement on the end of a long, wooden pole. Apparently these were – and still are – used by Trinity House to clear the weed and algae from their buoys. This 62

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

TEAM WORK Top left: Jeff, holding door, and engineer James Top right: Tony at work on the lathe

BELEAYING PINS In bronze and wood

DUAL PURPOSE CLEAT AND FAIRLEAD Open topped, in gun metal

place is like a museum, but better, because the shambolic, uncurated presentation carries a whiff of discovery. It’s almost pointless to ask what Davey and Co’s future plans are. For a company with such a well-defined aim (to manufacture or otherwise stock and provide all manner of traditional chandlery around the world), the future is never going to be radically different to the trajectory over the last 136 years. Some things never change: the most popular items are still Jeffrey’s Number One Marine Glue (by value) and the 1084 pattern pillar cleat (by numbers sold). If something ain’t broke... There have, however, been a few changes other than the big ones since the new ownership. The most important has been increasing the level of stockholding, so when people need parts they are there and ready to go. This has meant more than just the ability to clear orders more quickly: word of increased availability seems to have got around, as that increase in stockholding has led to far more orders than those needed just to clear the extra stock. It’s a case of ‘build it and they will come’, it seems. One of the company’s core tenets, which won’t be changing, is the manufacture in Britain of the whole product range. However, that range is set to increase both by looking to the past and the future. Jeff is very keen to rationalise the archives, and bring back more original products, while engineer James (and, soon, Kyle) will be tasked with developing the range of traditionallooking items to suit modern needs. The brass step lights, which are recessed into the risers of stairs, are a good example of a modern lighting solution that can be made to look as though it belongs on an antique yacht, along with the LED-powered lemon squeezer lamps. Mast downlighters are another growth area: the concept is more modern than 19th century, more superyacht than Riddle of the Sands, but Davey’s version is so elegant that you’ll forgive it. Most of all though, Davey will continue to provide boatbuilders around the world with the things they have always needed and probably always will. “I had a call from a man who’d bought an old yacht and was restoring it,” said Jeff. “The design he was looking at specified ‘part 1078’ and he wondered if that meant anything to us. Imagine his surprise when I told him it was a 6in open cleat and we had one on the shelf that day!”

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

With 30 years of experience specialising in traditional and electric boats we will do our best to find the ideal craft to suit your individual needs — for a day or for a lifetime. With 30 years of experience specialising in traditional and Forwill more electric boats we doinformation our best to contact find the ideal craft to suit your individual needs — for a day or for a lifetime.

HENLEY SALES

AND

CHARTER LTD

For more information contact

+44 (0) 1491 578870 | sales@hscboats.co.uk www.hscboats.co.uk HENLEY S ALES AND CHARTER LTD

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.”

www.makewoodgood.co.uk

Support and advice on: +44 (0)1732 824 700 CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

TOM CUNLIFFE

SPREADING THE WORD Sailing on a Brixham Trawler with a modern sailing school who believe in real seamanship brings back memories... ILLUSTRATION CLAUDIA MYATT

ne of the benefits about writing for Classic Boat is that readers know what I’m talking about. This isn’t always the case on today’s waterfronts where general ignorance of things traditional can bring one up with a round turn. I’ve stepped off a big Essex smack to be asked by a passing yachtsman if she’s a Thames Barge and, if that’s not enough, I’ve doubted my will to live when confronted by a card-carrying member of the Yachtmaster party painstakingly coiling a rope anticlockwise. It’s easy to dwell on what we might see as the cultural divide, but deep down most of us would rather rub along happily with the neighbours. I’m all for building bridges, so I was delighted this spring to sail on the gaff cutter Golden Vanity under the auspices of First Class Sailing in Southampton. First Class is a modern, RYA-approved sailing school using up-to-date yachts with all the programmes from Comp Crew to Yachtmaster Offshore and Ocean. They also offer online theory courses, everything else you can think of and some things you can’t. Where they differ from the throng is that they believe there’s more to seamanship than winding a winch and parking a fin-andspade yacht in a tidy marina berth. Golden Vanity has joined their fleet to prove them right. As we all know, traditional craft differ from one another dramatically, so for someone who has run up much of his offshore mileage in pilot cutters, a sailing trawler comes as something of a surprise. Built for comfort and power rather than speed, they move and manoeuvre at a far more stately pace. Golden Vanity is no exception. A Brixham ‘mumblebee’ constructed as a yacht to fishing boat spec before WW1, GV is so hefty that it’s hard to believe she’s a shave under 40ft on deck. Except when getting into a scrum around the mast, she feels more like 50. In all honesty it must be said that working her to windward in light airs is for neither the faint-hearted nor the impatient, but when the breeze pipes up and she bears away onto a reach, she creams along with such effortless ease that I keep thinking, ‘I could happily go around the world like this.’ Her own crew of volunteers, augmented where it counts by the Elephant Boatyard, have managed ably on refitting her; the mate and her skippers have come solidly to grips with operating her and she’s doing a real job again, just as she obviously wants to.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Forty years ago, I made an assay into similar territory while signed on as a permanent instructor at what was then the National Sailing Centre in Cowes. This was a classy establishment run by the Sports Council. We worked closely with the RYA developing the Yachtmaster scheme as well as sailing a contemporary racing yacht for the RORC. We were even properly paid. Whatever one’s personal history, the place reached so widely in its curriculum that every instructor learned a great deal from the others. The one thing it didn’t have was a classic yacht or working boat. Before taking this version of the King’s Shilling, I had recently returned from a short-handed voyage around the morth and south Atlantic in a gaffer with no workable engine. To find myself tearing about the Channel in a Contessa 32 and a state-of-the-art race boat was highly enjoyable but I did feel I was selling the customers short, so I mounted a campaign to acquire a vernacular gaff-rigged boat. I expected short shrift from the management, but they had more vision than I had credited them with, and before long I found myself in charge of a 55ft Brixham trawler yacht. Regard was built by John Upham in Brixham in 1933 for a gentleman who planned a voyage to South Africa in search of treasure, or diamonds, or some such exotic scheme. Like Golden Vanity, little compromise had been made on scantlings when compared with the fishing trawlers for which the yard was well known. Her gaff ketch rig was classic trawler and, except for being fifteen feet or so shorter on deck, she was the actual business. When Regard first came to me, she was rigged for tradewind sailing with two heavy square yards permanently aloft and the gear that went with them. Her sails were of deeply tanned flax canvas, which gave them a lovely feel but meant that any sailors rash enough to submit to their embrace would ruin their Sunday suits. They were well past their sell-by date in terms of shape if not strength. In the couple of years we had her, we never blew one out, but the camber of the mainsail had drifted so far aft that it was, as one of our racing skippers observed, all drag and no lift. She had some mighty headsails and her bowsprit was of extraordinary length. We shipped it every docking with gear so good that it made the job simple. The varnished spar looked sound enough but, as we were to find out at a bad moment, all that glistens is not necessarily solid. At this time in her long life, Regard reached and ran beautifully, but her windward performance was so pitiful that

