Innehållsförteckning för August 2020 från Classic Boat

Mariquita's sale in February sent shock waves through the classic yacht fraternity. The Fife III-designed and built yacht is the only 19-M class yacht afloat, and one of the world's most famous, not just for her size and beauty, but her vigorous campaigning at classic yacht regattas in the Mediterranean and UK since her restoration by Fairlie Restorations, which was completed in 2004. Her sale at auction, alongside the Fife III-designed 15-M yacht Mariska, another of the world's great classic yachts, was a 'no-reserve' affair and the boats sold at far below estimate, fetching €420,000 and €320,000 respectively. The new owner, Frenchman Benoit Couturier, plans to collect the boat from her Lymington mooring mid-September and send her to Chantier du Guip in Brest for a complete inspection by shipwright and…

Siblings Jack and Erin Osborn (aged 16 and 14 respectively) have spent almost all of their lives waiting to go sailing on their father James’s boat. Jack did at least get to sail on her before she was laid up for 15 years, but he was too young to remember it. “I’ve only seen photos of this smiling ginger baby on board,” he said. The boat in question is the Nicholson 36 Cohoe IV, which has been in the Osborn family since 1989, when she was bought by James’s father Bob and his great friend Chris Morrow… but her first owner was Adlard Coles – the illustrious sailor, author and publisher – who commissioned her build in 1963. The first of Coles’ four Cohoes was a modified Albatross (an extended…

Evicted from Paris by the bourgeoisie because of nuisance, the workshops had to move west. Along the Seine River, a true El Dorado developed for automotive, powerboating and aviation pioneers. Shortly before 1900, at the edge of Neuilly/Levallois, a few buildings stood a short distance from the stone bridges leading to rural suburbia. The banks of the Seine, lined with vacant lots and resort houses between wingers and water clubs, had remained in an almost wild state. The bicycle then the internal combustion engine upset this old order at a dizzying speed, and within a few years, engineering workshops had taken over the area, benefiting from low land prices and laying the foundations for new industries, whose power was further exalted by the 1914-1918 war. More than 300 brands, with…

THAMES AND CORNWALL More Dunkirk little ships return! It never rains, but pours, they say, and the continuing slew of Dunkirk Little Ships being launched for the five-yearly return, which has been postponed until next year, proves the truism to be right. Michael Dennett Boatbuilders on the Thames, who we visited earlier in the year, has now relaunched the 45ft (13.7m) 1939 motor yacht Aquabelle after re-engining. Among the many other boats in the yard (Dunkirk or otherwise) is Breda, the 52ft (15.8m) motor yacht built in 1931 by JW Brooke. She’s not been splashed quite yet, but Stephen Dennett thought we might enjoy a ‘sneak preview’ of her new art deco interior! Meanwhile, in Cornwall, little ship Fleury II, a 33ft 6in (10.2m) motor cruiser built by Elkins of…

The last decade has seen such an explosion of classic grand motor yacht restorations (think Shemara, Nahlin, Bluebird, Malahne, Alicia, Haida 1929 and more) that restoration candidates are running low. Ever since the epochal restorations of Lulworth and Mariquita, continuing a tradition of ‘big class’ sailing yacht restoration started in the 1980s with Endeavour and Altair, people have been saying there are “none left to restore”. It seems this lack has spread to the grand motor yachts, too. The upshot of this is that the Hoek Design office in Holland is now involved in a number of projects to replicate the elegance of these ‘grandes dames’, with all the luxuries expected by modern clients, including a 184ft (56.1m) expedition yacht, just launched from builder Turquoise Yachts in Istanbul, which has…

Tucked into the mangroves in Antigua’s Falmouth Harbour is Sammy’s Boatyard, a nonchalant spot for storage or serious repairs. Recently it resembled the down-island hamlet of Windward, with five Carriacou sloops installed, each for a different reason. A 30hp Yanmar engine went into the 32ft (9.8m) sloop New Moon, followed by a deck-coating of eyepopping orange. Alexis Andrews gave his 42ft (12.8m) Genesis an annual dose of sanding and paint. 36ft (11m) Sweetheart and 39ft (11.9m) Summer Cloud, both projects of Woodstock Boatbuilders, are inching forwards with restoration needs. The last sloop hauled, 40ft (12.2m) Ocean Nomad, is shedding rot during a massive push to replace the stem, frames and forward deck beams as part one of a multi-step life-saving mission. The not-so-old girl, launched in 2007, spent years racing…

Restrictions on movement during the Covid-19 pandemic need be no barrier to maintaining the basic hand skills of boatbuilding, so long as we keep things at a modest scale. If you’re a latter-day Henry Adams, master shipwright at Bucklers Hard during the 18th century, with mature forest on the doorstep, you may find the makings of an HMS Agamemnon within scope of your daily exercise walk. But the rest of us can look to the windfall branchwood of hedgerow and copse to make parts for the boat every bit as authentic as the grown floors, frames and futtocks of England’s wooden walls – grown grab rails and handles. Standard grab rails are machine-made fittings, invariably teak, and samey as coat hangers. For use on deck, I’d stick with this familiar…

