Classic boat july 2013

Classic Boat

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JULY 2013

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CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

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

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

WILD COAST Cruising Mallorca

Is she a classic?

Our experts tell all Charlie Barr America’s Cup legend RESCUED ONCE AGAIN

Bounty’s survival

OLD GAFFERS AT 50

Witch on the water

USING A SAFETY KNIFE

10 blades on test

The complete sailing set

Rustler 24 and Rustler 33 Modern Classics by Rustler

The Very Best of British Beautiful yachts, beautifully built

Tel: 01326 310120 | www.rustleryachts.com Rustler Yachts | Maritime Buildings | Falmouth | Cornwall | TR10 8AD

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Contents

CRAFTSMANSHIP

WHAT MAKES A CLASSIC? E XPERTS GI THEIR VIE VE W

JULY 2013 Nº301

ABOVE MIDDLE: MYSTIC SEAPORT

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COVER STORY

36 . WHAT IS A CLASSIC? From brokers to boatbuilders, our experts reveal all 44 . OGA AT 50 We look at the key moments over the last half-century

54 . DEATH AND GLORY The story behind Arthur Ransome’s quirky clinker boat

COVER STORY

COVER STORY

50 . CHARLIE BARR The first in a new series on the America’s Cup legend

58 . SAIL INTO SUMMER Soaring cliffs and calm coves – welcome to wonderful Mallorca

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DAN HOUSTON

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28 . GLORIOUS GAFFER Find out why so many people have fallen for Witch

LUCY TULLOCH

The Herreshoff classic that refuses to die

DAN HOUSTON

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COVER STORY

EMILY HARRIS

COVER PHOTO: EMILY HARRIS

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REGULARS 14 . NEWS 19 . OVERSEAS NEWS 23 . LOOKING AHEAD 25 . SALEROOM 27 . OBJECTS OF DESIRE ONBOARD 69 . SEAMANSHIP 70 . KNIVES 73 . LAZARETTE 75 . CLASSNOTES 77 . GETTING AFLOAT 91 . ADRIAN MORGAN CRAFTSMANSHIP 84 . YARD NEWS 87 . GWEEK QUAY 88 . BOATBUILDER’S NOTES 96 . LETTERS 98 . UNDER THE VARNISH CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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R a i n B Ow 1 8 9 8

BluE BiRd 1938

100m schOOnER

s T. paT R i c k 1 9 1 9

O U T S TA N D I N G D E S I G N S & P R O J E C T S

s . y. n a h l i n 1 9 3 0 R E s TO R aT i O n

w E a c T E d a s O w n E R ’s R E p R E s E n T a T i v E s , d E s i g n a u T h O R i T y , E x T E R i O R d E s i g n E R , ya c h T m a n a g E R a n d i n T E R i O R d E s i g n E R O f c R E w a n d s E Rv i c E a R E a s .

Owne r’s r e p r e s e ntatiOn | D esign | Yach t ManageMent p rO j e c t M a nag e M ent | tech nical suppOrt | ar c hive TEl: +44 (151) 601 8080

c l a s s i c s @ g lwaT s O n . c O m

w w w. g lwaT s O n . c O m

YOICHI YABE

FroM daN HouStoN, Editor

www.classicboat.co.uk Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ Editorial Editor Dan Houston +44 (0)207 349 3755 cb@classicboat.co.uk Senior art Editor Peter Smith +44 (0)207 349 3756 peter.smith@classicboat.co.uk News/Features Editor Steffan Meyric Hughes +44 (0)207 349 3758 steffan.meyric-hughes@classicboat.co.uk Production Editor Andrew Gillingwater +44 (0)207 349 3757 andrew.gillingwater@classicboat.co.uk Contributing Editor Peter Willis peter.willis@classicboat.co.uk Consultant Editor John Perryman FRINA Publishing Consultant Martin Nott Proofing Vanessa Bird advErtiSiNg advertisement Manager Edward Mannering +44 (0)207 349 3747 edward.mannering@chelseamagazines.com Senior Sales Executive Patricia Hubbard +44 (0)207 349 3748 patricia.hubbard@chelseamagazines.com advertisement Production Allpointsmedia +44 (0)1202 472781 www.allpointsmedia.co.uk Published Monthly ISSN: 0950 3315 USA US$12.50 Canada C$11.95 Australia A$11.95 Subscribe now: +44 (0)1795 419840 classicboat@servicehelpline.co.uk http://classicboat.subscribeonline.co.uk Subscriptions manager William Delmont +44 (0)207 349 3710 will.delmont@chelseamagazines.com Subscriptions department YACHTS 800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park, Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8GU CHELSEA CHELSEA A RZ II NN EES ARINE M M A G APaul MAGAZINES Managing director Dobson M deputy Managing director Steve Ross Commercial director Vicki Gavin Publisher Simon Temlett digital Manager Oliver Morley-Norris Events Manager Holly Thacker YACHTING

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Classic Boat, Yachts & Yachting, Sailing today the Chelsea Magazine Company ltd Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ +44 (0)207 349 3700 www.chelseamagazines.com Copyright The Chelsea Magazine Company 2013 all rights reserved

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When a knife is a safe option We’re running a feature on knives this month – sheath knives, which are and always have been the blade of choice for a sailor.

My Tall Ship background may have something to do with it, but I would consider someone going sailing without having a good knife close to hand as basically being a dangerous sailor.

Last year I heard from a nurse at Antigua Race Week that people were losing fingers by getting them caught in turns of rope on sheet winches. She blamed a late-night drinking culture, which must be true, but the way out of that situation is by using a sharp blade within the two seconds it takes to get it out of its sheath behind your back.

The late Dennis Ord who was my captain on the topsail schooner Vanessa Ann, was mate of the Marques when she foundered off Bermuda in 1984. Driven under by the squall of a waterspout the ship sank in seconds, and Dennis found himself in a truly perilous situation as he woke up below decks with the barque already underwater. A professional diver, Dennis reckoned he was 60ft (18.3m) below the waves by the time he made it on deck. Tangled by rigging he used his old Green River knife (full details on page 70) to cut himself free; 19 crew died in that tragic accident. And at sea Dennis always slept “... used his with his knife and belt on. However in our riskold knife to cut averse culture there has been a political clamp-down on knives, especially carrying a knife in public, in a himself free...” bid to cauterise the incidence of knife crime. The law states you must have good reason to carry a knife; it must be to do with your work, or for historical re-enactment, or for exhibition at a gallery or museum.

There is no mention of taking a knife to a boat.

For yachtsmen the rules seem as grey as dull steel. We have to take our knives with us to a boat often using public transport. Following Dennis’s example I always take one with me, checking it in hold baggage if flying and there’s never been a problem. But technically there is no real guidance to exempt me, apart from the presumed commonsense of our courts. And I get nervous about that word: presumed. If this stops me carrying my old knife then I think, contrary to what the law hopes, that I will become less safe. Your letters, as always, are welcome!

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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BORN SURVIVOR Few yachts have led a more adventurous life than Bounty. In her eight decades, she has survived multiple owners, sub-standard repairs, severe storm damage and a raging fire. Here’s her incredible story STORY ROBIN LLOYD PHOTOGRAPHS LUCY TULLOCH

BOUNTY

KATHY MANSFIELD

“Bounty was built as a gentleman’s sailing yacht. She had a gilded American eagle on her stem and the scrollwork on her bow; she was the quintessential aristocrat’s boat”

T

he late October skies were grey and threatening. Rain was on its way. I was standing outside the New York Yacht Club’s stately old mansion in Newport, Rhode Island, waiting to be picked up by a boat that long ago had been the flagship of the Eastern Yacht Club at Marblehead, Massachusetts. I scanned the harbour for the familiar raked masts I knew so well, despite the fact I had not sailed on this classic yacht for more than 40 years.

I could see the lofty masts of some of the old 12-Metres in the harbour, but there were no incoming sails.

The boat I was waiting for was Bounty, a stylish 57ft 5in (17.5m) ketch designed by L Francis Herreshoff nearly 80 years ago. She was the younger, smaller sister of the famed ocean racer Ticonderoga, which had surfed her way across the Pacific in 1965, attaining speeds of 18 knots in gale-force winds. Bounty’s speed-to-length ratio was virtually the same as ‘Big Ti’, according to Herreshoff, but her primary attraction was the beauty of her sheerline. The well-known boat designer Phil Bolger once described Bounty in an article for Nautical Quarterly as: “The most beautiful yacht ever designed or built – a flamboyant thing with a riot of sweeping, twisting, converging curves.” Few would disagree that she was one of the best clipper-bow creations Herreshoff made over a 25-year period.

Today, Bounty was being sailed to NYYC from Martha’s Vineyard, a distance of about 50 miles, a long day’s sail.

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

BOUNTY

She had just come down from Maine where she had undergone extensive renovations for the past eight months. On board were the new owner, French businessman Eric Blanc-Garin, his friend Xavier Gerbaud and the captain, Florent Villard, a bearded racing veteran from Brest. I had spoken with the owner and the captain to explain my history with the old boat, and they had invited me to come along on one leg of their autumn cruise to New York.

Then I suddenly spotted her sails and I felt a warm glow inside. On Bounty’s stern was the tricolour of the French flag. As I helped the crew unload and secure the boat, one guy turned to me and said: “Pretty boat.”

“Yes,” I replied. “Her name is Bounty. She is an American classic, a Herreshoff. She has just been overhauled up in Maine.”

That was somewhat of an understatement on my part. The entire backbone of the boat’s old hull was completely replaced at Rockport Marine in Maine.

The centreline structure beginning at the stern to the structural wooden keel, the forefoot and stem were all replaced with a tropical hardwood called angelique.

Work also included replacing 40 of the white-oak frames, and the bottom planking 4ft (1.2m) up from the backbone was removed and replaced with purpleheart.

Below the waterline she now had all new wood. In addition, they made a new mizzen mast and main boom, a new rudder out of oak and upgraded the electronics extensively. The woodwork down below, the cabinetry,

bulkhead door and the berths were all renewed with sipo, a tropical hardwood similar to mahogany.

I had already heard how Blanc-Garin had made the decision to transport the hull 3,000 miles from California to Maine to bring it to one of the better wooden boat shipyards in New England. He’d told me he wanted to restore Bounty back to the way she was when she left the Britt Brothers boatyard at Lynn, Massachusetts, in 1934. I was eager to see how she sailed so I gladly accepted Blanc-Garin’s invitation to join them for a leg of the cruise.

Bounty was built for Ned Dane, the son of a wealthy Massachusetts family, as a gentleman’s sailing yacht, complete with her own steward. She was painted white in those days with the gilded American eagle on her stern and the scrollwork on her bow; she was the quintessential aristocrat’s boat.

The US Coast Guard ran Bounty during the war as a coastal freight carrier and in 1952 Clarence Knapp, a wealthy Boston area shoemaker, took ownership.

His stepsons, Steve and Harry Parker, recall an active social life on board and one terrible storm in 1954 by the name of Hurricane Carol, during which Bounty ran aground in 100mph-plus winds. I was immediately interested in this account as Herreshoff had written to my father confirming that a hurricane had hurled Bounty far ashore at Woods Hole causing considerable damage to the boat. That was important because of what happened to Bounty in the years when we owned her.

Above, left to right: all the woodwork down below is made from a tropical hardwood called sipo. Far left: few yachts have a more distinctive raked mastline than Bounty

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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BOUNTY

KAthY mAnsFieLD

Right: the sweeping sheer is classic Herreshoff.

Below: exquisite details abound

BOUNTY LOA

57ft (17.4m) LWL

50ft (15.2m) beAm

13ft 4in (4.1m) DrAught

6ft 4in (1.9m) DispLAcement mYstic seApOrt

50,000lb (22.7T)

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sAiL AreA

1,800sqft (167m2)

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

My father, Stacy Lloyd, bought her from the Knapp family in 1957, and had her sailed down to the island of St Croix in the US Virgin Islands where we were living at the time. My father was a good sailor who enjoyed his time at the helm. He loved that boat.

But she had a serious problem. I recall my father struggling with major leaks for 10 years between 1957 and 1967. He went from yard to yard trying to find and fix the problem, but it was all in vain. No one in the Caribbean was equipped to do much more than caulk the seams and tighten the bolts.

As the years went by my father kept getting more frustrated that he couldn’t find the source of the leaks.

He wrote to Herreshoff in April 1964 and said: “We are getting more water than when I bought her seven years ago, and I would like to do everything possible to tighten her up.” Then he found rotted wood in the keel area, so he thought there might be a structural problem with the boat’s keel. Herreshoff seemed incredulous, but did mention that the boat had been thrown ashore at Woods Hole. Finally my father decided to take the boat to Paul Luke’s boatyard in Boothbay Harbor, Maine.

It turns out that the boat had a break in her backbone and the entire stern was sagging about 6in (15cm).

Someone had cut a section of the deadwood between the ballast and the rudder and inserted a 1,000lb (454kg) piece of lead that was bolted through the keel. The joint on the front side of the keel was seriously damaged.

I wanted more details about the condition of the hull so I spoke to Sam Temple, the manager of the seven-man crew that worked on Bounty. He told me that the old planking, which was southern pine, was just peeling away. “Scoopable” was the word he used. The keel timber and the sternpost were also soft and rotting away.

They also found many butt straps and joints in the planking, implying some kind of damage, consistent with the hull being pounded from running aground.

I thought of Hurricane Carol and wondered if this could be a result of repairs done after that storm.

That was the end of one chapter for Bounty. Paul Luke offered to build my father a new hull for about the same price as he would charge for repairing the old hull.

My father opted for the latter option with what he understood to be Herreshoff’s approval, and plans were made to build a new hull, salvaging masts, spars, rigging, ballast, hatches, cabin trunk, winches and bowsprit.

Herreshoff, then in his late seventies, even came to oversee the construction at the Luke yard.

My father assumed that the old hull, which was nothing but an empty shell, was not worth anything and wrote to Paul on 27 December 1967 saying: “As to the old hull and its disposition, if it does have a value and I suppose this quantity of timber does have a value, you are welcome to it…” Little did he realise that the old hull would be restored and the boat rebuilt a few years later by a Maine boatbuilder by the name of O Lie-Nielsen, a great admirer of Herreshoff.

In the meantime, my father had a new Bounty, which we were sailing in the Caribbean. She had a new hull, but in every other respect looked like the original boat.

In effect, there were now two yachts called Bounty.

The old boat, her hull refastened and the rig rebuilt to Herreshoff specifications, sailed out of Rockland harbour in 1974 under the name of L Francis Herreshoff bound for California. O Lie-Nielsen had briefly called her Poquita but that name was changed when the boat was sold. The new owner was Phil Long, who would later build the Bruce King-designed Whitehawk. The old

Bounty had come back to life, albeit with a different name, but as I would find out much later the leaks in that old hull would continue.

At dinner that night I spoke to my new French crew about the original Bounty’s history, some of which is shrouded in mystery. I told them what I knew about her wilder Hollywood years. Phil Long sold her after a couple of years and then Roger Riddell, a well-known movie producer, found her in a terrible shape in 1977 tied up in Newport Beach. All of the exterior teak was covered in garish paint. A generator was nailed to the cabin top. Inside, there were several inches of foulsmelling water along with stainless-steel tanks capable of holding 1,000 (4,546 litres) gallons of fuel. Panels of Formica wormwood were nailed to the bulkheads.

Riddell soon learned that the boat had been used for drug smuggling; she had been tracked but never caught.

He heard unsubstantiated stories that she may have made several round trips from Colombia carrying cocaine and marijuana and then been abandoned.

Word around the docks was that the drug smugglers didn’t want her any more because she leaked too much.

Working with one of California’s best-known wooden boat experts, Wayne Ettel, Riddell slowly began restoring the boat’s hull. To strengthen it, he bolted a bronze strap from the keel to new chainplates he had installed.

He then totally refitted the interior – cabinets, table and bulkheads – in Burmese teak. Down below, she had never looked so luxurious. Riddell says he spent more than $500,000 on the boat. In the process, he decided to change the boat’s name back to Bounty.

It took several years but Bounty was once again restored. “The boat was pretty tight,” he said. “There were no major leaks.” She was used in several movies, CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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BOUNTY

“It almost seemed to me as if she thrived in heavy winds”

c/0 O LIE-NIELSEN

Above, left to right: crew from O Lie-Nielsen’s boatyard step the new masts on to the original hull; outside Rockport Marine, refit number three complete; the entire backbone of Bounty’s hull was replaced

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one with Steve McQueen called On Any Sunday and in a documentary about Errol Flynn. She was also the setting for many commercials, even a few Playboy shoots with models draped across the decks.

Riddell owned Bounty for 23 years but all that ended in October 2000 when a fire caused by an electrical short ripped through the interior. The damage was so extensive that the insurance company sold the boat shortly afterwards to another Californian named Sean Fagan. Once again Bounty had found a custodian, who like those before him felt a calling to repair this classic yacht. Fagan faced a daunting challenge and that was just the beginning of another small fortune poured into Bounty’s hull over a three to five-year period.

And so to our much-anticipated sail. The next morning we left early and I had told the French captain how my father would stubbornly refuse to use the engine, preferring instead to risk damage to his boat by sailing in the crowded harbour of Christiansted in the US Virgin Islands. Having heard this tale, Villard, confident and assertive at the helm, was clearly in the mood for showing off. He had us perform this same manoeuvre as we left our mooring in front of the New York Yacht Club. One by one we hauled up the sails, a physical task so familiar and comforting to me even if the orders in French were not. First, the mizzen, then the grande voile (mainsail). The trinquette or staysail was next. As we backed the trinquette, Bounty slowly fell away from the mooring in the light airs, I looked back at the cockpit and momentarily thought of my father. That reverie was shattered when I heard our bearded captain dressed in his foul-weather gear order us to raise le foc. I have to admit for two seconds I stood there wondering what he had just said. Fortunately I had the owner beside me to explain that he meant the topsail.

We sailed out of Narragansett Bay towards Block Island under full sail, coasting along at about five knots.

The air was light, no more than 10 knots, but the tide was helping to pull us along. It was wonderful to feel the easy motion of the old boat as she glided along. From the vantage point

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

c/0 ROcKPORT MARINE

SAM TEMPLE/ROcKPORT MARINE

of her stern I allowed my eyes to follow the curving sheer of the deck up to the bowsprit. Some say Herreshoff was inspired by a Chesapeake Bay Bugeye when he designed Bounty. That may well be, but with her fine lines she has always reminded me of a fast, elegant New York pilot schooner from the 19th century. With her draught over 6ft (1.8m), she is a true ocean sailing boat that would be hard to knock down. We went through many storms with Bounty and it almost seemed to me as if she thrived in heavy winds. I suppose I prefer to think of her as a descendant of the great ocean racer America.

The new owner told me that after New York City, Bounty was headed for the Caribbean where she would participate in the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta and then would make the transatlantic crossing to France. The old original Bounty of Boston was about to embark on another adventure. She had been Bounty of Christiansted, then briefly the L Francis Herreshoff, and then Bounty of Newport Beach. It was hard for me to fathom that her new home port would be across the Atlantic in Marseille. But then the other Bounty, which Paul Luke built for my father in 1968, was now in Germany in the Baltic. Two sister ships, each with parts of the original boat. I wondered if they would ever meet.

At one moment after we passed Block Island, I found myself alone in the cockpit steering the boat with the French tricolour flapping behind me. I was sitting on the leeward side so I had a clear view of the flowing sweep of the deck. The winds had picked up and I held my breath as a pod of leaping dolphins crossed our path.

The boat was sharply heeled over now, and I began to think of all the many passages I had experienced on this boat as a young boy. I had learned to sail on Bounty.

She had given me a love and an appreciation for the sea.

I shook my head slowly as I marvelled at her story of survival. Now she had a new owner who wanted to restore her to what she was in 1934 when she was built. Eric Blanc-Garin told me he viewed Bounty as a historic treasure. The old master of Marblehead must be smiling now, I thought to myself. Perhaps he’s even brushing up on his French.

Antigua Classics Regatta 2013

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st=

Points

SoT Class

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Single-handed Race

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Concours d’Elegance

The New Spirit 60 Classic

Spirit 60DH ‘RANI’ Antigua Classics

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SPIRIT

YAC H T S

News

classic boat’s address: Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee place, london, sW3 3TQ For phone numbers, please see page 5

THAMES

This July, the second-oldest sailing race in the world will celebrate its 150th anniversary, change its name – and then end for the foreseeable future. The Thames Barge Match was first held in 1863 and spawned a series of races around the East Coast of England.

It has been held, on an off, since then, with its longest hiatus in the 60s, 70s and 80s. It was revived by Mark Boyle in 1995, giving it its second longest continuous stretch in 150 years. After Mark’s death before Christmas 2012, the running of the race was entrusted to Richard Walsh for this year. But after this year’s

JOHn cadd

Final Thames Barge Match event, if no one volunteers to take over the race (renamed the Mark Boyle Memorial Race), it will “likely be the last for the time being”, according to Richard, mindful of the event’s repeatedly proved ability to rise from the ashes like a phoenix.

This year, the course raced will be Lower Hope to Southend to Erith,

Above: the second oldest race in sailing history

roughly 45 miles, the first time that particular course has been raced in 117 years. If someone with a good knowledge of barges who is patient enough to deal with the everincreasing red tape governing racing under sail on the tideway steps forward to take on the mantle of race organiser, the race could carry on.

Phyllis 1913

Last Royal Mersea Class? she’s possibly the last example of the royal Mersea restricted class – 11 cabin boats based on the lancashire nobby. david Moss’s recent restoration has left phyllis with plenty of curves – the coachroof is compound curved with every beam of a different camber, and the cockpit coaming is elliptical – and ready for a new century. she is 26ft (7.9m) long, designed by gH Willmer and built by samuel bond. she was shortlisted for our 2011 restoration of the year award.

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Jolie brise, 100 this year, will sail from cowes on 11 august for the Fastnet rock off southern ireland, then east to plymouth. Jolie brise won the first ever Fastnet in 1925, and went on to win it two more times. also taking part will be the linton Hope yawl duet, built in 1912.

ian badley

alex pickersgill

Classics to race Fastnet ROUND THE ISLAND RACE

Moderns vanquish classics The biggest race of its kind that sees about 1,500 boats race around the isle of Wight in a day, is usually won by a Folkboat or contessa 26. This 1 June, however, modern yachts dominated, with top handicap prize the gold roman bowl going to sailing backer sir keith Mills aboard his Transpac 52 yacht 5 West. This year saw two records fall. sir ben ainslie broke the absolute record on the 45ft (13.7m) ac catamaran Jp Morgan bar, in 2h 52m – 16 minutes quicker than the 2001 time set by French multihull maestro Francis Joyon. Mike slade on icap leopard shaved 9m 45s off his own record for the fastest monohull to finish in 3h 44m.

GRAEME SWEENEY

CHATHAM

A dash of Finesse As the northern hemisphere sailing calendar kicked into action this May with Les Voiles d’Antibes in the Med, Semaine du Golfe on the Breton coast (more next month) and Yarmouth Old Gaffers on the Isle of Wight, a fleet of eight clinker Thames Estuary yachts celebrated the late bank holiday weekend by gathering for the first time in a forgotten siding of Kent’s River Medway.

