Innehållsförteckning för May 2021 från Classic Boat

FIRST EDITION SIGNALS BOOK Here’s a treat for the serious collector of nautical books: a rare, 1871 first-edition signal book compiled exclusively for the use of the New York Yacht Club by its then commodore, James Gordon Bennet (1841-1918), of early transatlantic racing fame. It’s beautifully bound and illustrated. Price £2,750 peterharrington.co.uk NAVAL G-SHOCK The latest G-Shock comes with an unexpected tie-in with the Ministry of Defence. The Royal Navy G-Shock Frogman “is an unbreakable timepiece built from a ‘Never Give Up’ philosophy that makes it perfectly equipped to support UK service personnel”, Casio tell us. The unique aesthetic takes inspiration from HMS Queen Elizabeth, the largest aircraft carrier ever to serve the Royal Navy. Here the Royal Navy’s “instantly recognisable colour palette” of red, white and navy is used…

“TWO-six, heave!” A group of 11-year-olds are putting their backs into hauling up the topsail on the 1906 Thames barge, Thalatta. “That’s it, get her up,” calls skipper Cyril Varley from the helm. “We need to push on a bit.” He glances off to starboard. A mud bank is emerging from the falling Orford tide. “Come on, guys!” exhorts Rosie, one of the 11-year-olds, to her schoolmates. “Two-six…HEAVE!” they bellow in unison. The children are from the Norwich School and their parents have chartered Thalatta for the week, under the watchful eye of two of the school’s teachers. This morning the group has enjoyed a trip to Orford Castle, chatting noisily about the experience on the tender ride back to the boat. Once on board, the kids set about stowing…

Email: steffan@classicboat.co.uk ISTANBUL, TURKEY Rare Fife III motorboat in restoration The 54ft (16.5m) single-screw motor launch Falka was ordered by the Admiralty, from William Fife III & Son in 1918 for the Royal Naval Air Service and launched in 1919. She was designed for general service and towing duties. Another version was built at the same time as a seaplane refuelling tender. The two launches were yard numbers 674 and 675, although it is not known which was which. Although known for beautiful cruising and racing yachts, William Fife & Son’s shipyard also built a fair number of motor launches during World War One. The original drawings still in existence show the two configurations. The arrangement of the towing beam amidships can still clearly be seen on Falka as she…

Boatbuilders turned to mouldable plastics for the economies of scale they offered through mass production, reducing dependence on the skills required to build in wood. Tool manufacturers have exploited the economy of plastics too, but the essence of the tool – the blade – would always be steel. Only wooden handles, formerly turned or sawn to shape before hand finishing with rasps and fine abrasives, would give way to the shiny ‘progress’ of plastics. For the staunch traditionalist part of the joy in using a vintage tool stems from the patina of honest toil ingrained where previous owners have held its wooden handles, a tangible thread connecting us with ancestors. But if you’re prepared to accept just a modicum of plastic in the hand there are some excellent tools from…

Now that the America’s Cup is over and everyone else has finished thrashing round the world (Vendée Globe) and rowing the Atlantic, I’m beginning to worry that the land is going to get a bit full up. This may, in the worst-case scenario, force more people to go sailing, but I doubt it. Even more worryingly, as an essay in The Times suggested, itappears that sailing is becoming more popular as a result of these stirring endeavours, which are inspiring more people to watch it on TV. Thankfully there are no signs that this leads to people actually doing it, or anything more active than helming a faux-leather recliner. Moreover, this dramatic rise in the popularity of sailing has boosted battery manufacturing to record levels, as TV remote controls vie…

FIDDLES Whatever your vessel, the fiddle rails probably came as part of the package. If she’s a one-off, they may work fine, but decades of disappointment with production craft have led me to the conclusion that some of the well-meaning folk who fit them out have never been to sea. Nominal fiddles rely largely on that magic non-slip material to take up some of the slack in moderate conditions. This fabric is a tremendous innovation and far superior to the traditional wet tea towel, but if you’re building a boat from scratch or enjoying the benefits of a major accommodation refit, fiddles are one area where your efforts can shine. Two main variables define a fiddle: shape and height. There’s no universal rule about height, but shape should be cast…

It was in December 2015 that Ashley Butler took over Penpol Boatyard, tucked away in Restronguet Creek just off Cornwall’s Fal estuary. Before that, for six years he had been based at Old Mill Creek on the Dart where, among many other things, he restored the Brixham Trawler Pilgrim. In 2012, he and two partners bought Gweek Quay Boatyard at the top of the Helford River. Things started to go well there, but after a short time Ashley’s partners decided to accept a good offer to sell the yard again. “It was a bit a bit of a blow as I was in it for the long term,” said Ashley. He then went sailing for 10 months, during which time he heard that Brian Pope – who owned Penpol Boatyard…

