FEBRUARY 2026
£5.75 US$13.30
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
STRANGE & TRUE 1929 canoe yawl from the master, Albert Strange
Awards NOMINATIONS
Classic Boat awards 2025 logos.indd 3
VARNISHING Expert & DIY Guide
17/12/2025 11:39
www.classicboat.co.uk
8M FOCUS World Cup & Yacht Report
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PAUL WYETH
STRANGE OVERTONES “I cannot imagine a finer piece of work” was Harrison Butler’s reaction to the Albert Strange yacht Venture a century ago. But he hadn’t seen her successor... Charm WORDS NIGEL SHARP IMAGES NIGEL SHARP, OR AS CREDITED
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ANNE SOPHIE
EIGHTH Built to conquer the world at Olympics that never happened, Anne Sophie has since shown her true colours as one of the fastest classic 8-Ms in the world WORDS AND PHOTOS NIGEL SHARP
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WONDER
QUISISANA
DIZZY MISS QUIZZY
Quisisana was a stock build from Thonycroft in 1927. Now, after a complete rebuild, she’s anything but stock WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES PHOTOS C/O THE OWNER
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VARNISH
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VARNISH – THE TRUTH Experts reveal their go-to methods plus there is a DIY guide to ensure you get to the finish line WORDS NIGEL SHARP
T
he best varnish does not exist yet,” said Italian Enrico Zaccagni, project manager of many classic boat restorations. “It is always a compromise and a personal choice.” That personal choice comes down to a number of factors: the application, the prevailing climatic conditions, the time available, the number of people involved, the timber species, and the area of the vessel being coated (exterior brightwork, spars, interior); and then, once the work is done, the environment in which the boat will spend its time, whether it will be practical to keep the varnished areas covered to protect them from the elements, and how long it will be before the owner wants to, or is able to, recoat it. “And very often it is a question of finding a product you like and that you become familiar with,” said Mike Broome, a tutor at the Boat Building Academy (BBA) in Lyme Regis, “so why would we change it?”
Key Considerations Application method Climatic conditions Time available Team size Timber species Vessel area Environment post treatment Longevity Personal preference CLASSIC BOAT FEBRUARY 2026
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Traditional Tools
SECTION HEAD SUB SECTION By Robin Gates
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Rapier planes As with wooden boats, so also with the
investing in fancy planes could sink
1 Rapier 400
sturdier; the shape of the rear handle
tools that build them, it’s good to know
the project. If instead we take ‘best
smoother, 500
makes short grain unavoidable and
their origins. But although many hand
tools’ in the Darwinian sense of tools
jack plane and
splits likely if they are dropped. Depth
tools have barely changed in
best fitted to their environment and
spokeshave
and lateral adjustment is precise, the
generations, their origins have changed
so most likely to survive and be
enormously with the global economy.
passed down, the rugged Rapiers are
2 Depth and frog
soles are flat, and the lever cap’s knurled
The meaning of "made in (wherever)"
good’ uns. In the boatbuilding
adjustments
pressure screw is a refinement over the
is hard to fathom. Fully manufactured?
environment of hard knocks,
Rarely. Assembled? More likely. Merely
corrosion and difficult timbers,
3 Spokeshave
well-honed blade, with 250 primary
boxed and labelled? Hopefully not.
ruggedness beats any amount of
working a radius
bevel and 300 secondary, good shavings
The origin of this smoother, jack
frog is moveable for tuning the mouth,
usual snap-down mechanism. Given a
bling. Surprisingly, the Rapier No 400
are guaranteed. With 60 years' work in
and spokeshave with adjustable iron,
is actually heavier than its
them and now handed down to a third
reckoned essential tools by John
contemporary Stanley No 4, which
generation, these indubitably ‘Made in
Leather in his benchmark practical
translates into useful extra momentum.
Gateshead’ planes have earned the
guide Clinker Boatbuilding (Adlard
Some may judge the plastic handles
‘heirloom quality' tag applied rather
Coles Nautical, 1990) is cast in steel:
less pretty than their beech or curly
optimistically to more recent arrivals.
Gateshead, England, formerly home
maple counterparts, but they are far
Next month: Leytool breast drill
to The Anglo Scottish Tool Company. For the amateur builder setting out with drawings and textbook to hand, perhaps interpreting the adage ‘buy the best tools’ as ‘buy the most expensive', such time-tested tools as these 1960s Rapiers represent a big saving, because they are genuinely time-tested and dirt cheap. Planes are often what people most want, but with saws, chisels and the rest still to buy, not to mention quality boatbuilding timber and bags of copper fastenings priced like precious metals, over-
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