drastic action was called for. My budget would not stretch to new sails, so instead we struck her square yards and carted them ashore. I couldn’t believe the weight she had been carrying, but that’s trawlers for you. ‘Powerful’ hardly does them justice. Relieved of this top hamper, she stood up a whole lot better and, since we could do no more, we made the best of what we had. Despite her otherwise excellent pedigree, her sorry upwind performance sometimes left my mates and I with little option but to motor home at the end of a week’s course in order to deliver our students to their loved ones in time for Friday supper. We always sailed her with an experienced gaff skipper and a highly competent general professional sailor as mate. With such an afterguard backed up by reliable machinery you might think, ‘What could possibly go wrong?’ But the sea has its little ways… Once I was in Hamble on Friday lunchtime with a falling tide and Cowes looked an easy sail. However, the wind dropped away, leaving little choice but to motor. My mate was a man who became famous in yacht racing circles and was already well known for his navigation. We were both Yachtmaster Examiners. As we approached the mouth of Southampton Water, a sea breeze kicked in. It was, of course, smack on the nose. I looked at the mate. He shook his head. That was good enough for me. The teapot was calling in Cowes and we kept on motoring until a lady of some stature came tramping aft and demanded that we get some canvas

hoisted. She, having paid her money to go sailing, considered motoring in a nice breeze an insult to her and to the ship. Such was the power of her personality that we two experts caved in, set that wretched main, knocked off the motor and bore away towards Calshot Spit with no mizzen up. We were still organising a jib when the mate noted we were standing outside the deepwater channel. ‘Better tack now,’ he said. I wound the wheel over. The boat started to round up but you could tell straight away she’d never make it. She almost got as far as ‘stays’ before stalling and sagging off onto a beam reach, straight for the shoals. ‘Quick, give her the jib!’ I called. He did and he put the biggest bloke on the halyard purchase. This stalwart delivered all he had and I watched in horror as the iron bowsprit traveller munched its way into the spar, which folded up neatly in slow motion. Without a mizzen or a jib there was no way she was going to tack, so on we went, two examiners crunching solidly onto the gravel with headgear around our ears. The engine saved the day before anyone of importance had noticed our plight, but we had some explaining to do for the students about the difference between a trawler ketch and a Contessa 32. I don’t know how much they took in from the experience, but my mate and I learned a sharp lesson in humility.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Getting aﬂoat

WINDSOR BELLE

Thames day-tripping under steam Here’s something a bit different – charter rather than sale and steam rather than sail! Windsor Belle is a breathtakingly elegant teak steam launch of 60ft (18m), built by Burgoine on the upper Thames in 1901. She was converted back to steam and restored in 1986 and today looks immaculate; the period detail of her fit-out is something else. She’ll take up to 35 guests day-tripping or 24 for a sit-down meal, complete with bone china crockery, silver cutlery and crystal glasses. Day hire from £3,000, Lying upper Thames, Contact hscboats.co.uk

TILLY III

Illingworth and Primrose racer The original and successful ocean-racing Maica Class, designed at the end of the 1950s by John Illingworth and Angus Primrose (I&P), was modified by a Cherbourg boatyard – Constructions Mecaniques de Normandie – for the yard owner. Felix Amiot wanted the elegance of a counter stern over the standard design’s transom, so in 1963, I&P drew a a “Maïca à voûte” (counter stern) and in 1963 CMN started to build it in triple-layered, cold-moulded mahogany. The yard went on to build 38 Maïca Class sloops, about half of which are known to be still sailing. Mowgli was built at the yard in 1965 and took part in many RORC races including, by 1971, four Fastnets, a race she would win in class in 1999. After that, she raced under CIM in the Med. In 2001, she was re-

MARTHA PRIMROSE

engined with a Yanmar 1GM10 and completely refitted and repainted

Commodious bluewater yawl

at Chantier Naval des Baux. The hull has apparently needed very little

Martha Primrose is a traditional, plank-on-frame yawl built by

Med. Mowgli is 37ft (11.1m) on deck and has six berths in two cabins.

upkeep since then. These days, she’s used as a cruising yacht in the

Ashley Butler of Butler & Co in 2012. She’s 50ft 10in (15.5m) on deck and designed for comfortable, long-distance family cruising.

Asking £27,500, Lying Mallorca Spain, classicyachtbrokerage.co.uk

When we visited the boat soon after her launch, we loved the spacious, comfortable interior, which includes seven berths in three separate cabin areas, a well thought-out galley and saloon and, in the most seamanlike fashion, a small workshop and bosun’s store. The yacht has been home to her present owner, Georgie Hare and her family, for some years, which says much about her comfort. Above decks, the all-important deckhouse makes sailing year-round in the northern hemisphere a possibility, and the huge cockpit and acres of deck space will be welcome in warmer climes. The gaff yawl rig, which splits the sail area into at least four smaller sections, was designed to be sailed by two easily, or even one. Asking £350,000, Lying Cornwall, marthaprimrose.co.uk

To see more boats for sale go to classicboat.co.uk 66

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

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

BROKERAGE

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

36FT SPARKMAN & STEPHENS BERMUDAN SLOOP Built to exceptionally high standards in 1966, Rumbuster is fast and sea-kindly – ideal for racing or comfortable cruising. Long keel, mahogany on oak, teak deck, all bronze floors & fastenings, alloy keel stepped mast, Furlex roller, new genoa and main 2019, asymmetric and full spinnakers, Volvo diesel, 6 berths. Lovingly maintained and upgraded, Rumbuster is looking for a new owner who will take care of her and use her more than the current owner has time too. £68000 ono. rumbuster@icloud.com

GAFF RIGGED WOODEN CUTTER FREJA 42’ FOR SALE BUILT BY LUKE POWELL, UK 2012 LOD 42’, Beam 12’2”, Draught 7’, Displacement 18 ton Mainsail, staysail, jib x 2, outer jib, topsail, trysail 35 HP BetaMarine Fully equipped for long distance sailing Sleeps 4 in comfort Registered in Falmouth UK 2012-2019 Since then registered in Sweden, homeport Skillinge. For further information contact Anders Johnson andejohn@actrix.co.nz

S/V FLYING FISH

Laurent Giles Vertue design is a proven blue water boat. Cold-molded hull and built of the best materials to the highest standards. Fully found and off-shore ready. Launched 2010, Flying Fish is a veteran of two Atlantic crossings. Inventory includes new Yanmar 2YM 15 diesel engine, six sails, chartplotter/depthsounder, AIS transponder, radar, Fleming self-steering, nesting dinghy, + more. More details/photos: flyingfishadventure.wordpress.com Available at $100,000 USD in Maine, USA. Contact builder/owner: flyingfishjack@gmail.com

£29,000

1937 40 FOOT MOTOR SAILOR

Powered by 4 cylinder 4.236 Perkins Diesel Engine. Lying in Angelsey. Nicely fitted out with large single bunk in Focs’l with full headroom. A ‘midships double bunk, wood burning stove, Galley with separate heads. Double bunk in wheel house plus solar panels & GPS. Aft cabin. Double bunk, separate heads and shower. Telephone 01565 654416

