Innehållsförteckning för May 2024 från Classic Boat

The 2024 Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta will feature a spectacular fleet with several notable entries attending for the first time. Returning veterans include the three-masted, Arthur Holgate-designed, 184ft (56m) LOD schooner Adix (1984); the Henry Gruber-designed 86ft (26m) yawl Nordwind (1939); the 73ft (22.4m) S&S yawl Bolero (1949); and many more. Entries participating in their first Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta include the 110ft (33m) LOS ketch Saharet of Tyre, designed by Charles Nicholson and built in 1933; the 98ft (30m) Italian schooner Goleta Gringo (1886); the 92ft (28m), square topsail schooner, Alvei (1920); the 72ft (22m) schooner Cassiopeia II; and the classic 99-year-old, 52ft (16m) schooner Adventurer. There are already more classic yachts registered than participated last year and dock space in Nelson’s Dockyard is filling up. See antiguaclassics.com. Follow…

Hunter’s Yard in Norfolk is planning a cruise to mark 50 years since the original Swallows and Amazons film was released in 1974 (a more recent version was released in 2016). The yard and its fleet, which are a much-loved time-warp, is home to many of the boats from that film, as well as Coot Club and The Big Six, also film adaptations of Arthur Ransome novels, both set on the Broads, and both released in 1984. The boats include Swallow, Amazon, Titmouse and Teasel. The cruise-in-company will run from 3-10 August, visiting many of the sites from those two Broads books, like Horning, Ranworth, Potter Heigham and Kendal Dyke (where Dick fell in!). Crew can join for the entire week or part of it. Sophie Neville – Titty in…

An exhibition exploring the history of ship models and evolution in shipbuilding design has opened at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Irvine, and will run until 26 May. “Ship Models - A History of Shipping in Miniature” features a diverse collection of models built by professional shipyard modellers and amateur model makers as well as beautiful glass ships in bottles, an art form which became popular at the end of the last century. The exhibition illustrates the importance of models in influencing ship design. Eva Bukowska of the Scottish Maritime Museum, says: “Ship models, which were made of materials ranging from brass, lead, copper, glass, pearl and, more rarely, gold leaf, are an essential and exciting tool for understanding and celebrating technological advancements in shipbuilding. Ship models also provide us…

Anyone who’s visited Salcombe in Devon by boat recently will know that, for most of the summer, its picturesque estuary is heaving with motorboats. Most of these are large RIBs which crisscross between the moored yachts endlessly, causing a disproportionate amount of noise and wash. But look carefully and you’ll see another local phenomenon: the Salcombe launch. Handsome clinker launches have been built in Salcombe for decades by yards such the Edgar Cove boatyard on Island Street. Happily, the tradition lives on to this day with at least two local builders turning out a steady stream of wooden launches to help stem the tide of ugly rubber ducks. The latest of these is the 18ft (5.5m) Bibbidy built by John McShea and launched at the beginning of October 2023. I…

WEATHER BIRD Sail with the ghosts of history Weather Bird was commissioned for Sara and Gerald Murphy, a high-society American couple whose parties lit up the era on the French Riviera where they settled. The 102ft (31m) wooden, gaff-rigged schooner has welcomed on board some of the most famous names in art, literature, music and poetry, including Cole Porter, Coco Chanel, Ernest Hemingway, Dorothy Parker, Pablo Picasso and Zelda and F Scott Fitzgerald – it’s rumoured that the main characters in Tender is the Night are based on the Murphys. Weather Bird was built by Chantier Navals De Normandie in 1931, to a design overseen by Russian aristocrat Victor Orloff and Frenchman Henri Rambaud. She was given a 17-month rebuild that ended in 2021, leaving her in “wonderful” condition. She sleeps…

AMERICAN SCHOONER The 46ft, century-old schooner La Volpe sails out of California, looking as good as the day she was launched LITTLE TERRIER The 28ft Aussie-built Maluka is the veteran of eight Sydney-Hobarts, so in 2023, it seemed natural to have a crack at the Fastnet. DIPLOMATIC SERVICE The 1932 American commuter yacht Hiawatha has been a symbol of American/Turkish relations over her century hosting statesman in Istanbul PLUS… Photographer Ann Converse; all about cordage; lugger-sailing in the Caribbean; the RNLI at 200; and more JUNE 2024 ISSUE ON SALE 10 May, 2024 Or why not subscribe? 30 YEARS AGO MAY 1994, CB71 Then editor Robin Gates, today our tools expert (see Boatbuilder’s Notes in this and every issue) launched the issue by bemoaning the loss of excitement that surrounded…

Soon after completing the restoration of Kaléa a sailing friend, having taken a look around, turned to me and said:“It would have to be you Tim that can see the benefits of downsizing to a bigger boat.” What I think he meant by that, and he’s actually quite right, is that a bigger boat is easier to sail, far more comfortable, you can go further and everything happens at a slower pace – perfect for a yachtsman entering the final third of his classic sailing career! What my friend didn’t realise was the challenge I had set myself after acquiring the boat in Rome in April 2019. HISTORY Kaléa is a Mediterranean superyacht of her time, built with no expense spared and Italian through and through. Commissioned in 1965 by…