RYS

200 years for Squadron The Royal Yacht Squadron will celebrate its bicentenary in 2015 with a special invitational regatta from 25-31 July. The regatta is preceded by a transat race from Rhode Island to Cowes organised by the Squadron, the New York Yacht Club, the Royal Ocean Racing Club and the Storm Trysail Club. The timing is to allow US yachts to participate.

NHS EA

New network More than 40 boatbuilders, vessel owners, suppliers and trainees attended the first networking forum for the Shipshape Network in East

Anglia, held on 1 May at the International Boatbuilding Training College (IBTC) in Lowestoft. IBTC has been awarded the status of the first UK Shipshape hub and will provide support to network members. Regional projects represented included the regeneration of the old Whisstocks yard in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

HALL OF FAME

Update

On p54 in last month’s Hall of Fame feature, we attributed the restoration of the launch Rainbow to Peter Freebody. That work has been superseded by a more recent restoration by Alastair Garland in 2010, as detailed in CB270.

Chatham Marina played host to the first Finesse Yacht Rally for these 21ft, 24ft and 28ft clinker yachts built nearby at the yard of Alan Platt during the 1960s and 70s. Five 24-footers (7.3m) and three 21-footers (6.4m) attended the regatta organised by author Nick Ardley. It now looks like becoming an annual fixture.

Photographer Graeme Sweeney, who took this photo, is also a Finesse owner.

Calling club heroes

Celebrating the best from Britain’s

KATHLEEN & MAY

Petition to list ships

Overview

Award-winning maritime malt, Old Pulteney Single Malt Scotch Whisky, is launching The O Heroes Awards for a second year.

The annual awards scheme will celebrate and reward the passion, commitment and achiev Clubs and their members at both a regional and national level.

More whisky and money await this This application form provides the opportunity for you to celebrate and reward your heroi annual initiative – the Old Pulteney Maritime Heroes Awards 2013. * year’s Old Pulteney Britain’s last remaining wooden three-masted topsail schooner, the 1900-built, 98ft (30m) Kathleen & May, has become the focalCompetition point Entries ‘maritime heroes’ Semi Finals Once the application process h Each Sailing Club can nominate up to three club members who have excelled in select 30 winning finalist from t of the following categories: awards, after a for a call to list vessels. Fear that she might be sold overseasonehas The thirty successful finalists an Club Service Is there someone who has worked tirelessly All finalists will be put forward t to contribute to your club, its organisation, successful fi rst year led to an online petition asking the Dept for Culture, Media and with an awards certificate and b fundraising, the sailing programme or its reputation?

Category Finals last year.

The awards Sport to “give vessels the same legal protection as historic Bravery Is there one person who has committed an Three category finalists will be s outstanding act of bravery, perhaps in your local Yachting Life, Alastair Drummo RNLI or supporting a fellow club member in need? and their clubs will be no for: club service; finalists buildings”. Sign at epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/45755. Sailing Achievement Hereare will be presented with a £1000 c we will celebrate the people at local clubs Malt and an award trophy. All t who have achieved sailing greatness, at local, national or international level. bravery; and sailing competition.

The Finals Please note that each club is only permitted to enter one club member per achievement.

The Old Pulteney Maritime He category. Each nomination must take the form of a minimum of 250 words judging panel and notified alon which states why each nominee is a true hero within their category. Application winner will be presented with a forms must be returned by 15th August 2013 to: WORD OF THE MONTH Nominations must and a much sought after bottle ‘World’s Best Whisky’ in Jim M Press Office Old Pulteney Maritime Heroes be Awardsin by 15 August.

Popple *Please note that publicity cam The Auction House Mews the competition.

43 Thistle Street Lane SW * Unsuccessful entrants will be n Edinburgh Visit www.

“A slang term for the roughness of the sea. When it blows EH2 1EW oldpulteney.com there is said to be a popple on or poppling sea” A AnstedThe application form can be emailed to maritimeheroes@burtgreener.co.uk to enter.

As a whisky with a rich maritime heritage and long standing association with the sea, O maritime activity at many levels in the country, from prestigious regattas and exhibit competitions.

www.oldpulteney.com 15 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Sincerity 88 ft Baglietto Marconi Ketch 1928

€850,000 VAT unpaid. Lying USA

From the board of Vincenzo Baglietto and built by the Baglietto yard. SINCERITY, originally JANUA, could be billed an Italian masterpiece. Designed as a fast comfortable cruiser her cutaway forefoot and Bermudan rig (original sail plan) make her fast and able; her unusually high bulwarks make her safe and dry. The yacht’s interior is mahogany with birds eye maple inlays, incredibly beautiful exactly as one would expect from a yacht built in Italy during this period - well suited for an owner’s party of 5 with accommodation for 4 crew.

Pazienza

60 ft Jack Laurent Giles Bermudan Cutter 1956

POA Lying UK

PAZIENZA designed by Laurent Giles was built by Cantiere Navale V. Beltrami in Genoa in 1956. Laurent Giles seemed to achieve a seamless transition between traditional and modern styling - it is not surprising that PAZIENZA, with her handsome sheers and understated English good looks was down to the last two nominees for the most beautiful boat in France for 2010. This is an excellent indication of her current impressive condition.

Oiseau de Feu

68 ft Charles E Nicholson Cutter 1937

E750,000 Euros Lying France

As FIREBIRD X This yacht was a design inspired by the 12M R class but liveable enough for offshore races and fast cruising. John Leather observed “OISEAU DE FEU is, among middle sized yachts, the most convenient and elegant boat a sailor could dream of”. She won many inshore and offshore races in her early post war life. In 1989 a two year full restoration was to bring her back to her original splendour. Since then, she has taken part in the Mediterranean classic races with great results - a yacht on which you can win races and enjoy wonderful cruises in some luxury.

email: info@sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

33 High Street, Poole BH15 1AB, England. Tel: + 44 (0)1202 330077 www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

c/o The mary rose museum

PoRtsMouth

Mary Rose Museum opens walkways, taking visitors deeper into the bowels of the ship. In addition there are climate-controlled display cases showing some of the 19,000 assorted items found aboard and around the Mary Rose. They include longbows, nit-combs, shoes, boots, clothing, musical and navigational instruments, something that looks very much like a backgammon board and even 500-year-old peppercorns.

Together they add up to the most complete picture of Tudor life ever discovered. No wonder it’s been referred to as ‘Britain’s Pompeii’.

geoff hunT

The first thing you notice as you enter the walkway is that it dips in the middle and then rises again. In fact, it follows the deck of the ship, or half-ship, on your right. On your left is a sort of ghostly mirror image of the ship, constructed mainly in glass to display in their proper positions some of the larger artefacts, such as a cannon, that were recovered along with the ship, writes Peter Willis.

This is the new Mary Rose Museum, built at a cost of £35million and opened at the end of May, to provide a permanent home for King Henry VIII’s flagship, sunk in 1545 during a battle with the French in the Solent, in full view of the horrified monarch, who was observing proceedings from Southsea Castle.

The surviving half-hull, preserved in the silt of the seabed, was recovered just over 30 years ago, in 1982, and brought back to dry out in a dry dock in Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, next to HMS Victory, and a few yards from where she was built in 1510. The hull is too delicate to be moved, so the new museum had to be built around it, hence the building’s distinctive oval shape. There are three

Above: the salvaged hull of the Mary Rose is so fragile that the museum had to be built around it – hence the unusual shape

But it’s the hull that fascinates.

Like a cutaway drawing of a Tudor ship, it sits on its keel and shows off its construction. Since it arrived here the hull has had a constant mist sprayed on it to conserve and stabilise the fabric. Initially this was cold fresh water to prevent it drying out and inhibit bacterial activity; later polyethylene glycol was used to penetrate the wood and support the cell walls. The sprays were finally turned off at the end of April, and the hull now has to be gently ‘blow-dried’ for the next five years to extract the 100 tons of water it has absorbed.

This means that for the time being it will be displayed behind glass, within a climate-controlled chamber, but once the process is finished there will be nothing between it and the visitors.

Geoff Hunt’s magnificent painting of the moment the Mary Rose was sunk (pictured left), shown at last autumn’s Royal Society of Marine Artists’ London exhibition, has now been converted to a floor-to-ceiling mural in the museum’s foyer. www.maryrose.org, Tel: +44 (0)23 9281 2931 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

17

www.robbeberking.com

Overseas news

c/o chris museler

st barths

Classics shine at St Barths Regatta record numbers at the Heineken Regatta, Rolex International and Antigua, somehow Les Voiles fell through the cracks. The crews aboard the W-76 Wild Horses, the magnificent 74ft (22.6m) Frers Heroina and Saphaedra were not only treated to the standard Les Voiles bon moment, with live music and beach parties, they were the subject of desire amongst the fleet.

The crowd favourite among the three was certainly Heroina, here for her coming-out party after a massive refit where no part went untouched.

I had the privilege of racing aboard Heroina on the first day and though the vast teak deck and the modern cabin hinted to only daysailing capabilities, it quickly became evident that she had the wonderful sailing and aesthetic balance only a master draftsman

Above: Amanda Sparks and Jamie Enos sailing the 51ft (15.5m) Saphaedra during this year’s Les Voiles de St Barth

“The organisers were going to cancel the classic fleet this year”

c/o chris museler

As the trade winds began gusting down the hills of Colombier on the leeward shore of St Barths this spring, a sparrow-like young woman clung to the top of a mast. She had free-climbed to the top while her only other companion that day, her female captain, ran between helm and mast winch to take up the slack. The main halyard had jumped the sheave, writes Chris Museler.

As the other two classics in the fourth edition of Les Voiles de St Barths took off with the rest of the fleet, Amanda Sparks and Jamie Enos eventually pulled the main back down and licked their calloused hands as they motored back to Gustavia’s tight harbour.

Though they missed the first day, the two youngsters, sailing on the 1965 Aage Nielsen ketch Saphaedra, epitomised the spirit of the classics at Les Voiles as they were back the next day, feisty and determined, and took aboard this journalist for the sunny, windy romp through one of the most scenic pieces of ocean on the planet.

“The organisers were going to cancel the classic fleet this year,” says Enos, who signed on as captain of Saphaedra five years ago. “Our owner couldn’t come but he said ‘Go have a good time, we need to keep the fleet going’, so we did.”

While classic yacht racing in the Caribbean has been booming with

like Frers could conjure. “Stradivarius is the only word I can think of,” says Marc Guillemot, the popular French Vendée Globe solo sailor who end of 12 requested a tour ofthe Heroina inhellish days following a sextant St Barths during the event’s layday.course across the southern Ocean Wild Horses, penned and built by the Maine boatbuilder Joel White, has been a fixture on the Caribbean and East Coast of America classic circuit under the ownership of Donald Tofias. The boat had been sailing as a pair with the W-76 White Wings until that boat was sold recently. Tofias was a welcome site at Les Voiles as one of the classic’s ‘placeholders’.

The awards ceremony also seemed to solidify the classics’ place in the hearts of the team running Les Voiles.

As the tall, white-haired owner of Heroina stepped to the stage, beaming after hurriedly berthing the boat in a Med-moor to the seawall where the winner is placed, he casually made a backhanded slap and fist pump with the announcer. This indigenous greeting used by the locals signified the comfort and camaraderie that developed over the event.

The biggest heroes of the week, however, were those two female sailors who continued on after their DNS on day one to double-hand Saphaedra for two more days.

The crowd roared as they walked to the awards stage. Les Voiles couldn’t ask for better placeholders.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

19

for tickets and information visit www.woodenboat.org

Wooden Boat Festival is an annual community cultural event of international acclaim. We support year round maritime programs for youth and adults at the Northwest Maritime Center & Wooden Boat Foundation. Poster art by Sarah Felder. Printed by Printery Communications on acid-free recycled paper with vegetable ink, www.printery.com.

OVERSEAS NEWS NEW ZEALAND

canoe stern set her up beautifully for punching into head seas, and her steadying sail settled her down in beam-on ocean swells.

Kumi has spent most of her life cruising and working on North Island and, therefore, some of the anchorages in the fiords and sounds of South Island presented a big challenge, since there’s a 5m average depth in the Hauraki Gulf, compared with 30m to 300m in the sounds.

Circumnavigating New Zealand can

Above: Haydon Afford enjoys some downtime on board Kumi

C/o CYANZ

When you gotta go, you gotta go, and in Haydon Afford’s words: “It seemed like a good idea,” writes Chad Thompson.

Haydon has just completed a figure-of-eight, almost solo, circumnavigation of New Zealand in his 40ft (12.2m) 1905 Bailey & Lowe-designed and built doubleender, Kumi. He added: “I left Auckland on 15 December with sacks of potatoes, onions, rice, muesli, bread mix, a new foresail (instead of the sack I’d previously had) and heaps of diesel (not in a sack).”

Fortunately it was one of the best summers ever and while Kumi experienced some adverse weather, she was blessed with settled conditions for the long passages down the south-east coast of North Island, and down the West Coast of South Island. A few years earlier the NZ classic launch Ruamano had to be abandoned and was lost in a similar circumnavigation attempt.

Kumi’s fine forward sections and

C/0 CYANZ

Afford completes epic NZ voyage be compared to circumnavigating England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales, except there are some very significant stretches of water exposed to weather systems advancing unimpeded up from the Roaring Forties. These weather systems have been known to smash sailing ships to matchwood, so Haydon’s respect for the sea paid huge dividends. Not only did he get to spend time in many secluded bays, ports and rivers, he also got to meet the locals, enjoying their generous hospitality and on some occasions their company as they joined him for the journey.

A careful navigator in a seaworthy vessel can go almost anywhere.

Haydon did that and returned to Auckland on 6 March.

ITALY

Panerai, the Italian luxury watchmaker that has sponsored classic yacht regattas since taking over the mantle from fashion house Prada nine years ago, has announced that it has extended its sponsorship to the established Vele d’Epoca a Napoli regatta, set against the backdrop of the bay of Naples. This year, the event will run from 26-30 June. The other nine Panerai-sponsored events this year include Les Voiles d’Antibes in France and the relatively new BCYC regatta in Cowes every July. The Panerai yacht Eilean will be attending the Naples regatta.

C/o MAN oN THE rIVEr

Panerai extends sponsorship to Naples

MALLORCA

C/o MAN oN THE rIVEr

CB Man of the Year heads to the Med Venetian pan-Europe sailor and environmental campaigner Giacomo De Stefano, who was named our 2013 Man of the Year, will sail around the island of Mallorca to raise awareness of the damage tourism is doing to the island. He will sail a 19ft (5.8m) llaüt belonging to his friend David, a university professor resident on the island. The boat is a traditional Mallorcan-built wooden fishing vessel, with two masts, lateen rig and oars. Giacomo will sail and row the 300 miles with a changing rota of companions, visiting boatyards and other traditional, sustainable ways of life along his route, to champion their cause. Mallorca is one of the most touristic sites in the world. Its population of one million rises to 24 million every summer but the island still contains secret coves, empty golden beaches, medieval towers, plunging cliffs, high katabatic winds and rare birds – as well as the hordes of visiting ‘drunk bipeds’ it can count as part of its fascinating fauna.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

21

Discover more at www.tnielsen.co.uk +44 (0)1452 301117 Ten masts at our alongside berths and dry docks in Gloucester.

22

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Looking ahead Things to do in the next few weeks

NEXT MONTH

ON THE THAMES 20-21 JULY Thames Traditional Boat Rally Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire Enquiries to Tony Goodhead, Tel: +44 (0)1932 872575 www.tradboatrally.com

CB ARCHIVES

Now in its 36th year, Thames Trad is one of Europe’s largest gatherings of traditionally built river craft, including Dunkirk Little Ships. 200 boats expected.

SCHOONER SO FONG Arrested as a spy vessel in Vietnam, rescued and restored, she is one of Olin Stephens’ rare schooner designs, and she is magnificent. We’re aboard!

ON THE WATER

22-23 JUNE OGA Royal Hospital School Rally Holbrook Creek and Wrabness, Essex www.eastcoastclassics.co.uk One-off event to celebrate 300 years of the famous ex-naval college 6-7 JULY Dartmouth Classics Weekend Dartmouth, Devon www.dartmouthclassics.org.uk Combining the first weekend of the Classic Channel Regatta and the 50th Jubilee Race of the Devon OGA

BRITTANY CLASSIC CIRCUIT 21-23 JUNE Tregor Classique Trébeurden, N Brittany http://yctreb.free.fr

The monster festivals of Brittany – Brest, Douarnenez and Morbihan – are complemented by a whole French Atlantic classic circuit.

The generous entry arrangements (no entry fee and plenty of free mooring to boot) mean that the canny yachtsman can spend most of the summer in Brittany without ever paying for a mooring! Here, we have listed just a couple…

MORBIHAN

SAILING TODAY

IN THE LATEST ISSUE Pete Goss

Vendée legend takes on the North Sea in a kayak

Soft Shackles

Round GB

Make your own with our step-by-step guide

BOAT ON TEST

Slippery slim ST HELIER

Andrew 'Bart'

9 770044 000205

SIMPSON Tributes to a true Olympian

NEW SAILO All you RS need to kno w get start to ed

10-PAGE SPECIAL

America's Cup

SAIL A ‘TINNY’

Rod Heikell urges young explorers to just set off

CHARTPLOTTERS

Which is the best 7in standalone plotter?

FIT A WATERMAKER

Endless fresh water without filling up!

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

YACHTS YACHTING CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

21/05/2013 23/05/2013 18:21 10:02

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

 America’s Cup 10-page special on the great race  ‘Bart’ Simpson: tributes to a true Olympian

Bob Fisher reveals the inside story BOAT ON TEST

Bluemotion Exciting new keelboat

 Bluemotion: exciting new keelboat on test

They regularly fit 1,000 boats into this horseshoe bay in Brittany and they all go round on the tide. It’s one of our favourite trad boat events

PLUS The Gaffers go round the top (of Britain), more Charlie Barr, and life’s a Biche

YACHTS YACHTING

YACHTS YACHTING

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

Salona’s new 35 is half cruiser, half racer Gull’s Eye travels to the pearl of the Channel

 Soft shackles – make your own with our step-by-step guide

IN THE LATEST ISSUE £4.30 Issue #1663 | July 2013 www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk 07

WWW.YACHTSANDYACHTING.CO.UK

ROUND BRITAIN • CHILEAN CHANNELS • SALONA 35 • ST HELIER • PLOTTERS

 Pete Goss: Vendée legend takes on the North Sea… in a kayak!

Circumnavigator falls for the unloved NE coast

ST195_001FC_FINAL.indd Untitled-1 1 1

 Around GB – circumnavigator falls for the north-east coast

ANDREW SIMPSON | AMERICA'S CUP PREVIEW | SPINNAKER CHOICE & TECHNIQUE | TEST: BLUEMOTION

JULY 2013 – ISSUE No 195

INTERVIEW

JULY 2013 | ISSUE #1663

JULY 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20

At 150 she is one-and-a-half times a centenarian and is one of the famous Itchin Ferries from Dan Hatcher, in 1862. And she has been well restored

27-30 JUNE Rendez-vous de la Belle Plaisance Bénodet, N Brittany www.rdv-belleplaisance.fr Tel: +33 (0)6 0815 38 53

From the publishers of Classic Boat GO FURTHER I SAIL BETTER I BE INSPIRED

NELLIE AT 150

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

SPINNAKERS

A guide to downwind sails and how to use them 1663 Cover (1)Final.indd 1

BOAT TO BEACH Kit you can wear when you're racing or relaxing

MIRROR AT 50 Ian Walker tells you how to go faster

TECHNIQUE

A coach's view of Spi Ouest from Mark Rushall

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

YACHTS YACHTING CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

CHELSEA ARINE M MAGAZINES

28/05/2013 14:06

Available at all good newsagents or order now post-free from www.chelseamagazines.com/shop

ON SALE 11 July 2013

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

TOP TO BOTTOM: EMILY HARRIS, PETER WILLIS, STEFFAN MEYRIC-HUGHES

22 JUNE Heybridge Basin Regatta Nr Maldon, Essex www.heybridgebasinregatta.co.uk Well attended East Coast regatta

JOHN CADD

22-23 JUNE Scottish Traditional Boat Festival Portsoy, Banff, Scotland www.stbfportsoy.com 20th year for the festival of Scottish maritime and cultural heritage

23

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Jamie Clay Boatbuilding

2ESTORATION 3PECIALIST s YEARS EXPERIENCE Courtesy of G L Watson & Co

MULDONICH 30ft gaff yawl designed by G L Watson & Co, 1930 A lovely yawl, based on the highly successful Albert Strange yawl Venture, for one of her former owners.

SPARTAN 27ft. 4-ton cutter G L Watson design No.97, 1886 A unique opportunity to commission the restoration of G L Watson’s oldest extant design. “...Spartan now planked up to the top strake...

She looked uncommonly well, both as to work and form...nice entrance, clean handsome stern and a powerful look about her mid section... she is being turned out strictly to Watson’s plan.�

Wivenhoe, Dec. 28th 1885 “GLW steered Spartan all day...remarked on her beautiful trim...� Oulton Regatta, August 4th %XTRACTS FROM OWNER S LOG

To commission a restoration of either yacht will secure you a true classic of the highest quality, authenticity and pedigree *.1 $.,'0.1)- *.!/,)*-1*-1+'/.,0.)- 1 1 &0/(01+*-,/+,1*$.1 0-,(1#0/!

#0& 0 0 0 0 000 !/)& , ,/+* +(' #- % ".*%/&%/+', .),/--)/"+*"$ )(1* -0 1/- 1+/.0 1 *.1 %1#'01 *%/&1 /+',1 #.$(, .0 )(,0.0 1+'/.),%1-$! 0.1 "111 !/ 01+*$.,0(%1* 1 0 0-"

24

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Further information at:

www.JamieClayBoatbuilding.co.uk

Maldon, Essex 0795 006 3642 daytime, or 01621 853804

Saleroom CHARLES MILLER LTD

century Napoleonic prisoner-of-war bone and baleen (the filter plates in a whale’s mouth) model of the 50-gun HMS Jupiter. Indeed, British conflicts provide a rich seam for collectors, and rather more affordable was a rare U-boat crew leather coat that made £744 (below left).

One of the most admired lots in the sale was a circa 1840 ship’s female figurehead. With figureheads it’s not the size that counts so much as the quality, and this fine specimen, although just 36in (91cm) high, was fiercely contested, falling to a UK collector for £20,400, way beyond the £6,000-£8,000 guide price.

Fife’s book of note It’s a shabby pocketbook, its parted spine simply repaired with tape.

Inside on the well-thumbed indexed pages is nothing more than a list of names and numbers, notes and calculations. Would you pay £1,000 to £1,500 for it? That’s what the auctioneers expected.

Yet on the day of Charles Miller Ltd’s latest London marine sale, a German collector dug a little deeper and beat off bidding rivals to pay £3,840 for a gem of yachting history.

What the lucky collector now owns is the personal yard book (above right) of legendary yacht designer William Fife III (1857-1944), a treasure that Fife guarded closely and never let out of his hands when at work.

At a private sale preview I gently turned the pages, written in different coloured inks and pencil. They were replete with lists of Fife yachts built from around 1896 to 1939, indexed by name and yard number, with specifications, owners’ names, notes, ideas, thoughts and calculations.