FREYA

A double ended 21 foot 6 inches centreboard, Gaff rigged sailing boat, (based on a West Highland skiff), Built By McGruer of Clynder in 1951, Larch on Oak, with a Vetus 11HP inboard diesel. Much work has been carried out, repair to the mast head, new oak frames, replacement of some planking with larch boards, and much more (all documented). she is in sound condition, with an un braked trailer, made to fit. Lying the Isle of Mull. £11,500.00 ONO Ian Mazur Email: ianmazur@icloud.com Tel: 07887 950126

TZIGANE Tzigane built by Jack Powles of Wroxham in 1958. Fully restored over the last 15 years. Five berth in two cabins with separate shower & heads compartments. Webasto warm air heating. Single 5 cylinder nanni diesel engine. Quick silver tender available by separate negotiation. Kept fully covered when not in use. Moored Norfolk Broads. Price £65,000. Email: robertmoore001@hotmail.co.uk Mobile: 0780 325 2154

NAUTICAT 331

Built 2000, in good condition. 75 hp Yanmar 4JH4-TE engine. Owner retiring. Offers in excess of £70,000 Lying in Hayling Island Phone: 020 8332 1028 Mob: 07764 581 601

‘AMALI’ 47’

“SHAMARA”

FISHER 25

Many extras including higher mast with furler bowsprit, ketch r. 2 foresales. 30 hp engine just been rebuilt. Offers in region of £25,000. Lying Hayling Island Phone: 07764 581 601

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

A lovely 24’ go ashore launch from lord and lady Docker’s “Shamara”. Built by Camper & Nicholson’s in 1970 and recently re engined with a 180hp Yanmar and new out drive. Now stored undercover in excellent order ready for the off Price £ 35 000 Call David 07974 147593 • Email: davidkingsbury60@gmail.com

Beautiful elegant wooden classic with unique charm, sweeping lines and topside flare. Privately commissioned and constructed using modern techniques in 1991 by Sean McMillan (now Spirit Yachts). Cedar Mahogany Teak & Ash. Fully equipped and offered in excellent condition. Two helm stations, ample entertaining areas on deck and an interior with spacious and well thought out accommodation. Sleeps 8. Semi displacement. Cruising 8 KNOT (max 12). Twin very fuel efficient Volvo Penta diesel engines. Range 500NM. £185,000 Contact: jvg@amalioflondon.co.uk • Tel: 07785 954 900

BOATS FOR SALE

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.

57ft Hacker/Robinson Marine Commuter Yacht 1935/2015

45ft Saunders Roe Medina Class Motor Yacht 1938/2018

49ft McGruer Bermudan Ketch 1973/2020

Restored with passion and skill, the Commuter Yacht JUDITH R is a remarkable exemplar in motor yachting history, both technically and in popular culture, and in her attributed designer John L. Hacker’s place beside Henry Ford in the story of the successful application of the internal combustion engine. JUDITH R is a beautiful, tastefully upgraded piece of living, usable history. One imagines halcyon days spent aboard, cruising fast or slow, in the footsteps of not just first owner, Paramount Pictures president Barney Balaban - who used her to speedily and elegantly commute from Connecticut home to Manhattan office and named her after his daughter, Judith Rose - but also, one imagines, an impressive roster of stellar guests.

Saunders Roe is a name mostly associated with aviation innovation, but with roots in boatbuilding on the Thames, then Cowes. Their 1930s Medina Class of fine, teak-hulled motor yachts gained an enviable reputation for seagoing properties and comfort; so well-built from the finest materials that they have survived mid to late 20th Century deprivations to become highly desirable restoration subjects. None finer than the last built, MAGYAR; meticulously restored by Harbour Marine Services of Southwold for an owner used to the strict disciplines of classic car restoration, and an experienced sailor under sail and power.

BORDER LEGEND is a resurrected masterpiece from the sunset days of traditional yachtbuilding in Britain. George McGruer’s design is a natural evolution of his father James’s renowned work, and the build by the last generations of their highly skilled workforce. Among the last wooden yachts designed and built there were three wholesome, elegant and fast 49-55 ft ketches. While the passagemaking exploits of CUILAUN and TALISKER MHOR (ex CERESIO) became legendary, their smaller sister, BORDER LEGEND (launched as GLORY B IV), remained under the radar: a bona fide family cruiser. Circumstances saw her fall on hard times before recent rescue and a major refit under current, experienced ownership.

£1.25M VAT not paid

£495,000

£225,000

Lying UK

48ft Alan Gurney/ Derecktor Yawl 1965

53ft Illingworth & Primrose/C&N Bermudan Ketch 1966/2005

40ft Charles E Nicholson Bermudan Cutter 1930

Any Derecktor-built aluminium yacht maintained most of its life by them, then Palmer Johnson, has had the best of all worlds. With AURORA there’s the added element of her designer, Alan Gurney, whose short but stellar career creating sensible, moderate and light displacement fast cruiser racers, first with Bill Tripp Jr, then to his own account, reached great fame with the legendary WINDWARD PASSAGE. Originally commissioned as an offshore race winner while offering cruising comfort and space for a 4-kids family, AURORA still ticks those boxes representing a unique opportunity to own a good-looking, fast, capable, classic yawl to cruise and live aboard with the safety, security and low maintenance that proven design and aluminium construction provide.

It is hard to think of a yacht better known beyond the wider yachting community than GIPSY MOTH IV, and that has continued to inspire generations of young sailors more than fifty years after Sir Francis Chichester’s epic - then unimaginable - 1966-1967 single-handed, one-stop voyage around the world with her. Rescued in 2004 from 37 years out of her element, and rebuilt and restored in 2005 by her original builders - among the last wooden boat works performed by Camper & Nicholsons - GIPSY MOTH IV has subsequently circumnavigated again. For the trust that has owned her since 2010 it is now time to pass on this iconic and beautiful yacht to a similar body or individual to spread or be inspired by Chichester’s spirit of challenge and adventure.

Any yacht featured in the superb pre-Second World War series of ‘Uffa Fox books’ is without question a special one, and DRIAC may be best known these days from her inclusion in Fox’s ‘Sailing, Seamanship and Yacht Construction’ (1934). From a time when the design of the ideal offshore sailing cruiser was still evolving and much discussed, Uffa waxed lyrical about this characterful Charles E. Nicholson design which had comfortably reeled off well over 5000 miles in her first two seasons, including Portsmouth to Malta and back, under the command of her redoubtable first owner, A.G.H. Macpherson. DRIAC is still taking people on sailing adventures and, as she has always done, entrances with her looks, presence, and no-nonsense sailing ability.