One anniversary we nearly missed this year is that of the International Rating Certificate – known to all simply as IRC. In the words of the press release: “Back in the early 1980s, most boats were racing under the International Offshore Rule (IOR), but it was starting to be more concentrated on racing boats and leading to extreme type-forming and pinched sterns, causing “too much rock and roll” in the words of the Royal Ocean Racing Club (RORC) commodore at the time, the late Robin Aisher.” In 1983 he and the Commodore of l’Union National de la Course au Large (UNCL) Jean Louis Fabry, whilst enjoying an evening out in Paris, decided that a rule was needed that would rate any size and shape of boat. Follow-up conversations, usually held…

CHARLES MILLER LTD Royal yachts scrapped to appease the masses For a country that now has zero royal yachts, it may give you a glow of pride or a fit of republican indignation to know that Queen Victoria had no fewer than at least a dozen royal yachts during her long reign from 1837 to 1901. Dissenters may be in accord with radical politician Joseph Hume who in the 1830s railed against “the extravagant waste of public money in keeping afloat no less than five royal yachts”. His outburst led to the scrappage of several serviceable yachts – only for them to be quickly replaced with larger ones. Nevertheless, to reduce the burden on the public purse – and perhaps forestall revolution – Queen and government began selling off royal…

“Definitely.” That was the answer Finn Irvine gave when asked if it was a bit crazy to buy an old wooden boat to charter, especially in Sydney’s hot climate. Nonetheless, a fruitful outcome is proving that sometimes crazy is the way to go. The boat in question is Southwinds, designed by Robert Clark in 1948 for Nigel Borland Love, an Australian aviator and flour miller who lived in Sydney’s Strathfield suburb. It is thought that Clark initially designed the boat as a cutter but that Love insisted on a ketch rig. She was built by Hayes Boat Builders in Berry’s Bay on Sydney Harbour and launched in 1950. Her planking was from New Zealand kauri; her ribs, keel and stringers were spotted gum; the decks were Queensland beech; and the…

This month, in what has become a tradition, the 2024 Classic Boat Awards ceremony is being held at the Royal Thames Yacht Club (RTYC) in Knightsbridge. It is an entirely appropriate connection, with each organisation, in their different ways, seriously pro-active custodians of yachting heritage; both are practically engaged in celebrating living history, while acting as guardians of seagoing craft and traditions. So, what is special about the Royal Thames? Some have claimed it to be the oldest yacht club in the world, dating its existence from 1775 when it first raced as the Cumberland Fleet, although this accolade is usually ascribed to the Royal Cork. It is definitely the oldest yacht club in the United Kingdom, and almost certainly the first in the world to promote yacht racing. As…

MAINE Wooden weekend wonder Artisan Boatworks, well known for their beautifully-crafted daysailers like the Herreshoff Buzzards Bay 15 and 18, are well under way with their biggest project to date: the 39ft 6in (12m) bermudan yacht Wisp. Wisp has been designed by Maine spirit-of-tradition maestros Stephens Waring in the manner of yachts that offer easy, modern sailing, with some luxury, yet with the timeless draw of mid-20th century design – above the water at least: the definition of SoT in fact. The 39ft length was a “calculated choice” to ensure standing headroom in both galley and heads. She features a saloon to seat four and a queen-size forward berth. The rig is described as ‘Solent rig’ by the designer, slightly confusing to those of us who maintain that Solent rig…

Fitting locks to cabin drawers is one of the more delicate operations in yacht joinery, constantly at risk of botching the near-finished work. The problem is lack of space. Picture a shallow bunk-side drawer with perhaps 1ft (30cm) or less between the inside faces of its front and back and we can appreciate that, for making the side and bottom cuts required prior to excavating space for the body of the drawer lock, there is barely room to stand a regular bench chisel never mind swing the hammer required to drive it. Even more fiddly, with 6in (15cm) or less working height, how do we cut the little mortise in a cabinet’s top rail which receives the bolt of the lock when the key is turned? The earliest tool for…

For the benefit of south coast sailors, I should explain that one of the chief attractions of sailing on the east coast is that there’s hardly any water here. This makes sinking a lot more difficult and altogether more challenging for readers hoping to feature in Classic Boat, whether in an uplifting survival epic or an obituary. Nevertheless, in that regard, lifting-keel trailer-sailers such as my Sailfish 18 – which is made of traditional British osmosis rather than the flimsy foreign rubbish you get these days – are particularly well adapted to our local conditions as demonstrated by a mate who sank his, trailer and all, in a pot-hole on the A12. It’s beyond irony that there’s deeper water there than there is when you get to Lake Side and…

