Classic Boat 03.2021

MARCH 2021 £4.95 US$10.
99
T H E W O R L D’ S M O S T B E A U T I F U L B O A T S
DOUBLE EXCLUSIVE
Robin Knox-
WINNER Johnston’s
secret archive
Herreshoff’s BROADS
Scud missile
CRUISER
From hire
boat to
racing yacht
ROWING BOATS
Buyer’s guide
THE LIFEBOAT
Development of the
all-weather saviour
www.classicboat.co.uk
CHICHESTER TO THE BROADS A POST-WAR EPIC CRUISE LIGHTING UP IN STYLE
Coastal cruise Small boat, big sea Using oil lamps
A CL A SSIC E N V I RON M E N T FOR T R A DI T ION A L BOATS
Birdham Pool is the oldest marina in the UK and our haven for classic and To complete the experience, we have
traditional boats. Even its location, just four miles from the historic county town five-star customer facilities, café and
of Chichester, nestled in an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, reflects the great transport links complementing
pace and elegance of a bygone age. the enviable one-hour access to the
Solent and sheltered inland location.
S T O R A G E , R E PA I R A N D M A I N T E N A N C E
Birdham is owned by Castle Marinas, a
Looking after traditional boats is what and traditional skills offered by our group of 11 coastal and inland marinas
we’re exceptionally good at. Our 30 tenant artisans means we’re geared each with its own unique character. We
tonne hoist and transport, dry storage for storage, repair and maintenance are, and always will be large enough to
ashore and a boat yard of modern of all watercraft. cope yet small enough to care.
STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES, EDITOR
STRANGE DAYS, THEY SAY

Yachts designed by Albert Strange are, in their own modest way, as desirable as those by the
greatest names like Fife and Herreshoff. If you want a small sailing yacht and value aesthetics and
rarity over all else, any of his little canoe-sterned yawls of the early 20th century would be at the top
of your list. Albert Strange graduated from the Slade School of Fine Art and went on to become the founding principal of the
Scarborough School of Art. It would be impossible for someone so steeped in beauty to design an ugly boat – and he never did. When
we featured Mist in a 2006 issue, pictured tipped into a barge like an old mattress in a skip, a saviour came forward, in the shape of
John Kresja, who restored her. We published a plea for Tally Ho a few years after that, and a young Leo Goolden stepped forward
and is presently in the midst of the most talked-about yacht restoration in the world. Now, we present Sheila II, more elegant, more
typically Strange than either. I wonder: is anyone brave enough to take on Sheila and make it a Strange save hat trick?
COVER PHOTO: ©MARCO VILLANTI/JRTPHOTO
ISSUE No 393
classicboat.co.uk
Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place,
CONTENTS
COVER STORY
4 . ON THE DOUBLE
London, SW3 3TQ
EDITORIAL
Editor Steffan Meyric Hughes
+44 (0)203 943 9256
The Herreshoff yacht Scud, newly
[email protected] restored and class winner at Cannes
Senior Art Editor Peter Smith
+44 (0)203 943 9246 and Saint-Tropez in 2020
[email protected]
Sub Editor Bruce Williams COVER STORY
18 . LIFTING LID CLASSIC
News & Digital Editor Chris Rosamond
Group Editor Rob Peake
Publisher Simon Temlett
Publishing Consultant Martin Nott Built for the hire trade, loved as a
ADVERTISING
yacht, fresh from a third restoration,
Andrew Mackenzie +44 (0)207 349 3779
[email protected]
the ex-Broads hire boat Rogue
Advertisement Production
32 . LIGHT UP WITH TOM
4
Allpointsmedia +44 (0)1202 472781
allpointsmedia.co.uk
Tom Cunliffe on using oil lamps NEW KID
Published monthly ISSN: 0950 3315 ON THE
34 . RACING TUGS
USA US$12.50 Canada C$11.95 B L O CK
Australia A$11.95
PUBLISHING
Managing Director Paul Dobson
Meet the tugboat-racing, boat-collecting
Director of Media James Dobson Vietnam veteran Doug Leen
Chief Financial Officer Vicki Gavin
36 . BOOKS
MD Create Steve Ross
Our round-up of the latest books

Subscription
and back issues 38 . SAVE A STRANGE
Tel: +44 (0)1858 438 442 Lovely, famous Strange yacht needs a
Annual subscription rates:
UK £75 ROW £87
new saviour
40 . THE ACCIDENTAL CRUISE
Email: [email protected]
Online: www.subscription.co.uk/chelsea/help
18 34
Post: Classic Boat, Subscriptions
Department, Tower House, Sovereign Park, A planned trip up the river became a BOARDS DOUG LEEN
Lathkill Street, Market Harborough LE16 9EF BOAT BACK THE PULL OF
Back Issues: chelseamagazines.com/shop/
cruise on the south and east coasts SAILING T U G B O A TS
COVER STORY
46 . ROW YOUR BOAT
The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd
London SW3 3TQ
+44 (0)207 349 3700
chelseamagazines.com
Buyer’s guide to recreational rowers
©Copyright The Chelsea Magazine Company
2020 all rights reserved COVER STORY
ISSN 2059-9277
Follow the Classic Boat team on
52 . ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON
Twitter and Facebook As you’ve never seen him before, with
newly discovered lost photos
COVER STORY
58 . LIFEBOAT DEVELOPMENT
Classic Boat is part of the Chelsea Marine
Magazines family, along with our other
monthly titles
The hunt for speed in saving lives at sea,
from surfboats to all-weather heros 46 HOW TO
CHOOSE A
ROWING BOAT 52 UNSEEN PHOTOS
OF ROB IN
KNOX-JOHNSTON
with
TH
HISTORE
SOLENT CRUISING AS
A COUPLE
DELIGHTS
CRAFTSMANSHIP
Ultimate test
Exploring off the

beaten track
of teamwork!
How to fund
your sailing REGULARS
LIFE BOY OF
with YouTube
12 . TELL TALES 66 . AFFORDABLE 71 . YARD NEWS

RACING
Recover
from a
poor start
BOAT TEST
Moody's new
deck saloon
26 . SALEROOM CLASSICS 77 . TRAD TOOL
The nee ATS
. OBJECTS OF DESIRE 78 . LETTERS 76 . BOATBUILDER’S d
speed for
28
AMERICA’S CUP FIND A MOORING VENDÉE GLOBE
Capsize at 47 knots Tips and contacts Cape Horn drama
For cruising and racing sailors 32 . BOSUN’S BAG 82 . STERNPOST NOTES

To subscribe, chelseamagazines.com/marine PAGE 58
CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 3

SCUD
MISSILE
Herreshoff’s newly-restored Bar Harbor 31
Scud lit up the classic racing scene in the
Med in 2020 with a double win at
Cannes and Saint-Tropez
WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

PHOTOGRAPHS JAMES ROBINSON TALYOR
SCUD
I
n the late summer and early autumn of 2020, the spring of 1903, along with 12 sister ships, all built
clouds briefly parted between lockdowns and over one winter at the Herreshoff Manufacturing
the world stepped outside for a short spell of Company, then with a 300-strong workforce.
freedom. Throughout spring and summer, So Scud is the product of, by almost any
boatbuilding and restoration work had continued metric, the greatest of all naval architects; not
around the world behind closed doors at a steady, only that, but ‘the Wizard of Bristol’ (Rhode
uninterrupted pace, but sailing had been put on hold. Island) was at the peak of his career and had,
Amid a series of ever more affirmative press releases by 1903, designed and built 169 steam vessels,
(“We will go ahead!”) from the biggest beano of and invented, patented or improved many of the
them all – Voiles de Saint-Tropez – a lean shape was ideas that remain central to sailing even today. In
taking form in a shed on the Tuscan coast. 1903, the year Scud and her sisters were built, all eyes
In the end, the press releases came true, and that Above: were on another yacht leaving the yard that year: the
shape, a newly-rebuilt Bar Harbor 31 called Scud, was Scud sailing 117 fourth consecutive Herreshoff-designed America’s Cup
ready. With the huge rig, low freeboard and menacing, years ago off the defender, the unsurpassed extreme machine Reliance,
low-profile upperworks, she looked dangerous, and so Maine coast 144ft (43.9m) on deck with 16,000sqft (1,500m2) of sail,
she proved to be, winning first in class at Régates and so finely built that even the wooden cleats were
Royales in Cannes in September. Straight after that she Below: Mozzino hollowed out to save weight. Later that year, a few
reprised the feat at Saint-Tropez. and Alberto – hundred miles down the coast, Wilbur and Orville Wright
But is Scud, which had only emerged a few months “fine carpenters” invented powered flight. From such a man, in such an
earlier from her chrysalis, really the fastest classic yacht era and place, the vigorous novelty of Scud makes sense.
in the Med? Or even the world? The results suggest she
was in 2020, but of course, it comes down as much as HERRESHOFF’S FORGOTTEN CLASS
anything to the rating given by the Comité International While some of Herreshoff’s other classes, like the New
de la Méditerranée (CIM); and the race crew on the day. York 30s and ‘fighting’ New York 40s, even his more
Those factors played to Scud’s advantage, not only in modest designs like the 12½ dayboat, have come to
racing, but, in the case of a good rating, her survival. define his legacy, The Bar Harbor 31 class was, until
In 1902, when they were designed, the Seawanhaka those two regattas in the Med, something of a forgotten
Rule to which they were optimised (which penalised class. Even at their outset they were, according to
LWL length but didn’t take into account the LOD) was Maynard Bray “not unusual boats for their day and, in
“in vogue” and the “scow-like hull of the Bar Harbor fact, were about the smallest sailing craft – at just over
with its long overhanging bow and stern was a result,” 30ft LWL – that could lay official claim to the title of
writes US sailing authority Maynard Bray. ‘yacht’ and thus be eligible to race and cruise with major
The Bar Harbor 31s were in fact the last Seawnhaka yacht clubs.” The Bar Harbor 31 was not dissimilar to
yachts to leave the Herreshoff Yard before the Universal the Buzzard’s Bay 30, but with a fixed keel rather than
Class (think J Class) took over. Even with that end-of-era centreboard, and 9in (23cm) longer.
provenance, Scud, in common with so many designs from The owners were wealthy east coast yachtsmen, many
Nathanael Herreshoff, has a cleanliness and modernity of with holiday homes in Bar Harbor, Maine. It was not the
line make her look three decades younger than her age. most cohesive class: these are challenging boats with a
Under the water, the keel starts so far aft, with the bows huge sail plan, and history records scattered finishes,
so fine, and the relatively broad, typically American beam, collisions and even two entire losses of rig. Within about
that the boat is halfway between her era and ours. Above five years, all but two of the yachts had changed hands and
decks, the low cabin trunk and square windows are left Maine. In time, auxiliary engines and bermudan rigs
another Herreshoff motif. The gaff rig is the only clue to began to show up. Some were even naturalised into the
the fact that she is in fact 118 years old, launched in the new Universal P Class but “never made much of a
6 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

SCUD
Above left to right:

Oregon pine bowsprit;
heart-shaped thimble;
mast hoops; oak tiller

SCUD
©ALEX PANZERAI JRTPHOTO
©ALEX PANZERAI JRTPHOTO

showing since their ratings were so high for their speed.” Above left: known in Mediterranean regattas. Past restorations
Despite the clear racing pedigree, the generous beam Three Herreshoff include the Charles Sibbick fin-keeler Bona Fide, the
and depth of the boats meant that they later made good yachts together famous S&S classics Dorade, Stormy Wheather, Nyala
cruising yachts, after conversion to bermudan rig. at Cannes and others; and the Herreshoff New York 30 Linnet.
The second quarter of the 20th century was tough on From floating on a barge on a Belgian canal, the boat
the class, as it was on all boats, continues Bray, citing the Above right: now found herself in safe hands, and with a fresh timber
depression, the 1938 ‘New England’ hurricane and then, Racing in the delivery from John Lammerts van Bueren at Touchwood
of course, the war. Many of the class were lost. Med, 2020 BV, things were progressing nicely.
When Federico Nardi, manager of the Italian Enter one of the project’s great assets, Kurt Hasselbach
boatyard Cantiere dell’Argentario, discovered Scud at MIT, Herreshoff’s alma mater and a repository of his
around the turn of the millennium, it was a only a happy design work. “He gave us a lot of help, and all the
accident caused by a trip to see anther boat (the S&S drawings we needed,” said Federico.
yawl Sonny) in Maine. Herreshoff, perhaps surprisingly for a designer of
“I noticed Scud in the corner of the shed and went such technical marvel, was a half-modeller rather than a
inside to look” he remembers. “The boat was a disaster draughtsman, and would rely on his boatbuilders to take
but I went inside and made a short video to record the a table of offsets from his models to make that three-
moment.” This is where the seed was sown. “I knew this dimensional dream into a two-dimensional reality on the
would rate well and be a very fast boat” he said. A loft floor. Unless you are holding the Wizard’s half-model
shaky, handheld video clip shows Federico’s excitement in your hand, any drawing that you see will probably be
at the find, and the boat does, indeed, look disastrous; at least once removed from his primal intention. Enter a
the interior is like something from a frightening dream. young naval architecture graduate of naval architecture,
At that time, Federico could not find anyone to take Irene Focarile. “Young girl, very clever” said Federico.
on the project. Soon after that, boatbuilder Brian Pope “So I gave her Herreshoff’s old notebook, containing the
took Scud to England and found a Belgian buyer, who offsets for 46 sections, all with amendments and said ‘go
transported Scud back to Belgium. In the autumn of for it’.” Two months later, she returned with Scud in
2017, Federico managed to find the boat and its new two-dimensional form, of vital importance before the
owner in Gent. The project had been started with the project could begin in earnest, given how much her
disassembly of all the interior fittings and the removal of shape had deteriorated over the years.
some of the hull planking. By the time Federico arrived Many of Herreshoff’s sailing yachts have kept their
on the scene, the boat had become home to a group of shape relatively well over the years. This is a legacy of the
travellers. “They were very helpful in the sense that they way they were built – ‘engineered’, some might say.
helped to keep the boat alive,” said Federico. Herreshoff yachts were commonly planked in two layers
By this point, Prada CEO and yacht collector Patrizio of carvel with the seams offset to create a stiff, waterproof
Bertelli had expressed interest in buying Scud and having shell; and with an internal skeleton of bronze diagonal
her restored. It seems the Belgian owner had bitten off Below: As found in ‘strapping’. Herreshoff specified four bronze straps on
more than he had realised with this job, and Federico a shed in Maine each side of the Bar Harbor 31s, each one connecting the
had to gently persuade him that it could never happen. hull to the keel to augment the keelbolts’s holding
He told the owner: “If Mr Bertelli takes on the boat, he strength, and mortised into the fabric of the interior. But
will get it going again and then you’ll be able to go after 118 years, even Scud had succumbed to the
sailing on it as his guest. It’s the only way this boat slow gravitational pull of age.
will ever sail again.” The hull was rerebuilt: the new keel and
The owner saw sense and sold Scud, which then steam-bent timbers are in white oak. The two
made the overland journey to Cantiere planking layers are in white Atlantic cedar, 5/8in
dell’Argentario, a world-class boatyard at the foot (16mm) for the outer layer and 1/2in (13mm)
of the pretty hill town of Porto Santo Stefano on for the inner. Deck beams and bilge stringers are
Italy’s Tuscan coast. The yard specialises in the sort in Oregon pine. The new deck is 1 1/8in (29mm)
of glamorous yachts that go on to become well- yellow cedar. Inside, it’s a different story.

C/O FEDERICO NARDI
MIT
Top: Interior of Scud looking forward. Above left: Old drawings and, right, a CAD render

SCUD
“Fortunately we saved most of the original interior in Clockwise from including the rudder stock and deck bearing, the tiller
white pine, renewing some of the missing parts in the top left: socket and the rudder bearing straps on the rudder and
same timber and painted the finish white; and the Piero and his deadwood. And finally, there was the spar hardware
beautiful hanging knees in varnished hackmatack are off plane; the ceiling including the mast spreaders, the mast and boom flange
the original boat,” explained Federico. All spars are in going in; eyes, the martingale spike and bowsprit end fitting. “I
Sitka spruce varnished with Epifanes mono-component hackmatack am probably forgetting something though,” he added.
coating. The topsides are in tough, two-pack Awlgrip. hanging knees; All the parts that would originally have been wrought
As with so many other big rebuilds it would have offering up a iron, like spreaders and the martingale, were redesigned
been cheaper to build new. “It takes much longer to plank in bronze, and the blocks run on ball-bearings, Reineck’s
build a boat on top of an existing one!” says Federico. USP that translates into less friction and more speed.
Given her age (118), Scud was originally engineless, After Guido Cavallazzi of North Sails had made the
meaning the new Yanmar diesel could go anywhere in new sails, Scud was relaunched in March 2020 into the
SCUD
the boat. The team chose the centre, under the saloon silence of a pandemic. By Régates Royales in September,
table. “It gives the best weight distribution,” says LOA she was ready with a crack crew of Olympians and other
Federico. Traditional wisdom has rejected this advantage 49ft top sailors, along with a good rating from CIM, which
against the drawback of noise and vibration in the
(15m) values originality; and Scud’s broad beam and modern
accommodation, but smaller, quieter engines are underbody are as designed. The Bar Harbor 31 still
beginning to swing the balance of the argument. And LWL sounds as terrifying as those wealthy Maine holidaymakers
Scud, although she appears in these photographs before 30ft 9in found a century ago. “With no winches, she’s really above
interior finishing, now has a comfortable interior with (9.4m) the limit of manual handling,” says Federico. “The big
standing headroom, a private heads and small galley. genoa creates a terrific strain. And we fly an authentic,
Metal fabricator Jim Reineck & Son produced all the BEAM poled-out spinnaker, for which you get a two per cent
hardware “with the sole exception of the round, 10ft 5in handicap advantage. It’s worth it... but you really earn it.
forward-facing cabin windows that for some reason (3.2m) It’s hard, and you need good crew to handle her.” Today,
were not stolen from her,” said Jim. This was done using Scud is one of four class survivors: Indian is indoors at
the same drawings from MIT sourced by Kurt. It’s a long DISP the Herreshoff Museum; Desperate Lark is cruising with
list that includes all the blocks, deck hardware including 10 tonnes a bermudan yawl rig. And lastly, Joker is for sale as a
the cleats, flange eyes, the mainsheet traveller, main project at Artisan Boatworks. There’s a gauntlet for you.
boom gooseneck, headsail fairleads, bow and quarter SAIL AREA The author would like to thank Federico Nardi, Alec
chocks. There was also a new stainless steel main shaft 1,425sqft Brainerd, Jim Reineck and, indirectly, Maynard Bray for
for the original anchor capstan, all rudder hardware (132.4m2) the story of Scud and history of the Bar Harbor 31 class.

