Innehållsförteckning för October 2019 från Classic Boat

Lee Price’s conversion to sailing was brutal. It was the summer of 1993, and the then 17-year-old student was waterskiing with his brother, John, when the engine of their 12ft speedboat broke down in Christchurch Bay. As they drifted helplessly past a navigation buoy, Lee – painter in one hand – made a desperate dive to grab it, but the boat swept past, leaving Lee hanging from the buoy and John drifting out to sea. John was picked up by a passing yacht off the Needles and raised the alarm. The Coastguard helicopter airlifted an unconscious Lee from the Christchurch inshore lifeboat to Poole hospital, where he was treated for hypothermia. “It was the last time I relied on an outboard,” says Lee with a rueful grin. In fact it…

Pre-war cruiser Lysbeth is a 32ft (9.8m) mahogany-on-oak, Thames-built 1938 cruiser, whose owners have kept her for 17 years, cruising and entertaining in the roomy cockpit and cabin. The forward cabin comprises a beamy double berth with the traditional head and handbasin on the starboard side opposite the full galley with oven, sink and burners. The fridge is in the cabin/dining area. There may be a reasonably priced berth available in Caversham as the owners are not intending to buy another boat. Lysbeth has been regularly maintained by her current owners and should serve her new owners well. The well-regarded Thames yard Dennetts has inspected and maintained the boat more or less on a bi-annual basis. Lying Henley, £27,500. Tel: +44 (0)1491 57880, hscboats.co.uk See boats for sale at classicboat.co.uk/type/buy-a-boat…

WOOD Ebonising oak Dark woods are often used sparingly for the foil they make to the lighter woods used in yacht joinery, perhaps as inlay or handles. Ebony was once the favourite choice but overexploitation has led to exports being banned. Using a solution easily made in the workshop, our native woods with a high tannic acid content such as oak, cherry, and maple can be stained black to resemble ebony. Add rusty steel (common enough around boats) to a jar of white vinegar and cover, but leave the lid loose for gas to escape. For this demonstration, I’ve used pieces from an old saw plate. Some people use steel wool but it’s important to wash it free of oily residues first. The time it takes depends on local conditions,…

Tasmania, not Sydney, for Varg You do a great disservice to the boat yard in Tasmania responsible for the building of Varg. Your contents on page three indicate that she was build in Sydney. The article goes at some length to explain why she was not built in Sydney but in Tasmania. Douglas Arthur, via email Apologies – she was, indeed, done in Tasmania – ed An Atalanta to paint Your September issue has a letter below from Victor Carr, ex-owner of Atalanta Aquilo II, asking for a picture of his old boat. Please could you send me his email address or contact details, so I can send him some? Richard James, by email Thanks Richard – and look out for our ‘Affordable Classics’ feature on the Atalanta in next month’s…

POLLY Brand new, carvel-built, 30ft ga. er. Meet the CB award-wining Polly, restored to the highest standard at Harbour Marine Services in Su. olk. JAMES DODDS The boatbuilder laureate is back with a major new exhibition. We catch up with his new work HOT RODDER Fast, simple, durable. These are the watchwords of the Down East Lobster boat. But sometimes, the owner can’t resist breathing magic over the engine. PLUS… More action from a bumper summer afl oat around the world; we meet the woman who saved the Henley Trad; practical tips; desirable antique tools; sailing in the Pacific, and more NOVEMBER 2019 ON SALE Friday 4 October (or why not subscribe?)…

Nautical English is mainly designed to confuse and impress, and works best when it does both at once. They teach this on courses, which garner certificates, which impress non-sailor friends when they come round for dinner, but confuse those with any intention of going sailing. The solution to this is to do more courses, which eventually stops normal people coming for dinner. To achieve this, all you need to do is respond accordingly when they ask the way to your toilet where all your certificates are arranged at eye-level – both for men and women. Here is an example of a student’s work: “Toilet? Aah, you mean heads with an “s” which is properly plural although we only have one. You will find the heads with an “s” by laying…

“You can’t have boats like this unless you build them with heart and soul. It’s utterly commercially unviable, it’s an exercise in madness. But it’s also a vision, it’s my life’s dream. If I never do anything else, I’ll feel I’ve done something worthwhile. It’s also been an example for my sons and their friends: that if you really want something, you can have anything you want.” Mike Ludgrove is speaking in the saloon of his yacht Helena, after only his second sail on the 60ft wooden cutter that he devoted the past 13 years of his life to building. It’s the culmination of a lifelong dream, and Mike is rightly euphoric. Helena is a remarkable boat, immaculately finished both inside and out, and utterly graceful under sail. She’s the…

