Classic Boat - October 2014 UK

MONTE CARLO: +377 93 30 54 44

LONDON: +44 20 7495 5151

NEW YORK: +1 212 792 5370

MEXICO CITY: +52 55 52 80 95 74

www.edmiston.com/classic-yachts

SALE & PURCHASE NEW CONSTRUCTION CHARTER MANAGEMENT CREW

Van der Graaf, 2000 / 2014,

49.5m / 162ft, 8 guests, €7m

SET SAIL ON A LEGEND

Eleonora is an exact replica of the enormously famous 1910 Herreshoff gaff rig schooner, Westward. Wide sweeping decks provide

plenty of space for dining and entertaining or simply relaxing under the hugely impressive rig. The full-beam saloon and ensuite cabins

are handsome period pieces with modern electrics and entertainment systems – Eleonora is the perfect combination of 21st century

technology and period style. See her at the Monaco Yacht Show or contact Mike Horsley, + 334 93 34 68 98, [email protected]

48

22

FEATURES

3CLASSIC BOAT OCTOBER 2014

CRAFTSMANSHIPContentsCRAFTSMANSHIP

OCTOBER 2014 Nº316

EUROPE WEEK 2014

A real sizzler; both the hot weather and the racing

42

86

8

COV

ER IM

AGE:

NIG

EL S

HA

RP R

IGH

T: M

IKKE

L TH

OM

MES

SEN

SHO

W C

OV

ER IM

AGE:

BEN

WO

OD

GRA

ND

BA

NKS

COVER STORY 8 . EUROPE WEEK 2014 Once-a-century regatta to mark Norway’s independence

COVER STORY 22 . WHITE ROSE OF MEVAGISSEYWhat’s the CB Award-winning White Rose like to sail?

17 . LOGBOOK� e Opera House Cup attracts some of the � nest US classics

30 . MARIQUITA: HER HISTORYBen Wood delves into her past and how she is racing today

COVER STORY 42 . VIVE L’HERMIONE� e replica French frigate is about to start her sea trials

48 . GRAND BANKSWe look at these trawler yachts ahead of a new model next year

54 . ARTHUR BEALE London’s 400-year-old yacht chandler is undergoing a revival

86 . BBA AT LYME REGISWe visit as students celebrate completing their 9-month course

REGULARS18 . TELL TALES39 . SALEROOM 40 . OBJECTS OF DESIRE91 . LOOKING AHEAD96 . LETTERS 98 . STERNPOST

ONBOARD63 . NEW CLASSICS65 . LAZARETTE67 . BOOKS67 . SUNDOWNERS71 . GETTING AFLOAT

CRAFTSMANSHIP80 . YARD NEWS 82 . BOATBUILDER’S NOTES90 . ADRIAN MORGAN

COV

ER IM

AGE:

NIG

EL S

HA

RP R

IGH

T: M

IKKE

L TH

OM

MES

SEN

DA

N H

OU

STO

NN

IGEL

SH

ARP

Mariquita

For more features and all the latest news and opinion, go to classicboat.co.uk

From houseboat to Med marvel

Page 30

PHILIP PLISSON

CB316 Contents.indd 3 02/09/2014 15:22

To view the range www.hoekdesign.com

TC 90TC 51 TC 56 TC 65 TC 80 TC108 TC127

TC 90 Kealoha

TC100

Truly sailing.

Tr u l y 108

Fr enz y35’ Nicolaas WitseN Royal cRuiseR

GAeL76’ PhiliP Rhodes – abekiNg & RasmusseN ketch

zephy r1928 beRtil bothéN iNteRNatioNal 6mR

Loa: 10.62 m |Beam: 3.00 m |Draft: 0.70 m |price: EUR 105,000 |

Loa: 23.20 m |Beam: 5.20 m |Draft: 2.76 m |price: EUR 1,200,000 |

Loa: 11.34 m |Beam: 2.06 m |Draft: 1.60 m |price: EUR 110,000 |

|Loa: 15.32 m |Beam: 2.37 m |Draft: 1.71 m |price: EUR 110,000


Member of the Robbe & Berk ing fami lyYA C H T S

+49 (0)461 31 80 30 65 · [email protected] · w w w.classic-yachts.de

roAr inG WAtermoRRis m36 – modeRN classic

GA zeLL1935 toRe holm-oscaR schelliN sk40

Sch Ar hör n56ft double eNdeR motoR yacht fRom 1939


RB_ClassicBoat_300x230_RZ_Sept14.indd 1 02.09.14 12:02

classicboat.co.ukJubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQEDITORIALEditor Dan Houston +44 (0)207 349 3755 [email protected]

Deputy Editor Steffan Meyric Hughes +44 (0)207 349 [email protected]

Senior Art Editor Peter Smith +44 (0)207 349 [email protected]

Senior Sub Editor Dan Tye+44 (0)207 349 [email protected]

Contributing Editor Peter [email protected]

Technical Editor Theo RyePublishing Consultant Martin NottProofing Vanessa Bird

ADVERTISING Advertisement Manager Edward Mannering +44 (0)207 349 3747 [email protected]

Senior Sales Executive Patricia Hubbard +44 (0)207 349 3748 [email protected]

Advertisement Production Allpointsmedia +44 (0)1202 472781 allpointsmedia.co.uk

Published Monthly ISSN: 0950 3315USA US$12.50 Canada C$11.95 Australia A$11.95

Subscribe now: +44 (0)1795 [email protected]://classicboat.subscribeonline.co.ukSubscriptions manager William Delmont+44 (0)207 349 3710 [email protected]

Subscriptions Department800 Guillat Avenue, Kent Science Park,Sittingbourne, Kent ME9 8GU

Managing Director Paul DobsonDeputy Managing Director Steve RossCommercial Director Vicki GavinPublisher Simon TemlettDigital Manager Oliver Morley-NorrisEvents Manager Holly Thacker

The Chelsea Magazine Company LtdJubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London, SW3 3TQ +44 (0)207 349 3700 chelseamagazines.com

Copyright The Chelsea Magazine Company 2013 all rights reserved

Follow the Classic Boat team on Twitter and Facebook

Classic Boat is part of the Chelsea Marine Magazines family, along with our other monthly titles

YACHTSYACHTING

CHELSEAMAR INE M A G A Z I N E S


YACHTSYACHTING



To subscribe, go to chelseamagazines.com/marine

For traditional boat enthusiasts

For adventurous cruising sailors

For competitive sailors

Classic Boat 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

SAILING OUT OF HISTORY BOOKS

The last 19-Metre

New 25ft yacht built by eye

French frigate sails again17 years in build

The 100 year regattaEurope Week in Oslo

Grand BanksGentleman’s cruiser

Cornwall’s rose

9 7 7 0 9 5 0 3 3 1 1 4 1

1 0

GREEK ISLAND ADVENTURE

Corfu to SpetsesBOAT BUILDING ACADEMY

We visit Lyme Regis

i

£4.75 US$13.75OCTOBER 2014

CL

ASSIC

BO

AT

W

HIT

E R

OSE

. MA

RIQ

UIT

A . G

RA

ND

BA

NK

S . HE

RM

ION

E

OC

TO

BE

R 2014 . ISSU

E N

o 316

Living

www.classicboat.co.uk

CB316 Cover A Standard.indd 1 01/09/2014 17:33

sailingtoday.co.uk OctOber 2014 16

Swanwick MarinaSKIPPER’S GUIDE

GULL’S EYE

GO FURTHER I SAIL BETTER I BE INSPIRED

SAILIN

G TO

DAY

POWERLESSThe joys of cruising under sail alone

ESSEX RIVERSPubs, barges and mud on the lovely east coast

THEN AND NOWHow did they cope with 1940s nav technology?

DOCTOR ABOARDThe medical kit you shouldn’t sail without

OC

TOBER 2014 – ISSU

E Nº 210

OCTOBER 2014 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20

Boat Show brief What’s hot at Southampton

9771367586100

10

Total cruiserExploration 45: the ultimate all-rounder?

ON TEST

Desolation SoundAdventure where boats meet bears

TECHNICAL

Stay online anywhereStay online anywhereWi-FidelityD

ESOLATIO

N SO

UN

D • ESSEX

• GA

RCIA

EXPLO

RATION

45 • SWA

NW

ICK

• MED

ICA

L KIT

ST210_001 V6.indd 1 19/08/2014 16:25ST210 What'sOn V2.indd 16 22/08/2014 09:42

£4.30Issue #1678 | October 2014

www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



9 7 7 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 2 0 5

1 0

OC

TOBER

2014 | ISSU

E #1678 W

WW

.YAC

HTSA

ND

YAC

HTIN

G.C

O.U

K

Sailing holidays to remember for all ages

FAMILY TRAVELNew boats and latest kit at Southampton 2014

SHOW SPECIALLDC’s super-light new singlehanded dinghy

RS AERO TESTMore schools offer sailing than you might think…

SAILING LESSONS

VO

LVO

OC

EAN

RA

CE PR

EVIEW

| C

OW

ES WEEK R

EPOR

T | R

S AER

O TEST |

MO

TH W

OR

LDS

FOLLOWTHEVOLVORunners and riders + full inside story IRISH

TRIUMPHCommodores’ Cup

winners tell all

FLYING HIGH

Secrets of the spectacular

foiling Moths

The world’s biggest regattaCOWES WEEK7 PAGES OF PHOTOS

1678 Cover (1)_v3.indd 1 22/08/2014 09:00


We thought there was water in the outboard. We had not even used the 3hp Yamaha and after a brief dunk in lake water it was not starting. So it should be a simple thing of getting the fuel out of the carburettor, but on this engine we could not fi nd a bleed pump which might help drain the petrol bowl at the bottom of the carb. We could see some tiny recessed screws that might well

be for that job but with only a Leatherman and a spanner that would fi t the spark plug we were on limited resources, and we told ourselves: “Good luck with that!”

We’d got the spark plug out and could see it was wet when a yacht came circling with skipper Jeff who was admiring “our” boat – a Kitiwake 16, on our mooring. We were exchanging pleasantries – we’d seen him out the day before with his other boat, a Cornish Shrimper sailing downwind under jib alone in a hatful of wind, when he offered some fresh fuel, from his own tank, as a way of ascertaining whether it was the fuel or not. Then he mentioned he had a tool kit we could use. I was at the point of taking the engine, still playing doggo, over to a marine outfi t on the other side of the lake but Jeff said it would be quicker and much cheaper to do it ourselves. And while sometimes, of course, advice like that does not lead to good

results, more often than not it does, and it seemed Jeff had turned up at just the right time.

The fi rst mate decided she’d prefer to get supper going as a more appropriate division of our labour and so the engine and I were shipped aboard Jeff’s

boat and we motored over the lake to get the tools from his Shrimper. On the way Jeff told me he was a regular on the lake spending every other week there from his home in Leeds. His moorings were in front of one of those desperately pretty grey stone boathouses of Lakeland; a little piece of heaven. We’d re-crossed the lake and replaced the fuel and were about to dismantle the arrangement to get at the carburettor when Jeff remembered we should try the engine at every stage of troubleshooting. Tug! It fi red and roared into happy two-stroke life, and it started fi rst time every day after that.

Of course Jeff wouldn’t take money or much more than our thanks but people like him restore your faith in the waterborne community... Some of it too is down to the lines of the pretty Kitiwake which he’d come over to admire in the fi rst place.

FROM DAN HOUSTON, EDITOR

Getting into the outboard

“It would be quicker to do it

ourselves”D

AN

HO

UST

ON

CB316 Editorial.indd 7 02/09/2014 16:12

Last time, the centenary regatta raced under the looming clouds of World War One. This year, there was nothing to stop the once-a-century sailing celebration of Norway’s independence – and we were there

STORY CLARE MCCOMB PHOTOGRAPHS CLARE MCCOMB AND MIKKEL THOMMESSEN

at Europe Weekat Europe WeekReal sizzler

CB316 Europe Week.indd 8 01/09/2014 19:01

CLA

RE M

CCO

MB


10 CLASSIC BOAT OCTOBER 2014

EUROPE WEEK

Above, top:

Magda VIII, veteran

of the 1914 regatta,

sailed just as

beautifully in 2014

Above, bottom;

Jeløen, one of the

smallest entries at

21ft 8in (6.6m),

flies the ensign

of all sorts, reproduction Viking ships and even a huge whaler with a gangway from the bridge to the bow from whence the captain would fire his deadly harpoon. It was awe-inspiring to be part of this huge heritage fleet moving smoothly toward the capital, sails and funnels as far as the eye could see, forward and back, while a 21st century camera-drone buzzed annoyingly overhead. As we passed the Oscarsborg gun emplacements, where brave Norwegians repelled the first wave of the German invasion in 1940, we were moved to say the least – but conscious too that we were making, as well as marking history that day.

Speaking as someone of Norwegian heritage, it is important to remember the length of the coastline compared to the population size and the entire reliance on the sea. Fjordside communities use boats of all sizes to get about, and they were, and are, lifelines keeping those settlements alive. Accounts from before World War One talk of very small boys handling their vessels with effortless skill; it was not a question of just owning boats but of designing and building them. You will find the skills, instincts and folklore of seafarers and shipwrights even when talking to sophisticated city folk in Norway’s

Europe Week 2014 was a real sizzler, both for the weather and the racing; temperatures touched the 30s at times and many of us were melting on land, although it was mostly glorious out on the water. For a lover of classic boats this was an

amazing spectacle. Around 100 yachts from 10 countries had gathered at the old whaling and shipbuilding town of Sandefjord for a regatta celebrating the establishment of the Norwegian constitution, 200 years before. We were echoing the first centenary regatta held at nearby Horten in 1914, days before the winds of war wreaked their havoc across Europe.

Other celebrations were scheduled elsewhere: the Tall Ships were booked to sail into Bergen and on 17 July, a mass flotilla of classic boats from all over Norway gathered in the Oslo fjord, from whence they made their slow passage towards the city. I stole a day from the regatta to sail alongside them in an 1898 Colin Archer yacht, among a small fleet of other Colin Archers. Wherever I looked were every size and shape of classic craft: vintage fishing and pilot boats, a World War One merchant ship, creaking old cruise liners, coastal vessels

MIK

KEL

THO

MM

ESSE

NCL

ARE

MCC

OM

B



Above: The 12-Ms

Magda VIII and Erna

Signe, both owned

by classic boat

devotee Einar

Sissener (who also

owns 15-M Magda XIII)

Left: Suzanne, 9-M

beauty in both 1914

and 2014

capital. Also there is a fierce fascination with racing boat against boat, from the Olympian King downwards, and I’m told that it is not uncommon for shoreline watchers to actually applaud as a special yacht slips by; making Europe Week 2014 (EW14) a perfect expression of Norway’s love affair with beautiful sailboats.

At Sandefjord, out by the moorings, the mighty 12-Ms made a fine showing, sleek and turned out like racehorses for the Grand National. Anker’s 1909 Magda VIII (ex Magnolia) and Fife’s 1911 Erna Signe were present in 1914 and are based at the port. Einar Sissener, their owner, is a great supporter of classic boats with Johan Anker’s 1938 15-M Magda XIII representing the latest addition to his stable of historic racing yachts. The double-ender Raak was another survivor from the Horten regatta and proved a tough competitor in EW14. Meanwhile Pelham Olive had changed class from ‘Racing’ to ‘Cruising Gaff’ to challenge Fife’s 1909 Cintra with his 1903 Mylne cutter Kelpie. The 8-Ms had a fine showing too, perhaps because King Harald’s legendary Sira was an entrant, pitted up against Magne Brekke’s Wanda; among the others I particularly picked out Fram II, a perfect 5.5 shining among the variety of CL

ARE

MCC

OM

BMIKKEL THOMMESSEN



cruisers, spissgatters/double-enders and other less familiar one-offs. Boat after boat might have had top billing at a lesser gathering.

The 9-M Johan Anker-designed yacht Pandora, for instance, is, as far as current research can tell, the first boat to be built after the first International Rule was agreed, launched in February 1907. Odd Syse wants to change her for a single-hander now his children are grown up but he knows he must pass her on to the right owner. “I couldn’t sell her to someone who didn’t understand what they were buying, or have the time and resources to take care of her properly,” he says. “I have to be able to sleep at night.”

On the first day, from the press boat, we witnessed tragedy – little Mosquito, whose owner had been persuaded by international requests to enter at the last minute, was involved in a collision with the 7-M Star III and three and a half feet (c1m) of her bow was simply pulverised. Both yachts were there in 1914, where Mosquito had actually won the 6-M class, so this was a double tragedy. I took picture after picture as the emergency unfolded – in that unworldly limbo that often follows an accident, decisions seem to take a long time

Above: The

legendary Sira

sweeps all

before her

Left: King Harald V

opening the regatta

CLA

RE M

CCO

MB



EUROPE WEEK

and we all feared she could sink. Eventually the crew improvised by wrapping the gaping hole with Mosquito’s own spinnaker before she was towed, stern first, back to port, passing floating fragments of mahogany on the way. Luckily Star III only had minor damage but everyone on shore later was reeling at the news – saying it’s the risk you have to take racing these centenarians, while shaking their heads in disbelief and a genuine sense of loss, clearly wondering, “there but for the grace of God”. I rang 6-M aficionado Tim Street in England to break the news because Mosquito is such an iconic 6-M.

There was more to come. The following day the wind stiffened from 5 to 20 knots and racing was challenging for everyone, even the heavy-weather boats. In the rough water, the elegant 92ft (28m) Eileen II’s mizzen had been shifting where caulking had worked loose – suddenly there were all sorts of problems with the rigging as a fitting broke. One of its holding bolts had already sheered, unbeknown to anyone, and the second one just gave, so lightning action was needed to re-fix the backstay. Then, while trying to reduce canvas, a halyard came apart and one foresail crashed to the deck but still Eileen II was racing along toward the last mark, with only her

jib and the main operational. Downwind there was more drama: a shackle gave with an almighty BANG and suddenly the gaff was hanging at a ghastly angle. After a hasty emergency meeting in the teeth of the wind, with everything upside down, a brave decision was made to keep sailing, and amazingly the crew’s grit gained a just reward when they won the race, despite everything. There was much chatter about it in Sandefjord that evening. The situation will not recur – invisible rust is a constant nightmare for classic boats but Eileen II’s owner, Erling Storm, told me he would now replace the fixtures with bronze, keeping everything as authentic as possible, rather than risk such a series of shocks again.

After two days of steely competition, the entrants raced in company onward to the sunbathed marina at Son with its pretty wooden houses, home of the famous boat designer Jac M Iversen until the mid 1920s and other Norwegian shipwrights. I watched the yachts sweep into view with their ballooning spinnakers, wave after wave in the silvery light, like Viking ships returning from sea.

Local historian Anstein Spone came second in his class in Annemor, his gaff-rigged pilot vessel, a faithful 1986 copy of a 1910 Colin Archer double-ender; he was

Clockwise from

top left: 12-M

Vema III’s crew

cooling off;

disaster as

101-year-old 6-M

Mosquito lost 3ft

6in (c1m) of her

bows; organiser

Peter Ennals

getting some

sailing time at

last; German-

owned 12-M Anitra

leads waves of

yachts victoriously

into Son

CLA

RE M

CCO

MB

CLA

RE M

CCO

MB

CLA

RE M

CCO

MB

MIK

KEL

THO

MM

ESSE

N

CLA

RE M

CCO

MB



EUROPE WEEK

even more delighted the following day when the 30SqM Sally III won her race, for he had been one of the driving forces in bringing her home to Son from Sweden in the 1990s and restoring her over 2,000 hours through a shivering winter, with a small group of enthusiasts and funding from a local family of retired shipowners. Sally is important because she was Jac Iversen’s own yacht, built in his Son yard in 1920 and he had his greatest regatta successes in her – local sailors had brought her out of storage and into racing trim for Europe Week and she did them proud. Son is one of those places where it would be hard to live and not interact with the water, swim and fish and sail. I know this because my grandparents fell in love there in 1910 doing just these things and boat designing/building roots go deep into the place. The hospitality was fantastic with a shrimp and salad supper for all, town bands and street theatre and local folk music and dance. We were sad to leave.

On our way from Son to Oslo, vintage ships and steamers from the Heritage Festival passed by in the opposite direction as we raced up the fjord, to great delight. I was on Eileen II with Peder Lunde Jr, Norway’s most famous yachtsman at the helm and although the rigging was spot-on this time it took all his years of Olympic and Whitbread round-the-world experience to coax four knots out of her; lighter boats skimmed ahead as we waited for a breath of breeze that only arrived after the finish. Still, you could feel how powerfully she would handle, had the wind given her half a chance.

The third and final mooring was in the shadow of Kongelig Norsk Seilforening (KNS), Oslo’s Royal Yacht Club, where competition was dulled by lack of wind over the last couple of days, causing race cancellations in

the intermittent mirror calm. Apparently it had been hot and becalmed in 1914 too. People made the most of it, swimming and dressing up in Edwardian costume for the Oslo welcome party, admiring KNS boats including a fine row of Knarrer and cementing friendships yachtside. I was hijacked by a determined owner and his partner, who invited me on board their 1946 40SqM Kristofersen spissgatter for the experience and some iced water. Designed only to cruise, she was a little dreamboat, perfect in every visible detail with only a few modern exchanges such as engine for icebox and a tiny fridge behind a wooden door. Even in the searing heat we were blissfully cool under the awning. I’d like to register my thanks that everyone courteously spoke English although I was the only native speaker there.

A champagne reception at the city hall the second night was followed on the last evening by a visit to the famous National Maritime Museum, of world heritage quality. We were allowed to wander and I was stunned to discover Johan Anker’s exquisite original drawings for King Harald’s Sira laid out on a wide table. Next to me a yacht owner was smiling to himself, having found some early pictures of his own boat in a dusty old book. Abel’s pre-World War One photographs of yachts are a national treasure and many images would hold Beken to ransom: if you are ever in Oslo, make sure you visit.

Afterwards King Harald oversaw the prizegiving to resounding cheers. The German visitors were very successful, champions in the 12s with Anitra as well as two of the five cruising categories, and popular winners. The yachts I had picked out in Sandefjord had done very well: Pelham Olive’s Kelpie had won her battle with Raak and Cintra, and Sira had beaten Wanda; even 5.5 Fram II gained a good second place in her class. With a statesmanlike decision, the King awarded his personal prize to the Russian yacht Variag for coming all the way from St Petersburg and Peter Ennals, event organiser for KTK, gave an insightful speech about the need for international regattas to help maintain the classic boat enthusiasm of the world, while voicing his pleasure at how many families with small children had attended, because “they are the future”. We were all conscious that in that future, tireless volunteers will surely dedicate months of their lives to bring about a tri-centenary regatta just as Peter, Henrich Nissen-Lie (KNS) and their teams have for our historic event. There will be new humans celebrating in 2114 but it’s very likely many of these magnificent boats will still be racing.

Left: 10-M yacht

Tarpon II,

veteran of 1914,

restored just in

time for 2014

Above, left to right:

Eileen II won her

race despite

rigging problems;

Kjell Arne Myrann,

the King’s sailing

master; Penguin

Café, Eileen II and

Kelpie readying

for a race

CLA

RE M

CCO

MB

CLARE MCCOMB CLARE MCCOMBMIKKEL THOMMESSEN


1st

Single-handed Race Concours d’EleganceSoT Class

1st1st

Class D

1st27th Antigua Cla�ics 2014

www.SpiritYachts.com

�e NEW Spirit 74 ...bespoke, hand-crafted perfection

QAQUEEN’S AWARD

YACHT DESIGNERS & BUILDERS

T h e U l t i m a t e M o d e r n C l a s s i c

S P I R I T Y A C H T S

AMDM_SpiritYachts_CBOct_AW.indd 1 29/08/2014 17:02

230x300mm_Classic Boats.indd 1 04/08/2014 16:58

Above, left to right: Two 12-Ms in perfect conditions; crowds throng the shoreline; Erbil Arkin, owner of Tempus Fugit celebrates with Andy Green, British America’s Cup tactician


LogbookOut and about

PHOTOGRAPHY INGRID ABERY

A cherished tradition, the Panerai Opera House Cup Regatta, is held on the third Sunday of every August on Nantucket and is the grand fi nale of Nantucket Race Week.

The regatta was the fi rst all-wooden, single-hulled classic boat regatta on the East Coast, and attracts some of the fi nest sailboats in the country. Past participants include former America’s Cup winners (Intrepid, Weatherly, Columbia), well-known competitors (Shamrock, Endeavor) and such other notable yachts as the Mystic Seaport schooner Brilliant and General Patton’s When and If. On the smaller side, prestigious boats in the Dragon class and the classic Herreshoff-designed and Nantucket-built Alerions challenged the big boys.

American classics

Opera House Cup

Main image: Crew and skipper of Tempus Fugit celebrating

Above: The rainbow fl eet of the all-American Beetle Cats

CB316 Logbook Opera House.indd 17 01/09/2014 14:46


Tell Tales See more news on our website:www.classicboat.co.uk

CB address and tel; please see page 7

The Falmouth Working Boat Dolly, built of Scandinavian and pitch pine on oak by Peter Ferris of Looe in 1914, has dredged for oysters under sail for all but 15 years of her life, writes Nigel Sharp. Her fi rst owner, Thomas Ferris, named her Five Sisters but she soon acquired the nickname Dolly.

The Ferrises kept her until 1940. After the war, John Cock owned her. During his time, she broke her mooring and went aground one Christmas Eve in Restronguet Creek. In 1972, current owner Barry Prynn of Mylor bought her and started racing. In 1983 the oyster fi shery was closed due to disease and Dolly was laid up for 15 years. Barry stopped racing her in 2010, but still owns her and dredges in her today. Eleven Thames Sailing Barges in three classes raced on 24

August o� Southend, Essex. Winners were Adieu (bowsprit class), Edith May (staysail class) and Lady of the Sea (coasting class). This photo, with Reminder in the foreground, shows the fl eet at dusk after the day’s racing.

Dolly1914

STAR CLASS

‘Star’ lot – JFK’s boat for saleFlash II, the Star Class keelboat owned by John F Kennedy, has just had a cosmetic re-fi t at BM Boatworks in Seabrook, Texas, in readiness for auction. Boatbuilder Ben Miller, who used to race in the Star Class, took her for a celebratory sail that could be, if a museum buys the boat, her last ever. John F Kennedy was a keen yachtsmen who owned the S&S yacht Manitou (CB294) and the Wianno Senior Victura (his favourite, according to his biographers), as well as Flash II, which he raced with some success as a teenager. In addition to this, he had use of the presidential yacht of the time, Honey Fitz. The date of the auction, by Heritage Auctions in New York, is 8 November, with internet bidding starting a month before. The estimate is US$100,000.

THAMES SAILING BARGES

51st Southend Match

A century of sail dredging

C/O

TH

E O

WN

ER

JAM

ES H

AM

ILTO

N

TOM

TA

MBO

RELL

O, L

ACY

PHO

TOS

ROBE

RT K

NU

DSE

N, W

HIT

E H

OU

SE/J

OH

N F

ITZG

ERA

LD K

ENN

EDY

LIBR

ARY

, BO

STO

N

ever. John F Kennedy was a keen

CORRECTION The correct number for Summerwine Boats, who built the Buzzards Bay 15 (last month’s CB), is +44 (0)7711 117668. Also, VAT is not applicable, so the price of a boat is £70,000.