ARTISAN BOATWORKS
CUSTOM YACHT BUILDERS
Tell Tales Classic Boat’s address:
London, SW3 3TQ
[email protected]
Follow the Classic Boat team
on Twitter and Facebook
DEVON
Sharing traditional skills

Newly launched Cremyll Maritime Training aims to create a community
of people learning and sharing the skills of traditional boatbuilding and
seamanship.
Based at Cremyll in Devon, the project is part of a wider series of
initiatives driven by Dominic and Barbara Bridgman and their fellow
directors Robert Webster, Simon de Groot and Debbie Risbourough.
The CIC, or Community Interest Company, was formed in 2016 to
save the Tamar sailing barge Lynher from destruction.
“Our objective is simple: to introduce more and a wider range of
people to learning the skills required to preserve our maritime heritage,"
said a spokesman.
Thanks to the Earl of Edgcumbe they have secured the Gymnasium,
built as a training centre by the Royal Navy at Cremyll in 1899, as a base
for their range of vocational courses in traditional seamanship and
boatbuilding, environmental initiatives and
more subjects. “Our objective is simple: to
“At Cremyll we have the opportunity to
convey our passion for the local maritime introduce a wider range of
heritage and be a point of contact and advice people to learning the skills
for other maritime projects. The aim is to
share experience and knowledge to foster a
required to preserve our
wider and stronger maritime community. maritime heritage"
“The Cremyll Maritime Training is a project
that builds on the strength of Lynher CIC’s experience in conserving actually flytipped," said a spokesman. "The Fair Shores project was
historic vessels and transmitting the skills required to do so to the Rame created to clean the river shores often forgotten by beach-cleaning
Peninsula’s community and beyond." groups, or particular areas of the waterways that are unaccessible
Environmental schemes form a central part of the group's work and from the shore."
one scheme is the Fair Shores Project, started in 2019, when the team The scheme's findings will be passed on to Exeter University for
started collecting litter with local families aboard Lynher when exploring their research into waterways pollution.
the river shores.
“We mapped areas of the waterways where litter collects or is cremyll-maritime.org.uk/projects/
AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

America's Cup history in the making?
As we went to press, INEOS Team UK, led by
Sovereign Sceptre Sir Ben Ainslie, was set to race in the finals of
the Prada Cup – the regatta that decides
which team challenges for the America’s Cup.
Reaching the Prada Cup finals was
nothing short of a sensational comeback for
the British outfit, which lost all of its races in
NIGEL SHARP/ SCEPTRE PRESERVATION SOCIETY
a warm-up regatta in December, only to win

all of its races in the Prada Cup opening
rounds in January. If Ainslie and INEOS win
the Prada Cup in February, it would be the
first time a British team has challenged for
the America’s Cup since the David Boyd
designs Sceptre (1958) and Sovereign
(1964).
Follow all the racing on our sister

website yachtsandyachting.co.uk

TELL TALES
Louisa
Heartwell
1902
Louisa Heartwell
set for restoration
The 38ft (11.6m) Liverpool Class RNLI lifeboat Louisa Heartwell was
built in 1902 at a cost of £982 and placed on service in September of
that year from Cromer, north Norfolk. Built by the Thames Iron Works
in London, she is non-self-righting, crewed by 14 oarsmen and rigged
with a lugsail and mizzen sail.
Originally donated to the RNLI by Miss Emily Heartwell of Upper
Holloway, London, the Louisa Heartwell launched 115 times and saved
195 lives before she was decommissioned in 1931.
She was motorised and renamed Waiora before resurfacing as a
houseboat under her original name on the Grand Union Canal, and
was moved in 1996 to Chichester Marina.
Premier Marinas bought her in 2019 and has now donated her to
RNLI/JOHN MCCALLION
the RNLI, which is overseeing her conservation and gradual

restoration to original design, with a plan to move her eventually to a
permanent berth with the historic lifeboat collection in Chatham, Kent.
For more on the history of lifeboats see our article on page 58
Cromer lifeboat, the

Louisa Heartwell, on its
carriage, with the crew
wearing kapok
lifejackets
PHOTOGRAPH
RNLI/GRAHAME FARR (LEGACY
OF MISS E HEARTWELL)

TELL TALES
OBITUARY
Bob Fisher 1935-2021

Bob Fisher, who died on 25 January aged watermen wore Guernsey jumpers with the
85, was an accomplished sailor, a names Shamrock and Endeavour
legendary sailing journalist and a emblazoned across their chests.
respected yachting historian. The Much later Bob would acquire the
America’s Cup organisation called him nickname Mr America’s Cup for his
“an encyclopedia of sailing knowledge knowledge of the Cup, gained through
and history” and said “his writings and covering 16 consecutive Cups for Yachts &
his books will last for generations”. Yachting and the Guardian newspaper.
‘The Fish’ had written for Classic Boat He was known throughout sailing, hailed
in recent years, but he was best known on harbour quays worldwide by billionaires
for his writing in our sister title Yachts & and deck hands alike. Bob’s popularity was
Yachting, which he joined in the 1950s. such that more than one campaign was
His columns were a mainstay of the started to have him awarded an MBE.
magazine and continued in fearless and Bob was one of the first to be invited to
often hilarious fashion until last year. watch INEOS Team UK train on the Solent
His writing was knowledgeable and in 2019. A comment from the team online
his opinions respected because he was a said: “The whole team are saddened to
sailor himself. In his youth Bob was a hear of the passing of legendary British
world champion dinghy sailor; later he won the Little America’s sailing journalist Bob Fisher. A long-time supporter of the team, his
Cup and countless other races big and small, inshore and offshore. enthusiasm for the sport was immense and it will be deeply
Just one entry on his lengthy sailing CV is his class win in the missed. Sail on Bob.”
Round Britain Race in 1989, racing double-handed with Sir Robin The America’s Cup official page posted: “Sailing and the
Knox-Johnston. America’s Cup has lost Bob Fisher, a true gentleman of the sport."
In recent years he was the co-owner of the 1896 West Solent A lengthy tribute online also came from Tracy Edwards, whose
One Design Rosenn, which he brought back to its home waters Maiden crew Bob famously criticised as "a tin full of tarts". He later
from the east coast and raced successfully with Barry Dunning. became one of Maiden's and Edwards' biggest supporters, with
Bob was the author of many books about yachting history, Edwards writing: "I am absolutely heartbroken and feel totally
notably his lavish and universally praised two-part history of the bereft at the loss of such a great and true friend and a giant
America’s Cup, An Absorbing Interest. That interest stemmed from among sailors and writers."
his childhood, growing up in Brightlingsea, Essex, where the local Bob leaves wife Dee and daughters Alice and Carolyne.
Dunkirk return cancelled

The postponed 80th anniversary return to Dunkirk of the Little Ships
has been cancelled due to ongoing concerns over the pandemic.
The fleet of surviving vessels from Operation Dynamo in 1940, today
known as the Dunkirk Little Ships, were due to make the
commemorative cross-Channel trip to mark the operation’s 80th
anniversary last year.
That was cancelled amid the pandemic, the first time the event
has not happened since it was started in 1960. It normally runs every
five years. Organiser, the ADLS (Association of Dunkirk Little Ships)
hoped to run the event this May instead but after detailed
consideration, the ADLS has cancelled this cruise too, in the face of
the continued pandemic. “We will be welcome to return to Dunkirk
Vote for classic boats of the year in 2025 and we are determined
to make this an even more
Don’t miss your chance to vote for the classic boats of the year in our memorable event in
annual Classic Boat Awards. Voting closes at 9am GMT on 8 March. remembering the valour of the
Categories include the best restorations of the year, the best traditionally armed forces who had it far
built boats of the year, the best modern classics and the Classic Boater of worse than us in 1940,” said
the Year award. There is also the Centenarian of the Year trophy (above), ADLS commodore Simon Palmer.
which we organise jointly with the Gstaad Yacht Club, for boats older There is talk of a
than 100 years. The winners in each category are decided by public vote commemorative river cruise in
only and despite thousands of votes coming from around the world, often London later this year.
only a handful of votes makes the difference – don’t miss your chance to
vote for your favourites! See adls.org.uk for updates
and further info
VOTE: awards.classicboat.co.uk

Your needs . . .
Seagoing Saildrives Inland Waterways Marine Generating Sets Spares & Support
• 33 years of customer centred focus, listening • Optional secondary domestic 12V alternator
to needs & delivering long term value or 3.5/5.0 kVA travel power.
solutions.
• A range of 14 to 56 HP heat exchange
• Specialists in customer advice & support at propulsion engines with 2 saildrive solution
all points of a products voyage. options.
• Superb after-sales service via our approved • Heat exchange Generating Sets 4 to 58
national & international re-engine centres kVA with or without super silent acoustic
and authorised dealer network. housings.
• Extensive range of 10 to 98 HP heat • 5 year self-service warranty*.

exchange propulsion engines with
mechanical or hydraulic gearboxes.
. . . our tailored solutions

*Recreational use, terms & conditions apply. delivering reliability and peace of mind
www.betamarine.co.uk
Tel: +44 (0)1452 723492 Email: [email protected]
TELL TALES
PARIS
Bugatti powerboats: the last
known survivor
The last known survivor of the powerboats built by Ettore Bugatti is heading for a new
owner in the US after being found in a barn, writes Henri Thibault.
Niniette III was built in 1933 by Cantieri Navali Celli, in Venice. Powered by an
8-cylinder, 1,500cc compressor engine that Ettore Bugatti sent to his friend Prince
Ruspoli, she broke two world speed records that same year, with Ruspoli at the helm.
PHOTOS HENRI THIBAULT

The boat remained in Italy and was found a few years ago by an Italian yachting
historian, stored in a barn since the end of WW2. The owner has decided to sell, but
Niniette III is still in good and original condition, as these photos of her make clear, on
show at the Retromobile Show in Paris last year.
In the early 1930s Ettore Bugatti bought the Coninck shipyard in Maisons-Lafitte, near
Paris, where he had racing boats built. Bugatti also made trains and planes.
PORTSMOUTH
No statue
for Sir Alec
Rose
Plans to have a statue of
BARRY PICKTHALL/PPL
circumnavigator Sir Alec

Rose in Portsmouth have
reportedly been given the
thumbs down by councillors. THE CHELSEA MAGAZINE
The News in Portsmouth WORD COMPANY
reported that a design for a OF THE We team up with
life-sized monument of Sir MONTH
Alec, the Southsea greengrocer who circumnavigated the globe
Project Wingman
from 1967 to 1968, were presented to Portsmouth City Council Classic Boat's publisher, The Chelsea
BOTTLE
earlier this year. The overall cost of £120,000 was deemed too high Magazine Company, is supporting Project
CHART
by the council, but there are plans afoot to incorporate a tribute to Wingman by supplying thousands of free
Sir Alec’s achievement in a bigger maritime display on the Those on which the set copies of its magazines to NHS staff.
Portsmouth seafront. Sir Alec Rose followed in the footsteps of Sir of surface currents are Project Wingman provides spaces for NHS
Francis Chichester in sailing solo around the world. exhibited, derived from staff to unwind and de-stress before, during
His yacht, Lively Lady, is a 36ft (11m) yawl designed by Fred papers found in bottles and after hospital shifts – an initiative set up
Shepherd. The 354-day solo circumnavigation of the world south which have been by aircrew who found themselves grounded
of the three great capes stopped just twice: in Melbourne, Australia, thrown overboard for during the Covid-19 epidemic. Chelsea
and at Bluff Harbour, NZ, for repairs. It was a year after that purpose, and Magazines chairman Paul Dobson said:
Chichester's famous, similar voyage on Gipsy Moth IV, while Sir washed up on the “The NHS has done a fantastic job
Robin Knox-Johnston completed his epic non-stop beach, or picked up by throughout the Covid epidemic and we are
circumnavigation in Suhaili a year later. Lively Lady was restored to other ships. pleased to be giving a tiny bit back in
mark the 50th anniversary of Sir Alec’s homecoming in 2018. The Sailor's Word Book return. We hope the doctors, nurses and
of 1867 other staff will enjoy our magazines.”

SAVE UP TO 32% OFF THE REGULAR PRICE
FREE
DELIVERY
to your
home
SUBSCRIBE TODAY: ONE YEAR FROM £39.95

ROW £63.95/EUR €71.95/S$81.95/AUS$122.95
FEBRUARY 2021 £4.95 US$10.99 SEPTEMBER 2020 £4.95 US$10.99 JANUARY 2021 £4.95 US$10.99
T H E W O R L D’ S M O S T B E A U T I F U L B O A T S 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 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
PHOTOGRAPH BY JAMES ROBINSON-TAYLOR
GO YOUR SWEDISH
SMALL
BIGGEST BOAT
SAILING
OWN WAY PILOT
CUTTER
The Brittany
coast ROSE
One man’s Nordic racer
S&S yawl build Luke Powell’s restored
masterpiece
CLASSIC
BOAT
AWARDS
Shortlist
revealed
10
TRAILER
SAILERS
TESTED EXTREME
MACHINES
Sydney’s
18-footers
HEMINGWAY’S
WATERJET SPORT FISHER
RUNABOUT SLIPSTREAM Now back
Vintage power Broads racer in build
SCILLY SEASON ARCHIVE TREASURE NINE TO FIVE ROD HEIKELL HOLY SHRINE
Lockdown holiday Wrecks and racers photos Long Island commuter Top of the charts The fishing boats of Bali
www.classicboat.co.uk www.classicboat.co.uk www.classicboat.co.uk
RIFAT EDIN IRONS BROTHERS TRADITIONAL TOOL UNDER £10,000 SAILING AND THE GREAT WAR HOME WOODWORKING LESSONS FROM HISTORY UFFA FOX PLANING DINGHY BROADS BOATBUILDING
Boat collecter Keel makers The mortise gauge Glassfibre Halcyon Troubled waters Suhaili’s galley shelf Yacht crash The Albacore Cox’s yard
Every issue of Classic Boat celebrates the world’s most beautiful boats
showcasing their design, provenance, and heritage.
TWO EASY WAYS TO ORDER

Subscribe online www.chelseamagazines.com/CCBOJA21
or call +44 (0) 1858 438 442 (quoting code CCBOJA21)
NB: Prices and discounts based off our annual UK rate of £59.40.
If for any reason you’re not happy with your subscription, you may cancel within 14 days of placing your order.
RIVER
ROGUE
She was built as a classic, lifting-lid Broads hire yacht, and
more than a century on, she’s fresh from her third restoration
WORDS AND PICTURES RICHARD JOHNSTONE-BRYDEN
C
ommissioned by the Norfolk Broads Yachting hire fleet since 1909. The five-berth sister yachts were
Company (NBYCo) during the golden age of completed in time for the 1914 season and could be hired
Broadland charter sailing holidays, Rogue’s with or without the services of an attendant for an extra
days as a hire yacht were brought to an early £1 1s per week, while their standard weekly rates ranged
end by the consequences of war. Her subsequent passage from £3 3s to £4 4s depending on the season.
through the hands of a succession of dedicated private The outbreak of war in August 1914 had little impact
owners has included Government requisition, three on the Broadland hire industry, despite a number of the
restorations, a prolonged spell on Cambridgeshire’s Fens professional boatmen volunteering to man the barges
and racing success on her native Broadland waters. supplying the troops in France. The Broads hire fleets felt
Rogue’s story began with the laying of her keel in the full impact of the war when peace returned and
1913 by NBYCo’s Wroxham boatyard. It is believed that severe labour shortage as much as quadrupled the cost of
the 27ft (8.2m), gaff-rigged Rogue and her sister yacht hiring a boat. NBYCo could not survive, and ceased
Vagabond were designed by the yard’s foreman, Alfred trading at the end of the 1920 season. An auction was
Pegg. They were intended to be an enlarged and improved held from 6-8 October to sell NBYCo’s Wroxham
version of a successful series of yachts built for NBYCo’s boatyard and its entire hire fleet, including Rogue.

C/O DAVID SMITH
Right: Rogue on
the River Yare
in the 1930s

ROGUE
Sadly, no documentary proof survives to indicate who he recalls, “Commander Bickmore was always on
bought Rogue. It is very likely that a Mr FP Smith the hunt for crew, so when he found out about
placed the winning bid, because he appears as her my interest in sailing he asked if I would like to
owner within the Horning Town SC’s membership list help him race Rogue. She was kept at Martham
for 1922/23. Interestingly, Vagabond was snapped up Boats during the winter months and one spring I
by Alfred Pegg, who set up a new hire fleet with his son joined him for the sail back to Wroxham. Once
in Wroxham, so Vagabond continued to appear in we had cleared Potter Heigham, he went down
the annual Blakes brochure, while Rogue slipped below for a nap and left me on the helm.
into the anonymity of private ownership. Unfortunately, I subsequently encountered a
Little is known about this part of Rogue’s motor cruiser which forced me to gybe and I
story until she was bought by Basil Brown ended up splitting the topsail from top to
in 1935 and moved to his mooring in bottom – I did hear a few expletives from
Brundall. the cabin at that point! Sadly, I lost touch
with the Commander and Rogue when I
WEEKEND CRUISING left Paston, although I continued to look
The Brown family lived in Norwich and for her name within the sailing results
spent their weekends working their way column in the Eastern Daily Press.”
round the Broads in Rogue during the Rogue was put up for sale after
summer months. They planned each leg of Commander Bickmore’s death in 1972 and
their cruises so that they could reach a caught the eye of the former boatbuilder Charles
mooring where Rogue could be left while they Lovelace and his wife Sarah. They were hunting for
caught a bus or train home to Norwich for the a classic Broads sailing yacht to cruise on the Fens, as
working week, before returning to Rogue on the next Charles recalls: “I simply fell for her lovely lines at first
Friday evening to resume their journey. These idyllic trips Top: Sailmaker sight. Rogue had spent the last five years moored in a
were brought to an abrupt halt by the outbreak of World Mike McNamara pen which was all silted up by the time we bought her.
War Two in September 1939. The Government One of the fenders had pushed itself through the hull due
subsequently requisitioned large numbers of small craft Above: Martin to rot and I was amazed that she was still afloat because
on the Broads as part of its anti-invasion measures and celebrates the the hole was only two inches above the waterline!
arranged for them to be anchored on open stretches of restoration’s end However, this did not put us off and her bilges were
water to prevent the landing of enemy seaplanes. Thus, actually completely dry despite the damaged plank.
Rogue was moved the short distance from her Brundall Below: Picking up When the time came for us to move her, it was as though
moorings to Surlingham Broad where she remained at momentum as the she had dug her own grave and she refused to budge
anchor until 1943. As the threat of invasion eased, the wind rises when we pulled on the mooring lines. In the end, we had
Browns were issued with a special permit from the flag to enlist the help of a motor cruiser to pull her out. We
officer in charge of the Great Yarmouth Naval Base in Opposite: Martin took her across to a nearby boatyard to be lifted out of
July 1943, which allowed them to retrieve Rogue and Budgett (at the the water and on to a trailer for the journey to our
enjoy the deserted Broadland rivers for the rest of the war. hlem) and Mike Cambridgeshire home, where I built a covered area to
Three years later, the Browns sold Rogue to the McNamara take protect Rogue from the weather.”
recently retired naval officer Commander David Rogue for a Having stripped Rogue back to bare wood to
Bickmore, who had just embarked on a new career as shakedown sail in establish how much rotten wood had to be replaced,
maths master at the Paston School in North Walsham, on the River Bure Charles spent the next two years restoring Rogue to her
Norfolk. David Smith was one of his pupils in the late former glory. This included replacing part of the hog, a
1950s and joined Rogue’s crew for three very happy lot of planking in the bow, sections of the bulkheads at
seasons competing on the Broadland regatta circuit. As the fore and aft ends of the cabin, the lino on the cabin

ROGUE
roof, recaulking the hull and installing a reconditioned Above: Barton The combination of running his own business and the
4hp Stuart Turner engine in the cockpit. On completion Regatta 2007 demands of a young family absorbed the time Charles
of the work, Rogue was launched at Banham’s boatyard had previously devoted to Rogue, with inevitable
in Cambridge and initially kept at the Cam Sailing Club Below: The consequences in the mid-1980s. Charles laid her up ashore
in Waterbeach. “That season, Rogue won an all-comers’ controls to the until he had the time to restore her again. Around this
race from the outskirts of Cambridge to Denver,” Torqeedo Cruise time, David Smith embarked on a quest to find out what
remembers Charles. “The other competitors included the 2.0 FP pod had happened to Rogue. Members of the River Cruiser
Broads yachts Harmony and Elf. We spent most of our electric motor Class managed to put him in touch with Charles who
weekends exploring the Fens and moved her to a and fitting the said that he would be willing to part with her to the right
mooring to the north of Ely in Littleport, where she was rudder person. David and his wife Kate went to Cambridgeshire
kept during the summer months for the next 18 years. in July 1989. Undeterred by what they saw, the Smiths
Rogue was a terrific boat to sail and I could easily handle agreed a deal that led to Rogue returning to Norfolk
her on my own in light airs. She could sail quite close to three months later, to begin her second restoration.
the wind and was pretty fast on a reach, although the A legacy from David’s uncle helped pay for
Fenland rivers were not really wide enough to get the the main structural work to be carried out by
best out of her. I relied on the engine to negotiate the South River Marine in St Olaves, including the
various locks and to ensure we got back to our moorings replacement of her hog, transom and most of
on a Sunday night!” her hull planking. A year later, Rogue emerged
from South River Marine’s main shed for the
13-mile road journey to a barn in Brooke.
For the next three years, David spent evenings
and weekends completing the restoration with the
help of his friends Fred Ninham, with whom he had
sailed a Javelin for many years, and retired boatbuilder
Bill Jenner, who owned the Broads yacht ‘little’ Dragonfly.
Rogue was ready to return to St Olaves for relaunching
in May 1993. Describing how the rejuvenated Rogue
handled, David said, “I sailed her single-handed on
several occasions. She is really easy to sail and very stable
in heavy winds. The leeward deck rarely went under; she
would heel to a certain point and stay there, which is
why she always excelled in strong winds.”
The Smiths enjoyed many happy years cruising
around the Broads and competing on the local regatta
circuit. The return of Rogue’s name to the sailing results

Even in light airs,
Rogue slipped
along nicely
Below: The extra

headroom
provided by the
lifting cabin roof
2 Southford Road, Dartmouth, South Devon TQ6 9QS
Tel/Fax: (01803) 833899 – [email protected] – www.woodenships.co.uk
27’ Wooden motor yacht professionally built in 2014. Scandinavian style 33’ Miller Fifer GHVLJQHGDQGEXLOWE\0LOOHUVRI6W0RQDQV2QHRIWKHÀQHVW
design, clinker planked in Larch on oak frames. Vetus 42hp diesel with low examples of a Miller Fifer to be found, owned by a professional shipwright for
hours. Integrated Simrad electronics. Lovely accommodation with a double many years she has a meticulous annual maintenance program. Ford 95hp diesel
berth foreard and single in the saloon. Full standing headroom throughout. Very with 4 blade prop gives 7 knots cruising speed. Well equipped and ready to go. A
comfortable coastal or canal cruising boat in superb condition. Dorset £47,000 superb example, 2020 survey report available. Devon £45,000
54’ Silvers Brown Owl motor yacht designed by John 42’ McGruer Bermudan Sloop built in 1946. Mahogany 40’ Sparkman and Stephens Finisterre yawl built at
Bain and built by Silvers Marine in 1934. Teak hull on oak hull, lead keel and bronze bolts. Fractional sloop the Wing on Shing Shipyard, Hong Kong in 1960. Full
planking and teak superstructure, the best money could rig on alloy mast. Yanmar 29hp diesel installed new length teak planking makes her a very durable vessel.
buy at the time. Twin Cummins diesels. 4 sleeping in 2019. 6 berths with plenty of original joinery. Dog Extensively cruised in present 30 year ownership. Her
cabins plus 2 heads. Well cared for in current 25 year house provides shelter at sea and 2 good berths. Well shallow draft of only 4’ when the centreplate is up is
ownership, cruised every summer around the Brittany maintained yacht with very good performance and very attractive. Lovely original interior with 5 berths
coast and professionally maintained each winter. elegant looks, a true pedigree classic. Scotland £64,000 and good headroom. A quality yacht for sensible money.
Brittany £145,000 Wales £39,500
34’ Alan Pape gaff cutter built in 1991. Strip plank 49’ Laurent Giles Dorus Mhor ketch, built in 1970, the 25’ 5 ton Hillyard built by Hillyards in 1938. Planked
hull using resorcinol glue. Beta diesel 2007, 6 berths in last example to be built launched. Built to Lloyds 100A1, in mahogany on oak frames. Bermudan cutter rig, new
very spacious interior. Recent rigging and sails. 2 round iroko on oak hull, cascover sheathed underwater. All teak standing rigging 2018. Kubota 12hp diesel engine.
Britain cruises and an Atlantic circuit under her keel. VXSHUVWUXFWXUH SURIHVVLRQDOO\ UHÀWWHG DQG QRZ LQ YHU\ 3 single berths with 6’1” headroom in the saloo.
Currently coded under MCA for commercial work. Very smart condition. 2016 rigging, 2019 sails. 7 berths in Professionally maintained and in lovely condition,
smart and well equipped yacht, absolutely ready to go. 2 sleeping cabins. Recent survey. 2019 cruise to the complimentary 2019 survey available. Ready to go
Hants £99,500 Baltic proved her as absolutely ready for her next owners. cruising in the coming season. Sussex £7,000
Cardiff £125,000
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.
Saleroom By Dave Selby
ONSLOWS
ONSLOWS
Golden sand, azure sea... must be Clacton!

