Innholdsfortegnelse for March 2024 i Classic Boat

When trying to determine what is the oldest, fastest or first boat, it can help to set up a stalking horse and invite others to come up with a better answer,” wrote Martin Black in our August 2023 issue. He was talking about claims on the world’s first one-design, suggesting that GL Watson’s Red, White and Blue pre-dated the Dublin Water Wags by almost a year. The same point might be made about another, less-discussed category: the first plywood cruising yacht. It’s generally accepted that the type was pioneered in Europe by Cornelius ‘Kees’ Bruynzeel to expand the market for the durable plywood he had developed for use in kitchens. In 1939 he commissioned his near-neighbour, the then-unknown designer EG ‘Ricus’ Van de Stadt, to design a dinghy that could…

I know I love the look of her, the way her sheerline rises so boldly at the bow, and the playful kick as it leaves the transom, but I have never added up all the reasons why she is so precious, and all the little things that annoy me, including the way she contrives to crack my skull when I fail to stoop too low, or how she just will not decide which way she wants to go when I stick the engine into reverse. It cannot be the same for a boat that popped out of a mould, no matter how classy. There is something about a boat of pitch pine fastened to oak frames with copper nails that you don’t get with glassfibre, and before you can say…

When I was a kid, I loved cutaway drawings. There was something fascinating about being able to see the inside and outside of an object at once; peeling back the hardened exterior and peeping inside at the intimate interior details. It was a rare mix of public and private that felt almost voyeuristic. Then I grew up and, well, I still love cutaways. And it turns out so does everyone else, so much so that you might say, “When a man is tired of cutaways, he is tired of life.” For 50 years the master of the genre was Robbert Das. The Dutch graphic artist (together with his twin Adolf) who became famous for his futuristic visions of urban dwellings and hypersonic aircraft, proved equally adept at exploring the way…

ANTIFOUL It is an inescapable fact that many paints and varnishes can have serious consequences for the environment and people’s health, during manufacture and application, and throughout their lifetime up to the point of disposal, and as time goes on new rules are implemented to keep us and our environment healthier and safer. At the same time those coatings need to be effective in protecting materials and, in the case of antifouling, minimising the fouling of underwater surfaces. It is in the interests of all boat owners that the underwater surfaces of their boats be as clean as possible. That will allow sailing boats to sail to their maximum potential (as important to most cruising sailors as it is to all racers), fuel consumption under power to be reduced, and…

When I was a junior schoolboy, the war was a lot closer than it is now. Tales of heroes told in combat comics were meat and drink for us lads. Later we read memoirs. Then came the films. One of the greatest of these epics was the story of Douglas Bader. Bader’s RAF career began as a fighter pilot and aerobatics specialist in the years between the wars. Flying low over an airfield while executing intricate manoeuvres was banned as being far too dangerous. Early in the 1950s movie Reach for the Sky he has just politely refused a challenge from a group of visitors to the squadron to put on a low aerobatics performance when he overhears the remark: “These chaps only perform when there’s a crowd.” Bader stomps…

There could hardly be a yard busier than Dennetts. The amount of work going on, which includes four simultaneous major restorations, is so momentous that even hearing about it is enough to bring on launch deadline panic. The solution for Steve is simply “I put in my 10 hours a day and hope it all works out!” And it always seems to, judging on the stream of past restorations which include Breda (shortlisted in our awards this year), the amazing MTB-style motorboat Makaira and a dozen others, many of them Dunkirk Little Ships. And those are just the recent-ish ones. At the time of my visit, in mid-January, water levels had only just subsided from a once-in-a-decade flood that covered the place, lapping dangerously at the feet of some very…

The Shipping Forecast as we know it will disappear from the BBC’s Longwave transmissions in March and most boat folk won’t miss it… or will they? Radio 4, home of the four daily Shipping Forecasts, announced last year that its separate Longwave (LW) programming will cease in March 2024. The LW output on 198kHz will now be the same as the FM (frequency modulated) programme, and online. At some time in the near future, the Beeb adds, LW transmissions are expected to cease altogether. The Shipping Forecast began, on Medium Wave at first, in 1925, and changed to LW on 200kHz in 1978, and moved a smidgeon to the left – to the more efficient 198kHz – in 1988. For sailors, this move cuts the Shipping Forecast on weekdays to…