CB316 TT 18-19.indd 18 02/09/2014 16:03


The Scottish Government recently announced 30 new Marine Protected Areas, doubling Scotland’s protected sea area to 24 per cent. The designation came into force on 7 August, two weeks after the announcement. Marine wildlife pressure groups have unanimously endorsed the move, but some insiders say that the “protection” (from future “licenced activities”) is presently unambitious and ambiguous. RYA Scotland sees no impediment to the free passage of leisure craft.

Amid the endless speculation about the future of our energy supply, it seems an answer is already coming to fruition but with little comment in the press. The recent announcement of the world’s biggest offshore wind farm for the East Sussex Coast is in just one episode of the success story of offshore wind power, in which Britain leads the world. The East Sussex farm, from German firm E.On, which received planning permission this July, makes impressive reading. If built, its 175 turbines, up to 200m (650ft) tall, would produce up to 700mW, enough to power 450,000 homes. There are about 25 million homes in Britain, so the farm – if and when completed by 2018/19 – would provide nearly two per cent of Britain’s entire domestic electricity supply. The potential for offshore wind farms to power every home in Britain is becoming clear. In December 2013, wind power provided more than a quarter of the domestic supply. More offshore farms either in build or at planning stage will increase current capacity five-fold over the next decade.

A fleet of 44 Tall Ships left Falmouth, Cornwall on 31 August (above), racing to a line south of St Catherine’s Point on the Isle of Wight. An estimated crowd of 100,000 watched from vantage points on land, while up to 1,000 spectator craft took to the water. The largest ship due to take part – the 376ft (115m) steel, Russian four-masted barque Kreuzenshtern – had to cancel after a disaster in

Esbjerg, Denmark on 4 August, in which she towed the tug Diver Master to her sinking when a hawser failed to release. All three tug crew escaped to safety. The Tall Ship fleet is due to be in London from 5-9 September for a parade of sail. As we went to press, around half the fleet had crossed the finish line; our reporter on Lady of Avenel was still south of Portland. See more in future issues.

FALMOUTH-IsLe OF wIgHT-greenwIcH

Tall Ships

scOTLAnD

More protected waters

eAsT sUsseX cOAsT

World’s biggest offshore wind farm planned

MER

VYN

MAG

GS

More news on our website: classicboat.co.uk

CHRISTIAN TOPF

CB316 TT 18-19.indd 19 02/09/2014 16:03


TELL TALES

bALEAric iSLAndS

Around Mallorca in a fishing llaut The latest adventure from Giacomo de Stefano, our 2013 Man of the Year, was coming to an end as we went to press.

His round-Mallorca voyage was a short hop compared to his first big trip from London to Istanbul in a dinghy; but no day sail either. One of Giacomo’s maxims is to travel slowly, and this voyage, conducted in an 18ft (5.5m) lateen-rigged fishing llaut with friend David Ramon Oliver, is 300nM long.

Giacomo is an extraordinary character. Since dropping out of conventional life to raise environmental awareness, he has survived largely on barter and donation. His is an enemy of speed, the throw-away culture and environmental brutality. He has had considerable success in his endeavours in the past and the Volta Mallorca project, as it was called, was conducted to raise awareness of Mallorca’s ecological problems, one of the biggest being an overwhelming tourist influx that consumes 400 million bottles of water every

summer. These end up either incinerated or littering the island’s beautiful bays.

This did not stop him enjoying the trip, particularly the unspoilt northern coast, and the boat itself, which belongs to David. She’s a 1940-built traditional llaut, the local version of the sort of stout double-ended fishing craft that is found on the shores of every nation in the Mediterranean. “It’s really easy to drop the sail in a squall,” reports Giacomo. “Our highest winds were 20-22 knots – perhaps a little more in the squalls – but the low centre of effort meant we never even had to think about reefing.”

Never one to mince his words, he reports that the main problem came from exuberant powerboat users creating wash – “the usual Mediterranean attitude, individualistic, egotistic and selfish.”

His next project will be a grander version of his London-Istanbul voyage, a 27,000-mile odyssey conducted in up to five boats and lasting five years.

In the meanwhile, he will be busy with another restoration project as he travels to Faversham, Kent in autumn to begin work on the 24ft 8in (7.5m) gaff cutter Jennie of Paglesham, built in 1947 on the bones of a yacht dating back to 1885. Apparently quite a bit of the 1885 material is extant and Giacomo hopes to save this. We look forward to catching up with him this autumn and learning more about the next big project.

dra

gan

mil

etic

Top to bottom: Giacomo at the

oars; Giacomo and

david; at sea

CB316 TT 20-21.indd 20 02/09/2014 13:04


TELL TALES

Some 14 yachts, eight new to the event, will race in the fourth annual Gstaad Yacht Club’s Centenary Trophy at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez on 2 October. The new entries are a diverse bunch, ranging from the Linton Hope schooner Morwenna, to racing designs including the Fife III Cork Harbour One Design Jap and survivors from the 7-M and 8-M classes. This is Marigold, right.

Reports from the 30th annual Conde de Barcelona, held in the modern port of Alcudia on the Balearic island of Mallorca this 20-24 August have been rather negative. Our correspondent Annie Smith writes: “I have always been a fan of this regatta and was heavily involved with one of the yachts that raced in it for many years. Last year I mentioned in CB that although the racing was great, there were few boats and a shake up of the organising committee was needed. It never happened. Racing on

the water was fun but between races it could be “rather quiet” to put it mildly. Many people are trying to keep the regatta alive including Jonathan Syrett who has put much effort into it over the years. Perhaps we might see it back in Palma in 2015 and encourage more boat owners to compete in what was the most prestigious meeting.” Giacomo (facing page) was there too and confirmed the need to return to Palma. Winner in the classic class was Emeraude, followed by Carillon of Wight and Jolly Roger.

SAinT-TropEz

Centenarians to race again

CoWES, ioW

Victory Class celebrates 80 years

30Th AnnuAL ConDE DE BArCELonA

Sailing fun but shoreside sterile – calls made for a return to Palma

After racing at Cowes Week had ended on 6 August, a special ‘One Hour Victory’ race off the Royal Yacht Squadron was held to commemorate the 80th anniversary year for the class. The race, in which each boat was crewed by a Cowes Week sponsor, was won by Chatham Marine, ahead of Volvo and Solent Events. The 20ft 9in (6.4m) Victory keelboat is now made in glassfibre and is popular locally. Gary Blake

See more News on our website: classicboat.co.uk

WorD of ThE monThRetreenailed

Spoken of a ship when she has had thorough repair and new treenails put into her. A Dictionary of Sea Terms, A Ansted

C/O

TH

E O

RGA

nIS

ERS

nIC

O M

ART

InEz

GARY

BLA

kE

Carillion of Wight chasing hallowe’en

CB316 TT 20-21.indd 21 02/09/2014 13:09

After years of building commercial fishing boats by eye and fitting out superyachts, Cornish boatbuilder Peter Moor decided to build his first sailing yacht. She won her category at our 2014 awards and she’s a real “piece of furniture”

story and PHotoGraPHs NIGEL SHARP

roseCornwall’s

CB316 White Rose.indd 22 02/09/2014 11:59

Cornwall’s



WHITE ROSE OF MEVAGISSEY

Peter has never seen a lines plan of Wanderer II so it is only possible to compare the dimensions of the two designs: Peter’s is 6in (15cm) longer (on deck and on the waterline), 7in (17.5cm) wider and 1in (2.5cm) deeper but she displaces a tonne more and has a substantially greater sail area. Whereas Wanderer II had a pole mast and a loose-luffed topsail, Peter’s mast is shorter and his topsail has a luff pole: “for less windage, Cornish style”.

This leads us to a neat designer and geographical connection. In 1936 Jack Laurent Giles’s staff included a draughtsman called John Tew (who, it is thought, may have produced the lines for the Vertue on Giles’s behalf) and who designed a gaff cutter, slightly larger than Wanderer II, for himself and his fiancée Helen. The boat was built by Percy Mitchell in Port Mellon less than a mile from Peter’s yard and christened Mary Helen, and over sixty years later Helen Tew famously sailed her across the Atlantic with her son.

It wasn’t until 2000 that Peter found the time, the money and the space in his shed to start assembling his new boat’s centreline structure: the wood keel, sternpost and deadwood in English oak, bolted together with bronze bolts; and the stem and its apron in laminated iroko, glued together with epoxy and bolted to the keel

The winner of Classic Boat’s 2014 Traditional New Build award was Peter Moor’s White Rose of Mevagissey, a boat which was almost twenty years in the making. Peter began his boatbuilding apprenticeship with his father John in

1978, which led to a partnership building and repairing commercial fishing boats at their Mevagissey yard. From time to time when orders have been thin on the ground, Peter has also worked at Falmouth’s Pendennis Shipyard.

In the mid-1990s, having never built a boat for himself or a sailing boat for anyone, Peter found that he had “an itch to scratch”. He was particularly drawn to a picture he had seen of Wanderer II, the gaff cutter designed by Jack Laurent Giles for Eric and Susan Hiscock in 1935. “That was where we got our inspiration,” he told me. “The rig and everything on that boat appealed to me.”

So he decided to design and build a new boat. His starting point was to make a 1:16-scale half model and take its lines, a technique he and John had used for many years for fishing boats. “The great thing about making a model,” said Peter, “is that you can hold it up and see what you’ve got. You can even touch it and feel any imperfections in the shape.”

Clockwise from

top left: bowsprit

traveller and

bronze furler;

mainsheet block

with its own cleat;

gooseneck pin

rails made by

Peter; tiller

aperture in the

transom bulwark



as one unit. The choice of material here came from reservations that Peter has, in common with many other boatbuilders, about gluing oak. “It can be very good but sometimes it will spring apart even with these so-called wonder epoxies,” he said. Fore-and aft ribbands were laid over athwartships moulds, 7/8 x 1¼in (22x32mm) English oak frames were steamed inside them, and then 7/8in (22mm)-thick Scottish larch planks were fitted, copper clenched to the frames and with their ends fastened into the stem and sternpost with bronze screws.

The stringers, beamshelf and most of the deck structure are larch but the deck beams for the coachroof are grown oak. “I got hold of a lovely board perfectly shaped for the camber,” said Peter, “and you can’t get any better than that.” There is a ½in (12mm) Anchor plywood sub-deck – Lloyds approved with a 20-year guarantee – and on top of that a ½in-thick Burmese teak laid deck. Peter decided that this would not be fully swept, partly because of the difficulty of bending parallel planks on such a short boat, particularly the inboard ones forward, “and because it would make the boat look too short”. So the deck is semi-swept, with the side deck planks running parallel to the coamings and joggled into both the covering boards and king plank.

Above: Nav area,

engine box,

companionway

step and galley

area. Left:

Reaching along

the Cornish coast


For more photographs

of White Rose visit –



Peter made the pattern for the 2-tonne iron ballast keel and sent it to Irons Brothers for casting, but not until the boat was about two thirds complete. “I preferred to keep the money in my pocket as long as I could,” he said.

When Peter started building the boat, his plan was to cruise her with wife Maryse – whose father was a Breton fisherman – and their daughters, Dominique and Tamsin, then 13 and 10. However, the boat took much longer to build than he ever imagined and she wasn’t launched until May 2013, by which time his children had grown up and left home. “This was because I had to do it all in between building other boats or working at Pendennis, and as the budget would allow,” he told me. “When I started, all I could afford to buy was a pile of wood.”

Peter’s new boat was named White Rose of Mevagissey for several reasons: ‘White Rose’ is a traditional Cornish folk song he used to sing when he was gig rowing, Rose is his mother’s name and Tamsin’s middle name, and he has punts called Rosen (Cornish for Rose) and June Rose.

I met Peter and White Rose in Mevagissey on a sunny blustery day in July. He had only just got her ready for the new season – once again he had been prioritising his paying work – and had not yet moved her to her summer mooring in the Fowey River. When we got on board he

Top: Peter takes the

helm. He says he got her

up to 8 knots with full

main and both headsails

in a Force 3 last summer

Above: Sea trials




introduced me to his French friend Alain who would be sailing with us and who very quickly referred to Peter as “a perfectionist”. But I was already able to see that for myself: the standard of finish throughout the boat, both in terms of the quality of construction and the surface coatings, is outstanding.

on boardThe most striking feature about White Rose, inside and out, is the amount of varnished teak: below decks the joinery is mostly constructed from 3/8in (9mm) plywood with ¼in (6mm) teak on top of it – tongue and groove on the main cabin bulkhead and furniture fronts – with solid teak locker doors; while on deck the bulwarks and capping, coamings, forehatch, companionway hatch, traditional skylight and the handrails are all solid teak. “I like teak,” said Peter, with considerable understatement. “In fact there are only five types of wood in life: larch, oak, teak, iroko and firewood!”

Perhaps the single thing which best illustrates Peter’s “perfectionist” tag are the varnished oak mast wedges, about 3in (75mm) of which are visible beneath the deckhead. They are notoriously difficult to fit: their outside shape meets an octagonal hole, their concave

inside faces sit tight to the mast, and their bevelled edges but up against their neighbours. “Mast wedges are funny things. They are either falling out or they are too tight and damaging everything around them,” said Peter. “Hopefully we have got those about right,” he added with typical modesty.

The interior layout is simple but practical: the forepeak has a vee-berth with an infill, below which is a Blakes Lavac heads; in the saloon there are two settee berths with a folding leaf table between them and shelves with 4½in (114mm)-deep fiddles outboard; aft of that there is a galley to port with a sink and two-burner Origo meths cooker; and to starboard there is a nav area that includes instruments and a switch panel mounted in opening doors which allow easy access to the wiring. The engine box over the Beta 20hp diesel provides a useful seat for the galley or for the navigation area. Some white-painted areas provide a welcome contrast to the dark teak, as does the lighter coloured cabin sole which is Alaskan yellow cedar, a timber that Peter particularly likes, despite not making his “five types of wood” list.

Many of the deck fittings are bronze including the sheet tracks, fairleads and portholes from Davey and Co, and four self-tailing winches from LVJ in Holland. The

Above, clockwise

from top left:

Traditional

skylight and

grown oak deck

beams over the

saloon; teak, teak

and more teak

– the port side of

the saloon; locker

door showing vent

hole detail;

forward cabin

showing heads

below the infill




Above left: Painting

depicts Wanderer

II under the solo

command of Eric

Hiscock in 1937

Above right: Mark

Horton of BBC’s

‘Coast’ series

presenting Peter

with CB’s ‘Best

trad new build

under 40ft’ award

in March in

London

LOA24ft 6in (7.5m)LWL21ft (6.4m) beAm7ft 8in (2.3m)


stainless steel mainsheet horse was made from a piece of rod rigging rescued from a boat being refitted with carbon fibre rigging at Pendennis. That and the other stainless steel deck and spar fittings were mostly fabricated by Peter himself: he cut out the parts and tack-welded them together and, after a sub-contractor had fully welded them, he polished them, a partial throwback to the days when pretty much everything that went into a new boat would be produced by its builders. Peter also made the spars, all in Douglas fir and glued with West epoxy. The bowsprit is solid and has some downward pre-bend in it – “I’ve seen the Falmouth Working Boats do that so it must be right” – and the boom was made in two halves, hollowed out traditionally. But having made them, Peter thought he would try a more modern technique for the mast and gaff, which were made up from eight staves in a bird’s mouth construction and vacuum bagged. The sails were made by SKB Sails in Falmouth using Richard Hayward’s Sunwing Classic cream cloth.

Sailing There was a blustery offshore Force 5 blowing when White Rose left Mevagissey. Peter initially chose to sail with just a double-reefed mainsail and staysail with the jib left furled, an entirely sensible decision that gave us a nicely balanced sail plan. White Rose has a lively turn

of speed and on a close reach we managed a constant 6.5 knots and a burst of 7.2, and Peter told me that he got her up to 8 knots with full main and both headsails in a Force 3 last summer. She is relatively unhindered by the drag of her stern gear as she has a self-feathering Max-Prop. Peter told me that this was “probably three or four times the price of a fixed-blade prop” but that it was “money well spent”, and he is also very pleased with the way she handles under power. Later in our sail Peter unfurled the jib for a short time when broad reaching.

Peter didn’t get to use White Rose much in her first season, although one memorable voyage was cruising in company with the Falmouth Working Boats on their annual passage race to Fowey, at the end of which he was pleased that he was still quite close behind them. At some point he and Maryse hope to sail to south Brittany where they have a house. “The dream has always been to moor White Rose in front of the house,” said Peter. However, although he has every confidence in the boat, he sensibly recognises that Maryse is not an experienced sailor and that there is “no point in getting her on board and scaring her half to death”. For now, he is as aware as anyone of the delightful harbours along the Devon and Cornwall coasts each side of Fowey.

In the meantime White Rose needs a bit more work including some trimming ballast up forward. His initial thought that she might need as much as 250kg (550lb) has been allayed somewhat by the 200ft (61m) of anchor chain right forward. He still needs to get a topsail made and also plans to fit a manual windlass.

When I asked Peter how many hours he took to build White Rose he was only able to say “a lot”. Although he built her very much for himself she is, perhaps as much as many boats are, for sale. “If someone were to come along with a nice cheque I think they could have her and I’d build another,” he told me. “But this time I’d have the money to do it full-time and much quicker.”

Peter attended the CB awards ceremony with his daughter Dominique. While he is clearly more at home in a Cornish boatyard than in a Mayfair watch showroom, he greatly enjoyed the experience and is clearly thrilled with the award. “It’s great that people took the trouble to vote,” he told me, “and it’s nice to be recognised for something that took so long. We never see anyone on the quay when we are working through the winter and it’s good to feel appreciated.”

[email protected]

JACK

WO

OD

FRA

NK

NO

ON

, Cb

ARC

hiv

es

DRAught5ft (1.5m) sAiL AReA600sqft (56m2)DisPLACemeNt5 tonnes

Below: The

half-model that

was scaled up to

build White Rose


a v a i l a b l e a t s p e r r y to p s i d e r. c o . u k

SP

ER

RY

TO

P-S

IDE

R N

AM

E A

ND

SY

MB

OL

AR

E R

EG

IST

ER

ED

TR

AD

EM

AR

KS

OF

SR

HO

LD

ING

S L

LC

SPERRY TOP SIDER FP CB Oct 14 AD 1.indd 1 01/09/2014 17:07

She might look majestic now, but Mariquita spent years languishing in the mud at Pin Mill in Suffolk as a house boat. Here’s the story of her landmark restoration and how her 2014 owners and crew are respecting her heritage by continuing to race her hard and fast...

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS BEN WOOD

The history of a legendThe history of a legendMariquita

CB316 Mariquita_History.indd 30 02/09/2014 11:45



Above: Mariquita

(in the foreground)

racing Corona, 1912

Right: John

Caulcutt helming

in Cannes –

summer 2013

As the only remaining 19-M in commission, Mariquita is widely regarded as one of the rarest and most beautiful classic yachts sailing today. Designed and built for industrialist Arthur Stothert by William Fife III, she

was launched in 1911 at Fairlie on the Clyde in Scotland. As a gaff-rigged cutter Mariquita is a direct link to the historic Big Class and a precursor to the J-Class that would follow in the 1930s. Mariquita is one of the most iconic yachts in the history of the sport and her career spanning over a century is one of the great maritime stories.

In May 1911, Mariquita joined three other 19-Ms, Octavia, Norada and Corona, in a new class that caught the imagination of the sailing public in the years leading to World War One. The new 19-M class fulfilled the aspiration to have a matched class of big cutters. The three great British designers of the day were represented with Charles E Nicholson and Alfred Mylne contributing a design each and the leading designer of the day William Fife III contributing two. Mariquita combined Fife’s design with the high build quality of his celebrated yard.BE

N W

OO

D



MARIQUITA

Above from top:

Launching from the

beach at Fairlie;

Edward Sycamore

(inset) and at the

helm; languishing

in the mud at Pin

Mill waiting for

better times

MER

SEA

MA

RITI

ME

MU

SEU

MM

ERSE

A M

ARI

TIM

E M

USE

UM

G.L.

WAT

SON

The ‘Great 19s’ travelled far and wide: The Clyde, Cork, Harwich, Cowes, Dartmouth and abroad to Kiel and Le Havre. Mariquita performed admirably in the three seasons from 1911-1913, especially in light winds. Not only was the arrival of the 19-M class unexpected, but the quality of racing was astonishing: after fi ve hours, the yachts often fi nished within seconds of each other.

The threat of war in 1913 stopped competitive sailing in its tracks. William Burton, the owner of Octavia, put her up for sale, marking the end of the 19-M class. Mariquita was sold in 1915, ending up in neutral Norway where she spent the war years. Mariquita returned to Great Britain after the war, but her time as a top-fl ight racing yacht was over. George V, The Sailor King, brought back the iconic yacht Britannia – and a new Big Class eclipsed the 19-Ms. Although Mariquita raced against her old rivals Octavia and Norada, under reduced rigs, it was in the handicap classes. It was the beginning of the end.

It’s said that a crew is a ship’s lifeblood. Over the years, Mariquita’s captains and crew were drawn from the creeks of Essex and Suffolk, from villages like

Rowhedge, Wyvenhoe and Brightlingsea. Captains such as Edward Sycamore and Robert Wringe were local men who had learnt their craft on the fi shing boats of the East Coast before graduating to yacht-racing. It was perhaps a sad irony that, in 1938, Mariquita returned to this area to end her sailing days. She was brought to West Mersea by Arthur Hempstead, whose fi rm undertook the decommissioning. Her fi ne mast was chopped away above the deck, her keel bolts let go and 40 tonnes of lead cut into scrap on the Mersea Hard. After a spell in Tollesbury, in Essex, the hulk of the once-beautiful yacht was towed to Woodbridge on the River Deben, where she served for a decade as a houseboat. Mariquita was then moved to Pin Mill, on the River Orwell, in 1958. This was expected to be her fi nal resting place. One by one all the 19s had turned their bows inland to expire in the mud – to decay and vanish.

After 30 years as a houseboat in Suffolk, Mariquita appeared doomed. However, the timely intervention of William Collier and Albert Obrist in 1991 led to her landmark restoration at Fairlie Restorations. Although Mariquita’s original structure had stayed intact, a

BEKEN OF COWES



MARIQUITA

complete rebuild was necessary before she could carry a 38-tonne keel and more than 1,000sqft (93m2) of sail. After three painstaking years Mariquita finally appeared in 2004 and was recommissioned under the captaincy of Jim Thom. With Mariquita’s restoration, her owners sought not only to to save a unique yacht, but also the quality ethos to which she was built and raced back in 1911. “The Mariquita Project” was one of the most professional and well-resourced classic yacht programmes ever undertaken. This was classic sailing pushed to a never-before-seen level. So started a highly successful nine-year campaign that saw Mariquita star at regattas throughout Europe from The Fife Regatta in Scotland, The Westward Cup in Cowes and countless regattas in the Mediterranean. However in 2012, Mariquita was unexpectedly offered for sale – and a new era for this remarkable yacht began. Her new co-owner John Caulcutt takes up the story: “I received this call from William Collier: the opportunity to own Mariquita. Gosh, that’s not the sort of call you get every day. What an opportunity – the chance of a lifetime to own this thoroughbred of classic racing yachts; one of the most beautiful boats ever built and certainly one of the most beautiful still around today. To be given that opportunity by William was something that I wholly welcomed at the time and have absolutely no regrets at the end of our first season of having made that decision to put a syndicate together.”

Top: racing at Naples

in 2013

Above from left:

photo taken to mark

Mariquita’s

Centenary in 2011

with Jim Thom as

captain; racing in

2010 during the

Westward Cup off the

Isle of Wight; three of

the new owners,

John Caulcutt, Stephen

Hemsley, Jamie

Matheson and skipper

George Newman (2nd

from left)

Over a long career John has sailed a vast number of boats including Solings, Stars, Admiral’s Cup Boats, Maxis and then High Voltage the America’s Cup Challenge boat. He had always admired the big classics and when the opportunity came along in 2012 it seemed the right time. “Taking on the challenge of ownership of Mariquita was an easy decision for me to make,” he says. “It completed the spectrum of the wide variety of boats that I had owned and helmed over the years. It also completed the circle, as my first offshore boat Mayfly, a Mersea Bay oyster-catcher, was gaff -rigged. Going back to a classic gaff-rigged boat once again seemed like a natural way forward for me.”

After a brief meeting at the Royal Thames Yacht Club, John quickly put a syndicate of four like-minded yachtsmen together. Mariquita had four new owners: John Caulcutt, Stephen Hemsley, Nick Edmiston and Jamie Matheson. To prepare for the transition, the new syndicate was invited to take part on Mariquita during her 2012 season which included the Pendennis Cup in Falmouth, the Régates Royales de Cannes and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. “We had a lovely summer sailing season in 2012 on Mariquita, a bonus year if you like, getting to know the boat, getting to know some of the people, getting to understand better the type of deal that we would need to put together with the previous ownership into a format that we felt would preserve that spirit of tradition that was very important to the previous owners

BEN WOODBEN WOODBEN WOOD

DAN HOUSTON


STOCKBRIDGEY A C H T B R O K E R S

[email protected] O: +44 1725 510738 M: +44 7788 925337

GOSHAWKLength: 23m / 76’

Builder: Brooklin Boat YardYear: 2005

Price: $1.895M

Winner in Spirit of Tradition division and Panerai Grand Prix division at

2014 Nantucket Opera House Cup

36 CLASSIC BOAT OCTOBER 2014Artisan_ClassicBoat_2014Final2.indd 1 2/18/14 9:12 AM

Discover m

ore at ww

w.tnielsen

.co.uk +44 (0)1452 301117

Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters Mascotte and Olga racing

BOATYARDOF THE YEAR

36_CB_1014.indd 36 01/09/2014 12:41

MariquitaWm FiFe iii, 1911

For more photographs

of Mariquita visit



MARIQUITA

and very important to us. I don’t think you can take on a boat like Mariquita unless you are prepared to embrace that spirit of tradition, that legacy and heritage and pedigree – everything that William Fife epitomised. He designed her and she was built as a race boat. We took her on as a race boat. That has been our focus this year – to take Mariquita on as a race boat – to compete on the classic circuit.”

The new syndicate embarked on an ambitious season in the Med including five of the Panerai events plus the Puig Vela Classica in Barcelona, Monaco Classic Week and Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez. It was a steep learning curve as John Caulcutt explains: “Helming Mariquita is unique. To race this gaff cutter as she was intended to be sailed, without winches or any other power, is a defining experience. It’s a huge responsibility, with a crew of 23 and no guard rails. Like any boat, she has a sweet spot. For Mariquita, it’s in 10-12 knots of breeze going to windward – and the boat has a groove and it feels absolutely fantastic when you’re there. Get her in 25 knots of breeze, let alone any more, and the whole thing becomes a very different experience. When the boat becomes loaded up, it’s a handful – I mean a real handful! You have 25ft (7.6m) of boom overhanging the transom. If you come to the weather mark and you want to bear away, unless that mainsheet is dumped, you don’t have a hope. You cannot physically move the wheel. It’s not a question of strength... it’s a question of dynamics.”

The syndicate was helped by inheriting some of the existing Mariquita crew, who had earned their stripes under the previous skipper Jim Thom. As John Caulcutt explains: “Inheriting such a fantastic crew with George Newman stepping up to the mark as skipper – being able to preserve that continuity that would have taken years, like it took Jim Thom years to create, we were able to pick up the baton and keep running. George, Matty Oates, Billy Butler, Tubby Brook – they were all there for us, fulfilling those key functions on the boat.”

