Indholdsfortegnelse for November 2025 i Classic Boat

More than 30 boats met on Suffolk’s River Ore on 27 July. Despite having a brewer as sponsor, the fleet managed to leave on time the next day, exploring the Ore and Alde for two days before heading south to Harwich Harbour, finishing at the excellent Royal Harwich YC for a sit-down supper and general celebration of a great week on the water. These OGA events are an eclectic mix of boats and crews; the racing has a fairly small ‘r’. It’s more about sharing experiences and making new friends. Perhaps this friendly culture is why there were quite a few first-timers on the rally? The fleet included three boats from the Netherlands, Jan Blank, Sotra and Snoopy, with one Thames attendee, the venerable Onward of Ito and the centenarian…

It is likely that the 1920 Alfred Mylne-designed yawl Gudgeon has been based on the East Coast almost all her life, and the high esteem in which she is held there became apparent on a bank holiday weekend about 10 years ago. Her then owner, Scot Yates, was cruising on her on the River Alde, and when he radioed the harbour master to see if there was an available mooring, the initial response was “no chance, it’s a bank holiday weekend”. But when Scot clarified that his boat was Gudgeon, the response was very different. “The harbour master said ‘what, THE Gudgeon?’ and directed us to a mooring saying ‘do not use’ in pride of place right next to the quay,” Scot told me. “He wouldn’t take any money from…

THE BUYING PROCESS Firstly, never forget who’s on whose side! The surveyor and buyer are one ‘team’, with the surveyor receiving instruction solely from the buyer; while you (and the broker, if there is one), are on the other team. That said, it’s usually an open, friendly process with all sides working towards a fair outcome that pleases everyone. Your job, as seller, is to present your boat in the best and most transparent manner to gain a good survey and support the asking price. Usually, the prospective buyer visits the boat, decides if it fits the bill, and makes an offer subject to survey. After this exhilarating burst of optimism, the broker or seller will ask for a deposit. The buyer and seller should sign a contract that lays…

As part of their ongoing work to modernise facilities, Cox’s Boatyard recently opened its new workshop, with space to keep 12 boats under cover. It will soon be equipped with a specialist paint bay for boats up to 50 feet (15.2m) long, and will also support a new, improved engineering area. This new building has replaced two old buildings, which had come to the end of their lives, in the big £900,000 infrastructure project. Managing Director Eric Bishop commented: “We are very proud of the new workshop. It has taken several years of planning to get to this stage, and we have put a lot of consideration into its design and build. We are delighted with the end result and once the building work was finished, we moved into it…

Suffolk boatbuilder Sam Doman, previous CB award winner in 2021 for his 13ft 10in (4.2m) barge boat, has just built a unique vessel that could prove to be the fastest of her type. It’s an entirely new hull, designed and built by Sam, who drew influence from traditional working boats and modern performance boats. The result, he says, is “a relatively lightweight 15ft 3in (4.6m) open boat, designed around a modular rig, which allows four different configurations (balanced lug, catboat, lug yawl, and gaff rig with topsail and spinnaker) using the same mast and mainsail in two mast steps. The boat was designed to prove traditional rigs and hull forms are still relevant, and we (classic boat enthusiasts) aren’t all luddites!” Sam’s aim is now to prove the concept by…

Built for life: Starrett pocket awl The hardened steel point of an awl is useful where you need to make a lasting mark on a hard surface – enamelled steel, for example. This Starrett scribing awl has passed down through three generations of family pockets, mixing freely with the keys and loose change by virtue of its reversible point. When mounted, the point is gripped by a tiny three-jaw chuck. When stowed, the reversed point slips inside the knurled and nickel-plated handle to leave just its safely rounded heel exposed. A hexagonal head prevents the tool from rolling away. We’ve grown accustomed to lamenting the disappearance of such well made tools, but happily this one is still available: the Starrett 70B Pocket Scribing Awl is priced around £19. Variegated ebony…

CAMPER & NICHOLSONS ONE DESIGN? Back in the late 1930s the great Camper & Nicholsons had an idea that turned into six fabulous 30 footers. We meet one of them and tell the full story LONG-TERM OWNERSHIP What does decades with the same boat teach us about wooden realities? RACING PEDIGREE We head out in the superb and exacting Fairey Huntsman restoration, Double Century DECEMBER 2025 ISSUE ON SALE 14 November 2025 Or why not subscribe? SAILING TODAY WITH YACHTS & YACHTING IN THE NOVEMBER ISSUE • British Yachting Awards 2025 nominations are in • Grand Soleil Blue on test • Cruising Nantucket • Foiling with Waszp • Rig for victory: What’s new in the world of spars? • Keep warm: Caribbean charters • Rod Heikell on what makes a…

Back in September I was doing a five-day shift at the Southampton International Boat Show (SIBS), promoting my new novel. Four hours signing books is a fair watch on deck, so I left the tent for a walk-around outside. Down on the pontoons the latest yachts were, for my money, not going to send a connoisseur’s heart rate into top gear. Many of the cruisers on offer sail well enough in calm water and they are certainly remarkably roomy, but charm is in short supply. The cosy cabin that warms the soul is no more and the hull shapes, while superficially effective, are so uninspiring that it’s hard not to suspect they are ‘sawn off to length’. All was not lost, however. Outside the entrance to the main tent, a…