The names Shamrock, Moonbeam,

CHARLES MILLER LTD

BY DAVE SELBY

Cambria and so many others, either lost to time, surviving, or reincarnated, leapt from the pages and swam before my eyes. To touch the hand of Fife was to connect with the man and the mind: a privilege.

The 300 lots in the 1 May auction attracted interest from collectors around the world. Top seller in the £360,000 sale was the 15-star US Naval jack (right) from the 1812 Anglo-American tiff (previewed in Saleroom, CB299). Fittingly, it fell to a US collector who paid £21,600.

That was the exact same sum paid for an artefact from another British disagreement (why do people keep picking on us?), a fine early 19th

Above: William Fife III and his prized yard book.

Right: 19th century figurehead sold for £20,400.

Below: 15-star jack fetched £21,600

BONHAMS

Secret Bounty court documents up for sale

Left and above: U-boat crew jacket with a Swastika detail fetched £744

See Salermooorme online

www.clas sicboat.co .uk/ saleroom for more stories

An exceptionally rare court martial document revealing insights into the mutiny on HMS Bounty is expected to make £25,000-£30,000 when it comes under the hammer at Bonhams in London on 19 June. An appendix to the minutes of the 1792 hearing tantalisingly promises: “A full account of the real causes and circumstances of that unhappy transaction, the most material of which have hitherto been withheld from the public.” I can’t wait!

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

25

Davey & Company Est.

1885

International Boatbuilding Training College

Bronze Raked Bollard Beautifully crafted in the UK in 3 sizes

www.davey.co.uk 01206 500945

Latitude 46 Classic sail and power yachts, distributed in the UK

by Charles Watson Marine, Lymington, Hampshire Tel: 01590 647422 www.charles-watson.com email: info@charles-watson.com 26

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Generous rake Broad base Large caps Six fastenings

Practical training from a day to a year, wide range of projects, new build & restoration

Visitors welcome 01502 569 663 info@ibtc.co.uk www.ibtc.co.uk Shipshape East Anglia Hub

Objects of desire Mighty Mühle To celebrate the German Maritime Search and Rescue Service using its automatic and robust S.A.R. Rescue-Timer for 10 years, Mühle-Glashütte came up with this – the new limited edition S.A.R. Anniversary-Timer.

As well as being uber-tough and germanically accurate, the hands and hour indices are coated in a special Super-LumiNova finish making it very readable. It has a two-tone ceramic bezel, 38-hour power reserve, domed and anti-glare sapphire crystal, and it’s waterproof to a kilometre! Mühle is known for making excellent watches that are not flashy but noticeably well designed and stylish. We are big fans.

Available with a stainless-steel case or a stainless-steel case with a black shockproof coating. Expect to pay around £1,500 www.muehle-glashuette.de, Tel: +49 35 053 32030

Decadent dresser This chic Art Deco Marie Galante Coiffeuse make-up trunk and vanity unit is handcrafted from rosewood with an ostrich-style outer covering available in ivory, white, sand, jade or rosewood.

It features two half-moon doors with drawers, a central storage area, two secret compartments and a flip-up top for a triptych mirror. The unit also has leather trim and small wheels. Something for the ladies and quite a step up from campaign furniture. £1,995 plus P&P www.boatique.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1491 410840

All mapped out As most people would agree, a finely drawn map or an accurate chart is a thing of beauty and is art in its own right.

Not only that but if you pin one of these to your wall, you’ll soon be more familiar with the featured area than the nautical cartographer who drew it. Chart Art will transform a mundane map into a highly desirable canvas centrepiece for your living room. From £99 www.chartart.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1983 248512

Sound idea Mark Jameson of Trinity Marine has a great knack for turning up unusual items and selling them at very reasonable prices – and this emergency foghorn is no exception. Finished in teak, studded leather and brass, this particular example might resemble a pair of fireside bellows from the last century, but it’s actually much more modern than that, dating from 1969. Astonishingly, until a few months ago it was stored for emergency use on a 50,000-tonne oil tanker. It has never been used and the trumpet screws off for safe stowage. £108 www.trinitymarine.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1647 253400

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

27

Bewitched

For more than a century, six different owners have been seduced by the charms of the glorious gaff cutter Witch. Here, we chart her amazing history and follow her on the OGA’s Round Britain Challenge – a fitting tribute to one of the oldest classics still sailing story claudia myatt PHotoGrAPHs Emily HaRRiS

EMILY HARRIS

PREVIOUS PAGE: EMILY HARRIS

Above: after Alistair Randall took ownership in 2006, the interior was stripped out in favour of more traditional fixtures and fittings

30

H

ow long does a wooden boat last?

That depends not just on the quality of the build but on the quality of her owners. When James William Scarlett, Baron Abinger, Laird of Gigha, Scotland, commissioned Dickies of Tarbert to build him a boat to ferry goods and passengers between his island and the mainland, he knew the quality of build would be good, but he would not have expected her to be in such good condition and playing a leading role in the OGA’s Round Britain Challenge more than a century later.

The boat that Dickies built for the Laird in 1898 was called Belem, a 38ft 8in (11.8m) gaff cutter. She would have been open-decked, and was built to traditional lines apart from a rather racy three-quarter length keel and slightly raked stern. The Gigha ferryman at the time, one John Wotherspoon, looked after all the Laird’s boats, and the scale of charges tells us much about the difficulties of his task: one passenger cost two shillings, a group of six passengers, sixpence each. It was four shillings for a horse, two for a cow or a pig, but only threepence for a sheep. Exactly how many cows or sheep you would want to sail with is hard to imagine.

The yachTing years Belem served the Laird and the Gigha islanders for 20 years before being sold and converted to a yacht with

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

a different name – and that’s where the Witch story starts. In 1922 she was bought by Crawford Black, who sailed and cared for her for 34 years. Black kept meticulous records of his cruises around the West Coast.

He was often accompanied by his nephew Alastair Garvie, who recently passed on some of these logs, along with photographs, to the current owner Alistair Randall.

The descriptions provide a delightful snapshot of 1940s sailing, when engines were fickle, pilotage an adventure, gales short-lived and the summers always hot enough to bathe in the sea. Here are a couple of choice entries, the first recorded on 12 August 1947: After lunch we staggered on board and got under way about 3pm.

Rammed the pier with bowsprit in passing and spent the afternoon doing first-aid repairs, in which Alastair and Alex excelled themselves. The following day the log reads: Up at 6am and on our way by 6.30. Fair wind but light, so spinnaker was set. Alex and John made a fine breakfast, which was eaten passing by Calgary Bay, Mull. Arrived Loch Moidart about 2pm, went ashore and walked to Shiel Bridge, where we got milk from a kind-hearted farmer’s wife.

There is always a feeling in post-war cruising accounts that after years of conflict, every minute afloat was treated with gratitude and every detail savoured. During the war years, Crawford Black’s company had made tents for the army and navy; he had also had to rebuild his workshops in Greenock after they were destroyed by

WITCH

claudia myatt

a parachute mine in 1941. When the conflict was over, the return to cruising the Western Isles in his beloved Witch must have been especially sweet.

Witch did not change hands again until 1956, when she had two short-lived affairs. The latter owner, Glen Hargrave, made radical alterations to her interior and cockpit during two years of ownership, unfortunately stripping out most of the original cabin from her conversion to a yacht in 1918. His intention had been to fit her out for a transatlantic crossing, so her comfortable cabin was sacrificed for vast locker spaces and narrow berths. The ocean crossing never happened and in 1965 Witch was sold on again, luckily falling into the hands of another careful owner, Bruce Mackenzie, and a relationship that would last more than 40 years.

Above: with a keen wind, Witch is surprisingly fast.

Left and below: the original swing table and the hook used to suspend it from the deckhead

Bruce Mackenzie took Witch to her new home at Walton-on-the-Naze where she provided his family – wife June, daughters Clare and Tessa – with many happy summers cruising the East Coast. The girls grew up to play a major part in the success of the East Coast branch of the Old Gaffers Association; today Clare and her husband Peter Thomas run many of the East Coast events, and Tessa began the annual Swallows and Amazons small boat weekend at Walton & Frinton Yacht Club, an event that sees up to 60 open boats race round Horsey Island and picnic on Stone Point.

Emily HaRRiS

The Mackenzie years

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

31

WITCH

WITCH BOATBUILDER

Dickies of Tarbert BUILT

1898 LOA

38ft 8in (11.8m) LENGTH OVER SPARS

40ft 8in (12.4m) DRAUGHT

6ft 2in (1.9m) SAIL AREA C/O ALASTAIR GARVIE

760sqft (71m²) DISPLACEMENT

20,943lb (9.5T)

EMILY HARRIS

Opposite page: Witch sets off from Heybridge on the OGA’s round Britain relay in April 2013. Above: in the Crinan Sea Lock, Scotland, in August 1939 during her last cruise before the start of WWII

REFIT TIME When Bruce’s eyesight started to fail he reluctantly put Witch up for sale, not expecting to find a way to keep her in the family. But Bruce’s nephew Alistair was on hand to fall under her spell and, in 2006, he became Witch’s latest custodian.

Alistair embraced the joys and trials of taking on an elderly gaffer, and after sailing her for a season to get properly acquainted, laid her up at Halls at Walton for a major refit. The hull was in good shape apart from some patches of rot, crumbly keel bolts and a few weak fastenings, which were all dealt with. Below decks, Alistair used the refit to strip out the 1960s interior and try to restore something of her early feel. At this stage, he had no archive material to go on so he laid her out in traditional style, with a new galley, settee berths and – a nice touch – woven rattan cupboard fronts. A coffin-like quarter berth was removed and transformed to a more useful cockpit locker, which then freed up space for a proper navigation area. One original feature that Alistair was happy to reuse was the cabin table, which lives on the floor when not in use, then unfolds and is suspended from the deckhead for use. There is a knack to wedging a knee underneath it to stop it swinging!

One echo of Witch’s ferryboat past has survived every internal rearrangement, and this is the small section of curved bench between saloon and fo’c’s’le, the only surviving remnant of the original Isle of Gigha passenger seating, now a shelf to store seaboots.

As time went on, Alistair built a website to record the detail of the refit and as a home for whatever archive material he could find. To his delight, in 2010 he was contacted by an elderly Alastair Garvie with the wealth of detail that filled in much of her early history with

Crawford Black. In addition to the cruising diaries already quoted, Garvie recorded as much as he could remember of Witch’s internal layout, deck arrangements and sailing gear: I think the items taken from another yacht being dismantled and used in the 1918 conversion consisted of the saloon settees and backs, along with the lockers above, the framing and panelling on the outside of the toilet, the open fireplace and perhaps the fo’c’s’le door. They were all dark mahogany or similar, either French polished or varnished. It is probably safe to assume that by ‘open fire’ he meant some kind of enclosed stove as he goes on to say… Heating was seldom necessary during the summer except at anchor on cold, wet days when the funnel would be erected and the fire lit, burning coal or peat. It had the habit of smoking back into the cabin but once clear it was warm and snug.

It was never lit or kept burning whilst under way.

Above decks, there have been surprisingly few changes. Obviously engines have come and gone over the years and the cockpit floor is now much deeper than it was originally, another legacy of her stillborn ocean crossing. Whilst being reassuring in bad weather, the low cockpit sole is not great for visibility so the helmsman perches on the coaming to steer. The deck itself, surprisingly, is original, with the exception of a few newer patches. The sheathing shows off the honeycoloured planking, which in early decades would have been covered in canvas and painted over.

Alastair Garvie’s notes also include small line drawings to illustrate his recollections. Witch’s running backstays, for example, are drawn and described in wonderful detail: The running backstays, upper and lower, were controlled by a sliding eye on a runner from the main chainplate to the backstay plate. The backstays CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

33

WITCH

c/o alistair randall

c/o alistair randall

“The hull was in good shape apart from some patches of rot, crumbly keel bolts and a few weak fastenings”

and topping lift wire had canvas sewn on and were painted white to reduce wear on the mainsail. Now, the runners have a pair of substantial bronze Highfield levers, which were added in the 1950s, probably at the same time as the pulpit and guardrails.

Under Sail Comparing the old black-and-white photos of Witch under sail with her modern-day sail plan, only the materials seem to have changed. She managed to avoid the inevitable conversion to a bermudan rig, and the only change that Alistair has made to her original sail plan, after careful study of the original photographs, is to lengthen the boom and increase the size of the main to counteract a touch of lee helm.

Although built as a serious workboat, Witch’s lines show that her builders had a keen eye for speed, as well as load-carrying capability, especially when there is plenty of wind to drive her through the water. There is a delightful watercolour sketch of Witch winning the Gourock to Tighnabruaich Race in 1952. In light winds the racier boats usually left her standing, but on this occasion a convenient squall struck towards the end of

the race and Witch picked up her skirts and stormed to the finishing line. The painting is unsigned, but was called ‘First Home’ – a fitting name to a memorable event.

Fast forward more than 60 years to the present day and Witch shows no signs of slowing up. Alistair is now an active member of the Old Gaffers Association (and the organisation’s membership secretary) and he has put Witch through her paces in many OGA events on both sides of the North Sea, none more important than the Round Britain Challenge this summer (see panel below for more detailed information on her progress).

For Witch, of course, this is the opportunity to sail full circle and revisit the waters she first sailed 115 years ago. In 2002, the Isle of Gigha hit the headlines with a successful community buy-out; after centuries of feudal ownership, the islanders finally took control of their own destiny and the population is now growing again.

Alistair has been in touch with the Gigha Trust and told them he will be bringing Witch back to her home waters.

This will not only be a first-time visit for her skipper but a welcome return for this incredible boat that seems to have an exhaustive appetite for survival – at least she won’t be asked to carry livestock this time!

dublin calling…

c/o alistair randall

at the time of going to press, alistair randall and his crew on board Witch had made it to dublin (pictured right), the seventh stop on the oGa’s round Britain challenge. From here, alistair posted this blog: “after a rocky night in Holyhead, we set out at 0645 to make the crossing to ireland. Bonify, Greensleeves, High Barbaree and Windflower set out at the same time and we had them all in sight for the whole crossing. the weather was calm and we actually sailed with the engine off for an hour or two. We flew the topsail and the ghoster but eventually

34

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Above, left to right: despite her age her hull only needed minor repairs and her deck is almost entirely original

started the engine when the coastguard warned of Force 5-7 for the evening and it seemed better to be in port by then. Much of the fleet has gathered in Howth, with toucan do, annabel J and Windbreker the last ones in. Bonify and Greensleeves went to dún laoghaire but we will see them all when we reconvene in dublin. today we went for a walk around the Howth Peninsula and on our return, i visited the lifeboat station to get the coxswain’s signature and was given a flag to fly from the crosstrees. “tomorrow we will go round to the Poolbeg Yc to get settled in for the celebrations.” see more at: www.witch1898.co.uk

So

what is a

classic anyway?

In an effort to answer this age-old conundrum, we decided to approach some of our most esteemed experts.

From broadcasters and boatbuilders, to curators and a comedian, here are their fascinating and forthright views

LUMINARIES

W

e must have spent years at the café at lunchtime defining what made a classic boat, writes Dan Houston. I like the simple definition that she is endearing and enduring… It follows really that if a boat looks good and treats you well in a seaway she will become loved and treasured, down through generations. Wood is obviously the material of choice, with

carvel or clinker construction being favoured; that way she is designed like a great big bit of grown-up Meccano and you can replace anything you want and carry on sailing. But of course there are many variations on this theme and our regular readers will know that classic boating is a very broad church.

So, to reflect that, we have gathered some luminaries from our congregation and asked them, so just what is a classic, in your view?

HAl SISk historian dAn HOuStOn; OPPOSItE: WInnIE mArIE (cB270) By EmIly HArrIS

IrISH yAcHtSmAn And mArItImE HIStOrIAn WHO cAmE tO Our AttEntIOn tHrOugH HIS mEtIculOuS rEStOrAtIOn Of tHE gl WAtSOn cuttEr PEggy BAWn “A classic should be immediately recognisable as such, although perhaps not to those brainwashed by the styling of the ubiquitous AWB (Any White Boat). Of course, a classic yacht’s provenance (designer, builder, significant owners) matters as does her place in the development of yacht design (breakthrough?), but can I also suggest one key common feature that seems to be missing from many non-classic yachts: a sheerline.

“Even the most extreme racing yachts of the past had a noticeable sheerline. Indeed, one might say that a yacht without a sheer is like a

face without a smile! Okay, perhaps gulvain may be allowed with her reverse sheer – after all, to every rule there is an exception. “many of the world’s greatest yacht designers have always managed to create a three-dimensional object that looked good from every angle, and a good sheer shows that, especially when heeled, from leeward and windward.

“It simply reflects the natural bend of wood as it sweeps from one pointy end to another, and we all instinctively respond to that universal aesthetic.”

“a YaCht without a shEEr is likE a faCE without a smilE!” dAvId dImBlEBy prEsEntEr

thE DiCtionarY

from his talk at the london Boat Show 2013: “the sheer pleasure of the look of a classic boat is one everyone admits is infinitely superior to any other kind of boat. A gaffer also gives an altruistic pleasure to those who enjoy watching a pretty boat sail by.”

c/O dAvId dImBlEBy

tHE PrESEntEr Of BBc’S quEStIOn tImE IS AlSO A kEEn SAIlOr, OgA mEmBEr And kEEPS HIS HEArd 28 gAffEr rOckEt In dArtmOutH, dEvOn

“The sheer pleasure of the look of a classic boat is one everyone admits is infinitely superior to any other kind of boat”

classic [klæs-ik] adj. & n. Adj. 1a: first class; of acknowledged excellence. remarkably typical; outstandingly important. 2b: (of style in art, music etc) simple, harmonious, well-proportioned; in accordance with established forms

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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Practical training from a day to a year, wide range of projects, new build & restoration

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LUMINARIES

olIn StephenS naval architect

grIFF rhyS joneS comedian

one oF the MoSt FaMouS and InFluentIal yacht deSIgnerS oF the 20th century

Sean gardIner

MoSt oF uS know grIFF FroM the hIlarIouS coMedy Sketch Show alaS SMIth and joneS. but hIS appearance on the three Men… bbc SerIeS waS no Fluke. he’S a real SaIlor and owner oF the S&S yawl argyll and the rhodeS Sloop undIna

“It’s grace isn’t it? Form can follow function but there has to be some epitome reached that over time becomes ridiculously expensive to maintain. So form, function, grace and an essential fragility – to the chequebook”

“To possess a flair exhibited by few boats, an attribute always hard to define but universally recognised”

cb archIveS

c/0 nIc coMpton

nIc coMpton journalist a ForMer claSSIc boat edItor and now a Freelance journalISt who haS wrItten Many bookS on SaIlIng, IncludIng SaIlIng Solo, the knot bIble, tItanIc on trIal and a deSIgn bIopIc oF IaIn oughtred. nIc IS alSo an accoMplIShed photographer wIth an archIve oF More than 3,000 IMageS

“a classic is a design that appeals beyond the lifespan of the materials from which it is made – ie: it’s worth restoring!” kenneth beken photographer

john perryMan cb technical editor traIned aS a naval archItect and he IS our technIcal advISor

“a classic boat is a boat that is recognised as a fine example of that which has been established in form and kind for more than a generation”

the bekenS have been photographIng yachtS on the Solent SInce the 19th century, aMaSSIng one oF the world’S beSt-known and largeSt photo archIveS c/0 beken oF coweS

“one of uffa Fox’s cleaner and therefore printable comments was: ‘If she looks right, she’ll go right’. but what makes a boat a classic? nine times out of ten it is age because there was once a time when boats were designed to be beautiful rather than utilitarian. Starting with the largest, who could call elegant the moving blocks of flats passing for the majority of today’s cruise ships when compared with the SS normandie, SS united States and our two original cunard Queens? can you compare the thrill and excitement of watching a fleet of j-class yachts, once classed as dinosaurs, yet soon to be counted in double figures once more? I was born in 1951 exactly 100 years after the first america’s cup and perhaps I would have been happier in the 19th century because for me a classic yacht has to be an elegant yacht. how pleasing it is to see new js like rainbow and lionheart and new schooners like elena and eleonora. to end on perhaps a controversial note, I can’t wait to see the new titanic sail up Southampton water once more!”

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

39

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

JAMIE CLAY BOATBUILDER SPECIALISING IN SYMPATHETIC RESTORATIONS, JAMIE HAS A PARTICULAR FONDNESS FOR ALBERT STRANGE YACHTS

PETER GREGSON BROKER HIS WRY DESCRIPTIONS AND ENCYCLOPAEDIC KNOWLEDGE OF BOATS HAVE MADE HIM THE GO-TO GURU FOR HUNDREDS OF SAILORS

“You’ll never define it, but you can say what makes a first-class classic stand out from the crowd. It isn’t the designer – every designer had his bad days. The builder is important because the materials and workmanship must be top quality and it’s the builder who works elegance into all the myriad finishing touches the designer can’t draw. She has to look good from every angle and sail like a dream. She should bear the marks of time and wear, so a history of her life and evolution can be read in the repairs and modifications. As for some examples, there’s the gaff cutter My Quest, beautifully finished in maple, and Firefly, which is almost entirely original and even looks good from the windward quarter, which is a severe test for any boat.”

“It depends on who is asking! If the questioner has a bus pass (and most of us classic yacht owners do) the answer will probably be a long, elegant counter and a graceful sheer, lots of varnish and a white-scrubbed teak deck. If the questioner is still swatting for final degree exams, then a classic yacht probably looks like a Contessa. The common denominators appear to be the lines and the varnish and, of course, there must be an age factor in there somewhere. And this definition politely leaves the door open for each individual to decide on his or her personal interpretation of elegance. We all know what a classic yacht looks like, don’t we?”

C/O JAMIE CLAY

NIC COMPTON

IAIN OUGHTRED DESIGNER KNOWN PRINCIPALLY FOR HIS CLINKER PLY DESIGNS FOR FAST SAIL-AND-OAR BOATS, IAIN HAS ACHIEVED CULT STATUS AMONG SMALL-BOAT SAILORS FOR THE SHEER BEAUTY OF HIS BOATS

“Twenty years ago, when applied to boats, it seemed to mean old – whether any good or not. Now it seems to mean sort of old-fashioned looking – whether built of wood or not”

PETER METHVEN OBE INDUSTRY VOICE A FORMER PRESIDENT OF THE BRITISH MARINE FEDERATION WHO HELPED US LAUNCH OUR BIG FEATURE STAND AT THE 2004 LONDON BOAT SHOW WHEN HE BROUGHT ALONG HIS RESTORED YACHT DILKUSHA

“FOR WHAT IT’S WORTH MY OPINION IS A CLASSIC SHOULD BE PRE-1975 AND THIS DATE CAN BE MOVED UP WHEN WE GO THROUGH THE YEARS” CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

41

OLIVER BERKING BOATBUILDER

“Sailing a classic makes life worth living. Smell it, touch it, sail it, admire the lines, know about its evolutionary history and invite your ‘plastic marina neighbours’ to a glass of something in a wooden cockpit on a mahogany seat. My favourite boat is Jenetta, a 3rd-Rule 12-M designed in 1939 by the master himself, Alfred

“Sailing a classic makes life worth living”

C/O ROBBE & BERKING

BALTIC SAILOR AND HEIR TO ONE OF FLENSBURG’S SILVERSMITHING FAMILIES, OLIVER IS SO SMITTEN WITH METRE YACHTS THAT HE STARTED HIS OWN YARD TO RESTORE AND BUILD THEM

ELIZABETH TIEDEMANN CONSERVATOR

LANE DU PONT

“For me, a classic wooden sail or powerboat turns my head with her sexy lines, oodles of wood, polished bronze or brass, built in a bygone era. A classic yacht brings about emotion, a smile and gratitude for the designer and the skilled hands that brought her into being. Classic and vintage wooden yachts have a special spirit that you feel when cruising or sailing them.”