With a yacht as complex as Mariquita where everything is done by hand, working as a team is

paramount. It took time for the new crew to bed in but by the fourth regatta in Barcelona the skipper George Newman was seeing signs of real improvement: “The teamwork is really beginning to come together. When we started the season in Antibes it was a shock to us how much we had to learn. All the crew now know their systems and it’s starting to click.”

Despite some dramatic conditions in both Mahon and Cannes and some very close racing with her great rivals Moonbeam IV and Cambria, Mariquita arrived in Saint-Tropez for the final regatta of the season in good shape with six podium finishes under her belt. The Voiles de Saint-Tropez is always a fitting finish to the season and the 2013 event did not disappoint, as the final race on the Saturday unfolded. Crew member Matty Oates recalls “On the last approach to Saint-Tropez, there is a small dog-leg which the boats have to take, with a gate

at the end. Sailing through the fleet (spectator boats everywhere), we’re coming in on Moonbeam IV from weather; we’re calling for water because we’re about to hit the buoy. Moonbeam IV is calling for water because she is about to hit Seche rock. To

have these two near identical boats gliding through this tiny gate at such incredible speeds on the final day of the season, with so much drama going around us, was incredible.” It was certainly a great way to round off a memorable first season for the syndicate. As John Caulcutt adds: “To be in Saint-Tropez with Mariquita with a forecast of 10-12 knots of breeze and suddenly finding ourselves in 25-30 knots, with the big jackyard topsail up, totally overpowered, lee rail under, crew up to their waists in water, was memorable stuff for everyone on the water. What an unforgettable day’s racing to end the season.” Mariquita’s 2014 season is going well. Having won the Big Boat class at Argentario Sailing Week, she’s well placed in the Panerai standings. With Vele D’Epoca di Imperia and Régates Royales Cannes left to go, this could be her year to win the coveted Panerai trophy.

Below from left:

her lifering;

racing off St

Tropez

“Big jackyard topsail up,

totally overpowered, lee

rail under, crew up to

their waists in water...”

BeN

WO

OD

BeN

WO

OD


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

William Fife III 70 ft Yawl 1936 €2.5M Lying Italy

Latifa

Designed by William Fife III at the peak of his powers in 1936 - not only has LATIFA been widely regarded by yachting luminaries to the present day as the best of all his designs – but the great man himself considered her to be his finest.

Mere mention of her name imparts a legendary tone to any yachting conversation and as one of Fife’s last designs kept one foot in the past while putting the other firmly in the future. Second in the 1937 and ’39 Fastnet Races, she also had a class win in the first post war race in 1947.

Thoroughly, sensitively and immaculately restored, LATIFA is strong with up to date systems and equipment and sensible accommodation for long distant cruises in great comfort. In her current ownership LATIFA’s special capabilities are marked by achieving 12 single handed transatlantic crossings and a circumnavigation with her owner’s family as crew. It is a very special 70 ft yacht from any era that can be sailed by one man alone!

LATIFA - SANDEMAN YAHCTING WORLD.indd 1 28/04/2014 15:25

RM AUCTIONS


Saleroom

BY DAVE SELBY

RM Auctions, which bills itself as the world’s leading international auction house for investment-grade automobiles, is also making waves in the classic boat scene.

The Canadian company’s July classic car auction in Michigan, USA, featured a 1930 Gar Wood triple cockpit 28ft runabout, which made $275,000 (£165,000). One of only 52 model 28-40 runabouts built in 1930, the 200bhp six-cylinder Scripps powered vessel has been restored to the highest standards.

Next up at RM’s Hershey, Pennsylvannia classic car auction on 9-10 October are a pair of collectible Chris-Crafts. Muse, a 26ft 1930

Car auctioneer finds boat market buoyant

CHARLES MILLER LTD

Lively biddingWhen rarity, quality and historical interest combine, the pre-sale auction estimates can go out the window, as was the case when this circa 1800 Admiralty Board frame model came under the hammer at Charles Miller Ltd’s last London maritime auction. The exquisitely crafted 1:48 scale 45-inch long model constructed in steamed box wood with pinned stringing is thought to be of the 38-gun HMS Lively. Launched in 1804, she soon saw action off Cadiz, but came to an ignominious end in 1810 when she ran aground and was wrecked off Malta, due to the incompetence of her master who was court martialled and “dismissed the ship and ordered to serve before the mast.”

On auction day the model quickly breezed past its £8,000-12,000 estimate to sell for £37,200. Charles Miller Limited’s next London maritime auction is on 29 October.

BONHAMS

Watercolour from a floating studio Bending on the Grapple is a fine example of the watercolour technique of renowned marine artist Henry Scott Tuke (1858-1929) who converted a French brigantine,

Julie, into a floating studio. Indeed, the distinctive green bulwarks suggest this 1893 painting may even have been set on board Julie. Henry sold this painting for £12 12 shillings back then but at a Bonhams 19th century art auction this characteristically romantic painting made £9,375.

Model 111 built for the president of Colgate Palmolive, was discovered in a Minessota boat yard and has been restored to show winning standard, taking Best of Show at the Keels and Wheels concours in Texas. Although her original 250hp 824 cubic-inch (13.5 litres) Chris-Craft A-120 824 has been lost to history she has been fitted with a correct-type 1930 A-120 replacement. She’s expected to fetch $250,000-300,000 (£150,000-180,000).

Runaway Jane is one of just three 27ft runabouts built in 1941. In place of her original engine is a 300bhp 8.2-litre Mercruiser, upgrading performance over the original A-120 engine. Her estimate is $225,000-275,000 (£135,000-165,000).

C/O

rM

Au

CTIO

nS

C/O

CH

ArL

eS M

ILLe

r LT

d

C/O

BO

nH

AM

S

Take a closer look at more Saleroom lots at classicboat.co.uk/saleroom

Top to bottom:

Gar Wood

runabout; Muse was built for the

president of

Colgate; beautiful

dials in Muse

CB316 Saleroom.indd 39 01/09/2014 14:37


Objects of desire

Bill Bishop brushworkPictured here is Bill’s latest commissioned oil on canvas (£22,000) – and it’s a beauty. It shows Sincerity, Sumurun and Mariella racing away from the start of the Antigua Classic Regatta. Bill tells us he has worked to capture the movement of the yachts in the swell and the bright Caribbean colouring of sea and sky. Bill spent much of his childhood cruising under sail, then later racing and maintaining his own dinghies and wooden keel-boats, competing in a number of Cowes Weeks and National Championships. Since deciding to paint full-time in 1981 he has attended a number of classic regattas and has been invited to race aboard several classic yachts, experiences he says that have inspired him to record on canvas.

www.bishopmarineart.com

Mount Gay 1703 rum

Mount Gay rum has always been an old friend of the sailor. If you are inspired to spend over £100 on a bottle then you may want to turn

your nose towards the Mount Gay 1703 – marking the year the distillery opened. Master

blender Allen Smith has created it from reserves aged between 10 to 30 years. The taste is described as ‘oak-smokey honeyed

nectar’ and it is already scoring high in international competitions.

www.mountgayrum.com

John Groves historic paintingsA corvette, nearly all plain sail set, beats out of the Solent against a background of a passing squall over Portsmouth, during the wars with France. She is a flush decked vessel of war with one tier of guns, small and fast, and designated as a naval escort. As you can see, John Groves not only accurately captures the historic drama and action of life on the sea, he also manages to emulate the style and palette of the bygone marine artists (Original Pastel 20in x 30in). Similar pictures sell for around £2,500.

www.johngroves.org

Fish printsHere’s a chance to have some of Jonathan Couch’s beautiful fish artwork on your wall.Scanned from his 1865 book, ‘Fishes of the British Isles’, a choice of four (herring, pilchard, mackerel and sprat/whitebait) are available in 40cm x 30cm frames. They are Giclée printed on 225gsm Somerset Velvet Enhanced paper, using pigmented inks which give a guaranteed light fastness of 200 years. The scan is at 300dpi and the print at 1400 dpi. The glass is clear and the frame moulding is 21mm wide, coloured green with gold and blue bands. Other fish from the book (nearly 300) can be requested. Each £75 plus p&p. [email protected]

For more Objects of Desire, go to classicboat.co.uk/objects

CB316 OOD.indd 40 02/09/2014 12:05

The Norfolk Gypsy

NeilThompsonBoats

DimensionsLength 23’ 8” (7.28m) Beam 7’ 6” (2.31 m)Draft 1’8” (0.51m) Total sail area 212 sq ft Weight 1300kg

Norfolk GypsyNorfolk Oyster Norfolk Smuggler Norfolk TraderNorfolk Urchin

Manor Farm, Glandford, Holt, Norfolk NR25 7JP • +44 (0) 1263 741172 [email protected] www.neilthompsonboats.co.uk

Untitled-33 1 22/11/2013 14:38


She hit a sandbar off the Brittany coast 221 years ago and was only re-discovered in 1992. While her remains are on the sea bed, a replica Hermione has been built in France, to the tune of €25m. Now, the replica is about to take to the sea, and if she’s worthy, she will cross the Atlantic next year...

story kevin desmond PHotoGrAPHs PhiliP Plisson and nigel Pert

Vive l’

This September, a full-scale replica of the 18th-century frigate Hermione begins her sailing trials. While the original was built by several thousand workers in just 11 months, the replica Hermione has taken a resolute band of modern-day craftsmen

some 17 years to complete. The original Hermione has major historical significance as she was sailed by the Marquis de Lafayette from Rochefort to Boston in 1780, on a secret mission to help America gain independence. The original Hermione was a 12-pounder Concorde-class frigate. She was light, fast and manoeuvrable yet armed with twenty-six 12-pounder long guns on her main deck and lighter pieces of artillery on the forecastle and poop deck, and manned by a crew of 255.

Designed by Henri Chevillard, the original Hermione was built at the Rochefort Arsenal in 1779. Following successful sea trials in the Bay of Biscay, Hermione carried out a brilliant campaign off the French coast, audaciously capturing several English corsairs and many merchant ships. A year later, the Marquis de Lafayette (Marie Joseph Paul Yves Roch Gilbert du Motier) was asked to take word to America, as swiftly as possible, that King Louis XVI would be sending half a dozen ships and 5,000 French infantry to help the American revolutionaries fight against the British. The young La Fayette had already been fighting for the cause of American liberty alongside Freemason, General George Washington and on 21 March, 1780, La Fayette set sail on Hermione, arriving in Boston just 38 days later. The promised French regiments landed less than four months later and helped turn the tide of the revolution. With the mission to deliver the message accomplished, the frigate then joined the war, suffering serious damage in a fierce but indecisive action against the 320-gun British frigate Iris. Under the command of Louis-René Levassor de Latouche Tréville, Hermione was

engaged in several decisive naval actions, in particular at the battle of Louisbourg on 21 July, 1781.

With the American Revolutionary War over, Hermione then became part of a squadron sent to India to help Pierre André de Suffren against the British for the control of the Gulf of Bengal. Peace declared, she returned to Rochefort. Eight years later, in 1793, while again in service against the British, she crashed on a sandbar. Wrecked by heavy seas off Le Croisic on the Brittany coast, she went to the bottom.

It was the discovery of her remains, almost two hundred years later, that sparked an idea to build a replica. In 1993, a handful of local figures and sailing enthusiasts were trying to put life back into the depressed river port of Rochefort. The port already had the Corderie Royale (Royal Ropery), but since the closure of the navy arsenal in the 1920s, Rochefort had been searching for other ways to encourage tourism. The idea of building a full-scale replica originated from Benedict Donnelly, an American PR executive and Erik Orsenna, a French politician and novelist. Together they created the Association Hermione-La Fayette, with Benedict appointed as president. Later, in 2007, a Friends of Hermione-Lafayette in America was created because of the strong American heritage associated with Hermione.

The idea was for reconstruction to take place in a dry dock deliberately located at the end of the Royal Ropery, so the public could pay a few Euros to see the progress of the build first-hand. The plan has worked; more than 3.5 million visitors have since been to see Hermione over the past seventeen years, contributing to the cost to build her and boosting tourism to the region.

There have been major challenges along the way. The first was that there were no detailed plans for Hermione apart from models and her logbook. A French marine historian, Jean Boudriot, managed to track down some British-drawn plans of one of Hermione’s sister frigates

HermIOne

NIG

EL P

Ert

CB316 Hermione.indd 42 01/09/2014 16:18

CB316 Hermione.indd 43 01/09/2014 16:18


lovingly, if slowly, seek to recreate the Hermione, piece by piece. It’s been a puzzle of more than 400,000 pieces of wood and metal, 1,000 pulleys and a tonne of oakum for caulking. While meticulous effort has gone into keeping everything true to the original, there have been some modern tweaks for the sake of robustness and security. In particular, the planks are bolted instead of pegged down and the masts are glued (instead of being assembled by metal rings) to prevent water infiltration. While there are 26 cannon (with 12-pound balls) on the battery deck and eight cannon (with 6-pounder balls) on the forecastle deck, the originals were cast-iron but the replicas are lightweight and non-functional. At least the running rigging remains as hemp. There are two other major additions that certainly weren’t on the original; two electric 360° POD motors, especially developed by Masson Marine. These are required for safely manoeuvring the replica in harbour. Both engines are installed at the stern of the replica and each weighs 2.5 tonnes and have 300kW of power.

Modern tools and machinery have also been used in the build, yet many of the carpenters have been taught 200-year-old methods of boatbuilding, like using iron chisels and hammers to wedge long strands of hemp as filler between the wooden planks. As a result, watching the craftsmen at work has been a wonderful spectacle for visitors. For a few Euros they have watched workers coat the oak planks with oils and fill crevices with oakum. At nearby sites, the carpenters have also run ‘show and tells’

held at the National Maritime Museum in London. These plans had been drawn up after the British captured the frigate Concorde in a battle in 1783. The association has used these along with additional information about the original Hermione brought up by divers.

The project really started to gain momentum when the tender for the construction of hull and topsides was won by the Asselin Shipyard of Thouars (after fierce European competition). The next major challenge was to locate mature, but supple, oak trees having just the right natural bends in their trunks. These were needed to form the wishbone-shaped ribs, curved beams and planking on the replica. For authenticity, Asselin decided to use only oak from France, no less than 1,200 tonnes of it, requiring 2,000 trees selected from the forests of western France, including the royal domains of Versailles and Fontainebleau.

On 4 July 1997, fittingly American Independence Day, the keel was laid. Watched from caged walkways by a steady flow of paying visitors, the hull frame began to rise up like the ribbing of a giant whale. The important stern and inner sternposts followed, to which a 4.3-tonne ‘carcasse’ of curved pieces of timber was attached. Then, in traditional style, the first of the 62 frames was assembled working from the cant frames at the stern towards the bows until, on 17 February 1999, the main (widest) frame was erected.

Over the next 15 years historians, architects, carpenters, blacksmiths, sculptors and sailmakers would

Above:

Gun deck – on

board Hermione,

showing some of

her 26 replica

cannon

CB316 Hermione.indd 44 01/09/2014 16:18


HERMIONE

Above: For the

long and intricate

construction,

1,200 tonnes of

oak came from the

forests of France

Right: Hermione is

officially launched

(July 2012)

where they explain how they have made accessories such as chicken coops and rowing boats for the replica or how they have carved large blocks out of Elm. Local blacksmiths have also hand-forged bolts, hooks and pins. Visitors have also learnt how the crew took turns to sleep in narrow hammocks, how fresh meat was reserved for officers and ill crew members, and how the gunpowder, water and wine were stored.

All of this means the Hermione replica project has created a very successful tourist industry for Rochefort as well as helping to fund 40 per cent of the total €25m build cost (with the other 60 per cent coming from the city of Rochefort, Charente-Maritime and the Poitou-Charentes region).

If the upcoming sea trials are successful then the plan is for a Franco-American crew to sail Hermione across the Atlantic. The journey is being called ‘Voyage 2015’ and will start from the mouth of the River Charente, in Port des Barques, where La Fayette boarded on 10 March, 1780. The voyage will be a three-month, 3,819 mile transatlantic crossing using 18th century technology and is expected to take 27 days in total, before landfall at Yorktown, Virginia and definitely a visit to Boston.

The challenge continues. And while the rebuild process celebrates great craftsmanship, it also renewing the La Fayette family motto of “why not?” and showing that, given determination, anything is achievable.

www.hermione2015.com

July 1997 The long keel is laid down. The stern and inner stern posts follow. A ‘carcasse’ of curved timber is fixed on the inner stern post.February 1999 The main frame (the widest frame) is erected. Framing continues. The hull is strengthened. The deck-beam timbers are added.November 2001 Slatted planking begins. Leaving out every second oak plank allows the wood to settle in. This first phase was completed in 2003.November 2004 Work begins on Hermione’s vaigrage (the internal skeleton between the gun deck and the quarterdeck) costing €2.2 million. May 2005 The lower stern hold is completed. June 2005 Hermione’s dinghy is launched. The two millionth visitor to the shipyard buys her entry ticket.

January 2006 The coaming is fixed on to the mainmast.April 2006 The duckboards of the forecastle are builtAugust 2006 Building of the big dinghyApril 2007Arrival of the first masts September 2007 Building the ship’s longboatJune 2008 Although Hermione’s three support boats have been launched, the frigate is far from ready. The official launch won’t happen for another three years. September 2008 The big capstan and the entire top deck are completed January 2009 All tools and accessories for the guns are completed, rigging begins in May.June 2009 Craftsmen begin to caulk the oak planking, starting with the topsides.

Project Hermione – a timeline

PHIL

IP P

LISS

ON

PHIL

IP P

LISS

ON

PHIL

IP P

LISS

ON

CB316 Hermione.indd 45 01/09/2014 16:18


Hermione

Above left to

right: marye Vital

general delegate

of Hermione; the

figurehead carved

by english

sculptor Andy

Peters;

Hermione’s

commander, Yann

Cariou; Anne

renault, master

sailmaker

LOA145ft (44.2m)beAm36ft 11in (11.2m)DrAught16ft 4in (5m) heIght177ft (54m)SAIL AreA330sqft (1,000m2)

HERMIONE by numbers

November 2009Chantier Nautique du Vieux Port from La rochelle begins the paintwork. Over 2,000 kg (4,500 lbs) of anti-fouling primer is applied before the royal blue and yellow paint. It takes 800 man hours to complete.March 2010 the deck starts to take shape. July 2010 Sailmaking begins, all 19 of them, measuring between 50 and 280m², in synthetic linen equating to 7km of fabric and an overall area of 2,131m². the work is entrusted to three sailmakers: Incidences Voiles in La

rochelle, the Voilerie burgaud in Noirmoutier and the Atelier Voilerie Anne renault in Fouras. the first two carry out the cutting and assembly, while Anne renault finishes them. the public can pay 10€ to have their name printed on the sail.October 2010 the final oak plank is put in and caulked, making the hull completely enclosed. November 2011Official unveiling of the lion figurehead to mark the end of the works on the frigate’s hull; this was carved over six months by english sculptor, Andy

Peters at his ‘maritima’ workshop in Waterstock, Oxfordshire. Andy was chosen out of 32 sculptors.December 2011 Ninety per cent of the standing rigging is completed, some 8km of rope. the officers’ quarters take 3,000 hours to fit out. the electric POD motors are installed.July 2012 hermione’s launch takes place with a 21-gun official salute and an armada of 50 classic rigs, boats and traditional canoes. It includes the three-master belem and the Naval cutter mutin.October 2012raising of the lower part of the 23.5m mizzen mast with its rigging and foretop, then the 14m bowsprit.November 2012 hermione’s Commander is announced as Yann Cariou, an experienced commander of the etoile, the belle Poule and the belem. recruitment of a a professional crew for shakedown trials begins. January 2013 the number of maintenance volunteers increases to keep hermione clean and well polished.April 2013 the Oregon pine top-masts, each weighing two tonnes and the topgallant are raised.May 2013 raising of the topgallant masts (3rd stage of the masting) and of the lower yards. the masting was officially completed on 15 June. September 2014 We should see the first trial of the POD motors and some sails along the local Charente river. this will be followed by exhaustive sea trials under sail and, where required, electric power. If all is OK, she will sail on Voyage 2015 and when this is over, hermione will resume her well-deserved place as a tourist attraction in rochefort.

Far Left:

Hermione in

combat at

Louisbourg

from a painting

by Auguste

Louis de rossel

de Crey

Left: The

marquis de

Lafayette

guNS26 gundeck 6 upperdeckCOmPLemeNt242WeIght LADeN1,260 tonnesPuLLeYS1,000 (40 types)SAIL CLOth1,200m2 (20 sails)

NIg

eL P

ert

PhILIP PLISSON NIgeL Pert

mAterIALS

Oak 40,965ft3 (1,160m3)

Conifer 7,240ft3 (205m3) Iron 77,426 lb (35,120kg)Lead 7,743lb (3,512kg)Tar 2,218lb (1,006kg) Oakum 6,651lb (3,017kg) Hemp 33,279lb (15,059kg)Rope 15miles (25km)

CB316 Hermione.indd 46 01/09/2014 16:18

British Classic Yacht Club Cowes

Pane

ra

i British Classic Week

Panerai British Classic WeekCowes, 18th - 25th July 2015

Further information and entries, please contact, Mary Scott-Jackson, [email protected], Tel:+44 (0)1983 245100

www.britishclassicyachtclub.org/regatta

ENTRIES OPEN APRIL 2015Super Zero Class 75ft and over | IRC Classic yachts 25ft and over | Modern Classic DivisionFull Social Programme | Solent racing and long inshore race | EFG Around the Island Race

Racing Sunday 19th July to Friday 24th July | Parade of Classics Saturday 25th July

CB315 Panerai BCYC AD.indd 3 29/08/2014 17:28


With Grand Banks set to launch a new entry-level model next year, we take a look at this most venerable of burly, blue-water trawler yachts

story Jonathon savill PHotoGrAPHs grand banks

GrandenTrAnce

CB316 Grand Banks.indd 48 02/09/2014 11:37


GRAND BANKS

There comes a time in a sailor’s life when, in pitch black and freezing rain, heeling at 45 degrees, he wonders if there is another way to reach France. In the meantime a Grand Banks owner sits in his warm cabin, sipping thoughtfully

from a cut-glass tumbler, making 12 knots in a straight line. When he gets there, he wanders below to the king-size bed in his ensuite cabin.

A Grand Banks has a substantial quality. Its teak interior radiates relaxed luxury and the boat feels solid and expensive. One imagines its bow cutting a swathe through the fogs off the New England coast, trawling for lobsters or fish.

In fact not much could be further from the truth. A company originally called American Marine has always built Grand Banks boats in Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. It changed its name to Grand Banks Yachts (PTE) Ltd after joining the Singapore stock market in 1993. The current yard in Malaysia covers 11 acres (44,515m2) and employs around 350 people. The quality of the range is undoubted. All original Heritage models 42ft (12.8m) and above attain ‘Ocean A’ RCD category, while smaller boats attain ‘Ocean B’.

Around £80,000 will get you a 36ft (11m) Mark 2 from 1980, or an older pristine wooden version. And if you’re worried that you won’t have enough left over for diesel, they burn around eight gallons or £40 an hour cruising at 10 knots, with a capacity of 500 gallons (2,273L). Filling up from empty will cost you £2,470 in the UK or £1,255 in the USA. This will take you from the south coast of the UK to Gibraltar without refuelling. In fact several GBs have crossed the Atlantic using deck tanks. An old adage was that a single engine 36 would go for a season on a tank of gas. An original 32 woody will typically set you back about £40,000.

Grand Banks has changed since the 60s. Back then, teams of skilled boatbuilders made complete boats but the advent of CNC cutting machines and CAD have meant more reliance on technology. The company evolved to make its hulls lighter and faster, because they were originally massively overengineered. Newer materials such as foam coring and laminates, not to mention GRP, have changed the landscape of their business. Less hardwood and teak is used and honeycomb materials are more common; but build quality is still paramount. If you ground your GB the propellers are protected, and 4in (100mm) of resin on the keel means you can knock rocks and not suffer serious damage.


C/o Colin watts C/o grand banks


GRAND BANKS

when the engines are installed. The remainder is paid two weeks before delivery. That is done by letter of credit or bank guarantee.” You will then get the boat roughly six months after placing the order.

How does Colin find the market? “Quality is hard to sell,” he says. “People sometimes compare Grand Banks to lesser boats. But you get what you pay for. I’ve been selling boats for 35 years now and I have never seen anything like the post-2008 market. It’s getting better but in recent years the brokerage market was decimated. In the old days it was easy. People offered 10 percent less than the asking price and everything worked. But during the worst of the market, I had offers of 50 per cent and there are always owners that will sell at any price. Thank goodness we are returning to some form of normality.”

Boat sales rely on the triumvirate of survey, sea trial and finance. A major change in the market means lenders no longer put a lien on the boat but on other equity so the boat you’re buying is no longer an asset in itself.

Colin explains why – and it’s a chilling story: “During the crisis, banks were repossessing many boats. But they had to continue to pay for their upkeep, and their value was plummeting. In the end there was a pool of 5-6,000 boats without owners. They were funnelled through a group of selected brokers who were told to sell them for the best price possible,” he pauses. “None of those was a Grand Banks though.”

So would Colin rather sell new boats or secondhand? “Used boats are less complicated. New boats are great but tie you much more in both details and legalities. The other factor is we get two or three used boats sales a month. We sell maybe two or three new boats a year.”

Average powerboat usage is dropping dramatically. It used to be 100 hours a year but is now around 65. Colin believes cost is a reason and people are now more aware of fuel burn. Grand Banks normally register above average use because they are blue-water cruisers. Paul Matkin is a happy Grand Banks owner and Mr

The newer 43 and 47 Heritage models are now able to reach 25 knots, giving both a performance and fuel consumption the older models could only dream of. Earlier generation 42s had large engines that chased the performance market. They were affectionately known as white rhinos because they just stood up in the water and charged forward. But their fuel burn was outrageous.

Colin Watts of the Boat Showroom is the UK godfather of Grand Banks, having sold every new GB delivered here in the last 25 years. At the moment he has 27 used boats for sale, including three 36s, ranging from £130,000. He also has six 42s from £120,000.

Not all sales have gone smoothly. On 31st October 1987 a storm rocked Europe (the one that reduced Sevenoaks in Kent to one oak). GBs would come in to Rotterdam by container ship and Colin found a brand new Grand Banks 42, on its side smashed to bits with a broken Fokker jet crushed through it. The factory built the owner a replacement in three months. His second brand new 42ft (12.8m) boat was moved to Croatia. There the Serbians used her for target practice and she was blown to pieces and written off. It’s not known whether he took up a new hobby at that point...

In 2000, at their dealer conference, Grand Banks suddenly announced they would not build the 36 any more. The company was making 120 boats a year and Colin was selling around 12 of them. Was it wrong to discontinue the 36 in 2001? Colin answers: “Well, actually Grand Banks is considering building a replacement entry-level vessel of 36ft. It may debut next year.” So why did they stop and why are they starting again? Colin says it’s because it was very difficult to make smaller boats for profit, adding: “They now have a streamlined manufacturing process and the need to address a hole in the market.”

