Innehållsförteckning för June 2019 från Classic Boat

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What gave you the idea? As a woodwork supervisor at Help for Heroes northern Recovery Centre in Catterick Garrison, I wanted to do something that would include dozens of individuals and extend an opportunity to be involved in something that most of them would consider impossible. What have the vets been creating? We offer coaching in woodturning, carving, pyrography, scroll sawing, furniture restoration, French polishing, handmade rocking horses [large and small] and general woodwork of every kind. We offer dedicated activities each day of the week, and four residential ‘Cabin Fever’ courses a year for veterans who live further afield. Since September 2017, the woodshop has seen more than 1,500 individual visits from our beneficiaries. Who are the people you support? When our Heroes sign up to the Armed Forces,…

LANCASTER NAV STATION LIGHT While looking for a replacement nav table lamp for 1965 racing yacht Balandra, the boat’s Australian owner Jamie Sunders came across UK-based Pete Adams who specialises in restoring Anglepoise lamps from Lancaster bombers – as in Balandra’s original fit-out. Now Balandra’s getting an upgrade with an even rarer brass unit from a Short Sunderland Flying Boat, but there’s no reason an original aluminium Lancaster-spec Anglepoise wouldn’t grace your classic boat’s nav station. £700 retro3a.com OVERBOARD BAGS There’s nothing like watching your sleeping bag bounce out of the dinghy and into the drink as you’re being ferried onto the yacht for a weekend afloat. “It will dry out in no time” proclaim crewmates earnestly, between smirks. Fat chance. Waterproof luggage is the answer, and this range of…

Our friends said we couldn’t do it. Everyone we spoke to about trying to take an engineless rowing and sailing tender through the meandering, gin-clear waters of Shroud Cay’s north creek from the Exuma Banks out to sea and the famous natural “washing machine” said it could only be done in a powerful RIB. The top of the vast Exuma Land and Sea Park in Shroud Cay and its maze of creeks that wind through acres of mangrove roots play host to a large population of juvenile marine life including spotted eagle rays and hawksbill and green sea turtles, all unthreatened, calmly gliding up and down the narrow waterways. Still, they said, “Sorry, Chris. Currents are too strong for your set-up. Take it off your list.” I had carefully mapped…

Peter Beckett’s offer to share the contents of an old family photo album with the readers of Classic Boat shed new light on the story of the Victorian Broads racing yacht Sayonara, which has sailed on her native waters as Buttercup since 1928. The album once belonged to Peter’s grandfather William (Bill) Beckett who owned Sayonara before the outbreak of World War One. It depicts a family cruise on Sayonara by Peter’s great grandfather, Thomas Beckett, grandfather Bill and great uncles Arthur and Edward, who were all in the drapery business in Peterborough, not far from Thomas’s birthplace in Stalham, Norfolk. It is thought the majority of these images were taken by Arthur. The entire collection of images within Peter’s treasured album spans the gamut of life on board Sayonara,…

Around the coast The English regatta scene has been maturing in recent years in the Solent, where new events have linked to established ones to form a circuit. Things are as vibrant as ever on the east coast, a mecca for barge and smack racing for well over a century. On the west coast, there are pilot cutters, luggers, trawlers, Falmouth working boats and yachts. Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland also have their own busy regatta schedules. SOUTH COAST 17-19 MAY ✪ Cowes Spring Classics Cowes, cowesspringclassics.com Broad-church regatta for classics 30 MAY – 2 JUNE Yarmouth Gaffers Regatta oga.org.uk. Flagship OGA bash 29 JUNE ✪ Round the Island Race Isle of Wight, roundtheisland.org.uk The world’s most popular yacht race 13–20 JULY ✪ Panerai British Classic Week Cowes, britishclassicyachtclub.org One…

