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
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