“The brilliant blue of the sea in this series is something to marvel at.” So works, even held public exhibitions of the latest poster art that were
ran one review of the series of “East Coast Joys” rail posters, and east reviewed in national newspapers including The Times, and at the 1931
coast sailors used to drinking tea as thick as mud and sailing on water expo these posters could be bought individually for 2 S 6d... 12½p each
the colour of tea would most definitely agree. in today’s money.
Nevertheless, by 1931 when these six posters – designed to be In a recent sale at specialist poster auctioneer Onslows, this extremely
displayed individually or as a panorama – were produced, graphic rare full set, which makes a panorama almost 4m (13ft) long, was bought
design was beginning to be recognised as art, and foremost among the by a US collector for £19,500. What made them worth more than the
British exponents was Tom Purvis, who studied under an elderly Degas sum of their individual parts was the fact that their uniformly excellent
and Walter Sickert and was also acclaimed as “The King of the condition and colouring suggest they have always been together as a
Hoardings.” London & North Eastern Railway, who commissioned these set. Not a bad return on the 75p the set would have cost in 1931.
BONHAMS CHARLES MILLER LTD

Polar snap That sinking feeling
As the first professional A battered lifejacket and lifering recall the
photographer on an drama of a forgotten episode of superhuman
Antarctic expedition, heroism that captivated the nation as it
Herbert Ponting’s unfolded in newspapers and newsreels
incredible images of the across the world.
wonders and terrors of In heavy weather in December, 1951 and 380 miles west of
the continent, taken on Land’s End, a crack opened across the main deck of American
Scott’s tragic 1910-13 freighter SS Flying Enterprise, and the stricken vessel soon took
expedition, are a part of on a 300 list. Yet when help arrived and took off all the crew
the iconography of polar and 10 passengers, Captain Kurt Carlsen stayed aboard in a
exploration. valiant effort to save his ship.
This image, ‘The Though listing to 800, a tow was attempted, but parted 37
Freezing of the Sea’, was miles from safety. With the funnel by then horizontal, Captain
taken in April, 1911 at the Carlsen walked along it to board the salvage tug. The Captain
onset of the Arctic was decorated on both sides of the Atlantic. His lifejacket and
winter before Scott set lifering, which serve as a
off on his fatal push to memento to his heroism,
the pole. After Ponting’s sold for £,1054.
return to England,
blue-toned carbon
prints were produced
for sale, and this very
large format 769mm-
high, blue-toned carbon
CHARLES MILLER LTD
print would have cost

just over £2. A century
BONHAMS
on it’s expected to fetch

£4,000-6,000.

Harbour Marine Services
Incorporating Southwold & Ipswich Boat Yards
SPECIALISTS IN CUSTOMISED RESTORATIONS & REPAIR OF ALL CRAFT

Telephone +44(0)1502 724721 - Email [email protected] - www.harbourmarine.co.uk
DAVEY & Co
LO N DO N L I M I T E D Ö E s t . 1 8 8 5
TRADITIONAL YACHT FITTINGS PROPERLY MADE SINCE 1885

TR A D E M AR K
Telephone +44 (0)1206 500945 Ö Email [email protected] Ö www.davey.co.uk

Objects of desire
MARINER’S SELECTION
An essential selection of items that
might find a place on every traditional
boat or boatyard. The sailmaker’s
needles, palm, hook, beeswax
and twine wouldn’t do Ben
Ainslie much good as he
races in the Prada Cup in WIRE ART
Auckland, even if he Unique wire sculptures
does have ‘real’ sails, insipired by the coast
but they are all items and the nautical history
still used today by a few of Cornwall. Shipwright
traditional sailmakers. Ben Baker uses iron
wire to transform his
classicmarine.co.uk fluid single line
drawings into
something tangible,
pairing the designs
with found timber, or
using pieces from the
vessel depicted if he
can. The wire drawings
can come to life using
cranks, levers and
threads of nylon.
£POA, available for
commissions
benbakerart.com
KIDS’ BOATHOUSE
“The Plum Boathouse Wooden Playhouse allows little
ones to jump on board and sail away to whatever
island their imagination takes them,” we’re told. “It
allows them to enjoy the great outdoors and
embrace the weather, rain or shine.” £649.99
BAG FROM plumplay.co.uk
SAILS
We always enjoy the products of
German company 360Grad, which
makes bags and accessories from
recycled sails. The brand’s spring
and summer 2021 collection uses a
series of carefully selected colours: XV STRIPES
“The yellow stands for optimism,
luminosity, spirit, sunshine, light.
BEDDING
The grey means strength, resilience, Inspired by coastal living and
and serenity. Thus, our models in the ocean, up and coming
the yellow /grey combination stand brand XV Stripes hails from
for confidence and patience – Cowes and offers nautical
strength and hope. Everything will bedding, upholstery and
be fine!” All models are handmade, interior decoration for your
light, weatherproof, robust and home or boat.
upcycled. POA Oxford pillowcase/cushion £60
taschen-aus-segeltuch.de xvstripes.com

Traditional equipment for classic boats.
Order online or come and visit our chandlery

at Suffolk Yacht Harbour on the east coast.
Telephone: 01394 380390 or 01473 659394 | Email: [email protected] | www.classicmarine.co.uk

Classic Marine, Suffolk Yacht Harbour, Levington, Ipswich, Suffolk, United Kingdom IP10 0LN
Photography Credit: © Emily Harris
© Jürg Kaufmann
BONA FIDE 2011 MARIGOLD 2012 OLYMPIAN 2014/2019
2 11 – 2 21
The 10th Gstaad Yacht Club Centenary Trophy
30th September 2021 during Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez
ORIOLE 2015 SPARTAN 2016 TILLY XV 2017/2018

Adrian Morgan
new best seller”. Not every book on the shelf can be a
best seller, just as not every book or yacht “destined to
be a classic” will ever become so.
With yachts, it smacks of nautical appropriation, to
use a modern buzz word. It is frankly annoying having
spent years telling folk you have a classic 5-tonner, to
read that you can buy a new classic 5-tonner – not that
anyone uses Thames Measurement any more – off the
peg, bereft of patina, varnish immaculate and none of
the deck leaks and ‘issues’ that those of us with proper
classic boats have to cope with year in year out. It feels
like cheating, an example of “passing off”. Ultimately,
it’s just not fair on those of use who really do own classic
yachts to read about these newcomers, however classic in
style, looks and rig they happen to be. NB: actually,
classic boat owners seldom claim ownership, but that
they are simply “guardians, custodians or keepers for the
future”.
Thing is more often than not this classic ‘thing’ is only
skin deep. Under the hull, rather than a heavy lump of
shaped iron or lead, attached to a hefty slab of elm or
oak, the whole thing hanging tentatively off the hull via
wooden or steel floors on a handful of wasted steel or
bronze bolts, we may well discover a well-engineered
bulb, firmly attached to a stainless structure. Keepers of
CHARLOTTE WATTERS
such boats will never have the kind of rot and corrosion
problems we enjoy solving, and which make
“guardianship” of a classic so rewarding. They will
never need to chip and repaint those rusty floors in the
depths of winter, or replace the copper fastenings eaten
away over time. They do not in short
Classic misuse of a word have the right to call themselves

classic boat owners, until they have
camped aboard and waited all night,
Real classic ownerhisp involves rot, rust and reward cold and wet, pumping bilges until
seams took up (or didn’t).
E
very so often a magazine other than this one No, classic boat ownership comes with responsibilities
arrives in the wooden letter box, up the stony that those with new boats are simply not prepared to
track that leads down to Burnside Cottage. At deal with, of which the responsibility of guardianship
the moment that entails a 200-yard trudge through ranks pretty high on the list, and who would blame
deep snow, and one year the snow was so deep I had them?
to borrow a pair of snow shoes. (Tip: keep your feet Having got that off my chest, thoughts inevitably turn
well splayed, or you’ll trip and fall flat on your face, to what constitutes a classic yacht, and as quickly veer
whereupon it’s almost impossible to get up again). away. It is an old chestnut; every classic boat owner...
As an antidote to Classic Boat – I won’t mention its sorry, guardian... believes they are the custodian of a
name – I find it refreshing to read about foiling America’s never-to-be-repeated gem which one day will be
Cup boats, top-level racing and impenetrable articles recognised as such.
about the hydro-, and increasingly, aerodynamics of I was sent a photo from the far east of a supposed
modern sailing. It is a far cry from the kind of boats we Laurent Giles cutter a while back. It bore little
own and like to read about here, even if some of them
‘What gets resemblance to anything in the catalogue, until I stripped
are way beyond our means or aspirations. me, is how away the coachroof, and a Wanderer II emerged, built
What gets me, and this is going to turn into something new yachts from scaled up plans in a 1936 Yachting Monthly, and
of a rant unless I rein it in, is how new yachts are often are often executed in a local hard wood. Was it a classic? Who
described as “modern classics”, almost before they have cares. It had, to my mind, one attribute to its classic
hit the water. Classic has become a marketing term, just
described credentials. It probably leaked, a little. To be called
as books sold at airports – should we be so foolish as to as “modern a genuine classic boat owner requires a high degree
set foot in one at the moment – often claim to be “the classics”’ of suffering.

you dream it,
we build it 21 years
of passion
french
shipyard
www.franckroy.com
CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

BOSUN’S BAG
PRACTICAL TIPS FOR THE TRADITIONAL BOATER
WORDS TOM CUNLIFFE ILLUSTRATION MARTYN MACKRILL
They’re at it again. Every time I settle in to enjoy a period film or Glass on At this point, install the still-cold glass chimney into
TV drama, all credibility is expunged by what really is the its holder. Give it a moment to absorb a little heat from the tiny
simplest of errors. Cowboy films are a good example. Here flame, then wind up the burner until the flame is level with the
comes The Man with No Name to shoot the forces of darkness slot.
back to Hell where they belong. I’m hooked into the story up to
my neck until I notice a detail that reveals beyond doubt that the Slowly does it You’re nearly there now. Tentatively feel the
director understands nothing. It even happens in Downton chimney to see how it’s warming up. When it’s getting hot to
Abbey and recently in the much-vaunted Bridgerton currently touch it’ll be safe to wind the flame higher, knowing you won’t
making a fortune for Netflix. How, I want to know, do these crack the glass. Now it’s just a matter of experiment to see how
people imagine their characters operated indoors after dark by far up you can set the wick without the flame actually licking the
the light of oil lamps rendered useless by blackened glass glass and without any suggestion of black smoke. Keep an eye
chimneys? Of course they didn’t. It isn’t a lifetime ago that I’d a on things for a few more minutes to make sure there’s no hint of
home in the Yorkshire Dales where some of the outlying farms smoking, and that’s it. Lovely warm light just as it should be -
still used Aladdin lamps. In my own world, I’ve had three boats and always was in the days when no alternative offered itself.
where the main lighting below decks was paraffin-fired and I still
use an oil riding light with a noble dioptric lens. Nobody in their RIDING LIGHTS
right mind, either afloat or up in the hills, would tolerate A decent riding light consists of a cylindrical can, or cage, with a
blackened chimneys for a moment. First, you’re paying good glass strip to disseminate the light from a lamp burning inside.
money for the paraffin and if the glass is opaque you might as Its structure allows air to circulate to the lamp and it has a
well pour it down the sink; and secondly, because getting a sophisticated draught excluding system to keep the flame from
crystal-clear glass is dead easy. being blown out. The lamp itself usually comes in one of two
forms. The first is the same in principle as a cabin light. The
CABIN LIGHTS second has the guts of a cabin light, but no chimney. That is
Here’s the secret, step by step. Some riding lights vary in detail, supplied by the body of the lamp. Whichever version you have,
but I’ll deal with them further down the page. the lamp must first be lit and settled before it is offered up to the
cage. A cabin-lamp type is lit exactly as described above, but
The right fuel No need for expensive ‘lamp oil’. I’ve never used note that when it is inside the cage with the doors shut, the cage
it. British or US Paraffin/Kerosene from any roadside garage or too will heat up and draw the flame upwards, so set the wick on
old-fashioned hardware store is fine. I did once suffer a foul the low side before inserting it.
batch in the Canary Islands which blackened everything A ‘chimneyless’ lamp is lit and simply inserted into the cage in
including my deckhead, but that was a one-off and it was far a draught-free environment – often the saloon. As usual, be
from home. aware that as the cage heats up the flame is going to rise.
Experience and trial and error will show how much wick to give
Clean the glass well Very carefully, with warm soapy water it, but once the flame’s in place behind that dioptric lens, what
and a soft cloth, wash it out. You may need a wooden spoon to looked like a modest glimmer will shine out like a beacon.
ease the cloth down inside the glass where the non-metallic
handle will guard against damage. The bosun’s toothbrush is HANGING THE RIDING LIGHT
useful too. Dry the glass and do not let it near a flame until all Any spare halyard attached to the upper hoop on the cage will
moisture has quit the scene. Get the rest of the process right and suffice to hoist the lamp. The lower hoop takes a downhaul
you’ll only do this once a week. which is secured to some suitable point on deck directly below
the hoisted lamp. Any residual tendency to swing about can be
Trim the wick Wind it up so it pokes out above the burner and defused by taking a light line forward from the upper hoop,
cut it square across with sharp scissors to remove all carbon. leading it round the forestay and back to the lamp. A double-
This is a monthly job, or less. downhaul works too. Balance the three lines. The lamp is now
triangulated. Hanging it 8ft (2.6m) or so up gives the lens its best
Lighting up Having filled the reservoir to a half-inch from the chance of doing its magical work – perhaps higher on larger
top, wind up the wick so it’s clear of the burner. This encourages yachts. If ever you doubt it, row a hundred yards away after
it to light. Put a match to it, then turn it down as low as you can sunset and be delighted by the view.
without extinguishing it. As the flame takes hold it will rise a
little. Tom Cunliffe’s videos on lamps are at youtu.be/gfX67kcCx5M

FOR THE WORK OF MARTYN MACKRILL, VISIT MARTYNMACKRILL.CO.UK OR MESSUM’S GALLERY, MAYFAIR, LONDON MESSUMS.COM
MARTYN MACKRILL Son of a marine engineer and grandson of a trawlerman, Martyn is Honorary Painter of the Royal Thames Yacht Club and the Royal Yacht
Squadron. His depictions of classic boats, from clinker rowing boats to Edwardian schooners, have made him one of the most sought-after marine artists, and his
work forms part of major collections worldwide. He and his wife, Bryony, sail the restored 1910 gaff cutter Nightfall (CB328).

DOUG LEEN
Tugboat
man
Vietnam vet, park ranger, dentist,
small-craft conservator and tugboat
skipper.... meet Ranger Doug!
WORDS AND PHOTO BRUNO CIANCI

B
orn in the State of Washington in 1946, Doug between remote Alaskan villages where Leen worked as
Leen is a lover of nature. A veteran of the a dentist, one of his many professions. Right after
Vietnam War, during which he built airstrips graduation from college he had become a National Park
with the US Navy for two years, he has owned a Service ranger, a position he held for seven years, thus
number of boats, including two wooden tugs, the first of earning the nickname ‘Ranger Doug’.
which – Winamac – sank during a parade held on 23 “Eventually,” Leen says, “I became a dentist. In 1999
May, 1991 at ‘FraserFest’ in Vancouver, after being hit I sold my private practice and took a year off vowing
by Harken 6. “I bought, restored and drove the never to even think about dentistry for a while. In 2001,
Winamac for a year and a half before she sank”, says shortly after the 9/11 attacks, I was offered temporary
Leen. “I raced her twice, perhaps three times. I recall employment in Alaska, again as a dentist, and I accepted.
taking a third place in Olympia once, and a fifth place in So I drove the Katahdin up the coast with three
Seattle. Tug racing is still popular and is sort of tongue- neophytes, and stayed.” The choice fell on Petersburg – a
in-cheek; it’s not about racing as all the boats are limited town founded by Norwegian fishermen, and at the time
by their hull displacements and, to a lesser degree, “the only one to have a marine railway that could haul
horsepower. It’s more about testosterone and fun.” out my boat; it was mid-May and I beat to weather for
Leen, who spends most of the year on Kupreanof three days down Chatham Strait in a 35-knot gale.
Island, near Petersburg (Alaska), currently owns 15 craft, Everyone stopped by the boatyard to see the tug and I
many of which have been found abandoned in a state of eventually met the local dentist who suggested I take a
rot, and were finely look at a unique property
restored by him. Among that faced the Wrangell
these are six canoes, two Narrows entrance, with the
specimens of Norwegian granite spire of the Devils
faerings, two skiffs built by Thumb just across the
Davis Boat, a dory from Frederick Sound. It was a
Saint Lazaria and an classic Alaskan log cabin and
aluminium Feathercraft I fell in love with it instantly,
that was also found in so I bought it. I’ve lived in
derelict condition. Two of Alaska pretty much year-
the above craft, a 14ft round for nearly two decades,
(4.3m) double-ender built now. Winters, obviously, are
by Davis and the dory, long and dark. With the
were respectively named Covid-19 pandemic, I’ll be
Onkel Ole and Sven, after “Tug boat racing is still wintering over, and seeing
Doug Leen’s great uncles what evolves. This is the right
who had immigrated from popular and is sort of tongue- place to be until it blows over.
Norway. in-cheek. It’s more about I’m totally isolated and love it
Doug’s ‘capital ship’, here.”
though, is his second
testosterone and fun.” Next to the log cabin is a
tugboat the 73ft (22.3m) red-painted, self-built boatshed,
Katahdin, a native a traditional Norwegian
American name for the highest peak in Maine. She was ‘naust’ (another tribute to Doug’s roots) stuffed with his
built in 1899 by Martin Hansen on the Duwamish River, collection of small craft. “I decided to turn this shed into
near Seattle, for the Anacortes Packing Company and a museum,” says Leen, “and for a simple reason. When
initially equipped with a steam engine. That was this town was founded, in 1893, it was all fishing
replaced in 1935 with a 350hp Union Diesel engine that oriented and there were many boats. Today, the
has transformed the boat into the most efficient tug in all Norwegians have lost their language and their old
of Puget Sound. The Foss Towing Company was the last wooden rowboats were getting tossed aside and left to
owner to use this tugboat for commercial purposes. rot, so I would grab and fix them up as a retirement
Eight other owners followed. project. Then I’d host rowboat races on 4 July or on 7
Doug Leen came into the picture in 1994. “I bought May – the Norwegian Constitution Day – for the kids
the Katahdin after discovering her sitting derelict on and anyone who wanted to race. Fun was had by all.”
Orcas Island, while mired in a divorce and lawsuits. I The naust has no dock to it, but a trolley designed to
paid only $10,000 for her ‘as is, where is’ and rolled up lift hay up to the tops of the barns. There is an upstairs
my sleeves for an odyssey that involved a lot more than split mezzanine for smaller craft, oars, sails, boat
bending wood and painting.” For the next 18 years, the furniture and the like. Most people would simply call it a
‘Kat’ served as a floating home and transportation mode shed, but to Doug Leen it means much more than that.