UNITED STATES 4-5 JULY Great Schooner Race greatschoonerrace.com Islesboro – Rockland Harbor, Maine 20+ vessels in the most evocative rig of them all 12-14 JULY Vineyard Cup Mass, sailmv.org/vineyard-cup Foiling kiteboards, classic yachts, and everything between the two 13 JULY Great San Francisco Schooner and Classic Yacht Race San Francisco Bay, sfyc.org 15–20 JULY New York Yacht Club 175th Anniversary Regatta Harbor Court, RI, nyyc.org Invitational for yachts over 30ft 20-21 JULY Stuart Knockabout Regatta Megansett Harbor, Mass stuartknockaboutllc.com Regatta for LF Herreshoff dayboats 25–27 JULY Camden Classics Cup Camden, Maine camdenclassicscup.com Fourth year in this lovely location 3 AUGUST Eggemoggin Reach Regatta Rockport, Maine, erregatta.com 125+ boats 10-11 AUGUST Corinthian Classic Regatta Marblehead, Mass corinthianclassic.org 17-18 AUGUST Nantucket Race Week nantucketraceweek.org Classics and moderns 18 AUGUST Opera House Cup…

Most people know about John L Hacker, one of the greatest waterspeed record holders of the 20th century, and the mahogany runabouts that his company pioneered decades before Riva. Not everyone knows that they still build boats in mahogany to this day; 10-12 a year, with a build time of 7-14 months and prices starting at $267,000 (c£205,100). Here are three new mahogany Hackers you can buy today. See hackerboat.com for more details. SPORT MIAMI Here is an example of the company’s Sport range. They range in size from 25-33ft (7.6m-10.1m) and are “sturdy in construction, with enough width and flair along the sides for sea-going comfort” according to Hacker. The look is based on an old runabout, but all sorts of modern features can be added for utility and…

“Other than price, it’s becoming very difficult to think of a reason to buy a new small petrol outboard” In the 2-4hp category, the latest electric outboards with rechargeable lithium batteries seem to have rendered petrol motors obsolete. And the market agrees: last year we sold more electric motors than petrol ones… The many advantages of electric include: - Ease of Use. Switch on, twist the tiller handle, go. Almost anybody can do it; no experience, strength or mechanical knowledge is needed. - Ease of Handling. The batteries are removable, and the “pass up and down” weight (the shaft/motor assembly) is then 10kg or less. - Ease of Storage. These electric motors divide into components, don’t leak oil or petrol, and don’t mind which way up they’re stored. - Quietness…

The effect that Farida has when you first see her is hard to explain. Even at her mooring in Gosport’s Haslar Marina on a hot day early last summer, there was a buoyancy and purpose and… oh, forgive me, god of clichés… elegance to Farida that compelled the eye to return over and over again. The mysterious allure of this yacht is made all the harder to understand when you consider her designer, Jack Laurent Giles (1901-1969). Now, Laurent Giles was, without any serious doubt, one of the most innovative British naval architects of all time, a designer who, in his heyday of post-war Britain, knew for many years what it was to stand on the shoulders of the world. His technical brilliance is well documented, and its effects are…

“Money, money, money!” So sing the trio of characters played by the actors Meryl Streep, Julie Walters and Christine Baranski in the 2008 film Mama Mia while, most significantly, they watch a classic motor yacht at sea in the distance. Soon afterwards they are seen enjoying life on board: Streep as a figurehead at the bow, then taking the wheel while wearing the elderly captain’s hat, sitting on jetskis on the foredeck, dancing along the side decks, operating the telegraph controls, being waited on and massaged on the sun deck. The yacht in question was Haida G and a decade later – rechristened Haida 1929, her original name with the addition of the date – she emerged from Pendennis Shipyard at the end of a mighty restoration. Haida was built…

After all these years, the Med is still the centre of the world, as its name implies, at least when it comes to classic yacht racing. The Voiles d’Antibes, though not the first regatta of the summer, has long been seen as the season opener for the big-money boats before they disperse to the world’s most glamorous ports; they will arrive back in the south of France for the season closer, the mother of all classic sailing regattas: Voiles de Saint-Tropez. For some owners and crews, it’s a party that lasts all summer long. Others will bring their boat to one regatta to celebrate a re-launch after restoration. At the front of the pack, the racing gets more competitive every year and despite a debate over the future of the…