This summer has found nearly all of us virus-bound in back gardens up and down the land. For many of us, it has meant gardening. How many, I wonder, feel the loss of a deck under the feet for decking under the feet? For my two boys, the usual wonders of summer (You can burn your own skin with a magnifying glass! It’s still light at bedtime!) were supposed to include a local ritual: Monday night sailing on the lake, thanks to the Newhaven and Seaford Sailing Club’s base on Piddinghoe Lake, a few miles from us in East Sussex. For the whole summer term, they were supposed to leave school every Monday and go straight to the lake, where they would learn to sail Optimists, followed by the popular…

The story of When and If began in a time of great uncertainty. It was 1937, war was imminent, and American George S Patton, a US Army Colonel at the time, was recuperating in hospital. His injuries were the result of an accident aboard the 67ft (20.4m) schooner Arcturus while en route to San Diego. In an effort to boost her husband’s downcast spirits, Beatrice Patton called in naval architect John Alden to design the couple a new yacht. Alden, renowned for schooners built for speed and grace, designed the couple a vessel that would also prove sturdy, comfortable and safe for long-distance voyaging. In January 1939, papers were signed authorizing FF Pendleton of Wiscasset, Maine, to build the 63ft 5in (19.3m), 43-tonne vessel. According to current owner Seth Salzmann:…

National Historic Ships (NHS) UK announced its Flagships of the Year for 2020, with HMS Belfast, moored on the River Thames, named the Flagship of the Year. The World War II Royal Navy warship, which served at D-Day, the Arctic Convoys and Korean War, was recognised for an Instagram tour of the ship created in February with television presenter Ben Shires, which attracted a huge following for the ship online. Stories from the her 82-year history will be told over the year via online tours and other initiatives. The Regional Flagships are: Medway Queen (South East), paddle steamer Zebu (North West), 1938 Tall Ship, once used by Operation Raleigh SS Explorer (Scotland East), research vessel Spartan (Scotland West), museum ship Each NHS UK Flagship receives a grant of up to…

Despite a summer of cancellations, the season may yet have an active end for classic yacht owners who enjoy racing. Falmouth Sailing Week is going ahead from 9-15 August, with various stipulations on social distancing in accordance with Government guidelines at the time. Shoreside activities are cancelled. Meanwhile Hamble Classics is due to run from 20-23 August from the Royal Southern YC. Organiser Jonty Sherwill said interest was strong and added: “While we are optimistic that by late August a complete programme of sailing and socials will be possible, full compliance with RYA and Harbour Authority guidelines in place at that time will be observed.” Cowes Spring Classics is also hoping to run as normal 4-6 September. Entries are open online. The Royal Southern YC is staging a charity regatta…

CHARLES MILLER LTD Size isn’t everything When launched in Maine in 1909, the six-masted 450ft (137m) schooner Wyoming was hailed as “the largest wooden sailing vessel in the world”. The ‘Mighty Wyoming’, as she was soon nicknamed, was also a last hurrah for trade in sail, a dinosaur of the seas that carried 6,000sq ft (557m2) of canvas and boasted a top speed of 16 knots. A mammoth most certainly, but in some senses a white elephant, too, as the Wyoming’s massive dimensions sealed her fate. For despite her gross tonnage of 3,730 – nearly four times that of the Cutty Sark – and cargo capacity for 6,000 tonnes of coal, the huge schooner (170ft longer overall than Cutty Sark) was handled by a crew complement of just 12, thanks…

BOB STIMPSON FIARA Rare Alfred Mylne one design It’s rare indeed that an Alfred Mylne one design comes on the market. But Fiara – one of the six Island Class 40ft (12.2m) yawls to have been built between 1910 and 1913 – has recently popped up in Poole, Dorset, as an ongoing restoration project, writes Peter Poland. Alfred Mylne, one of Britain’s most admired and prolific yacht designers of all time, started his career as an apprentice to a firm of Scottish shipbuilders before moving on to be a draftsman to the illustrious GL Watson. Perhaps Mylne’s earliest claim to fame was his involvement in drawing the plans for one of Watson’s masterpieces, the Prince of Wales’s Britannia. Built in 1883, this great yacht went on to enjoy a 43-year…

The restoration of the 58ft Chas Bailey gaff cutter Ida was recently completed by Horizon Boats in Stillwater. Ida was built in 1895 and it has recently been discovered that the then Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII) had a sail on her during a visit to Auckland in 1920. She spent about 50 years in Australia before she was brought home by New Zealand’s Classic Yacht Charitable Trust a couple of years ago. During the restoration, the whole of the deck was replaced to match the original configuration, while the triple-skin kauri hull was mostly found to be in good condition. Ida was relaunched on 14 May and soon afterwards was racing again with Auckland’s other gaff cutters from around the late 1800s and early 1900s. Nigel Sharp…

