Innehållsförteckning för August 2018 från Classic Boat

Light winds did not prevent spirited racing and a lively atmosphere at the 12th Pilot Cutter Review, sponsored by Classic Sailing, in May. The annual gathering takes place from St Mawes Sailing Club on the Fal estuary in Cornwall. Six boats entered – Marguerite (1893 Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter), Jolie Brise (1913 Le Havre Pilot Cutter), Agnes (built by Luke Powell of Working Sail in 2003 to the lines of 1841 Isles of Scilly Pilot Cutter Agnes), Polly Agatha (replica of 1904 Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Peggy, built by Cockwells in 2007), Amelie Rose (built by Luke Powell in 2009 and now undertaking an environmental mission with cleanseasodyssey.org), and Unity (adapted Mevagissey lugger built by Jon Bray of West Country Cutters in 2017). First to arrive at St Mawes and…

The St Ives mackerel driver Barnabas is one of a hardy sort built to take whatever the seas could throw at her while fishing. She was built in 1881 by Henry Trovorrow above the beach at St Ives, and restored from 2005-6 by her current owner, the Cornish Maritime Trust. She’s a twin-masted dipping lugger of just over 39ft (11.9m) and in 2015 sailed around Britain in her own wake of decades earlier. These boats were known to sail far north in the 19th century, chasing various types of fish in the Atlantic and North Sea. Her current crew noted during the 2015 fundraising voyage that she is a “bit of a beast to handle”.…

Ramsgate on the south east coast of England, July 1939. As local businessman Herbert Payne and his family motor gently out beyond the harbour walls on their 36ft (11m) motor cruiser, the newspapers’ predictions of impending war seem a long way off. Seagulls screech overhead and the sun glitters on the calm Channel waters ahead. Hitler and Mussolini may be shouting threats over the airwaves, but aboard Ona II, the world is at peace. One of their guests whistles the popular tune Somewhere With You in France, words and music by Michael Carr. Herbert Payne takes photos. He couldn’t be happier at the wheel of the boat, which had been built by the yard of Staniland & Co eight years previously. She’s a solidly built craft and has done the…

“Just about the prettiest, shapeliest and most bewitching craft afloat” A photo of Sally pinged into the inbox yesterday, taken from a friend’s Albin Vega, against which we had been racing in close company (until they decided to peel off and head for Loggie Bay and a picnic, but that’s another story.) Now, I am used to thinking that my boat – probably the same goes for yours too – is just about the prettiest, shapeliest and altogether most bewitching craft afloat. Hang those Fifes and Nicholsons, poncing about in the Mediterranean, your own boat is simply the best. She’s the best, at least, until you start finding fault in her, and by that I don’t mean the inevitable leaks and cosmetic imperfections that come with age. No, I mean…

As Xarifa’s three masts lean to the wind and her steel hull carves a wake in the blue Mediterranean Sea, every one of her nine-strong crew delights in the schooner’s immaculate restoration, including me. Everyone who simply catches sight of the 164ft (50m) LOA schooner is delighted, too, just to have something so magnificent within their horizons. All that is, except her owner, who while flying overhead in his private helicopter during a trial sail, is slightly disappointed at the look of his Marconi-rigged masterpiece. “She doesn’t look right,” he tells Xarifa’s 38-year-old skipper, Captain Diego Massó, and promptly contacts Dykstra Naval Architects to draw up plans to convert the 1927 Soper-designed beauty back to her original gaff-rig. So much for the future. For now I am lucky enough to…

VOYAGE OF DIRK III Hans Domizlaff spent four years in the early 1930s exploring the coast of northern Europe in his 71ft (21.6m) yawl Dirk III. His exploits were recorded through the lens, and the Yachting Heritage Centre has in its catalogue more than 400 of his original glass-plate photographs and 30 large albums of prints detailing his and his friends’ exploits through Scandinavian waters, the Faeroes and Shetland. It’s a fascinating look back at a gentler era of yachting, when men still wore ties aboard. LADY BRASSEY’S THREE VOYAGES IN THE SUNBEAM This aristocratic account of the cruising life at sea in the 1870s, on board the three-masted Sunbeam, is hugely entertaining. Lady Brassey, wife of the owner Lord Brassey, who commissioned the boat in 1874, recounts the departure…