WILD HORSES W-Class 76 Wild Horses was built in 1998 as the first of two identical yachts to a new ‘W’ class, intended for fast, evenly matched, spirit-of-tradition yacht racing, the brainchild of American yachtsman Donald Tofias. She was designed by Joel White and built in modern timber construction at Maine’s Brooklin Boat Yard. “The W76s were kind of a synthesis of some of the late 12-Ms and the Herreshoff NY50,” says Donald. She has a sistership called White Wings. This is a thoroughly modern yacht for racing and cruising, with all creature comforts, and a 14ft (4.3m) Downeast Peapod thrown in as a tender. Lying Rhode Island. Asking $1,995,000. Tel: +1 978 400 6093, sparkmanstephens.com CAN CAN Swansong in wood For a yacht from the drawing board of, progressive…

With the work complete, Panacea was launched in the Penryn River on 20 June 2018, giving time for sea trials in style, at the Falmouth Classics regatta, before shipping to Australia the next month. Ben Harris, Panacea’s builder, was sailing his own boat so he asked his friends Melissa Williams and Kat Bruce – both experienced sailors – to sail the new boat. Melissa and Kat agreed to do so but they decided not to race as they thought that with such a new boat about to be shipped to the other side of the world it would be better to “stay out of trouble”. Ben and his girlfriend Iona subsequently had the chance to sail Panacea four times and had very favourable impressions of her. Ben found her to…

Stanley’s No 75 bullnose rabbet plane is as black as Marmite and stirs similar feelings; people seem to either love or hate it. Initially I fell in with the detractors, but with perseverance I’ve come to see this dinky plane in a more positive light. The first thing to observe is its size. At a fraction over 4in (10cm) long and 1in (2.5cm) wide, it is tiny, reassuringly weighty being all iron and steel but nonetheless lacking the punch to plough through contrary grain. It’s for small-scale work in timber that’s sympathetic to your cause, and using it outside this comfort zone is sure to disappoint. And speaking of comfort, an obvious reason for the No 75 having proved unpopular is that crudely upstanding blade which, when planing in the…

NAVIGATE Wren Gallery, London Three years ago, photographer Paul Thompson embarked on a journey around Britain’s coast to photograph from land the many navigational marks that stand as sentinels against a seemingly endless sea. The result is intriguingly transfigurative. This port marker, for instance, takes on the appearance of a standard lamp in this context. Tel: +44 (0)208 8092361, wren.london 25 MAY MEDWAY BARGE MATCH Chatham, Kent Among the oldest races of any kind in the world, all in the Thames Estuary. associationofbargemen.org.uk 26 MAY – 2 JUNE SAIL CALEDONIA Scotland, Atlantic coast to North Sea coast 66 miles across Scotland in a dinghy. Very popular raid. sailcaledonia.org 1-2 JUNE RIVER FESTIVAL LIVERPOOL Tall Ships, boat show, OGA visiting, plenty of shoreside fun.  explore-liverpool.com/riverfestival-liverpool 25-26 MAY BRIXHAM HERITAGE REGATTA Brixham,…

125ft Classic Sailing Yacht MARIQUITA Year built/refit: 1911/2003 Designer: William Fife III Builder: W. Fife & Son, Fairlie Type: First International Rule 19 Metre Length: 38.10 metres Beam: 5.30 metres Sail area: 6,171 sq ft upwind Keel: 36 ton of lead MARIQUITA is widely regarded as one of the most beautiful classic yachts sailing today. Designed and built for industrialist Arthur Stothert by William Fife III she was launched in 1911 at Fairlie on the Clyde river in Scotland. As a gaff rigged cutter of the 19 Metre Class MARIQUITA is a direct link to the historic Big Class and a precursor to the J-Class that would follow in the 1930’s. When launched MARIQUITA caught the imagination of everyone that followed sailing just before the First World War and, over a…