A round-up
of the latest
BOOKS
Once again, we face lockdown, at least
this time without the agony of a perfect
spring going to waste. It’s time to enjoy,
and expand, the library
REVIEWS BY SAM JEFFERSON
AND STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES SKETCHBOOK SAILOR
BY CLAUDIA MYATT
Illustrator and artist Claudia Myatt’s work can be seen in this magazine
most months, alongside Tom Cunliffe’s column. At the tail end of 2019,
Claudia shipped aboard the 1915 Dutch herring drifter Tecla to voyage
by sail from the Galapagos Islands off Ecuador, all the way down to
Cape Horn then back up the other side to the Falkland Islands. Being
Claudia, she left her camera at home, and the result is a thoroughly
illustrated travelogue of her voyage. What makes this particularly
A MODERN delightful is that, unlike most travel narratives, this one is as much
SINBAD about life on board ship as it is about the sights seen. After all, a bowl
BY AYLWARD of porridge is as important to a sailor coming off watch as the sighting
EDWARD DINGLE of whales; so here you will find both. SMH
One of the more obscure
sailing classics out there but Published by Golden Duck, £14.99
worth a read if you can get
hold of a copy. The is the THE DOLPHIN: THE
‘autobiography’ of the LIFE OF DAVID LEWIS
wonderfully named BY BEN LOWINGS
Aylward Dingle, journalist You seldom hear his name now, but
and sailor who, after much David Lewis was one of the leading
adventure (misadventure!) sailors of the 1960s and 70s, with
on tall ships, settled down some amazing firsts to his name
to make a living writing including, arguably, the first world
pulp fiction. He achieved some fame circumnavigation by catamaran.
in this, later appearing as one of the first guests on Desert Island Discs. More famously, he was the first
This confessional takes the ‘unreliable narrator’ concept to a new level. to sail solo to Antarctica, in 1972 on
All is presented as fact and much has the tang of authenticity. There the 32ft Icebird, related in his classic
are beautiful descriptions of sailing tall ships including the legendary clipper book Icebird. He was also present
Thermopylae, a diversion into treasure hunting in the Kerguelen Islands and at the genesis of ocean racing,
shorebound spells as a bare-knuckle boxer and as footman to JP Morgan when he took on Francis Chichester and others in the first OSTAR of
in New York. Yet Dingle also describes as fact episodes that – I hope – can’t 1960 and wrote The Ship would not Travel Due West about it. After the
be true, most worryingly how he murdered the cook of a steamship in his Antarctic voyage, he made a study of ancient Polynesian navigation
command and later inadvertently blew the vessel up in the Southern Ocean, techniques, culminating in a treatise on the subject: We, the Navigators.
killing most of the crew. Later yachting adventures, Iike the first solo David was born in Britain but emigrated to New Zealand with his
passage from the USA to Bermuda, are backed by newspaper reports. family at the age of seven, becoming a doctor in adult life. His personal
Mostly, you’re don’t know what to believe. Ford Maddox laid down the life, with no fewer than six marriages, was as stormy as his terrifying,
template The Good Soldier but Dingle adds a whole new dimension. SJ freezing, sailing exploits. This biography tackles both unflinchingly. SMH
Freely available on abebooks.co.uk for £10 or less Published by Lodestar Books, £17

PILOT CUTTERS
UNDER SAIL WEATHER AT SEA
BY TOM BY SIMON ROWELL
CUNLIFFE Simon Rowell understands what a
When a British sailor thinks sailor needs to know and explains it
of a pilot cutter, he from the sailor’s point of view, says Sir
envisages the Bristol Robin Knox-Johnston, and we know
Channel type, such has better than to challenge him on that.
been its incredible Considering what it covers, this is a
resurgence in recent years. pretty thin book, just 94 pages in fact,
But wherever in the world which is a relief to those in need of a
ships seek haven, pilot quick refresher course. It would also do
cutters will be found. They great service as a fast reference work,
are, perhaps, the aristocrats as it covers all the concepts you are
of the working boat world, likely to need at sea, from the global forces like the jet stream and
with their yacht-like turn of coriolis effect, through national or continental concerns like the
speed, lack of cargo and wealthy gentlemen owners and skippers. This anatomy of a low-pressure system or how to understand the
book by CB columnist Tom Cunliffe, first published in 2013 and newly Shipping Forecast, all the way down to local variations like katabatic
reproduced, is a guide to the many pilot cutter types of northern and thermal winds. Now, what does “later” mean again... SMH
Europe, and a continuation volume to two earlier books that covered
pilot cutters from just about everywhere else in the world. It’s a thorough Published by Fernhurst, £14.99
work illustrated by hundreds of sketches, photos and paintings. Tom
knows traditional sail as well as anyone, and his ownership of three WEST COUNTRY
pilot cutters over three decades brings the book to life. SMH CRUISING COMPANION
BY MARK FISHWICK
Published by Seaforth, £16.99 After 32 years in print, this is now the
ninth edition of Mark Fishwick’s classic
pilot. It is obvious why so many cruising
yachtsmen would want this in the
wheelhouse for any sort of west
country cruise. Firstly, it’s a
considerable work, roughly A4 in size
and nearly 300 pages. The level of
detail is forensic. Name a village and
Mark will tell you the opening hours of
its main shop and how to get there. And there is a clear chartlet of
every port. The guide covers the coastline from Portland Bill, all the
way to the Scillies, then back along the north Cornish coast as far as
Padstow. Coverage of the rarely-cruise north coast is scant. SMH
Published by Fernhurst, £42.50
DES TOWNSON MASTERING

BY BRIAN PEET NAVIGATION
A somewhat niche publication this BY PAUL BOISSIER
one, but it’s unquestionably very True virgins make dull company!
worthy and well researched. Cadbury’s Dairy Milk [is] very tasty! If
Author Brian Peet documents you think this reviewer has lost the plot
the life of New Zealand sailor and (sic), then you’ve been too long
yacht designer Des Townson befuddled by the brain rot brought on
who is best known – particularly by the glove-in-hand seducers of GPS
among Kiwis – as the designer of the Starling, and chart plotter. Real navigation and
Zephyr, Mistral and Dart dinghy classes. its syntax of mnemonics has become,
In actual fact, Townson had a remarkable 3,500 designs to his name as others have bemoaned, a lost art
by the time of his death in 2008, including a number of larger yachts. these days, but basic, old-fashioned
The book is clearly painstakingly researched and looks not only at his nav and pilotage is still an absolute must, not just for the satisfaction,
designs and method but also his personal life and sailing achievements, but in case of gear failure. This book covers everything needed in
making this a well-rounded read. As I say, it’s best you have some order to know where you are at a given moment, plan a voyage,
vested interest in Townson to get the most out of this book but predict water movement around the boat, calculate a course to steer
nevertheless, it’s a fine read. SJ and estimate arrival time. And... groan... tidal height at arrival! SMH
Published by Mary Egan Publishing Published by Fernhurst, £17.99

CHANCE TO SAVE AN
Albert Strange yawl
Chances at Albert Strange ownership don’t come up often, and Sheila
II is the quintessential Strange – and one with a great history, too
WORDS REBECCA HAYTER
T
he Albert Strange yawl Sheila II is famous to sail solo from the United Kingdom to New
for her title role in Adrian Hayter’s book Zealand.
Sheila in the Wind (Hodder and Stoughton, In 1961-2, Hayter sailed from England to
1959), but while the book has recently New Zealand via the Panama Canal in an even
enjoyed a major refit courtesy of Lodestar Books, the smaller yacht: the Folkboat Valkyr. The Royal
boat remains in dire need of repair. Akarana Yacht Club, NZ recognised the solo
Sheila II was built by Dickie of Tarbert, Scotland in circumnavigation with its Blue Water Medal.
1911 and is for sale in New Zealand. Richard Wynne of Hayter sold Sheila II in the 1950s and was
Lodestar Books says the Albert Strange Association is briefly reunited with her in 1970 for a
watching closely, hoping the book’s revival will inspire a television documentary about his voyage,
buyer to restore Sheila II. called Isn’t it Terribly Lonely?. Around 1973,
“Her design was commissioned from Albert Strange Peter Nelson of Auckland bought Sheila II and sailed her in the
by artist Robert Groves around 1908 following his original Sheila 1977 inaugural Two-Handed Round North Island Race. In 1983,
launched in 1905,” he says. “Groves has left some very evocative Sheila broke her moorings off Devonport Yacht Club and suffered
sketches of both boats under sail. Given a free rein by the client, extensive damage. Two owners later and still in disrepair, she was
Strange would always favour performance over accommodation, bought by Russ Rimmington who kept Sheila II from further
believing it to be an important safety feature; this resulted in some deterioration but other projects intervened and he is now looking
of his most beautifully proportioned designs, of which Sheila II, for a buyer to undertake her restoration.
some would argue, is the finest.” The major work includes removing the keel, treating its rust and
Sheila II is typical canoe yawl of the sort that made Strange’s refitting it. Most frames and some planks in the hull and deck need
name known. She originally set a roller-furling jib, a gaff mainsail replacement. The cockpit is not original and needs replacement.
with a yard topsail over, and a gaff mizzen sheeted to a bumkin. The interior has been gutted and would need a total replacement;
The hull was built of full-length pitch pine planking on oak frames some photos of Sheila II’s original interior exist. She would need a
on the rigid base of a long cast-iron ballast keel. new engine, recaulking of hull and decks, and a repaint. Most of
Hayter, a New Zealander, had virtually no sailing experience the original main and mizzen masts, gaffs, booms and wooden
when he bought Sheila II in 1949. In the previous decade, he had blocks survive but she would need new rigging.
fought as a British officer with a Gurkha regiment in the Second In Sheila in the Wind, Hayter’s writing straddles the physical
World War, earning the Military Cross; witnessed the Partition of voyage and the spiritual adventure; some descriptions of the ocean
India and been actively involved in the Malayan Emergency. forces are so compelling the reader clings to their armchair. This
But the war left him conflicted. To make sense of it all, he sought has made Sheila in the Wind a classic, worthy of being republished
solitude on the open sea. He left from Lymington in England on 12 more than 60 years later, and 30 years after Hayter died of cancer.
August, 1950 and sailed to New Zealand via India against Wynne says the Albert Strange Association has always valued
prevailing winds. Sheila in the Wind recounts his foray into celestial Sheila II and feels a sense of frustration at her long years out of the
navigation – at one point, due to a basic error, he was lost mid- water. “Reissuing Sheila in the Wind brings a remarkable sailing
ocean until he realised he could smell sulphur. He remembered adventure, a deeply human story, and a beautiful classic yacht
reading that Mount Etna was in eruption, so he took a bearing on design back to the world’s attention,” he says.
the wind and transferred that bearing on the chart through Mount
Etna. A sun sight later allowed him to plot his position. As she is today,
He nearly succumbed to infection following a back-street ready for restoration.
appendix operation in India and his army training came in useful Those interested in
during armed escort by Indonesian authorities at sea. buying Sheila II
He developed from novice to instinctive sailor, but barely made should contact
Australia. Sheila II was leaking badly and encrusted with barnacles. Russ Rimmington in
With progress slow, Hayter ran out of food and water; he ate the New Zealand, email
MIKE HUGHES
barnacles and distilled sea water in a homemade condenser. huntingdonfarm@

Even his arrival at Westport, New Zealand in 1956 was a xtra.co.nz
do-or-die surge through breaking seas as he became the first person

Sheila II’s official
welcome in Nelson, NZ
with Adrian’s brother Jim and
Jim’s son, Stephen Hayter
SHELIA II
LOA
31ft 7in (9.6m)
LWL
24ft (7.3m)
BEAM
8ft 6in (2.6m)
DRAUGHT
4ft 11in (1.5m)
SAIL AREA
545sqft (50.6m2)

WE DIDN’T
MEAN TO
GO TO SEA
In a window between lockdowns, Michael
and Beverly Briggs, owners of the Fife yacht
Mikado, took their newly-restored Silvers
motor yacht Kingfisher to explore the upper
Thames. At least, that was the plan...
WORDS AND PICTURES MICHAEL BRIGGS

T
he plan was simple. Beverly and I would have
a sort of training cruise for navigating locks,
rivers and bridges, and with uncertainty about
how far we could go with the various Covid
restrictions, we decided to explore as much as we could
of the Thames. We thought we’d certainly reach Henley
and Sonning and perhaps get up as high as Oxford
before the first really low bridge stopped us. As a
highlight, we planned to celebrate our 39th wedding
anniversary at the French Horn in Sonning where we
spent our wedding night 39 years ago. September
promised perhaps a little less congestion on the river
than August, before getting her back into healthy
saltwater for the winter.
And so, on 29 August after tea, we set off eastwards
from Chichester, bound for Beachy Head the next day,
then an overnight stop at Dover or Ramsgate. Our
planned overnight passage was prevented by a last-
minute crew cancellation due to illness, so we decided to
sail by day. Strong northerlies were forecast, but we
reckoned we could stay inshore and avoid the inevitable
lobster pots by motoring only in daylight. After weaving
through the rocks off Selsey as the sun set behind us, we
found a snug anchorage just north of the moorings off
the lifeboat station east of Selsey Bill for a quiet night,
planning to start east just before dawn as the tide turned
in our favour. We were under way again by 0500 over a
smooth sea but with an increasing offshore wind. We
hugged the coast, just a few hundred yards off most of
the time, passing innumerable beach huts, bungalows
COMMISSION AIR / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO
and the ribbon developments of the English south coast,

together with lovely Regency terraces and the occasional
pier at Brighton, Eastbourne and the other famous
resorts, and a good view of Lancing Chapel on its hill
West of Shoreham, not to mention some spectacular
chalk cliffs including Beachy Head.
Things were hotting up by Dungeness, with the wind
blowing at Force 7 or more, but the sea remained
perfectly manageable just a cable or two off the beach.
Main picture: The

river Deben
viewed from
Flexistowe Ferry
Right: Kingfisher
moored off
Ramsholt Quay

SOUTH EAST ENGLAND VOYAGE
The skipper, being an Arthur Ransome devotee, had

long yearned to visit Pin Mill and the Suffolk coast, the
Walton Backwaters and the Broads, so it didn’t take long
to decide on a sharp turn north up the East Coast. We
Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, Secret Water and Coot Club
were quickly downloaded on Kindle as pilotage guides.
But first we kept to our plan to have a trip through
the Swale, the ribbon of sea that runs between the
mainland and the Isle of Sheppey from Whitstable to
Queenborough, before setting off north the following
day. This was an unexpected delight and giving a tow
under the bridge to Queenborough to a yacht with
engine failure ensured us preferential treatment alongside
the small all-tide pontoon when we got there. Despite it
being Monday afternoon, the only good eatery being full
and the church with its lovely painted ceilings closed due
to the pandemic, we really liked Queenborough. The
harbour-master could not have been more welcoming,
and the little village (with its packed fishing boat creek
We thought we needn’t worry about the Dungeness firing Above: Kingfisher behind it) is a gem among the industrial ugliness all
range on a Sunday, until a passing dredger radioed us, doing mothership around. It’s also a great jumping-off point for
asking us whether we were planning to don our tin hats. duty for the Fife destinations on almost all points of the compass.
So offshore we had to go, where it really started to get yacht Mikado
rough. Turning almost north, two miles off the tip of CROSSING THE THAMES ESTUARY
Dungeness to a planned rendezvous with friends on the Our next longish passage to Suffolk and the River
beach at Hythe, we started taking the spray in buckets, Orwell was in perfect conditions. Passage-making in the
putting our ancient but much-loved clearview screen to Thames Estuary is so very different from the dangerous
its first hard test (with us, that is). It passed with flying navigational challenges across and around the shallows
colours, performing much better than the screen wipers of yore. GPS has taken care of that, and the old feeling
on the other wheelhouse window. Going almost eight of being out at sea has been closed off by the
knots into a really nasty wind and sea fully demonstrated innumerable wind turbines to seaward. Apart from some
the Silver Leaf’s splendid qualities as a sea boat, even if nervousness about the fuel gauge (with a light heel to
slightly loose sealant in the scuttle over my bunk left me port, and the gauge reading the starboard tank level, we
just a little damp that evening, and more than a little had more than we realised – all part of the learning curve
annoyed, before the central heating dried us out and a switching from sail to power), it was an uneventful
dose of Captain Tolley’s Creeping Crack Cure prevented cruise to the Royal Harwich Yacht Club for tea time, a
a recurrence. beautiful and peaceful spot, but disappointingly empty of
We reached Dover by late afternoon and were people as a result of the pandemic.
directed to a very short pontoon in the old marina area After a trip up the River Stour to see the town of
for the night. The Dutch have just built a splendid new Mistley, once a major Thames barge port now looking
marina at Dover but it’s currently unusable (and closed derelict and forlorn, we returned back downriver to find
off) because strong onshore winds bring in a swell that a peaceful anchorage near Wrabness, with its little
makes it uninhabitable. Plans are afoot to erect barriers wooden holiday houses built out on stilts over the
to put that right in the future. crumbling foreshore. Then it was back up the Orwell to
leave Kingfisher with Jonathan Dyke and team at Suffolk
DOVER, AND A CHANGE OF PLAN Yacht Harbour for a haul-out, scrub and much-needed
We left Dover the next day in gentler seas, passing North anode change, while we travelled to Cowes to race in the
Foreland then turning west to approach the Thames. delayed Spring Classics regatta aboard Mikado.
While passing Margate we called to book our berth in We were back aboard Kingfisher by 7 September, on
Limehouse basin for the night. A casual our way to Ransome territory – the Walton Backwaters
mention of our planned trip upriver to featured in Secret Water, a remote
Teddington Lock produced the reply that the wilderness of unspoilt creeks, wildlife
river was closed to all traffic at and mud flats. Since Ransome’s day, a
Hammersmith Bridge until further notice. marina has been built at Titchmarsh.
Apparently the hot summer had made it too We steered well clear of it, not that it
unsafe to let people or cars over it or boats intrudes seriously on the beauty of
under it. Reflecting that it was just a bit the rest of this place. We started
unlucky for us to have encountered the first at the anchorage at Stone Point,
total long-term closure of the Thames since with its small sandy beach, where we
probably the middle ages, and one which hadn’t met Andy and Jane Easdown, on a
even been posted on the Thames Conservancy cruise on their own yacht. Then we
website, we were forced to reconsider our plans. moved to a completely secluded

CHRIS LOFTY / ALAMY STOCK PHOTO

Main picture: Beachy Head
Above: All clear through the trusty clearview;
Woodbridge, at the head of the River Deben

seaside town of Southwold, filled with swanky

clothes shops, galleries and fine eateries. And yes,
tourists, even in September.
The two sides of the harbour are connected
by a (still rowing) ferry and, upstream, by a
footbridge which used to carry the infamous
Southwold Railway, the most schlerotic, chaotic,
slow, unreliable and under-resourced little narrow
gauge railway in the UK, now long since demised, but
its memory still fondly revered by steam enthusiasts (like
me... I have something similar in my garden).
We received a royal welcome from Harbour Marine
Services, with a RIB to guide us in and no fewer than
three staff to take our lines at a pontoon made ready for
us, followed by a tour round their excellent classic motor
yacht restorations and projects (see Yard News on p71).
Full of developing ideas about what we might yet do
to beautify Kingfisher still further, (perhaps with HMS’
assistance) we were rowed across to Walberswick by the
energetic and charming young ferrywoman to a good
spot behind Horsey Island in Kirby Creek, just where Top: The author’s lunch in the garden of the Anchor pub, followed by a
Arthur Ransome’s young explorers set up their camp, snorkel fused to stroll around the village, a well-earned siesta and
anchoring for the night just clear of the upstream end of a hosepipe for excellent fish and chips in the evening.
the oyster beds. There was no need to go ashore as the short, shallow
unique atmosphere could just as well be soaked up over dives to check Michael and Beverly continued their voyage with an
leisurely drinks in the cockpit. A memorable day the propellers 10-day Broads cruise, finishing back in Southwold,
followed by an utterly undisturbed night, with not a where Kingfisher is now receiving a full refit. The closure
boat, or a soul, in sight. Above: of Hammersmith Bridge continues to be a bane to
Southwold Thames boat users, and will for some time.
RIVER DEBEN
Entering the River Deben, the next river up the Suffolk
coast, is what my late father would have called character-
forming, through the notorious river bar. But the local
mariners keep moving the entrance buoys to adjust for
the shifting sands. All you have to remember is to ignore
the plotter and follow the prescribed course. Once
through the entrance, the river is calm and rural.
The Ramsholt Arms fully lived up to its good
reputation and we celebrated our 39th wedding
anniversary there with a very good dinner of local fish,
taken on the riverside terrace, followed by a short row
back to Kingfisher, glowing like a gem in the golden
sunset.
The next day saw us going upriver to Woodbridge on
the tide before returning to Prettyman’s Point for a night
at anchor among the sea birds.
HEADING FOR SOUTHWOLD

To time our exit over the Deben River bar, we started
Kingfisher 1935 Silver leaf
early the next morning, bound for Southwold. The early Kingfisher is a 1935 Clyde-built, teak-on-oak 42ft (12.8m) Silver Leaf in very
morning fog lifted to reveal another perfect day, and we original condition and, after having her refitted soon after purchase at
set off on the long(ish) haul around Orford Ness and Stirling & Son, in very sound condition too. She was advertised (correctly)
Sizewell, leaving the delights of the Alde and the Ore for as accommodating two in utter luxury, four in comfort and eight at a
a future occasion. The ‘harbour’ at Southwold consists pinch. With central heating and towel rails, hot and cold running water and
of the very narrow mouth of the River Blyth, where the all the mod cons behind the teak panelling, we went for the luxury option
modest tidal range is belied by rather strong tidal of two of us for cruising the rivers, lakes and canals of Europe, and the
streams, and a cross current under the piles of the eight-berth approach to accommodate the racing crew of our 1904 Fife
otherwise quite straightforward entrance. On the South racing cutter Mikado, which sleeps only two. Kingfisher has modern
side is pretty little Walberswick, with two nice gastro- engines and navigation gear, and with twin outward-turning screws, 4ft 2in
pubs. On the other is a very old-fashioned fishing dock, draught, huge freshwater tanks coupled to on-deck and below deck
with fresh fish stalls, a superb chippie, and the classic showers, and an easily lowered mast we can take her almost anywhere at
boatyard Harbour Marine Services and another pub. her 8-knot cruising speed, within a 400-mile range.
Across a mile of fields, lies the beautiful, fashionable

PHOTO: Richard Johnstone-Bryden
CHICANE, ALFRED MYLNE 1926

ROW YOUR BOAT
There has been a steady rise in recreational rowing
over the past few years, and the choice can be
bewildering. What’s the right boat for you?
WORDS ROGER NADIN
46
M
any of us will have looked longingly at
large yachts and wished we owned one.
Many will have bought or built their first
boat as a teenager and will have seen their
boat-owning life as a progression from small dinghy or
canoe through to ever larger and more luxurious craft.
But life will eventually tell you that the simple things in
life bring the most pleasure and for many, it is a
realisation that takes them back to the smaller boats of
their younger days.
The simplest form of boating is a canoe or a rowing
boat. In the past, rowing boats were the mainstay of
most harbours, and the Viking longboats took their
oarsmen to the far reaches of the then known world.
Today, unfortunately, we tend to think of rowing in
terms of Olympic champions, muscled oarsmen and
women bending their backs to beat their competitors.
There is, however, another world. A world of peace and
quiet, of infinite tranquillity and solace, of gentle,
rhythmic oar strokes across lakes, down rivers and along
a coast. Rowing can take you on solo trips or with a
partner or family. There is, dare we say it, a special
‘socially-distanced’ satisfaction in being out on the water
under your own steam.
WHERE CAN YOU USE THESE BOATS?

