Innehållsförteckning för December 2021 från Classic Boat

A small team of enthusiasts on the Thames has submitted a major planning application that would develop the famous Hobbs Boatyard site and create a riverside classic boat museum. The application stems from wooden boat champion Adam Toop (inset, left), who is the owner of the Rose Toop Collection, the significant collection of Thames and river-related classic boats and artefacts that was assembled by Bill Rose (inset, right), who died earlier this year. Shortly before Mr Rose’s death, Toop was able to announce the acquisition of the Hobbs Boatyard site to house the collection. He said: “After an exhaustive search of nearly ten years, we were truly delighted to finally acquire the perfect new home for the Rose Toop Collection – Hobbs Boatyard on the Wargrave Road. “Over the past…

From the cliff tops of Battery Point, looking to the sea beyond Brixham harbour and the breakwater that shelters its waters could be seen the distinctive rust red sails of a traditional boat sailing west, writes Sandy Miller. After a brisk walk down to the harbour and onto the breakwater, navigating through the meandering tourists, the red sailed Brixham trawler ketch Vigilance had turned and was returning to the harbour entrance from where other classic boats were emerging to take part in the end of season Brixham Heritage Sailing Regatta. They set their sails to the steady north easterly breeze that was gradually clearing the persistent gloom of the morning’s mist, they proceeded to perform a number of sail pasts for the benefit of those gathered near the lighthouse at…

Visitors to the Royal Society of Marine Artists annual exhibition are in for a treat. The RSMA show is an annual open exhibition and shows painting skills by members and non-members. Many paintings focus on classic yachts and traditional working boats; others show the coastal waters in all its moods, or harbour or historic scenes. It’s been a busy year and this year the collection includes several works by the current president of the RSMA John Scott Martin. So if you are looking for a marine themed artwork for a wall at home, then it really is well worth a look. This year’s winner of the Classic Boat award is Jenny Morgan for “A freshening wind – Victorian Yachts” in oils. She is a regular exhibitor and a previous winner…

AQUARAMA MODEL “The plaything of the very rich back in the 1960s,” says manufacturer Ionian Interiors. “The Côte d’Azur, Cannes, Monaco, Lago di Como… A beautiful model to remind you of that elusive dream.” Perfect for the middle of the dining table. £545 ionianinteriors.com POSH NUTS For Christmas, or with a G&T in the cockpit after a day’s racing, these fit the bill. Delicious… and dangerously addictive. Three-jar set £18.50; two-jar set £14 cambrookfoods.co.uk BIG CLEAT Davey & Co were not kidding when they recently announced their intention to bring their back catalogue to life. This 18in (46cm) polished gunmetal pillar cleat has not been made in about 30 years. It forms part of the pillar cleat family. £399 plus VAT davey.com ROBBE & BERKING CHAMPAGNE FLUTE You can get…

One of my favorite aphorisms about ocean sailing is: “Nothing goes to windward like a 747.” I’ve been a passenger aboard a Boeing 747 flying upwind; the flight path retraced my downwind sailing route across the Pacific. Since then I’ve done an awful lot of upwind ocean sailing. The 747 was a lot more comfortable but comfort is not the reason we sail, is it? So more often than not, my husband Seth and I find ourselves sailing upwind. Most recently, we sailed over 2,400 miles upwind, from French Polynesia to Hawaii. Like most upwind passages, this one was fun in retrospect, but not so much at the time. It was a rough three weeks, pounding into confused head seas with never much less than 20 knots of wind. Looking…

What do you do with a guy who can’t sit still and is always in search of something to keep himself occupied? You give him a wooden boat… American sailor Bob McNeil was no stranger to boats when he stopped by Rutherford’s Boatshop one day to tell Jeff Rutherford that he wanted Jeff to find a boat, a boat that would be a great project. Jeff came back to Bob with the idea of restoring Joyant, a 58ft (17.7m) Herreshoff P-Class yacht built in 1911 (CB193). Joyant was in a decrepit state when Jeff found her, sitting in the back of a boat shop in Barnstable, Massachusettes, and in need of a major restoration. Bob loved the idea of bringing her back to glory, and soon Joyant would be undergoing…