SUPERNAL WINDLASS When you need a traditional windlass for your classic yacht or MFV, then a call to Deep Blue Engineering should set you on the right path. The Cornish company manufactures the Webster’s Boat Machinery range of windlasses in a variety of styles and sizes, offering crank-, wheel- and lever-operated windlasses for vessels from small yachts to small ships. If you prefer the aesthetics of a traditional manual windlass but not the hard work, there are electric versions with hidden motors that retain the classic look. They’ll do bespoke work, too, for individual applications that need a period-correct installation, and for vessels of all kinds. Made in iron, aluminium or bronze, the Webster’s windlasses start at around £3,500 and increase in specification and price from there. A bronze single-ratio…

The SecondWorld War had a fundamental effect on the destinies of many boats that had been built for peaceful and personal pursuits. More often than not, it was a detrimental effect as a result of requisitioning and enemy action, or merely from five and a half years of enforced neglect. Few small sailing boats, however, can have had their lives changed in the way that Gometra’s was when, after the German invasion of Norway in the spring of 1940, she was called into service to help save the Norwegian gold reserve. Gometra actually has her roots in the First World War. Her first owner was James Farie, a Rear Admiral in the Royal Navy who was the captain of the Third Destroyer Flotilla at the Battle of Jutland in 1916.…

This day was the culmination of a year’s curiosity, a month’s planning, a day’s coordination and an evening of careful packing. Five of us drove along the coast road towards Wells-next-the-Sea and I was relieved to see some clear sky break through the cloud ceiling, the first sign that the weather was about to change after two days of torrential rain in north Norfolk. We arrived at East Quay, Wells in the early dawn light to see skipper Henry Chamberlain coming off his boat My Girls to greet us. With Henry as our guide, we planned to travel between Wells and Cley, not the usual way at sea but rather by traversing a meandering series of creeks that criss-cross the salt marsh coast. At Stiffkey we would cross the sand…

Sam Heard’s company Gaffers and Luggers – based at the top of Mylor Creek near Falmouth, Cornwall – currently has a range of 13 GRP boats, many of which were originally built by his late grandfather, Terry, and father, Martín. The best known of these are the Falmouth Working Boats, which are available in three sizes: 23ft, 25ft and 28ft. Terry Heard built the first of these – Meloris, named after the patron saint of Mylor – in 1968 and more than 170 have followed, mostly as cruising boats but some of them as open racing boats. gaffersandluggers.com See boats for sale at classicboat.co.uk/buy-a-classic-boat…

Edited by Ste_ an Meyric Hughes: +44 (0)207 349 3758 Email: ste_an@classicboat.co.uk NEWPORT, RHODE ISLAND, USA Bermuda winner splashed after rebuild Last year, on a tour of the boatyards of America’s eastern seaboard, we saw the powerful fractional Bermudan cutter Kirawan halfway through a pretty serious rebuilt at the yard of LMI (Loughborough Marine Interests). English yard owner, Joe Loughborough, is a leading yacht restorer and the rebirth of the 53ft (16.2m) Kirawan has had him drawn by Philip Rhodes, built by Jakobson and Peterson of Brooklyn, NY in 1936, and won the Newport Bermuda race that year, in 45 knots of wind, beating the S&S Stormy Weather, boat for boat. She has a history of half-completed restorations, the last of which Joe describes as “lots of lipstick on a…

Sharpening stones are often cherished like religious artefacts, because they have power over the cutting edge and the livelihoods that spring from it. Our ancestors working with flint tools chipped sharp edges by striking with a stone hammer, creating points or serrations of crescent-shaped fractures. Since metal blades were developed, allowing a greater variety and finesse in tool design, the carefully chosen stones have been used to refine cutting edges by abrasion. Even today’s best tool steels, far stronger than the cellulose and lignin of wood, begin to wear the moment they’re put to work, and quickly in tropical timbers containing much silica. Silicon dioxide (sand) is the tough stuff of stone and it’ll blunt an edge as easily as hone it. Using increasingly fine-grained stones, sharpening refines the meeting…

MED 28 SEPTEMBER – 6 OCTOBER LES VOILES DE SAINT-TROPEZ Probably the jewel in the crown of all the world’s classic regattas lesvoilesdesaint-tropez.fr 21 SEPTEMBER MALDON TOWN REGATTA Maldon, Essex Season closer on the east coast maldonregatta.co.uk 13-15 SEPTEMBER ULLSWATER RALLY Lake District Classic trailer sailers gather to sail in the Lake District oga.org.uk 6-8 SEPTEMBER PORT TOWNSEND WOODEN BOAT FESTIVAL Washington State, USA 300+ boats – main event on the US west coast woodenboat.org 7-8 SEPTEMBER BOSHAM CLASSIC BOAT REVIVAL Chichester Harbour, West Sussex Godfather of the classic dinghy revival movement boshamsailingclub.com 11-15 SEPTEMBER MONACO CLASSIC WEEK Biennial classic with power and sail monacoclassicweek.com 13-15 SEPTEMBER ULLSWATER RALLY Lake District Classic trailer sailers gather to sail in the Lake District oga.org.uk 14 SEPTEMBER GREAT RIVER RACE Docklands to Ham, London…