Making a ditty box The traditional sailor keeps small personal items, like razor, brushes, sewing kit and correspondence in a ditty box. This box with a sliding lid and wax-oil finish (photo 1) is loosely based on a late 19th century design of the Imperial German Navy (left), although sliding lid boxes have been used by seafarers since at least the time of the Vikings. It's more economical on space than the type with a hinged lid, as favoured by the British Royal Navy, and is also easier to make. Pine was standard for the German box, but I used oak planed to ⅝in (16mm) thickness (photo 2) with ¼in (6mm) elm for the base and lid. Rebated corner joints (photos 3,4,5), glued and fastened with copper boat nails, expose…

Almost 90 boats gathered in Antibes in the south of France for a spectacular display of classic yachts under sail. The 23rd edition of Les Voiles d’Antibes, sponsored by Panerai, ran from 30 May to 3 June in light winds and under blue skies. The regatta was bolstered this year by the first Antibes Classic Yacht Show, with stands set up in the arches of the old harbour walls, and deemed a success by exhibitors and organisers. The oldest yacht racing was the 1897 ga. cutter Lulu and the fleet spanned much of the history of yachting from there on, including many Universal and International Rule designs and a healthy Spirit of Tradition class too. A newcomer this year was the Sparkman & Stephens yawl Santana, restored two years ago…

BY OAR: Vogalonga "A moving mosaic befitting Canaletto," is how one observer described this year's Vogalonga, the 44th holding of the event, with more than 2,100 boats and 8,300 participants bringing Venetian traffic to a standstill, writes James Nicholls. The vaporettos and water taxis were reduced to the status of spectators until 3pm in the afternoon of 20 May, as the fleet embarked on its 19-mile (30km) course from the mouth of the Grand Canal in a loop around the islands of the lagoon and back through the city to St Mark’s Square. The Vogalonga, the ‘long row, Venetian style’, was established in 1974 to oppose motor-driven transport on the Venetian lagoon. That original small group has now become a United Nations of rowing with rowers from all over the…

National Register of Historic Vessels (NRHV) Currently more than 1,300 vessels, ranging from private yachts to pilot cutters to steam tugs to a hovercraft. The list aims to provide an overview of the UK’s extant historic vessels over 33ft (10.07m), to identify and prioritise significant vessels that should be conserved, provide guidance in funding decisions and give an early warning of boats ‘at risk’. 57% of the boats are privately owned or commercially operated. Museums and charitable trusts account for 14%. The National Historic Fleet (NHF) Around 200 of the most significant boats from the National Register of Historic Vessels (left). In future it will also include vessels from the National Small Boat Register (run by the National Maritime Museum Cornwall). The National Archive of Historic Vessels More than 500…

MYLOR, CORNWALL Looe fishing boat renewed After several months of long hours and hard work, Charlotte Whyte and Jess Harris’s newly restored Tethra was re-launched at Mylor, Cornwall, in early June. Tethra, 36ft (11m) was built as a fishing boat in Looe in 1971, then spent some time in Chichester, which is where Charlotte and Jess found her before bringing her back to Cornwall. With the help of a team of enthusiastic supporters, they have rebuilt her from a bare hull. Once they have put the finishing touches to her, they will launch their new business taking groups of up to 12 guests out for short or day-long cruises around the picturesque creeks and rivers around the Fal estuary, and serving high-quality breakfasts, lunches and dinners. Nigel Sharp ULLAPOOL, SCOTLAND…