$180,000 VAT not paid

£165,000

£82,500

Lying USA

For further information please contact: +44 (0)1202 330077 info@sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

Lying UK

Our classic and vintage yachts & motor yachts are available to view at:

22 Market Street, Poole, Dorset BH15 1NF, UK

– www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk –

MEMBER OF ABYA

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021 Sandeman Brokerage FP CB AUGUST 21.indd 2

06/07/2021 10:57

Craftsmanship Yard News

SECTION HEAD SUB SECTION

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

WHITSTABLE, KENT

Whitstable oyster boat saved Gamecock, the last surviving Whitstable-built oyster yawl, has been spared an ignominious demise on the Faversham saltmarshes, writes Richard Hare. Thanks to generous local support, the 42ft (13m), 1907 larch-on-oak fishing boat is now in the early stages of a restoration in the care of registered charity Whitstable Maritime. The project, taking place in public view on hardstanding in Whitstable’s active fishing and ballast harbour, is headed by trust chairman Gordon Vincent and the day-to-day running is in the hands of shipwright Morgan Lewis and technical advisor Alan Staley. After restoration to full working glory, the aim is to welcome visitors aboard and teach them about the boat and Whitstable’s maritime heritage. In summer months Gamecock will lie afloat at Whitstable South Quay, donated by Canterbury City Council Harbour Board. Gordon Vincent told CB: “Gamecock has been caught just in time. Had she rested out on the saltings much longer she would have been reclaimed by the sea. The deterioration

ALEX HARE

has been arrested and the restoration is now underway. Skills, Restoration team member, Dave

volunteers and money are now the essential factors” he said,

Britten, assesses the condition of

adding “Fortunately enthusiasm and commitment are not in short

original structural timbers.

supply”. The trust’s crowd-funding campaign, which includes a

Inset: In her heyay

short video and updates on the status of the project can be found here: crowdfunder.co.uk/restore-whitstable-sailboat

ULLAPOOL, SCOTLAND

Progress on Glen-Class sloop The 1950-built Glen Class sloop Margaret is looking a lot better than when she first featured in these pages a year ago! Owner Charles Rogers is working with Loftus and CHRIS MUSELER

Johnson Boatbuilders to revive the 25ft (7.6m) bermudan sloop so he can sail her, with a colleague, around Britain to raise funds to combat cancer. The Glen Class, designed by Alfred Mylne, is nearly all extant today – the yachts race on Strangford Lough (UK) and Dublin Bay (Ireland). Tim Loftus previously restored another Glen Class sloop, Glendhu.

NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND

Running Tide returns We’ve always held that the 1930 S&S design No7, the yawl Dorade, is the most successful racing yacht ever, but now not sure. Running Tide, S&S No1969 built in 1970 in aluminium plate at Royal Huisman, could clinch it. She’s a 60ft (18m) bermudan cutter commissioned by yachtsman Jakob Isbrandtson, who took class in the 1970 Bermuda Race, then won the Southern Ocean Racing Circuit the year after. C/O THE OWNER

Soon after that it was bought by Al Van Metre and son Beau, who went on such a rip for the next decade that they won most of Running Tide’s 200+ race wins in her history. She’s back In Beau’s ownership, and has just had a two-year refit at New England Boat Works.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

CRAFTSMANSHIP

CORNWALL

A new Falmouth quay punt In an airy shed in Gweek, Cornwall, not far from where Luke Powell built most of his nine pilot cutters, Ben Harris (right) is well into his third major build: a 34ft gaff cutter loosely based on the famous Falmouth quay punt Curlew. Ever since Ben took the lines off Curlew while she was on the hard in Falmouth, he has dreamed of building a replica. His chance came when local wooden boat enthusiast Simon Whisker approached him to buy his own boat Alva, a 30ft Paul Gartside design, which he had tentatively put on the market. After much discussion, Simon agreed to commission a bigger design based on Curlew’s lines. Falmouth-based yacht designer Jack Gifford produced a new set of lines, similar in profile to Curlew but a bit beamier and a bit shallower relative to her size. When I visited Constance recently, the hull was fully planked up, using a combination of oak and larch on alternate sawn and steamed oak frames. Instead of fitting a plywood subdeck, Ben has gone for a more durable (and, arguably, sustainable) option, using two layers of cedar, the first laid fore and aft and the second diagonally. These were then sheathed with epoxy before laying the (salvaged) teak planking. Nic Compton NIC COMPTON

CHELSEA, LONDON

Inside job for Malcolm Campbell’s boat Interior design on classic yachts has been increasing in its C/O TALLY HO PROJECT

sophistication for years, as this photo by newly-launched fabric

SEQUIM, WASHINGTON

Tally Ho ready to paint

company Smith & Noor shows. Smith & Noor supplied much of the fabric for the interior designers, Celine Interior Design, when Sir Malcolm Campbell’s old yacht, the Dunkirk little ship Bluebird of Chelsea, was revamped inside recently. The 1931-built Thornycroft TSDY of 52ft (16m) latterly belonged to the art dealer Martin Summers, who had the yacht restored in the mid-1980s. She has now been sold to the London club 5 Hertford Street, who will charter the boat to its members, and those of the nearby club Oswald’s.

In 2017, the young British boatbuilder Leo Goolden flew to Oregon to see the abandoned, 1910-built, Albert Strange-designed gaff cutter of 48ft (15m), Tally Ho. She proved her saltiness by winning the windy 1927 Fastnet. By 2017, she was in need of a rebuild, so Leo moved himself and the boat to Washington State and got started. Since then, his regular YouTube videos on the project have been watched by up to half a million viewers or more (per video!). place, ready for transportation to Port Townsend, Washington’s traditional boating hub, to be finished. Meanwhile, Leo still needs funding, which he’s been doing through Patreon – help him if you can at patreon.com/sampsonboatco. And be sure to visit YouTube and type in ‘Sampson Boat Co’ to see the videos.

C/O SMITH & NOOR

The yacht is now framed, planked and painted, deck beams in

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

MIKE BOWDEN

WATERLINE MEDIA

CRAFTSMANSHIP

IPSWICH, SUFFOLK

Twenty new staff needed at Spirit Yachts Spirit Yachts has announced a recruitment

architects, boatbuilders, finishers, cabinetmakers

varied, creative and innovative working

drive in response to a full order book for new

and electrical and engineering experts.

environment.”

sailing yachts and continued interest in the company’s sail and motor yacht designs. Mike Taylor, MD and head of production at

Mike Taylor added, “We are keen to talk to

This year, Spirit Yachts will launch a Spirit

experienced candidates and applicants of any

65DH (deckhouse) sailing yacht, a Spirit 72DH,

level who have the right attitude to learn what

a Spirit 30 day sailor and a P40 superyacht

the yard commented “Having analysed the

it takes to design and build the most exquisite

tender.

production schedule and with our current

wooden yachts in the world. Our existing team

enquiry rate, we are looking to recruit up to 20

comprises highly skilled craftsmen and women

Interested applicants should send

staff by the end of the year.” Spirit Yachts

of all ages and backgrounds. Each project is

a covering email and CV to

currently employs a team of designers, naval

customised and unique, meaning staff enjoy a

enquiries@spirityachts.com.