Since 2007, The Boatbuilders Show on Cape Cod has gathered together the best of New England’s boat builders, designers, and maritime trades in one place. With Cape Cod’s proud maritime traditions and ideal location – nearly equidistant between Portland, Maine and New York – The Boatbuilders Show offers an excellent mid-winter exhibition of boats and products in which to make the most of the forthcoming summer season. Over three days, more than 30 exhibitors were on hand with boats ranging from small tenders – perfect for the home builder – to larger, sleek, centre-console powerboats – even a new, 100 per cent electric-powered option capable of 42kts! For the hobby builders, Clint Chase, owner of Chase Small Craft, brought a pair of boats from his extensive catalogue of available plans…

The 76-year-old Firefly dinghy that British solo sailor Arthur Macdonald competed in at the 1948 Olympics in Torbay was the star of the show at the RYA Dinghy Exhibition in Farnborough in February. The 12ft wooden dinghy, Jacaranada, sail No F503, was one of 21 one-design class boats built by Fairey Marine for the 1948 Games, and has been painstakingly restored by Alastair Vines and Dave Nickson. She was found by David Chisholm and Kerry Robson in Norfolk back in 2004 devoid of her rig and many fittings, and remained stored in a garage for the next 20 years. Alastair and Dave took on the task of restoring the boat in June 2022 in time to take part in the Uffa Fox 50 celebrations at Cowes later that year. The…

Apology to Richard Pierce, who took this photo of Iain Oughtred to accompany his obituary, written by Nic Compton. “Iain regularly sailed at the annual Toberonachy Small Boat Muster on the Isle of Luing, Scotland where the photo was taken,” says Richard. “This was the last boat Iain built. As I am sure you are well aware, Iain worked tirelessly towards the revival of interest in wooden boatbuilding over the last 50 years. A small group of boatbuilder/designers, including Fabian Bush, Jamie Clay, and myself benefited from Iain’s tireless work to promote the cause. We all founded wooden boat businesses in the late 1970s. Numerous others, amateur and professional, followed.…

The always popular National Historic Ships UK Photography Competition is back for a 15th year, in partnership with Classic Boat magazine. This year’s theme is “True Colours” and there are some fantastic prizes to be won, as well as the chance to be featured in the 2025 Calendar and accompanying exhibition at Historic Dockyard Chatham. With its Naval origins, this year’s theme is open to your interpretation. It invites you to capture the distinctive colours found around our waters in different places and times of day – a boat moored up on a still creek at blue hour, the iconic red sails of a Thames barge, a brightly painted narrow boat, a sailing yacht on turquoise seas, a passenger vessel cruising the green depths of a loch or estuary, a…

Classic boats are out of the woods. The evidence of my own eyes is enough to convince me that wooden boatbuilders are no longer an endangered species, as some have claimed, nor are the boats they build, mend or restore. Within a radius of 50 miles, I can count half a dozen boatbuilders, all of whom are thriving. Just look at the Classic Boat awards shortlist which features three of them. And what do we see in Scandinavia, America, France, Italy, the Mediterranean? Classic regattas, in which superbly presented yachts from the boards of Fife, Watson, Holm, S&S, Herreshoff, Clark, Giles and so on race as of yore thanks to the beneficence of those with the disposable income to inject into keeping these floating Stradivari once more tuned to perfection.…

The building of Norfolk’s iconic wherries concluded in an extravagant manner thanks to the philanthropic nature of Lowestoft’s first Freeman, Howard Hollingsworth. Hollingsworth wanted to produce a lasting representation of a typical wherry’s hull shape for the benefit of future generations, while creating much needed employment for some of Suffolk’s boat builders. A love of fast motor boats is believed to have initially brought the co-founder of the renowned Oxford Street department store Bourne and Hollingsworth to Lowestoft at the turn of the 20th century. He subsequently bought a burnt out mansion on the town’s Gunton Cliff and transformed it into a luxurious home overlooking the North Sea. He indulged his passion for power boat racing by commissioning a number of high speed craft from Brooke’s nearby yard on Lake…

Last night I was lecturing in Plymouth. Part of the story involved a 650-mile beat from Cape Farewell in Greenland to Newfoundland in the 35-tonne pilot cutter Hirta. We’d seven of us on board, including my wife Roz and our four-year-old daughter Hannah. This was several more than you’d normally need, but circumstances were unusual. The rig was original with no winches to muddy the water, so two or three could normally take the old girl anywhere, but on this voyage there were the added issues of ice, general cold and long-passage fatigue, so we’d shipped a full crew. When I sat down for a breath, someone who had obviously done time at sea asked a pertinent question. How, he wanted to know, had we maintained morale? It’s a critical…

With a name that is the abbreviation of the words Velocity Made Good it isn’t a surprise that the Enkhuizen based shipyard VMG Yachtbuilders is moving ahead at a very steady pace. VMG Yachtbuilders in itself is a relatively new name in yachting circles as the company was rebranded in 2015. The yard is a continuation of the decades old Zeeman Jachtbouw that was originally situated in Harlingen but moved to its present location in Enkhuizen in 2000. So there was a lot of accumulated experience already here and that has only grown since then. As director Tim van Daal explained: “The VMG Group is basically an umbrella name for a number of companies under the same ownership that each specialise in a distinct section of the yachting market. The…