Classic Boat December 2023 - Sample Issue

DECEMBER 2023

£4.95 US$11.99

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

DUG FROM THE MUD From houseboat to

QUIET REVOLUTION History and future of electric propulsion

racing yacht

1960S LEGEND Sir Max Aitken’s Crusade

ROUND UP OF 2023 Last of the summer wind

SKIPPER TURNED OWNER

DRAWN TO THE SEA

NORFOLK YARD VISIT

Inigo Strez

Year’s best art

Broads classic yard

www.classicboat.co.uk

THE FASTEST HOUSEBOAT For years, Kismet sat in the mudflats of a small island off the Essex coast. Look at her now WORDS NIGEL SHARP

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2023

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2023

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2023

THE GREAT CRUSADE Sir Max Aitken’s original yacht Crusade is back, strutting her stuff on the racing circuit

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WORDS AND PHOTOS NIGEL SHARP

t was a downwind start from the Royal Yacht Squadron line.

All the other boats in our class were Spirits with symmetric spinnakers while we, on Crusade with owner Nic Roach at the wheel, were flying an asymmetric kite and seemingly at a disadvantage by having to cover much more ground. But at the first mark we were very much in touch, and still so after the next two legs – a tight spinnaker reach and close white sail reach. As we began the beat back to Cowes, there were just two Spirits in front of us – Gwenhyfar II which rated a lot higher than Crusade so had to give us a fair amount of time, and Flight of Ufford which rated very slightly lower. Gradually, as Crusade’s significantly greater displacement proved advantageous in the increasing sea state, we gained on Flight to the point where we, on port tack, had to duck under her stern, and then when we came together again, she had to duck us. Crusade then pulled away, beating Flight into second place on corrected time by just over a minute. It was Crusade’s second race win at this year’s British Classic Yacht Club annual regatta, having won the Nab Tower Race two days earlier by an even narrower margin. It was also our second race of the day, the first being the Ladies’ Race. At Crusade’s helm for that was 17-year-old Sophie Thom who normally works the foredeck. Her father is Jim Thom who was skipper of the 19-Metre Mariquita for many years and the person she called the night before to say “tell me everything!” But she was as cool as a cucumber throughout the race, and we finished a creditable third in class, a position that may well have been improved had we not got a twist in the spinnaker on the last leg.

Also on board that day – for the first time since he was a regular part of the crew in Crusade’s first season over half a century ago – was Cowes sailor John Green.

SIR MAX AITKEN AND HIS YACHTS Crusade was built in Cowes in 1969 for Sir Max Aitken. Born in Canada, Aitken had been a fighter pilot in World War Two before becoming an MP, and in 1968 he succeeded his father as chairman of Beaverbrook Newspapers. Through his newspaper group, he played a significant role in creating the first London Boat Show in 1954 and the Cowes to Torquay Powerboat Race in 1961. He also won the Yachtsman of the Year award in 1963 and again in 1977. He had started sailing in the late 1940s in the Dragon Joel before acquiring the 1935 De Vries-designed ketch Lumberjack which he converted to a schooner and raced CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2023

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ABOVE AND BEYOND When Jorvik, Matthew Ingle’s family motoryacht, came on the market in a live-or-let-die state, it was the perfect retirement project WORD AND PHOTOS SANDY MILLER

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2023

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2023

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SILENT

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CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2023

REVOLUTION The second coming of electric power, from its beginnings to the present day, is gradually taking over the reins from the internal combustion engine WORDS KEVIN DESMOND

CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2023

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