SOUTHAMPTON, HAMPSHIRE

Hungarian runabout She might only be 14ft (4.3m) in length, but after 2,000 man

MYLOR YACHT HARBOUR

hours in two years, this little runabout is looking mirror perfect.

MYLOR, CORNWALL

GRP Sunbeam for Falmouth

The work was carried out by Hungarian boatbuilder Zoltan Koszegi, who has live in Britain for 12 years, and previously worked in Plymouth, Devon, with Will Stirling. It seems this motorboat nearly fell victim to waterside privatisation on the Hungarian shores of the Danube, where the rush towards high-spec waterside developments has meant the clear out and burning of many old wooden boats like this, which is of a shape known as ‘tulip rose’ in Hungary. Luckily, Zoltan’s father was able to save this one as a birthday present to his son, who brought her back to England to rebuild the mahogany hull and put on a new deck in Canadian red maple.

Two decades after Mylor Yacht Harbour built a trio of classic wooden Falmouth Sunbeam yachts, the yard is now embarking on a new challenge: an immaculate Sunbeam finished to the specification of the 1920s originals – but made of GRP. The hull of Tilly arrives at Mylor next week, fresh from being moulded on the Isle of Wight from Alfred Westmacott’s original century-old design. This is the project of Ollie Graffy, part of the new generation of Sunbeam sailors at Mylor. “When the opportunity arose to get involved with building a modern version that has all the grace and style of the originals, performs the same, has a at the chance.” Mylor’s great wish is to see many more Sunbeams sailing in the Falmouth area with the modern models competing in the racing fleet as they already do on the Solent, securing the longevity of the class going forward.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

C/O THE BUILDER

water-tight bulkhead and is much easier to maintain, we jumped

CLASSIC YACHT BROKERAGE All types of Motor and Sailing Yachts required.

www.classicyachtbrokerage.co.uk

41ft. BERMUDIAN CRUISER/RACER W L Hobbs design, built 1951 Port Hamble Ltd for W S Frost. Teak hull, laid decks and brightwork. Fine interior offering six berths. Z spars, new rig and sail wardrobe 2018 setting 671 sq.ft. Raymarine navigation gear. New 50hp Beta diesel. Keel-up restoration by specialist David Moss. Recently re-commissioned, stunning yacht. £55,000 Lying: Lancashire

140ft THREE-MASTED BARQUE Colin Mudie design, built 1986 for Jubilee Sailing Trust by J W Cook, Vosper Thornycroft and Coles of Cowes. Steel plated hull, decks and superstructure. Full traditional rig sets 1,024 sq.m. Thirty-six berths plus ten crew. Pair 260hp Cummins diesels. Fitted out for all abilities sail training, however suitable for conversion or use as designed. Out of commission. £1,200,000 Lying: Bristol

34ft. BERMUDIAN SLOOP 7-TONNER J Francis Jones design, built 1959 Cardnell Bros. Essex for P B Frost. Teak hull, sheathed decks, teak brightwork. Four berth, galley and heads in traditional interior. Sloop rig sets 568 sq.ft. 35hp Beta diesel (50 hours). Attractive classic now in need of cosmetic improvement. Extensively cruised in previous ownership. £24,500 Lying: Blackwater

26ft. STELLA CLASS BERMUDIAN SLOOP Kim Holman design, built 1966 Tucker Brown, Burnham on Crouch. Lapstrake Mahogany hull, sheathed decks, Mahogany brightwork. New rigging 2020. 10hp Yanmar diesel (re-built) Recent refit, good example of these popular classics. Full commission.

30ft. ASKADIL BERMUDIAN CUTTER Harrison Butler design, built 1934 by K R Skentelbery, Plymouth for Dr. G A Gassman.Burma Teak hull, laid decks and brightwork. Interior refit to complete. Re-built 12hp Saab diesel. All original hardware, mast, boom, sails available. Interesting Royal Cruising Club history. Part project.

33ft. MFV MOTOR-SAILER Designed and built Millers of Fife in 1954. Professional conversion 1969. Larch planked hull, sheathed decks. Seven berths in three cabins. Lavac heads, deckhouse. 48hp Gardner diesel. Spring 2021 full re-paint. Yard trolley. Rugged little ship in 40 year ownership. Fore-runner of Fifer range.

£5,950

£15,000

Lying: Solent

Lying: Birdham £22,500

Lying: Isle of Arran

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ARTISAN BOATWORKS CUSTOM YACHT BUILDERS

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

MARINE DIRECTORY

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

Marine Directory BOATBUILDERS

BOATBUILDERS

Yacht Restorers

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HMS_Davey_Eigth_Page_V01.indd 1

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CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

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8: 5

MARINE DIRECTORY

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CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021 HMS_Davey_Eigth_Page_V01.indd 2

23/02/2021 17:08

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Boatbuilder’s Notes

By Robin Gates

Stopped hinges For supporting the open lid of a small box, the stopped hinge is easier to fit than a quadrant hinge, which requires a deep mortise to accommodate its curved arm, and tidier than a stay. Stopped hinges are made with square knuckles so that, when open, the lid stands at 950, with the knuckle of one hinge leaf bearing on the back of the box while the other bears on the lid. It’s the classic hinge of the sailor’s ditty box, where the open lid supported upright maintains a degree of privacy while also making minimal demands on space. The stopped hinges of this old navy ditty box are 1½ x 5/8in. Similar 1¼ x 5/8in hinges in heavy brass made by Brusso of the USA are available from ROBIN GATES

Classic Hand Tools in Ipswich at £34 per pair, complete with brass screws and one of stainless steel for pre-threading the holes in tough timber. Other sizes are available.

Above: Stopped hinges support an open lid Left: Knuckles are square instead of round

classichandtools.com

Folding saw

If you sail that enjoyable line between bushcraft and cruising in a small boat, making runs ashore to collect wood for cooking or to make a shelter, a reliable folding saw is invaluable. Most folding saws have very thin blades which cut only on the pull stroke but the blade of the Bahco Laplander is of a sturdier thickness with teeth cutting hungrily in both directions. It saws easily through green wood and is equally impressive with seasoned wood, but the secret to a clean cut in the seasoned stuff is to first scribe all around it with a knife to sever the surface fibres, being careful to saw on the waste side. So used, this saw could also trim wood to length for simple boat repairs or building. The Swedish steel blade has a low-friction rust-preventive coating and a working length of about 7in (180mm). A spring-mounted button locks it securely open or closed. When folded the saw measuring 9in (230mm) is both light and sleek enough to fit comfortably in a jacket pocket. If using the tool near water be sure to loop the leather lanyard around your wrist – this saw has many virtues but it doesn’t float. Widely available from 1

around £23, with a replacement blade from £12. 1 Cross-cutting green alder 2 The blade folds safely into the handle 3 A clean cut in seasoned

ROBIN GATES

mahogany

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Boatbuilder’s TraditionalNotes Tool By Robin Gates