I ask what happens if you want to buy a new Grand Banks. “It starts with a ten percent deposit when you sign the contract,” Colin says. “You pay thirty percent

Below: Colin

Watts, godfather

of Grand Banks in

the UK; a Grand

Banks 47 at

anchor

Preceding spread:

A Grand Banks 47

– motor yacht

version

“I’ve been selling boats for 35 years now and I have never

seen anything like the post 2008 market”



GRAND BANKS

LOA46ft 9in(14.3m)beAm15ft 8in (4.8m)DrAught3ft 10in (1.2m) heIght21ft 1in (6.4m)DISPLACemeNt23.7 tonnes

LOA36ft 10in(11.2m)beAm12ft 8in (3.9m)DrAught4ft (1.2m) heIght22ft 4in (6.8m)DISPLACemeNt10.9 tonnes

LOA31ft 11in(9.7m)beAm11ft 6in (3.5m)DrAught3ft 9in (1.1m) heIght19ft 4in (5.8m)DISPLACemeNt7.7 tonnes

GRAND BANKS 47

GRAND BANKS 36

GRAND BANKS 32



Est. Lowestoft 1975, our Portsmouth branch opens April 2015 in Boathouse 4 of the Historic Dockyard with satellite classes at the Shipwright School, Buckler’s Hard.

Visitors welcome at either site or see us on stand B037 Southampton Boat Show 12-21 Sept. Enrol now for Spring 2015 in Portsmouth or start your training straight away in Suffolk.

www.ibtc.co.uk www.ibtcportsmouth.co.uk 01502 569663 02392 893323

International Boatbuilding

Training College

www.ibtcheritage.co.uk

Richard Johnstone-Bryden

Guip Shipyard – Brest – Ile aux MoinesQuai du Commandant Malbert29200 Brest, FranceTel: +33 (0)2 98 43 27 07Fax: +33 (0)2 98 44 81 29E-mail: [email protected]

Vanity V – 12-metre class - Designed and built by William Fife III in 1936Complete rebuild by Guip Shipyard (Brest), launched in 2000

Trades: Shipwrights, joiners, electrical engineers, project managers.Skills: Building, restoring, repairing and maintaining wooden historic vessels, classic yachts and workboats. Traditional shipwrighting and modern wooden boat-building techniques. Deck and interior joinery. Wooden mast and spar making.Passionate about the sea, maritime heritage and wood!

Workshop (1,250 m²) on the quay. Overhead travelling crane. Accommodates vessels up to 100 tons

www.chantierduguip.com

© Philip Plisson

WINNER

Since 1790

Phot

o ©

Pié

rick

Jean

nout

ot42 Medina Road, Cowes, Isle of Wight PO31 7BYT. (01983) 294051 E. [email protected]

BoatyardSPONSORED BY

52_CB_1014.indd 52 02/09/2014 16:43


GRAND BANKS

Toad, his 10-year-old 42ft motor yacht version has a full-beam cabin. The boat exudes quality. She was originally owned by a Pete Townshend, the Who rock guitarist in Eel Pie Island. After two years she changed ownership and ended up in the Med where Paul bought her in a fairly tatty condition. The boat was brought back to England via the Bay of Biscay, being too tall for the French canals. Once home she went into a yard for a couple of months and was returned in as-new condition. “That’s the great thing about these boats,” says Paul, “You can always bring them back to new.” There are some cool toys on Paul’s boat. The throttle system has

two sets of levers. Essentially, you run the boat on idle in harbour and manouevre using the forward and backward gears. You can also set one throttle to control both engines and a switch cuts the idle speed of both engines back to ensure compliance with the harbour speed limits.

Paul has bow thrusters forward and aft. I have always laughed at these but having seen them in action I am totally sold. He could safely berth on his own. He even has a remote control for the bow thrusters although he doesn’t use it: “I would never leave the boat unmanned,” he adds. In many ways Paul is a traditional GB owner. He is a Yachtmaster and has cruised extensively in the Med and crossed the Bay of Biscay several times. He is totally in control of his boat and has the relaxed calm of an expert. He explains his love of Grand Banks: “It’s a brand people aspire to. Most owners are leaving sailing and the Grand Banks looks like a good boat to move into. It’s a quality build and sailors like that reassurance. Grand Banks boats don’t depreciate in the same way as boats that rely on fashion. They haven’t really greatly changed shape in 40 years.”

So what is the magic of the brand? Bob Livingston, past President of American Marine, had a precise answer: “It has a solid image: a consistent, conservative, instantly-recognizable sheer; the profile and clear lines; the almost plumb bow; that certain angle of windshield; the joint between deckhouse and flybridge – these are instantly-recognisable from 500 yards away. A Grand Banks looks like a Grand Banks... Always has.”

Thanks to Colin Watts, boatshowrooms.com

Above: a GB offers

luxury of steering

in the dry

Above right: the

builder’s plate;

and the saloon...

civilised boating

“It has a solid image: a

consistent, conservative,

instantly-recognisable

sheer; the profile and

clear lines”

The ‘classic’ Grand Banks came in three lengths, 32ft, 36ft and 42ft. In Mark 1 form they were timber, built from 1965 to 1973, the Mark 2 was glassfibre between 1973 and 1990, and the Mark 3 was between 1990 and 2001 (the 32 ended production in 1995). The three models are very similar looking but are differentiated by small details and an increase in internal volume.

There were four versions of the Mark 3. These were the Classic, the Sedan (no aft cabin), the Europa (no cabin and a flying bridge overhang) and a motor yacht version. This was essentially a Europa front end and a rear end similar to the Classic but with a full width aft-cabin.

In 2000 a brand new Grand Banks 36 cost around £290,000 and a 42 £365,000. Grand Banks Yachts has built 1,135 of the 36 GBs. In 1972 they made the switch from wood to glassfibre without telling their dealers or the public. It came as a big surprise to a boating world still suspicious of the new material.

Three classics – 32, 36 and 42

ABovE phoToS: JonAThon SAvIll



Situated right in the heart of London’s theatre district, the 400-year-old Arthur Beale yacht chandler is currently undergoing a revival. Join us for a tour…

story and photographs PETER WILLIS

SHOw muST gO On

ThE

Running a shop without credit card or mail-order system, let alone managing without a website, seems perverse and self-defeating these days – especially if you happen to be a yacht chandler based in the

heart of London’s West End.That, though, was how it was with Arthur Beale – a

name well known to generations of yachtsmen, with a 400-year heritage and a small, though tardis-like shop on Shaftesbury Avenue. It had supplied at least one of Shackleton’s Antarctic expeditions and its ropes had helped conquer Everest. But its recent history was one of stately decline and the end loomed a few months ago in a morass of unpaid suppliers and the threat of liquidation.

It was at this point that Alasdair Flint received a telephone call from a sculptor friend, who told him: “You’ve got to rescue Beale’s!”

Alasdair, it turned out, was uniquely qualified, in various ways, for this role. For a start, he is possibly the only retailer who has been awarded the Royal Cruising Club’s Tilman Medal for high-latitude exploration. He already runs an online marine chandler’s, an offshoot of his main business, Flints Theatrical Chandlers, a trade description he dreamed up to cover the supply of all the rope, paints and hardware requirements of theatrical productions and the like. Beale’s too has always acted as an emergency supplier to nearby theatres for just that sort of thing.

“We found that Beale’s had been losing money for four or five years,” Alasdair recounts. “We stepped in, paid off the bills and now we’re trying to turn it round.”

His status at Beale’s is a bit vague, like much else about the firm. He clearly now runs it, but as to ownership… “There are two existing members of the Beale family, who own the freehold – one of them is a nun, who gave her share to the Catholic Church. They’ve given us a favourable lease,” says Alasdair. Then there is the somewhat curmudgeonly old chap in an office on the second floor. He is referred to as Mr Coleman, the former manager, who has been with the shop for 55 years and latterly put his own money in to keeping it going.

As for the 400-year origins, the business began as Buckingham Ropes, on the banks of the River Fleet, possibly even longer ago in 1500. Ships could come up at high water to lay over and get re-rigged. The firm moved

into its present premises around 1890, trading as Beale & Cloves before becoming simply Arthur Beale in 1901.

Alasdair’s aim is to smarten up the business – he’s already increased the opening hours, set up a rudimentary website and begun to develop the range of stock, as well as beginning a programme of Thursday evening talks and classes. The shop is actually a five-storey building. A massive amount of clearing out has already been done, with a fair bit still to go. Cupboards reveal boxes of arcane, unidentifiable bits of equipment, and numerous books of Arthur Beale gift vouchers, value 10 shillings and sixpence. Alasdair hauls down a package that contains a Walker’s Excelsior Log. “I’ve no idea how much this would sell for?” he wonders. “A thousand pounds?”

He’s been making up blue display boards to help customers identify their needs among the vast array of shackles, carbine hooks and all the small hardware, cross-referenced to the bank of drawers behind the counter. “If we haven’t got it, then no-one has,” he likes to boast. He’s planning to move the shop into electronics, starting with handheld VHFs and has already added to the range of useful tools. “And if we’re asked for something we haven’t got, we write it down and look at stocking it”.

The next stage is to open up the first floor and start stocking nautical books and a larger range of clothing, including Guy Cotten protective wear and Norwegian thermals. In fact, Alasdair has ambitions for Beale’s to become a one-stop shop for kitting-out expeditions. Which brings us back to the Tilman medal.

He won it, together with Tim Loftus, for a 2011 voyage to, and ascent of, Jan Mayen Island in the Arctic Circle (the crew also included Charlotte Watters, who illustrates Adrian Morgan’s columns in this magazine). One of the boats was Tim’s self-built 34ft (10.4m) Ed Burnett-designed cutter Thembi (CB233), the other Alasdair’s own 25ft (7.6m) Vertue, Sumara of Weymouth. It will be the subject of one of the October talks. Alasdair, who’s now planning a trip to Russia, believes such exploits complement his approach to Beale’s. “We want to be a bit different – more than just a shop!”

arthur Beale, 194 shaftesbury avenue, London WC2h 8Jp

tel: +44 (0)207 836 9034, arthurbeale.co.uk

CB316 Arthur Bealev2.indd 54 01/09/2014 15:42

Clockwise from

top: There are

some quirky shops

in London’s West

End, none more so

than Beale’s

chandler’s; Sumara

of Weymouth

anchored off Jan

Mayen Island

Left: Alasdair Flint

planning full ahead

for Arthur Beale


“We stepped in,

paid off the bills

and now we’re

trying to turn it

round.”

CB316 Arthur Bealev2.indd 55 01/09/2014 15:42

Corfu to Spetses

CORFU TO SPETSESOnboardCRUISING . SEAMANSHIP . EQUIPMENT

Onboard

The fi rst Corfu Regatta this year was followed by a magical cruise to the next regatta, the now-established Spetses. Our cartoonist packed his cigars and shipped aboard for the ride

STORY AND PHOTOGRAPHS GUY VENABLES

CB316 Greek voyage 2.indd 56 01/09/2014 15:37

Corfu


Corfu Sailing Club is situated on the north side of a high peninsula under the old fort of Corfu town in the sparkling Ionian sea. Once it was a British protectorate garrison and now it is home to the Ionian University School of Music.

In an impossible mixture of pragmatism and romance, when the wind is from the south, anything from opera to jazz can drift down to the sailing club bar just below. I was drinking ouzo whilst listening to a cello under a canopy of scented scarlet bougainvilleas thinking back to Sotiris’s mischievously astute question: “So how much do you pay Classic Boat to be one of their reporters?”

We were to sail south from Corfu, through the inland sea and Corinth Canal to the Agean and the island of Spetses where the next regatta would take place. Yianniss, the owner and captain, Sotiris the first mate, Michalis the cook, and Nicos and Vaggelis and me as the crew were strangers for now, soon to become close friends. The boat, Alexandra 1, a pristine 1965 55ft (16.8m) S&S yawl, was rescued by Yanni from a crumbling death in Corfu marina and repaired and refitted to a high standard. Our destination for that evening was Levkas, an island linked to the mainland by a floating swing bridge. We raised the sails and soon the channel between Corfu and the mainland widened and the sea turned a deep cobalt blue. The beaches of Parga on our port and Paxos appeared on our starboard then Anti Paxos, famed for its snorkelling. The heat, humidity and our lack of sleep was gently prised away by the autopilot, the constant gentle breeze and our rotated snoozing patterns.

The constancy and reliability of this summer wind that blows from June to September, the Meltemi, has been noted since ancient times and in these waters you are never out of sight of land, the surrounding hills ensure that the swell very rarely rears up and there is so little tide that its direction could be changed by the movement of fish. This was the life. You set a course and just GO there. The only instrument to which I paid anything more than N

IKO

S KA

RAN

IKO

LAS

ILLU

STRA

TIO

N B

Y GU

Y VE

NAB

LES


NIK

OS

KARA

NIK

OLA

S


ONBOARD

CORFU TO SPETSES

with glasses of oak-aged Tsipouro. We laughed as Michalis, the chef, was advised on what to eat by a drunk and amorous old lady from Birmingham. It was a rare and excellent evening in a truly excellent restaurant.

By 10am the next morning it was already very hot and we went for coffee along the parched waterfront beside the saltwater lagoon with its tidal fish traps. We left by eleven and set off down the channel that separates the Levkas canal from the saltwater lagoons. This all used to be swampland. A dredger was dredging next to some weary lime trees and the sea had turned from deep blue to muddy green. The hills rose around us again, covered

a passing concern was the hygrometer on the front of Yiannis’s humidor. This humidity plays hell with cigars.

After Michalis had served us spaghetti with octopus and poured us retsina from his own vineyard we were visited by dolphins under a pinkening sky. The land along this part of the coast is mostly uninhabited and unchanged. As it is the same mythical place that Homer wrote about, one has an unerring feeling of being among schoolbook history.

The floating lifting bridge into the Gulf of Levkas opens on the hour every hour so the timing of arrival was paramount. As we rounded the point we realised that Infanta, a 1947 45ft (13.7m) yawl that had been our main rival in Corfu Classic race, had been waiting for the bridge to open and although we weren’t actually in a race, we were, of course, racing them. We moored up alongside each other and headed to a restaurant run by friends of Yianniss. Levkas town has a charming port front and just down a side alley we were steered to the restaurant Thymari. Here we ate the chef’s speciality; seafood Trachana, a meal so good I had to prise the recipe from them, knowing that I’d never be able to recreate it at home, as the main ingredient was handmade by an old lady who dries it in the sun. We drank Gerovassiliou, a refined blend of the indigenous grape varieties Assyrtiko and Malagousia, and smoked cigars

Above: Transiting

through the

Corinth Canal in

the hours of

darkness



ONBOARDCORFU TO SPETSES

in olive groves spiked with pines. This was the Inland Sea. A Mediterranean within a Mediterranean. Lygia, a fishing port notoriously well populated with seafood restaurants, came into view and we passed Scorpio Island, formerly owned by the Onassis family and recently bought by a Russian. Some sort of vast, white motor cruiser favoured by the Russian elite was anchored next to it looking like someone had taken an axe to an enormous fridge.

Snobbery aside, however, this area is what Sotiris explained as the sweet spot. To the west there is Apherinos and Meganisi Island, on the Eastern shore Episcopi harbour on Kalamos Island and Ithaca and Castos to the South. From where we were, covering all points of the compass there were 15 top Mediterranean small ports of the type you see in the brochures, the type where you can step off your stern and walk straight into a taverna and at least twenty crystal clear anchorages. This is all within a radius of just ten miles, all of it scattered with archaeological and historic sites and world-class snorkelling and fishing, all in line-of-sight navigation, where headlands curl around to make lake-like conditions. Tantalisingly, we carried on past them as we were rushing through to get to Spetses on time and Sotiris, my personal tour guide and the chairman of Corfu Yacht club, and I discussed the idea of extending this trip as a very real possibility. If time enough were given, even just a week between the Corfu race and the Spetses regatta, this transit, done in a flotilla led by the Greek boats, would be the feeder of a lifetime and a diary entry that should become a central annual event. It was becoming clear to me that Greece just isn’t like anywhere else.

Once we’d passed Ithaca we turned almost due west and were in the gulf of Patras, our next stop being the city of Patras, the regional capital of western Greece built at the foothills of Mount Panachaikon. The wind followed our turn along the high cliffs and continued to blow steadily if gently, breathing life into the spinnaker. Night fell as we slipped in by the huge ferries and went to the nearest bar.

The vast expanse of the Rio-Antirio Bridge filled our skyline the next morning as we passed under it. It was designed by a friend of Nicos and is a huge construction that marks the beginning of the Gulf of Corinth and links the Peloponese Peninsula to central Greece. Vaggelis, a

sailor in the lighthouse division of the Greek navy enthusiastically pointed out ancient lighthouses he’d visited.

We sailed past Lepanto, who’s name is shared with the largest naval battle in history fought nearby. Then past Delphi to the north, the renowned archealogical site and

modern city. I went below to grab a camera and found Michalis in the bilges. They were full of cans of beer. That solved the puzzle of the self-filling fridge. After I’d served up kedgeree we approached the Corinth Canal. Vaggelis sidled up to me and told me the ancient story behind it. Before the canal was cut it was still well known as the shortest distance across the landmass and with boats just light enough to pull over ground, it was still worth the effort rather than the long trip round. At both ports on either side there were brothels and the captain would promise to pay for a visit for each of the crew to encourage them to pull the boats over the hill. “A poosy can pool a boat,” he wisely remarked. Once we could see the deep vee of the canal we joked that they must have

Clockwise from

left: Corfu Sailing

Club with the

School of Music

and Old Fort

behind; Vaggelis

and Yiannis

tweaking the

spinnaker; the

Rio-Antirio Bridge

with the author in

the way; picking

sea urchins for

lunch; ace chef

Michalis in down

time, with CB natch

“The only instrument I paid any attention to was the

hygrometer on the front of Yiannis’s humidor.”


CB ARCHIVES


ONBOARD

CORFU TO SPETSES

been exceptional prostitutes as it was clearly the hulls of the boats made by over eager sailors that had worn such a sheer groove into the sandstone.

The canal itself, especially at night, is amazing. Firstly the low-lying road bridge sank into the water on giant hydraulic ramps and we motored over it. As the strata of sandstone slowly rose up around us we became quiet with awe. The sides, towering to 650ft (200m), are lit with low orange lights that cast huge repeating shadows of us and the boat onto the sheer walls. Gulls circled in and out of the darkness in silent agreement, landing on protuberances to watch us pass. Then the walls lowered and we were through. We moored on the western bank and had kebabs in a local restaurant while a smattering of locals and a cat watched the World Cup on a huge TV.

We decided to make straight for Spetses after this, so night watches were drawn up. The Greeks were extremely polite and all spoke good English together when I was present, on one occasion changing to English mid-sentence when I arrived. For the sake of a good joke or technical issues, they turned to Greek and I was very happy to sit back and smoke a cigar. If there was raucous laughter one of them would lean over, explain it to me, then wait for my response and we would all laugh all over again. If deck orders are shouted in a foreign tongue however, as I learned in Russia, never assume what they mean and stay out of the way until asked or you learn what the order means.

Sotiris and I were on fi rst watch at midnight so we set off through the widening gap into the warm night air of the Saronic Gulf lit by the Isthmia oil refi nery. Onwards,

ever southeast. The wind had died as it does at night, so we motored with a little help from the main. We smoked our pipes, watched for lights and talked of Greek things. Sotiris pointed out landmarks as small islands appeared and disappeared in the darkness. By four we’d turned through the channel between the headland and Hydra and, now heading southwest, were on our last tack to Spetses.

Spetses is a special place. An island with no cars that has always been home to tobacco and shipping magnates. As we headed in that morning, the sounder read 20m (65ft) and we could see our turquoise shadow scud along the bottom of the gin-clear water. As soon as we were moored next to a convenient taverna we went down the road to the nearest beach. Armed with my Boye knife and a pair of goggles each, Sotiris and I began prising sea urchins off the rocks in order to clean them and eat them for lunch. An old lady told us that we were doing the island a service as nobody ate them there any more and the urchins had badly encroached onto the kids’ swimming platform. We ate them with bread and cold Tsipouro. Then we had octopus and Tsipouro then a tomato salad with Tsipouro. Then Michalis and I got onto a moped and drove to the top of a dusty mountain track to pick throubi, a rare, wild cooking herb. Michalis, like many Greeks, is an emotional man and had a worrying habit of slapping his chest and waving his arms, leaving no hands to steer as we careered down the mountain, me on the back with a shirt stuffed full of herbs and him, waving and shouting about a recipe or an old moped or love or something.

That evening I stayed at the Poseidonion Grand Hotel, a beautiful building and the island’s best hotel. It was with pangs of regret and disloyalty that I left Alexandra. I knew that next time I’d see her and the crew I’d be clean-shaven in an ironed shirt wearing a press badge and being steered around meeting race organisers and dignitaries. I’d be “at work”. At least they were now spared my snoring.

After returning I talked to the organisers, who have agreed to stretch the time between the two regattas to around 10 days. This makes it three events: two great regattas and a dream-like transit in some of the best harbours and most magical day-sailing in the entire world in a fl otilla of classic boats led by locals. In a country by which I am and you will be, utterly smitten.

NAVIGATION NOTESFor navigation we had on board a Garmin GPS 158i which, as far as I know, wasn’t used. The local Greeks either knew where we were going or glanced at their smart phones but they let me look at the relevant Imray Tetra charts that we had on board which had a warning printed on them anyway, advising us to take them with a pinch of salt as many of them were

drawn up in the 1800s. I would, however, check our course on the lovely Kelvin-White compass at the wheel but we were never out of sight of land. I was reading from pages of Greek Water Pilot by Rod Heikell 2007 and our weather check was mostly done by simply looking around us. The wind was incredibly predictable and I saw one cloud... once.

Above, left to

right: Very pistol

on Alexandra; the

restored Rhodes

sloop Tincano that

belongs to the

owner of the

Grand Poseidonion

Hotel behind;

En route on

Alexandra

For more photographs from Greece visit – www.classicboat.co.uk



“Kelpie of Falmouth”

JAMES LAWRENCE SAILMAKERS LTD

BESPOKE SAILMAKERS

22-28 Tower Street, Brightlingsea, Essex CO7 0ALTel: 01206 302863 • Fax: 01206 305858 • Email: [email protected] or [email protected]

Made with pride

in Great Britain

Photo by Anna Boulton, Marine Artist

JAMES LAWRENCE 1-2 JUL14.indd 1 23/06/2014 11:37

Est. 1954 – Celebrating our 60th Anniversary

L.O.A. 19’, L.W.L. 18’11”, Displacement 2400lb, Beam 8’7”

First overall of 102 entries in the 22nd Annual Arey’s Pond Cat Gathering

Proud Builders of Arey’s Pond Custom Boats, 12’-39’

P.O. Box 222 • 45 Arey’s Lane • SO. Orleans, MA [email protected] • areyspondboatyard.com

508-255-0994

AP 19’ CARACAL

[email protected] www.arthurbeale.co.uk194 Shaftesbury Avenue London WC2H 8JP

020 7836 9034

When did you last visit Arthur Beale’s?

London’s Yacht Chandler

Established 400 years

61_CB_1014.indd 61 01/09/2014 14:55


www.ROYC.nl

Tel: 07967-386004Email: [email protected]: www.underfallboardyard.co.uk

Underfall Boat Yard, Cumberland Road, Bristol BS1 6XG

UNDERFALL BOAT YARDBRISTOL

The Underfall Yard, situated at the western end of the fl oating harbour in Bristol, offers the following services:

New builds and repairs in wood, steel and advanced composites. Rigging services of any size. Slipway up to 140 Tonnes. Moorings and hard standing. Marine engineering and electrical services.

The workshops of the Underfall Yard house experienced shipwrights, riggers, blacksmith and welders, fi bre composite specialists andcarpenters.

U N D E R FA L L B OAT YA R D

B R I S TO L• New builds and repairs in

wood, steel and advancedcomposites by Classic Boataward winner Star Yachts, RB Boatbuilding, Tim Loftusand Independent Composites

• Rigging services by DenisPlatten of Traditional Rigging

• Slipway up to 140 Tonnes,including multi-hulls

• Moorings and hard standing

• Marine engineering and electrical services by Motion Marine

• On-site forge and blacksmith

• RYA advanced level trainingcourses by Blue Print Sailing.

phone: 07967 386 004 or 07866 705 181

email: [email protected]: www.underfallboatyard.co.uk

Visitour web site

for details of ourexciting HeritageLottery Funded

expansionplans

Underfall Boatyard, Cumberland Road, Bristol BS1 6XG

62_CB_1014.indd 62 01/09/2014 14:53


New ClassicsONBOARD

We’ve always had a fondness for catboats and wondered at how handy they’d be on the East Coast of England as well as the USA. Think of it – unbeatable cockpit accommodation, shoal draught, massive form stability, brilliant light-airs sailing and that look. There is a trade off, as with all boats – catboats are unsuitable for bluewater work and can carry bad weather helm. And you would fear a gybe with that huge sail! Some though, are well sorted – Theo Rye, our technical editor is a fan of the genre and has sailed some well-behaved, neutral-helmed boats. Sadly, Caracal is a bit far away for us to test, but judging from the photos, Arey’s Pond Boat Yard have come up with a beauty. She’s a solid 2,400lb (1,090kg), and 19ft (5.8m) long with a beam of 8ft 6in (2.6m). According to her builder, Arey’s Pond, she’s a good singlehander with room for up to eight in the 70sqft (6.5m2) cockpit. There are two berths and opening portholes below. Other refinements include an inboard electric motor and folding prop. According to Arey’s Pond “crew and guests do not even need to move to windward when tacking on 12 knots of wind.” That must feel weird... “good weird”, as they say.

Tel: +1 508 255 0994, areyspondboatyard.com

The latest Spirit yacht from the eponymous yard in Suffolk is a departure from the usual Spirit look, with its modern and innovative ‘fan’ light set into the top of the coachroof and the modern portholes let into the cabin trunk. It’s brave but won’t suit everyone – design departures like this are, after all, highly subjective. The rest of the yacht is a corker in anyone’s book, particularly the huge, oval, American-style cockpit and luxurious solid-wood interior. Being a Spirit, she ought to be fast too... these boats have modern underbodies and her builder reckons the 74 can exceed 20 knots in the right conditions.

Tel: +44 (0)1473 214715, spirityachts.com

CARACAL

Enough to make you beam

SPIRIT 74

Sleek SoT from Spirit

C/O

ARE

Y’S

POn

d

C/O

SPI

RIT

YACH

TS

For more New Classics, go to classicboat.co.uk and search ‘new classics’

CB316 New Classics.indd 63 01/09/2014 15:18


For more information visit www.goclassic.no or email Peter Ennals at [email protected] Ennals Tel: 0047 93 200 547

NjordJohan Anker 8 metre for saleS/Y - “Njord” was built 1918 at Anker & Jensen boatyard in Norway.After several years of total restoration at a boatyard, the yacht was relaunched in 2009 and is now ready for an other 100 years of sailing!She has a IEMA serti�cate and can race in the 8 metre �eet, or just use her for classic sailingLying in OsloPrice €220.000, Euro

A&R Way BoatbuildingBuiders and restorers of the finest quality wooden boats.

Come and see Misty at Southampton boat show where she is making a guest appearance in the marina. We have recently completed a full restoration of this special David Cheverton designed yacht.