“A classic wooden sail or powerboat turns my head with her sexy lines, oodles of wood, polished bronze or brass, built in a bygone era”

42

C/O PAUL FISHER

AFTER THE DEATH OF HER HUSBAND, RHODE ISLAND’S ORIGINAL YACHT CONSERVATOR BOB TIEDEMANN, ELIZABETH TOOK UP THE REINS HERSELF. SHE IS A SAILOR, AN AWARD-WINNING YACHT CONSERVATOR IN HER OWN RIGHT, AND CHARTERS A FLEET OF CLASSICS

PAUL FISHER NAVAL ARCHITECT PAUL’S DESIGNS MUST HAVE PUT THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE AFLOAT IN KAYAKS, CANOES, DINGHIES AND YACHTS ALL OVER THE WORLD “A classic is simply a design that gets all your ‘juices’ flowing – the way all her curves and shapes flow to form a homogeneous ‘whole’.

She must be practical, with good ergonomics and an appropriate use of method and material in her construction. Thomas Gillmer’s yawl Blue Moon is close to my vision of a classic, perhaps because she reminds me of a lady who floated into my youth called Coconut Lady – a small, curvaceous ocean crosser reeking of salt and palm beaches!”

More next month

Agree or disagree?

We were inundated with definitions, so don’t miss part two with comments from Theo Rye, Barney Sandeman and many more

Voice your opinion on our website at www.classicboat.co.uk or write to the editor at cb@classicboat.co.uk

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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drIvIng fOrCe For the last 50 years, the Old Gaffers Association has championed the cause of the traditional gaff-rigged sailboat.

Here, we look back at the key people and main events, and consider its future STORY PETER WILLIS

PETER WILLIS

F

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

or an organisation that owes its origins to three sailors in a pub, grumbling into their beer about the lack of racing opportunities for their boats, the Old Gaffers Association has grown over the last half-century into one of the most influential institutions in the world of traditional boating. The scale and depth of its activities far exceeds its comparatively modest 1,400 membership, and its current ambitious Round Britain Challenge is a fitting symbol of the OGA’s strength and significance.

The three men were Mike Richardson (who owned the pub, The Jolly Sailor in Bursledon, Hampshire), John Clarke and Alec Rangabe. They all owned gaff-rigged boats but found that sailing clubs were unwilling to organise races that would accommodate them. They were also acutely conscious of a bigger picture – demand had swung firmly to bermudan rigs on glassfibre hulls and gaff-rigged boats were under threat.

So in 1957 they laid the foundations of the Old Gaffers, planning to organise a race – the first under the name – and adopting an emblem. This was a pitchfork, thought to be a representation of the gaff jaws, which are a distinguishing characteristic of the rig.

The first Old Gaffers race took place on 27 June 1959 and attracted 13 boats, some of which are still sailing today. News of these Solent races soon reached the East Coast, where gaffer owners were experiencing similar problems. John Scarlett, whose self-built pocket cruiser Essex Melody has recently been restored (CB276/283), and John Bray, owner of the 1872 cutter Nell, organised

DEN PHILLIPS

a race in 1963 from Maldon to Harwich. Although poor winds resulted in only seven finishers, news of the race had already led to an invitation from the Solent to John Scarlett to sail with John Clarke in one of their races, and it was to this event, on 27 June 1963, that the true origins of the OGA are ascribed. The association was formally ratified at the Little Ship Club in Maldon on 14 September 1963 when John Clarke was elected chairman and John Scarlett secretary.

Although it has an overall president, treasurer, secretary and other officers, the OGA remains essentially an association of area groups – 10 in the UK, plus Dublin Bay and the Netherlands, with other groups and individuals around the world. The two largest areas are the East Coast and the Solent, each with around 400 members. The various groups up the West Coast and Wales, from the Bristol Channel to Northern Ireland

(and including Dublin Bay) add up to more than 300.

Most have a strong regional loyalty and this can lead to anomalies. Cornwall, surely a hotbed of gaffering if ever there was one, seemed to have been cast adrift when the South West reconstituted itself as the Devon Area, but the two counties are now to be reunited, with a new house flag made up of half of the black-and-white St Piran’s flag of Cornwall and half of the green-and-white Devon flag, with the OGA pitchfork superimposed across both.

Attitudes towards boats with bermudan sails have also shown considerable regional variation. It was David Cade, president in the late 90s, who recognised that while the initial objectives of the OGA had been achieved – gaff rig was alive and well, with new boats, such as the Cornish Crabber range being built with it – other equally worthy vessels that happened to have bermudan rigs did not have the benefit of a comparable organisation to join.

Far left: gaffers rafted up in the harbour at Yarmouth, IoW, for the annual YOGAFF festival.

Above: OGA race on the Blackwater, Essex, in 1978

FABULOUS AT 50 – HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE LAST HALF-CENTURY CHRONOLOGY

1959 On 27 June, the first Old Gaffers race takes place in the Solent

BEKEN OF COWES

1957 Three men and a pub – the idea for the OGA is born

1963 On 27 June, the East Coast sailors hold a gaffers race that would lead to the formation of the OGA

1963 On 14 September, the OGA is ratified at the Little Ship Club in Maldon

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

45

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

“Gaff is of course the superior rig and there are some highly partisan songs that ensure this is not forgotten” He encouraged their inclusion, but this was met with varying degrees of enthusiasm, shading into outright hostility. The East Coast was the first region to allow bermudans to join races, but it’s now recognised that the OGA is the body that speaks up for traditional boats of whatever rig – though gaff is of course the superior rig, and there are some highly partisan songs that ensure this is not forgotten.

Left: Essex Melody, built by John Scarlett, one of the founding members of the OGA, is lowered into the water after her full restoration

One of the great strengths of regional autonomy has proved to be the willingness of areas to develop events that suited themselves and thus had staying power.

Easily the most successful of these has been the Solent’s Yarmouth Old Gaffers Festival, started 17 years ago and still going strong. The secret of its success, says committee member Pat Dawson, is that “it’s a joint effort with the local people, very much like the French festivals”. In Devon, the OGA helped rescue Plymouth Classics after it was cancelled in 2010. With help from its home marina, Sutton Harbour, the Classics has modernised, set up its own website and is looking much healthier, attracting 75 boats last year, close to the available capacity.

The East Coast has always done things its own way.

The Shotley Classic Boat Festival, set up by Jon Wainwright, eventually morphed into the peripatetic East Coast Classics, and now the August Classic Cruise – a fleet of some 50 boats ranging up and down the Suffolk and Essex coast. ‘Swamazons’, an Arthur Ransome-inspired dinghy race round Horsey Island in the Walton Backwaters, is now a three-day weekend.

Another key aim is developing closer contacts with our European neighbours. The East Coast has always been ahead of the game here, attending the biennial Dutch Classic Yacht Festival at Hellevoetsluis, as a result of which the Netherlands has its own OGA area, which is sending a strong contingent to join this year’s Round Britain Challenge. There are also good links across the Irish Sea, and Mike Shaw is hoping that the jubilee celebrations will lead to closer links between the Solent and France and the South West and Brittany.

But it’s behind the scenes that the real strength, depth and scope of the OGA’s contribution to British yachting

1968 First connection with French sailors leads to a French OGA. First OGA group started in the USA.

CB ARCHIvES

FABULOUS AT 50 – HIGHLIGHTS FROM

PETER SMITH

regional variations

is to be found. Much of it is linked to maritime heritage, naturally, but by no means all. Remember e-Borders, the bonkers government scheme to get yacht skippers to report proposed crews and passages? Tom Cunliffe, himself a former Solent Area president, is full of praise for the role played by Rob Holden, then OGA secretary.

“He was very instrumental in getting that set aside for the benefit of the sailing community at large.”

Tom himself has been active, along with fellow gaffer Toby Maris, master of Jolie Brise, and Richard Titchener, in working with National Historic Ships UK to help the RYA in developing training programmes specifically for handling traditional rigs. The work is ongoing, but it is hoped to show results later this year.

Another joint initiative with National Historic Ships UK – and this time also with the National Small Boat Register at Falmouth – involves the OGA’s own Boat Register. This was started back in 1967 by John Scarlett, then secretary, with a typically thorough and very technical three-page form for owners to fill in. The impetus at this stage was still racing – for a boat to race it needed a positive identification, a unique number and ideally a handicap. John first produced a paper copy of the register in 1980, but while he was still amassing a huge amount of information (including race wins, which he recorded on a card index) he died suddenly of a heart attack. Dick and Pat Dawson picked up the index and started looking at putting it onto a computer system – the huge job of transferring information from cards on

THE LAST HALF-CENTURY

1975 Six OGA gaffers enter the Fastnet and the winner was Jolie Brise (pictured left)

1980 Thriving OGA group in Perth, Western Australia, begins

1984 John Scarlett (above), secretary of the OGA for the first 21 years, dies suddenly

1987 Two East Coast One-Designs, one gaff and one bermudan, go head-to-head in a very tight race.

The gaffer wins by a bobstay

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

47

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

PETER WILLIS

DEN PHILLIPS

OGA AT 50

Above: the smack Transcur restored to her former glory by East Coast President Pete Thomas.

Above right: Sophie (sail no 1892) about to be overtaken

by Roma in the Parade of Sail at Southampton, a precursor to the OGA’s Round Britain Challenge

some 2,000 boats was undertaken by Mike Burn. By that time a lot of boats had been restored, and new gaff-rig GRP boats were being built and added to the register.

The Dawsons took a break from running the register in 2001, but Pat picked it up again in 2010 and is currently busy migrating it to a new database, which can – eventually – go online. Even though its primary function is not to record historically valuable vessels – but rather to list members’ boats, including production-line GRP craft – that is what it has ended up doing. “A unique record of small gaff-rigged craft built over the last 150 or so years,” is how Pat Dawson puts it. And once it has a boat, it doesn’t let go. “A member may resign, or die; a boat may be sold or become irreparable, but it won’t be deleted from the register.”

It is the very fact that the register, like the OGA itself, makes no distinction between boats grand and humble that makes both so valuable. Many OGA members bought their boats in the first place because they couldn’t afford anything better, rather than because they thought the rig was something special. Through a process of dedicated maintenance and often costly restoration they have managed to bequeath our maritime heritage a mixed bag of work, leisure and regional craft from a variety of now-defunct but still-remembered builders, who in their day formed an important part of their local industrial and tradecraft landscape.

So, what of the OGA’s own future? Having successfully preserved many fine boats, does it need to be worrying about its own preservation? In a word, yes.

The number of members is declining and their average age is increasing. Fewer people have the time to come

forward to join committees, and the rules and regulations surrounding the organisation of events (including the inevitable ‘health and safety’) are getting evermore complex and onerous. None of this is peculiar to the OGA, but it’s good to see that the organisation is doing something about it.

One of the so-called ‘legacies’ of the OGA50 celebrations is the Youth Fund Initiative. Sources of finance are expected to be donations and sponsorship (not membership subs) or possibly lottery bids: the East Coast is planning to fund youth sailing on Pioneer, the restored first-class smack. There is also beginning to be a ferment of ideas about how to use the fund: not only helping young people to sail gaff-rig boats, but also encouraging skills training in traditional boatbuilding.

Pete Thomas, East Coast president, is wondering about investing in a small, cheap trailer-sailer, perhaps a Cornish Shrimper, that young members could borrow, for a modest fee, to sail themselves. Pete, who sails the fine smack Transcur, has already done pretty much that for his own children, buying and restoring a Deben four-tonner “for them to play with”.

Despite the passage of time, the OGA still has the down-to-earth bonhomie of what one might call a ‘beer’ organisation. As classic boat aficionado Tom Cunliffe puts it in his foreword to the OGA’s forthcoming history: “Over the 50 years since the first pitchfork snapped out in the breeze, the OGA has enriched many a sailor’s life, my own very much included. I am now a member of a number of yacht clubs, but I can state without hesitation that I’ve had more fun with the gaffers than with the rest of them rafted up together.”

1988 The OGA’s 25th anniversary regatta in Ramsgate is decimated by severe gales

1989 OGA Northern Ireland area set up, followed by the Dublin Bay group in 1991

1996 First Yarmouth (IoW) Old Gaffers Festival (YOGAFF) event takes place 2003 Trailer Section is formed following 40th anniversary regatta for small boats at Ullswater

2013 OGA celebrates 50 years with a round-Britain relay and a festival at Cowes with more than 200 gaffers expected

EMILY HARRIS

FABULOUS AT 50 – HIGHLIGHTS FROM THE LAST HALF-CENTURY

The timeline was compiled

by Viv Head.

You can order his new book Sailing Gaffers from www. oga50.org

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

49

CHARLIE BARR

ALL BArr One At the turn of the 20th century, one yachtsman was in a league of his own. Here, in the first of a fascinating three-part series, we profile the phenomenal career of the racing and record-breaking legend that is the Scotsman Charlie Barr WORDS BARRY PICKTHALL

D

id you know that Britain has a three-times America’s Cup winner?

No, it is not the American Dennis Conner claiming historic family roots embedded in olde England but a man called Charlie Barr, the diminutive Scottish yachtsman who won three consecutive Cups between 1899 and 1903. Dennis Conner (aka ‘Mr America’s Cup’) and Sir Russell Coutts have each won more Cups over a longer period, but Barr’s record is even more phenomenal following his remarkable victory in the storm-ridden 1905 transatlantic race when he set a record that stood for the next 75 years.

The full story of Charlie Barr’s incredible record as a yachtsman has come to light thanks to an archive of pictures, press cuttings and obituary notices recently unearthed for Classic Boat. The Scot, who stood little more than 5ft (1.5m) tall, was the youngest in a family of noted skippers, whose father, brothers and nephews all won fame racing yachts around the Clyde.

Born in Gourock near Glasgow in 1864, close to the famed Fife yacht building yard at Fairlie, Charlie Barr was a contemporary of William Fife III. His mother, fearful perhaps that she would lose all her sons to the sea, steered him towards life as a tradesman, starting out as a greengrocer’s clerk in the village, but the scent of saltwater was too strong, and he ran away to sea, finding a berth as a cabin boy on a little coasting schooner from Greenock. It was on this vessel and the hardy fishing boats that followed, that the young Charlie cut his teeth as a seaman. Agile, muscular and, above all, fearless, he was just the sort to have on board a racing yacht, and before long, Barr was serving before the mast on the cutter Ulerin. It was aboard her that he

learned the basics of yacht racing that would stand him in good stead for the rest of his short life. When the opportunity arose to join his elder brother, ‘Wee Johnny’ Barr, to deliver a Clyde-built yacht across the Atlantic, he jumped at the opportunity and arrived in the US in 1885 as one of Johnny’s crew aboard the cutter Clara.

In their first year Stateside, the two Barrs won many prizes racing Clara against American ‘skimming dishes’, and these successes gave Charlie his first command on board the Boston-based cutter Thana. At the end of that year, he returned to Gourock only to find that ‘home’ had lost its charms, and was soon heading back west.

Back in Boston, the owner of the Clyde-built Shona snapped him up for two seasons, during which Charlie and his brother John took up residence in Marblehead, Massachusetts, and became American citizens. There they built themselves a Scottish-styled fishing vessel, which they worked outside the yacht-racing season and amazed their American counterparts with the size of their catches.

In 1886 at the tender age of just 22, Charlie Barr was charged by Admiral Tweed of the Corinthians to return to the UK and take delivery of the famous 40ft (12.2m) Fife cutter Minerva, which he sailed back across the Atlantic and continued to skipper for two more seasons. His record with Minerva was quite phenomenal, never actually losing a race, and it was aboard her that his reputation as a supremely talented and innovative racing skipper was made. He then took command of Albion B Turner’s 46ft (14m) Queenie, then won the championship aboard Gloriana – a Nathaniel Herreshoff interpretation of Minerva – before moving on to take the helm of her conqueror Wasp. It was during this time that his seamanship skills were tested

50

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

MYSTIC SEAPORT, ROSEnfElD COllECTIOn

“He is described as a sawn-off version of Lord Kitchener with black eyes and a massive moustache”

With piercing black eyes and a striking moustache, Barr cut an impressive figure despite his lack of height

MYSTIC SEAPORT

CHARLIE BARR

Above: Charlie Barr’s skill and success on board Colonia attracted the attention of the US America’s Cup teams

to the full in saving the life of a seaman lost overboard near Marblehead on 15 July 1891, for which Barr was awarded a medal by the Humane Society of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

In 1893, he took the big cutter Navahoe, owned by Mr Royal Phelps Carroll, to England. She was one of designer Nathaniel Herreshoff’s creations, designed specifically to challenge for the Royal Victoria Gold Cup during that year’s Cowes Week, and also to attempt to win back the Cape May and Brenton Reef cups, then in British hands. In her first outing, Navahoe encountered Valkyrie, Britannia, Satanita, Calluna and Iverna, the pride of the British fleet. Though Barr was helped by the private duel that developed between Valkyrie and King Edward VII’s Britannia, Navahoe could do no better than secure third place to these two. In the race for the Royal Victoria Gold Cup, she was easily defeated by Britannia, and it was only in the Brenton Reef Cup that the American yacht salvaged some glory with a win, thanks largely to the perceptiveness of Barr in realising that the Royal Yacht Squadron had moved the finish line. The course had been from the Needles to the Cherbourg breakwater and back, but as the fleet returned, the committee boat could not be anchored in the strong tidal stream and so it was brought into the quieter waters of Alum Bay and

moored. The finish was so close that just seconds divided Navahoe from her nearest rival.

Despite the victory, the American yacht had not fulfilled expectations and Barr resigned his berth to deliver George Gould’s America’s Cup-winning yacht Vigilant back across the Atlantic in under 18 days, where he sailed her against Defender during the 1895 US trials – his first taste of America’s Cup sailing.

Described as a sawn-off version of Lord Kitchener, with black eyes and a massive black moustache, Barr was a man of few words, and those he did utter had such a strong Glaswegian twang that Americans found him almost incomprehensible. But despite this obvious barrier to communication, Charlie Barr’s seamanship and tactical skills were now attracting the attention of top yachtsmen, including Commodore CA Postley from the Larchmont Yacht Club who secured the Scot to skipper his schooner Colonia. It was on board this boat that his reputation for close-quarters battling became the stuff of legend.

Barr developed a starting routine of remaining to windward of the fleet then sweeping down at full speed on a reach to harden up on the line just as the gun fired.

It served him well on just about every occasion. The bigger the boat under his command, the more frightening it was for any opposition. During the 1895 season at

“Barr’s record with Minerva was phenomenal, never losing a race”

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

MystiC seAPort, roseNfeld ColleCtioN, Arthur f. Aldridge

Above, top to bottom: Jubilee (left) and the cutter Colonia (right) on the slip; Barr on board Shona in 1888; certificate of Barr’s induction into the National Sailing Hall of Fame at the San Diego YC PPl

Next month Part 2: We look at Charlie Barr’s remarkable America’s Cup record and find out why his bold sailing tactics made him the most sought-after yacht skipper of his time

C/o sPNeA/N l steBBiNs

Larchmont, Colonia was matched against the smaller Amorita. Having taken his customary position to windward, Barr bore away and approached the line on a broad reach to achieve a last-minute overlap, then squeezed Amorita out from the buoy, whose crew were forced to free sheets to avoid a collision. Being closehauled, those on Amorita had thought they had right of way over Colonia, which had been running free, but Barr’s timing was so impeccable, that he established an overlap just moments before the two yachts might have hit each other. The manoeuvre so impressed the correspondent from the Tribune newspaper that he described it thus: “If Hank Haff [the skipper of Amorita] had hit him at the mark, which he could have done easily enough, it would have been found that Charlie had the rights of it. The chances are that he had planned the move beforehand. From Colonia’s point of view, it was a daring piece of work that was technically correct. It also provided the most exciting moment of the season.”

Barr’s remarkable skill, intelligence and racing pedigree with Colonia were principally responsible for him being chosen as the first non-American skipper to lead a US America’s Cup defence campaign, commanding Columbia against Sir Thomas Sopwith’s Shamrock in the 1899 Cup series, at the age of 35.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

53

meSSIng ABOuT On The rIver If you’re a fan of Arthur Ransome’s fiction, then this quirky-looking boat will be more than a little familiar.

Welcome to the life and times of Death and Glory story and photographs richard johnstone-bryden

A

Norfolk film star, once unfairly singled out

by Motor Boats Monthly for its Ugly Boat of the Month column, has recently undergone a little cosmetic work to ensure she will delight her fans for years to come.

Thirty years ago, a 15ft (4.6m) double-ended wooden ship’s lifeboat was plucked from obscurity by the BBC to ‘play’ the leading role of Death and Glory in its adaptations of Arthur Ransome’s children’s novels Coot Club and The Big Six. To ensure the highest levels of authenticity, a BBC production team spent the summer of 1983 shooting Coot Club and The Big Six on location throughout the Norfolk Broads using a wonderful collection of classic boats, including a former ship’s lifeboat. Prior to her starring role, the clinker lifeboat had been built for a German shipping company in 1957 and is reputed to have washed up on Southwold beach.

In her original form, she could be rowed by up to four people and propelled by a small lugsail rig. In keeping with Ransome’s description of Death and Glory in Coot Club, she appeared virtually unaltered in the film adaptation except for a coat of black tar varnish and the badly painted name in white letters on the bow.

In-between filming the first and second stories, the BBC props department added a heavy wooden cabin to recreate the one that was fitted to Death and Glory by her three young owners at the beginning of The Big Six.

54

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Inside the boxy looking structure, there were three berths, a small stove, oil lamp and table, while the wooden mast had been moved to a small tabernacle on the coachroof. Unfortunately, the BBC’s personnel were not used to dealing with boats and hadn’t thought about the impact of their work on her stability. By the time they had finished, Death and Glory was in real danger of living up to her name! Fortunately, Hunter’s Yard in Ludham, which supplied its 4-berth yacht Lullaby for the ‘role’ of Teasel and acted as a location for some of the filming, managed to save the corporation’s blushes by sorting out the problems. The yard’s newest recruit, Ian Grapes, who is now the foreman, rebuilt the cabin using lighter wood to ensure it could be used without drowning the young actors.