Continuing with the more conventional coatings, enamel paint systems work well on solid wood and traditionally constructed boats, they are quite tolerant of poor workshop conditions, the products are not aggressively toxic, and they are straightforward to apply. The surface to be painted will not need the same level of fine sanding as for varnish, but, it must be fair, without any unevenness, and all machine marks and hard edges dealt with. Generally, I will sand to P120 grade abrasive to give a good key for the primer. From bare wood, the paint system usually consists of primer coatings, undercoat paint, and the gloss enamel coating. The primer layer is an important element in the quest for a long-lasting finish. Primers are designed to stick to wood and provide a…

Work on rebuilding seven Alfred Mylne-designed Dublin Bay 21s continues, writes Nigel Sharp. The first boat, Naneen, was completed by Kilrush Boatyard and launched into the Shannon estuary in December, with the second, Garavoge, set to follow by the time this issue is published. Construction of the third and fourth boats is under way and due for completion early next year. The new hulls are of veneered cedar-strip using the ballast keels of the original boats, which raced from 1903 to 1986 in Dublin Bay – from where they also occasionally cruised to the Isle of Man and Scotland. Their rigs, gaff sloop with no topsail, match Mylne’s modified 1917 design. All seven boats will be owned by the class association and will be available to sail by invited guests,…

Call for BAME officials Instructor Asher Robinson has called for the appointment more BAME (black, Asian and minority ethnic) officials in sailing, as he spoke of the racism he has experienced in the sport. Asher, who is an RYA senior instructor at London’s Westminster Boating Base said: “If you look at the committees of sailing clubs and the boards of the sailing authorities, there is not one BAME person there. “For me, I don’t agree with positive discrimination but there may be people from BAME backgrounds who are great sailors who are not getting the opportunities.” Asher praised the RYA for making a statement of support for the recent anti-racism protests worldwide. YOUR EXPERIENCES The RYA has invited input from the BAME community about indvidual experiences of boating – positive…

SHIPWRIGHT-BUILT RIVER TABLE Danny Johnston cut his woodworking teeth as a shipwright joiner at the Matt Coombes boatyard in Bosham. He’s recently transferred these skills to make stunning hardwood furniture and bespoke projects using only the best kiln-dried hardwoods sourced just a few miles from his base in West Sussex. Shown is the live edge river table and benches, with blue epoxy river polished to a mirror finish. ?2,850 chilgrovejoinery.co.uk DUNKIRK BOOK New publication Dunkirk: Operation “Dynamo” is the ninth title in the Britannia Naval Histories of World War Two from the publisher BMTP, who says it “presents an accurate history of the invasion, including the original Battle Summary No 41, previously classified … and places the history of Dunkirk in a political, military and naval context”. devonmuseums.net HENRI-LLOYD MASK…

A recent restoration has shone a light on rare 1960s Parisian runabouts, from the likes of the almost completely forgotten Despujols boatyard, suggesting that swathes of powerboating history are like terra incognita – white spaces on ancient maps hinting at undiscovered worlds. These territories have evolved tremendously since the middle of the last century. Some careful exploration is needed to retrace the beginnings and the end of the Despujols boatyard, from which only a handful of boats remain today. The name has been associated with the Bordeaux region for many generations, often in connection with notable vineyards. The city of Bordeaux, with its large harbour and strategic importance in the trade of exotic boatbuilding timbers, spawned a number of yards on the banks of the Garonne river in the 19th…

Not long ago, we reported on the renovation of the East Cowes slipway by Wooden Ship Repairs in East Cowes. Now, owner Sam Fulford has unveiled another historic but working facility, with the renovation of the Arctic Road Dry Dock just across the river in Cowes. “It is a unique, historic shipyard, the only one of its kind left in existence, being a patent slipway combined with drydock gates,” said Sam. “The cradle is 250ft (76.2m) on the blocks, and allows 40ft (12.2m) of beam through the gates.” It tallies well with the yard’s aim, which is to take on more work to historic vessels in steel and timber, with coded welders and specialist shipwrights on site.…

It’s surprising how few tools a skilled shipwright needs to do a good job under trying conditions. Over the course of a week, I watched an old hand fit a new stem into a pre-war motorboat. Nothing unusual in that, excepting that the vessel was tied alongside a tippy pontoon, and the drizzle was never ending. With hood ends and goodness knows what else released, her bows gaped from the gloom like a basking shark while the rotten piece was removed, the new inserted, and all was primed for brighter days. The shipwright didn’t say a lot, no doubt hoping I’d soon be on my way, but on one point his tools spoke volumes: an ounce of skill is worth a ton of fancy kit. On this complex job he…

PELLEW Luke Powell’s huge replica pilot cutter build is the biggest traditional wooden boat built in Britain for years, and the boat everyone’s talking about. We went for a sail SCOUT The commuter yachts of inter-war America were a pinnacle in opulence. Scout was restored to cruise the US eastern seaboard. YACHTING IN WAR AND PANDEMIC It’s not the first time the world has stopped turning; we look back on the yachting press through the wars, and how it coped in changing times and with sailing halted. PLUS… A fast Broads racer returns; how to make the galley shelving unit from Suhaili; revisiting childhood holidays by cruising the Breton coast in a dinghy; and more SEPTEMBER 2020 On sale 14 August, 2020 Available online Or why not subscribe? SAILING TODAY…