Come and talk to us about your project or new boat, we are always open and interested in new ideas.Choose from our small boat designs, commission a bespoke boat or yacht or come to us for our classic boat

restoration expertise. We build replicas, work with contemporary designers or produce our own designs for you.

www.boatbuildersscotland.co.uk • [email protected] • Call Adam 01546606326

64_CB_1014.indd 64 01/09/2014 14:55


LazaretteONBOARD

Flare pan In the galley, due to all the bashing about, we usually use the rejects from the kitchen. This however, if treated right, (it is non stick) could save a lot of gas. We found that the Flare Pan, designed by a jet engine thermodynamic engineer, heated water to boiling 35-40 per cent quicker than all our normal pans, the fins catching the escaping side flames and adding side heat. Take that across the Atlantic, for instance, and it could be the difference between running out of gas or not. Expensive, yes but there’s a long term saving on the gas too. £64.99

www.lakeland.co.uk

Boatwarden security app

To put your mind totally at rest the Boatwarden app is a cunning invention designed to be used in conjunction with the hardware and boat-monitoring

security system and allows you to remotely check the position of your boat,

set the bilge pump going, set the alarm, check the battery status, set distance-fenced movement alarms or customise your remote orders to what you want including cctv operation. It uses very little power and some insurance companies are offering reductions if it’s fitted. Free to download to the iPhone or Android phones

www.boatwarden.com

Yacht Cloth This big, soft 500gsm high-tech diamond-weave towel holds over 1L of water. It’s designed to dry without smearing but in the way that everything on boats gets demoted, it ends up dealing with oil spills, the bilges, and even dog drying. £12

www.swipewipes.co.uk

Blunt-end safety rescue lock knife

Whether it’s because you’re bouncing around the foredeck in a lively sea or sitting in a RIB or a liferaft, a blunt-end safety knife is an essential bit of survival kit. Here’s one with a

keen stainless steel, serrated blade, one-hand opening, built-in shackle key and bright red thermoplastic handle. Only £11.95 so it won’t matter if it falls overboard, not that it will, because it has a lanyard hole.

www.whitbyandco.co.uk

For more products for your boat, go to classicboat.co.uk/lazarette

Bronze rigging thimblesTo progress you sometimes need to take a step backwards, so back to the 1958

specification for the shape of thimbles for wire rope – BS464.This design creates a better shape for hand splicing than the

more modern DIN standard thimbles, and to meet increased demand, Classic Marine has now made them

in bronze for wire sizes from 5mm to 14 mm. The dimension refers to

the actual size of the score, so if the wire is served, you

would need to take account of that when selecting the size required.

Prices from £12.68 to £40.99 including VAT.

www.classicmarine.co.uk

Sail spongebag

A spongebag made from old sails. It looks good, it feels good, and it’s big enough to take a tube of deodorant (often the bête noire of lesser sponge bags). It feels sturdy enough, with its metal zip, to last forever. More pleasing than you might imagine. £35

www.quba.com

CB316 Lazarette.indd 65 01/09/2014 15:23


CK318 ALBERTA£140,000

call: 01206 304690 email: [email protected]

FOR SALE70 ft SAILING YACHT

WWW.YACHT-BAVARIA.COMSee our website for more details

ABEKING & RASMUSSEN

66_CB_1014.indd 66 01/09/2014 14:51

SUNDOWNERS WITH GUY VENABLES

CLASSIC BOOKSHELF


ONBOARDONBOARD

Books

Morgan’s OriginsWhen my uncle Hugh Venables was entering Jamaica, the big customs lady looking at his passport announced, “You gotta lot of nerve turning up in a place like this with a name like that.” To properly understand why, we fi nd ourselves back in 1654. Cromwell told my great great etc (you fi ll in the rest) grandfather General Robert Venables and Admiral William Penn to put together a fl eet of 42 ships and take Hispaniola from the Spanish. Penn was in charge of the ships and Venables the troops and as we all know, you gotta only have one skipper. Consequently they buggered it up, (Venables valiantly blaming the cowardice of his own troops) so they took Jamaica instead, which was hardly defended and had nicer beaches. Two events followed that changed the history of rum forever (is history ever changed temporarily?) Firstly, Venables rewarded the sailors and soldiers with a daily ration of the rum from what had been left behind by the fl eeing Spanish force, starting a tradition that became the daily tot of rum and one that continued until 1970. (Prior to this British sailors would have had to rely on beer or water for refreshment on board, both of which spoiled fairly quickly, unlike rum.) It is also notable that the army did not carry on the tradition and instead opted for compo rations (water sometimes sweetened with colouring, biscuits you could tile your bathroom with and pink meat in a can infused with chemicals that render it inedible).

Secondly, once Venables and Penn had left, after enslaving much of the local indigenous population, getting very ill and generally behaving rather badly (apparently Venables has a statuette in Jamaica which is spat on regularly by the locals), a welsh privateer Henry Morgan stayed behind to carry on mucking about in the Caribbean. He was made Captain, and, to mark the success of his exploits, partly due to his recruiting 500 of the meanest pirates and dressing himself in red silk, was knighted in 1680. He became governor of Jamaica and retired to become a sugar cane plantation owner and spend his time “perfecting his own rum,” – what we now know as Captain Morgan.

In 1931 Peter and Anne Pye bought a 29ft west-country fi shing boat for £25. She was put into the hands of a local boat-builder, converted to a yacht, rigged as a ga¢ cutter, and, as a fi nal touch re-named Moonraker after the pirate ship sailed by Mary Lovell.For the next 18 years Anne and Peter spent holidays aboard, until in 1949, they decided to give up their jobs, cut their ties with the land and embark on what was to be the fi rst of a series of ocean voyages. This omnibus contains the four books that were written about these expeditions. Red Mains’l covers the fi rst trip, an Atlantic circuit to the Caribbean and Bermuda, returning via the Azores, where a visiting yacht was such a sensation that the day was declared a public holiday. The Sea is for Sailing is about a second voyage, through the Panama Canal and into the Pacifi c, while A Sail in a Forest sees them setting o¢ for Finland. The fi nal book Back Door to Brazil covers a fourth cruise, this time in the South Atlantic. Aside from the descriptions of the sailing, the places they visit and the people they meet, what makes these books so appealing are the Pyes themselves. They are a true team, who are happy together, love their boat and thoroughly enjoy the life they have chosen, making their readers feel like casting o¢ the mooring lines to depart on adventures of their own. Richard Toyne

We received four re-released books from publisher Adlard Coles in the o§ ce recently: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Jules Verne), South (Sir Ernest Shackleton), Mutiny on the HMS Bounty (William Bligh) and this, the most literary and conceptual of the bunch, Sea Wolf by Jack London.

It is a dark, frightening story of bookish urbanite Humphrey Van Weyden whose ferry, on a routine crossing from San Francisco to Sausalito, is struck in fog and sinks. He is saved by Captain Wolf Larsen of the sealer Ghost, headed for Japan, and here his nightmare begins. Enslaved on the ship, it transpires that Larsen’s interest is not in delivering Van Weyden to safety, but in enslaving, humiliating and torturing him, forcing him into violent confrontation with fellow crewmen and robbing him of his status as civilised man. This is a classic tale of good against evil, civilisation versus savagery. Captain Larsen ranks among the most horrifying characters in all fi ction, a hangover from the 19th-century novels that depicted men so brutal they were in danger of assuming cartoonish auras. What makes this so dark and unsettling is that Larsen is almost believable.

First published in 1904, this edition includes an insightful introduction from Bear Grylls. It’s a useful primer to the story, which is somehow a page-turner and challenging at the same time. My only criticism is that the price seems quite high for a paperback re-release of a book no longer in copyright. SHMHPub Adlard Coles Nautical, bloomsbury.com, paperback, 352pp, £8.99

Peter Pye Omnibusby Peter Pye

The Sea Wolfby Stan Grayson

In 1931 Peter and Anne Pye bought a 29ft

spent holidays aboard, until in 1949, they decided

Peter Pye Omnibus

CB316 Books SundownersV2+.indd 67 02/09/2014 11:18

FOLLOW US

AALSMEER, HOLLAND n THOMASTON, MAINE n ABERDEEN, HONG KONG

1-800-269-0961 n www.epifanes.com

Invest In A Painting

Yacht Coatings

Epifanes offers you an unsurpassed selection of premium paint and varnish formulas that combine exquisite beauty and tenacious abrasion

protection—at your local chandlery or call us at 1-800-269-0961.

EPIFANES FP OBC FEB14.indd 1 12/12/2013 09:07


SECTION HEADSUB SECTION

ONBOARD

Classnotes

BY VANESSA BIRD

If you ask several classic boat enthusiasts to describe a Belfast Lough One-Design, don’t be

surprised if you get more than one defi nition. There are in fact fi ve different classes of boat that answer to that name, and which all sailed at around the same time. All were conceived prior to 1901, at a time when Belfast Lough in Northern Ireland was proving a vital source of new one-designs. Although three of the Belfast Lough One-Designs share similar profi les, they were all very different designs, and ranged from 14ft to 37ft (4.3m-11.3m) length overall. Now, only individual boats exist, with fl eets long since dispersed, but at the time these classes were signifi cant designs. They were only ever built in small numbers, but proved very popular with Irish yachtsmen at the six yacht clubs on Belfast Lough. Even today, they command high prices second-hand.

The fi rst class of Belfast Lough One-Designs – Class I – was designed by Wm Fife III in 1897. Known as the ‘Seabird’ class, it followed the Cork Harbour One-Design, which Fife drew in 1895 for members of the Royal Munster Yacht Club. They were 37ft (11.3m) LOA and designed as comfortable cruising boats. Built by John Hilditch at Carrickfergus, nine of the cutters were launched into Belfast Lough, and most were named after seabirds. Today, the whereabouts of just three is known, but two of these have recently seen extensive restoration.

The second class – Class II – was also designed by Fife, in the same year as the Seabirds. With a length overall of 24ft (7.3m), nine of these sloop-rigged daysailers were built, fi ve by A Hutchinson & Co, two by P McKeown and two by John Hilditch. With its long overhang and

elegant bow, it’s an attractive design now reborn as the Artisan 15, a spirit-of-tradition version built by Artisan Boatworks in Maine.

The Jewel class was the third design, this time from Linton Hope. Ten were built by William Roberts in Chester, at 24ft (7.3m) LOA. These were centreboarders named after jewels and relatively little is known about them now.

In 1899 the existing three classes were joined by a fourth, designed by Alfred Mylne – the Ulster Star of 30ft (9.1m) LOA. Soon after, a fi fth class was introduced, the smallest on the lough at just 14ft (4.3m) LOA. The

Insect Class open centreboarder was designed by WM Inglis for the Ulster Sailing Club. Twelve were built.

Despite their popularity in the last years of the 18th century, by 1902 a new one-design – the Linton Hope-designed Fairy One-Design – had superseded all the classes on Belfast Lough as the tradition of employing paid hands waned. Today, it is the lough’s main class and a fl ourishing fl eet remains.

IAN ROYSTON

Vanessa’s book, Classic Classes, is a must-buy. Please bear in mind that this book provides only a snapshot of the myriad classes in existence.

The Class I Belfast Lough

One-Design Whimbrel was

designed by William Fife III

in 1897. She is one of only

three still in existence

Belfast Lough One-Design

“Even today, they command

high prices”

BELFAST LOUGH ONE-DESIGN FIVE CLASSES

Class I – SeabirdLOA 37ft 3in (11.4m)LWL 25ft (7.6m)BEAM 8ft 8in (2.7m)DRAUGHT 6ft 3in (1.9m)SAIL AREA 848sqft (78.8m2)DESIGNER William Fife III

Class IILOA 24ft (7.3m)LWL 15ft (4.6m)BEAM 6ft 2in (1.9m)DRAUGHT 3ft 6in (1.1m)SAIL AREA 355sqft (33m2)DESIGNER William Fife III

Class III – JewelLOA 24ft (7.3m)LWL 17ft (5.2m)BEAM 6ft 6in (2m)DRAUGHT 18in/5ft 6in (46cm/1.7m)SAIL AREA 276sqft (25.6m2)DESIGNER Linton Hope

Class IV – Ulster StarLOA 30ft (9.1m)LWL 20ft (6.1m)BEAM 7ft 6in (2.3m)DRAUGHT 5ft (1.5m)SAIL AREA 550sqft (51m2)DESIGNER Alfred Mylne

Class V – InsectLOA 14ft (4.3m) BEAM 5ft (1.5m)SAIL AREA 117sqft (10.9m2) DESIGNER WM Inglis

CB316 Classnotes.indd 69 01/09/2014 15:20

HSC Full Page July CB AP.indd 1 27/5/11 15:36:04

For more information about any of these boats call 01491 578870

mobile 07813 917730email [email protected]

www.hscboats.co.uk

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

Elysian - one of six slipper stern launches currently for sale from £15,000

EHY16 - Visit us as Southampton Boat Show with English Harbour Yachts

Tramontana - a Chris Craft with heritage and speed, ideal for forays abroad and classic fun at UK rallies

Kings Shilling - a Broom Captain in lovely condition with a smart and contemporary interior

Berenike - a hybrid saloon launch with full facilities on a 26ft GRP hull, sliding canopy, stunning interior, built 2011

Juliette - a Martham Broads cruiser with loads of space on board for family cruising, wood burner, galley in the forepeak, big double aft and cosy saloon

Dione - If you are an admirer of the designer Alex Moulton here is his eighties cabin launch in immaculate condition and very comfortable on board. Comes with bespoke trailer

Golden Butterfly - one of several gentleman’s launches, some electric, some conventionally powered, all with bags of character

Maken - a 1931 open launch from the land of the fjords. Very practical layout and elegant lines

Duet - a rare Burgoine Victorian steam launch configured for a solo engineer skipper, with trailer

Sambuca - one of three Andrews day launches currently on brokerage and available for viewing at our Thames boat store

HSC Boats FP OCT14.indd 1 29/08/2014 15:48

c/o

th

e o

wn

er


ONBOARD

Getting afloatCLASSIC YACHT AUCTION, ROTTeRdAm

Zinita going under the Dutch hammerAnyone in the trade knows how difficult it is to sell a classic boat. The scenario so often repeated sees a proud owner asking an unrealistic price, then spending the asking price on storage for two years, before he realises no one is buying, the boat is starting to crack up, and the next stage is a phone call to a man competent in the use of a chainsaw. Some of the time, you can’t even give a classic boat away. We’ve seen it happen a hundred times. A better course of action for many boat-owners might be to give thanks for the happy years of ownership you’ve had and give the boat away to her next custodian.

Obviously this only applies to some boats – those of limited appeal, for instance, marginal value or a bad state of repair. But a not-for-profit auction in Rotterdam this autumn is giving owners the opportunity to seize the moment and put boats up

OYSTeR SmACK

Amazing AlbertaSmacks in nice condition like this one don’t come up all that often. Alberta is an Aldous-built smack and one of the fastest afloat. She was built in 1885 for fishing off the east coast and has since proved herself racing. She had a full 2004 re-build by the well-respected Dan tester and a 2011 re-rig. According to her owner robin Page, an active participant in smack-racing, she is also fitted out with comfort in mind with “a proper galley, six generous berths and a 2011 inboard diesel”. She also has a full complement of sails, 30hp Zodiac tender and much kit, including a spare topmast.

Asking £140,000 tel: +44 (0)1206 304690 [email protected]

c/o

wo

oD

enSh

IPS.

co.u

k

For more boats to buy or charter, go to classicboat.co.uk/buy-a-boat

for sale with no reserve. The ‘finale’ of a physical auction is being held by the Rotterdam Oceanwide Yachting Club on 15 November 1300hrs local time (office opens 0900hrs), although the auction was due to start online on 1 September. As we went to press, Zinita (Wm Fife III 12-M yacht), Zeearend (100SqM yacht) and Baccarat (S&S inboard yawl) were the boats listed on the auction website – and clearly these are yachts capable of fetching high prices.

As the auction progresses (new lots will be accepted up until 31 October), we expect to see more and more, particularly of the “give-away” sort. Organiser Leo Aarens has the following message for anyone holding onto a boat they can no longer keep, “Now is the time to admit that any future is better than none.” Always true...

to list or bid visit royc.nl

Zinita William Fife

III 12-M yacht

Alberta winning race

two of the 2014

Wivenhoe regatta

with Sallie Page,

aged 8, on the helm

CB316 Getting Afloat.indd 71 01/09/2014 15:17

BOATS FOR SALE


Boats for saleLooking to sell your boat?Reach over 50,000 readers each month

To advertise call Edward Mannering +44 (0) 20 7349 3747

[email protected]

Copy Deadline for next issue is 24/09/2014

1930’S ANDREWS SLIPPER ‘CHIN CHIN’A graceful mahogany & teak 25 ft Thames launch, including

canopy, traditional bench seat across her stern plus wooden table and two Lloyd Loom chairs at helm. Fully restored, her engine

was also overhauled in 2008 & hull re-furbished by Henwood and Dean in 2014. A stunning and timeless example of a true river

classic. Essential viewing ashore in Henley £34,950Please call 07973 154 038 or email [email protected]

BUEHLER/COLIN ARCHER – 3-MASTED MOTOR SCHOONER

20m, double-ended, schooner, completed in 2003. Powered by a 180hp Cummins

Diesel, cruises at 8.5 knots, and has a range under power of 2000nm. Extensive re-fit,

2013. She is currently hauled, lying under shrinkwrap at

Port Saunders, Newfoundland, Canada. Available for $695,000

Tel: +1 804 815 2835 Email: [email protected]

SILVER LINING

Porter & Haylett Carvel motorsailer.Beautifully maintained.

Designer: J. Francis JonesType: Sole Bay Ketch Year Built: 1966

Location of Boat: Amble, Northumberland, England.

Length: 10.52m Beam: 3.07m Draft: 1.45mDisplacement: 10,973kg

Rig: Gaff RiggedConstruction: Iroko on Oak.

Engine: Thornycroft 230 63hp.

Price £35,995 Tel. 01665 712 168

CHESFORD 18 CLASSIC MOTOR SAILERMahogany on oak clinker, bilge keel, 2 berth, bermudan rigged

sailing boat - built Kingswear, Devon in early 1960’s and now fully restored. Original refurbished Stuart Turner P5 4hp inboard. Sails, covers and Seagull outboard included. Boat safety certificate to

2016. £5,000. Contact: [email protected], 01635 579317 or 07917 832749. In storage near Henley-on-Thames.

OAKLEAF 1972, NEWLY RESTOREDClinker wooden construction with green painted topsides,

varnished toerail and cabin sides, cream painted coachroof top, long keel with centreplate, aft-cockpit, tiller steering with transom hung rudder. Sleeps 6 (6 berths in 2 cabins. 18 horsepower Saab

engine. Price: £12,000 Please call: 07842 245169

SAILING YACHT ‘PEACE’Unique opportunity to buy this steel yacht launched in 1976.

One owner from new. 4 berth. Fin keel, self-draining aft cockpit, skeg hung rudder. Bermudan sloop rig, steel decks

and superstructure, epoxy coated from new. Last survey 1997. Leyland 1.8 litre 55HP inboard diesel engine (1980), complete rebuild and overhaul in 2004. Indirect cooling.

Competitively priced at 7,250 Tax Paid for a quick sale. For more information contact Peter Clayton 01621 772841 /

07801 712904 or email [email protected]

Sailing Yacht ‘Peace’

Unique opportunity to buy this steel yacht launched in 1976.One owner from new. Sailed extensively on the East Coast, Holland, France, Belgium and south to the Channel Islands.

Robust family sailing yacht. 4 berth internal layout in 2 cabins with around 6ft maximum headroom. Fin keel, self-draining aft cockpit, skeg hung rudder. Bermudan sloop rig, steel decks and superstructure, epoxy coated from new. Last survey 1997.

ENGINE: Leyland 1.8 litre 55HP inboard diesel engine (1980), complete rebuild and overhaul in 2004. Indirect cooling.

SAILS & RIG: Slab reefing mainsail (Wilkinson, 2006) with mainsail cover. Separate hank on sails including No 1 Genoa, No 3 Genoa, No 1 Jib (Crusader, 2010), No 2 Jib (Crusader, 2010), storm Jib (Cranfield, little used). Aluminium mast and boom (Sailspar and Kemp). Mast new in 1982 and boom new in 2006. Stainless steel standing rigging professionally replaced 1995 to 2006.

NAVIGATION EQUIPMENT: Sestrel compass, Raymarine Fluxgate compass, Lowrance EVR880 DSC/VHF radio, Raymarine Smart Pilot X5 tiller pilot, MLRFX312 GPS.

Competitively priced at 7,250 Tax Paid for a quick sale

For full inventory or more information contact Peter Clayton 01621 772841 or email [email protected]

S&S NEVINS-40 YAWL - PRIMA DONNA

Class winner of the 1989 Marion-Bermuda Race, one of elevencenterboard yawls built by the master yacht builder Henry B. Nevinsafter Carlton Mitchell’s Finisterre, the only three time Bermuda Race

winner (1954, ‘56, ’58), considered by some as the perfectcombination of a fast racer and a comfortable cruiser.

• Full re-fastening, new frames, & new floor bolts - Spring 2013.• Nanni N3-30 diesel engine, new 2010 • Auto-Helm Autopilot

• Garmin 5208 Chart-plotter, with radar & weather overlay• Propane cabin heater • Hot water, and shower

• Fridgo-Boat refrigerator • Heart DC/AC Inverter; rewired 1998 • Muir Windless - 250’ chain. Full set of racing & cruising sails

Rigged for off-shore: Too many other details to list here.

$90,000 US Contact: [email protected]

FALCON 1972 – BILL TRIPP

DESIGNED Designed 1958 by Bill

Tripp – highly regarded U.S. designer (Adlard Coles’ Heavy Weather Sailing). Participant in

Cowes Classics Regatta. Elegant classic shape.

Counter stern. Wide side decks. Spacious,

wood-trimmed cockpit. Aft deck. Wood-panelled saloon. Sleeps 4. Long keel converted to skeg-mounted rudder. Well-balanced, dry boat.

Renovated 2009, inc. new engine and rigging. Length: 30ft.Price £25,000. Contact: [email protected]

ADELE - 17FT SUPERYACHT TENDERBuilt 2007, Pendennis Shipyard, Gerald Dyskstra GRP hull, 90 HP

Evinrude outboard engine. Immaculate teak decks, Awlgrip paint, stainless steel fittings. Cockpit includes stern bench, drivers and

co-pilots seats. Mahogany cabin seats 4, includes a heads forward. Strengthened lifting points. Trailer included. Viewing

by arrangement Falmouth. £25,000Contact 07961782997/[email protected].

FINESSE 24 Built 1992 by A. F. Platt, Thundersley Essex. Last One built in her Class Gaff Rigged Cutter. Iroko on Oak frames. Many changes to standard from new as original owner specified including: Teak decks with twin Bits. Heavy wooden mast

and Spars custom built Open Plan interior. Solid Fuel Stove. Taylor Cooker. 28 BHP Yanmar Engine. All Bronze Fittings including Oval Portholes. Cream sails by Jimmy Lawrence of

Brightlingsea Essex. Very Pretty Vessel, and sails with ease. In Superb Condition. £16,500 OVNOTel: 077759 00001 / 01670 786081 Email: [email protected]

_BFS version 2.indd 72 02/09/2014 10:30


Reach over 50,000 readers each monthThere are two styles of Boats for Sales ad to choose from and with our special offer, if you buy two months,

your third month will be free. Pick the style which suits your requirements and email: [email protected] with your text and image or

call +44 (0) 20 7349 3747. The deadline for the next issue is 24/09/2014

Looking to sell your boat?

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

GOLANT GAFFERNo. 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 boatlovingly maintained,

Lying Fowey.£12,000 ono.

Email: [email protected] 11111111

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

CUTTERBuilt 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

SAMPLE STYLE B

BOATS FOR SALE

FLEUR DE LYS 52BUILT BY DAGLESS OF WISBECH 1961

Classic gentleman’s motor yacht, built of Iroko on Oak. Spacious and comfortable yacht, large saloon, separate wheelhouse and

well equipped galley. Sleeps 7 in 3 cabins. Twin 100hp diesel engines, generator. Extensive hull refurbishment 5 years ago and generally in good condition. Copper coat 10 year antifoul. Moored

Heybridge, Essex. £79,500 Contact Peter Tydie Phone 07590046262. [email protected]

GREY MERLINRoxane hull, standing lug yawl rig, 30’ lod, 45’ length over

spars, built 1996. Beautiful, distinctive, fast shoal-draft cruiser, excellent condition.

For details and photos see website: http://southern.unospace.net/

£47,500, ashore Birdham Pool. Contact 07964314792 or

email [email protected]

ROB ROY Classic 1956 racer/cruiser

yawl, 56 feet. One of Arthur Robb’s most

legendary designs and most successful racers.

Built to unusually superb standards by Herbert Woods Ltd of Norfolk.

Lovingly owned, restored, raced and

cruised by the current owners for the last 18

years. Lying Italy. Reduced to €225,000

Email: [email protected]

34FT HOLMAN DESIGNED MASTHEAD SLOOP1970 Classic, iroko throughout long keel, wheel steering world

cruiser (double Atlantic Arctic Biscay history) Volvo engine, GPS, radar. £21,000 Road trailer, free to first/fast transaction. Lying

Northern Ireland. Tel: 07785 987791

FAVORI, 1963Buchanan East Coast 1 Design yacht for restoration. Built by Harry

Feltham 1963, 29ft LOA, 10HP Diesel. Standing at Flushing, Falmouth. Asking £3000. Contact [email protected]

INTERNATIONAL 5 METER KEELBOAT

Sensa, S 11, 1937. ( CB Aug. 2007 ). Varnished Honduras Mahogany on oak, teak deck, Artic spruce mast, lead keel, 31 ft, Swedish, Kungsor’s Batvarv. In beautiful

condition.

Asking price £25.000. Please call: 44 (0)7816 932312

or email: corneliusvanrijckevorsel@

googlemail.com

_BFS version 2.indd 73 02/09/2014 10:30

BrokerageBROKERAGE

To advertise Call Patricia Hubbard +44 (0) 207 349 3748 [email protected]



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

Another fascinating selection of traditional and classic yachts only from Wooden Ships. Call for true descriptions, genuine honest values and a service from people who know their boats.