Email: steffan@classicboat.co.uk LYME REGIS, DORSET Student launch day The student launch days at the Boat Building Academy in Lyme Regis have become a solid part of the classic boat calendar over the years, in much the same way as they have at the International School of Yacht Restoration in Newport, Rhode Island. The idea has always been that in every new intake of students on the flagship 40-week boatbuilding course, as broad a variety of build methods as possible should be tackled. This autumn’s launch day was no exception, with graduating students launching small boats built in carvel, cold-moulded timber, traditional clinker, glued clinker and strip plank. This class had, says principal Will Reed, “a tough year dealing with Covid delays – and for many of them it has taken…

Freeman’s Wharf in Penryn, Cornwall was originally developed in the second half of the 19th century – under the ownership of John Freeman & Sons – as a quay from which sailing barges loaded cargos of granite to be used in the building, among other structures, of lighthouses and London embankments. It continued to operate as such until the 1950s and then at some point became the site of a builders’ merchant before Nick Morely started to run it as a boatyard in 1990. He installed the pontoons before selling the business to Harry and Emma Coleman a few years later. In 2000, John Langan took it over and traded under the name Challenger Marine. In the early part of 2013, Pendennis Shipyard – founded in 1988 and now employing…

Once I’d learned everything about sailing including how to do it, which took longer than I thought, I spent the rest of the morning looking at boats and accidentally bought one. Until that truly life-changing day, I’d never really considered myself what you might call a fast learner, or even a slow one, so it was quite a surprise to discover I’m actually an overachiever, and quite possibly on the spectrum, which is even better. In fact, I’m told that if I apply for membership of DENSA, acceptance will be a formality. It’s a wonderful testament to the transformative power of sailing to unleash our untapped potential, and much of the credit must go to a wonderful teacher, great mentor and life coach, which combined virtues are rarely encountered in…

The Frers dynasty of naval architects spans over 100 years of yachting history. Four consecutive generations, slightly confusingly all called Germán Frers and three of which are still alive and active today in their design offices in Italy and Argentina, have left an indelible mark on yacht design in general and yacht racing in particular. In 1843 the first of the Frers family, also called Germán, migrated to Argentina and soon became a well-to-do landowner in the fast-developing country. When his son Germán Frers II died in 1907 at the age of 40, nine-year-old Germán seemed destined for a life as a farmer as well. But he developed an interest in yachting and admired the yachts imported from Europe that raced regularly on the River Plate, among them some 6-M…

His Royal Highness Don Alfonso, King of Spain, commissioned William Fife III to design this 10-M yacht, which the king wanted to be able to enjoy himself as helmsman, with a small number of crew, while his other yacht, Hispania, followed as consort with his family aboard. Tonino was the first civilian vessel built by the military Astilleros del Nervion Boatyard in Bilbao and King Alfonso recorded many wins at her helm, at regattas across Europe. The boat raced remained in the King of Spain’s ownership until the Spanish revolution of 1931, when she was sold to Italy. A varied history since then, including a spell racing in the 1986 edition of Vele d’Epoca, Imperia, as shown here, has seen her most recently come under the ownership of The Classic…

The Gstaad Yacht Club celebrated 10 years of its spectacular Centenary Trophy with a titanic battle on the water between two former America’s Cup sailors, Bruno Troublé and Peter Isler. The two were at the helms respectively of the P-Class Olympian (William Gardner, 1913) and New York 50 Spartan (Herresho., 1915), taking part in the 10th anniversary Centenary Trophy race at Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez in late September. The two boats were locked together until the final moments of the race, with Olympian just taking the win. Troublé was helmsman on the French America’s Cup entry in 1980 and 1983, while Isler was winning navigator with Stars & Stripes in 1987 and 1988. It was the second victory in a row for Olympian, whose restoration Troublé oversaw. Third on the…

Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta is hoping to go ahead next year from 30 March to 4 April, after two years of having to cancel. The regatta is one of the highlights of the classic boat year and attracts big classics from around the world, as well as smaller, private yachts that make the voyage from New England and across the Atlantic. Some early winter Caribbean regattas have cancelled their 2021 events amid continuing travel restrictions and Covid concerns. See more and enter via regatta website antiguaclassics.com…