On completion of the filming at the end of the summer, the owner of Stalham Yacht Services, Pat Simpson, acquired Death and Glory for his sons to explore the Broads. Four years later another father by the name of John Farrington saw her at Stalham and thought that she would be ideal for his children: “I asked Pat if he would consider selling her, so he consulted his sons who agreed to part with their pride and joy.” John’s children Sinéad and Conor were huge fans of Arthur Ransome’s stories and had absolutely no idea about their father’s secret deal, as Conor explains: “Our father told us that he had managed to track down Death and Glory

Clockwise from above: Death and Glory might not be a classic cruiser, but she has plenty of charm; much of the boat is original; cabin added by the BBC; chimney made from a metal bucket

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

55

DEATH AND GLORY

DEATH AND GLORY BuiLT

1957 LOA

15ft (4.6m) BEAm

5ft (1.5m) DrAughT

1ft (0.3m) OuTBOArD mOTOr

Pete’s bunk

6hp Evinrude or 4hp Seagull

and that the owners had agreed to let us see her. When we reached the yard I asked my father if the owners would mind us going on board, ‘No, I don’t think they would mind at all,’ he said. Then he told us the wonderful news that we were now the owners. It was the best surprise I had ever had and now we could actually live the stories for ourselves. We quickly set about establishing our own Coot Club and even issued membership cards. We subsequently collected maps and some of the other items that had been on board during the filming, as well as a papier mâché stove that was donated by the Arthur Ransome Society during a visit to Norfolk by some of its members. As children, we spent several happy nights sleeping on board, although sadly she is a little too cramped for us now that we have grown up.”

The Farringtons have tried to keep any changes to an absolute minimum, although the terracotta chimney had to be replaced with a converted metal bucket when the Simpson boys lost the original pot at Barton Turf and the cabin was rebuilt in 2000.

Following Pat Simpson’s sale of Stalham Yacht Services, the Farringtons moved Death and Glory to her present mooring in the picturesque village of Belaugh,

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Bill’s bunk

on the upper River Bure, where she is now looked after by Belaugh Boatyard. For a few weeks each year the Farringtons use her for little ‘expeditions’ along the rivers of the Broads where she attracts the attention of Arthur Ransome aficionados who delight in the chance to call out “Coots For Ever!”

Describing the experience of handling Death and Glory, Conor Farrington said: “She really needs either a steady following wind or a good broad reach to make much progress under sail. However, her upwind performance is severely hampered by a lack of leeboards or keel. We can remove the cabin for rowing, in which guise she is actually quite spacious and clearly would have been a good seaboat in her day.

“The biggest change over the years is the fitting of a bracket for the outboard petrol engine. We do have a 4hp Seagull outboard that looks more sympathetic to Death and Glory’s appearance but its lack of an astern gear makes manoeuvring interesting to say the least, so we usually stick with a 6hp Evinrude two-stroke outboard motor.”

Even though the Museum of the Broads has expressed an interest in acquiring Death and Glory for static display, the Farringtons view her as one of the family and will endeavour to keep using her on the Broads for as long as possible. At the time of writing, Belaugh Boatyard is in the process of completing her winter refit, which has included fitting 30ft (9.1m) of new oak planking, replacing her rubbing strakes and applying a fresh coat of tar varnish to ensure she looks her best for the summer season ahead.

Belaugh Boatyard LLP, Tel +44 (0)1603 781583 Email: theboatyardbelaugh@yahoo.com Website: www.belaughboatyard.com

56

Joe’s bunk

Above left: Death and Glory’s cabin is decidedly rustic! Left: with dubious sailing credentials, this good luck charm on the cabin seems cruelly prophetic

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Onboard MALLORCA

CRUISING . SEAMANSHIP . EQUIPMENT

BALEARIC BEAUTY The rugged north Mallorcan coast is a World Heritage Site and it offers some spectacular unspoilt cruising for sailors STORY DAN HOUSTON PHOTOGRAPHS EMILY HARRIS

The Old Salt fleet moored together at Cala Foradada near DeiĂ

ONBOARD MALLORCA

“The peninsula of Foradada is an amazing looking, boot-shaped promontory with a gorgeous natural bay”

a grave of graves There are anchorages on either side of Foradada – the eastern being Cala Deià where there is good holding in sand and rock in 4m–6m of water. From here a small beach and landing stage lead up to Deià (or Deya to us English) and there are restaurants near the water. A good little climb from here would be through the village and up to the 15th century Church of Sant Joan Baptista,

EMILY HARRIS

DAN HOUSTON

DAN HOUSTON

PREVIOUS PAGE EMILY HARRIS

60

first spectacular anchorage of the north coast. The peninsula of Foradada is an amazing looking, bootshaped promontory with a gorgeous natural bay and landing stage. This is close to Son Marroig – the house, and now museum, of Archduke Ludwig Salvator of Austria (1847-1915) who bought it after falling for the beauty of the local scenery.

The house also hosts the Deià International Music Festival in May. Deià is the local village frequented by musicians and artists who come for the scenery and a completely different kind of Mallorcan holiday. But you can only get to Foradada by boat or by foot, so it’s even more off the beaten track. There is a paella restaurant here where the dish is cooked over open fires. The local prawns – said to be the pinkest in the Mediterranean are a local foodie treat. When some smart trousered Americans pass through we learn it was Diandra, Michael Douglas’ ex-wife who still shares a property with the actor on the cliff nearby.

EMILY HARRIS

T

he thought of diving into crystal blue water in early May was a deciding factor, plus the offer of a boat from which to do it. We would be sailing Mallorca’s iron-bound northern coast – most often cruised, at a dash it would seem, in one hit by yachtsmen keen to get around the northeastern headland of Formentor.

The north coast has a forbidding look, steep wooded mountains plunge from heights of 4,590ft (1,400m) into the wine dark sea; in a blow, which will mostly arrive from the north or north-west, the coast becomes a potentially dangerous lee shore with many of its anchorages exposed. The winds, called the Tramontana can famously blow for days and can arrive with little warning – though we found local forecasting was spot on. But such gales are unusual in summer and the coast offers sights and scenes that are unspoilt and rare compared to the rest of the island. There are many little bays, or calas, offering good anchorages and the beautiful area, as part of the Tramuntana mountain range, was awarded Unesco’s World Heritage status in 2011, which protects it from the kind of building boom that has affected some of the rest of the island.

Most sailing in Mallorca, the largest of Spain’s Balearic Islands, happens out of the port of Palma, a large natural harbour on the south-west coast. From there it would take a day at least to sail around to the

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Clockwise from far left: the entrance to Sóller is well lit; beach at Formentor showing patches of weed; the old hydro pool where we swam in seclusion; our little clinker sailing dinghy Muffin in the bay of Pollença.

We towed her behind and could rig her to sail in 15 minutes or so

ONBOARD MALLORCA

where the writer Robert Graves was buried in 1985.

We can’t work out why his wife Beryl was buried on the opposite side of the churchyard... but the views from here are spectacular.

The main port on this coast, and the berth place for the boats of Old Salt Classic Sailing Charters, is Sóller.

A largish natural harbour with marina and moorings, it’s also the main city on this coast, although the city proper is set back from the port, originally to protect itself from pirate raids, and charmingly connected by an ancient tram service dating from 1913 – The Orange Express, about 10 minutes into the hinterland through orange and lemon groves. There is also a train from here to Palma dating from a year earlier, which runs through the mountains. But since a toll tunnel was built a few years ago the connection to Palma Airport was reduced to 25 minutes or so and avoids the more scenic route over the mountain road with its 57 hairpin bends!

It’s well worth spending some time in Sóller and some of its surrounding villages are captivating. Six kilometres (3½ miles) to the east, Fornalutx sits at the head of the valley and is one of those Spanish hill villages that time has not touched. The area is popular for hiking and we meet groups of retirement-age Germans taking a late spring break. The sight of Germans in boots walking with purpose across the landscape seems vaguely familiar...

But it’s time to get back to the ship and to start heading east. Our next anchorage – we spent a whole

week on the hook and did not pay any marina fees – is a charming spot called Ens Sa Costera, where there is a small waterfall, two actually, with shelter from the north-west behind Punta Cala Rotja. This is the site of an old hydroelectricity power station and we swam in the holding pool, which is still full of fresh clear water just a few feet climb from the landing stage. We take big fenders for the dinghy though – even in a slight swell the concrete stage is a little bumpy. There is a hermit here in the one house, the place is backed by the mountain but he wasn’t home. It feels like it does not get many visitors.

Above: Cala Murta was peaceful and sheltered on all sides. We had a lot of jellyfish for company in here

Bouldering in a land of Boulders The two next calas, Tuent and Calobra have habitation and there are restaurants. Calobra is the more spectacular of the two with a huge gully, the Torrente De Pareis, running down to a sandy beach. There is good holding in 5m to 10m over sand and stones. The wide gully leads inland into the mountains and there are water torrents during winter months. There is a freshwater lagoon near the beach – full of frogs when we were there. Climbers will love the bouldering in this area. Swimming is excellent, though we were on the watch for jellyfish.

These purple and pink parasol-like creatures are beautiful to see but not too good to swim into. Luckily the water is clear and you can see them, but it makes a fast crawl to the shore a dodgy undertaking, since they have twometre-long trailing translucent stinging tentacles!

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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ONBOARD MALLORCA

TOp IMAgE: EMILY HARRIS

DAN HOUSTON

Clockwise from top: the fleet off their home port of Sóller; the Avanzada lighthouse; if you are cruising on the anchor you need a substantial dinghy; diving into crystal blue water at Cala de San Vicente

We don’t stop at the next cala – Codolar, two miles to the east of Calobra; the next part of the coast is quite barren, though there are caves a mile east of Codolar, which you can row a dinghy into (ideal for a cool down on a hot day apparently). Our next stop is Cala Castell with a beach of white pebbles and a track up to Castillo del Rey, a fortress built on a rocky outcrop 1,608ft (490m) above sea level and site of a 14th-century seige when the last king of Mallorca, Jaime III, was ousted by Peter IV of Aragon. This is a deserted anchorage with holding over rock (or sand closer to the beach) in 3m of water. There is one house at the beach and a winding track inland. With a good breeze we explored it in the dinghy and swimming (no jellies!) from the beach.

EMILY HARRIS

DAN HOUSTON

There is more happening at the next anchorage, Cala de San Vicente, which is backed by holiday apartments, restaurants and cafés. We anchor in 9m of crystal clear water – we can see the anchor chain running out all the way to the anchor (in sand) and dive into the cool azure sea. There are local fish here, a type of bream called oblada, which seem fairly abundant. A friend told me we should troll for fish if we were going offshore, tuna and bonito being a good catch. But we stay a bit too coastal to really try for that.

The two remaining calas on this north coast are the deserted Vall de Boca with a stony beach and track over the hills to the town of Pollença; Figuera is just 1.6nM west of Cap de Formentor, again with a little beach.

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Extremely sea-worthy, well maintained, massive oak on oak construction, beautiful lines, can be sailed by 2 persons. Bare hull rebuild 2002, all original papers since 1931. Ford 140HP, low hours, mooring available. Ready for work, or ultimate pleasure.

Plymouth, UK. £129,000 T: 07971 376 172 or sailjosefine@gmail.com

TrinityMarine.co.uk TrinityMarine.co.uk TrinityMarine.co.uk The Worlds Leading Light in Marine Antiques & Collectables

Trinity Marine • Scattor Rock • Sheldon Lane • Dunsford • Exeter Devon EX6 7YT Tel: 01647 253400 • Fax 01647 252075 www.trinitymarine.co.uk • contact@trinitymarine.co.uk 64

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

ONBOARD MALLORCA

DAN HOUSTON

Above, left to right: Kilena of Corsica about to anchor at Cala Foradada; cruising in front of the old hotel at Cala Fermentor.

Below: take a pilot book, it’s worth it

DAN HOUSTON

With any east in the wind all these calas are exposed but they do offer some protection from a northwesterly wind, and sea breezes don’t create enough swell to disrupt their anchorage. Protection from northerlies occurs just around the headland of Formentor, and into the bays of Pollença and Alcudia. Happily this and other headlands are benign features due to lack of tide.

Pollença is a harbour and marina protected by the Punta de Avanzada. It offers a huge anchorage that you share with the fire-busting seaplanes whose base is on the western side of the Avanzada peninsula. There’s a house here, La Fortaleza, which is said to be Spain’s most expensive property, owned by a British banker (naturally).

Pollença has supermarkets and restaurants and there is good holding in 7m to 10m five cables from the jetty. We left the dinghy there without locking anything up, among other tenders and the boats of local friendly boatmen.

The marina, built out into the bay, looked quite busy even this eagerly into the season – there are 375 berths according to the pilot book but it is quite shallow with just 2.1m in the entrance.

The calas on the south of the jutting headland of Formentor are again in clear water and the two near the cape are deserted. We anchored for a night in Cala Murta in 5m over sand. The practice is to always pick up a mooring when staying at a cala – but in early May we found none had been put down yet. If you do anchor it’s a good idea to jill around for a while to find a good spot over sand – you can see what you are doing because the water is so clear. Drop the hook on sand rather than the darker patches of weed. This is likely to be the slow-growing posidonia – a type of seagrass that is vital to the ecosystem but which is also under threat of anchoring.

LOCAL INFORMATION LOCAL CHARTS AND PILOTAGE Paper charts Imray: Islas Baleares (M3 series) 1:350,000 scale covering Ibiza, Formentera, Mallorca and Menorca with larger scales (1:10,000) for ports. On Imray’s

good plasticised waterproof paper. Good value at £16.

UKHO: The Admiralty Chart 1703 is a slightly larger scale at 1:300,000 but consequently shows only the eastern tip of Ibiza. Standard chart £22.45

The route

Pilot books/guides The Admiralty Mediterranean Pilot Volume 1 (NP45) is comprehensive but rare; we used Imray’s excellent Islas Baleares by Graham Hutt under the auspices of the RCC Pilotage Foundation. It’s clear, well produced and has a lot of good general information in its 23-page frontispiece. Chartlets are really good with lots of depth information and there are good aerial photos too. £32.50 www.imray.com Digital charts Navionics: Marine Europe for smartphones: £19.46

Start

Sóller Marina Tel: +34 971 63 13 26 Pollença Tel: +34 971 86 46 35/VHF Ch9

Weather (Mallorca) VHF Ch10 (announced first on Ch16) 0835, 1135, 1635, 2135.

Various websites offer weather and searching ‘weather Med’ brings many options and www.metoffice.gov.uk gives the latest synoptic chart. Wind guru seems good as does www. weatheronline.co.uk. Locals also use www.eltiempo.es, which is a site with good graphics Water and showers We bought all drinking water bottled on local advice, and otherwise used ship’s supply.

Water is not normally free and the etiquette is to be sparing.

For boats with a watermaker the problem disappears. Most marinas have showers – free to berth-holders or for a small fee.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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ONBOARD MALLORCA

Mallorca-based Classic Charter

1

Kilena of Corsica 1934

Oak-on-oak, Swedish-built ketch

EMILy HARRIS

Below: dinner is served on board our boat Kilena of Corsica

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4

5

Above: With a staff of eight, Old Salt Sailing was set up by Bruno Entrecanales to share his passion for classic boats

designed by Jac Iverson with some (posthumous) Colin Archer influence.

Won her class at Antigua Sailing Week in 1996.

LOA: 57ft (17.4m) Beam: 14ft (4.2m) Draught: 9ft 7in (3m) Berths for nine guests with three crew.

Prices from €1,500 to €1,850 per day.

3

ifarra 1947

Restored double-ended Colin Archer gaff-rig type with standing headroom and four berths (saloon converts to double) and roomy, comfy galley.

She can be bareboat chartered with an ICC (certificate of competence).

LOA: 28ft (8.5m) Beam: 8ft 6in (2.6m) Draught: 4ft 7in (1.4m) Prices from €525 to €700 per day

In Cala Murta we witness some jellyfish spawning, which is a very rare sight and has a slightly electrifying effect on the air. However, it means no swimming even though by next morning the water looks clear. Some hikers appear in the trees and there are paths around the coast and through the woods here.

We also visit the calas of Engossaubas, just south of the cape, deserted and beautiful with high cliffs all around, and en Feliu, a tiny cala with a deserted beach. You can have too much of deserted calas though, so in search of ice cream we anchor in the Cala Formentor where there are a couple of beach restaurants and one of Mallorca’s oldest hotels – the Barceló Formentor, built in 1929. Sadly it’s not open to non-residents, which just makes us want to diss it. The beach here is sandy though and walking inland reveals pretty forest scenery. The north coast, just a mile

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

3

1

So Fong 1937

One of Olin Stephens’ schooners, built out of teak by the AH King Slipway in Hong Kong and arrested as a spy vessel by the Vietnamese in the 1970s. Rescued in a delapidated state

by Roger Sandiford and restored at St Tropez between 2000 and 2003.

Also a Rolex Trophy winner at Les Voiles de St Tropez in 2006.

LOA: 70ft 3in (21.4m) LWL: 54ft (16.5m) Beam: 16ft 1in (4.9m) Draught: 9ft 9in (3m) Fully crewed with a chef. Berths for seven guests. Prices from €1,950 to €2,300 per day.

2

2

EMILy HARRIS

Old Salt is the new name of a recently established fleet of wooden charter yachts operating out of Sóller, the only port on the north coast. The fleet ranges in size from the magnificent schooner So Fong to the four-berth Ifarra, and includes the Riva-esque powerboat Freya, which can act as a taxi to the entire fleet. Old Salt was set up by Bruno Entrecanales (pictured below) a venture capitalist with a passion for his organic olive oil farm as well as sailing and restoring wooden boats.

CB sailed with the ketch Kilena of Corsica with crew skipper Raimundo ‘Mumo’ Torres and wife Sonia, who both hail from Barcelona.

4

Freya 1996

Danish Brandt-Møller Diva Royal design speedboat for day-cruising, waterskiing and exploring. Space for five guests with skipper.

LOA: 24ft 8in (7.6m) Beam: 7ft 11in (2.4m) 2 x 250hp Volva Penta engines.

Five guests with skipper. Prices from €495 to €650 per day (without fuel)

5

Delfino 1939

John Alden six-berth ketch recently brought into the fleet.

LOS: 56ft (17.1m) Beam: 11ft 9in (3.6m) Draught: 7ft 11in (2.4m) www.oldsaltsailing.com Tel: +34 971 612 541 (ext 103) Tel: +34 696 076 700

on the other side of this rocky peninsula seems so different to this more lush setting with its protected feel. We relax on board reading books or gazing at goats clinging to rock faces. We learn how local fishermen would shoot one down to pick it out of the water as a welcome change of diet.

GettinG baCK in one hop All too soon the time has flown by and it’s time to return to Sóller. Because we’ve taken our time getting along the coast and exploring the calas by boat and on foot it feels odd to look at the chart and realise it’s just 30nM or so home. Our last day dawns calm with a latent swell of the easterly F5 from the day before. So it’s on with the engine.

Off Punta Beca we see our first dolphin, who stays with us a few minutes; it often seems symbolic when this happens, as if he’s saying goodbye; good luck.

“I wanted freedom, fresh air and adventure.

I found it on the sea.�

Old Salt on So Fong during the 1970s www.oldsaltsailing.com sarah@oldsaltsailing.com (+34) 696 076 700

Over 200 vintage and classic boats

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35

A great day out for all the family

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ONBOARD

Seamanship

Seamanship

DAN HOUSTON

Setting a mizzen staysail over the 10 years that Magali and I have owned Sigfrid we have continued to learn about the ketch rig and develop ways of getting the best out of our boat.

Last autumn we spent two months cruising the algarve where, in contrast to the fresh winds we had become accustomed to in the Strait of Gibraltar, we experienced a regime of light airs in the morning, veering and freshening as the sea breeze came up in the afternoon.

Under these gentle conditions two sails, which had up until now been lying at the bottom of the sail locker, came into their own. although we normally try to equip our boat with the designed sail plan, these two were made for another yacht and were given to us by a friend in Gibraltar.

The first was a 220sqft (20m²) 3oz genoa, and although it’s small – about two-thirds the size of the one actually designed for Sigfrid – the light material filled in the gentlest wind. The second was a smaller 100sqft (9.3m²) headsail that we decided to use as a mizzen staysail.

When we first owned Sigfrid we had experimented with a mizzen staysail, but at that stage she had a mismatched sail wardrobe and an awkward deck layout with no proper sheeting points. This made sailing quite a cumbersome procedure and the mizzen staysail became one complication too many.

In 2010, however, with her proper sails and a practical set-up, we rediscovered how easy it can be to use this sail. The mizzen staysail is triangular and set in front of the mizzen mast, although confusingly

Above: a mizzen sail fully open.

Below: despite the makeshift set-up, the mizzen staysail gives Sigfrid some decent extra speed

RICHARD TOYNE

BY rIchard ToYne

it is often set flying and not on a stay.

The tack is taken either to the foot of the mainmast or the windward bulwark, the halyard runs to the top of the mizzen mast, and the sheet is led to the leeward bulwark or the tip of the mizzen boom. on Sigfrid we prefer to take the tack out to the windward bulwark, tying it to the furthest aft of the main shroud chainplates, as this ensures it does not get blanketed by the mizzen.

We then found the sheeting point by trial and error. as our sail is fairly small we find it sets best with the sheet led down to the leeward main backstay chainplate. as our mizzen staysail has so far been a temporary set-up, we have not installed any cleats for the control lines. Instead we have used the existing eyes on the inside of the bulwark, and tied them off using a rolling hitch, which holds the sail securely, but by grasping the knot itself it can be slid along the standing part of the rope, making it easy to adjust the set of the sail.

More importantly, it’s given Sigfrid some significant extra drive – as much as half a knot!

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

69

ONBOARD

BOyE COBalT BaSIC 3 SHOE knIfE – BROaD pOInT

We are big fans of the utility or cobbler’s knife, especially with the broader, more seamanlike point, as shown here. It is made of carbon steel, will bend enough to be used as a scraper, and will get you out of trouble. It will keep a sharp edge as it’s designed for cutting leather, and although it comes without a sheath, maybe this is your chance to work on your leather stitching.

The only really truly disposable ‘anything goes’ knife here.

Available in varying blade lengths, from 4in-6in (102mm-152mm).

From £3.90, www.sheffieldknives.co.uk

This is arguably the most practical boat knife on the market.

It’s made from a mixture of cobalt, chrome, nickel, tungsten, silicon, iron and carbon (ie, no steel), which means it’s impervious to saltwater corrosion. At the cutting edge, the carbide crystals produce microserrations for supreme cutting and the crystals keep the edge intact.

It is also the only knife here with a sharpening-angle guide on the finger guard for precise honing. Available with a pointed or rounded tip. £213 plus P&P, www.boyeknives.com

HEllE HEllEfISk

Helle knives, known for lasting for generations, are seen as a traditional Norwegian family heirloom. To look, feel and touch one of Helle’s products is to witness true craftsmanship – each knife and sheath is subject to 45 separate manual operations using stone, horn, bog-aged wood, leather and, in this case, cork for the handles (this one floats). The blade, nice and shiny, is made from Helle’s unique triplelaminated Stainless Sandvik 12C27 steel. All come with a lifetime warranty. £69.99 inc P&P, www.helle.no. For purchases, go to www.alloutdoor.co.uk

BERGO SEaMEn

This knife has a granular, corrosion-grade finish and light wood handle. The sheath is classic Norwegian design so there’s no need for a fussy clip: when the leather gets a soaking it ‘hugs’ the knife and keeps it in place. It has a traditional Baltic blade that feels really good to the touch and all this comes at a very friendly price. £35, www.bergotools.se

MyERCHIn GEn 2 OffSHORE

As well as having a shackle key in the pro-marine steel blade, which now has a deeper, safer tip shape, the lovely rosewood handle is carved to fit snugly in a tight fist. The sheath is made from tough leather and the slightly curved marlinspike makes it a rigger’s dream. It’s so well made it feels like it will probably last forever. £63.80, www.myerchin.com

EDITOR’S CHOICE

Clean cut

A sheath knife is the recommended safety knife at sea, but which one is right for you? We put 10 to the test STory GUy VEnaBlES

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

ONBOARD

cOlD steel sisu 60ss

This knife is inspired by the Finnish puukko belt-knife and it has the same tactile weightiness. The blade is made from exclusive VG-1 San Mai III stainless steel and it’s been given an exquisite mirror-polish finish.