The Record 778 duplex rabbet plane is a true workhorse of the boatbuilder’s kit, having many more uses than its name suggests. As a rabbet (rebate) plane with an adjustable fence, it’s the metal-bodied equivalent of the wooden moving fillister, while the second bed for the blade, up for’ard, equips this tool as an unusually substantial bullnose plane, working into corners courtesy of a toe just ¼in (6mm) thick. As with the majority of old Record planes, the 778 is a near copy of an earlier Stanley tool – the 78 fillister & rabbet plane, launched in the 1880s – but given a few tweaks by the She.eld company and the justifiable qualification ‘Improved’. In Record’s first version of the plane, the 078, the fence was mounted on a single…

11-14 JULY PUIG VELA CLASSICA Barcelona, Spain. Always windy, always sunny, all sizes of yacht welcome and a great party ashore puigvelaclassica.com 20-22 JULY THAMES TRADITIONAL BOAT FESTIVAL Henley, Oxfordshire. Probably the biggest traditional river boat rally in Europe, maybe the world tradboatfestival.com 14-21 JULY PANERAI BRITISH CLASSIC WEEK Cowes, IoW. One of the country’s top classic yacht regattas, this year with a stronger concours theme britishclassicyachtclub.org 22-27 JULY COWES CLASSICS WEEK Competitive one-design and class racing at what is Britain’s biggest classic regatta in terms of boat numbers cowesclassicsweek.org … AND LOOKING BACK TO 30 YEARS AGO July/August 1988 – CB8 Back in 1988, we were looking at “four small boats”, the 18ft 6in Sou’Wester gaff sloop, the Carrick 25 cabin yacht, the 16ft lug-rigged coble and 12ft Cormorant…

Among the other sailing boats designed and built by Ernest Digby was another 8-Metre, Frances, which followed immediately after he sold Defiance and which he named after his wife. Frances had a remarkable record in the prestigious Sayonara Cup, Australia’s premier sailing trophy at that time and named after William Fife’s 1898 gaff cutter. (Defiance never competed for it, as it wasn’t held during Digby’s ownership.) Frances won it in 1951 and retained it the following year. She lost it to the Tasmanian 8-Metre Erica J in 1953, but in 1954 won it back. In 1955, she was beaten by the Fife 8-Metre Saskia and was unsuccessful the following year too. Digby became a highly respected designer, builder and sailor, commodore of both the Hobson Bay Yacht Club and the…

MARITIME HERITAGE Save Uffa’s Huff of Arklow Following the dispersal of much of the the Eyemouth International Sailing Craft Association (EISCA) fleet, one of the British Isles' most important yachts is seeking a new home. Huff of Arklow, built in 1951 by John Tyrrell & Sons of Arklow in Ireland, for Irish yachtsman Douglas Heard, was the most radical yacht in the world at the time of her launch. She was designed by Uffa Fox, the godfather of the planing dinghy, and was so innovative that she appeared futuristic. She was the world’s first offshore racing yacht to feature a fin-and-skeg hull form and possibly the first masthead sloop for offshore racing. As a result, Huff was the first planing yacht in history and recorded a speed of 23 knots…

DAVID FOSTER of Classic Sail What does Classic Sail offer? We offer a unique experience and opportunity to sail and race classic yachts with true offshore capability, that are one design and all in the most stunning area of outstanding natural beauty that is Chichester Harbour, together with the wider Solent and beyond! Where did the idea come from? The idea came to me after I bought the first of the Morgan Giles yachts that we now own that a fleet could be brought back together and sailed commercially. How original are the three yachts? Very original. Any upgrades have been dovetailed in to enhance and reflect the original character. Have you had a good response from the Giles family? Yes we have, the family has followed our progress and…