As the bosun on a large classic schooner, Leo Goolden had an enviable job of making ocean passages and cruising to exotic locales. For a young sailor who crossed the Atlantic in 2015 on a Folkboat, solo and engineless, it was an incredible chance to hone new skills. His future in the superyacht world was bright – until a derelict old boat caught his attention, causing a serious course correction. That wooden boat, now one of the most celebrated in the world, is the 48ft Albert Strange-designed Tally Ho. Built in 1910 by Stow and Sons in Shoreham-by-Sea, England, her pinnacle achievement was winning the 1927 Fastnet. In a fleet of 15, only two finished, demonstrating the gaff cutter’s might. Under several names and owners, she sailed on through decades…

Details have been announced for the biennial Richard Mille Cup, taking place on the deep and protected waters of the Firth of Clyde from 15-25 June next year. A fleet of historic yachts from around the world is expected to rendezvous in Largs, with racing set against the dramatic scenery of the Cumbrae Islands, and the Isles of Bute, Arran and Ailsa Craig. The Clyde is one of the great cradles of classic yacht design and build. From its waters, the legendary yachts of the Fife dynasty, GL Watson and Alfred Mylne, set sail and conquered the world. Today, those same names are behind some of the most coveted classics on the water and continue to prove their prestige and capability at the world’s regattas. It is hoped these same…

The name Chris Craft is woven into the history of American yachting. Best known for varnished runabouts from the early 20th century, the company has been a leader in design and construction for nearly 150 years. From the very first boat, built in 1874 by 13-year-old Christopher Columbus Smith, the creation of finely crafted vessels grew into an insatiable industry. Together with brother Hank, the two built hundreds of rowing, sailing, and small motor-propelled craft, ultimately forming Smith Ryan Boat Shop in Algonac, Michigan. By 1906, their 26ft (8m) boats had reached the unheard of speed of 18mph, igniting a need for speed. A mere nine years later, Chris Smith’s hydroplane design Miss Detroit, with a 250hp Sterling engine, won the prestigious New York Gold Cup at speeds near 50…

There were no square-riggers in Falmouth when I visited the Cornish port at the end of August. No world-girdling cargo ships waiting patiently at anchor for news of their next destination; no weary sailors repairing sails and stocking up with provisions for their next voyage. Yet, as we hovered off Trefusis Point, I thought I saw the distinctive outline of a Falmouth quay punt sailing towards us. With its low, gaff yawl rig, its flat sheer and plumb ends, there’s no mistaking this beast of burden, built to carry supplies and crew to waiting ships. With the docks backlit by the sun, the whole scene looked like an old black-and-white photo from another era – an echo of a scene that’s been enacted in these waters thousands if not millions…

The thing about the best yarns is that you’re never sure whether to believe them or not. Cynics curl the lip with an all-knowing “if you believe that, you’ll believe anything.” These killjoys lurk in most waterfront bars but the rest of us, who never let the truth get in the way of a good story, are content just to listen, laugh and perhaps learn something on the side. When I was fitting out my first gaff cutter for ocean cruising, the yards at the top of the Hamble River were rich with notable purveyors of tales of the sea. Among their number was one Captain Bennett, who lived aboard an early glassfibre yacht called a Great Dane 28. There wasn’t much room below decks, but the captain was of…

Drascombe Boats, builders of classic GRP trailer sailers, including the famous Lugger, has formed a partnership with Character Boats, also builders of traditionally-styled GRP sailing boats. The Character Boats range of solid, clinker-effct, workboat-derived dinghies and dayboats includes the 12ft 6in (3.8m) Lytham Pilot, the 14ft 6in (4.4m) Post Boat and the 17ft 6in (5.3m) Coastal. Under the new collaboration, Drascombe will build new Character Boats vessels under licence, offer repair and refurbishment and spare parts, and integrated Character Boats into its brokerage. This new division in the Drascombe company will operate as Hampshire Character Boats. See drascombe.uk.…

It seems counter-intuitive that a hand plane should make a surface rougher than it was before work began, but that’s the sole purpose of the toothing plane, one of few hand tools specific to veneering. This ancient technique rose to prominence in the 18th century when the fashion grew for more decorative surfaces than those offered by the dimensionally stable yet relatively uninteresting cuts necessary for sound joinery. A burgeoning of ever more eyecatching finishes to furniture ashore led inexorably to more flamboyant designs going to sea. Densely shoot-spangled burrs sliced from the pippy swellings of tree trunks, the feathery figured grain arising where branches fork, and swirling patterns laid down in root butts could be used with greater confidence in yacht saloons and staterooms if thinly sawn and bonded…