I have always believed that the best way to see the Norfolk and Suffolk Broads is from the deck of a local classic sailing craft. For me, it is hard to beat the experience of sailing a gaff-rigged yacht on an open stretch of river with only the sound of the local wildlife or the wind in the reeds to disturb the peace. Unless you already own a classic Broads yacht, one of the best ways to enjoy this experience is to hire a yacht like the 30ft (9.1m) gaff-rigged Jacindar. She is the latest addition to the Martham Boats hire fleet and combines a swift turn of speed with a high-quality bespoke interior that makes her ideally suited for racing and cruising on the Broads. The family-run Martham Boats…

Who among you have felt at times that seeing the world from a new angle, or height, rather than always at sea level, might be refreshing? I have, and two years ago took up a pursuit that, for lack of time and cash, I had first tasted in my late 30s. Sally II is 84 this year; Baby Jee, a youngster at a mere 44, both classics by any standard. One is a 25ft (6.6m) cruising yacht, the other an Astir Jeans: a 50ft (15m) glider. Nothing in the pantheon of pastimes has as much affinity to sailing as being held aloft by the same basic forces that drive a boat into the wind: lift/drag. “You’ll pick it up easy. You’re a sailor,” they said. Well, up to a point,…

HERON II We published the story of this bermudan cutter by Fred Shepherd that was given as a wedding present to Aaron and Abbie Ashton who, with boatbuilder John Cuthbertson of Dartmouth, set about a top-level restoration that won her our 2020 Best Sailing Vessel over 40ft award. At 46ft 3in (14.1m) on deck, she’s a considerable vessel. She was built by Woodnutt on the Isle of Wight in 1936, of Burma teak planks on grown oak frames, with a teak deck, all teak brightwork and elm keel. The interior is predominantly in English oak. She’s “still shining after the recent restoration, which revived all of her original beauty but with a touch of modern thinking,” says Aaron. “Heron II has B&G navigation and instruments, AIS, a Fusion sound system,…

E-Z wire stripper Rarely do the marine ‘sparks’ get a mention but many a classic vessel depends upon their intelligence and skill with lighting, heating, navigation and communications, even if the wiry evidence is concealed by the trappings of the pre-electric age. Wherever connections are made, a cable’s insulation must be stripped and the conductor exposed, a task which has occupied the minds of inventors since the first electrically-illuminated ships put to sea in the 1880s. The most successful of the ‘automatic’ tools, with one-handed operation better suited to working in a boat’s cramped corners, was patented by Dutchman Herman Gerhard Jan Voogd in 1939 and marketed by Ideal Industries of Illinois as the E-Z Wire Stripper. It was subsequently made in England by JB Hyde & Co of Manchester,…

CELEBRATING CLASSIC BOAT’S 400 ISSUES THE FIRST MAXI? Stormvogel, the radical 73ft (22.3m) cold-moulded bermudan ketch from 1961, was arguably the world’s first maxi ocean racer. Last year, she celebrated six decades by taking on the Fastnet. SPIRIT 30 The spirit-of-tradition builder with the world’s most famous client – James Bond – has just released its first day-sailer. So we had to try it out of course… TENDER TO VEDETTE She was built for Vanderbilt as a tender to his large steam yacht Vedette – and today, she’s still going strong in Istanbul, at the Rahmi M Koç museum. PLUS… Sailing the Split archipelago on the world’s largest sailing ship; fast luggers in the OGA; visit to Suffolk Yacht Harbour; NHS photo comp winners, and much more JANUARY 2022 ON…

In 2002, Barry Pickthall wrote an excellent book about the first two generations of Frers active as naval architects. The book was called A Passion for Design and there is truly no other word in the English language that so perfectly describes the emotion that drives this Argentinian family. Passion about sailing, passion about yacht design and passion about the importance of family. During the building of Recluta, Germán’s daughter Zelmira, herself an interior designer and architect, went to visit her father to find out where he was spending so much time lately. It was in a shed there in Buenos Aires that she saw the beginnings of Recluta for the first time and became totally inspired by what was happening there. She began to document the process, which has…