The hilt is made from black linen Micarta and set off by a matching, highly polished nickel-silver bolster and pommel, all crafted in an unusual diamond shape that fits very well in the hand. £320, www.coldsteel-uk.com

neptunia pen skOulm custOm

With a French sennit handle, knotted by internationally renowned rigger Patrick Moreau, this lovely hand-forged knife is frankly a little over the top for our selection. But it’s here because it’s a true work of art. The full tang blade is made with tough 12C27 stainless steel, it has an antioxidation treatment, and the steel hardness is rated at 58HRC, so it has a durable sharp edge. Neptunia is famed in France for its innovative designs and high quality of workmanship – and this knife is the perfect example. It’s not cheap though, so maybe one for the owner rather than general use by the crew. £507 plus P&P, www.neptunia.fr

Green riVer

This was the legendary knife espoused by trappers and mountain men of the American West, and made for nearly 200 years now by Dexter-Russell in Massachusetts. It’s also the sailor’s safety knife of choice, as made here in the UK by Arthur Wright & Son in Sheffield, complete with a steel and deep leather sheath.

£46.35, www.sheffield-cutlery.com

tehO mOOse tOmmi OBject Of Desire

The excellent Finnish knifesmith Veijo Käpylä takes pains selecting and shaping the raita root burl handle, forging the tempered steel blade, casting the solid brass bolster and forming the leather sheath of this weighty, wonderfully balanced, tough and tactile puukko knife. Although a thing of beauty it’s at ease with the roughest use as it spans the gap of design and function. If you’ve ever held one, you’ll know. From £199, www.kainuunpuukko.com

captain currey Green riVer type

Best Value

This is a workhorse knife that will cut, scrape, whittle and prise without any pretentions of fanciness. It’s not expensive, so if you lose it overboard you can buy another one without feeling pangs of guilt. Nevertheless, it’s a tough little knife with a fine rosewood handle, good-quality blade, brass rivets and a nice flat shape in the sheath.

A steal at just £16.95, www.captain-currey.co.uk

F

ar more important than a set of foulies or a pair of plastic sunglasses, the sheath knife has always been the most important piece of personal kit a sailor can have. Aside from general cutting and chopping, it can also save limbs and lives. Two of our team have witnessed the gory reality of fingers caught in a block or winch: in one circumstance, two fingers were lost while people struggled to open their multi-tools, in the other the person was saved by the single movement of a sharp and accessible sheath knife.

Practicalities aside, and being one of our oldest tools, when it’s well made, the sheath knife can also be the most satisfyingly tactile object that one can handle and use.

As always, there’s a bewildering array of choice on offer so for the moment we’re concentrating on general purpose, fixed-blade sheath knives that we feel may have an advantage over some of the others, taking into account everything from price and function to aesthetics. We’ll leave out the Japanese folded steel and Damascus blades, for instance, as they are just too ornate and expensive to feel practical on a boat. We have also left serrated blades for another time, partly because the sharpening process is rather different. Here are a few that we either own or wish we did.

Turn over the page for advice on how to maintain and sharpen your sheath knife CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

71

ONBOARD

sharpening tip

Keeping knives sharp In an ideal world you will need two or three whetstones or oilstones (or combination stones) of incremental coarseness, and a smooth honing steel. If the knife is already fairly sharp and you’re just touching up, start with one of the fine stones. If not, start with the coarsest and work your way to the finest example.

The idea is to place the edge of the knife on the stone at an angle of around 10-15 degrees (a wider angle will last longer but won’t cut so finely due to friction). If you’re having trouble keeping a steady angle, then clip on a guide rail (see panel opposite) and that will hold the knife at the correct angle, making sharpening more accurate and taking less off the blade each time. Stroke the knife backwards along the stone as if you’re trying to remove a fine shaving. Pull the knife as you do it to sharpen the entire edge.

To practice, try drawing two lines in permanent pen across your stone. If the stone is flat and you are doing it right, the lines should disappear at the same rate while you are sharpening.

stones and steels

Fixed onto the back of the blade, this clever little guide rail positions the knife on the steel (or stone) at the perfect angle for the most accurate and efficient sweep of the blade.

It features a ceramic protective strip for durable use and, in terms of value for money, we think it’s the most useful bit of kit here. It fits most knives, and if you use it every time, you’ll prolong the life of your knife immeasurably. £4.35, www.amazon.co.uk

prolong the life of your knife.

With a steel, unless you are using a guide rail, only you should sharpen your own knives as another person will hold the knife at a slightly different angle and do more harm than good. A smooth steel or rod is the least harmful, and if you’re really serious, try a ceramic or borosilicate (glass) rod.

Smooth steels are a step above either grooved or diamond steels as they only hone. A smooth steel will push the metal of the edge back into alignment. It will take longer than with a grooved or diamond steel, but you won’t run the risk of grinding down your edge. A smooth steel is easy to use and fairly forgiving of sloppy angles.

The most common sharpening stones are carborundum stones (pictured below) and they are designed to be used wet or dry, but are destroyed when oiled. However, check the label because there are some stones that are specifically designed for oil, and are generally labelled as oilstones. You can also use any of these stones dry, the oil or water just helps clean out the tiny jags as they are coming off, and remember to always use a light touch. stones and steels Cheap stainless knives will sharpen easily, but will dull very quickly.

If you don’t have a stone or a steel, turn an old ceramic cup upside What’s happening is that the edge is rolling over because the steel down and run the blade across the unglazed ring, first on one side is quite soft. Try using a slightly steeper sharpening angle so that and then the other. The top edge of a car window also the edge isn’t so thin, and leave it rough (known as the “choose a knife has the ideal shape and hardness for a truly redneck wire edge). When it comes to hardness, we recommend and works very well. If corrosion is one of your choosing a knife that’s rated at around 60RC that’s rated at steel, main concerns, look for blades with a powdercoat (Rockwell Count). Better still, if you see a Rockwell test mark – a little dent around 60rc” finish, hardened 410 or 440C stainless steel. We also advise you to treat the term ‘stainless’ with caution, on the ricasso (the flat, because blades that have enough carbon (which is good for cutting unsharpened square in front of the performance) still have a tendency to corrode under damp and guard) – then you can be sure salty conditions if you neglect to perform basic maintenance. it’s a good blade.

Frankly, a little corrosion on a sharper blade is a compromise Whilst using a stone you might want to be willing to accept. takes particles off the knife For later care you might want to try Militec 1 metal conditioner. edge, a steel is useful to By adding a dry film it inhibits corrosion and leaves a crystal barrier hone and shape the blade. This that displaces water and protects against rust and wear. will decrease the number of times In the end, it’s better to have a knife on your belt because it you need to use a stone and STONe SeT works better, than a knife in your showcase because it looks better.

3pc with pouch. £5.40, www. amazon.co.uk

rocKingham Forge corundum ceramic steel

Victorinox isler diamond steel

This steel boasts a coating with up to two million synthetic diamond particles. Regular swiping with one of these, Corundum is the hardest form of ceramic, (and do use a guide rail until you get used to the making sharpening knives easier and angle) ensures the edge needs little else and quicker, whilst taking as little metal will last a long time, as it uses such minute off the blade as possible. For particles it’s almost like honing. true enthusiasts and perfectionists. £22.50 inc P&P From £12.90 plus P&P www.gourmetkitchenware.co.uk www.markus-heucher.de

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Lazarette

VISIT Sailing Equipm classicbo ent a

ONBOARD

t.c

o.uk For many m o r e product r eviews

Waterproof backpack

SUNDOWNERS

The thing about rucksacks is that they have to be comfortable enough to wear whilst transporting engine parts, wine bottles and fishing hooks. Here’s one from Gill that’s tough enough not to stab you in the back (it’s made from puncture-resistant fabric) and it has a generous 20 litres to play with. The roll-top also enables you to reduce the size of the bag – ideal when you’re only carrying the wine.

Fully waterproof too. £60 plus p&p

Breaking the ice

WITH GUY VENABLES

www.gillmarine.com, tel: +44 (0)115 946 0844

Purificup If you’re extremely outdoorsy or a keen international traveller who likes exploring far-flung places, this portable water filter could prove invaluable. Simply add water from a tap, freshwater stream, waterfall, river creek or lake and the patented silver membrane filter kills over 99.9 per cent of bacteria, parasites and pathogens, and produces deliciously drinkable water without using a power source. Unheard of at this price only a year ago, it fits directly onto most sports bottles and containers. We sent it for trial in the Himalayas and it passed all tests. £39.99 inc VAT www.purificup.co.uk, tel: +44 (0)1604 211214

Fuel whistle

These are great. You attach it to the fuel/air vent on your fuel tank and it prevents fuel spillages all over your nice deck and into the water. As the fuel fills, air is passed through the device and it emits a sort of warbling gurgle so you know when the tank is full. It certainly makes filling up a bit more jolly too. Any good chandler’s will have one. £15.99 plus p&p

When I first docked in the calm waters of Mahon harbour in Menorca after a 600-mile sail, a deckhand aged just 21, I sat down at the nearest bar with a particularly verbose French chef and, looking around at the other drinkers, asked the waiter if I could have what the locals were drinking. “The young or the old?” was the reply. “The young, please.” I answered, intrigued. Two cloudy glasses arrived.

I was drinking my first Pomada. This traditional Menorcan cocktail is made with locally produced Xoriguer gin, local cloudy lemonade, ice and a slice. It is fresh, has a hint of sherbet and gives you a cold lemon sugar rush to enable you to dance all night in the heat.

In the 18th century the British Royal Navy were stationed in Menorca when it was given to the crown after the War of Spanish Succession and the signing of the Treaty of Utrecht.

Bored, hot and already with a keen fondness for gin, the British sailors persuaded the locals to make them some.

Grain crops were not available so they made it from distilled wine alcohol and used wood-fired pot stills, which gave it an unusual sophisticated flavour. The local herbs and heathers were used as infusions and a very different gin, Xoriguer, was born. It is exactly the same today, the recipe being fiercely guarded and along with Plymouth, it’s the only gin in the world to have a geographical indication.

It smells of the red earth of the island and tastes thickly of the heather that covers the western cliffs.

Some say it is the best gin in the whole world. I am slow to argue.

I asked the waiter what the old people were drinking. “It doesn’t really have a name, it’s just how they sip it. I can bring you one if you like?” Over came a tray of four small glasses made from rough recycled glass. Two green, two clear.

We were each handed one filled with Xoriguer at room temperature and one filled with water that was so cold there was a thin sheet of ice over the top. The waiter indicated that I popped the water with my finger as I noticed an old man doing, and that I drank one and then the other. We both duly complied and it washed over our mouths like a delicious cold gin river. And so we sat there for several hours looking quietly out over the calm harbour, the only sound we made was the occasional popping of ice water, with heads rocking, dancing tongues and grinning souls.

www.gaelforcemarine.co.uk, tel: +44 (0)845 450 1077 CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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Photo © Den Phillips

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ONBOARD

Classnotes St Mawes One-Design

BY VANESSA BIRD

© ANDY STEVENSON

C

arrick Roads, the large natural harbour near Falmouth, is well known for its classic boats. The Falmouth Working Boats have been a regular sight here since the 1800s, and since 1924 it has been home to one of only two fleets of the Westmacottdesigned Sunbeam class in existence.

It has also been home to the 16ft (4.9m) St Mawes One-Design, a class that has seen near-continuous use since its conception at the Freshwater Boatyard in St Mawes in 1923.

It was designed by boatbuilder Frankie Peters, who developed it out of a desire to win some silverware.

Peters was a keen competitor in local events, racing White Duck, a 14ft (4.3m) clinker dinghy that had been abandoned at the yard following WWI. However, despite being a skilled helmsman, a local GP – Dr James – proved unbeatable in his 16ft (4.9m) Ferris-built dinghy Phantom.

Determined to challenge James’ dominance, Peters designed himself a carvel-built 16-footer, and for the first time led the fleet. Such was the boat’s success that for three consecutive years Peters won the 16ft class at the Falmouth Town Regatta.

His success did not go unnoticed, and in 1924 he was commissioned to build two more to the design – Mooncat and Phoebe – and it was also chosen as St Mawes SC’s new one-design class, after interest in its Frank Green-designed dinghy, of which only four were built, dwindled. By 1937, Peters had built 10 more, and up to eight would race each other off St Mawes each week.

The design is quite distinctive, with a relatively straight stem, flat run aft, wide side decks and a spacious cockpit. Originally rigged with a gunter mainsail and jib on a short 2ft 6in (0.8m) bowsprit, it was converted to a bermudan rig in 1953 after Rainbow’s owner, Anthony Beasley, modified his gaff so that it allowed

him to point higher. It caused considerable controversy – with Beasley being called “a bounder and a cad” – but he forced it through with a larger sail area of 177sqft (16.4m²).

In 1939, Ponsharden Boatyard built seven St Mawes ODs for the Royal Cornwall YC for its cadets.

Peters continued to build the design until 1964 when Choochky, his 24th boat, was launched. Racing was particularly keen at this time and in 1969 Kittiwake (No 34) was built

by Brian Crockford.

The 1970s, however, saw a depletion in the number of boats sailing, but thankfully it was relatively short-lived. Enthusiasm in the form of Andrew Tyler, who had recently acquired Vesper (No 29), saw a revival of interest and following the formation of a class association in 1980, up to 10 boats regularly raced together.

The class saw further expansion in 1982 when Jonathan Leach built Outlaw (No 35), then 12 more between 1983 and 1995, bringing the numbers up to 46. Of these, only two have been lost – Phoebe (No 3) was broken up in Dartmouth and Tern (No 4) was stolen in 1965.

Eight boats now regularly race out of Falmouth, with a similar number out of St Mawes, too. From a design produced purely out of a desire to win trophies has grown a class that is now the oldest one-design on Carrick Roads, and one which is as popular today as it was when it was first launched, 90 years ago this year.

Above, left to right: Rebel, Sisken and Vesper racing in 18 knots in the Carrick Roads, Falmouth

AILEEN The prototype St Mawes One-Design was named Aileen after Frankie Peter’s wife. The boat is now based at the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth.

BUILDING In 1932 a Frank Peters-built St Mawes One-Design cost £55. Each boat took about six weeks to complete, but the fleet expanded relatively slowly with only two being built each year between 1924-1964, except 1939 when Ponsharden Boatyard built seven.

CONSTRUCTION SPECIFICATIONS

LOA

16ft (4.9m) LWL

15ft 10in (4.8m) BEAM

6ft 1in (1.9m) DRAUGHT

10in (0.25m) 4ft (1.2m) SAIL AREA

177sqft (16.4m2) BALLAST

486lb (220kg)

Although described as a one-design, a lack of lines and moulds does mean that there are subtle variations between the hulls, and that the class is more of a restricted design. The Ponsharden-built boats are said to be of heavier construction, although class rules state 13mm pine planking on oak or elm timbers. For a long time the use of epoxy was banned, but since 2011 it has been allowed to help “minimise maintenance and increase longevity”.

GIG BUILDERS The Peters family built boats at the Freshwater Boatyard for 200 years, including most of the Scilly pilot gigs.

Vanessa’s book, Classic Classes, is out now.

For more details, go to www.classicboat.co.uk CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

75

ONBOARD

Getting afloat

SCAMP

New approach Nifty acronym this one: Small Craft Advisor Magazine Project. SCAMP came from the editors of US magazine Small Craft Advisor, who put all they had learned from more than 70 boat tests into a pot and approached NZ small-boat designer John Welsford to draw something up. The surprising

Above: despite its size, the SCAMP is surprisingly commodious

LOA: 11ft 11in (3.6m); Beam: 5ft 4in (1.6m); Disp: 331lb (150kg); For more details, go to www.smallcraftadvisor.com

C/O STeVPrOj

C/O CLC

The recent proliferation of small yachts in the 18ft-21ft (5.5m-6.4m) range have generally been referred to as ‘proper little yachts’ – ballasted, with a good level of creature comfort, correspondingly expensive and requiring a car worth more than the boat with which to trail it. For many of us, an unballasted ‘dinghy with a lid’ would be a better option but the choice is more limited. Here are three popular examples: a stalwart and two relative newcomers.

C/O SCA

Pocket yachts

result was this tiny little pug-like dinghy (pictured left) with a cuddy that solves many problems endemic to small cruising. The forward part of the cuddy gives ample waterproof storage behind a bulkhead while the aft part is a shelter from wind and spray and somewhere to put your head at night.

This arrangement, rather than the usual scenario, which is to end up with a coffin-like cabin and small cockpit, preserves a good sleeping position and a decent-sized cockpit too, thanks tho the offset centreboard.

The boat’s stability comes from water ballast and it’s commodious for its size, with two adults able to sail in comfort. With an all-up weight of about 331lb (150kg), a 2CV could tow this boat. The plywood wonder costs about £2,000 to build and has caused such a stir (220 sets of plans sold in two years) that a GRP version is now available for around £6,500.

PoCketShIP

Little gem

weekeNder

We’ve already covered this little beauty in these pages but she belongs on this page again. This 14ft 10in (4.5m) PocketShip is from Chesapeake Light Craft in the USA. At 800lb (363kg) she’s a little heavier than the other two here but still towable by any car on an unbraked trailer. She also offers a decent cockpit, as well as the ability for two to sleep in relative comfort.

This little build-it-yourself classic started life in 1981 in Popular Science magazine in America.

There’s plenty of sleeping space for two and the boat reportedly sails handy and quick. She’s the leader in a range of small DIY boats, comprising the similar-sized, catboat-derived Pocket Cruiser (more commodious but slower) and the larger and more expensive Vacationer. The Weekender is her designer’s favourite though and the most popular in the range. She’s an unusual beast since there’s no ballast or centreboard. To sail to windward in light winds, you sit the same side as the sail to engage the rail and off you go – just as you would in a dinghy. Another unusual feature is the wheel, which saves space over a tiller. Again, this is a very small boat that could be towed by anything with wheels.

LOA: 14ft 10in (4.5m); Beam: 6ft 3in (1.9m); Disp: 800lb (363kg); www.clcboats.com

dIY classic

LOA: 19ft 6in (6m); Beam: 6ft (1.8m); Disp: 550lb (249kg); Draught: 3ft (0.9m)/1ft (31cm), www.stevproj.com

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

77

BOATS FOR SALE

Boats for sale Looking to sell your boat?

Reach over 50,000 readers each month

To advertise call Edward Mannering +44 (0) 20 7349 3747 Edward.Mannering@chelseamagazines.com Copy Deadline for next issue is 21/06/2013

Camper and niCholsons 44 - 1961 Built by Camper and Nicholsons, Gosport, this 44 ft Bermudan Yawl is constructed of teak and mahogany on grown oak frames and built to meet Lloyds 100AI. Only 4 owners in the past 50 years!

I still have the original specification with hand-made notes along with 13 line drawings from the Maritime Museum, Greenwich. Hull and topsides repainted in May 2012. Full set of new Ratsey sails. Decent Perkins 4108. Loads of spares. Lying South Spain. £48,000 for reluctant swift sale FOR SALE : ‘jenny wren’!

For full history see www.classicyachtcharter.eu Email. peter@acumenadagency.com

15 foot dayboat

Built Cowes, 2000 for present owner. 15 foot dayboat in 3/8” clinker mahogany. Gunter rig, tan sails, gun metal fittings.

Galvanised trailer, 3HP Tohatsu outboard. £4,000. Tel. Alan Matthews, 01794 514943 email: alan.wmatthews@btinternet.com

classic Mot launch! * 22 ft! * HYS marin berth! * Ideal for sheltered Coastal ! waters &!

Estuaries!

jenny wren

35FT IOR 7MTR CLASSIC SLOOP

A rare opportunity to acquire an elegant and much admired yacht.

Built in Germany in 1967. Beautifully fair hull. Strip planked in excellent mahogany on oak. Extensive refit 2002. Solid teak decks.

Alloy mast. Wheel Steering. New Hood Vektram sails 2008. Easily sailed single handed. Fast, easily driven, sea kindly motion. Kept in outstanding condition. Must be seen to be appreciated. An enthusiasts yacht. Lying Solent. £45,000.

Tel: Chris 07774 928418 • Email: christopher.cavanagh@btinternet.com

Hillyard 1929

28’ 1929 Hillyard Gaff Cutter. Rebuilt by shipwright owner.

Growing family forces sale. £23,500 http://www.woodenwidget.com/waifhome.htm.

Contact: waif@theevans.co.uk or phone 00 3364 0566 950

Jenny Wren’ is a unique classic 22ft wooden motor cruiser. She was built in 1945, designed by Arthur Robb, renovated in 2004/05 and has just gone through a total refit. She is ideal for !"##$%&'"#(%)*%+%,#)-,"%./+**).%00%1%2334"#%5363'%.',)*"'7%89"%2+*%:,)/6%)#%;<=>?%4"*)@#"4 river cruises, solent trips, fishing. She has two berths, a galley and A'69,'%B3::?%'"#3C+6"4%)#%0DD=ED>%+#4%9+*%F,*6%@3#"%69'3,@9%+%636+/%'"G67%89"%)*%)4"+/% heads. She is fitted with a 12HP Petter diesel inboard motor (just H3'%')C"'%.',)*"*?%*3/"#6%6')I*?%G*9)#@7%89"%9+*%623%:"'69*?%+%@+//"$%+#4%9"+4*7%89"%)*%GJ"4 serviced) and has been totally refurbished to a high standard.

2)69%+%;0KL%L"J"'%4)"*"/%)#:3+'4%5363'%MF,*6%*"'C)."4N%+#4%9+*%:""#%636+//$%'"H,':)*9"4%6 Offers IRO £10,000 Contact: 07795 483116/07774 632326 or +%9)@9%*6+#4+'47%% email: leslie@lesliegreenhalgh.com

INTERNATIONAL ONE DESIGN

TRADITION

John G. Alden Design No. 357 commissioned as ocean racer for 1928 Bermuda Race. Built by Hodgdon Brothers. The perfect project for the right individual / syndicate looking to restore and return her to the racing fleet. jon@regattasail.com

Plymouth mayflower Dinghy

Brand new, 14ft traditional clinker, built to original Skentelbery design, perfect for exploring creeks and estuaries and teaching grandchildren to sail. Complete with sails and cover, ready to sail £12,500. 07973 420568

ClassiC raCing on the Yorkshire Coast ‘Iolanthe’ Original 1898 Yorkshire One Design. Competitive boat in one design fleet. Restored from keel to truck. £13,700. neil.paveley@adas.co.uk 01944 768275 or 07850 832502.