Well, just about anywhere that is not outside the
capability of the boat that you plan to use. Some boats,
like dories in particular, were developed for use out at
sea and can have tremendous sea-keeping ability. Few of
us live far from some type of water, be it canal, lake,
river, or sea. Even city dwellers can find a stretch of
easily accessible water within a short drive so they can
carry a boat on a roof-rack or tow a light trailer. Away
from the hustle and bustle of city life, there is a pleasant
world of water lapping along past the gunwale of your
own small craft. Your quietness as you slip along a canal
or river means that wildlife hardly notices you and you
will thrill at the sight of a colourful kingfisher flashing by
or the view of a nest full of fledglings hidden in the reeds.
With your painter hitched to a riverside tree or your
boat pulled up on a small beach you’ll enjoy a lunchtime
sandwich and a cup of something warming on a winter’s
day. You might even rig up a boat cover-cum-tent and
spend the night rocked to sleep tucked up in your
sleeping bag. There is virtually nothing to stop you
cruising and camping wherever you want.
Most rowing boats today are based on traditional
designs, on well-used work boats that have stood the test
of time: dories, skiffs, yawls, sharpies, Whitehalls,
PHOTO C/OGILLIAN NAHUM OF HENLEY SALES & CHARTER
wherries, faerings, prams, guide-boats, and others. All

these craft used to be built by skilled artisans who
understood riveting, joinery, spiling, caulking and all the
other craft skills that were handed down from generation
to generation. Somehow these boats always “looked
right” and, in the world of boating especially, what looks
right usually is right. Just look at the sleek, curved
sheer-line of a Ness Yawl or an Adirondack guide boat!
TRADITIONAL THAMES Many of these rowing boats can also have a sail
ROWING SKIFF added and have been further developed by modern boat
The traditional Thames rowing skiff forms the designers to suit today’s leisure requirements. The old
basis for many of toady’s designs. Can be methods of construction have been replaced to put
rowed, sailed and camped in as well (or creating your own craft within the reach of just about
badly!) as in Jerome K Jerome’s time
(Three Men in a Boat) CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 47
CHOOSING A ROWING BOAT
THE DRAKE 17
ROWBOAT
FAERING
17ft (5.2m) and designed as a
fixed-seat rowing boat but with
some downwind sailing ability
if required. At just 110lbs/50kg,
it can be car-topped. Also
available in 18 and 19ft versions
KATHY MANSFIELD
SHENANDOAH
WHITEHALL
Skin on frame, LOA 13ft 6in (4.1m)
Digital Plans $55, kit $500
C/O JAMES KEALEY

anyone who can follow an instruction manual and plan. ELF The first thing anyone considering a new boat, whether
If time is short or you feel that you do not have the FAERING professionally built or self-built is its intended use:
ability or space to build your own boat, then there are The Elf Faering is
skilled professionals available aplenty. The satisfaction of a relatively small • Solo rowing
building your own however, is considerable and there’s (14ft 11in /4.6m) • Rowing with friends and family
an easy way of doing this – use a kit. version of a • Rowing and sailing
Norwegian • Short trips locally
FOUR WAYS TO GET AFLOAT IN THE faering. Plans £120 • Long-distance inland trips
RIGHT BOAT • Coastal cruising
1 Commission a professional boat builder. Check out • Camping trips
Wooden Boatbuilders’ Trade Association: wbta.co.uk • Keep fit
2 Take time out and do a traditional boat building • Roof-rack or trailer
course and build the traditional way • All of the above
3 Buy the plans and build your boat to modern methods.
4 Buy a kit. Most modern designers supply kits Let’s just look at a few boats that you might like to
worldwide through local CNC wood cutters. A kit consider but, in doing so, be aware that for every boat
dramatically reduces the time and skills required to and designer shown here there are literally hundreds of
build a perfect boat. other craft available (and we apologise for any designers
or suppliers who may have been left out).
WHAT BOAT? The Adirondack Guide Boat is a true rowing boat.
If you spend time on the web researching boats, you’ll be Originally used in the USA’s Adirondack Mountains for
staggered at the number available. It is a confusing array carrying hunting parties (and their resulting carcasses),
of designs, types of boat and methods of construction. this high-capacity, beautifully shaped boat is now as a kit

OONAGH! PRAM DINGHY
Rugged pram dinghy aimed originally at the
tender market but found to be an ideal
rowing and sailing craft for general use. Just
11ft 8in (3.6m) and 170lbs (77.1kg). Plans $149
and CNC kit $1,995
BENJAMIN MENDLOWITZ
C/O ADIRONDACK GUIDE BOAT CO
ADIRONDACK
GUIDE BOAT
Available in lengths from 12-17ft
(3.7-5.2m) as a cedar-strip kit for $3,800
or built for $15,700. Also supplied in Kevlar
from $2,675
or professionally built in either cedar wood or using DORIS STITCH AND TAPE
Kevlar (which results in an extremely light boat). They DORY Another similarly simple method of construction is stitch
are also available as skin-on-frame boats which also Designed by and tape where plywood panels are literally stitched
provides real lightness: the SOF build method now uses Vivier. LOA 16ft together using (usually) copper wire and the resulting
very modern material such as polyethylene or ballistic 4in (5m). A joints are then fixed together using glassfibre tape and
nylon stretched over a wooden framework to give a very development of epoxy – the stitches being removed once the epoxy has
quick and simple build – search for skin-on-frame boats the light dory set. If building such boats from a kit, the ply panels will
on the web for more information. If you want to row sort of vessel. be delivered with all stitch holes pre-drilled for you. This
great distances with rhythmic ease, this could be the boat Digital plans system produces a surprisingly strong and workman-like
for you. There are SOF guide boats, Whitehalls, wherries €156 structure as can be seen by the numerous Mirror
and skiffs, like the Classic 12 Geodesic Skiff Row & dinghies which have started the sailing careers of many
Sailboat. They all have the easy-to-row characteristics of of today’s yachtsmen. This method of construction is
their originals but with the advantage of being very light. used for John Welsford’s Light Dory and for the Selway
One of the simplest methods of building a wooden boat Fisher Skylark, both of which are ideal rowing and/or
is the ply-on-frame method. A simple wooden frame is sailing craft. Welsford has also designed a particularly
built, then ‘skinned’ with plywood. This sort requires the useful 14ft 8in sail-and-oar double-ender which uses the
minimum of woodworking skills and only simple tools. glued lapstrake method, a method shared by Iain Oughtred
Boats like Jeff Spira’s 15ft Cape Cod Rowing Skiff or designed Elf Faering.
Clint Chase’ Caravelle Skiff (14ft 4in or 15ft 8in) or his
faering-based Drake 17 Rowboat (which can also be PRAM DINGHY
sailed downwind) are prime examples. These provide The Mirror dinghy referred to above is, of course, a
boats that are brilliant at both rowing and sailing – pram dinghy which is not the first shape that you might
spacious enough for the oarsman and one or two crew. think of when looking for a good rowing vessel. Two

CHOOSING A ROWING BOAT
PASSAGEMAKER
11ft 7in (3.5m) pram dinghy weighing 90lb (41kg). A light and
very capable vessel equally at home under sail or oars. Plans
and a manual $143 or full kit at $1,469
C/O DAVE GENTRY

THE SKIN-ON-FRAME RUTH WHERRY
Unique, high-performance rowing wherry of 18ft (5.5m) but weighing
only 45lb (21kg). Plans $68 ($55 for digital). Frame sets cost $500
CAPE COD ROWING SKIFF

Designed by Jeff Spira. LOA 15ft 1in (1.4m)
Digital Plans $59.99, printed Plans $69.99. A
simple boat to build
C/O JEFF SPIRA
remarkably similar boats prove that assumption wrong: THE All around the world there are places to use a small
the Passagemaker from the drawing board of John C CLASSIC boat. Places where you can get away from the city just
Harris at Chesapeake Light Craft built using their own 12 SKIFF for an hour or so – or even for a few days. Those of us
LapStich method; and Oonagh! (the name comes from a Skin on frame boat who have experienced lightweight camping know the
Celtic faery queen) from Dough Hylan at Hylan and of 12ft (3.7m). Can pleasure to be had from an overnight stay in the wild.
Brown Boatbuilders, using the glued lapstrake method. be rowed or sailed. With a rowing or sailing boat you’ve got a choice of
Both make superb rowing and sailing craft. Both boats Weighing in at just pulling up to a beach, mooring alongside a canal or river
were partly designed as competition to the ubiquitous 30lb (13.6kg), she is and setting up tent or, on larger vessels, sleeping on
inflatable/small RIBs seen in use as tenders in many a like a Whitehall board. This latter is much preferable since you probably
harbour or marina. It turns out that they also make with a skeg. Plans won’t need anyone’s permission and you can drop
excellent vessels for more widespread use. Both boats $95, partial kit $130 anchor or tie up pretty well anywhere that’s safe. Here in
come in at just under 12ft in length and around 5ft in the with standard the United Kingdom, we have the Dinghy Cruising
beam. While Passagemaker weighs in at 90lbs (41kg) Dacron cover or Association (dinghycruising.org.uk) and the Royal
and could be lifted on to a roof-rack without much $155 with heavy- Yachting Association provides training (rya.org.uk/
effort, Oonagh! is a heftier option because of the use of duty Dacron training) . A good read on the subject is Roger Barnes’
more internal structures as well as stouter planking, and The Dinghy Cruising Companion and his YouTube
would therefore require a trailer. Both are excellent boats videos. Elsewhere in the world there’s help around if you
in their own right. There are advantages to a pram need it. In fact, dinghy cruising and camping is becoming
dinghy in that, compared to the pointed end of a more something of a new ‘craze’ as we seek more from the
traditional shape, the wider bow provides additional natural world.
space within the boat as well as more stability and So, put your thinking cap on. Decide what type of
buoyancy. boat you need. Place an order for your boat plans or kit
No article on sail-and-oar vessels would be complete – or indeed find a builder to do it for you. Check
without mentioning the French designer Fracnois Vivier whether you need any form of permit to use your local
and his Doris design (‘Doris’, it turns out, is the French waters. Then – just get out there and enjoy the great
for dory). Like so many boats, this is based on an earlier watery outdoors.
craft known as the Swampscott Dory from the USA. For more on rowing, cruising by dinghy and the
This open-boat business is, if nothing else, a very sail-and-oar movement, see our two-part feature on
international industry. Doris was designed specifically Giacomo de Stefano’s sail-and-oar odyssey from London
with good rowing and sailing abilities and to be light in to Istanbul, various of Roger Barnes’s adventures, and
weight for its size. plenty on Francois Vivier, at classicboat.co.uk.

Boat kits
for explorers
Dry dock and slipway services upto

250’ (75M) x 40’ (12M)
Specialists in wooden vessel repair
Coded welders and steel vessel repair
Shot blasting and protective coating application
Mast and spar construction and repair
All ship repair services available
For more information visit:
Plans & Kits available
www.woodenshiprepairs.co.uk to build your own boat
or call 07849522164
Arctic Dry Dock, Arctic Road, Cowes, ChaseSmallCraft.com/Why
Isle of Wight, PO31 7PG, UK

LOOKING BACK Sir Robin Knox-Johnston examining the lost file of negatives taken
prior to and on his successful return to Falmouth when winning the Sunday Times
Golden Globe Race to become the first person to sail solo non-stop around the world
RETURN TO FALMOUTH Robin Knox-Johnston sails his 32ft yacht Suhaili into A RELAXED ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON June 1968: A clean-
Falmouth, England, accompanied by a flotilla of little ships carrying family and shaven RKJ aboard Suhaili during the sail from Surrey Docks,
media. That day, 22 April 1969, he became the first man to sail solo non-stop around London, to the start of his solo non-stop circumnavigation
the globe, having set out from Falmouth, England 312 days before. attempt from Falmouth, Cornwall
ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON
MORE LOST PHOTOS
REDISCOVERED
We thought we'd seen them all – but in the dusty arhives of
the Sunday Mirror, there was treasure bound for the tip
ALL PHOTOGRAPHS BILL ROWNTREE/PPL
COPPER TINGLE 24 April, 1969: RKJ inspects the copper tingle he had FIRST PINT RKJ enjoys a pint of beer at the mayor's reception in the
dived overboard to tack in place to repair a leaking garboard strake, gardens of the Royal Cornwall YC, after stepping ashore. The mayoress
breath-holding in shark-infested waters. In this photo, Suhaili is beached was given time to redo her wind-blown hair and put a hat on. At sea, Sir
by the harbour wall in Flushing, across the water from Falmouth. Robin had hankered after steak, chips, beer and lemon meringue pie.

F
ive decades after Sir Robin Knox-Johnston won arm and took it home, where it might have stayed hidden
the Sunday Times Golden Globe Race to become in his cellar forever.
the first person in history to sail solo and Now a second box of equal historic importance has
non-stop around the globe, a second cache of come to light. The photographs, all taken by Bill Rowntree,
some 2,000 negatives covering his preparations cover the fortnight before Knox-Johnston’s departure
and return to Falmouth in April 1969, has been discovered. aboard his 32ft, ketch-rigged double-ender Suhaili from
The first batch of 3,000 images was saved from being Falmouth on 14 June 1968, and his victorious return to
thrown in the skip, when former Sunday Mirror world acclaim 312 days later.
photographer Bill Rowntree happened to return to the Bill Rowntree, Sunday Mirror correspondent Bruce
Mirror’s old offices at Holborn Circus to attend a pension Maxwell and Ken Parker from Cassell, publisher of his book
meeting and bumped into the picture editor who asked if A World of My Own, joined Robin on a sociable delivery
they were worth keeping. Rowntree put the box under his voyage from Surrey Docks to Falmouth.
A PICTURE OF
DETERMINATION
June 1968: RKJ
aboard Suhaili during
the sail from Surrey
Docks, London to the
start of the race off
Falmouth, Cornwall
THE FINAL MILES

22 April, 1969,
Falmouth: RKJ sails his
32ft yacht Suhaili
towards Falmouth,
England to become the
first man to sail solo
non-stop around the
globe. This was a time
when the Flat Earth
Society was still in
existence, and even
seasoned yachtsman
thought it to be an
impossible feat. For
everyone else it was;
Robin was the sole
finisher among nine
starters to complete
this 30,000-mile
supreme endurance
race, organised by The
Sunday Times
newspaper.

ROBIN KNOX-JOHNSTON NEW PICTURE ARCHIVE
RADIO SILENCE The Sunday Mirror newspaper donated a Marconi Kestral SHOOTING SHARKS RKJ gets out his 303 rifle for a bit of target practice
long-range radio so RKJ could make weekly calls to their correspondent during the sail from Surrey Docks, London, to the start of his solo
Bruce Maxwell throughout the voyage. The radio was soaked by a wave non-stop circumnavigation attempt from Falmouth.
that flooded in through the open hatch during a knock-down shortly “I didn’t take the gun with the intention of shooting a shark but with
before rounding the Cape of Good Hope, and he was unable to the intention of dealing with one if the occasion arose,” Sir Robin recalls
broadcast again other than on a low-range VHF set. Weeks went by now. He did have occasion to use it, just once, when a shark started
without any news, which could only be passed on courtesy of passing circling Suhaili while Knox-Johnston was patching a leaky seam in the
ships. At one point, it was feared Knox-Johnston might have been lost at Doldrums, south of the Cape Verde Islands. He got back on board, shot
sea until he was sighted by the tanker Mobil Acme west of the Azores on the shark, then hurried to complete the repair before others were
Day 296. attracted by blood in the water.


FRYING FISH June 1968: A relaxed Robin Knox-Johnston, pictured at the TROPHY PRESENTATION 22 April, 1969, Falmouth: RKJ is presented with
galley cooking freshly-caught fish during the sail from Surrey Docks, the Sunday Times Golden Globe Trophy at an open ceremony on the
London, to the start of the race off Falmouth. RKJ's meals for the rest of balcony of Falmouth’s public library, after stepping ashore for the first time
the voyage were mainly out of a mountain of tins that he managed to for 313 days. He donated the cash prize of £5,000, then a considerable
pack into the 32ft ketch. sum, particularly for someone his age, to the bereaved Crowhurst family.
What they found, and what these pictures show, was a

young man totally relaxed about the challenge ahead, yet
with a steely determination in his eyes. “Yes, I did feel
confident,” Sir Robin recalls now. “I was a professional
sailor and had great faith in my boat. I had built her with
friends and had sailed her from India to England so knew
all her strengths and foibles. At the time people didn’t
understand. One asked me if I thought I had it in me to
complete the voyage. My answer was I didn’t know. ‘Ask
me again in a couple of weeks,’ I said. He saw that as
weakness. I saw it as being practical. He had no concept of
the drive and determination I had to see it through.”
Knox-Johnston set off wearing the same Guernsey
knitted jumper that he wore on his return when the Sunday
Mirror decided to have him checked out by a psychologist
who found Robin “distressingly normal.” The only physical
difference between departure and return was a beard,
which he has kept ever since. “I didn’t set out to grow a LIVE OUTSIDE BROADCAST BY THE BBC 22 April, 1969, Falmouth: RKJ sails into
beard”, he says, adding, “and during my first once-a-week Falmouth, England, accompanied by a flotilla of little ships carrying family and
radio call to Bruce Maxwell, I asked him where the razors media. Knox-Johnston’s return was broadcast live to the nation by the BBC, with
had been stowed. The following week, I learned that Ken David Vine commentating. The nation, along with most of the industrialised world,
Parker still had them in his car. They had never been would tune into the BBC again a few months later to watch the Moon landing. The
packed onboard – the rest is history!” American astronauts were aware of RKJ's navigational feat and sent congratulations.

FLOTILLA RECEPTION 22nd April 1969 - Falmouth: Robin Knox-Johnston sails his
32ft yacht SUHAILI into Falmouth, making history by becoming the first person to
sail non-stop a round the world, accompanied by a flotilla of little ships
LAUNCHED June 4, 1968: SUHAILI, Robin Knox-Johnston’s 32ft ketch NEW SAILS June 1968: Robin Knox-Johnston checking out a new set of
rigged yacht being launched by crane into Surrey Docks, London, prior Cranfield Sails for the first time aboard his 32ft ketch Suhaili during the
to a voyage down to Falmouth and the start of solo non-stop sail from Surrey Docks, London, to the start of his solo non-stop
circumnavigation attempt on June 14. Knox-Johnston was accompanied circumnavigation attempt from Falmouth. One of the most memorable
by Bruce Maxwell and Bill Rowntree from the Sunday Mirror newspaper, passages in A World of My Own recounts a sleep-deprived RKJ sewing
and Ken Parker, Knox-Johnston’s publisher at Cassell. his beard into a sail repair in his exhaustion, then agonisingly tearing it free.