40’ Colin Archer type gaff cutter built in Norway in 1979. Very nice construction with 2” oak planking on oak frames, all bronze fastened and grown oak floors. Doghouse gives headroom and space below. 7 berths including a separate owners cabin. Cruised extensively in recent years this is an ideal cruising boat with space and security. Norway 65,000Euro

31’ Dee 25 sloop. The famous Peter Brett design following on the success of his Fair Rover. Varnished pitch-pine hull, teak deck. Fractional rig on aluminium mast. Recent sails and rig. ST winches. Volvo diesel. 6 berths. Standing head-room. A perfect little fast cruising yacht, very smart indeed and super value. Chichester £14,500

Mevagissey lugger FY317 built in Porthleven in 1920 as a sailing fishing boat. Largely rebuilt in present 20 year ownership including much planking and framing, new deck, interior and rig. 6 berths in 2 cabins + saloon. New gaff cutter rig. Doghouse gives vast amount of extra space and makes her a very practical and comfortable boat. New condition but with all the history. Holland £110,000

42’ Bermudan cutter built by the present shipwright owner in 1994. Enormously strong wood epoxy construction, far better than any other boat of this type we have seen. Spacious interior finished to a high quality. 4 berths with separate owners cabin. Very tidy yacht, meticulously maintained and ready to go cruising, capable of taking anything that is thrown at her. Cornwall £89,000

45’ Osborne TSDY built by Osbornes in 1964. Twin Detroit 180hp diesels gives 22kts max. Inside/outside helm position, two separate cabins with separate heads, large saloon and spacious wheelhouse. Comfortable sea going motor yacht with a good turn of speed for passage making. Wales £49,000

27’ Cheverton Crusader designed and built by David Cheverton in 1960. These were popular boats in their day with 50 built in total. Very spacious for the length with 4 berths over 6’, full standing headroom and a separate heads. New deck, engine, rigging and instrumentation in last refit. Tidy and ready to sail. Devon £13,750

40’ Sole Bay motor sailer designed by Francis Jones and built in 1964. Iroko on oak all copper fastened. 6 cyl Perkins 120hp diesel. One of only 3 boats built. 6/8 berths in 3 cabins. Spacious boat for her size, comfortable at sea and immaculately maintained in present 20 year ownership. Scotland £57,000

16’ clinker launch built by Nick Smith and launched in 2010. Immaculate construction with no plywood used anywhere in the boat. Mahogany on oak all copper fastened. Vetus 11hp with only about 30hrs, fully serviced twice a year since new. Custom built De Graff trailer, aux electric outboard. Absolutely stunning launch in better than new condition which has only been on the water twice. Ill health forces a very reluctant sale. Devon £19,500

_BROCKERAGE.indd 74 28/08/2014 15:01

BROKERAGE


BROKERAGE

48 ft Dickies of Tarbert Gaff Ketch 1920 It is no wonder that MORNA with her canoe stern and fine drawn out ends has found over the years owners who adore her - with more volume below and expansive deck space, she has always proved the perfect cruising boat. Dickie’s yard knew how to build strong and supremely seaworthy boats and in MORNA Peter Dickie’s passion for beautiful yachts is also very evident - along with a little influence from Albert Strange and William Fife II perhaps? £135,000 Lying Ireland

32 ft Fairey Fantome 1973 Built in 1973 and the second of the Fantome marque of which only 36 were built in total - the origin of this hull was a plug of the Huntsman 31 hull which had been a very successful boat in its own right. SHADOW is powered by hand built twin Ford Sabre 290 HP diesel engines, new in 1999, which have been overhauled by Mike Wills Engineering of Poole ( cruise at 22 knots / top speed touching 35 knots). Now on her road trailer in barn storage having been fully serviced - this is a comprehensive turnkey drive away option from a serious Fairey Marine aficionado.£65,950 Lying UK

32 ft Spearfish 2001The Fairey Spearfish has become the preferred Solent classic runabout for yachtsmen and yachting photographers in particular as it combines speed with a tremendously dry and soft ride and understated good looks. TOUCH & GO built just 13 years ago was drawn by the original designer Alan Burnard for owners who knew exactly what they wanted – 3 foot longer than the original design, she benefits from the aft cabin. Recent upgrades including radar and GPS plotter, AIS system, hot water calorifier, extra fridge and teak decks. We believe she has never wintered afloat – or even outside.£87,500 Lying UK

45 ft Sparkman & Stephens Sloop 1970Built in Trieste in 1970 by Astilleros Mariano Craglietto - It was a different era when a yacht this beautiful raced round the World in the first Whitbread Race – GUIA finished 5th ! S&S seemed able to blend the CCA and the then blossoming IOR Rules into capable and fast boats with good looks as a by product. Testament to her fine pedigree, GUIA is a wonderful family cruising boat and races successfully on the Mediterranean Classic Circuit. f225,000 Lying Spain

51 ft Aage Nielsen Ketch 1971Nielsen’s manic attention to detail extended to his demanding the best from his builders - with exquisite hull shapes and interior arrangements his Double Enders were in a sense his trademark and NORMA OF MINOT’S LIGHT typifies this. It was for these reasons Olin Stephens considered that if he were to have anyone design him a yacht; Aage Nielsen would be his first choice. NORMA is an incredibly well proven sea boat and a natural choice for the design enthusiast.

f290,000 Lying Ireland

60 ft Jack Laurent Giles Bermudan Cutter 1956 PAZIENZA designed by Jack 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 has been down to the last two nominees for the most beautiful boat in France in recent years. This is an excellent indication of her current impressive condition. POA Lying UK

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

email: [email protected] www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk

63 ft Samuel White Gentleman’s Motor Yacht 1963 CARAMBA’s supreme good looks are not accidental – the sheer line, beautifully balanced proportions and purposeful profile are all in immaculate good taste. We first met her as a family yacht in Corfu, professionally skippered and run by two people. Her current owner by contrast looks after the boat - and often cruises her alone. Her versatility is therefore impressive. With her wide and protected bulwarks, expansive aft deck, her little ship ambience with charming saloon and intimate cabin layout, she is living testament to her old school designer Fred Parker’s skill. Why don’t they make them like this anymore?£850,000 Lying UK

52 ft Sparkman & Stephens Sloop 1944 Designed by K. Aage Nielsen while at S&S – Olin Stephens considered him the best designer they had ever had. Nielsen’s manic attention to detail extended to his demanding the best from his builders and CICLON was no exception - and benefitting further from being the yard owner’s own boat! Launched in Cuba in 1944 she was rarely off the podium – beating such legends as STORMY WEATHER and TICONDEROGA. Of course beautiful and fast – is it time now to reintroduce her to her sisters? f350,000 Lying Cyprus

65 ft Robert Clark Ketch 1957LONE FOX is a truly lasting testament to the vision of her first owner Colonel Bill Whitbread, the skills of her designer and builder and dedication of her subsequent owners. Certainly her current owner has enthused all with his charters and given the old fox a new lease of life. There will always be special boats that everyone remembers for all the right reasons – casting their spells and seducing owners – LONE FOX is definitely one of these.

$450,000 USD Lying Caribbean

_BROCKERAGE.indd 75 02/09/2014 13:47

BROKERAGE


SPECIALISTS IN RESTORATION & REPAIR OF CLASSIC WOODEN BOATS

Mobile:07799-654113 Tel: [email protected]

www.stanleyandthomas.co.ukTom Jones Boatyard, Romney Lock, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 6HU

STANLEY & THOMASBROKERAGE

MOORHEN I A classic 22’ Norfolk Boards cruiser built

1948 by R. Moore & Sons, Wroxham and once part of their hire fl eet. Carvel mahogany on oak. Morris Vedette side valve Mk2, 10hp, 850cc serviced June 2014. Sleeps two in single berths plus one small occasional in

cockpit. Galley: Flavel gas cooker and sink unit. Heads: Porta Potti. Current Boat Safety Certifi cate & Broads Authority Licence. Full

inventory and further photos on fi le. Location: Nr Norwich.

Price Guide: £16,500

SPECIALISTS IN RESTORATION & REPAIR OF CLASSIC WOODEN BOATS

Mobile:07799-654113 Tel: [email protected]

www.stanleyandthomas.co.ukTom Jones Boatyard, Romney Lock, Windsor, Berkshire SL4 6HU

STANLEY & THOMASBROKERAGE

TIDDLEY POM POM Classic 30’ Gentleman’s Launch built c.1930’s by H. Gibbs of Teddington.

Ford Watermota. Mahogany on oak, beam 6’ 9”, bevelled glass windows, bustle stern, attractive fretwork to fore & aft cabin sides. Plush saloon upholstery,

complimentary drapes & cushions. Plenty storage, hand basin with cupboard under. Upholstered seating in cockpit, also with excellent storage. Roll down

PVC windows to shelter from wind or rain. All over cover. Beautifully appointed throughout. Boat Safety Cert. expires April 2016. Viewing highly recommended.

Location: WindsorPrice Guide: £39,995

New 12’ Dinghy available with either larch or Mahogany planking. Class celebrating its 100th anniversary in 2013. Prices from £8,500 Inc VAT

New 18’ Deben Lugger day/camping dayboat. Prices from £13,500 Inc VAT

New 10’ GRP clinker lug sail dinghy. Prices from £2,950 Inc VAT

1983 Devon Yawl Dayboat ready to sail with new Hyde sails, Yamaha 4HP 4-stroke, T-frame road trailer £3,750.00

See full listings at www.anglia-yacht.co.uk Tel. +44 (0)1359 27 17 47 www.anglia-yacht.co.uk Email. [email protected]

Anglia Yacht Brokerage

Come and see us and the above boats at the Southampton Boat Show stand AO56

1975 Drascombe Lugger Mk2 in beautiful condition, only two owners from new. With cover and T-frame trailer £4,600.00

1978 Drascombe Dabber Mk1 ready to sail with 2010 Mariner 3.5HP 4-stroke outboard and Easy-launch road trailer £3,250.00

_BROCKERAGE.indd 76 01/09/2014 14:58

BROKERAGE


Dianthus – DUNKIRK LITTLE SHIP

Now in Superb Condition – Price: £57,250 ono – Viewable Marlow

Contact: Linda on [email protected] Call 0207 938 2440

Dianthus half page advert_04_AW.indd 1 19/08/2014 14:14

_BROCKERAGE.indd 77 28/08/2014 11:47

BROKERAGE


38m (124ft) Steel Brigantine Sail Training Ship.

Air conditioned accommodation for up to 36 in 17 cabins plus 12 crew berths in six cabins; Bar and

lounge. Well-equipped, comfortable31,900,000 – Location Valencia, Spain

15m (49ft) on deck, Brigantine riggedMotor sailer. Built Oak on Oak 1970. 6 berths, Perkins Sabre M115T 114hp diesel.

A real eye catcher! 3165,000 – Location Netherlands

25m (82ft) Steel Twin Screw Gentleman’s Schooner part-finished restoration project. Hull and decks restored, Twin Gardner diesels. Drop Dead Gorgeous! 2010 Survey please ask for a copy.

£195,000 – Offers invited – Location Dorset UK

10.66m (35ft) Super Sovereign GRP Long Keel Ketch.

Built Uphams 1975, to the Kim Holman design. Comfortable, serious passage maker, with 4/5

berths, good galley, Nav station, heater, fridge, radar etc., and 36hp Diesel

£34,750 – location North Essex

23m (75ft) Replica Dubrovnik Karaka, built 1901, rebuilt 1996.

10 guest cabins, 25 pax, Air conditioning, Very different!

3895,000 – Lying Croatia

17.6m (58ft) Classic Teak and Mahogany Italian Yawl by Sangermani, 1948.

Beautifully restored, great performer on the Med. Classic Yacht racing circuit. Eight berths,

Recent Sails. 3300,000 – Italy

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! 3139,000 – Lying Costa del Sol, Spain

10.7m (36ft) Maldon Fishing Smack, Built Howards, 1889, Larch on Oak.

Professionally sheathed in 1991, re-decked in 1995. 4 Berths BMC diesel. Great fun!

2007 Survey available, please ask! £15,000 – Location River Colne, Essex

www.TallShipsforSale.co.uk www.ClassicYachtsforSale.com

www.EasternYachts.com See Website for Photos, Specifications & Surveys19 Colne Road, Brightlingsea, Essex, CO7 0DL • Tel: +44 (0) 1206 305996. Planning to sell: Please call Adrian Espin for details.

CLASSIC YACHT BROKERAGE

www.classicyachtbrokerage.co.ukTel: +44 (0)1905-356482 / 07949-095075 • [email protected]

SALAR 40 BERMUDIAN KETCH. Laurent Giles, Essex Yacht Builders 1971. GRP moulded hull and decks. Teak fi tted. Six berths in three cabins. New 75hp Perkins diesel. Just completed a circumnavigation. Superb blue-water cruiser. Read A Leap Of Faith, written by the owners.£78,500 Hants

22ft SLIPPER STERN LAUNCHBrooke Marine, Oulton Broad 1935. Professionally refurbished by Peter Freebody in 2013. Re-built 50hp Sea Tiger engine. New Sunbrella hood. BSS Cert. Outstanding throughout. Lazy days on the river & strawberry teas at Henley.£27,950 Berks.

34ft. SUPER LOWLAND MOTOR-CRUISERSteijn Brothers, Netherlands 1974. Steel hull and decks. Teak fi tted. Six berths including aft cabin. Galley, heads and shower. Twin 70hp Volvo diesels. Spacious, well travelled Dutch cruiser.£28,000 Netherlands

112ft. BENETTI MOTOR-YACHTFratelli Benetti, Viareggio 1969 for the British Royal Family.Ten guests in fi ve en-suite staterooms, plus seven crew. Fully equipped. Complete refi t 2007. On-going coded charter or stylish private yacht.EUR 950,000 Crotia

42ft. TWIN-SCREW MOTOR-YACHTMcGruers of Clynder 1950. Re-planked mahogany hull, teak decks and structure. Flybridge. Six berths in three cabins. 42hp Thornycroft diesels. Complete professional re-fi t 2014. Stylish, quality motor-yacht.£60,000 Essex

30ft. REVENUE CUTTER17th century half size replica built McGruers of Clynder in 1987. Teak construction throughout. Copper sheathed. Authentic rig, Gowen sails. Four berths. Galley, heads. Character little ship, ideal for television and fi lm work.£29,950 Hants

40ft. EDWARDIAN GAFF CUTTER Thomas of Falmouth 1909 as a private yacht. 2013 professional refi t in Bristol, complete new deck, mast and rig. Five / seven berths in three cabin layout. Recent 75hp Beta diesel. Attractive and historic vessel, interior to complete.£48,500 Channel Islands

54ft. MFV STYLE MOTOR-YACHT Millers of St. Monance, Fife 1949. Larch on oak, teak fi tted. Seven berths in three cabins plus deck saloon. 140hp Kelvin diesel. Attractive, powerful little ship. Interesting history. 2014 survey.£75,000 Ireland

_BROCKERAGE.indd 78 02/09/2014 10:51

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

E-Mail: [email protected] • Tel: 01621 859373 • Mob: 07736 553487 Specialists in the brokerage of Classic Vessels, Traditional Yachts and Working Boats

www.heritage-marine.com

33ft Miller Fifer Ketch 1961Scottish MFV, Totally overhauled.

36hp Lister Blackstone eng. Guernsey £65,000

44ft Sailing Smack, 885.A complete rebuild‘04. Iroko hull,all new. Prize winning. Beta 25hp

N.Essex £140,000

62ft Skutsje Barge, 1914Steel hull fully converted, Bespoke

joinery. Aga, central heating. Holidaycharters. Perkins. Suffolk £195,000

30ft ex Police Launch 1942Osborne built. Teak D/D hull.

65hp Ford Mermaid eng. Shipwright owned.4 berthsThames Ditton £18,500

32ft TSDY, 1937Brooke Marine, Lowestoft.

BMC 2.2’s. Accom 2+2.Re fitted ’14. 6ft 3hdrm

Essex £28,000

East Anglian Sloop MkII, 1962Re furbished, rewired.

A1 condition. Sole diesel. Accom 4.

Suffolk £19,950 OFFERS

46ft Bermudan Ketch, 1948Finnish built, E.Olafsson Regularly raced in Solent. Pitch pine on Oak,

Bukh 35ME eng. Basic fit out below.Isle of Wight £35,000

Norske 35, Gaff Cutter, 1977Windboats of Wroxham.Yanmar 3GM. Seacrete.Lines of a Colin Archer.

Exeter £24,950

11.5m French Gaff Yawl, 1905Reworked, externally restored.

New eng. Pitch pine. Original featuresH’drm 6ft plus.

S.E. London £39,950

8m Falmouth Quay Punt, 1930Shipwright owned & restored. BermudanCutter, ’07&’09 sails. Yanmar 30hp’09.

Good hdrm.4 berths. Cornwall £26,000

29ft Felthams Bermudan Cutter, 1929Pitch pine, teak decks.

BMC eng. Accom for 4. Lawrence Sails.Suffolk £17,500

25ft Bawley Yacht, 1971John Leather design. Clicker.

Built by Cyril White. Saab eng.Well kept & maintained. Gaff rig.

Essex £11,500

30ft Nicholson Sloop, 1939IRC 6m, Camper & Nicholson.

Mahogany on oak. Yanmar 12hp eng. Complete inventory. 4 berths.

Suffolk £14,950

10.5m Francis Jones Sloop, 1960Offshore cruiser. Cardnell Bros built.

Teak on Oak. Wheel steering. ’07 Beta eng. In dry store.

Scotland £23,750

9m Fred Parker Sloop, 1961Percy See built as a “one off”.

Mahogany on Oak. Very kindly sea boat. Complete inventory.

Essex £14,950

24ft Warrington Smythe Sloop, 1965Pitch-pine on oak, elm, copper

fastened. Afromosia transom, Oak floors.Mermaid 3cyl. 4 berths. Quality yacht, built Falmouth. Southampton £13,500

27ft Roach Class Cutter, 1965Maurice Griffith. Rock Elm.

Laid teak decks. Re-rigged ’05. Ratsey & Lapthorne sails.

Brittany £12,500

Yatching World 5t, 1949Robert Clark design, built Cardnell Bros.

Teak on Oak, ply decks. Bermudian. Dolphin eng.

Essex £10,000

9.4m Gaff Cutter 1990GRP hull, inboard, open cockpit,

forward cabin, 2 berths. Traditional rig, fix keel. Full tent awning.

N.Essex £19,500

27ft Spitzgatter Cutter, 1939Internally reworked.

Prize winning presentation. Pitch pine on Oak hull. Volvo eng.

Greenwich £12,500

27ft Laurent Giles Vertue, 1973Australian built.

Gaff Rigged.New rig. Yanmar GM10.

Essex £12,600

22ft Nicholson Dayboat, 1910Gaff Rig, Gowens ’08 sails.

Pitch pine, lead keel. Much restored. Essex £8,500

27ft Knud Reimers Tumlare, 1937Good sailing capabilities.

Cradle, outboard. In good order.

Pembrokeshire OFFERS IRO £6,000

25ft Folkboat K22, 1995Apprentice built. Outboard,

Carvel wooden hull. 2 berths, 4ft 6ins h’drm. Suffolk £4,950

12ft McNulty KielderGRP wood trim.

Gaff rig, Road trailer, 2.5 hp outboard. Pair oars.

N.Essex £3,250

MJ LEWIS FP OCT14.indd 1 28/08/2014 09:30

CraftsmanshipCraftsmanship


Edited by Steffan Meyric Hughes: +44 (0)207 349 3758 Email: [email protected]

IPSWICH, SUFFOLKStella restored

BRISTOL

£4 million Underfall Yard expansion

CHESHIRE

Pinnace enhancement

The Stella Centaur, built in 1968 by Tucker Brown, was facing a slow death on the South Coast miles from home, when Woodbridge-based sailor Peter Dyson took her home for a keel-up restoration by Stella nut Tim Wood at Avocet Marine. She’s his 10th boat but first proper classic yacht, and Peter had wanted a Stella since childhood when a neighbour (Jimmy Myall for those with long memories) on Essex’s River Crouch ordered one for racing in the 1960s. The 25ft 9in (7.8m) clinker Folkboat derivative is now finished and about to launch. Centaur once belonged to AE 'Dickie' Bird, the sailor who, with Tucker Brown came up with the idea for the Stella class.

The first Dark Harbor 17.5 from Ben Jackson (YN, January) has been launched in the UK and he is offering similar boats for just £49,500. The Dark Harbor 17.5 is a once-popular one-design yacht from the great American designer BB Crowninshield who named it, like Herreshoff, after its waterline length – it’s actually just under 26ft (8m). She’s ‘knockabout’ rigged (gaff main with a single inboard jib) and her cuddy cabin sleeps two. The price is almost worryingly low, although Ben claims he can make some profit on it. The build is strip/epoxy cedar on laminated mahogany ring frames and plywood bulkheads, all sheathed in epoxy-saturated glass. The boat weighs 1.5 tonnes and carries 311sqft (29m2) of sail.

The Underfall Yard is one of the lesser known gems of Bristol, but if things go to plan that is about to change. Named after the sluices that control the water level in the docks, with it’s patent slipway, Underfall is already home to several well known and thriving marine businesses, but there is plenty of room to expand and no lack of ambition. Although the majority of the tenants on site concentrate on classic boats and include three boatbuilders, two riggers, a marine engineering firm and a fabricator / blacksmith, it also hosts a composites manufacturer. The yard as a whole is a Scheduled Ancient Monument, thanks to a unique collection of industrial machinery and buildings originally constructed in the 1880s to service and maintain the monumental apparatus of Bristol’s “floating dock”, in

which the visionary genius of Isambard Kingdom Brunel had a hand. The Trust who now run the yard applied for Heritage Lottery Funding (following their initial successful bid in 2012) and in March 2014 were awarded £3m, provided they found a further £1m. By August, thanks to huge efforts, the Trust were within £100,000 of their target. If they succeed, the yard will doubtless become busier and better known.

An Aussie-built replica of a 1909 British naval pinnace is undergoing a full refit to equip her for the 21st century. The 42ft (12.8m) craft, in the superlative and now rare boatbuilding timber Huon pine, was built in Sydney in 1975 to ply the famous harbour under steam. By 1978 she’d been shipped to her spiritual home of Britain. She’s had various lay-outs and owners over the years, including the engineer Alex Ritchie, Richard Branson’s ballooning co-pilot and part of the team behind the supersonic car Thrust SSC. She has spent the last decade of her life on the hard in the rain, but the Huon pine has survived intact. She’s now been taken on by engineer Elliott Hopkins, who has been working on the boat, originally named Gollywog, for 14 months in a shed in Cheshire. He has kept the very authentic-looking wheelhouse added by Alex Ritchie in the 80s and is fitting a new interior (pretty much a blank canvas for an owner to complete), diesel power and air-conditioning, to give it all the mod cons for a practical cruising motor yacht for the 21st century. Alex is not a boatbuilder, but previous jobs have included hand-built cars and supercharging Merlin engines.

SUFFOLK, UK

Dark Harbor launched

Yard News

XXXX

XXXX

XXX

C/O

TH

E BU

ILD

ER

C/O

TH

E O

WN

ER

THEO

RYE

C/O

BEN

JAC

KSO

N

CB316 Yard News.indd 80 01/09/2014 15:33


CRAFTSMANSHIP

HUFF OF ARKLOW

Soon to re-launch

IRELAND

Irish catboat for ConnemaraCatboats are not exclusive to American’s eastern seaboard, as the latest community boatbuilding project from Jim Horgan of the Galway School of Boatbuilding proves. He has recently built and launched, with the help of two local volunteers, a 12ft (3.7m) by 6ft (1.8m) centreboard catboat to an altered 1895 design by Dubliner W Ogilvy.

The fi rst one is larch planked, some of which required steaming into place. Jim concedes it’s not an easy boat to build, but that has not stopped a volunteer group in Bray, south of Dublin, from taking on the building of fi ve. Jim is establishing a sailing and rowing club in Connemara and this will be the one-design to complement it. With 100sqft (9.3m2) of sail it's “exciting to sail, full of movement” said Jim and, despite the beam, reportedly good to row. He has named the fi rst one Bulstrode after the "very bold" barge in Thomas and the Tank Engine.

One of the world's most distinctive yachts will return to element in September, when U� a Fox’s Hu� of Arklow is launched from Cornwall’s Mashfords Yard. She’s seen an extensive restoration by Cremyll Keelboats thanks, in part, to a £40,200 grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund. She’s a ‘Flying 30’ and is as singular in appearance now as she must have been in 1951 when she was built. Back then, she was the world’s fi rst masthead-rigged sloop and the fi rst planing ocean-going yacht.

All yachting nations have their milestones and in New Zealand’s case, Johnny Wray’s Ngataki and his 1930s book South Sea Vagabonds turned the lights on for many would-be ocean cruisers, reports Chad Thompson. Nowadays there are thousands sailing the Pacifi c but then Ngataki was on her own taking her self-taught skipper and mates to remote Pacifi c islands, cruising 58,000nM in total.

The stories of his cruising exploits are the stu� of dreams; but of equal interest is the tale of how he designed and built the 35-footer (10.7m) himself from 1932-3, scrounging fl otsam kauri, crockery from the scuttled

sailing ship the Rewa and fastenings from fencing wire boiled in tar scraped o� the roads.

Debbie Lewis continued cruising Ngataki around the world for 25 years after Johnny sold her, then donated the good ship to the Tino Rawa Trust in Auckland. After a four-year restoration involving a variety of NZ boatbuilders and Yachting Developments Ltd, she was relaunched in July. She is now ready for another 75 years of sailing under the care of the Trust with Debbie as skipper.

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

Vagabond returns

XXXXX XXXXXXX XXXXXXC/O THE TINO RAWA TRUST

C/O

GA

LWAY

SCH

OO

L O

F BO

ATBU

ILID

NG

CB A

RCH

IVES

For more yard news and building techniques, go to classicboat.co.uk and search ‘yard news’

CB316 Yard News.indd 81 01/09/2014 15:33

1


Boatbuilder’s NotesCRAFTSMANSHIPCRAFTSMANSHIP

story and photographs robin gates a vintage wooden plane is a joy to use once you know how it works. rather like an old gaffer set up using blocks and tackles, it has none of the screw adjustments and levers of its more modern counterparts and relies for its efficiency entirely on the eye and feel of the user. the parts are few and simple, just a solid beech wood stock, a tapered iron and an oppositely tapered wooden wedge. here’s how to set one up using a jack plane as an example.

diy advice

expertadvice

how to stop the deck spreading

boatbuilding advice from naval architect John perryman Frina

aLL

ph

oto

gra

phs

By r

oBI

n g

atEs

Using a vintage woody

1 Flattening a piece of elm with the jack plane

2 the ‘double’ iron consists of a thick, tapered blade and a cap iron which breaks each shaving immediately after cutting to prevent tear-out

3 For finer shavings set the cap iron closer to the cutting edge. around 1/16 inch from the edge is good for a jack plane

4 With the plane on a flat surface insert the double iron and then the wedge using only finger pressure

5 With a finger on the cutting edge adjust the depth of cut by tapping the top of the iron with a small hammer

6 Check how far the iron is extended by sighting along the sole. note the jack plane iron has a slight camber

7 If the iron is set too coarsely it can be backed out a smidgen by tapping with a mallet above

2 3 4

5

6

7

CB316 BB Notes.indd 82 01/09/2014 14:34


CRAFTSMANSHIP

Panel gaugestory and PhotograPhs ROBIN GATES

Whether with saw, plane or chisel it’s usually better to cut to a scribed line than one drawn with a pencil because it is more durable and even if the line is hidden by dust you can still feel it with your fingernail. If you cut to a scribed line you will also achieve a cleaner edge because the scribing instrument will have severed the surface fibres. For scribing lines on narrow boards a small Victorian threaded beam gauge would be just the tool, but for scribing wider boards something larger and more stable is required: the panel gauge.

The task may be to rip the waney edge (formed by the exterior of the tree from which is it cut) from a plank fresh from the sawmill, cut a thwart to width or perhaps size panels for a framed cabin door, for any of which the beam of a standard marking gauge would prove too short and its stock too small to provide a stable reference for the spur which does the scribing. With its wide stock and long beam – up to 30in (760mm) is not unusual

Traditional Tool

– the panel gauge tracks the edge of the board like a proa with a following wind, while its knife-edged spur slices a tidy wake along the grain.

Helping to keep the gauge on course is a rebate cut in one side of the stock, so that it sits squarely on the arris of the board and the user can push down firmly on it while the beam is maintained at a fixed height. The beam, meanwhile, is locked at the desired length by a captive wedge between it and the stock. If the beam is extended far it may be necessary to place a steadying hand above the spur

to prevent it juddering or being steered by swerving grain.

This is a fairly typical 19th-century panel gauge with stock and beam in fine-grained mahogany, chosen for its dimensional stability, and the stock shaped not just ergonomically for the thumb and forefinger of the pushing hand but with a flourish that makes it both efficient and a joy to use. The spur’s mounting block, which is dovetailed into the beam, and the captive wedge, are in dense boxwood, a pale timber once used extensively in gauges, rules and levels.