78

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

A great example of this classic racing class, Sanchia (built 1958) has raced regularly with the IOD fleet in St Mawes and in Falmouth Week.

She has been based in the Carrick Roads, Falmouth for many years and has been well looked after. She has been upgraded for racing since 2007. Length 33ft 5”, draft 5ft 6” £18,750. Call 01872 580184 or E-mail: ncoppin@gmail.com for more information.

Open Shilling 17`

NOMAND

For further details email: binkhorst@medischaspect.nl

Gaff rigged daysailer, Built 2007, complete with braked road trailer and cover, in excellent condition, one carefull owner, stored inside when not in use. Price £14000.00. For further details: Tel: 015394 47652 Email: wbb@pswift.freeserve.co.uk

BOATS FOR SALE

21 foot Gaff Sloop SaRa

1939 Gaff Cutter “SIMBa”

by John Leather built as a private commission in 1965 by Colne Marine. Carvel of Iroko, sound but needs finishing. Kubota Diesel, on cradle. £4750 07746969799 South Notts

Pine on oak with pine deck/lead keel. NEW Yanmar. 1GM, Mast & running rigging 2011. Accommodation needs tidying up.

Lying in Lymington £7,950 Chrisharridge@rocketmail.com Tel 07836 278742

FOR SALE

1937 32’ classic jack powles motor cruiser

A rare opportunity to purchase this beautiful 40 square meter classic boat, due to the owner’s advancing years. Built in Soon slip Norway in 1919, she was imported to Blyth back in 1937. Since then she has had two loving owners, both of whom have restored and kept her in perfect order. We will be very sad to lose her. Price: negotiable.

Please phone 01628 821031 or email mvwaterhouse@googlemail.com

‘Glitterwake’ sympathetic and professional restoration in 1991 and 2013, mahogany on oak with teak raised topsides and new coelan treated iroko deck BMC 2.5 litre diesel 4 berth new equipment and upholstery. survey and safety certificate, fitted cover. Absolutely stunning. Lying Norfolk Broads £48,000 email: andrew.lodge@keme.co.uk Tel: 0771 725 2671

STEAM LAUNCH ARTEMIS

Yacht’s tender built Summers and Payne 1899 for yawl Artemis.

21ft carvel cedar on rock elm. Simpson Strickland ¼ A engine.

Boiler new 2008. £24,000. Tel: 01223 245616.

LiLy M (as featured in CB OCt 2003) Stunning 20’ Little Gull design Lying Isle of Wight.

Additional photos: www.rowenawright.com £17,000. Tel 07741 289986

MeMory 19

Very capable coastal cruising, equally at home creek crawling with it’s shallow draft. Cabin ideal for overnight accomadation.

Classic 19ft GRP cruiser. Tohatsu 5 HP/4 stoke 2011.

New Rudder 2013 Moored North Norfolk £6,995.00 For more info / pictures Tel -07879481467 or duncan2512@btinternet.com

DiamonD

A recreation of a Charles Sibbick 1897 fin-and-bulb keel ‘skimming dish’ Half Rater. Compete in classic regattas with this new unique hand built boat. 21 foot long, built in strip plank with yellow cedar deck, mahogany coamings and bronze fittings. £28,000 For more information about Diamond contact: Martin Nott, 07831 328212, martinnott@mac.com www.martinnott.com

Looking to sell your boat?

Reach over 50,000 readers each month

There are two styles of Boats for Sales ad to choose from and with our special Spring offer, if you buy two months, your third month will be free. Pick the style which suits your requirements and email: Edward.Mannering@chelseamagazines.com with your text and image or call +44 (0) 20 7349 3747. The deadline for the next issue is 21/06/2013 SAMPLE STYLE A GoLAnT GAffEr

No. 8. Excellent 2 berth coastal cruiser, built 1999. Length 18’ 9” Beam 7’ Draft 2’ 9” long keel, designed by Roger Dongray. Yanmar GM 10 regularly serviced. Very attractive boat lovingly maintained, Lying Fowey. £12,000 ono.

Email: name@classicboat.co. uk 0000 11111111

SAMPLE STYLE B

STYLE B. 5cm x 1 colums. Either 55 words or 30 words plus colour photograph. £155 inc VAT and Internet

cuTTEr

Built 1991, mahogany & epoxy hull similar to GRP, 1930’s spars & fittings, beautifully maintained. Visit www.idclark.force9.co.uk for photos and specification. £25,750 Contact 00000 111111

STYLE A. 5cm x 2 columns. Either 160 words or 80 words plus colour photograph. £275 inc VAT and Internet

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

79

BROKERAGE

Brokerage

To advertise Call Patricia Hubbard +44 (0) 207 349 3748 Patricia.hubbard@chelseamagazines.com Copy Deadline for next issue is 21/06/2013

33 High Street, Poole BH15 1AB, England. Tel: + 44 (0)1202 330077

59 ft Charles E Nicholson Gaff Cutter 1892 The beauty of MARIGOLD’s Victorian straight stem and long counter stern doubtless inspired her rescue by Greg Powlesland. That he in turn persuaded her present owner to resource completing the project is testament to her worth as one of the premier classic yachts afloat today.

Attention to period detail and the skilful application of traditional materials has regenerated this magnificent yacht providing enormous pleasure both to him and his guests over the 25 years of his ownership. €550,000

Lying France

70 ft Laurent Giles Motor Yacht 1948 The sweeping elegant simplicity of WOODPECKER is memorable – her semi-displacement hull represents a near pinnacle in this hull form and a full restoration has retained her original character but with modifications to enhance practicality as a family cruising yacht with a stunning classic contemporary interior. £395,000

Lying Malta

41 ft McGruer Cruiser 8 Metre 1963 INISMARA is one of the 23 yachts in her class built between 1951 and 1968, displaying her winning ways immediately with 17 wins from 25 starts in her 1st season. She has benefitted from very few owners and impressive maintenance. Incredibly nimble under sail she has charm, style and enough luxury for cruising, just as James McGruer and the Rule intended. On the racing front again she enjoyed several wins in the Scottish and West Highland series in the late 90s. £87,500 Lying UK

54 ft Sparkman & Stephens Sloop 1969 It is very easy to love a bright finished boat. TARANTELLA was built originally for RORC racing by Cantieri Carlini of Rimini. She has only ever had two caring ownerships, spending winters inside ashore at Yacht Club Italiano. From a period when racing yachts were more versatile, her interior is extremely comfortable and moreover in very chic style. It is perhaps no wonder the YCI Genoa refer to this boat as a Stradivarius. €425,000

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

£395,000 VAT unpaid

Lying UK

52 ft Laurent Giles Marconi Cutter 1967 ILARIA, designed by Jack Laurent Giles was built in 1967 by the Beconcini yard in La Spezia. Following the experience of NINA, MIRANDA IV and MIRANDA V, she is a boat absolutely designed for the Mediterranean, not only by virtue of her performance but especially in her style - that of very good - and understated good taste. In 2001 the boat was restored by the same shipyard that built her, also taking the opportunity to update, enhance and add to the facilities, optimising her comfort and safety for the present day. €350,000 Lying Italy

52 ft William Fife III Cutter 1902 In her current ownership since the mid eighties, when SIBYL was lovingly restored to her current fine condition and rig configuration, she has enjoyed many seasons of cruising and Classic regattas; always sailing with just a husband and wife crew and proving not only her pedigree but that in her current guise she is a well mannered and easily sailed vessel.SIBYL’s lines are quite breathtaking – She could only be a Fife.

40 ft Aldous Gaff Cutter 1922 Built by Aldous to Lloyds A1 in 1922 to a design by A Boyes, AYESHA has inspired her owners to enjoy her very much as originally intended. In 2001 she won her class in the Prada classic series in the Med – having sailed across Biscay to compete! There is something refreshing about her honest fit out and no mistaking her beauty – a capable vintage sailing boat and worthy regatta contender. She is easily handled, even with a crew of two.

40 ft Custom built Nelson Motor Yacht 1975 A magnificent blend of renowned Nelson sea keeping qualities with what can only be described as classic motor yacht detail – solid teak decks and superstructure with teak interior. From the commanding wheelhouse, control of the powerful twin Ford Sabre 225 HP diesels (with low hours clocked) yields reliability with style and performance - yet cruising at a frugal 8 knots, consumes only 3 ½ gallons per hour.

£45,000

£69,000

email: info@sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk 80

Lying Italy

45 ft Bristol Pilot Cutter 2007 A recreation of the pilot cutter PEGGY, built in 1904 by Rowles of Pill, POLLY AGATHA has all the charm of a classic Edwardian cutter but with a luxurious interior and modern equipment. Her ample deck space and accommodation fit her for a variety of roles including charter and sea school use but her finish and detail befits that of a vintage yacht – and places her a long way from her work boat roots. She has 10 berths including a luxuriously appointed master cabin.

Lying UK

£225,000

Lying UK

Lying UK

www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

BROKERAGE

M.J.LEWIS & SON (Boat Sales) LTD DOWNS ROAD BOATYARD, MALDON, ESSEX. CM9 5HG

E-Mail: info@mjlewisboatsales.com Tel: 01621 859373 • Mob: 07736 553487

Specialists in the brokerage of Classic Vessels, Traditional Yachts and Working Boats

10m Albert Strange Gaff Yawl, 1922 Fastidiously restored, new sails & spars.

North Essex £48,000

23m ex Cargo Ship, 1914. Welded steel hull, decks. GT 91 tons.GM240hp eng V8 Supercharger 28kw generator. Crew accom. Essex £69,000

27m Thames Sailing Barge, 1923.

Wooden hull. Used for charter, Coded & Licensed.

Potential for live aboard. London £175,000

45ft Gills, Rochester Sailing Barge, 1887. Half sized.

Wooden hull total restoration ‘07, extra headroom, sleeps 6. 12ft beam. Holiday let. Suffolk £50,000 REDUCED

12m No:1 Mystery Class, 1936.

Robert Clark Bermudan Cutter, teak decks. Totally restored. An accolade winner. Suffolk £45,000

Katie F5 ex CK82, 1820. A much loved sailing smack. Totally rebuilt, inboard Engine, new rig, spars & sails. Kent £37,500 To be SOLD

Cardnell Yawl, 1932.

Mahogany planked, long keel, easy rig, centre cockpit, Aft cabin. Original features. Kent £22,000

34ft 10ton Hillyard Cutter, 1971. Wooden Bermudan main, centre cockpit. Sails 2004. 55hp Perkins engine. Afloat Hampshire £26,750

29ft Tyrell & Young Smack Yacht, 1990 No2 out of the mould, GRP, Traditional Fit out & rig, inboard. Accom 3. Stove. Kent £24,500

15m Crossfield’s of Arnside Prawner, 1900 Gaff Cutter. Restored & sailing again. Vetus 20hp eng, New rig. Sails 2009 Basic accom. Essex £25,000

30ft Laurent Giles Wanderer 1965 Colne Marine. Iroko/Cre, teak decks. A blue water adventuress. Bukh 2005. Sussex £26,500

7m Laurent Giles Peter Duck, 1963 Professionally maintained, Refit March 2013 Bermudan ketch. Volvo. Hampshire £22,500

26ft Laurent Giles Vertue, 1973 Gaff cutter rig, Shiped from Australia. New rig, retractable bowsprit. Yanmar. Essex £19,500

27ft Tomahawk 1962. A modern Classic. Stunning quality. Sole eng. A fastidious Shipwright’s restoration. Refitted Summer ‘12.Essex £17,500

37ft Belmore Sloop 1960. Commissioned by the Navy. Much spent. 6ft 6ins h’drm.

Comprehensive inventory. Cornwall £28,000

8m Stirling 28, 1968. Holman design,by Uphams.

Shipwright maintained. A prime example.

Recommissioned June 2013. Kent £26,000

29ft Maurice Griffiths,”Kylix”, 1986 Iroko on Oak, Yanmar eng. 6ft h’drm .Centreboard. Homely and Comfortable.

Suffolk £23,500

26ft Thames Bawley, 1960.

Maurice Griffiths Bermudan Cutter.

Built by Johnson & Jago. Refitted 2013 Isle of Wight £9,500

35ft Spitzgatter, 1939 Carvel, long keel, interior replaced’10, Sails ’06, Volvo eng.

London £9,950

25ft Maurice Griffiths Cutter, 1936.

Pitch pine on Oak, Vetus inboard.

Furling gear. Well maintained 17yrs ownership. Brittany £13,750

24ft Cornish Crabber, 1983.

GRP gaffer & road trailer. C’board, stove.

Traditional rig. Yanmer GM10.Totally restored ‘2010. N.Norfolk £18,500

12ft Wooden Clinker Dinghy, 1997 Wooton Bridge Industries. Mahogany on oak, copper fastened. Gaff sail. with road trailer. Cornwall £2,950

7.5m Folkboat 25, 1964 Carvel wooden with dog house.

Yanmar. Refurbished. Yard trailer.

Hants £6,250 REDUCED

16ft Oysterman, 1978 GRP Gaff Cutter with trailer.

Internal refit 2013. Yanmar inboard.

Kent £8,450

27ft ex RN Whaler, 1954, GRP hull Gunter rig, centreboard.

Inboard Beta 28hp.

Hants £6,950

23ft Gaff Cutter, 1930. Built by E.L Woods. A real pleasure yacht. Recent sails, engineless. 2/3 berths. Long lead keel. Suffolk £POA

www.heritage-marine.com CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

81

C

M

BROKERAGE

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

30’ +bowsprit Macmillan Yachts (now Spirit Yachts) 1991 Gaff cutter Immensely strong cold moulded hull, teak deck. Wonderful deep cock-pit, huge cabin volume with 5 berths. 2nd only ownership, regularly updated, almost as new condition Scotland £38,500

RECENT RESTORATION. Gaff yawl by Stow 1895. 48’ on deck + bowsprit. Now completing yard rebuild. Pitch-pine hull, all new frames, new deck, new rig and sails. A stunning yacht, genuine classic and a very manageable size £195,000 UK

30’ Camper and Nicholson 1939. One of 7 built to this design, a very sweet yacht, stoutly built, 25 years ownership. Mahogany hull, very heavy oak frames, lead keel, oak floors. Alloy mast.

Yanmar dsiesel. 4 berths. Full head-room Suffolk £22,500

41’6” Gaff yawl. Built Ashton and Kilner in 1909. Pitch-pine hull and deck, lead keel, bronze fastened. Very traditional rig on varnished masts and spars. Yanmar 60hp. 6 berths. Standing headroom, separate heads. History afloat. 50 years present ownership IoW £49,000

33’ McGruer sloop, 1937. Pitch-pine hull, teak deck, coach-roof and cock-pit. Fractional rig on new 2011 varnished mast. Good sails. Yanmar 18hp diesel. 4 berths. A very nice yacht indeed, pretty, sound and fast Holland £28,000

34’ Van de Stadt 34, 1992, Cold moulded hardwood hull, varnished mahogany topsides. Fin keel and skeg hung rudder. New Volvo engine 2008, new rigging 2007. 6 berths in 2 cabins.

Virtually new boat in superb condition with a rich inventory, ready to sail away. Executor sale so priced accordingly at £33,000 UK

25’ Laurent Giles Vertue built Lowestoft in 1993. Conventional plank on frame construction in Iroko with solid teak deck. Usual Vertue ‘slutter’ rig with 2001 9hp Volvo diesel. 4 berths. Nice recent example of this timeless and proven design Scotland £24,500

30’ Maurice Griffiths Tidewater cutter built by Whistocks of Woodbridge in 1976. Popular Griffiths design, well balanced shoal draft yacht able to take the ground. Iroko hull, Perkins diesel. 4 berths with standing headroom. Tidy sound yacht Devon £16,750

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43’ Robert Clark sloop one of four built by Berthon in 1962. Honduras mahogany hull, lead keel, solid teak deck and coachroof, new alloy mast, 5 berths. A very elegant and fast yacht with real pedigree Scotland £59,950

Zenique - 1982 39’ Rampart with an impressive interior, sleeps four with seperate heads plus additional berths in the dinette. There is a flying bridge, spacious decks and a well presented galley. An excellent vessel, in tip top condition Reduced to £69,950

Delphi - Beautiful 30’ Bates Starcraft from 1960 with many original features as well as a lovely open aft cockpit. Plenty of holiday sky available through the opening hatch amidships, and there is a useful hanging cupboard in the aft cockpit Offers around £30,000

Lorita - Dating from 1923, this 35’ Thornycroft is simply magnificent. She has a large aft cockpit seating 8 comfortably, a 23’ foredeck, a 2009 Thornycroft diesel engine and, most importantly, a ship’s bar. A registered vessel, brimming with history - POA

Seamew - A rare opportunity to purchase a very useable Dunkirk Little Ship. Built in 1936 of pitch pine on oak, she is 37’ of history. Powered by twin Perkins diesels, she is sold with a small dinghy and oars, sails and rigging and is a registered vessel - Seamew has recently been repainted and refreshed and is sold with a new survey - £38,000

Lollipop - 30’ bijou Gentleman’s Launch from the early ‘90’s. Teak on oak with a victorian inspired counter stern, a lovely flared bow, galley and loo and seating for 8. Fully refurbished to the highest standard last year by Peter Freebody, elegant and excellent - £59,950

Lady Hamilton - Just under 30’ with an electric motor, Lady H has recently benefited from a complete rebuild. No longer sporting the antiaircraft gun from her Home Guard Fleet days, she has been well maintained by her current owners - £75,000

One of three Andrews Day launches currently for sale with HSC. An ever popular 25ft river launch with a small day cabin, discreet loo and comfortable seating by the famous builders of Thames slipper stern launches once based at Bourne End. See Peerless Admiral (as per photo), Sambuca and Waterlady on our website

Georgina - Stunning 1950’s Venetian style fast launch. 18’, in immaculate condition with an ETEK new 48v 18kw permenant magnet motor.

Economical on the river, with a top speed of 16 knots on open water, she has a range of more than 12 hours. The upholstery is also new and she is sold with a customised trailer and - wait for it - picnic hamper! - £18,950

Y

M

Y

Y

Y

K

See us at the Traditional Boat Rally in Henley on Thames For more information on these, or any of our other boats: call 01491 578870 mobile 07813 917730 email sales@hscboats.co.uk www.hscboats.co.uk 82

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

For model boats, dockside clothing and boaty curios visit www.boatique.co.uk

BROKERAGE

CLASSIC YACHT BROKERAGE

STEWART MARINE Classic Boats for sale 1932 Andrews Slipper

Original Baby Greyhound Fully restored 2005 Original Austin engine Very rare original craft In excellent condition

£25,500

1950s Andrews Day Boat

Based in Kingston Upon Thames this boat is ideal for special events for up to 12 people with skipper.

Catering available on request.

www.hartsboats.com

Built Steel 1958. Rebuilt to current form, 2005. Can seat 60 for Dinner! World-wide classification.

Euro 3,900,000€ Based - Netherlands

14m (46ft) Modern Classic Sloop built Astilleros Mediterraneo, Spain 2003

Construction is cold moulded, double diagonal over strip plank Cedar, all epoxy / glass sheathed. 6 berths. Yanmar 40hp diesel. A real stunner!

Euro 139,000€ Lying Costa del Sol, Spain

MERMAID 41ft. Victorian Gaff Cutter Alfred Payne design, Paynes of Southampton 1860. Pitch-pine on oak frames, pine laid decks. Six berth layout. Galley & heads. 95hp twin prop. Beta diesel. Total professional restoration regardless of cost. £195,000 Cornwall

SEVNT 4 60ft. Admiralty MFV Motor-Yacht Curtis & Pape, Looe 1946. Carvel larch on oak, sheathed larch decks, iroko wheelhouse. Quality accommodation for eight. Re-built Gardner 8L3B diesel. Completely re-fitted throughout, ideal liveaboard. Cruises to Brittany & Scotland. £135,000 West Wales

RUDDY DUCK 26ft. Thames Bawley Sloop Maurice Griffiths design, Johnson & Jago, Leigh-on-Sea 1960.

Mahogany hull, sheathed decks, mahogany brightwork. Four berths in traditional interior. 20hp Bukh diesel. Popular shoal-draught design. £9,950 South Coast

SALAMATI 23ft. Spartan One-Design Sloop Alan Buchanan design, Priors of Burnham 1959. Clinker mahogany on oak. Mahogany brightwork. Four berths, galley & heads. 12hp Dolphin auxiliary. Ready to sail but some fitting-out required. £2,950 West Sussex

£35,950

1974 Fairey Spearfish

Based in the Solent this boat is ideal for film and TV due to its stability and speed.

Available for Cowes and other Solent regattas

www.classicyachtbrokerage.co.uk

Tel: +44 (0)1905-356482 / 07949-095075 • info@classicyachtbrokerage.co.uk

0208 399 0297

www.TallShipsforSale.co.uk

42m on deck, Classic Brig two-masted square rigged sailing ship

FRU-FRU 31ft Bermudian Sloop E P Hart design, Husbands’ of Southampton 1948. Carvel pitchpine, sheathed pine decks, teak brightwork. Four berths in two cabin layout. 18hp Yanmar diesel. Keel-up restoration 2003.

Excellent survey report April 2013. £25,000 Isle of Man

Ford Watermota engine Lovely interior New Winter cover Re-furbished by Freebody In A1 condition

Wanted all types of classic launches Classic Boats for Charter 1897 Day Launch “EM”

CAPE CORSAIR 53ft. Bermudian Ketch Kurt Oehlmann design, Louw & Halveson, Cape Town 1961. Double mahogany hull, swept teak decks. Accomm for nine in five cabins. 70hp Caterpillar diesel. Cutter rig sets 1,000 sq. ft. Superb ocean cruiser.

Already been around the world twice! £125,000 Devon

www.ClassicYachtsforSale.com

28m (92ft) Twin Screw Schooner

Built Pitch Pine on Oak 1907, completely rebuilt in 2004. Luxury accommodation for five in three cabins (+ 4 crew). Twin Gardner diesels. Wi-Fi! Drop dead gorgeous!

Euro 2,200,000€ Location - Western Med.

17.5m, 57ft on deck, Wishbone Ketch

Built Oak on Oak in 1928. She offers accommodation for up to 17 in 5 cabins. Engine is 121kw (162hp) 6-cylinder diesel (1979) Recently chartering.

Euro 89,500€ Location Gdynia, Poland

15m (49ft) on deck, Brigantine rigged Motor sailer

11.5m (38ft) Modern Classic Yawl, hull by Spirit Yachts, 2000

10m (33ft) Fairey Marine Swordsman, fast cruiser

9.1m (30ft) Classic Long keel Morgan Giles Sloop

Built Oak on Oak 1970. 6 berths, Perkins Sabre M115T 114hp diesel. A real eye catcher!

197,500€ Euros Location Netherlands

Up to six berths, two heads, excellent galley, Twin Volvo Penta TAMPD41P-A 200bhp diesels installed 2000. Superbly maintained. 2010 Survey- Please ask! £59,500 Offers Invited!

Location River Colne, Essex

6 berths in three cabins, Lister 30hp diesel, absolutely beautiful! Survey available.