Left: The design of
a beach-launched
lifeboat. Note the
three drain holes
allowing rapid
drainage of water
taken on board
THE NEED
FOR SPEED
Saving lives at sea has always been
bound to the speed of rescue, from
the first rowing boats to the 60-knot,
all-weather motorboats of today
WORDS DAG PIKE

COURTESY RNLI
W
hen someone is drowning out at sea there Main picture: ARRIVAL OF THE SURF BOATS
is always a need for speed but there are Zetland lifeboat Eventually it was realised that rescue at sea needed a
so many aspects to rescue at sea. Anyone at Redcar in 1802 dedicated type of vessel designed to the highest levels of
going to the rescue has to first of all get seaworthiness then available. Many of these had to
to the wreck and then when they have rescued the Above: Fishguard operate from open beaches like their fishing fleets and so
survivors they have to get safely back to the shore. It is a No1 lifeboat, the surf rescue boat was born. High at the ends with a
delicate balance and in the past the need to survive has c1889; A lifeboat pronounced sheerline and buoyancy to keep it afloat
always taken precedence over the speed factor. crew launches a even when flooded, the crews would fight their way
Two centuries ago, trade by sea was at its height but surf boat through through the surf to go to the aid of the vessel in distress.
relied on sailing ships which in turn relied on the wind. heavy surf These surf boats were provided locally and later they
Too little wind and they could be in trouble close to the became organised into national institutions, mainly
shore. Too much wind and they could also be in trouble manned by volunteers using dedicated lifeboats, designed
close to the shore and for the watchers on the shore, to the highest standards then available. If you look at
there was little they could do to help. At best they went early lifeboat design there is a surprising similarity in the
to help in their working boats under oars or sail which designs around the world; high ends, perhaps with
was a brave but highly risky approach; but you can’t just buoyancy around the gunwale to give added stability and
stand on the shore and watch. maybe with buoyancy boxes incorporated at the high
COURTESY RNLI
THE HISTORY OF THE LIFEBOAT
designers’ and builders’ art and that view persisted up

until the early 1960s when the nature of the casualties
they had to deal with was changing.
This new breed of casualty tended to be leisure boats
in trouble in fine and moderate weather and now that
speed to reach the casualty became as important as
coping with rough seas, creating a dilemma for the
designers: how to combine speed and seaworthiness?
THE RIB
The initial solution was found with the inshore lifeboat,
COURTESY RNLI
small, fast inflatable rescue boats that could put out from
the shore, even from open beaches. These were the
modern version of the surf lifeboat and the French were
pioneers with the RNLI following suit. These inflatables
morphed into the RIB which became the boat of choice
ends to give the boats a self-righting capability. Oars Above: Harwich for inshore rescue. The RIB was and probably still is, the
were the primary means of propulsion with sails added steam tug most seaworthy boat of its size anywhere in the world
to for use when the wind and course allowed. That style class-lifeboat and a great example of how speed and seaworthiness can
of traditional lifeboat lasted up until the start of the 19th Duke of be combined. At the time I was in charge of the RNLI’s
century, but technology was changing and lifeboat design Northumberland inshore fleet and we built the first RIB at the RNLI depot
had to follow. at Boreham Wood. That first one did not work in open
seas but along with Atlantic College we persevered and
1890: THE FIRST STEAM LIFEBOAT combining the inflatable tube with a deep vee hull, the
The advent of steam power for ships prompted what was RIB became the rescue boat of choice for many lifeboat
probably the most significant change in lifeboat design organisations.
ever for the Royal National Lifeboat Institution (RNLI). Could a fast version of the all-weather lifeboat be
In 1890 a steam-powered lifeboat was developed, and developed? One of the first attempts at this was the 44ft
with it what was probably the first waterjet-propelled (13.4m) steel lifeboat developed by the US Coast Guard
boat. Six of these steam boats were built and remained in that used a new hull design to produce an all-weather
service for over 40 years but steam power had an obvious lifeboat capable of about 14 knots. It represented a
disadvantage in the time needed to raise a head of steam dramatic change in the approach to lifeboat design with
before setting out but replacing the frailty of oars and much of the safety being placed in the extraordinary
sails in stormy weather was an obvious advantage and manoeuvrability, and I did prolonged sea trials in the
these steam lifeboats paved the way for petrol and prototype that the RNLI evaluated.
diesel-powered lifeboats. The Dutch lifeboat society was also interested and I
Early in the 1900s, the first petrol engine-driven was tasked with taking this 44-footer to Holland for
lifeboats were built. At that time there was some trials there. Storms seemed to follow us around and we
uncertainty about the reliability of using petrol engines left Dover when the ferries stopped operating in a Force
which were still in their infancy, so the traditional 10. We left crawled into Dunkirk Harbour 40 miles later,
double-ended design was retained as were oars and sails. battered and bruised but fully intact apart from a missing
The first motor lifeboat in the USA was introduced in radar antenna when a wave had broken right over the
1899 and the RNLI followed suit in 1905 with other top of the boat.
European lifeboats making the change at around the Below: Wells- We were so proud of the way that the boat behaved
same time. next-the-Sea which was largely due to the powerful engines and their
So the pattern was set for the next 60 years with the Liverpool class instant response and the ability to drive that boat
only major change being the switch from petrol to diesel. Lifeboat Cecil according to the conditions. This was a transformation
1930 saw a radical change in lifeboat design with the Paine compared with the traditional lifeboat design and with it
first lifeboat built that was faster than displacement
speeds. Unreliable aircraft were ditching in the Dover
Straits so the RNLI had a boat designed and built by
Thornycrofts with a pair of 375hp petrol engines and
18-knot capability, twice the speed of conventional
lifeboats and in addition to her pioneering speed, she
was the first lifeboat to have an enclosed wheelhouse.
1960S: THE LIVERPOOL CLASS

When I started working for the RNLI in 1964, the 35ft
(10.7m) Liverpool class of traditional lifeboat was still
very much in evidence. For sailors, the image of the
COURTESY RNLI
traditional lifeboat that puts out from the shore to rescue

those in distress is a lasting picture of the ultimate in
seaworthiness. These were the pinnacle of the boat

COURTESY RNLI
NIC COMPTON
COURTESY RNLI
Main image: Dover Top: Colin Archer

lifeboat Sir William Hillary designed Norwegian
Top: Tynemouth’s second lifeboat
petrol motor lifeboat, Above: 44 MLB sold by
Henry Vernon 1905 Above: US Coast Guard to RNLI,
RNLI Edmund and Mary shown here during
Robinson Watson 41 Class trials. The boat arrive in
England in 1964
COURTESY RNLI
THE HISTORY OF THE LIFEBOAT
came the realisation that here you had a lifeboat where Above left: FB’s crews, that level of expertise is not always available and
much of the safety of the boat had been transferred into 60-knot lifeboat the solution lies in the hands of highly-trained, full-time
the hands of the person driving it. crews. The US Coast Guard can justify full-time crews for
That 44ft steel design has been used all over the world Above right: their boats because they are employed in a wide variety of
with more than 100 built. It took some time for crews to RNLI fast other duties as well as lifesaving, while the Norwegians,
adapt because while these faster boats were readily Severn-Class where the lifeboat service is a charity, have full-time crews
accepted by the younger crew members, the older hands lifeboat and limited to just three very highly trained people.
were reluctant to make the change. It was a challenge to B-Class Atlantic The RNLI has stayed with its traditional model of
adapt to this new form of seamanship as well as learning 75 inshore using mainly volunteer crews but often combined with a
to use the modern electronic systems. lifeboat full-time coxswain and the French and Dutch seem to
Eventually the need for speed in the fast changing operate a similar system. There is no perfect system of
world of rescue started to take priority. The US Coast crewing fast, modern lifeboats and each organisation
Guard built their first deep-vee lifeboat, a 47-footer finds a solution. The fact that there have been no major
(14.3m), and the RNLI followed suit with a design from lifeboat casualties in recent times may show that the fast
the famous firm of GL Watson that initially featured lifeboat solution is the correct one but it may also reflect
their ragged chine concept but that was removed on later that lifeboats are much less likely to go out in extreme
versions. The Dutch lifeboats changed over to deep-vee conditions these days; perhaps heroic rescues are a thing
hulls but their version was based around the RIB of the past. The next step in development might be to use
concept, using RIBs up to 45ft (13.7m) long. I am not unmanned rescue boats. The technology is there already.
convinced this is the best solution because many of the
features found on smaller RIBs like tube deformation on 60-KNOT CAPABILITY
wave impact, did not work with the heavy-duty tubes on The Norwegians set new speed standards with their fast
larger RIBs. lifeboats moving up into the 40-knot zone and with their
The Norwegian lifeboats switched over from their latest designs they rely very heavily on technology. The
traditional designs based around the famous Colin helm station rivals that of the Space Shuttle with the
Archer hulls to modern deep vees and they went for coxswain having everything close at hand to make up for
speed, ranging up to between 30 and 40 knots. These the reduced crew numbers. Progress in another direction
were the fastest lifeboats in the world at the time, comes from Italy where the latest development is a 60-knot,
recognising the need to get to modern casualties in the all-weather lifeboat. Developed by FB Design, it relies on
quickest possible time. The US Coast Guard with their developments the company has carried out in the fast
47-footers and the RNLI with their Arun Class of patrol boat sector and is based on hulls with a very deep
lifeboat were more cautious and they were comfortable vee of around 25° and self-righting capability.
with their all-weather lifeboats doing just 25 knots. So the speed factor is now part of the lifeboat heritage
Apart from the design of the boats, there are two and much of the focus in the design is aimed at reducing
factors that have to be reckoned with when it comes to the chance of a failure which can be a primary cause of
fast lifeboats. When you are working out in the open sea many disasters. However, in all modern lifeboat
you want a lifeboat that can travel faster than the waves. development that the author has researched, there is one
This allows the boat to dictate its position in the waves major safety feature lacking. Just like virtually every
when operating in big following seas. With open ocean leisure boat out there on the water, all of these modern
storm waves travelling at a possible 30 knots or more it lifeboats have their two engines mounted in the same
helps to have that margin of safety. compartment. This means that if there is an engine room
However, once you get into the realms of 30-knot, fire or water ingress, both engines could be out of
all-weather lifeboats so much of the safety of the boat is commission and the lifeboat helpless. This is the Achilles
then in the hands of the person driving the boat. The heel of modern lifeboat design and when asked about
safety of the boat depends on using the speed, the power this, a naval architect from the RNLI commented ‘We
and the manoeuvrability. When you are using volunteer have always done it like that!’

Considering
an Electric
Outboard?
“Using a well-engineered electric
outboard has been a revelation.’’
TOM CUNLIFFE
Classic Boat
Quiet, Convenient, Reliable and Easy-to-Use

In the popular 2-4hp category, the latest electric outboards – with their
integral and rechargeable lithium batteries – have transformed the
market, rendering petrol motors all-but obsolete. Advantages include:
From £1650 i Ease of Use Switch on, twist the i Power Forget slow speed “trolling
tiller handles, go. Almost anybody motors”, these 1kW electrics have
Epropulsion Spirit PLUS can do it; no experience, strength or huge torque (more like a 3hp petrol).
i 1276Wh battery mechanical knowledge is needed.
i Range There are many variables,
i Faster to charge
i Ease of Handling The batteries but most users achieve at least 9 to
i Battery floats if dropped
are removable, and the “pass up 10 nautical miles per charge, at 4
i Foldable tiller means only
and down” weight (the shaft/motor WRNQRWVPLQȵDWDEOHGLQJK\
one cable to connect
assembly) is then 10kg or less. Much more if you slow down a little.
i Three shaft length options
i Direct drive (no gearbox) i Ease of Storage These electric i Reliability Many outboard motors
motors divide into components, don’t get used very often, and small
don’t leak oil or petrol, and don’t petrol motors hate this. Electric
mind which way up they’re stored. outboards have fewer parts in
i Quietness & Smoothness general, and in particular there’s
Electric motors are a delight to use. no carburettor to “gum up”.
Of course, it’s not all perfect. The range may still not be enough for some users.
And they’re undeniably More Expensive than petrol outboards, mostly because
From £1750 lithium batteries are expensive. But that extra upfront cost is largely offset by
their Lower Lifetime Running Costs, including (almost) No Servicing.
Torqeedo 1103
i 916Wh battery
i GPS data on tiller gives NESTAWAY BOATS is the UK’s number one retailer for both Torqeedo
speed & range indication
$1'(SURSXOVLRQ<RXFDQȴQGRXWPRUHRQRXUZHEVLWHDQGZHDUHDOZD\V
i Removable tiller (more happy to discuss further – and offer advice – by email or phone. If you’d like to
compact for storage)
see them before making a purchase, we are based in Christchurch, Dorset (UK).
i Near‐silent direct drive
i Much more robust than www.nestawayboats.com
the previous model
(Torqeedo 1003) [email protected]
Tel 0800 999 2535
/M\\QVOIÆWI\
FARIDA
Laurent Giles gem

Around the mid to late 20th century, British innovation in sailing complete, no-expense-spared restoration, and made a big
boat design was at a pinnacle, with groundbreaking designers like impression on the editor of this magazine when he took the helm
Uffa Fox, Laurent Giles, John Illingworth and Angus Primrose for a sail. The original quality of build, and of the subsequent
leading the world. The 35ft cutter Farida, launched to a Laurent restoration work, give substance to that allure. You might initially
Giles design in 1939, slightly precedes the fury of post-war balk at the price, but don’t think of this as a secondhand yacht, as
innovation, but when you consider than she’s almost contemporary she’s probably better than the day she was launched. This is a gem
with Whooper (1937) which, at a similar size and from the same for an aficionado, a yacht that could enter any regatta on earth, and
LESTER MCCARTHY
designer, has won probably more classic racing silver than any probably win a fair few too.
other yacht in… well, certainly Britain, you can be assured she’ll fly.
Her form manages to be both unusual and beautiful, a trick Giles Asking £250,000, Tel: +44 (0)1202 330077
was sometimes able to pull off. She was re-launched in 2019 after a sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk
ALCOR SECONDO
Italian-built Laurent
Giles design
Here’s another Laurent Giles, but of a different nature.
Alcor Secondo was built in 1958 for a Spanish
yachtsman and the yacht has been in the Med much, if
not all, of her life, competing over the years at the
regattas, and not entirely without success. She’s a 75ft
7in (23m) ketch with huge amounts of usable deck
space (as befits her Med design), and accommodation
for six guests in four double cabins. Power is from two
Rolls Royce engines of 320hp each, which is a lot for this
size of boat, placing her into the motor-sailing category,
at least in terms of capability under power: the broker
claims an 8.5-knot cruising speed and a 10-knot top
speed. Despite the traditional overhangs, the keel
arrangement is of the fin and bulb type, as originally
designed. Build is by Sangermani, then at the height of
its powers as a world-class boatyard, so quality should
be assured.
Lying Mediterranean, Asking €290,000, YPI Yachts

Tel: +377 9999 9797, ypiyachts.com
To see more boats for sale go to classicboat.co.uk

With 30 years of experience specialising in traditional and
electric boats we will do our best to find the ideal craft to
suit your individual needs — for a day or for a lifetime.
For more information contact

HENLEY SALES AND CHARTER LTD
+44 (0) 1491 578870 | [email protected]
www.hscboats.co.uk

By Peter Poland
AFFORDABLE
CLASSIC
Salcombe
Yawls
LESS
THAN
£10K

A
friend and I once decided that walking might
make a change from sailing. So we set forth to
walk from Branscombe to Bigbury, a 100-mile
stretch of the south-west coastal path marked
by knackering climbs and knee-wrenching descents.
As we hit the path from Start Point to Salcombe on
August Bank Holiday, our landlady warned: “Watch out
for the hurricane.” We thought she must be mad. Some
hours later we sat outside a Salcombe pub, huddled
against driving rain and a rising gale. Apparently
this was the ‘tail end of Hurricane Charlie.’
As we watched yachts scurrying for cover,
several elegant yawl-rigged dinghies continued to
brave the elements. They weren’t going to miss older designs; and gold for less optimised yawls
the fun. I was astonished that open dayboats whose crews go racing for fun rather than for
were preparing to take on Charlie – but these were pots.
no normal dayboats. They were Salcombe Yawls. Ian Howlett (of 12-M and 6-M fame) often stayed
Salcombe Yawls trace their history back two Above: The in Salcombe and told me “out of the blue in 1991 I
centuries. They started life as inshore fishing boats, Salcombe Yawl was contacted by Jim Stone (third generation of Stone
evolving to cope with the short steep seas and long began as a fishing boat builders) ... [who] explained why he would like
rollers that swept up the Channel. They had to be able to boat, but now has to set in motion a new design/build of Salcombe
beat out of the estuary against a strong tide before a strong racing Yawl.” Stone decided that Michael Atfield should
fishing under a reduced rig of jib and mizzen. fleet build it; and several more followed on. Howlett said:
In 1853 the fleet of yawls – then called Licensed “the build quality of his traditional clinker planking
Watermen’s Boats – started racing in the Salcombe was exceptional and we’ll probably never see such
Regatta. Then in 1917 a very young Jim Stone – SALCOMBE fine examples again.” Like their predecessors, these
apprenticed to Edgar Cove in Salcombe – built himself YAWLS new hulls had gleaming clinker hulls and varnished
Y2. During the winter of 1938/39, Y14 was built for son timber spars. They are a joy to behold. There’s only
LOA
Alec and from around 1946 Jim Stone built many more one problem. A new one costs about the same as the
in East Portlemouth. Between them, Jim and his son Alec 16ft (4.9m) new Mercedes estate that might be used to tow it.
built more than 80 SYs up to 1995. BEAM Paul Tripp is a recent owner who regularly visited
The Salcombe Yawl Association was established in 7ft [(2.1m) Salcombe from an early age, saying he always
1965 and Jim Stone helped draw up the inaugural Class dreamed of owning a Salcombe Yawl. He told me “I
Rules. Since then Michael Atfield in Salcombe has also MIN WEIGHT bought it in 2012 for around £3,500. The new ones at
built 30 yawls. Then two top British designers – Phil 840lbs the time cost around £40k! Not many are being built
Morrison and Ian Howlett – put their minds to work on (381kg) now but the fleet is strong. I have spent quite a lot on
the tolerances in the restricted class rules and both mine because it was – as the price suggests – not in
produced new designs (from SY141 onwards) that SAIL AREA great condition. I have repainted, replaced the sails
planed earlier and easily. This led to the creation of three 174 sqft with secondhand racing sails, put in a bronze
racing divisions: red for boats post SY141; blue for fast (16.2m ) 2
centreboard and have replaced the decks, boom and
mizzenmast mast.”
Paul races occasionally but mainly uses her
For sale via Stones Boatyard for leisurely family sailing, adding that Salcombe
Yawls “do sail beautifully and are very powerful
with a full rig. I just love an evening sail with a
high tide and a drink! It’s very satisfying and
quiet.”
Those who are tempted to buy a yawl can
sample its charms by hiring one first. Local
fisherman Bill ‘Scratch’ Hitchen will rent his by
the day or the week (including a dinghy with
outboard, mooring and safety gear) or give
sailing tuition by the half day, finishing with a
Saturday race run by the Salcombe Yacht Club.
Then you can contact Tristan Stone to look at
Y14 Built by James Stone in Y123 Built by Mike Atfield Y151 Built by Mike Atfield in used boats for sale and discuss any extra work
1939, rebuilt by Jim Stone in 1981. Completely rebuilt by 1991. Morrison design ready that may be needed. If you have any questions
1999. One of the original and Stones Boatyard in 2013. to sail. £8,000 on the SY, Tristan will know the answer!
most famous yawls, this New planking, new ribs, All these boats available
beautiful wooden boat is centre box, ready to sail. [email protected] Stonesboatyard.co.uk, Tel: +44 (0)1548 844122,
ready to sail. £10,000 £8,000 Tel: +44 (0)1548 844122 Bill Hitchen, Tel: +44 (0)7966 840436
Salcombe Yawl Association, syoa.co.uk

BROKERAGE
Boats for sale

Looking to sell your boat?
Reach over 50,000 readers each month
PLUS
To advertise call Andrew Mackenzie +44 (0)207 349 3718 or For more boats to buy go to
classicboat.co.uk/buy-a-classic-boat
email [email protected]
PHOENIX
A beautiful gentleman’s Classic motor
yacht circa 1930, kept to a high standard.
Teak on Oak, LOA 11.15m,beam 2.64m ,
new engine with low running hours, bow
thruster, new keel, surveyed in 2019 with
all minor points addressed. Lying Ipswich
suffolk.
£35,000.00 1938 LAURENT GILES CUTTER.
Built by Hinks of Appledore N Devon, of pitch pine on oak frames.
Contact: André 07885 341155 Fairlight is masthead cutter rigged and is similar in design to the
or famous Vertue class but considerably larger (40’loa) and a
email: [email protected] smaller sister to Dyarchy, also built in 1938. In present ownership
for over 40 yrs. Reluctant sale due to age (of owner!).
Lying Falmouth £80,000 Ono
Contact: [email protected] 07836513500 01326210423
1938 LAURENT GILES

CUTTER.
Built by Hinks of Appledore N Devon,
of pitch pine on oak frames. Fairlight
is masthead cutter rigged and is
similar in design to the famous
Vertue class but considerably larger
(40’loa) and a smaller sister to
Dyarchy, also built in 1938. In
present ownership for over 40 yrs.
SHETLAND 16FT DOUBLE ENDER. Reluctant sale due to age (of
Built by Allcraft in Lerwick. Sound condition. Mast and sails replaced. owner!).
Complete with road trailer. Rare classic that sails beautifully. The Lying Falmouth
boat is valued at £6,000 and would be happy to look at all offers. £80,000 Ono
Please get in contact David Beckly for further information on: Contact: [email protected]
Tel: +44 (o)1822 852658 07836513500 or 01326210423
Email : [email protected]
TWISTER 28
CHEETAH OF
BURNHAM.
Tucker Brown wood 1967
Beta16. East Anglian Offshore
Champion. Professionally
restored. New ply/epoxy deck,
keel floor chainplate bolts,
cushions chrome, teak cockpit
toe rails hatch dorades.
Survey 2020 Stunning.
Lying Burnham on Crouch.
£20,000 16 FT LOA WOODEN SAILING DINGHY
01702205255/07905262074 Professionally built 2018. Gunter rig, steel centre plate. Brown
or [email protected] furling jib and mainsail. Combi-trailer. New 3.5 Outboard.
Excellent condition throughout. £11,250. Whitstable.
Tel. 07852266006.
INTERNATIONAL
ONE DESIGN BRAND NEW, 18 FOOT CLINKER BUILT AUXILIARY LAUNCH.
1966. Just completed this year in Scotland by ‘Clydeside Traditional
“WHISPER”. The last Boatbuilders’. This is part of a range of clinker built vessels designed
wooden IOD built by
Bjarne Aas. Professional and built by the yard. Strongly built from three quarter inch Scottish
restoration in 2013. larch with side decks of one inch Origan Pine. The vessel is fitted with
New sails 2017-2019. rudder and stern gear and may be fitted with an engine of your
Revarnished 2019. choice. However a Lister engine is presently fitted but may be
New Selden mast and substituted for a Betta or similar at cost. You may however wish to fit
rigging 2020. your own engine to the substantial engines seats already fitted.
Winter cover and cradle. Standing lugsail and jib are fitted as an auxiliary.
Classic Regatta winner
2019. The price we are asking for the ‘Girl Pat’
Lying Suffolk is £14,000 ex engine
£30,000 Contact Pat Matheson on
Tel: 07850 779911 or 01414456094
Email: markwincer11@ email [email protected]
gmail.com