COES’ WRENCH As sail gave way to steam so the fid,

that, break the blighter free with a nut

Clockwise from

sliding lower jaw is adjusted by a

palm and needle used for repairing

splitter, and failing that… but let’s not

above: Coes’

threaded bolt that’s turned by a nut

cloth gave way to the heavy hand

go there.

wrench and

ideally placed for the forefinger and

Clyburn spanners

thumb of the hand which holds the

tools required to keep an engine

Improvements to the adjustable

running. With luck, a problem might

spanner have occupied inventors for

(right); Maker’s

tool. The less ergonomic Clyburn

be rectified with a twiddle of the

generations. Today’s most commonly

mark of Peck,

spanner requires two hands.

screwdriver or squeeze of pliers, but

used tool is based on the ‘screw

Stow & Wilcox;

Regardless of which tool is used, the

desperate situations call for

spanner’ registered by Yorkshire-born

Adjusting the

key to success lies in making sure the

desperate remedies, and it’s the

engineer Richard Clyburn in 1843, with

moving jaw

jaws are adjusted to fit the nut firmly,

hammer, sledgehammer and bolt

its worm-driven toothed rack for the

and that the pull is exerted on the

cutters that head one old list of hand

moving jaw. But some marine pipe

stationary jaw.

tools for the engine room.

fitters swear by the wrench patented

In any case, it’s likely that a spanner

This fine old knife-handle version of

two years earlier by Loring Coes of

Coes’ wrench, with riveted hardwood

– also called wrench – will assist, so

Massachusetts. The jaws of Coes’

fillets, was made around 1900 by Peck,

long as the right one is to hand. Given

wrench (also called a monkey wrench)

Stow & Wilcox of Connecticut.

the variety of nuts and bolts aboard

are disposed to one side. The ‘hammer

old vessels it may be an adjustable

jaw’ is fixed to the shank while the

NEXT MONTH: The dowel jig

spanner that saves the day, if used with care. An adjustable spanner rarely stands up to the forces tolerated by one of fixed size. Its moving parts are prone to creep, the jaws loosen and under the next heave the spanner will turn while the nut remains stuck fast, with corners fatally rounded. Now may be too late to squirt penetrating oil down the threads, or apply heat to ROBIN GATES

exploit differences in thermal expansion. Time perhaps to fetch the hammer and drift and punch the seized fastening into rotation. Failing CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

CRAFTSMANSHIP

TIMBER IN NEW ZEALAND

Home to the near-mythical kauri and other great boatbuilding timbers, NZ is blessed with natural resources qdaS WORDS NIGEL SHARP

hen Europeans began to discover, then colonise,

government land, it is legal to extract dead trees from private land

New Zealand, the islands were blessed with huge

and Peter managed to get the timber he needed from the

quantities of native timbers of various species,

Coromandel Peninsula where dead trees – over 1,000 years old and

many of them highly suitable for boatbuilding.

therefore predating human habitation in New Zealand – were cut into

Indeed, when Captain James Cook arrived in NZ, he felled a number

five-ton sections and helicoptered out. Kauri is also available in other

of tall, straight kauri trees for spars. Almost without exception, these

South Pacific islands such as Fiji and Polynesia, and in Queensland,

boatbuilding species are now extremely rare. Many are no longer

Australia but this is not considered to be of the same quality as that

commercially harvested, and boatbuilders who want them often have

in New Zealand.

to rely on luck, by stumbling across timber being recycled, or by finding some being stored for a worthwhile use.

Pohutukawa has been used for boatbuilding in the past. It grows along the coasts very close to the water and is known as the NZ

Much the best NZ boatbuilding timber is kauri. Native to the

Christmas tree because it blooms in December. It grows in shapes

northern part of the North Island, at one time its felling, milling and

particularly suitable for grown knees and floors. To accentuate this,

marketing provided work for almost 6,000 employees of the Kauri

parts of the trees were often pulled with lines while they were

Timber Company. Not only is it very durable, it also has a tight grain

growing. “But it isn’t very durable,” said Wayne Olsen who has

structure, is light and strong, glues, takes fastenings, steams easily

restored six boats for the Classic Yacht Charitable Trust, “so we

and, by all accounts, is beautiful to work with. Chad Thompson (of

usually replace these components with laminated kauri.”

New Zealand Classic Yachts and owner of the 1923 Prize) credits the

Other NZ timbers include Totara which is a very hard softwood

characteristics of kauri – and the triple-skin construction favoured by

with good resistance to marine borers and typically used for

the Baileys and Logans – with “keeping our classics in magnificent

deadwoods and stern posts (and the Maoris often built canoes from

condition. NZ restorations don’t usually need to focus on the structure.”

it); and Kahikatea (also known as New Zealand white pine), a readily

When boatbuilder Ben Freedman restored his 1913 Mullet boat

available, straight-grained, fast-growing timber used for structural

Valeria, he renewed the coamings in kauri which, he said, “is

components such as gunwales, stringers and keels.

probably older than the hull, as it was reclaimed from a church pew.” Peter Brookes of Brookes Boatbuilders (Yard Visit, May 2019)

Macrocarpa isn’t native to NZ but has become naturalised there. It is said to be quite durable and fairly knotty, and although it has

favours kauri because it can be used for almost every component in

apparently been used fairly extensively in boatbuilding, three

a traditional boat “then it all dries at the same rate out of the water.”

traditional boatbuilders I spoke to said that they had never done so.

His Hannah Mae, a new 50ft (15.1m) pilot cutter, is almost completely in kauri. While it is no longer permitted to fell live trees on

See our feature on New Zealand’s Mullet Boats on pages 22-28 Left: Hannah Mae pilot cutter in build in kauri Right: Peter Brookes chats to the timber-men the new keel for Hannah Mae, a rough-sawn 42ft

NIGEL SHARP

one-piece length

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

of 10in by 10in kauri from an 800-year-old log

COURTESY OF PETER BROOKES

with his foot on

COURTESY PETER BROOKES

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Main: A living Kauri tree trunk Inset above: The deadwoods and stem for Hannah Mae were cut from this 1,000-year-old kauri oak. Although dead on the outside there is still at least an 8-10ft thick usable log to be had from this stump Top insert: Pohutukawa tree CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2021