Please ask for a copy £145,000 - Location - Chichester Harbour UK

Built Honduras Mahogany on CRE frames, Teak decks, 1955. Substantially restored, shower, heating, radar etc. A real classy lady!

2011 Survey - please ask. £14,950 – Location - Scotland

www.EasternYachts.com See Website for Photos, Specifications & Surveys 19 Colne Road, Brightlingsea, Essex, CO7 0DL • Tel: +44 (0) 1206 305996. Planning to sell: Please call Adrian Espin for details.

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

83

Craftsmanship Yard News

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

MARseiLLe

Restoration of Goebbels’ yacht

CHARPENTIERS RéuNIS

This April, Adria was launched after a nine-month restoration project at Charpentiers Réunis Méditeranée at La Ciotat, near Marseille. The 77ft 1in (23.5m) bermudan schooner has been a favourite on the Mediterranean regatta circuit for years, but it is thought that she was originally named Swastika and built for the Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels in 1934. In CB241 (p96) we reported on another Nazi boat, Hermann Göring’s Carin II.

COWeS

kASAVI/ARNE-TERjE SAETHER

For more than three decades, DIY blue-water sailors have been self-building the classic Wylo II design penned by solo sailor Nick Skeates in the late 1970s.

The 32ft (9.8m) steel gaff centreboarder is a yacht of such hardiness that examples of the 40-strong class have overwintered, iced-in, in the Arctic and Antarctic.

Skeates also drew a slightly longer version at 35ft 5in (10.8m), with a fixed keel, and that boat has now gone into production in South Africa, as the Wylo 35.5 from Voyaging Yachts, set up by Cowes-based Steve Sleight, author of The Complete Sailing Manual.

The first hull was turned over on 26 April and American sailor Matt Rutherford, first to circumnavigate the Americas last year (in a 27ft/8.2m GRP Albin Vega!) was there to register his interest. Her broad beam (10ft 1in/3.1m) gives good interior space but her draught of just 4ft 3in (1.3m) means she can sail to the farthest corners of the globe and navigate inland waterways as well. Prices for the Wylo 35.5 range from £60,000 to £180,000 ex VAT. See www.voyagingyachts.com.

NORWAy

Viking boat fever

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CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

LyMe ReGIS

Learning how to loft

C/o BBA

The launch of the largest Viking longship of modern times last year, the 70-ton, 115ft (35m) Harald Fairhair, has been followed by a smaller 17ft (5.2m) version. This small boat, launched on 22 May from the same yard, Nordlandsbåt, that built the giant, has been named Lillebror (Scandinavian for ‘little brother’) and was built from the bigger build’s leftover German oak. She has square sails in silk, two rowing positions, hemp rigging, weighs just 242lb (110kg) and she's painted with tar and linseed oil. Lillebror will be the tender to her owner’s ketch.

Amazingly, there is enough wood left over for another boat, this one a 55ft (16.8m) version, for the same owner, who plans to sail and row her on an old Viking trading route from Norway to Istanbul.

Celebrated wooden boatbuilder Gail McGarva, in partnership with the Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy, has recently held a training course to help young members of the Lyme Regis Gig Club learn the age-old art of lofting. This process uses an old boat, in this case a skiff called Mandarin (left), to produce a 'pattern' for the new boat.

Now Gail has started planking and hopes to launch the new skiff at the end of the summer.

C/o VoYAGING YACHTS

Cult classic in production

CRAFTSMANSHIP

C/0 FENToN BURGIN

C/o SCoTT METCALFE

bANgOR

Restored classic yawl goes up for sale Here is the Victorian yawl Valerie on her shakedown sail on the Menai Strait on 27 April after an extensive, five-year 'on-and-off' restoration. She was built by Stow and Son of Shoreham, Sussex, in 1895 to a design by HT Stow, in planks of pitch pine (the top two are in teak) on frames of oak. Waterfront Marine of Port Penrhyn, Bangor, then bought her and took her on as a part-time yard project in 2008. Since then she’s had about 30 per cent of her hull planking replaced and all oak frames have been replaced with laminated iroko. The boat has also been

MAINE

completely refastened with silicon bronze screws. The keel, sternpost and counter remain largely original. Scott Metcalfe of Waterfront Marine designed the new rig, which is faithful to her original design as a yawl – she’s been rigged as a cutter and a schooner in the in-between years. “She was absolutely no bother – turns on a sixpence,” he told us after the shakedown sail. The new owner will decide on engine and electronics, and the price is as yet undecided.

Valerie is now up for sale, so contact Scott on tel: +44 (0)1248 352513.

CONNECTICUT

C/o NoRSEBoAT

NorseBoat, maker of the 12.5, 17.5 and 21.5 fast gaff GRP trailer-sailers, has formed a joint venture with Lyman Morse Boatbuilding, Hallett Canvas & Sails and Fawcett Designs.

The NorseBoat HQ will remain in Prince Edward Island, Canada, while the other three companies, all based in Maine, USA, will continue with the design, build and outfitting. Some new boats are also on the cards: a ballasted sailing-only version of the 17.5, and some rowers based on the 12.5 and 17.5 hulls.

Shutter plank goes in on ‘America’s Cutty Sark’ Celebrating the ‘shutter’ – the last plank to go in – is as American as apple pie, particularly when the boat concerned is the 1841 double-topsail barque Charles W Morgan, America’s last surviving whaler. “It was a nice moment and the plank fitted like a glove,” says Mystic Seaport Museum’s Dan McFadden. The shipwright who pounded in the final gold-plated spike was Sean Patrick Kelly (pictured above). He was nominated by the crew and was responsible for driving most of the spikes on the project. The boat will be launched on 21 July after a $5 million restoration and will be in full sailing condition by 2014.

ANDy PRICE/MySTIC SEAPoRT

NorseBoat merger

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

85

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86

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

CRAFTSMANSHIP

YARD VISIT

ASHLEY BUTLER AT GWEEK QUAY

A fresh start After a bold takeover, Gweek Quay is fast becoming a centre of excellence

Above, clockwise from top left: the idyllic setting by the Helford River; Ashley’s Mayflower 50 yacht; Ashley in chirpy mood

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS PETER WILLIS

E

aster at Gweek Quay in Helston, Cornwall, coincided with the first anniversary of Ashley Butler’s takeover of the yard following the untimely death of previous owner Clive Emerson. It was a big step up for Ashley from the compact Old Mill Creek yard at Dartmouth but he says: “I’ve got the backing of a couple of ‘silent’ partners whose expertise is on hand when needed.”

As always in spring the yard is buzzing with work to get the winter-storage boats back into the water. There are some 270 boats in the yard; Ashley reckons about 40 are traditional. They include Luke Powell’s Freja, which is taking a well-earned break after an extensive first-season cruise to Sweden and back.

Luke’s rigger, Jon Albrecht, has almost finished building and fitting out a 42ft (12.8m) lugger, and dinghy maestro James Baker (whose shed contains a part-built clinker dinghy and a beautiful canvas-covered canoe) is planning a 40ft (12.2m) gaff cutter.

The yard has more than 30 individual craftsmen working away in sheds, shipping containers or temporary boat tents, and Ashley’s aim is to mould them into a centre of excellence for traditional boatbuilding.

His long-term plan for Gweek Quay is to replace some of the frankly unsightly polythene-sheeted structures with a big timber-framed shed specifically designed for building wooden yachts.

Ashley, working with one of the residents, David Walkey, is currently completing his third Mayflower 50 gaff yacht. “The nice thing here,” says Ashley, “is that there are lots of wooden boat projects going on.”

California to Cornwall The largest project currently under way at Gweek involves a fine 65ft (19.8m) schooner from San Francisco called Kelpie. She was discovered there

by Charlie Wroe (pictured below left), skipper of Mariette, who was looking for a restoration project.

He sailed her back and brought her to Gweek.

“It meant airbags up the river but I felt she would be best served in a smaller yard.”

The main work involves repositioning the propeller and therefore redesigning the interior.

She also needs a new deck. Head shipwright is Ken Wilkinson (pictured below right), who previously helped restore CB editor Dan Houston’s Nereis – with Theo Rye as naval architect and Pendennis Shipyard working on the interior drawings.

Kelpie is due for relaunch this autumn and her official debut is planned to take place at next year’s Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta.

Gweek Quay Boatyard Tel: +44 (0)1326 221657, www.gweekquay.co.uk CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

87

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Boatbuilder’s Notes EXPERT ADVIcE

Robin Gates

Knock-on effect

BY ROBIN GATES

88

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Robin Gates

It’s so annoying when all the careful work of measuring and sawing, planing and paring to the line is capped by a silly mistake with the fastenings. As you contemplate driving pieces of sharp metal into your lovingly worked wood, the hand seems to know how much is at stake. Now all it takes is an untimely itch or an unexpected sound and you can be looking at a screwdriver that has stabbed the precious mahogany, or a hammer that has slammed down on your thumbnail.

Here are two techniques for avoiding such mishaps. First, when using small nails that are awkward to hold betwixt thumb and forefinger, use a nail grip to get them started.

Essentially, this is a narrow piece of timber – typically 0.5in x 5in (13mm x 127mm) – with a long ‘V’ cut in one end. With the nail jammed in the groove you can see the point clearly and position it accurately, while keeping your fingers out of harm’s way. Use a timber with good resistance to splitting – I have used

Above: the V-shaped slot is a clever way of avoiding unsightly hammer marks on a new piece of wood. Left: the simple and easy-to-make screw guard

elm here – and make a saw cut beyond the bottom of the ‘V’ to put extra spring in its jaws. It’s a handy device you can fashion to suit situations with limited access or even when hammering nails overhead.

Second, use a screw guard when driving in screws. I tend to use a

piece of ¼in (6mm) elm, around 4in x 2½in (100mm x 64mm) in size, with a hole that clears the head of the screw – so that I don’t fasten it to the workpiece! Now, if the tip of the screwdriver slips from the slot, the screw guard will protect the wood underneath from damage.

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Traditional Tool

Proportional dividers ROBIN GATES

Until the mid-20th century proportional dividers were an everyday drawing instrument for hydrographers and naval architects.

Essentially unchanged since the day of Leonardo da Vinci, they were used for transferring measurements from one scale to another but, like slide rules and tables of logarithms, they have been rendered obsolete by the advance of digital technology.

For the amateur designer, however, this is a highly practical tool for scaling anything from a single fastening to an entire boat. Working from the object itself, a drawing, or even a photograph, you can produce a working drawing that preserves the proportions of the original.

This example made by the London firm of Hall Harding Ltd, features brass-slotted legs, which have a long hardened steel point at one end and a short point at the other, and are joined by a sliding pivot tightened by a knurled nut.

When closed the pairs of points are aligned accurately by a minute

dovetail on one leg, which locates in a corresponding recess in the other leg. Now, with points aligned, the cursor on the sliding pivot can be set to the required number on one of four engraved scales. These numbers represent ratios between the lengths of the legs on either side of the pivot and have been positioned to scale up or down for lines, circles, plans (areas) and solids (volumes).

To reduce a line to one-third scale, for example, the cursor is set to three on the lines scale, the pivot nut is tightened partially, the line is spanned by the long points, the pivot is then

Above: proportional dividers were used in making charts.

Below left: engraved ratios for plans and solids.

Below right: the pair of points are aligned by a minute dovetail

tightened fully and the one-third scale representation is given by the distance between the short points. By reversing this process, working from short to long points, the dividers will enlarge by a factor of three.

Similarly, to divide a circle into, say, seven equal segments, set the cursor beside seven on the circles scale, span the circleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s radius with the long points and then step around the circumference with the short points.

Their usefulness extends to the workbench where timber can be divided accurately into any number of equal widths or lengths.

ROBIN GATES

BY ROBIN GATES

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

89

CRAFTSMANSHIP

Charlotte watters

Adrian Morgan

Where’s the love?

regenerative power of black tar was no longer enough to keep the water out and the rot at bay.

Which is when the call would come about a boat. My first reaction is to find out its age and how long it has been sitting outside.

“Ah, for some years,” goes the reply. The caller carries on claiming it seems OK apart from some “minor” work on broken timbers and a few splits in the planks. Then we move on to the subject of cost, considering how she’s in pretty good nick and the fact she was a “good boat in her time”.

Sadly, I tell him, your boat is a wreck. Yes, she was a fine boat in her day but after years of neglect she will need 10 days’ labour, a kilo of 11 gauge boat nails, half of roves and good, straight oak for steaming.

The cost? Well, that’s the crunch – “you’re looking at a grand...”

No, we have largely lost the habit of looking after clinker working boats. Estate owners now turn to plastic, the worst of which are sold under the name Pioner. They row like pigs, have flimsy plastic rowlocks and the best you can say about them is that they would survive being stood on by an elephant. And they are not cheap either, despite the fact they can be spun out of a mould in 10 minutes at the press of a computer key.

Yes, it is depressing. Wooden boats are considered to be too fragile and labour-intensive to be viable, at least up here in the Highlands. A few estates with enlightened owners and money to spare still keep a fleet of wooden loch boats, but more and more are giving up what they see as an unequal struggle against age and hostile elements, of which the most hostile are often the fishermen themselves.

Running against an uncharted rock is unavoidable even in the best hands. Wilfully driving a boat onto a rocky shoreline or using the oars to pole her off are quite another thing. The respect for wooden boats, still the best from which to cast a fly line, which used to exist among fishermen, has largely disappeared. Oars are out; power is in. Strap an outboard to a Pioner and sally forth. Who wants to row one of those things anyway?

Well, perhaps all is not lost. Earlier this year I was called upon to repair two wooden clinker boats bought on eBay. And thanks to a young enlightened estate owner, they are now scraped back to mahogany and elm, retimbered and in use again. Maybe there is hope after all. Maybe I’ll postpone my retirement a while longer.

Adrian bemoans the lack of respect for wooden boats

I

am seriously considering giving up building boats.

It is not that I have had enough of cold winters in draughty sheds, or the difficulty finding timber of the right quality, or even the aches and pains that come from the contortions needed to rivet up a clinker boat.

Nor is it the many and various everyday frustrations: spiling out a plank only to find it has an irredeemable flaw, mislaying my favourite screwdriver or gluing my pencil to my ear... (don’t ask). Neither can I blame the poor rewards. I suspect there are plenty of gentlemen boatbuilders out there who start with a fortune, albeit destined to make a small one. Me, I need the money.

I came into boatbuilding largely by accident as a means of supporting myself up here in the Highlands.

There’s also a certain romance attached to the idea of keeping alive a tradition of small boatbuilding in an area that once boasted a boatbuilder for every crofter.

My arrival, however, coincided with the last gasp of traditional loch-style fishing boats, the kind that you see rotting by the roadside or beside a hill loch.

Fewer estate owners wanted wooden boats and ghillies no longer had the knowledge or time to keep them in good repair, relying on a tin of bitumen paint in the hope she would survive another season.

And they miraculously did, getting heavier by the year and, ironically, better to fish from until even the

“Wooden boats are considered to be too fragile and labour intensive”

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

91

MARINE DIRECTORY

Marine Directory

To advertise Call Patricia Hubbard +44 (0) 207 349 3748 Patricia.hubbard@chelseamagazines.com Copy Deadline for next issue is 21/06/2013

BOATBUILDERS

BOATBUILDERS

ALAN S.R. STALEY Boat Company

• Shipwright • Boat Building • Spar Maker • Repair & Restoration of wooden boats • Surveys of wooden ships

Tel: 01795 530668

www.alanstaleyboatbuilders.co.uk

Skippool Creek, Wyre Road, Thornton, Cleveleys, Lancs FY5 5LF

Telephone: 01253 893830 www.davidmossboatbuilders.co.uk

MCGRUER & Co Ltd YACHT AND BOAT SURVEYORS Survey Design Consultancy - Refit and Repair Supervision

Scotland – South Coast – Med. Contact Fraser Noble MRINA YDSA MIIMS Tel: 01436 831313 Mob: 07768 217054 mail@mcgruer-boats.co.uk www.mcgruer-boats.co.uk

Marcus Lewis

Wooden Boatbuilder

Oulton Broad Suffolk NR32 3LQ

IBTC Heritage

ibtc2@btconnect.com www.ibtcheritage.co.uk Tel: 01502 569 663

Traditional Wooden Boatbuilding

CONRAD NATZIO Boatbuilder

A range of simple small craft plans for very easy home building in plywood

For details, visit the website:

Rowing Boats, Sailing Dinghies, Motor Launches Mayflower Dinghies, New Builds, Repairs, Restorations Fowey, Cornwall Tel: 07973 420568 • www.woodenboatbuilder.co.uk 92

conradnatzio.firetrench.com or contact

15 Lanyard Place, Woodbridge, Suffolk IP12 1FE

Tel/Fax: (01394) 383491

E-mail: c.natzio@btinternet.com

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013 Ryan Kearley 3x1.indd 1

4/1/11 9:52:27 AM

Marine Directory BOAT RESINS

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Traditional clinker specialists.

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Boats designed, built & restored to your exact requirements.

See our work online at

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95

Letters Letter of the month supported by oLd puLteney Whisky

As a retired boat professional, I was particularly interested in your article in the May issue (CB299) on what to do with abandoned boats. For the last 50 years, I have been devoted to building, selling, storing and servicing boats in Santander, Spain, and, like you, we don’t have any legislation on this matter either. You cannot burn them because of the laws protecting the environment and you cannot touch them because they are not your property.

Due to a national renovation plan, many relatively old fishing vessels that are still in good working order have been replaced by new units. They have been destroyed and dumped offshore.

c/0 peter bateman

What lies beneath

Above: an artificial reef built from an abandoned ferro boat off the Kenyan coast was colonised by fish with six weeks according to Kilifi boatyard

This procedure is part of the European directive regarding fishing vessels. There’s a very close relationship between the boating industry and sport fishing activities, and both support the idea of building artificial reefs (see image above). If conveniently positioned, they could

give sense to the idea of piling up old GRP hulls, free of metal parts, duly ballasted, which would provide a residential and breeding area for fish. Clearly marked they could be a viable solution and a real joy for the fishing sportsman.

Jaime Piris Piñeiro by email

Don’t mix methanol and ‘meths’

Choughed to bits

dan houston

We are delighted that Chough (pictured above) has got a mention in the CB Hall of Fame (CB300) and she will be ‘out there’ again this year for the Cowes Classics. We just took part in the OGA gathering on the Hamble where we (and lots of other gaffers) sailed past the SS Shieldhall where HRH Prince Michael of Kent was lunching. Chough is even more together this year and as such we have decided that we can’t part with her and have taken her off the market.

Christine Hopkins by email 96

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

Sir, when reading through the April issue (CB298), I was struck by the story on the EFOY power generator (p74). So I decided to look at the website for further information.

I have to confess to a long-standing interest in the potential uses for methanol and fuel cells since my days as master on dedicated methanol tankers during the 1980s. I am now in the offshore oil and gas industry, where methanol is widely used.

In all my dealings with this substance, the key factor has been safety. Hence it came as some surprise to see how little emphasis is placed on these aspects on the company’s website. It is only mentioned in the FAQ section, under the entry, “How safe is methanol?” to which the answer is: “Think methylated spirit (meths), not petrol. While methanol is flammable, it is miscible with water.

In the event of a spill in the bilge, mix with water, then pump out.” Under

the query, “Can I use any methanol?” the answer is: “Only pure methanol from the manufacturer can be used.

They have made sure the impurities have been removed – if they haven’t, the stack will become damaged in a very short period of time.”

Methanol is indeed a versatile chemical, but the hazards associated with it need to be made clear. Treating it like ‘meths’ is not the answer. For more advice, read the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for methanol (www.msds.com) or the Safe Handling Manual from the Methanol Institute (www.methanol.org). I hope this letter highlights that there is a significant gap between what Fuel Cell Systems UK is providing and the information that prospective users of methanol need to know. Finally, I would say that the use of methanol in fuel cells is a great development, but they do need to close the knowledge gap.

Jim Hughes (Capt), FNI, by email

Send your letters (and any replies please) to: Classic Boat, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ email: cb@classicboat.co.uk

Recognition for Rosenn C/o roger fieLding

I was surprised that you did not include the gaff cutter Rosenn (pictured below) in your CB Hall of Fame. She is the last survivor of the Solent One-Designs, sailed in the late 19th century at the Royal Yacht Squadron and the Island Sailing Club. In total, 22 were built between 1896 and 1897

by Whites of Itchen. Fully restored in 2010, she is regularly sailed and raced in the Solent and has recently been included in the National Register of Historic Vessels.

Her next outing will be the Round the Island Race and she certainly deserves recognition. Barry Dunning by email

The riddle of the RAF vessels in the later Spitfires and the Shackletons. I attach a photo of 2757 (see above), which I took on my last visit to Hendon and also a very old photo of her at sea. Apart from the number sequence – 25 series are HSLs and 27 series are RTTLs – the main differences between the two are that the 27s have a built-up engine housing behind the wheelhouse structure and towing winches fitted right at the stern.

Roger Fielding by email

C/o Barry dunning

I was interested in the Letter of the Month in the June issue (CB300).

The writer is correct in saying that there is a rescue launch at the RAF Museum at Hendon. In fact, the large one there (there is also a pinnace on show) is not an HSL but a Rescue and Target Towing Launch (RTTL) and its number is 2757. The RTTLs replaced the HSLs and they have only two engines, but they are Rolls-Royce Sea Griffons – the seagoing version of the engines used

giLLian CaLver

South Foreland was first!

Perfect pronunciation I refer to the article on the 1905 gaff cutter Rawhiti published in the June issue (CB300, p49). The article says Rawhiti is pronounced ‘ra-fit-tee’ after the Maori name for sunrise.

However, Rawhiti was built for a Sydney owner and raced here for 25-odd years, and she was always referred to locally as ‘raw-iti’ – the ‘wh’ pronounced ‘w’ not ‘f’.

A family friend, Mr Peter Henley, sailed Rawhiti back to Auckland before the war and he always

pronounced it with a ‘w’. My father also has a connection with this boat as he crewed on her after the war, and he also always pronounced it with a ‘w’. One of my earliest childhood memories is of her name being spoken on the start jetty, where I would go to watch all these yachts race. And it was always Rawhiti with a ‘w’, so I therefore challenge this new odd sounding tag… for what it’s worth! Love your magazine. John Peake by email

Dear Sirs, in the June issue (CB300) you state that the Souter Lighthouse was the first to use electricity. This is incorrect. South Foreland Lighthouse, Dover, was the first to use electricity, 13 years before Souter, in 1858, after Michael Faraday recommended to Trinity House that an electric light be tried there. An experimental carbon arc light was installed and it was successful, though there were problems with carbon consumption, amongst other things.

As a result, the installation was taken out and the light reverted to oil until improvements were made to the electrical installation. South Foreland was also the base for other experiments, including the first radio distress call. It currently has a fully operational, very early mercury flotation system for the light.

Souter was the first lighthouse to be designed for and built with an electric light. It was also one of the first to have a permanent electrical installation. South Foreland Lighthouse is currently owned by the National Trust and open to the public. It’s well worth a visit.

Paul Rees, National Trust volunteer guide, by email CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

97

Under the varnish No 2: “The old gaffer” Guy Venables continues his series of tongue-in-cheek insights into sailing stereotypes

98

CLASSIC BOAT JULY 2013

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