A PAINTING OF YOUR BOAT Artist and experienced sailor Anna Boulton displays her latest oil, of Velsheda racing at the J-Class World Championships in Newport, Rhode Island, last summer. Anna has painted many classics and takes commissions for portraits of private yachts. Prices for drawings start at around £800, oil paintings £2,000 to £30,000. annaboulton.com VIOLET CHRONOMETER It took Polish craftsman Jan Frydrych one year to produce this unusual timepiece, based on a submarine chronometer. Every stainless steel moving part is set in sapphire bearings, the coloured glass is titanium-coated and a complex series of semi-translucent mirrors inside creates a startling visual e.ect. The case is purple hardwood. €530,000. janfrydrych.wz.cz YOWZAH! A colourful addition to the Sperry range, with canvas upper and all the bits you need in a yacht-bound…

Spring was definitely in the air when I headed down to Mylor Yacht Harbour in Cornwall last April to photograph the latest flowering from an iconic local boatbuilder. Boats of every description were being readied to go back in the water, from a brand new Bavaria to an old wooden Tosher, but one name stood out above all the rest. Wherever I looked, it seemed, I couldn’t help seeing a Cornish Crabber of one kind or another. There was a line of Shrimpers on trailers waiting to be launched, two Crabber 26s moored up on the pontoon, a smart-looking Crabber 22 on a mooring, and an old Crabber Yawl looking a bit sorry for herself moored off the main jetty. Then, from further up the Carrick Roads a boat appeared,…

Waterwitch was Fife’s largest ever yacht, and one of his greatest disappointments. Launched in 1911 she was judged a failure after finishing just 14 races and was broken up in 1912, with her rig going into the new Charles E Nicholson schooner Margherita. The episode marked a major watershed in British yacht design as the Clyde master was eclipsed by the aspiring Solent man; it also paralleled a shift in the centre of gravity of British yachting from the Clyde to the Solent. Fife’s designs from then on were primarily for smaller yachts; after 1911 his only two commissions over 100 tons (Thames) were Cambria and the cruising schooner Altair. Nicholson went on to design five America’s Cup challengers (Shamrock IV, Shamrock V, Velsheda, Endeavour and Endeavour II) as well…

Make no bones about it, Oliver Berking is a man with a plan – but that plan does not involve having the number one yachting heritage centre in the world. That honour, for now at least, he leaves to The Museum of America and the Sea in Mystic, Connecticut. Berking has some competition apart from Mystic, not least the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, London, but the new Yachting Heritage Centre in Flensburg is a serious achievement. The building, built on a site adjacent to the Robbe and Berking Classics shipyard on the fjord that is Germany’s Baltic border with Denmark, contains a hugely impressive archive of books, plans, models, art, photography and other memorabilia, displayed on a permanent and rolling basis. “I want to be the small Mystic Seaport…

We’ve been covering the young boatbuilder Alasdair Grant, whose yard is on the Isle of Ewe (population seven) for a while. Here are a few of the boats he offers as new builds, to very competitive prices, as his overheads are low and most of the materials are locally sourced. See isleeweboats.co.uk for more. EILEAN GEISGEIR Isle Ewe 18 Eilean Geisgeir is the latest boat from the Isle Ewe yard and her builder’s favourite. Alasdair designed her for a Tiree resident who wanted an 18ft (5.5m) inboard diesel boat capable of braving the weather. He wanted, relates Alasdair, lots of beam and a keel that got a good grip on the water with heavy bilge keels for towing her up the beach in winter, so she’s heavily built. Her backbone…

LYNHER BARGE A West Country work boat from 1896 is sailing – and working – again after being prised from the mud REGATTA SEASON We bring you the most stunning shots from the latest classic regattas COUTA BOATS The fishing boat fleet of the 1800s is now a race boat fleet in Victoria, Australia. We get a taste of the action and recall the history PLUS… Colin Archer’s little-known designs for a Nile expedition; von Hacht First-Rule 6-Metre found on a lake in Berlin; understanding lines plans (part 2); we meet the Royal Yacht Squadron’s new commodore; and more… SEPTEMBER 2018 ON SALE Friday 3 August, 2018 (or why not subscribe!)…