SEPTEMBER 1995, CB87 If you’ve made the effort to read this far into the magazine, I’ll reward you with a little secret. The small CB team are all music lovers and are hell-bent on a mission to drop album and song titles into features wherever we can. Don’t tell anyone; but now perhaps you’ll smile when you spot one; there is at least one in this very issue. It seems the team back in 1995 were on the same mission, but on a rather classier bent. Our feature on a fabulous ‘upswept’, depression-era 28ft Chris Craft runabout was titled ‘Sonata in Sea Sharp,’ better known to most of us as Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata. Most American runabouts actually float upon the 30,000 or more lakes of America, but Sea Sharp is…

The 21st Copa Del Rey, part of the Vintage and Classic Yacht Club series, featured a record entry of 49 boats from a wide range of European countries. Storms at the western side of the island have previously threatened this event but always failed to materialise in Mahon. This year, the weather gods seemed to be smiling again as the first day of racing on Wednesday dawned bright and sunny with a steady 10 to 12 knots inside the harbour. There were fears that the wind might freshen and cause a cancellation; instead it dropped away, leaving only a big swell and chop. The result was the same, with racing abandoned. Thursday storms were forecast for the late afternoon and the committee decided on short races to get the boats…

A wonderful selection of classic boats, yachts, barges and tugs descended on London’s St Katharine Docks for its annual Classic Boat Festival. Now in its 16th year, this weekend continues to impress and credit must go to the St Kat’s team for making it happen. Clearing the central and west basins for the throngs of visitors is no mean feat at this time of year. Hundreds of people walked the pontoons and viewed the boats on show, with many more lining the docks, enjoying the live music. This really is an incredible opportunity for the public to not only see but also access historic vessels, made possible by the generosity and trust of the owners who brought their boats along. During the event, our own Tom Cunliffe launched his first…

The original Cowes-Torquay Offshore Power Boat Race, instigated by newspaper boss Sir Max Aitken, was utterly British in conception and totally bonkers. With rules insisting on “cruising boats with proper cabins, bunks and a built-in galley and toilet,” it was essentially the nautical equivalent of Formula 1 racing in camper vans. After Jaguar racer Tommy Sopwith won the first race, stockbroker Dick Wilkins commissioned Vosper to build a contender for 1962. The twin-engined 2,308hp Tramontana won the 170-mile race, averaging 36.8mph – which made frying eggs and using the heads something of a challenge. The coveted 1962 Daily Express trophy (right), direct from the Wilkins family, is estimated at £400-600 in Charles Miller Ltd’s forthcoming 11 November sale. So dominant was Wilkins’ entry that organisers reduced the power limit to…

Dick Carter made his name in the golden years of offshore racing, spearheading the change from narrow, long-keeled ‘lead mines’ to wider, moderate-displacement boats with fin keels and separate spade rudders. His first design, the 34ft (10.3m) yacht Rabbit, won the 1965 Fastnet Race less than a month after her launch. Sceptics treated the result as a freak: She was one of the smallest boats in the fleet in a race where conditions were thought to have favoured those at the back of the fleet. IT WAS NO FLUKE His second design Tina, also launched in a hurry, wiped the floor at the 1966 One Ton Cup, despite suffering a badly bent mast. This series for yachts racing with a common rating had fired up the design game with designers…

LAYING UP Even the words ‘laying up’ carry a whiff of melancholy, accompanied as they are by the sound of dry, windblown leaves and images of leaden skies. There is also, somehow, an image in the mind’s eye of a single boat lying tucked up a remote creek on a still, snowy night, with just the portlights glowing and perhaps a tendril of smoke rising up from the log burner inside. These days of course, the romance has waned, as the yard’s travel hoist trundles back and forth across the hard, manned by men in colourful high hats. In fact, even as far back as 1947, Eric Hiscock wrote that “Some cruising men keep their yachts afloat and in commission throughout the year. But although a well-found yacht with a…

COLD-MOULDED SUPERYACHT AT ROCKPORT MARINE A 95-foot (29m) modern classic superyacht designed for world cruising is currently in build at Rockport Marine, to a design from Langan Design Partners with a modern classic interior by Mark Whiteley. The owner’s representative MCM and Langan Design have partnered with Rockport Marine on several earlier projects, with MCM making the introduction on this one. Yacht Ouzel’s classic lines are tied to a modern rig, Park Avenue boom, and efficient keel, suggesting strong all-round performance. The hull is cold-moulded wood composite – a construction method using Douglas fir and western red cedar, paired with carbon fibre, E-glass, and foam cores. This approach is a speciality at Rockport Marine. Wood composite offers many of the performance and durability benefits of glassfibre, but with the warmth,…

Established in 1960, but with nautical routes that date back further, Brooklin is exactly the kind of boatyard you hope exists but rarely come across. Tall, smartly painted sheds, smaller boat houses, winding jetties and numerous docks are set before its own protected harbour, dotted with classics, a who’s who of American boat design. Herreshoffs lie alongside boats designed and built by the Whites, the founding family of Brooklin. Today, it’s a classic yacht utopia but one that has earned its stripes over decades of hard work. What Joel White started 65 years ago, his son Steve developed and expanded, leading to designs such as the Haven 12.5 sloop (based on a Herreshoff design), the Shellback dinghy and the Center Harbor 31 class that we saw do very well at…