Clockwise from above: The stock is

ergonomically

shaped – and note

the Victorian

threaded beam

gauge in the

background;

The spur is

sharpened to a

knife edge;

A boxwood wedge

locks the beam.

Note the rebate in

the stock

roBI

n g

atEs

roBIn gatEs

CB316 BB Notes.indd 83 01/09/2014 14:34


Style and class of a bygone eraBuilt today

www.staryachts.co.uk • +44 (0)7866-705181

WINNER

PowerboatSPONSORED BY

PH

OT

O: S

imo

n E

ver

ett

16 18 22 27 29

BUY BRITISH, BUY QUALITY,

BUY Jeckells SAILS

YEARCRUISING SAILGUARANTEE

T: +44(0)1603 782223 E: [email protected] W: jeckells.co.ukJeckells of Wroxham Ltd, The Sail Loft, Station Road, Wroxham NR12 8UT

We’ve been making sails since 1832, so nobody knows more about sail design and production. We offer exceptional quality and service at an affordable price.

VISIT USAT THE

SOUTHAMPTON BOAT SHOW,

STAND G004

JECK244-Classic Boat - 99w x 129d.indd 1 05/08/2014 14:50

www.perilla.co.uktel: 01886 853615

for the finest British Alpaca socks

84_CB_1014.indd 84 02/09/2014 11:43


CRAFTSMANSHIP

2

4

When Charlie Wroe fi rst talked to his boss (the owner of Mariette) about a new restoration project, he was sure about two things: the work would be done in the

Falmouth area – home to Mariette and Charlie’s family – and not by an established yard. By renting a shed and putting his own team together he was sure he would get “a top quality job for less money than we could get a yard to do it”.

Ashley Butler had recently moved to Gweek at the top of the Helford River and his open yard policy and “very can-do attitude” suited Charlie’s requirements so Kelpie was taken there. Her 9ft 6in (2.9m) draft presented certain diffi culties and Charlie thinks she may be the biggest boat to go to Gweek for quite some time. This was solved with the help of fl otation bags attached by one of Mariette’s deckhands diving under the boat.

Charlie managed the restoration himself, but he needed an experienced lead boatbuilder to help supervise the work and “provide the expertise and knowledge that I didn’t have, particularly with regard to wooden boat construction.” He recruited Ken Wilkinson, not least because of a favourable reference from CB editor Dan Houston, whose family boat Neresis Ken had restored. When Kelpie’s restoration was completed, Charlie said that Ken “has done an absolutely brilliant job”. But many others worked on the boat, up to a peak of 22 in March 2014, when the deadline of the spring tides was looming, and Ken was just as complimentary about them.“Everyone who has worked on Kelpie loves her and everybody’s tried their best to keep the quality as good as they can,” he said,

“She is one of those boats that gets under your skin.”

Charlie’s role as project manager was demanding on top of his position as captain of Mariette. The situation was eased by Trevor Murphy, Kelpie’s delivery skipper on her voyage from San Francisco, who relieved Charlie on Mariette whenever the owner wasn’t on board. Trevor was also able to help with the restoration, with the invaluable knowledge he had from sailing her 8,500 miles.

Charlie found Cornwall was enriched with the kind of companies the project needed, in particular joinery construction and metal fabrication, but the project also benefi tted from Stones Marine Timber in Salcombe who supplied almost all of the solid timber.

When Charlie fi rst came across Kelpie, she had very little historical information or documentation with her, in the way that she might have had if she had been from the board of a more recognised designer such as Fife or Herreshoff. “Through Facebook we found a whole load of American friends who are all absolutely nuts about Kelpie, and more information and photos came our way,” he says. Kelpie’s owner is full of praise for the team who restored her. “Gweek was probably the best place to fi nd such a dedicated and competent bunch of guys who so love giving new life to a classic yacht,” he said.

“The success of the Kelpie restoration is mostly down to Charlie’s remarkable ability to put together a bunch of people working together as a motivated team.”

Original story CB 314. Next month... the hull

Pulling togetherCharlie Wroe takes on the restoration of the 75ft (23m) Sweisguth schooner KelpieSTORY AND PICTURES BY NIGEL SHARP

KelpieRestoration

part 1

Clockwise from left: Charlie Wroe;

Some of the team,

including Ken

Wilkinson (back

left) and Charlie

Wroe (back right);

Going into the

shed for work to

begin.

Inset: Flying all

canvas (CB314)

CB316 Kelpie Pt1.indd 85 01/09/2014 15:29


4

I love boatbuilding colleges. Every time I visit one I start to dream: ‘Could I do this? Could I start working with my hands producing something as beautiful as an open wooden boat, clinkered up strong to be seaworthy and

long lasting?’ I’m not sure if it’s the smell of the freshly shaved larch or the array of well kept tools or just the atmosphere of activity which have such a positive effect but it seems a very life-enhancing thing to do. Could be life-changing too. CB publishing consultant Martin Nott trained at BBA after a career in motor sport publishing – he is now a Cowes-based boatbuilder/restorer.

Visiting the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis in early June is a treat. It’s the day before the 18 students on the full time nine-month course (September 2013) are christening their boats – at a special ceremony where they all walk the boats down to the harbour and launch them.

The event draws a crowd and this year was attended by the famous furniture maker John Makepeace. It’s a celebration of some extremely hard work; the students on the 38-week course have learned the skills, chosen their design, procured the materials and built and painted the boat. So it’s not surprising that for the day of my visit the place is alive with energy as the projects near completion – there’s nothing like a deadline for getting things done and this is actually a relevant part of the course in preparing students for the outside world of work – if that is their chosen path; for any realistic chance of success, boats built or restored in the real world need to be fi nished within a time-frame and to a budget.

There are usually around nine boats being fi nished at this stage and this year they range from a paddle board to a 20ft (6m) cabin trailer sailer – a Roger Dongray Golant

New waveMake a sailing boat in six months from scratch? How do you achieve that? Lyme Regis Boat Building Academy can teach you

STORY DAN HOUSTON PHOTOGRAPHS JENNY STEER

CRAFTSMANSHIPCRAFTSMANSHIP

BOAT BUILDING ACADEMY

LYME REGIS

CB316 BBA Lyme Regis.indd 86 01/09/2014 16:27


CRAFTSMANSHIP

9

Ketch design which is being finished, in 9mm clinker ply, by Keith McIlwain, a sailmaker from Suffolk. Keith’s plan is to base himself in Bristol and build boats like this, calling his business Daydream boats.

Keith is a mature student and clearly had a well-defined view of what he needed from the boatbuilding course before he joined. Next to Keith’s boat is a Whitehall Skiff type 18ft (5.6m) beach cruiser which has been adapted for sail and oar by designer Don Kurylko. Tony Corke and Reuben Thompson were putting the finishing touches onto this open yawl made of strip-plank western red cedar which they only started in January. Most boats are built from scratch, lofted on the college floors and then completed, typically with two or three students working to a boat, and to this six month deadline.

It’s impressive, Tony and Reuben, who were off to

Mussett Engineering (F1 cars!) in Norfolk and Cockwells Boatbuilding in Cornwall respectively at the end of the course, said they had been in the shed until 0345 that morning, painting their skiff. “It was the only time there wasn’t dust everywhere,” they explained cheerfully.

In the last 18 years the BBA has supplied a steady stream of ‘apprentices’ to the burgeoning classic boat industry. They might go, like Reuben, to Cockwells at Mylor, Falmouth in Cornwall – a yard which has built a reputation for fine traditional craft built with traditional methods and materials, or they might go to somewhere like Spirit Yachts at Ipswich which has an equally enviable reputation building distinctive spirit of tradition yachts in more modern wood epoxy materials.

Yvonne Green, who took over as principal seven years ago explained that the BBA nine-month course provides

Clockwise from top left: David

Rainbow’s 12ft

Gartside clinker

dinghy; James

Dickson’s 12ft 6in

Selway Fisher

Coble; Keith Bowers

15ft Ranger canoe;

paddle board in

wood; BBA founder

Tim Gedge; Richard

Lyford’s 14ft 6in

sailing canoe

For more photographs of the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis visit www.classicboat.co.uk



CRAFTSMANSHIP

Clockwise from above: projects

can be very

ambitious. This is

a Roger Dongray

Golant ketch;

Tony Corke and

Reuben Thompson

with their skiff; the

class of September

2013 with

instructors

the necessary skill set to start a career as a boatbuilder. “We are not sending people out as fully-forged

shipwrights by any means but I hope we send them out with a level of skills that take them quickly beyond the tea-making phase of an apprenticeship... They should also realise that the tea-making phase is a possibility...”

The idea of building a range of boats in a short time overseen by two or three instructors has served the college well since it was founded in 1996 by Lieutenant Commander Tim Gedge RN – a Falklands Fleet Air Arm Squadron Leader.

The process allows many disciplines to be taught, from making a half model to planing planks, roving, building in strip plank or with the vacuum bag technique. And almost all of it takes place on the shop floors: “Our course is 94 per cent practical, six per cent theory,” Yvonne points out.

Students also often live on site in the college facilities which may sound like a hothouse atmosphere but it’s a way of totally immersing themselves in the shared experience of this course – which costs £13,950, plus living expenses. Some means-tested bursaries are available to help with costs.

Students do restore boats at BBA and Dan Curgenven’s restoration of a 1946 cold moulded vosper Thornycroft launch (with 18,000 staple fastenings) was a project that did not launch. He hopes to finish it soon.

BBA also offers short courses and a 12 week furniture making course on a similar City and Guilds structure (level 3). A current bugbear is that non-EU students were recently barred from studying the long course and Yvonne says this seriously affects BBA’s and similar colleges’ viability. We plan a special report on this subject next month. After all this is a place that needs to be celebrated; when can I go?

DAN HOUSTON

DAN HOUSTON


Above: Nestaway Pram dinghy. Inset (top) shows Pramdismantled and nested together, upside down on deck

Left: Nautiraid Coracle 300, sailing version.Far left: Coracle 250. Inset to text: Coracle 250 folded

Below: DinghyGo 275 sailing inflatable.Inset: also makes a practical motoring tender

NAUTIRAID Folding BoatsNautiraid has been around nearly 80 years:their folding Coracle Dinghies utilise a fan-like joint that was patented in the 1940s. Whilst the frame has changed little since,fabric technology has, so the skins are now Hypalon (rather than oiled canvas), withsubtly integrated tubes around the gunwhales for buoyancy and heeled stability.Besides folding up, their most notable feature isweight, or lack of it. The 8ft modelweighs just 57-lb. The smallest 6ftvariant is lighter still andwhen folded up will fit downa spare bunk. All three rowwell and will plane underpower when lightly loaded.Sailing rigs are available for the 250and 300 (10ft) models. Prices from £1,550._________________________________________________________________________

MOREINFO

Sailing Tenders, Summer FunChoosing the right tender can make a big difference to your lifeafloat. It must be a practical workhorse, to carry stores and crewfrom ship to shore. It must be easy to stow and deploy. And,whilst a sailing rig is not on everyone’s must-have list, it’s great fun in harbour...if you can keep the kids or grand-kids happy, they’ll want to come again.

There are many solutions to the storage problem, and this is what we live andbreath. Besides our own Nestaway UK-made range of sectional nesting dinghies,we are also UK importers for the Nautiraid skin-on-frame foldingCoracles from France, and DinghyGo sailing inflatables from Holland._________________________________________________________________________

NESTAWAY Sectional BoatsThe 8ft Nestaway Pram Dinghy has a two-piece nesting hull - stored length 4ft 8” -that joins together, tool-free, with hooks and oversize bolts in less than two minutes.The bulkheads at the joints are well above the waterline, so each section will float -it’s like two small boats joined together, to make one useful one. The lugsail rig has alow centre of effort for stability, and she scoots along under oars. We also make a 9fttwo-piece clinker dinghy, and a three-piece 14 footer. Prices from £1950._________________________________________________________________________

www.nestawayboats.comTel: 0800 999 2535

SEE US AT SOUTHAMPTON BOAT SHOW

DINGHYGO Sailing InflatablesA lot of testing has gone into the DinghyGo boats, and they sail surprisingly well. Extralarge tubes make the hull notably stiff, so they can have a freestanding mast (for quickassembly), and there is a proper daggerboard slot for windward performance. Thosetubes also give exceptional stability - handy when loading stores, reassuring whensailing. The inflatable V-shape floor means they will plane under power, with motorsfrom 3.5-8 hp. Prices from £2,300 (including sailing rig).

Untitled-7 1 13/06/2014 10:27

Adrian MorganCRAFTSMANSHIP


Other People’s Boats can take over your life in this game. So when the chance comes for a boat builder to work on his own boat, even dare I say

sail her, he should grab that chance. And it only took a few words from my current project’s owner – “Change of plan. I won’t be needing her finished this season. Take your time” – for me to down tools and head across the loch to poor, neglected Sally, lying at her mooring. No more long days in the workshop while good sailing (or painting) weather went to waste. Like a schoolboy told that the old dump had burnt to the ground days before term starts, it was whoop-de-doo and off into the woods to climb trees (or in my case, down to the water side).

And thus on a warm Tuesday in August you would have found me tucked into the corner of Sally’s small cockpit reading a book after three days of long overdue painting and scraping. Building other people’s boats can seriously get in the way of things, unless you get a lucky break, as I did. Or – and this is risky – decide to devote a period of time every year, without interruption, to your own boat, or boats as is invariably the case with boat builders, inveterate collectors of abandoned craft. The downside of which means no income. What the hell.

My little fleet has, incidentally, expanded by one this year to six, no, I tell a lie, seven (I inherited a deflated inflatable which only needs a couple of patches). It is not

as if I have a Colin Archer propped up beside the shed waiting for attention. There is Sally, of course, and I often feel a day apart from her is a day wasted. She is a 1937 (a good year as it was the birth of the Spitfire too) Laurent Giles 5 tonner (which became the Vertue class after the war) built of the very best materials by a very good yard in Christchurch. She has been with me for over 20 years, from the Solent and Brittany via the Firth of Forth to the far north of Scotland, and despite misgivings from time to time (mainly over how much use she gets) will never be sold. She is far too precious, and probably, if I am honest, far too valuable to keep in these wild waters. However I do my best every year to keep her looking good and can only hope she survives my ownership to enjoy a calm retirement somewhere down in the softer south in the hands of a loving and wealthy owner with a handy wooden boatyard nearby.

This year she had an engine overhaul, a chance to scrape out all the muck lying underneath. Last year her mast was plucked and

revarnished. In short, one major job every now and again with a sprucing up between times. A bit like what they did with Kentra, a Fife ketch that dropped anchor in the bay this season, except that a full varnish job for her takes six months. Six months. Sally’s varnish work takes six hours. Topsides and decks rather less. Sally’s locker contains a tin of Coo-Var Yacht and Seaplane Varnish (good stuff); a tin of grey deck paint and gloss white Toplac. And a tin of light blue for the coachroof. That’s about it. When I leaf through the pages of waxes, polishes, stain removers and protectors peddled by merchants I think myself fortunate that Sally needs so little in the way of maintenance. “But she’s a wooden boat. That means plenty of work, no?” Well, no. Polish Sally’s topsides? Pah.

As for the other six (or was it seven) boats, in no particular order: Ffly, a Flying Fifteen, sail number 2796 (30 years old and still winning a few races); her tender, a John Westell (505 designer) Tippy, plans available from Classic Boat; another Tippy (Sally’s tender) truncated to fit on her foredeck; a Bonwitco With runabout with a 8hp Yamaha (whooosh, dare I say my favourite boat?); a Laser I bought new in 1986 and still shiny; a GRP clinker rowing boat, rescued off the beach, patched and painted and finally that Bombard inflatable needing only two patches…believe that if you will.

One more on the fleetAdrian finds time to give his ‘own’ boats some affection

“Building other people’s boats seriously gets in the way”

Cha

rlo

tte

wat

ters

CB316 Adrian Morgan.indd 90 01/09/2014 14:28


Looking ahead

20 SEPTEMBERYare Navigation RaceNorfolk BroadsTel: +44 (0)1603 43150932-mile passage race and thrills and spills in the biggest yacht race on the Norfolk Broads.

27 SEPTEMBERGreat River RaceThames, LondonTel: +44 (0)208 398 8141greatriverrace.co.ukColourful, 300-boat, 21-M rowing race from London Docklands to Ham, Surrey

NEXT MONTHThings to do in the next few weeks

IN THE LATEST ISSUE

Exploration 45 – is it the ultimate blue-water boat?

Wi-Fidelity – stay online at sea

Swanwick Marina – aerial guide

Powerless – the joy of cruising under sail alone

IN THE LATEST ISSUE

Flying high – secrets of the foiling Moths

Follow the Volvo – the full inside story

Commodore’s Cup – the Irish triumph

From the publishers of Classic Boat

sailingtoday.co.uk OctOber 2014 16

Swanwick MarinaSKIPPER’S GUIDE

GULL’S EYE


SAILIN

G TO

DAY

POWERLESSThe joys of cruising under sail alone

ESSEX RIVERSPubs, barges and mud on the lovely east coast

THEN AND NOWHow did they cope with 1940s nav technology?

DOCTOR ABOARDThe medical kit you shouldn’t sail without

OC

TOBER 2014 – ISSU

E Nº 210

OCTOBER 2014 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20

Boat Show brief What’s hot at Southampton

9771367586100

10

Total cruiserExploration 45: the ultimate all-rounder?

ON TEST

Desolation SoundAdventure where boats meet bears

TECHNICAL

Stay online anywhereStay online anywhereWi-FidelityD

ESOLATIO

N SO

UN

D • ESSEX

• GA

RCIA

EXPLO

RATION

45 • SWA

NW

ICK

• MED

ICA

L KIT

ST210_001 V6.indd 1 19/08/2014 16:25ST210 What'sOn V2.indd 16 22/08/2014 09:42

– aerial guide

the foiling Moths

inside story

Irish triumph

£4.30Issue #1678 | October 2014


YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



9 7 7 0 0 4 4 0 0 0 2 0 5

1 0

OC

TOBER

2014 | ISSU

E #1678 W

WW

.YAC

HTSA

ND

YAC

HTIN

G.C

O.U

K

Sailing holidays to remember for all ages

FAMILY TRAVELNew boats and latest kit at Southampton 2014

SHOW SPECIALLDC’s super-light new singlehanded dinghy

RS AERO TESTMore schools offer sailing than you might think…

SAILING LESSONS

VO

LVO

OC

EAN

RAC

E PREVIEW

| C

OW

ES WEEK REPO

RT |

RS AERO

TEST | M

OTH

WO

RLDS

FOLLOWTHEVOLVORunners and riders + full inside story IRISH

TRIUMPHCommodores’ Cup

winners tell all

FLYING HIGH

Secrets of the spectacular

foiling Moths

The world’s biggest regattaCOWES WEEK7 PAGES OF PHOTOS

1678 Cover (1)_v3.indd 1 22/08/2014 09:00

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

WIANNO SENIORFuture President John Kennedy was given one for his 15th birthday and now the class is 100 years old. Join CB in wishing them a happy anniversary

SUMURUNThe life of this Fife ketch as she reaches her centenary. She’s still winning events and has been owned by one man for nearly 40 years

KELPIE PART 2 Continuing our winter series of restoration with this schooner which was brought to Gweek Quay in Cornwall for the 18-month task

PLUS Visiting Finland where they are going nuts for Metre boats, onboard the Bessie Ellen and more...

NOVEMBER ON SALE10 October 2014 (or why not subscribe?)

TOP

TO B

OTT

OM

: NIG

EL S

HA

RP; B

ILLY

BLA

CK; T

IM W

RIGH

T

It’s all about the river12 SEPTEMBER – 12 OCTOBEROpen-air screenings of specially-commissioned fi lms will be taking place along the river Tamar at at stately homes to dockyards. The fi lms explore the history of the Tamar and its people. This is a major project and includes work from leading fi lm-makers. itsallabouttheriver.org.uk

PETE

R W

ILLI

S

C/O

TH

E O

RGA

NIS

ERS

12-21 SEPTEMBERSouthampton Boat showSouthampton, HampshireTel: +44 (0)1784 473377southamptonboatshow.comCB and our sister magazines Sailing Today and Yachts & Yachting will be there, so come and meet us at stand E010A. Britain’s leading boat show.

See us at stand E010

A

SOUTHAMPTON 2014

15 OCTOBERThe Shipwright LecturesTurner Simms Hall, University of SouthamptonContact [email protected] lecture now in its fourth year, for trainee shipwrights. Speakers include Matt Sheahan on marine electronics and deaf circumnavigator Gerry Hughes.

17-21 SEPTEMBERDorestad RaidNr Amsterdam, NetherlandsNatuurlijkvaren.nlRaiding on Dutch waters.

Royal Society of Marine Artists Annual Exhibition15-26 October, London, rsma-web.co.uk. The big marine art show; a must-see. The above painting of Shamrock by Brian Jones was last year’s CB winner

CB316 Looking ahead.indd 91 02/09/2014 15:18

MARINE DIRECTORY


Marine Directory To advertise Call Patricia Hubbard +44 (0) 207 349 3748 [email protected]


BOATBUILDERS

visit www.classicboat.co.uk

Skippool Creek, Wyre Road, Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancs FY5 5LF • Telephone: 01253 893830www.davidmossboatbuilders.co.uk

DAVID MOSS BOATBUILDERSQuality boatbuilding in wood 8’-50’, clinker, carvel or strip-plank,

spar-making, painting , welding, lay-up facilities Repairs - Restorations

25ft canoe yawl

31ft gaff cutter now building

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

For details, visit the website:conradnatzio.fi retrench.com

or contact15 Lanyard Place, Woodbridge,Suffolk IP12 1FETel/Fax: (01394) 383491E-mail: [email protected]

CONRAD NATZIOBoatbuilder

Ryan Kearley 3x1.indd 1 4/1/11 9:52:27 AM

ALAN S.R. STALEY

• Shipwright• Boat Building• Spar Maker• Repair & Restoration

of wooden boats• Surveys of wooden ships

Tel: 01795 530668 www.alanstaleyboatbuilders.co.uk

wwwwww..vviivviieerrbbooaattss..ccoomm

Boats plans tomake the seamorebeautiful

Rowing Boats, Sailing DinghiesMotor Launches

New Mayflower Dinghy availableFowey, Cornwall

07973 420568www.woodenboatbuilder.co.uk

Marcus LewisWooden Boatbuilder

HARBOUR MARINE SERVICES LTD

www.harbourmarine.co.uk • [email protected]: 01502 724721 • Blackshore, Southwold Harbour, Suffolk IP18 6TA

• Boatbuilding and Design• Refit and Restoration• Repair and Maintenance• Spar Making and Rigging• Marine Electronics Supply

& Install

• New Electrical Installations and Re-design

• Marine Engineering• Engine Rebuild and Repair• Osmosis Treatment and

Re-spray

• Teak Deck Repair and Renovation

• Delivery and Collection• Awlgrip Application Centre• Winter Lay-up• Well stocked chandlery

PEOPLE WHO LOVE

CLASSICBOATS

Directory OCT14.indd 92 02/09/2014 12:51

MARINE DIRECTORY


The Marine Directory is the place to advertise

Call now on +44 (0)207 349 3748

BOATBUILDERS

DESIGN

BOAT YARD

BOAT YARD

Gosport Boat YardHarbour Road, Gosport, Hants. PO12 1BJ

Tel: 02392 586216/ 526534Email: [email protected]

Cranage & storage, including catamaran lifts.All types of repairs – including GRP, Insurance repairs,

marine engineers – Beta agent. Masts.Deep water swinging moorings.Week-end Special Offer Ashore.

Friendly and professional service.

Visit our web site at www.selway-fisher.com

to view our ever increasing range of boat designs including canoes, dinghies and

dayboats, yachts and launches plus construction manuals, DVD’s and CD’s.

SELWAY FISHER DESIGN 15 King St, Melksham, SN12 6HB

Tel. 01225 705074 Email: [email protected]

5 new designs added so far in 2014

+44 (0)1628 824382www.peterfreebody.com

Peter Freebody & CoPeter Freebody & CoPeter Freebody & CoBoatbuilders, Designers & Restorersof Traditional River Launches

A fi ne selection of classic launches for sale Moorings availableEst 300 yearsMill Lane, Hurley,

Berks, SL6 5ND

JOHN MOOR & SONYacht and Boatbuilders

builders of fine wooden boats since 1970

The BoatYard East Quay Mevagissey Cornwall PL26 6QQTel. 01726 842964 Mob. 07776317475

Email. [email protected]

Clinker Plywood Boats for amateur buildersCatalogue £12Clinker Plywood Boatbuilding Manual £23 airmail

Struan Cottage, Bearnisdale, Isle of Skye 1V51 9NSTel: 01470 532732

Staithe Road, Barton Turf, Norwich, Norfolk NR12 8AZwww.coxsboatyard.co.uk • [email protected] • 01692 536206

Long-established boatyard, repairs, restorations and refi ts for traditional and modern boats,

winter laying-up, storage and cranage.

EQUIPMENT

Traditionally carved

decorative work for all craft

Interior decoration - Sculptures - Gilding - Restoration

Trailboards - Sternboards - Billetheads

Tafferels to Figureheads

tel. +44 (0)7836 32 34 31

000_CLB_MARITIMA 3/6/08 08:25 Page 1

Echomax 230iInflatable radar reflectorweighs just 420grms anddeflates to pocket size.Recorded an astonishingmaximum response of25.6m2more than twicethe ISAF, RORC, ORCand WCC requirements.Certified response diagramfor the race scrutineer.Optional GF kit for dingyor liferaft.

The only one to be seen with...Active-XSActive-XSEchomax

FCCCertification ID:XZMACTIVE-XS

For 5 year use at seaof the 230i check outwww.Panbo.com

Echomax, PO Box 6032, Dunmow, CM6 3AS, UK.Tel: 00 44 (0) 1371 830216 email: [email protected]

State of the Art Active Radar Reflectorreturns a clear consistant amplifiedresponse to radar which helps ensureyou are seen earlier and in poorweather: multiple below and abovedeck alarms – consumes only 23mAon stand by – An RTE is a preferredoption in ISAF Rules 2012-13.Full specification available at www.echomax.co.uk

Echomax Press Ad Classic Boat 2012:Layout 1 18/7/12 12:09 Page

Voted best buy PBO Sept 10


MARINE DIRECTORY


EQUIPMENT MASTS

Noble MastsHollow Wooden SparsHarbour Way, Bristol, BS1 5UH, UKT: 07967 993 298 • E: [email protected] Patent No. 2112706

INSURANCE

Yacht InsuranceClassic Boat & Motorboat Specialists

SY ‘Rhea’ – 1900 Topsail Schooner Insurances by Simon Winter Marine

Simon Winter Marine Limited is an Appointed Representative of Winter & Co (Marine) LtdWinter & Co (Marine) Ltd is authorised and regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority

For a quotation please call

0844 988 6134www.simonwintermarine.co.uk

MATTRESSES

MOORING

www.weir-quay.com

WEIR QUAY BOATYARDDeepwater moorings and storageMasters in all marine trades

Traditional boatyard in Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, South Devon

01822 840474

Tel: 01359 251414Fax: 01359 250103

[email protected] Grove Ind Estate, Stanton,Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP31 2AR

Naturalmat Marine have been making the most comfortable custom mattresses for yachts and motorboats since 1999. Every mattress is tailor made to any size, shape and tension using renewable materials that guarantee perfect support and optimum breathability. Naturalmat Marine also make a full range of made to measure bed linen, bedspreads and bed base systems.