RESTORED IN JAPAN For decades, she was the ‘one to do’. Now the 95ft gaff ketch Cynara is sailing again under new, Japanese ownership THE BEST YACHTS UNDER 25FT Our occasional series continues with a look at a dozen or so of the best cruising yachts you can buy today at the size RACING ON MARIETTE A detailed look at what it takes to campaign the famous schooner Mariette around the cans for a day PLUS… Our 2021 global events guide, the latest books reviewed, the Round the Island Race at 90, the Despujols runabout and much more JUNE 2021 ON SALE Friday 14 May, 2021. Available online Or why not subscribe? See page 19 SAILING TODAY WITH YACHTS & YACHTING IN THE MAY ISSUE • America’s Cup souvenir issue:…

ISLE OF WIGHT 90th anniversary Round the Island Race The Round the Island Race celebrates its 90th birthday this summer with a series of new features including a race around the Solent for Dragons, XODs and other keelboats. Entry is now open for the popular event, whose fleet of around 1,500 yachts makes it one of the biggest sporting events in the world. It takes place on 3 July this year. Rob Peace, rear commodore for sailing at organising club the Island SC, estimates that around half a million sailors and 70,000 boats have done the race in its 90-year history. The 2020 race had to be cancelled and the club anticipates the 2021 edition could be one of the biggest yet. “Sailors are desperate to get back out on…

BONHAMS The Great Boat Jumble of 1851 It’s well known that Britain invented everything including drowning, as this photograph of a rubber dinghy at the 1851 Great Exhibition testifies. In 1823, Scottish chemist Charles Macintosh developed a way of bonding rubber to fabric to create a waterproof raincoat several years before the invention of rain by another Brit. And in the early 1840s American Charles Goodyear got into a patent spat with plucky Brit Thomas Hancock over the vulcanising process of stabilising rubber. This in turn led to the invention of lawyers, which spurred the greatest scientific minds in Britain to develop a means of drowning them. This was ultimately perfected in the 1950s with the invention of the Avon Redcrest dinghy. This newly discovered 1851 photo – as in…

Like a line of dominoes, spring sailing events in the Caribbean fell one after another, ending the season far too soon. In Antigua, race boats were becalmed. Sailors wandered aimlessly, trying to find the nearest bar. All was lost until patches of colour appeared in Falmouth Harbour, covering the water like a box of spilled crayons. Pond-sized boats with mismatched rigs tacked randomly about until someone shouted, “Three, two, one, GO” and off they raced towards a cooler full of beer. Meet the Ponzi Class, the fastest growing fleet in the world (of Antigua). The plan, which uses a couple sheets of plywood and a twisted imagination, is the scheme of Robbie Fabre. At only 7ft 6in (2.3m) with a beam of 2ft 3in (69cm), his dreamboat is small in…

AVOCETTE BUILT 1931 LOA 48ft 2in (14.7m) BEAM 11ft 1in (3.4m) ENGINE 2x 380hp Volvo-Penta D6-IPS600 RESTOMOD REDESIGN Bill Prince Yacht Design My dad collected American classic cars,” says Bill Morong over the phone from his boatyard, Yachting Solutions in Maine. “Hot rods were never worth as much as the originals, but this has changed over time. People want, say, a ’68 Chevelle, but they don’t want it to drive like a ’68 Chevelle. They want it to drive like a modern car.” Modding, or hot-rodding, cars is a big part of American culture, dating back to prohibition days, when normal cars would be ‘suped up’ or given a bigger engine (typically a Ford V8), and hidden whiskey tanks or a false-bottomed boot to outrun the police on illicit ‘moonshine’…

Build a ‘Moxon’ table vice The double-screw or ‘Moxon’ vice (so-called because 17thcentury publisher Joseph Moxon illustrated one in Mechanick Exercises: or, The Doctrine of Handy-Works) has been around for centuries but is experiencing a surge in popularity as joiners rediscover its usefulness for the delicate sawing of dovetail joints. Commercial versions of the vice are clamped to the bench by heavy iron holdfasts and have lathe-like metal hand wheels instead of the original wooden screws – a solid arrangement but costing around £200 all told. Using a pair of table vices, which have built-in clamps, and recycled timber you can make a more versatile version at a fraction of the price. For two old Record Junior vices I paid £35, while the 3/4in (19mm) oak linings were cut from…