Letters LETTER OF THE MONTH SUPPORTED BY OLD PULTENEY WHISKY AFFORDABLE CLASSIC Albin Vega 27

ver since the early days of seaworthy and speedy small production cruisers, the Scandinavians have shown the way. Back in 1942, the Nordic Folkboat design set the wheels in motion, later moving from timber to GRP construction; well over 4,000 have been built. Along the way, this sleek long-keeled 25ft success story went on to inspire many other designs. Of these the Albin Vega 27 is perhaps the most remarkable. From 1965 and 1979, Swedish company Albin Marine built around 3,450 examples of the Per Brohall design. The Vega is one of the top sellers of all time. With an attractive hint of reverse sheer, long keel, split-level coachroof, practical four-berth interior (with 5ft 10in headroom) and modest 8ft beam, it’s easy to mistakenly take the Vega for just another elderly 27-footer, albeit a very popular one. Weighing around 5,000lb with a ballast ratio of 40 per cent, a displacement/length ratio of 186 and sail area/displacement ratio of 16, the Vega’s vital statistics suggest a moderate displacement middleof-the-road cruiser with above average performance. Many Vega owners enjoy peaceful family pottering in this endearing little classic, but Vegas can do a lot more than coastal pottering. Many have crossed oceans and 12 have circumnavigated the globe. Then I came across the remarkable story of Matt Rutherford. While working for a sailing charity for the disabled in Chesapeake Bay, he suggested raising money by sailing through the Northwest Passage. To cut a long story short, he borrowed a 1971-vintage Vega 27 and became the first person to complete a non-stop solo circumnavigation of the Americas. Setting sail from Chesapeake he headed north, passing through the Northwest Passage then south through the Baring Strait, on across the Pacific, down round Cape Horn and back up to Chesapeake. On completing this hazardous voyage in April 2012, he and the Vega had been at sea for 309 days, survived storms aplenty and sailed over 27,000 miles. What’s more he raised $120,000 for the charity Chesapeake Regional Accessible Boating. It just shows what a Vega and a determined young sailor can achieve. You can read more at solotheamericas.org. Nick Simms, Chairman of VAGB (Vega Association of Great Britain, albinvega.co.uk), who bought his Vega Constellation in 1992, told me: “In the early years [based in Langstone] we sailed in the Solent and further afield to Poole or Weymouth. If the weather was right the club often sailed to France or the Chanel Islands... I found sailing the Channel monotonous so preferred the ports along the south coast and getting out the Brompton folding bikes to explore the coastal paths and inland areas.

By Peter Poland

JORDI CASABONA

LESS THAN £10K

Vega 27 under sail and (inset) Interior

VEGA 27

LOA

27ft (8.3m) LWL

23ft [(7m) BEAM

8ft (2.5m) DRAUGHT

3ft 8in (1.1m) DISP

2.3 tonnes

Below: Matt Rutherford became the first person to complete a non-stop solo circumnavigation of the Americas, sailing a 1971 Vega

“I was encouraged to join in club racing... we were very fast right from the off. We won the Portsmouth Interclub event three years running. In The Grouse Whisky Trophy we came second and the next year were first. We did the Round the Island three times, winning the Vega Trophy twice. In 1996 we won the coveted Vega Vase on the Medway.” The Vase is raced for biennially (and in a different country) during the Vega International Friendship Rally (IFR). This is held in Sweden, Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, or Denmark, where there are Vega fleets. The host clubs and the VODA (Vega One Design Association) committee organise this popular event. After retirement, Nick and Marjorie spent many years sailing in the Netherlands, Swedish archipelago, Friesland Islands and Danish islands, often joining local Vega owners on the way. They also based Constellation in Germany for a few years to sail in Germany and Denmark, using their trusty motorhome to take gear and sails there and back. Nick concluded: “The Vega is fast for her size and shallow enough to go into areas that the bigger, deeper keels cannot go.” Like many, Nick replaced the engine in his Vega over 27 years of ownership. The original Volvo was replaced with a used Vetus 11.5hp, then a new Beta 16hp. This has been a great success and powerful enough to cope with strong tides. Many Vegas now have Beta engine replacements. If buying a Vega, it makes sense to go for a re-engined example. Also, check the transverse mast support beam and bulkheads beneath it (especially on earlier models), the Divinycell deck coring and the bottom rudder bearing. A structural survey is advisable. Above all, visit the excellent albinvega.co. uk website (and the American, Danish, Dutch, and German associations’ equivalents) to really get to know the Vega 27 and her many qualities.

Above left: The Albin Vega is a descendant of the original Folkboat Above right: Another Folkboat type, the Stella

SCOTT JOHNSON

TIM WRIGHT

Two on the market

£6,750, 1973

£6450, 1971

Lying Newcastle

Lying Medway

Tel: +44 (0)191 272 9086

Tel: +44 (0)7940 583396

CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2021

CB395 Affordable Classic Albin Vega.indd All Pages

18/06/2021 09:38

A leap of imagination

The last convict ship

Your feature on the Albin Vega as an affordable classic went down

I think your magazine excellent and look forward to reading it every

well here in the wilds of the Scottish Highlands where, if you gaze

month. I might add I own a very classic wooden fishing built in 1929.

seawards from Ullapool’s Shore Street, you will see three riding to

Some considerable time ago there was an article in Classic Boat

their moorings. Between John Osborne’s Twister, Paul Copestake’s

about the last convict ship to sail to Australia arriving in 1868. There

Mollymawk and Andy Reeve’s Lucky Jim, these three have

was a photo of a four-masted, iron barque called The Hougoumont.

probably covered as many sea miles as any afloat, with Sweden,

As many readers will have noticed, it was the wrong Hougomont.

The Faroes and St Kilda (many times), let alone every nook and

This painting by I Tudgay in 1856 is the convict ship Hougomont

cranny of the outer Hebrides and North West coast and beyond

built of teak in 1852 in Moulmiene, Burma. The painting was

visited over the years. Paul’s Mollymawk recently completed a

commissioned by my great uncle John Henry Dalton (1826-1905),

round-Scotland voyage via Shetland, mostly singlehanded.

who captained the ship in earlier times.

A classic little cruiser, with similar aspirations to the Folkboat, but

Captain Dalton settled in koromiko, New Zealand in 1861, arriving

to compare an Albin to a Folkboat aesthetically is surely too much

with a sawmilling plant and built a large house which survived 99

of a leap of imagination. To my eye at least they have nothing in

years. I inherited the painting along with charts, sailing directions,

common, in looks, rig, profile, sheerline, rudder configuration, etc.

sea chests and furniture – all from the Hougomont. Unfortunately, no

The Vega does not need to be compared to, or claim descent from,

log books have survived: according to my late mother they were

the Folkboat. It is unique, rather quirky and quite brilliant (not least

burned many years ago for some strange reason. This painting

the variable pitch prop system fitted as standard).

which has been in my possession for 52 years has never been in any

Adrian Morgan, Ullapool

publication before now. I hope it is of some interest. David Jones, Nelson, NZ

The DIY option As a new subscriber, I was fascinated to read the ‘Top Ten 25ft cruising yachts’ feature in the June issue of the magazine. It was interesting to see the number of new boats available today for those who, like me, are intimidated by the idea of taking on an old wooden yacht, but still want to go cruising in a small yacht with the right look. However, the cost of these boats (£130,000 for the Norfolk Smuggler for instance, and more than double that

Dying Atalanta

for the catboat) means that this option is not one that is

Atalanta at rest up the Truro River, one of many abandoned

building a yacht this size from a CAD-cut kit? Is it really as

vessels that Cornwall Council, or rather the rate payer, will

hard as people say? The Pen Hir looks appealing, but is this

have to spend a considerable sum on disposal.

a difficult or easy self-build?