ELDRED’S, USA Whale of a price Anyone who’s read Moby Dick will know that whaling involved sustained periods of barely endurable boredom – often 300 pages or more – followed by short bursts of frenzy and gore. Yet, it was in their downtime that sailors produced intricately detailed scrimshaw carvings on whales’ teeth. The master of the genre was Edward Burdett (1805-1833) who, at the age of 28, was dragged to his death when he became entangled in a line attached to a whale. On his penultimate voyage, on the whaler William Tell between November 1829 and February 1833, the Nantucket seaman-artist produced this piece that may challenge and perhaps even surpass the world record auction price of $456,000 (£350,600), paid in 2017 for another work by Burdett produced on…

Hello summer Every two years, the principality of Monaco hosts one of the great traditional boat spectacles: the Monaco Classic… “La Belle Classe”. Its egalitarian feel (dinghies, big yachts, power and sail are all equal here) happily belies Monaco itself, the wealthiest place on earth. That’s boats for you. In British waters, we have a summer of 8-M activity in Cowes, Isle of Wight, including the World Cup. Herreshoff’s S-Class celebrates a century with a series of New England regattas, while in ‘old’ England, the more humble Stella will be feted on the river Orwell at its 60th birthday. We say goodbye this year to the best sponsor classic sailing has ever had: Panerai. The annual Panerai British Classic in Cowes in July will be the watchmaker’s last hoorah after…

SWEDEN AND FINLAND 27 JUNE - 3 JULY ÅF Offshore Classic Race (Around Gotland Offshore Race) Stockholm-Visby-Sandhamn, Sweden; 220nm passage race race.ksss.se 18 JULY Airisto Classic Regatta Abo Batvarf, Turku, Finland airistosegelsallskap.fi 1-9 AUGUST 6-M World Championships Hanko, Finland Finland’s turn to host the worlds in the most popular metre class of them all 6mrworlds2019.com 8-10 AUGUST Sandhamn Regatta by Bluewater Sandhamn, Sweden Offshore race for classic yachts ksss.se 16-17 AUGUST Viaporin Tuoppi HSS Skifferholmen Island Helsinki, Finland Biggest wooden boat regatta english.viaporintuoppi.fi FRENCH ATLANTIC COAST The main Breton event this year is the biennial giant known as La Semaine du Golfe du Morbihan. We’ve rhapsodised plenty about this mad regatta for years. It’s essentially a raid for almost anything classic that floats, held in the fiercely tidal and beguilingly…

Email: steffan@classicboat.co.uk WOODBRIDGE, SUFFOLK Two Arthur Ransome yachts reunited Two of Arthur Ransome’s boats are currently sharing the workshop at Robertsons Boatyard. Nancy Blackett, the Hillyard 7-Tonner built in 1931 as Spindrift, but renamed by Ransome after the heroine of so many of his children’s books, is having her annual spruce up ready for another busy season. The 28ft (8.5m) Bermudan sloop featured as Goblin in We Didn’t Mean to Go to Sea, first published in 1937. Ragged Robin III (ex-Lottie Blossom) is undergoing some more substantial work, including recovering her deck with ply and glass sheathing for greater protection and strength, while leaving the original tongue-and-groove deck unharmed to retain her original feel below decks. Also in the yard at present is a Cornish Crabber built at Robertsons in…

The Riva restoration yard, based on Lake Iseo at the foot of the Italian Alps, is not any Riva yard. It was founded by the late Carlo Riva himself and is the place where these mahogany legends were originally built, starting in the 1950s. These days, the maintenance and restoration side are thriving; up to 120 Rivas are wintered indoors here, with a full commissioning service every spring. Alongside the usual maintenance work, there are some full rebuilds and everything in between. Outside, up to 35 of the mahogany legends float at the yard’s moorings on the lake. See riva-ram.it…

In yachting, it’s rarely one thing that leads to disaster. Typically there’s a sequence of events, a coming together of small problems, that sets up the situation where one more straw will indeed cause the camel to collapse. Afloat, the skipper is the one most likely to be aware of red lines being crossed, and many astute captains have anticipated what they really don’t want to happen next and directed extra effort into making sure it doesn’t. I’m confident that many readers will be able to furnish examples of deteriorating circumstances at sea with varying outcomes – pleasures gained in success against adversity, or perhaps despair that, in spite of doing all that seemed right at the time, events overwhelmed them. Always, of course, there are lessons to be learned…