Brokerage listing
C L A S S I C A N D V I N TAG E YAC H T S
We hope that you enjoy our selection of vintage and classic sailing yachts. Please do not hesitate
to contact us if you require any further information on any of the yachts featured here.
54ft Ed Burnett Bermudan Cutter 2018 35ft Laurent Giles Bermudan Cutter 1939/2018 46ft Silvers Bain ‘Silver Leaf’ TS Motor Yacht 1937/2001
From renowned designer Ed Burnett’s drawing board, HELENA Quintessentially Giles, FARIDA is a gem: one of the most Silvers manager and designer, John Bain, perfected the art
was launched in the summer of 2018, her every detail fashioned carefully thought out yachts of her size of her day; perfectly of building motor yachts in volume, yet at such a high quality
by a small team of British craftsmen with a proud heritage of proportioned overhangs, sweet sheer-line and unmistakable and so effectively marketed that even through the Great
wooden boatbuilding led by shipwright Mike Ludgrove over Jack Laurent Giles styling still capable of turning heads. Her Depression years they almost couldn’t keep up with demand.
a period spanning more than a decade. With lines echoing powerful rig is easy to handle and she is very quick even in light And they are still coveted, these superbly stylish yachts so
from the 1930’s, she is every inch a classic inspiration from conditions, while her delightfully airy accommodation offers ahead of their time in terms of comfort and sea keeping.
the Golden Age of yachting, yet combines all the advantages perfect comfort in the classic style. Skilfully and beautifully MERIDIES, a longer than usual, teak planked Silver Leaf
of watertight and modern construction and new and efficient rebuilt/ restored over a five-year period for a very passionate Class, has benefited over the years from owners who changed
systems. When we visited HELENA immediately after her return owner using as much of the original as possible and the finest of nothing of her authenticity, and more recently have dealt with
from the Mediterranean it was almost impossible to believe this materials where new, FARIDA was relaunched in 2018 in ‘better the structural needs of this young at heart octogenarian. With
was a boat that had sailed 9000 miles in one summer. She is than new’ condition, and given normal just deserts should offer MERIDIES, vintage style meets practicality in symbiosis.
capable and beautiful - what more can we say! many years of sailing fun and passion into the future..
£850,000 Lying UK £250,000 Lying UK £240,000 Lying UK
49ft McGruer Bermudan Ketch 1973/2020 23ft Ed Burnett Gaff Cutter 2018 32ft Berthon 8 Ton Gauntlet 1939/2014
BORDER LEGEND is a resurrected masterpiece from when finely- PANACEA’s design was close to Ed Burnett’s heart: a proposal The Gauntlet Class’s elegant and instantly recognisable lines,
built wooden yachts were still just about the norm, and designers for his father; partly the result of deep experience with his own 23 sturdy seagoing reputation, and jaunty air have endeared
and builders could call on a century or more of handed down skills. ft Harrison Butler gaff cutter aboard which he lived as a student generations of yacht sailors who know a good thing. Most are
Her design by George McGruer is a natural evolution from the of yacht design, and regularly sailed between Southampton and still going strong, many have enjoyed restorations, but few with
renowned work of his father, James, and her build was by the last Falmouth. Add Ed’s earlier traditional boatbuilding experience the finesse relatively recently applied to the 8-Tonner NAUSIKAA,
generations of a highly skilled workforce managed by the wider with Gannon & Benjamin on Martha’s Vineyard, his reputation once owned by author Graham Greene. The aim: to compliment
McGruer family since the 1890s. Circumstances saw her fall on for attention to detail and the execution of incredibly precise the essential qualities above with accommodation in which a
hard times before recent rescue and a major refit under current, drawings, and it’s easy to understand what a pleasure PANACEA family could enjoy time aboard in comparative luxury: rare even
experienced ownership - so that one of the finest, last generation was to commission, and to build, and then to enjoy afloat. Now all on even a modern boat this size. The result is a success in our
wooden yachts is now available for the pure enjoyment - and it can the provenance and pleasure and beauty of the lightly used, still view, and moreover NAUSIKAA is no slouch, beating the entire
only be that - of her next owner. young PANACEA is available to her next owner at significantly less fleet of the British Classic Yacht Club on corrected time in their
than new build cost. 2014 Round the Isle of Wight race in often boisterous conditions..
£225,000 Lying UK £98,500 Lying UK £80,000 Lying UK
For further information please contact: Our classic and vintage yachts & motor 22 Market Street, Poole,
yachts are available to view at: Dorset BH15 1NF, UK
+44 (0)1202 330077
[email protected] – www.sandemanyachtcompany.co.uk – MEMBER OF THE ABYA

PHOTOGRAPHY
MARINE • TRAVEL • EQUINE
PEOPLE
Brokerage • Management • Storage

1930 William Fife 6 Metre -
Nada
An elegant, fast and up

to date William Fife III 6
Metre, with a championship
inventory
£120,000 UK
1902 William Fife

III 36 Clyde Linear –
Sibyl of Cumae
With her classic and
very striking lines
Sibyl could only
have come from fhe
drawing board of Fife.
£235,000 UK P.O. Box 209
Marion, MA 02738 | USA
[email protected] 508 728 6210
themetreyard.co.uk
[email protected]
+44 (0)7771606747
www.annetconverse.com
PHOTO: BENJAMIN MENDLOWITZ
ARTISAN BOATWORKS +1.

+1.
CUSTOM YACHT BUILDERS

Craftsmanship
Yard News Edited by Steffan Meyric Hughes: +44 (0)207 349 3758
Email: [email protected]
KILRUSH, IRELAND
Dublin Bay 21: boats 3

and 4 well on the way
The rebirth of an entire class sounds like the stuff of pipe dreams, but it
is precisely what has been going on for the last few years at the Kilrush
Boatyard in County Clare. The classic yacht restoration scene in Ireland
may not be as evolved as it is in the UK, USA or many European
countries, but it has a great champion on its side in the form of one-man
dynamo, yachtsman and yachting historian Hal Sisk. Hal first came to our
attention for the very authentic, detailed restoration of GL Watson’s 36ft
(11m) cutter Peggy Bawn of 1896, a restoration that set a new bar in
smaller yachts. He has done much since then, but this new project is
again based on the restoration of smaller yachts .
The Dublin Bay 21 Class was drawn by Alred Mylne from 1902-3 and
the remarkable thing is that all seven have survived and are together.
They are beyond reasonable restoration, so the idea, under the guidance
of naval architect Paul Spooner, has been to build new, cold-moulded
hulls with gunter rigs carrying the original lead ballast keels, and start
the class all over again. It stretches the term ‘restoration’ to the limit, but
there is undeniably a continuation of identity, and with a project of this
excitement, let’s not get sidetracked by semantics.
Since the project’s inception in 2017, two yachts (Naneen and
Garavogue) have already been launched. The third, Estelle, is waiting for
the deck to go on, and the fourth, Geraldine, was already framed out as
we went to press. That’s an awful lot of work for Steve Morris and his
guys to get through, particularly as it has to fit in around other work, like
the major refit of an Arthur Robb ketch, and the electrification and other
recent work to a traditional Gleoiteog which the yard relaunched in
October 2020.
C/O STEVE MORRIS

Hal hopes to sail three of the class to their spiritual home of Dublin in
April, where they (and subsequent yachts) will remain the property of
the Classic Association and let out on a ‘pay to sail’ basis. Above: Traditional Gleoiteog, now electric
SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK
Busy time at Harbour Marine Services
Harbour Marine Services have, like many other boatyards, showed no sign
whatsoever of slowing down throughout the pandemic, as their current
work list proves. “We’re flat out in both sheds” said yard owner John
Buckley. The yard has become known for its restorations of vintage motor
yachts from the likes of Silvers and Saunders Roe, but they’ve restored a
fair few sailing yachts over the years too, and are presently working on the
original Kim Holman-designed Rummer, a Yachting World Five Tonner, and
are even refitting a modern classic, in the form of a Truly Classic 31 from
Hoek Design. In terms of powere vessels, there’s a McGruer 41 in for a full
C/O HMS
restoration, a Bates 33 is in for a full refit and outside helm, and a

Kingfisher Silverleaf also in for a full refit. The yard also recently acquired
L to R: Yachting World Five Tonner Dynamene; McGruer 41 Jorvic the historic chandler Davey and Co.

CRAFTSMANSHIP
JANE LANGSTON
Above: Dan Scully and

Cooper Weldon (right),
installing deck beams
MALDON, ESSEX
Major rebuild for Thames sailing barge Pudge

The last 12 months has been a very busy period for the team rebuilding the Thames sailing barge Pudge
in dry dock at the Fullbrige in Maldon. The major overhaul led by Kevin Finch on behalf of the Thames
Barge Sailing Trust includes a new deck and beams, stem and new king planks either side of new hatches.
Pudge was built in 1922 by the London & Rochester Trading Company in Rochester, Kent. She was
JANE LANGSTON
requisitioned in May 1940 while in Tilbury, drafted to Dover and thence to Dunkirk to take part in
Operation Dynamo. Pudge is one of four surviving Dunkirk spritsail barges. She ceased trading in 1960.
She is expected to return to sail in May 2022 for her 100th birthday.
UNDERFALLS, BRISTOL
Two new motorboats and a clinker fishing dinghy
Star Yachts has received two new orders – “not big ones, but both in “With the extra 2ft in length, she’s going to look very sleek indeed!”
new directions” said Star Yachts’ Win Cnoops. Win is known for said Wins. Build has just begun on the 18 (left), and the 19 (right) will
building, under his Star Yachts moniker, some lovely, traditional, start straight after that. Win tells us that his boatbuilding neighbour
wooden, strip-plank motor launches in varying sizes. The new orders at the historic Underfalls Yard, John Raymond Barker, best known
are for a 19ft (5.8m) “fast launch” without the customary stepped for the build and restoration of pilot cutters, has started build on a
deck, at the customer’s request; and an 18ft (5.5m) version of the traditional clinker fishing boat for himself. We look forward to
open 16-footer (4.9m), the yard’s first boat to receive electric drive. catching up with all three projects in the flesh in 2021.

PLYMOUTH, DEVON
New dinghies, restored yachts

It’s been business as usual at Stirling and Son, under the historic Number One Covered
Slipway, and at the ‘sister yard’ in Treluggan, over the border in Cornwall. A huge
Norwegian ice-class wooden motor yacht still dominates the east slip at Stirling and
Son, and she’s been joined by the 47ft (14.3m) McGruer sailing yacht Rinamara on the
west slip. There is also the never-ending stream of new clinker dinghies, the most recent
of which was delivered to her new owner for Christmas. There has been a significant
increase in welding and engineering work at the slipway too. Treluggan’s sheds have
the overspill of smaller boats and these include the delightful 35ft (10.7m), 1963
Arthur Robb teak yawl Nin Dar Anna, undergoing a refit. You can read our feature on
Nin Dar Anna by typing her name into the search box at classicboat.co.k.
C/O WILL STIRLING
BURNHAM OVERY STAITHE, NORFOLK

Growler coming together
The teenaged yacht conservator Ash Faire-Ring has been back at
work on his restoration project after taking two months out to sail
around the UK on his friend’s oyster smack Primrose. Since returning in
November, he has been busy replanking his 34ft (10.4m) Thames
sailing barge yacht Growler in its homemade, unpowered, unheated
tarpaulin tent. Ash was hoping for a summer launch
last year, but the new aim is to complete the inner
layer of planking, then tackling the outer skin
before the engine goes in in the first week of March.
“Very exciting times,” as Ash put it. Growler was
built in 1922 on Conyer Creek in Kent.
C/O FOX’S
IPSWICH, SUFFOLK
Spruce-up for the
Queen’s Gloriana
The Queen’s rowbarge Gloriana has arrived at Fox’s Marina and
C/O ASH FAIRE-RING
Boatyard for a winter refit. The work planned involves complete

re-finishing of topsides, bottom and all exterior surfaces, including
the specialist application of two pack-paints, varnishes and gold
leaf. At 88ft (26.8m), Gloriana fits inside Fox’s heated workshops,
which can accommodate vessels up to 100ft (30.5m).

MARINE DIRECTORY To advertise call Andrew Mackenzie +44 (0)207 349 3718 or email [email protected]
Marine Directory BOATBUILDERS
BOATBUILDERS
Seahopper . . . easy on the earth
Beautiful folding wooden boats for
this generation and the next
Premier Boatbuilders at the
Southern Gateway to the Broads
Oulton Broad, Suffolk NR32 3LQ

01502 507435
[email protected]
Photo: www.luckybeanz.com
Unit 4 Dainton Manor Estate oultonmarine.co.uk

Ipplepen Devon TQ12 5TZ
Call: 07860 488544
Email: [email protected] KITTIWAKEBOATS.CO.UK
Visit: www.seahopperfoldingboats.com
DAVID MOSS BOATBUILDERS

Quality boatbuilding in wood 8’-50’, clinker, carvel or strip-plank,
spar-making, painting , welding, lay-up facilities
Repairs - Restorations
15ft Sea Otter 31ft gaff cutter Polly
Photo: Keith Allso
IWDQGIW'D\ERDWV*53KXOOVZLWKEHDXWLIXOWLPEHUDQGEURQ]HÀWRXWV
fantastic sea boats, will cope with all sorts of weather, totally unsinkable, low
maintenance, stunning looking, easy to launch and recover. Choice of colours,
and layout options.
Contact Roger 01260 252157, [email protected]
Photo: Peter Chesworth
Skippool Creek, Wyre Road, Thornton-Cleveleys, Lancs FY5 5LF

Telephone: 01253 893830 Email: [email protected]
www.davidmossboatbuilders.co.uk
Hayling Yacht COMPANY
Quality traditional wooden boat repairs Established as wooden boat builders
and restoration, painting, varnishing,
polishing, antifouling, engine servicing, in 1935, and trusted to refurbish
electric conversions, cranage to 35 ton. and repair yachts such as Lively
Lady and Robertsons Golly, we are
a family run business that takes
pride in refurbishing new and old
boats - from simple re-caulking to full
refurbishment and teak decking.
Call 02392 463592 for a chat with
friendly, experienced staff.
www.haylingyacht.co.uk
Cox’s Boatyard Ltd. Barton Turf, Norwich, NR12 8AZ. 01692 536206
www.coxsboatyard.co.uk [email protected]
Marcus Lewis
7ìÊ >ÌLÕìÀ
Woodford’s ALAN S.R. STALEY
zĂĐŚƚZĞƐƚŽƌĂƟŽŶƐ͕
ZĞƉĂŝƌƐΘZĞĮƚƐ
ƌĂŌƐŵĞŶŝŶƟŵďĞƌĂŶĚ'ƌƉ 7LMT[VMKLX
dƌĂĚŝƟŽŶĂůƐŚŝƉǁƌŝŐŚƚƐĞƌǀŝĐĞ &SEX&YMPHMRK
dĞĂŬĚĞĐŬƐƉĞĐŝĂůŝƐƚ 7TEV1EOIV
6ITEMV
6IWXSVEXMSR Rowing Boats, Sailing Dinghies, Motor Launches
SJ[SSHIRFSEXW Mayflower Dinghies, New Builds, Repairs, Restorations
7YVZI]WSJ[SSHIRWLMTW
Fowey, Cornwall
Tel: 01795 530668
www.alanstaleyboatbuilders.co.uk /i\ÊäÇÇÎÊ{ÓäxÈnÊUÊÜÜÜ°ÜìL>ÌLÕìÀ°V°Õ
07754 490672 • 01202 939844
ǁǁǁ͘ǁŽŽĚĨŽƌĚǇĂĐŚƚƌĞƐƚŽƌĂƟŽŶƐ͘ĐŽ͘ƵŬ visit www.classicboat.co.uk
hŶŝƚϭϮŽďďƐYƵĂǇDĂƌŝŶĂ͕WŽŽůĞ,ϭϱϰ>

MARINE DIRECTORY
BOATBUILDERS DESIGN EQUIPMENT
SELWAY FISHER DESIGN TRADITIONAL BOAT SUPPLIES LTD

Caulking Irons,
Made in England!
Special Offer for New Year
£155.00 the set
(normal price £175.00)
Visit our web site at [offer lasts until March 31 2021]
www.selway-fisher.com Set includes 2 crease irons, bent
to see our full range of over 400 yacht and boat
designs, plus boat building manuals and DVD¶s. iron, king plank (nib) iron
SELWAY FISHER DESIGN and standard making iron,
15 King St, Melksham, SN12 6HB
Tel. 01225 705074 all in a leather roll
[email protected]
For the latest photos of SFDesign boats
go to our Facebook page
www.traditionalboatsupplies.com
COURSES Combwich Marine Enterprises
A Division of Anglia Stainless Ltd
Specialist Suppliers of Silicon Bronze Fastenings
IBTC graduate Jesse Woodscrews • Bolts Nuts • Washers
now working at Machine Screws • Coach Screws • Coach Bolts
Harbour Marine Services
Fin Bolts • Studding • Plain Rod
Copper Boat Nails & Roves
Delivery Worldwide
Major Credit Cards Accepted
Tel: 01359 251414 Fax: 01359 250103
www.angliastainless.co.uk
Shepherds Grove Ind Estate, Stanton, Bury St Edmunds, Suffolk IP31 2AR
INSURANCE
YOU BRING
PASSION & ENTHUSIASM
Yacht Insurance
Classic Boat & Motorboat Specialists
Christian Topf Design

WE SUPPLY For a quotation please call
A LIFE CHANGING 0344 545 6132

EXPERIENCE www.simonwintermarine.co.uk
Achieve two City & Guilds qualifications

within 12 months at IBTC Lowestoft
(Level 2 Bench Joinery & Level 3 Boatbuilding)
Pilot Cutter Parade of Sail – Simon Winter Marine – Classic Yacht Specialists
Short and part-year courses also available
Simon Winter Marine Limited is an Appointed Representative of Winter & Co (Marine) Ltd
Gift vouchers available upon request Winter & Co (Marine) Ltd is authorised and regulated by The Financial Conduct Authority
www.ibtc.co.uk [email protected] 01502 569 663 TIMBER

V ROBBINS ELITE MARINE PLYWOODS
The Directory listings page for all your classic V MARINE TIMBERS
boat needs, this is a chance to be able to reach V LIGNIA YACHT DECKING
an audience that you can take control of really V CEDAR STRIP
promoting who you are. You can update this as many
V CLASSIC TEAK DECKING
times as you like throughout the year to stay up to
date with what you’re doing and any promotions you V MACHINING SPECIALISTS
have. For more information contact: V MARINE FASTENINGS
Andrew Mackenzie V CAULKING & EPOXY
+44 (0)207 349 3718
or email
[email protected] 2OBBINS 4IMBER "ROOKGATE "RISTOL "3 5.
Tel: +44(0)117 963 3136 Q Email: [email protected] Q www.robbins.co.uk

CRAFTSMANSHIP
Boatbuilder’s Notes By Robin Gates
1 5
Wood planing stop

& bench dogs
BY ROBIN GATES
Half the secret of planing the face of a small board

successfully is securing the work – the other half is using a
well-tuned hand plane. The basic set-up is to butt the end
of the board against a low planing stop with its far edge 2 6
supported by bench dogs, to prevent the board from
pivoting. Commercial versions are often metal, some dogs
being complicated by ball catches or springs while some
planing stops have teeth like a rip saw to dig into end
grain – risking damage to both plane and user if you miss
your stroke. Using hardwood offcuts and hand tools you
can make entirely safe versions which cost nothing and
suit your own requirements.
In this instance a blind mortise for the planing stop was
bored using a brace and bit before squaring it up with a
chisel. The stop is essentially a short tenon with a wide
head and so quick to make that you may as well prepare
several of different heights. Using a stop in a blind mortise 3 7
rather than a friction-fitting stop in a through mortise
avoids the loosening or jamming caused by changes in
humidity which can compromise height adjustment. As a 1 Face planing with the
bonus, the blind mortise is filled by a blank when not wooden stop and bench dogs
required, thereby restoring the level surface of the bench. 2 Boring the blind mortise
These dogs are of oak salvaged from an old chair leg, 3 Chiselling the mortise to shape
with square heads 3/4in (18mm) high. The round tenon 4 A planing stop and its mortise
was pencilled onto the end grain through a dog hole in 5 Chiselling to the shoulder of a
the bench, then the shoulders of the head were established bench dog
by sawing at the corners, before chiselling to shape and 6 Rounding with a rasp
sawing to height on the bench hook. The fit was perfected 7 Sawing to height
by knocking the dog into its hole, giving it a twist and
then attending to the burnished high spots with a rasp. 4

Traditional Tool By Robin Gates
JOINER’S NAME STAMP

The relationship that develops high-speed steel blades that cut well Clockwise from In this instance the name of Will
between an artist or maker and his or when new but resist sharpening. above: Joiner’s Fife was stamped using an 'Imperial'
her hand tools is difficult to describe, These tools are designed to be stamp with joiner’s stamp supplied by Buck &
but the pain felt when a tool is lost thrown away when they grow dull, movable type; Hickman of London. This infinitely
might be compared to losing a finger and they are cheap enough that One-piece forged adaptable tool follows the principle
– because it’s in the hand that the loss while a loss will be inconvenient, it steel stamp; of letterpress printing developed by
is most keenly felt. A replacement won’t break any hearts. For the short Relief lettering in Johannes Gutenberg in the 15th
may do the job but will never take the time that a disposable saw will the 18th century century, using movable steel type
place of one which, over years and remain usable, the lurid scrawl of a composed in a ‘chase’ and clamped
projects, grew to be an extension of Sharpie will suffice as insurance by a screw on one side.
the worker’s arm. against theft. The more typical joiner’s stamp is
A look inside the tool chest of an Saws and chisels present no a solid forging with name cut
old shipwright reveals chisels worn alternative to stamping in the long permanently, like this one issued to P
to glimmering steel stubs, hand saws grain, but on wooden planes a better Minchin. Older stamps with zig-zag
shrunken to pad saws by so much impression is made in the end grain, borders produced letters in relief, as
sharpening, and planes bearing dark normally at the toe because the heel for James Collins who owned this
imprints of the hands which pushed receives such a hammering that an side-bead moulding plane in the 1700s.
them across miles of timber. Over a owner’s name would soon be
working lifetime these tools have obliterated. NEXT MONTH: Hall’s spokeshave
become a family, perhaps a little
awkward in their old age but all the
more loved for that – only their
owner understands them fully. And
there’s something else they share –
the owner’s name stamped indelibly
in the wood.
This was common practice when
wooden handles and blades of
ROBIN GATES
high-carbon steel were the norm.