Owners of the Menai Straits One Design are hoping to reinvigorate traditional skills and ensure the future of the class with an initiative to employ an apprentice. The MSOD fleet is believed to be the oldest, complete, drop-keel, one-design fleet sailed within UK waters. John Begley, owner of one of the boats, says: “All seventeen boats are here in the Menai Straits, a few needing some fairly extensive remedial works, with an active class association fully committed to restoring and keeping these boats in top condition going forward into the future. “As a class association we have come to realise that the number of skilled boatbuilders with experience of wooden hulls, especially carvel hulls, is diminishing quickly as artisans are impacted by the passage of time, as happens to us…

Plans are underway to hold a Fife Regatta on the Clyde in June, 2022. The 2020 event had to be cancelled but it is hoped an impressive Fife fleet, including Mariquita, will gather in the summer next year on the waters where the boats were launched. The first Fife Regatta was held in 1998 and they have run every five years or so since then. Organiser Fiona Houston has confirmed that this will not be the last Fife regatta, as some rumours suggested. Details nearer the time at fiferegatta.com…

The early morning fog was beginning to clear as assorted, mainly classic boats crossed the start line of the Maldon Town Regatta, drifting into a faltering breeze, writes Peter Smith. The challenge soon became clear: to round the tidal mark before the flood was too strong in the faintest of zephyrs, causing boats to drift back the way they came. The smacks all made it round, and so did half the yachts, like the lovely Albert Strange Firefly, winner of the gaff-rigged yachts, and the Stella Loadstar, second in classic wooden yachts class behind Black Diamond. However, many others were soon reporting their retirement to the committee boat. That first leg proved too far. Little improved with the start of the second race from Osea Island to Maldon Quay when…

Can you swim? This way please… mind the step.” Sean Connery is perfectly gentlemanly to his unwanted passenger, right up to the moment he stands him on the gunwale of the Fairey Huntress he has commandeered and pushes him into the sea. “Just isn’t your day, is it?” he mutters as he pushes the man overboard. With extra fuel tanks on board, he and Tatiana Romanova (Daniela Bianchi) decide to push on from Istria for Venice. However, the evil organisation SPECTRE has lined up a fleet of larger Fairey motorboats with bazooka-bearing baddies to intercept him, among them a number of Huntsman 28s, they defining model of the Fairey powerboat range. THE FAIREY TALE The 28 is, according to Charles Lawrence, author of the Fairey bible Fairey – Boats, Raceboats,…

Aldeburgh Yacht Club was founded in 1897 and the following year Ernest Rogers, gentleman photographer and member, presented a photo album to the new club with the inscription “Members and Visitors are requested to contribute any photographs that are likely to be interesting to the Club”. It seems the best photos subsequently pasted into it were Rogers’s own. Ernest Silvani Rogers was born in 1873 and orphaned by 1882, when he went to live with his aunt and guardian Sophia Rogers of Aldeburgh with her husband Samuel Wightman Smyth and 10 children at Fern Court in Park road, where the flash and crack of Aldeburgh’s lifeboat maroons, often in dirty weather, would have been a feature of their childhood. He remained in Aldeburgh, marrying in 1905 May Kilby, daughter of…

It’s worth checking the website of Chesapeake Light Craft (CLC) quite regularly to see what the endlessly inventive and industrious managing director John C Harris has come up with. CLC has sold, over the years, over 40,000 kit boats, from sailing dinghies to small yachts, SUPs to rowing boats. The company’s latest offering is only their third motorboat, after their Cocktail Class Racer and popular Peeler Skiff. They’ve called this one the Rhode Runner and its cue is the utilitarian American runabouts of the 1950s. In common with the Peeler Skiff, this is a practical boat: light, commodious and easily propelled. The kit is CNC-cut stitch and glue, requiring no strongback. It’s suitable, according to John, for “confident builders with a couple of stitch-and-glue boats under their belts. The complete…

John Leather’s list of essential tools in Clinker Boatbuilding places ‘pinchers’ (usually called pincers) immediately above ‘nippers’, and it’s worth noting the essential difference between these two: pincers are for extracting a nail whereas nippers are for trimming the shank to length before riveting over. To this end pincers may have more steeply bevelled edges on the jaws, the better to grip without risk of cutting, and the jaws are more rounded so that once gripping beneath the head of the nail, they can be rolled in the manner of a moving fulcrum while levering the nail out. The jaws of nippers usually flare outwards from the pivot point of the handles, improving visibility of the length of nail being cut, and should never be used for wrenching or levering…