For more information contact us on 01392 877 247, email [email protected] or visit www.naturalmatmarine.co.uk.

naturalmatmarine

The finest mattresses afloat

Qu pg vertical NEW SHAPE.indd 1 28/07/2011 18:06

See us

at

Southa

mpton

Stand D

005

Windward

Hall 12

to 21

Septem

ber

89CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2010

Mar

ine

Dir

ecto

ry

Fastening & Fitting

Engines

Insurance

Masts & Spars


Rigging

Classified Marine directory DEC 10.indd 71 2/11/10 17:26:34




MARINE DIRECTORY


TIMBERRECRUITMENT SURVEYORS

Robbins Timber, Brookgate, Ashton Vale Trading Estate, Bristol, BS3 2UN, UK

l Tel: 0117 963 3136 l Fax: 0117 963 7927l Email: [email protected]

l www.robbins.co.uk

s Free Comprehensive Catalogue s We make Mail Order Easy! s All major cards accepted s Worldwide Mail Order s UK’s Widest Range!

• Elite Marine Plywood • Cedar Strip • Hardwoods & Softwoods• West System Epoxy • Collano Semparoc and other Adhesives• Copper, Silicon Bronze and Stainless Fastenings

TONY TUCKER30+ years experienced designer and

surveyor of traditional & modern, timber, GRP & steel craft, Pre-purchase, insurance,

valuation, damage, MCA Code of Practice Compliance; BSS, Uk and

abroad, Fellow member YDSA tel +44 (0)1442 253775 0788 201 6471

[email protected] www.tucker-designs.com

The Marine Directory is the place to advertise Call now on +44 (0)207 349 3748


H TIMBER HFULL RANGE OF TIMBER SUPPLIED AND

MACHINED TO YOUR SPECIFICATION

H LONG LENGTHS DOUGLAS FIR/SPRUCEH OAK BENDS H MAHOGANY H TEAK

H STRIP PLANKING AND CONSTRUCTIONAL VENEERS

JOHN MOODYT: 01548 831075 F: 01548 831440

[email protected]

LITTLE SHEEPHAM, MODBURYIVYBRIDGE, DEVON PL21 0TS

YACHT FITTINGS

APPRENTICES REQUIREDHarker’s Yard is a purpose-built training facility that provides apprenticeships and work experience for young people wanting to enter the marine industry. Working on real projects in a real working environment, apprentices learn the skills needed to work with a variety of materials on a range of craft. The yard specialises in the restoration of historic vessels and manufactures the popular cold-moulded wooden east coast rowing gig.Pioneer Sailing Trust is affiliated to Colchester Institute and also has an on-site classroom to deliver formal aspects of the apprenticeship. Apprentices gain a City and Guilds Diploma in Marine Construction, Systems Engineering and Maintenance (boat building) Pioneer Sailing Trust will be holding interviews in September/October for the next intake of apprentices. Please email your CV to [email protected] along with a cover letter, or call 01206 303373 for more information.

SAILS FOR SALE

Don’t miss our sister titles

£4.30

Issue #1666 | OCTOBER 2013


YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



9 770044 000205

1 0

OC

TOBER

2013 | ISSU

E #1666

WW

W.YA

CH

TSAN

DYA

CH

TING

.CO

.UK

CO

WES W

EEK 2013 | LO

UIS V

UITTO

N TA

LES | RISK V

S REWA

RD |

TEST: XP 33

Lessons from the Feva Worlds

Youth champions

HOW TO WIN

We put X-Yachts' new XP 33

through her paces

ON TESTRisk vs reward; Mark Rushall

looks at real race scenarios

TECHNIQUESpotlight on the talented

Sam Goodchild

RISING STARNew Zealand wins the

Louis Vuitton Cup

AMERICA'S CUP

NEW! SAILORS OF

THE MONTH

First winnersCowes WeekAll the highlights, plus battle

of the speed machines

SOUVENIR SPECIAL

1666 Cover (1)8.indd 1

28/08/2013 12:47

A SUBSCRIPTION MAKES THE

CHRISTMAS GIFT

when you order a subscription for a friend this Christmas

Perfect

Choose from these top sailing titles and

CHARLIE BARR

Mr America’s Cup

Teak on the Thames

Dayboat with a differenceFishermen’s friend The last tunnyboat

ORIENT EXPRESS Hong Kong schooner in full flow Morbihan

We visit the world’s greatest

small boat festival

EXCLUSIVE

GROWING OLD GRACEFULLY

Nellie sailing at 151SAILING SAFETY Man overboard

Classic Boat W

IN

trip to see

Lively Lady

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

CL

ASSIC

BO

AT

SO FO

NG

. CH

AR

LIE

BA

RR

. BIC

HE

. NE

LL

IE . M

AN

OV

ER

BO

AR

D

AU

GU

ST 2013 . ISSU

E N

o 302

i

AUGUST 2013

The complete sailing set

CLASSIC BOAT

Step aboard the

world’s most beautiful boats,

with restoration

advice, reviews

and information

about classic yacht

regattas worldwide.

GIVE A GIFT FROM JUST £38

(USUALLY £66)

JUNE 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING




Sailin

g To

daY

Jun

e 2013 – iSSue n

o 194

NOW

BIGGERBRIGHTER

BETTER

BATTERY POWERWet cell, AGM and gel

– on the test bench

DIESEL ELECTRICCould hybrid power be

the answer for you?BANE OR BOON?Paul & Rachel Chandler

love new technologyGULL’S EYEPull-out guide to Pwllheli,

in Snowdon’s shadow

AntarcticaExploring the last great wilderness in a GRP boat

Jeanneau’s nippy new 41DS is designed to be fun for twoEasy rider

Reef hopping

BOAT ON TEST

Get in among the rocks with our eyeball

navigation guide

The fastest sailor in the world

on cold toes and pizza

RocketmanINTERVIEW

an

TarC

TiCa

• FirST Cru

iSe • Jean

neau

41dS • PW

llheli • BaT

TerieS

NEW LOOK, NEW CONTENT

SAILING TODAY

Featuring new and

used boat tests,

interviews with

cruising enthusiasts

and expert assessment of the

latest equipment.


(USUALLY £66)

All gift subscriptions will commence with the fi rst issue published after Christmas.

www.chelseamagazines.com/marine-XM13P

( +44 (0)1795 419 842 quote code XM13PFastnet and America’s CupAntarctica and the BahamasTop yachts, must-have gear

YachtingYear

the

Fullguide to

events in2014

NEW!

P

Fastnet and America’s CupAntarctica and the Bahamas

Fullguide to

events inguide to

events inguide to

2014

YOUR FREE GIFT

Bahamian Rhapsody

may 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20

clothing guide Our picks of the top

gear for this season

downwind tricks

How to get the best

from your spinnakerrod & lu heikell

The cruising legends on

‘real’ adventure at seacruise to the isles

From Wales to Skye on

the whisky trail

exciting new look!

now

BiggeRBRighteR

BetteR

Southerly’s new 47 can cross oceans and dry out

Bluewater, lifting keel turkish sailing

holiday for four

exclusive test

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



We reveal the best kept secret in the Caribbean

Your handy guide to the gateway to the West Country

Delightful Dartgull’s eye RetuRns

win!

gO FurTHer I SaIl beTTer I be InSpIred

Sailin

g To

daY

maY 2013 – iSSu

e no 193

The Ba

ha

ma

S • Wh

iSkY C

ruiSe • So

uTh

erlY 47 • da

rTmo

uTh

• Clo

Thin

g g

uid

e

ST193 CoverV9 .indd 1

18/03/2013 10:01

VOYAGE TO THE GREAT LAKES

Aboard a Tall Ship

From Cowes to Barcelona

Summer on the sea

Fabulous Fifes Return to the Clyde

Tug on the heartstrings

New life for Dunkirk veteran

9 770950 331134

0 9

SUFFOLK SPLENDOUR Down the Deben

WARTIME WINDFALL

Luftwa e yacht


i

£4.50 US$12.50

SEPTEMBER 2013

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



CL

ASSIC

BO

AT

FIFE R

EG

AT

TA

. PEN

HIR

. PRID

E O

F BA

LTIM

OR

E . D

EB

EN

SEPT

EM

BE

R 2013 . ISSU

E N

o 303

CB303 Cover4.indd 1

29/07/2013 16:52

SAVE £28

Ma

y 2013

ww

w.ya

ch

tsan

dya

ch

ting

.co

.uk | Issu

e #1661

Summ

er race w

eeks | Long

-dista

nce ding

hy sailing

| Sail trim

secrets | Test: Salo

na 35 | Sa

iling's reco

rd b

reakers

www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk9 770044 000205

0 5

£4.30ISSUE N°1661MAY 2013

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



REGATTAGUIDEGet set for a fabulous

summer of racing

The boats and sailors taking on the worldRecord breakers

Trimming techniques

SAILING SECRETS

Family sailingIan Walker

Sailing in OmanDee Caffari

1661 Cover (1)_CG7.indd 1

23/03/2013 17:04

YACHTS & YACHTING

Featuring the latest boats and

gear, coaching tips

from top sailors,

interviews with world

champions, and full


(USUALLY £66)

PLUS WE’LL SEND YOU

THE YACHTING YEAR ANNUAL,

FREE!

Subscription.indd 3

26/09/2013 15:25

£4.30Issue #1666 | OCTOBER 2013www.yachtsandyachting.co.uk

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



9 770044 000205

1 0

OC

TOBER

2013 | ISSU

E #1666

WW

W.YA

CH

TSAN

DYA

CH

TING

.CO

.UK

CO

WES W

EEK 2013 | LO

UIS V

UITTO

N TA

LES | RISK V

S REWA

RD |

TEST: XP 33

Lessons from the Feva Worlds

Youth champions

HOW TO WIN

We put X-Yachts' new XP 33 through her paces

ON TESTRisk vs reward; Mark Rushall looks at real race scenarios

TECHNIQUESpotlight on the talented Sam Goodchild

RISING STARNew Zealand wins the Louis Vuitton Cup

AMERICA'S CUP

NEW! SAILORS OF THE MONTH

First winners

Cowes WeekAll the highlights, plus battle of the speed machines

SOUVENIR SPECIAL

1666 Cover (1)8.indd 1

28/08/2013 12:47

A SUBSCRIPTION MAKES THE CHRISTMAS GIFT

when you order a subscription for a friend this Christmas

Perfect

Choose from these top sailing titles and

CHARLIE BARR Mr America’s Cup

Teak on the Thames Dayboat with a difference

Fishermen’s friend The last tunnyboat

ORIENT EXPRESS Hong Kong schooner in full flow

Morbihan We visit the world’s greatest small boat festival

EXCLUSIVE

GROWING OLD GRACEFULLY Nellie sailing at 151

SAILING SAFETY Man overboard

Classic Boat

WIN

trip to see

Lively Lady 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

CL

ASSIC

BO

AT

SO FO

NG

. CH

AR

LIE

BA

RR

. BIC

HE

. NE

LL

IE . M

AN

OV

ER

BO

AR

D

AU

GU

ST 2013 . ISSU

E N

o 302

i

AUGUST 2013

The complete sailing set

CLASSIC BOATStep aboard the world’s most beautiful boats, with restoration advice, reviews and information about classic yacht regattas worldwide.GIVE A GIFT FROM JUST £38 (USUALLY £66)

JUNE 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING




Sailin

g To

daY

Jun

e 2013 – iSSue n

o 194

NOW

BIGGERBRIGHTER

BETTER

BATTERY POWERWet cell, AGM and gel– on the test bench

DIESEL ELECTRICCould hybrid power be the answer for you?

BANE OR BOON?Paul & Rachel Chandler love new technology

GULL’S EYEPull-out guide to Pwllheli, in Snowdon’s shadow

AntarcticaExploring the last great wilderness in a GRP boat

Jeanneau’s nippy new 41DS is designed to be fun for two

Easy rider

Reef hopping

BOAT ON TEST

Get in among the rocks with our eyeball navigation guide

The fastest sailor in the world on cold toes and pizza

Rocketman

INTERVIEW

an

TarC

TiCa

• FirST Cru

iSe • Jean

neau

41dS • PW

llheli • BaT

TerieS

NEW LOOK, NEW CONTENT

SAILING TODAYFeaturing new and used boat tests, interviews with cruising enthusiasts and expert

assessment of the latest equipment.

GIVE A GIFT FROM JUST £38 (USUALLY £66)

All gift subscriptions will commence with the fi rst issue published after Christmas.

www.chelseamagazines.com/marine-XM13P ( +44 (0)1795 419 842 quote code XM13P


Top yachts, must-have gear

YachtingYear

the

Fullguide to events in2014

NEW!P


Fullguide toevents inguide toevents inguide to

2014

YOUR FREE GIFT

Bahamian Rhapsody

may 2013 sailingtoday.co.uk £4.20

clothing guide Our picks of the top gear for this season

downwind tricks How to get the best from your spinnaker

rod & lu heikell The cruising legends on ‘real’ adventure at sea

cruise to the isles From Wales to Skye on the whisky trail

exciting new look!

now

BiggeRBRighteR

BetteR

Southerly’s new 47 can cross oceans and dry out

Bluewater, lifting keelturkish sailing holiday for four

exclusive testYACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



We reveal the best kept secret in the Caribbean

Your handy guide to the gateway to the West Country

Delightful Dart

gull’s eye RetuRns

win!

gO FurTHer I SaIl beTTer I be InSpIred

Sailin

g To

daY

maY 2013 – iSSu

e no 193

The Ba

ha

ma

S • Wh

iSkY C

ruiSe • So

uTh

erlY 47 • da

rTmo

uTh

• Clo

Thin

g g

uid

e

ST193 CoverV9 .indd 1

18/03/2013 10:01

VOYAGE TO THE GREAT LAKESAboard a Tall Ship

From Cowes to Barcelona

Summer on the sea

Fabulous Fifes Return to the ClydeTug on the heartstringsNew life for Dunkirk veteran

9 770950 331134

0 9

SUFFOLK SPLENDOUR Down the Deben

WARTIME WINDFALLLuftwa e yacht


i

£4.50 US$12.50

SEPTEMBER 2013

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING



CL

ASSIC

BO

AT

FIFE R

EG

AT

TA

. PEN

HIR

. PRID

E O

F BA

LTIM

OR

E . D

EB

EN

SEPT

EM

BE

R 2013 . ISSU

E N

o 303

CB303 Cover4.indd 1

29/07/2013 16:52

SAVE £28

Ma

y 2013

ww

w.ya

ch

tsan

dya

ch

ting

.co

.uk | Issu

e #1661

Summ

er race w

eeks | Long

-dista

nce ding

hy sailing

| Sail trim

secrets | Test: Salo

na 35 | Sa

iling's reco

rd b

reakers


9 770044 000205

0 5

£4.30ISSUE N°1661MAY 2013

YACHTSYACHTING



YACHTSYACHTING


CHELSEAMAR INE M A G A Z I N E SREGATTAGUIDEGet set for a fabulous summer of racing

The boats and sailors taking on the world

Record breakers

Trimming techniques

SAILING SECRETS

Family sailing

Ian Walker

Sailing in Oman

Dee Caffari

1661 Cover (1)_CG7.indd 1

23/03/2013 17:04

YACHTS & YACHTINGFeaturing the latest boats and gear, coaching tips from top sailors, interviews with world champions, and full

GIVE A GIFT FROM JUST £38 (USUALLY £66)

PLUS WE’LL SEND YOU THE YACHTING YEAR ANNUAL, FREE!

Subscription.indd 3

26/09/2013 15:25

chelseamagazines.com

Ratsey & Lapthorn have a number of sails made in the

Classic Ratsey & Lapthorn way for sale, some new, and as new

unpaid for sails in stock.

Please call 01983 294051 or 07798942159 and speak

to Andy Cassell or email [email protected]

SAILMAKING SINCE 1790

Photo © Peter Mumford, Beken Of CowesThe Lady Anne leading Tuiga


Letter of the month supported by oLd puLteney Whisky


Letters

I have just very much enjoyed September’s feature on Mariquita and Harold Cudmore at the Argentario Regatta, which brought back my childhood memories from the 1950s of seeing Mariquita on the East Coast. I also recall Harold Cudmore’s AC campaign of 1986/87 in Freemantle with White Crusader. I’m also looking forward to the October article on Mariquita. All this caused me to dig out an article from a fair number of years ago in CB196 (which I don’t have). The point to this is that the article stated that Mariquita was used as a houseboat at Pin Mill and then later, at Woodbridge. True in a manner of speaking, except that it

Mariquita memories

was the other way round. Mariquita was moved from Mersea to the River Deben after World War II and was a familiar sight alongside the Ferry Dock at Woodbridge through the 1950s. A relative knew her owners and as a small boy I want aboard a couple of times. I saw and went aboard her again at Pin Mill in 1988, where she was in use as a houseboat, having also served at one time for holiday lets. She moved to storage at Fairlie just three years later. I’m not

Above: In the October

2004 issue of CB

we said Mariquita

was at Pin Mill

before

Woodbridge, but

it was the other

way round

further to the letter from mr drummond (Cb314), i have witnessed the christening bell being used on two occasions in the 1980’s/1990’s . my uncle, mike stephens, was engineer for the stA aboard the Winston Churchill and malcolm miller. both of his grandchildren were christened aboard the Churchill and he constructed a wood frame to support the upturned Churchill bell. the vicar from hythe (who was a sailing man) came across on the hythe ferry with his bicycle and holy water. he filled a bucket with water from the docks and emptied it into the bell along with a dollop of said holy water. the names were duly engraved inside the bell. my uncle taught me to sail in the 1960s and i was able to repay the compliment by taking him out in may this year whilst visiting hythe by yacht. he hasn’t lost the touch.Tim Cowen, Kent

i noticed a letter to Cb in the August edition enquiring as to the fate of the db24 fleet that was under restoration. i too am interested.

Well, mine’s not one of them, but she’s a db24 nonetheless, that regularly sails on sydney harbour with the sydney Amateur sailing Club Classic fleet.

Wathara’s restoration is constantly ongoing. i have promised to rebuild the stern that was cut off many years ago.

i can supply a picture of a replacement stern – in case anyone sees it lying around the yard in bénodet.W (Billy) Loader, North Sydney, Australia

C/o

m d

rum

mo

nd

biLL

y Lo

Ad

er

dA

n h

ou

sto

n

Just add Holy water

Stern rebuild for DB24

100% certain that the article I’ve quoted above was from CB, but I know that the Woodbridge/Pin Mill confusion has, for whatever reason, appeared in print before. Finally, among “the world’s most beautiful boats”, I wonder if CB will be taking a look at the recently re-launched Thornycroft motor yacht Shemara? Surely one of the last of her kind likely to be fully restored. Yes, I know, she’s a “superyacht” and Boat International will be all over her, but the history, her looks and sweet lines must make her worth a few paras at the very least – especially given CB’s recent piece on the model of her contemporary Philante (now Norge). Like Mariquita, the Shemara spent some forlorn decades on the East Coast but is looking good again now. Just saying…Roger Johnstone, Manchester

Skimming dish helpReference to the 16ft skimming dish, referred to by Mr Erik Benson: I was most interested in this item because as a young lad I did some work on these boats. If you could put me in touch with Eric Benson I would be most grateful. It is possible I could help him. For instance I can verify there was an engine drivers cab certainly on one brand new one I worked on – and it had clear varnish too.

This was of course 72 years ago and it’s so good to have a reminder of bygone days.

I would like to visit and see the refurbishment.

Thanking you, as a subscriber since issue one I look forward to each edition of CB.Roy Swift, via email

CB316 Letters.indd 96 01/09/2014 18:48


LETTERS

Send your letters (and also any replies please) to: Classic Boat, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, London SW3 3TQ

email: [email protected]

Is this a dragon I see before me?

A dainty little task

Accident from the past – can you help with Kimmy’s history?

Answer to what SRS stands for

DO

M M

OO

RE

I have just read September’s Classic Boat and come across the query from Maldwin Drummond about what SRS stands for. SRS stands for ‘Sea Ranger Ship’. Sea Rangers were part of the Girl Guide Association until the late sixties. Following the Guides, teenagers moved up to the Rangers. There were three branches, Air, Land and Sea. The sea units were named after ships.

I was a member of SRS Wild Swan in Handsworth, Birmingham. Some units were able to visit ‘their’ ship, if it was still around. Sea Ranger Units were named rather like Sea Cadet Units, e.g. TS’s Endurance/Adventure of Bristol.

Sadly the Girl Guide Association chose to amalgamate all the Ranger Units to ‘Ranger Guides’ who could follow any interest, but many of us were sad to see the demise of the distinctive pursuits with our uniforms to match.Lesley Maddock(of SRS Wild Swan, 1966-69)

Who does not see a golden dragon on the bow of a yacht and identify her as a Fife? Originally it was seen on boats designed by William Fife III in Fairlie. However, some Fife designs built in other yards also sport the dragon. Some other designers’ plans built in Fairlie also have the dragon. Even more confusion has arisen when some other yards have put a dragon on the bow even although the boat had no connection with Fife. Usually the smaller yachts designed by Fife and some of the new one-design classes never had a dragon.

This dragon appeared after 1900 and no one seems to know why it was chosen. I would like to suggest that it is not a dragon at all but a sea serpent. Sea serpents were sometimes referred to as sea dragons so perhaps the nomenclature is not so far out after all.May Fife Kohn, Lenzie, Scotland

Ed: May, we have a feature on Fife’s Dragons planned for the winter

I recently bought this boat named Dainty from a guy in a Cork who bought her around 10 years ago in England.

She’s been called Dainty for 40 years but I’m looking to fi nd out what she was called originally. All I know is that she was built in 1939 in the UK. There is talk that she might have built by a company called “Sharp and Penn” but I can’t get any more information other than that.

The last owner from the UK has passed on so that’s not an avenue I can explore.

Would you be agreeable to putting her photo in one of the next editions and asking your readers if they could shed more light on it?

I’d love to fi nd out what her name was and give the old girl back her rightful name.

Any help or suggestions would be very welcome.Dom Moore, [email protected]

Many years ago I bought a collection of family photographs from a secondhand book shop in Ilkley, Yorkshire. The photographs had belonged to the descendants of Sophia Butler, and later Graham of Castlecrine Co Clare, they dated from the 1860’s up to about 1950. The photos of this accident were amongst them. Earlier on this year I discovered where the accident had taken place – Birdlip Hill in Gloucestershire. The weight of the boat was too much for the brakes as it came down the hill. I sent the photos to Old Glory magazine and they published my letter in June; then in the July issue there was a reply letter accompanied by a portion of a newspaper report of the accident. This was sent in from a lady who was researching local history of the Birdlip area. I was able to obtain a copy of the newspaper from Gloucester Archives, thinking

that I may fi nd out the name of the owner and thus how he might be connected to this family. Unfortunately he wasn’t mentioned by name in the article. I wondered if CB magazine would be interested in

these photographs and if published whether some of your readers might remember the boat? Assuming that it had a long life after the accident...Ian Cranshaw, West Yorkshire

Any CB readers

know anything

about Kimmy?

CB316 Letters.indd 97 01/09/2014 18:48

The yawl Nordwind

in the 1939 Fastnet


Sternpost

Saturday 2 September 1939. Much of the country was enjoying pleasant weather with a light and variable southerly breeze. Sailing races were taking

place at a number of clubs: from London Corinthian SC to Looe SC, from Shanklin Amateur SC to Strangford Lough YC and from Weymouth SC to the Clyde Cruising Club. But it was no ordinary Saturday. The previous day German troops had invaded Poland and Britain had issued an ultimatum that they must withdraw by 0900hrs on Sunday. Two hours after the deadline passed, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain made the announcement: “...this country is at war with Germany”.

Tensions had been building up throughout the summer. The RORC considered cancelling its Harwich to Weser race in May but decided that this would be an

undesirable snub to German yachtsmen and it so went ahead; the following year the RORC’s London clubhouse would be destroyed during the Blitz.

The Hindenberg Cup (an annual regatta for European navies sailing Stars) was held in Kiel in July. It was won by a Royal Navy crew for the first time with the Kriegsmarine, the German Navy, coming second. The British skipper, Lieutenant Sam Woodcock, would subsequently serve on HMS Barham and would be one of 841 sailors to lose his life when she was sunk by torpedoes in November 1941.

The 60 ton yawl Nordwind, owned and sailed by the Kriegsmarine, won line honours in the Fastnet Race, after which British, German, French and Dutch sailors enjoyed a dinner together at Plymouth’s Cooperative Cafe. At the end of the war, Nordwind (see CBs 85, 199) would become one of the so-called Windfall Yachts when she was taken as a war prize by the Royal Navy.

At Dartmouth Royal Regatta at the end of August, the regatta guard ship, HMS Brazen, was forced to leave suddenly in the middle of the night, just two days after she had arrived, to take up more serious duties. The following July Brazen would be sunk by enemy aircraft in the Dover Straits.

Lowestoft Sea Week was due to end on Saturday 2 September. The last two days were cancelled and all visiting yachts were instructed to make their way to their home ports. “Not only was this the end of a sailing season but the end of an era”, wrote Peter Scott, who had been competing in his International 14. “Perhaps we would never sail dinghies again.”

Meanwhile the Royal Torbay YC was hosting Burton Week, the national championships for National 12s and

this should also have ended that Saturday. But during the course of Friday, after news of the invasion of Poland came through and increasing numbers of competitors were leaving to report for more important duties elsewhere, the last race was brought forward to that

afternoon. Bruce Banks’ Westwind won that race and the Burton Cup itself. Another race – for 12-Ms – was to take place in Torbay on Sunday. However, soon after it started a launch approached each of the competing crews to tell them that war had been declared and the race was immediately abandoned.

Although Burnham Week (due to start that Saturday) was cancelled, a handful of yachts from the Royal Burnham Yacht Club enjoyed a sail on the River Crouch a few hours after Chamberlain’s announcement. John Booth was on board Felise with his new fiancée Peggy whose father was the club’s Commodore and he later wrote that they were “half expecting to see German aircraft before we got to the Roach. What were our thoughts? Relief, fear, anti-climax, or just a nice day for a sail.”

At the outbreak of warNigel Sharp reflects on how it affected the weekend’s sailing

“Perhaps we would never sail dinghies again”

BEKE

N O

F CO

WES

CB316 Sternpost.indd 98 01/09/2014 15:15

ston

es m

arin

e ti

mbe

r

Congratulations to the Kelpie team for completing

such an inspirational project. We are proud to have

supplied the teak decking and Oregon Pine for the

masts and spars.

Yalton / East Portlemouth / Salcombe / Devon / TQ8 8PA / EnglandTel: 44(0)1548844122

[email protected] www.stonesmarinetimber.com

“Kelpie” Rebuild

© Photo by Emily Harris Photography

C.B. Kelpie.indd 1 14-06-26 5:06 PMUntitled-1 1 27/06/2014 17:03

A beautiful, performance ʻweekenderʼ thatʼs easy to live with and comfortable to sail

Rustler 33

comfortable easy performance

Beautiful yachts, beautifully built Rustler 33

Principal Dimensions: LOA: 10.36m Beam: 2.44m Draft: 1.67m Disp: 2695kg Ballast: 1133kg

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

To discover more please visit us at www.rustleryachts.com email: [email protected] or telephone +44 (0)

1326 310120

comfortable Rustler 44 | Rustler 42 | Rustler 36 | Rustler 33 | Rustler 24

New Pic Ad 2013.indd 1 18/07/2013 11:49

Documents

Classic Boat - October 2014 UK