Joe Brumwell, by email

Neil Catchpole, London

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

open to me. Building it yourself is clearly far more financially viable. Does anyone have any experience of

Next month SAILING TODAY WITH YACHTS & YACHTING

NEW KETCH She’s 50ft long, brand new, all wooden and she carries the rare ketch rig. Read about the latest creation from designer Nigel Irens and builder, Elephant Boatyard.

with AUGUST 2021 £4.95

BIG SUMMER SPECIAL   

Scillies cruise Sat comms for all High latitude adventure

BOAT TESTS

FOILING POGO Hang on tight! BALI CATSPACE Apartment on water

FASTNET PREVIEW How course change affects you COWES WEEK 2021 What you can expect

SCHOONER TO HAITI Chris Museler, our man in the USA, ships aboard the wooden schooner Charlotte with her builder Nat Benjamin to sail to Haiti on an aid mission – and to enjoy some great sailing.

HISTORIC BOATYARD

Visitor's guide to Berthon

SAILGP PLYMOUTH

Who’s racing + how to watch

ST+Y&Y August Cover- final.indd 1

14/06/2021 15:24

IN THE AUGUST ISSUE l Fastnet 2021: how the new course change affects you l Berthon: visitors’ guide to historic marina site l Cowes Week: what’s new this year l On test: the Bali Catspace... an apartment on water

JACK LONDON’S SAILOR Fred Mortimer, the oldfashioned seadog who was an inspiration to the novelist Jack London

PLUS...

Meet Nick Smith, builder of the perfect gentleman’s harbour launch; we visit boatbuilder John McShea, Kim Holman’s razor-sharp Stiletto and much more

SEPTEMBER 2021 ON SALE

l SailGP Plymouth: runners and riders + ticket details l Cruising the Scillies

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

Friday 16 August, 2021 Available online. Or why not subscribe?

30 YEARS AGO August 1991, CB38 The cover features the glorious schooner Shenandoah, pride of Martha’s Vineyard, but as always, a broad feast of types was to be found inside the magazine. These included 17-footers on Windermere, a visit to do some classic dinghy racing at Bosham, an event that has grown and grown since then, and classic small-yacht sailing on the Broads. John Mellor presented part two of his series on sailing with the gaff rig – scandalising of course – and John Leather, recently described by a friend as ‘Classic Boat’s patron saint’ paints a picture of the Edwardian powered launches, titled ‘Long and Lean’. A byline you’ll see often in the magazine today, that of Nic Compton, who would go on to edit the magazine for some years, appeared under an article about the classic Greek workboat – the caique. For lovers of steam, there was a feature on the tiny new steam launch SL Woodbine, 14ft 6in (4.4m) of antique-style perfection. James Taylor presented an essay on the early years (1839-1900) of maritime photography. Towards the back of the magazine, there was an ‘agony column,’ where readers wrote in with their boatbuilding problems.

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

Sternpost covered in an extensive restoration – and cost considerably less than the £200m now being earmarked for a new ship? “Britannia is a wonderful ship, but now that Great Britain is an independent trading nation once more, there is a case for looking forward rather than back,” says Mackinlay, “A new ship would showcase British shipbuilding, new propulsion methods The new and (right) old Britannia and navionics. The Ministry of Defence is taking the lead and discussing with other departments including the Foreign Office, Business, Media and Sport what they would require regarding facilities and space aboard.” The question of replacing Britannia was a political hot potato At the end of May, Boris Johnson proclaimed a fresh interest in even before the ink had dried on her decommissioning order. The commissioning a new royal yacht. Why, you might ask, do we Queen is said to have shed a tear, and Prince Philip, who played a need a new one when the iconic Britannia, now tethered as a part in her design, had a particular affection for the yacht. museum piece at Leith, looks good enough to be given a fresh The John Major government was the first to commit to lease of life for moderately less than a new build? replacing the royal yacht during the run-up to the 1997 general It’s been done before. Mark Getty had the 91-year-old classic election. The Queen was reportedly “furious” that the royal 262ft (80m) motor yacht Talitha, built at the Krupp shipyard family should be dragged into the centre of the election campaign, back in 1930 for Bruce D Algar of the Packard Car Company, just as it was fighting to restore its public image after the death of completely restored by Pendennis Shipyard to a redesign by Jon Princess Diana. The Conservatives lost, and along with that went Bannenberg and associates. She remains one of the most popular the impetus to build Colin Mudie’s sail-training ship concept. charter yachts in the Mediterranean. This was followed decade ago by Ian Maiden’s more modest Britannia has such timeless lines and is readily recognised the plan to build a Jon Bannenberg motor yacht to promote world over. No one could resist an invitation to board her, with Commonwealth interests, but that too failed to raise sufficient or without royalty aboard. We are told that we need a new financial support, despite a £50 million donation reportedly left national flagship to promote British business around the globe. by NCP Car Parks founder Donald Gosling in his will. Well, Britannia did just that. Three billion Pounds’ worth of The latest announcement by Boris Johnson, however, has led trade deals were signed off on board between 1991 and 1995 the film producer to amend his proposals to meet the and a further £2 billion in 1997 prior to her decommissioning. Government’s requirements. But a suggestion that the new vessel Various governments have been promising to replace her ever should be called Duke of Edinburgh in memory of Prince Philip since, and at least two schemes have come and gone – a 650ft drew less than lukewarm approval from royal (200m) tall ship designed by Colin Mudie which circles, suggesting that there is still a long way to was education and training focused, and a 417ft go to get the royal family aboard. Christopher (127m) modern replacement drawn by Jon Hope explains: “When HMY Britannia was first Bannenberg and promoted by the film producer muted, Winston Churchill won cross-party Ian Maiden as a ‘Commonwealth’ flagship. support. Johnson does not have that, and it is only Britannia is still turning heads, attracting if Kier Starmer offers Labour support for the idea, 300,000 visitors a year before Covid, but that the palace is likely to give its approval to any according to Christopher Hope, chief political plans.” correspondent at The Daily Telegraph who has Another potential broadside is the world trade been leading a campaign for a new yacht, she has deal signed by Boris Johnson last year, that could a hole in her hull that needs more than patching, “Britannia force the Government to have the ship built abroad and her twin steam turbine engines need to be has such to avoid breaching global trade rules. “The only replaced. More importantly, according to Craig timeless lines way to get around this will be to change her from Mackinlay, MP for South Thanet who leads a and is readily HMY to HMS making her a Royal Navy ship” Parliamentary group promoting the idea of a new suggests Hope. royal yacht, she was ‘man-power heavy’. recognised the Meanwhile, the only strings attached to HMY Britannia needed 21 officers and 250 crew to man world over” Britannia’s restoration are her mooring warps – the ship at sea. A modern ship would require and the money to do the job. fewer than 100 personnel. But wouldn’t all this be

Meet the new boss...

What’s wrong with the old Britannia, asks Barry Pickthall

CLASSIC BOAT AUGUST 2021

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