Clash of the titans In Newport, Rhode Island, 22 12-Ms took part in this festival of yacht racing that was divided into five classes: Grand Prix (1985-86), Modern (1967-82), Traditional (1958-64), and Vintage (1928-38). Two more, both confusingly named America II, sailed in the Spirit Class. Racing was held over four days, with two races a day on the first three days and one on the final day. In the Grand Prix, Thomas Andersen steered Legacy, with Jesper Bank calling the shots, to win the class; starting with four bullets they held sufficient second and third places to give them a single point lead over New Zealand and five better than Kookaburra II owned by “Mr Prada” Patrizio Bertelli from Italy, and steered by five-time Olympic medallist Torben Grael. In…

It seems so unlikely now, but there was a time, and it’s still on the edge of living memory, when Britain seemed to be leading half the world on a technological collision course with the future. Between the two wars, British dominance in automotive engineering on land, at sea and in the air, seemed to be nearly unassailable. Before the war, the fastest motorbike you could buy anywhere in the world was the English made Brough Superior and the fastest train was the Mallard. Rolls Royce was still a superlative term and in the skies above western Europe, the glorious Supermarine float planes with their elliptical wings, broke record after record in the Schneider Cup air races before going to war as the Spitfire. Bentley made Le Mans their own…

Kumari was last seen heading west, destination St Kilda, but no word if she made it, as the weather has been ’orrible up here of late. AIS had her anchored in Tanera Beag’s delightful pool, sheltered from all winds a few miles off Ullapool in what are optimistically called the Summer Isles (actually named for their summer grazing). Goldseeker headed south to the Small Isles, as she had no intention of bashing north to catch up with Mollymawk, which has just completed an ambitious circumnavigation of Scotland, up around Muckle Flugga, and back south and west via the Caledonian Canal before heading to her mooring off Paul’s house beside the loch. No word from Thembi, Tim Loftus’ self-built Ed Burnett cutter, last seen heading for the Faroes, Iceland and beyond.…

This month’s exceptional vessel was not built as a yacht, but in light of her past two decades of use and in tribute to her sisters that have infuriated many a racing yacht, Guide Me is a worthy example and excellent subject matter for this series in representing the formidable, near mystical… lugger. Guide Me has long been admired for her exquisite hull form. Well proportioned and elegant for a working boat, she is a credit to her builder – the famous Peter Ferris – and since her refit is in impressively authentic fit-out, even among her peers. The hulls of lug-rigged working boats can vary enormously, from slack bilge and almost wine glass stations through to full bilges and almost flat bottoms. As their hull forms vary greatly, it…

The Bates Star Craft range is one of Britain’s most popular wooden motor-cruiser designs, built on the non-tidal Thames at Chertsey. The 33-footer was a popular mid-range size, of which about 35 examples are known to have been built. Travis McGee (originally Penny Princess) was launched in 1960 and is the 23rd built at that size, the largest of the classic Star Craft capable of passing under Osney bridge in Oxford. This aft-cabin version o. ers accommodation for up to six in a light and spacious interior with the distinct 1960s styling that makes the Star Craft 33 so distinctive. Broker Gillian Nahum says that for more than 30 years Travis McGee has benefitted from owners committed to maintaining her in first class running order, and she has been sympathetically…

When Robertsons boatyard in Woodbridge, Suolk, changed ownership due to the retirement of its then owners five years ago, rumours flew around the town that it was to be redeveloped for housing. The fact that the new owner was a chartered surveyor and had bought up the freehold of the site as well as the business did little to allay them – even though the site, on the banks of the river Deben, is on the wrong side of the flood barrier. Well, the yard is still there, and prospering, as it has done, on and o, for the last 135 years. It was in 1884 that Ebenezer Robertson spotted, from a passing train, a derelict shipyard on the banks of the Deben at Lime Kiln Quay. He thought it…

OCTOBER 1989 CB The story of how American publisher and journalist Elizabeth Meyer rescued and restored the J-Class Endeavour has become the stuff of legend, one of the cornerstones of what we might today call the “classic yacht movement”. And it’s not just the J fleet that has grown in stature since then. Back in 1989, a property developer called Donald Trump and his family were among those queuing impatiently for a tour of the incredible super yacht after her re-launch – not, we should add, at the invitation of the owner! On the next page there’s an article on the restoration of the Nicholson-designed Gelyce-class tender Herring Gull, the same sort as Gelyce herself, whose restoration featured recently in the magazine. Gelyce was tender to another J-Class yacht –…