Most hand tools today have moulded
plastic grips and induction-hardened,

Letters
LETTER OF THE MONTH The fishing boats of Indonesia revisited
SUPPORTED BY OLD PULTENEY WHISKY Ian Neubauer’s image of the Madurese perahu jarring (net fishing boats), as I
knew them, is the photo I never did get during three decades in the region.
Trekka sistership Bravo! For the moment at least there are still impressive fleets of ‘working sail’ in
Indonesia. While stationed in Lombok I used to take my daily run along the
triggers memories ridgelines at dusk. As darkness fell, the entire Lombok Strait, all the way to Bali,
would light up like a magic carpet as the crew of each little outrigger pumped
Last month’s Letters took be back over 40 years in an up their Tilley lamp for the hours of darkness ahead. It was always an uplifting
instant. In the mid / late 1970s, as a teenager I sailed at display of the human spirit.
Ullswater YC. I recall a beautiful home-built Trekka On the Sunda Strait, where we kept a beach cottage for many years, it was
there, built by the brother of one of the regulars at the always a joy to take the Hobie 16 out before breakfast to welcome the fleet coming
club and brought to Ullswater from their home in the back from a long night among the djinns (demons), fishing the weird, disconcerting
North East of England. She was sloop rigged and, as I waters of the Krakatau lagoon (formed by the Krakatoa eruption in 1883). The
recall, cold moulded. Definitely highly varnished and fishermen would be tired and cramped from their overnight vigil, but always game
finished to a very high standard. As there were not to match up multihulls (a century apart
many Trekkas built, and given the coincidence of in evolution), in an impromptu race
location, it could be that Chinook is that same Trekka. home to the morning fish markets of
As a new wooden boat, the Trekka was unusual for the Labuan. Labuan was also a stronghold
time, when GRP boats dominated. There was a very of the Mayang, a similar, highly
active Hunter 19 /Hunter Europa racing fleet which decorated vessel, now power-assisted
was taking inspiration from the exploits of Willing with a side-slung motor. I attach a
Griffin. There was also a very active fleet of Olympic couple of images of the Mayang.
class Tempests with the more competitive members Euan Ross
heading off for Olympic trials. The remaining wooden
boats were plywood, either a couple of Hurley
Silhouettes or a Percy Blandford Lysander. It was also
Drascombes
a time when the more adventurous members of UYC
forever!
were starting to haul their boats to the sea for a few It was pleasing that the Drascombe
weeks each summer, my father included. Usually the Lugger was selected, in your January
Clyde, though I recall one who sailed his Splinter 2021 feature 10 Yachts and Dayboats
across to Norway with his son. He under 23ft, as Best for Families. In
then upgraded to a Marieholm 26 recent years the Drascombe Association
which was deemed too big for the (DA) has seen its membership gravitating towards family sailing. There are many
club’s moorings. John Guzzwell and stories recounted in our quarterly publication Drascombe Association News of
Trekka were certainly inspiring to a family adventures, in the ‘Junior DAN’ feature written by young sailors. The
generation of sailors in the 1960s. Drascombe manufacturer Churchouse Boats has hosted its annual Drascamp in the
Chris Jones summer holidays, which is targeted at families. The 2019 event at Cleavel Point,
Poole had more than 100 participants including a significant number of multi-
generational families participating in the week of fun-filled sailing and camping. It
is hoped that Drascamp will return this year. While the Lugger was the first off
John Watkinson’s board in 1965, he went on to design a full range of traditional
boats over the ensuing 15 years, from the 15ft Scaffie to the 25ft Gig. Nearly 5,000
boats to his designs have been built worldwide and there is a dynamic and active
secondhand market. It is indeed pleasing to see these boats handed down through
families. There are also a number of Scout groups that use various of the models
– the layout gives plenty of space for a crew and the rig/oars plenty to do. The DA
is planning a full programme of rallies for the 2021 season, subject to restrictions.
Dave Staniforth, DA Membership Secretary
We Clean your Sails and Covers

to find out more visit www.tiptopsails.co.uk
LETTERS
Some missing history of Andrillot’s

I was very interested to read the article on Andrillot in the December issue
and particularly that little was known of her ownership before 1981, so I’d be
grateful if you could forward this to Uli Killer please.
In 1972 I travelled from Cornwall to Stranraer and back the next day to
look at her. She was then owned by the very hospitable Brian Bagnall, who
gave us supper and beds for the night. If memory serves, he cruised in
Andrillot along the Scottish and Irish coasts. Despite the rainwater passing
through her deck, I was still minded to buy her until I had her surveyed by Ian
Nicolson, the Scottish naval architect and author, and decided there was too
much to do. I bought a nine-year old Cheoy Lee Vertue instead.
Some weeks later, I received a telephone call from Peter Quilter of St Ives,
Cornwall, who had heard I had looked at Andrillot. I advised him not to touch
her. However, he did buy her, spent two or three years working on her, sailed
her briefly, then sold her. I concluded that we had each bought the right boat,
his to work on and mine to sail.
Peter Quilter is listed as the owner in the supplement to Peter Woollas’s
book Vertue, published in 1973. I believe he sold Andrillot to one Neil Reid, a
British Army officer, who is listed as her owner in the 1980 Lloyds Register of
Yachts, and who might have filled the gap
Greek nautical etiquette
DECEMBER 2020 £4.95 US$10.99
between the new and recent owners. I am researching and writing a book in Greek on nautical
Many years later, in or about 2002, etiquette past and present.
I called on friends who were living in 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 I have bought a small card, the size of a playing card,
WIN!
sheltered accommodation in Salisbury. We GENESIS written and illustrated by a British officer stationed at the
were invited to drinks by a neighbour, who First ever Raymarine
fort of Corfu. The officer made the card in 1862 when Corfu
turned out to be Dick Kinnersly. There was Vertue returns Axiom 9 MFD
worth £1200
was the capital of the United States of the Ionian Islands, a
an oil painting of Andrillot on his wall, with WORKING
CLASS HERO
British protectorate. The card was used so the officer could
Lugger
an RCC burgee. restored speedily ascertain what the flags or black balls hoisted from
Andrew Pool the fort signified. The seventh flag mentioned is to signify
‘Petrel’. Does any reader know what type of boat Petrel is/
… And a bit more PETTERSSON

LAUNCH
was? I am certain that the fort did not hoist a flag to signify
that a flock of Petrels was flying by.
missing history BOOK COVER ART
Swedish magic
STRANDED IN
PATAGONIA Stratis Andreadis, Corfu
Winston Megoran Sailing home non-stop
I was delighted to read the article about A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE
Spirit yachts
LATE SUMMER SAILING
Racing at St Tropez
LINE TENSION TOGGLES
Easy home project
www.classicboat.co.uk
OUR DADDY
Andrillot in the December issue. She

looks absolutely stunning. I wonder if you could put me in touch with Uli
LUGGER “T
here are days when you’re working on
board, stuck in a confined space, and
you wonder why you’re doing this,”
says Steve Styles, co-owner of the 44ft
OF LOOE
7in (13.6m) Cornish lugger Our Daddy. “Then you sail
into Paimpol for the traditional boat festival, and people
line the quayside applauding that boat as you go in. Your
chest swells with pride and you realise that’s why you do
Killer as I can fill in a little of her lost history. I bought her in Mylor in 1976,
it. People become passionate about these old boats not
because they’re a business prospect, but because of the
After a long life fishing under motor, the Looe emotions they evoke and how beautiful they are to sail.”
And well might Steve’s chest swell with pride, for it
Lugger Our Daddy is back to full lug rig for Preparing to go fishing in
was that cruise to Paimpol and the Breton coast that
earned Our Daddy the title of Regional Flagship of the
took her up to the Baltic the next year and then back to the Medway three the first time in seven decades 1924. Note that both
masts are rigged and a
sail lies on the port deck
Year in 2017, an honour awarded by National Historic
Ships to just four vessels in the UK every year. It’s an
award which Steve and his boat partner Tim Sunderland
earned not just because of a major – and sometimes
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS NIC COMPTON controversial – restoration of the boat, but for their public
years later. I have some limited documentation and a fascinating book by

outreach programme, making the boat available to a
wider public and sailing her well beyond home waters.
But then Our Daddy seems to inspire devotion from
all who know her, not just in the port from which she
fished continuously for 65 years but also among the
nation’s nautical aficionados. Not for nothing is she
Peter Woolass about the class, which I would be happy to send to him. celebrated as “Looe’s best-known lugger” (according to
one website), while one previous owner describes her as
“without doubt the best Looe lugger I’ve ever seen”.
LAST OF THE LOOE LUGGERS
My wife and I have very fond memories of sailing in Andrillot – a trial

Built by Richard Pearce in 1921, she was one of the last
(some say the last) Looe luggers built on sailing boat
lines – although she was fitted with two Kelvin engines,
one 13hp and the other 7hp, suggesting that was already
an important source of power. Most of the hull was
decked over as a fish hold, but aft of the engine room
Baltic cruise led to our marriage the following year. I’m so glad she has was a small cabin with five berths and a coal stove for
her crew to hunker down on the frequent overnight
outings. The boat was built for Alfred Pengelly and
skippered by his son John Edward – the Pengelly family
having fished the Cornish coast for over 200 years.
gone to such a splendid owner who has been able to lavish all the attention
According to the highly entertaining autobiography
written by Alfred John Pengelly (son of John Edward,
grandson of Alfred), the Pengelly family already owned
two luggers, Our Girls and Our Boys, but grandfather
was “determined that he should not be forgotten” and
so named the new boat Our Daddy in his own honour.
on her that she truly deserves. Although built with a sailing hull and fitted with a pair
of lug sails, it’s unlikely Our Daddy sailed for very long. A
photo from 1924 shows her with both masts rigged yet
fitted with a wheelhouse which would have impeded a
full-size foresail, suggesting she already had a cut-down
rig. Another photo taken a few years later shows her with
Nigel Reid the gaff steadying sail she carried for the rest of her
working life.
BUILT TO FISH
Whatever her means of propulsion, the new boat was
soon put to work, following the traditional seasonal
fishing pattern of that part of the world: longlining for
conger, ray, skate and ling off the Lizard from March to
July; drifting for pilchards off Newlyn in August and
24 CLASSIC BOAT DECEMBER 2020 CLASSIC BOAT DECEEMBER 2020 25
Déjà vu for CB! Well done Our Daddy

What a marvellously informative magazine CB is, clearly the best on the market. Our Daddy (December CB) seemed a well-researched and
Between its covers there is something for everyone. I quickly snatch it up as it falls nicely balanced article. There were a few inaccuracies but all
through the letter box and search for the bargains in the ‘Boats for Sale’ section, told a very enjoyable read. The 30 years of the Looe regatta
wishing that I still had my youth. After reading it right through I place it in the rack has put the Cornish lugger back on the map. I am now
only to be found again within a couple of weeks and with short term memory loss attempting to get the Polperro gaffers back to their home
it’s like have two magazines a month. village to raise there profile a bit. Some of those little boats
Brian Jones, Boldre, Lymington had done some amazing voyages.
Thank you very much Brian. If you send the same email next month, we won’t be Paul Greenwood, chairman of the Cornish Lugger
remotely offended! Ed Association

Next month
SAILING TODAY WITH
YACHTS & YACHTING
with
MARCH 2021 £4.95
SOLENT CRUISING AS
A COUPLE
DELIGHTS Ultimate test
of teamwork!
Exploring off the How to fund
beaten track your sailing
with YouTube
RACING
Recover
from a
poor start
BOAT TEST
Moody's new
deck saloon
NEW KIM HOLMAN YACHT AMERICA’S CUP
Capsize at 47 knots
FIND A MOORING
Tips and contacts
VENDÉE GLOBE
Cape Horn drama
The newly-launched 43ft wooden

sloop Cass must be the first new
wooden Holman yacht since the birth
IN THE MARCH ISSUE
of the GRP era
z Solent: getting off the
beaten tracks
z Cruising as a couple? How
to survive and thrive!
z Racing tactics: recovering
RUN RABBIT RUN after a poor start
The 33ft Dick Carter yacht that prevailed z Vendee Globe: Southern
against the giants to win the 1965 Ocean madness
Fastnet, now restored. z America’s Cup: THAT crash
at 47 knots
PLUS... z On test: the new deck

We visit the Rhoda Mary Shipyard where saloon from Moody
Luke Powell built Pellew; Tom Cunliffe on the
fine art of a free lunch; the America’s Cup Available online
Britain nearly won; all about blocks; and or order now post-free from
much more chelseamagazines.com/shop
SPEED VS AUTHENTICITY
The debate is well rehearsed on the
Med, but how does it play out on the
APRIL 2021 ON SALE
East Coast smack racing scene? Friday 12 March, 2021
Available online
30 YEARS AGO
March 1991, CB33
We kicked off this issue with a visit to Pier Piersma in Holland, builder of
Dutch lee-boarders, rich and glowing with what looks like a hundred
layers of varnish, one with leeboards raised like the wings of an ladybird.
Then the opposite: Zilverwiek (Silverwing), an 8-Metre class yacht
designed and built to cruise by the great Swedish designer Tore Holm in
1939. “A joy to sail: two people can handle her easily” wrote the
uncredited author. “The helmsman has his own cockpit and trims the
mainsheet which runs on the bridge dividing him from the crew. The
crew lets the backstays on and off and tacks the staysail. The runner
system is simple and efficient. The wires are led below decks to two
winch drums which roll up the slack wire and tension the stays
accordingly. The cockpit is deep, giving some shelter from the spray which
whips across the flush foredeck and the low arched coachroof. The large
cockpit easily accommodates the six (maximum) crew allowed for races.”
It’s a highly efficient, if cramped, set-up and, compared to the highfield-
based runner systems often seen on classic yachts, mercifully simple and safe.

SMITHS CPES AND FILL-IT
PERMANENT REPAIRS TO ROTTEN WOOD
Clear Penetrating Epoxy Sealer

Penetrates deeply - finds all rot
Restores strength
Flexes with wood
Epoxy strength & durability
Made largely of wood resins
Stabilises rotten wood
Fill-it
Flexes with wood
Totally waterproof
No sag lightweight filler
High strength epoxy filler
Keith Jones wrote May 2016:

“Amazing product. I purchased
the small repair kit to restore the
base of a load bearing strut which
supports a small gable window
that had partially rotted. Customer
support is second to none, even on
a Sunday. Repair is as good as the original and the product is well
worth the money as the only alternative was to remove the base &
splice in a new piece which would have been difficult and expensive.”
www.makewoodgood.co.uk
Support and advice on: +44 (0)1732 824 700
Tel: +44 (0)1206 302863

Email: SALES JAMESLAWRENCESAILMAKERSCOM
WWWJAMESLAWRENCESAILMAKERSCOM
‘Ayesha’
ita G th
t
in rea
Br in wi
id de
Pr Ma
e

Sternpost Far left: Vertue No1 Andrillot and left back in 1936
as a gaff rig cutter. Below: Vertue No3 Monie
ROGER ROBINSON
NIC COMPTON
Andrillot: how original is she?

Roger Robinson has mixed feelings about Vertue number one
I
t has been wonderful to see Andrillot back on the water after 1950; Cardinal Vertue around the world via the three great capes
her recent refit, making the swift passages for which she was in the 1960s, (at astonishing speeds); and the GRP Sparrow,
designed (CB390). As the first of the legendary Vertues she is a doubling Cape Horn in the 1990s. There were dozens of others.
pretty special boat: there can only, ever, be one first. Andrillot only became Vertue No 1 a decade after her launch
However, the boat we see today is quite different from that when a class was named after the war. Although she was just a
which slid down the slipway at Moody’s boatyard in Bursledon on one-off, gaff-rigged cutter, she was the only Vertue to be built with
a spring day in 1936. That boat was a 25ft (7.6m), gaff-rigged that ‘old-fashioned’ rig until Fionn V140 was launched in Australia
cutter, with a short, low coachroof. There was no propellor and she in 1973. Only two more Vertues have since taken the gaff cutter rig.
had a pretty basic layout down below. Her surprisingly tall, 37ft So Andrillot, the gaff-rigged one-off, remains the original
(11.3m) mast, stepped well into her, illustrated Laurent Giles’ latest physical incarnation of a Vertue, and for that reason alone is
thinking on how a modern gaff cutter should look. incredibly important to some people, as an artefact. She is, of
Nic Compton’s superb photos show that even with her stubby course, a private yacht, unencumbered by any kind of listing
bowsprit, bermudan rig, bumkin and extended coachroof with the legislation. The changes to her cabin top, rig and interior as well as
fore-hatch high on its forward end, the visual integrity of her hull the addition of an engine have all been pragmatic. They are quite
remains intact. However, the reality of Giles’ original concept has significant and some might even say questionable, but they are all
been lost. Yet this is the boat that led to the sublime Dyarchy, then easily reversible. But Andrillot herself is quite a different boat
Kalliste and Wanderer III, and nearly 300 Vertues. nowadays and I wonder if she is happier? It seems to me that she
Sally II was built to the same lines as Andrillot but lacked the has already lost something indefinable, the patina of age about her
distinctive thickened sheerstrake, that vital, signature detail of many visible parts, which has gone forever. But does it matter?
Laurent Giles designs. Monie was the third boat built to the same If she is so important how could it be that she has changed so
lines and her revised drawings were used for most of the first 14, much? Should she have been protected in some way, perhaps with
low-coachroof, pre-war Vertues. She is now kept, reverently, in Italy. listing legislation? It is surely unimaginable that private pleasure
A major revision of the drawings in 1946 lead to the building of yachts could become subject to such controls? Does it matter that
Kishti, the first Vertue with an extended coachroof with the mast this little yacht appears to have taken another wrong turn 85 years
stepped upon in, and a compact doghouse aft. This was after she was launched, well into the 21st century?
reminiscent of the similar structure on the revolutionary pre-war Fifteen years ago this magazine listed its top 200 classic boats
Wapipi, and created perhaps the iconic Vertue ‘look’. The visual nominated by readers. Vertue XXXV represented the class. This
power of the working-boat hull, complete with thickened followed over 30 years of growing awareness of the historical,
sheerstrake, enabled these alterations to succeed, and was cultural and aesthetic value of some special yachts. Since then,
universally accepted. Tough post-war yachtsmen ordered numerous largely by a kind of slow osmosis, it could be said that most of
sisterships because the boats ‘looked right’, the older important sailing yachts in this country
exuding a sense of seaworthiness. Once Kishti’s have now been sensitively refitted and are well
drawings were available, most Vertues were built “The changes are cared for.
to that general design, which was gradually refined quite significant I feel compelled to say that sometimes the
further over the decades. There have been at least and some important questions should at least be asked. If we
eight amendments and improvements since 1946, are to avoid falling into the hands of the
including the development of the Vertue II
might even say bureaucrats then we need to take some real
drawings for GRP and cold-moulded construction. questionable, but responsibility for the objects with which we find
The reputation of the class was partly built on they are all easily ourselves to be custodians.
the outstanding passages made by them over the reversible.”
years: Vertue XXXV across the North Atlantic in (Roger Robinson runs www.VertueYachts.com )

Rustler 33 and Rustler 24
Modern Classics by Rustler
Beautiful yachts, beautifully built
Tel: 01326 310120 | www.rustleryachts.com

Rustler Yachts | Maritime Buildings | Falmouth | Cornwall | TR10 8AD
2

Classic Boat 03.2021

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Classic Boat 03.2021

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Classic Boat 03.2021

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

MARCH 2021 £4.95 US$10.

STRANGE DAYS, THEY SAY

Our round-up of the latest books

Exploring off the

12 . TELL TALES 66 . AFFORDABLE 71 . YARD NEWS

For cruising and racing sailors 32 . BOSUN’S BAG 82 . STERNPOST NOTES

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 3

WORDS STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

6 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

Above left to right:

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 7

©ALEX PANZERAI JRTPHOTO

8 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 9

10 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

Sharing traditional skills

AUCKLAND, NEW ZEALAND

a warm-up regatta in December, only to win

Follow all the racing on our sister

12 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

the RNLI, which is overseeing her conservation and gradual

For more on the history of lifeboats see our article on page 58

Cromer lifeboat, the

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 13

Bob Fisher 1935-2021

Dunkirk return cancelled

14 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

• Extensive range of 10 to 98 HP heat • 5 year self-service warranty*.

. . . our tailored solutions

PHOTOS HENRI THIBAULT

circumnavigator Sir Alec

16 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

SUBSCRIBE TODAY: ONE YEAR FROM £39.95

TWO EASY WAYS TO ORDER

18 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 19

20 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

22 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

Below: The extra

Golden sand, azure sea... must be Clacton!

BONHAMS CHARLES MILLER LTD

print would have cost

on it’s expected to fetch

26 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

SPECIALISTS IN CUSTOMISED RESTORATIONS & REPAIR OF ALL CRAFT

TRADITIONAL YACHT FITTINGS PROPERLY MADE SINCE 1885

Telephone +44 (0)1206 500945 Ö Email [email protected] Ö www.davey.co.uk

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 2

BAG FROM plumplay.co.uk

28 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

Order online or come and visit our chandlery

Telephone: 01394 380390 or 01473 659394 | Email: [email protected] | www.classicmarine.co.uk

Photography Credit: © Emily Harris

ORIOLE 2015 SPARTAN 2016 TILLY XV 2017/2018

Classic misuse of a word have the right to call themselves

30 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 

WORDS TOM CUNLIFFE ILLUSTRATION MARTYN MACKRILL

32 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021 2

CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2021