A Finn, various Danes, some German troops, another Dane, two Greeks, some French people, an American, an Englishman, a Spaniard, and some Italians. This is the story of a yacht – originally Ragna IV, then Sabina and Aloa Ohe, now Orianda – which was created by, and has been owned, used, briefly abused but mostly looked after by, a truly international assortment of people. Designed by Oscar W Dahlstrom and built by the Carl Andersen shipyard in Faaborg, Denmark, the bermudan staysail schooner Ragna IV was launched in 1937. Dahlstrom was born in Finland and originally trained as a teacher before moving to Denmark and starting work as a buildings architect. But he then taught himself naval architecture and designed his first boat, a 22 Square Metre, in 1916 at…

SINGLE-PACK VARNISHES Varnishes have protected and beautified timber for centuries and today there is a wide, sometimes confusing, choice available. The most popular brands still include International, Hempel (ex Blakes), Jotun, Teamac, Skippers and Le Tonkinois, and ingredients like tung oil, pressed from the seed of the Chinese tung tree. They are relatively cheap and easy to apply, and their flexibility suits the movement of solid timber on traditional boats. Downsides, versus modern alternatives, are the regular maintenance coats needed (particularly in high UV light), and their relative softness, although there are some more durable polyurethane versions. Most singlepack varnishes have a gloss finish, but there are also satin or matt finish for cabin interiors, and many can have matting agents added. TWO-PACK VARNISHES Two-pack varnishes have been around for…

Mischief In the great ‘pilot cutter boom’ that started in the late 90s and ran for a couple of decades or so, sailors were commissioning new pilot cutters from the likes of Luke Powell (Working Sail) in Cornwall and John Raymond-Barker in Bristol, what seemed like every year. Working Sail built the Scillonian type, while JRB built the Bristol Channel shape. The typical cost for a new one was around the half-million mark, but who knows what that would be now. The boats were often bought for charter, where the skipper would live aboard, taking small charter parties on cruising holidays to pay for their keep. It’s not hard to see why the pilot cutter was such a popular choice, for charter or for private use. They are legendarily seaworthy,…

Stable square Among the well-used marking tools for preparing timber – gauge, folding rule, carpenters’ pencil and try-square – it’s important to check the try-square for accuracy, especially if old and secondhand. The charm of a vintage square with fancy rivet and brass-bound stock of exotic wood wears thin if, in being handed down the generations, it has been dropped on an unforgiving surface which has knocked the blade and stock out of perpendicular. A reliable alternative to the traditional joiners’ tool is the engineers’ all-steel try-square. I inherited this 5in square for which manufacturers Moore & Wright claimed in the 1950s ‘hardened stock and blade with glass-hard edges…guaranteed to maintain permanent stability of form’. Seventy years on, and despite knocking around the engine bays and benches of powerboat racing,…

SYDNEY HOBART PEDIGREE The design, by Wally Ward, was good enough to win the 1966 Sydney Hobart. The boat, Caress, was completely rebuilt, and Wally’s grandson tells the story. EVENTS 2024 Our annual round-up of the major regattas, rallies and other events on the water in 2024 THE LAST OF THE DORADE LINE The last S&S inboard yawl Galiana is at sea now, the oldest boat in this year’s Ocean Globe Race. She was also in the first Whitbread Race in 1971… PLUS… San Marco runabout with a Lancia heart; the revival of Irish classic sailing; marine timber guide; boatbuilding in suffolk; and more APRIL 2024 ISSUE ON SALE 09 February, 2024 Or why not subscribe? 30 YEARS AGO MARCH 1994, CB69 Thirty years is plenty long enough for a…

Built in Tacoma, Washington, the state-of-the-art seiner was launched from Western Boat Building Company in 1937, destined for the sardine trade of Monterey, California. Builder and shipyard owner, Martin Petrich Sr, specialised in sturdy vessels. For Western Flyer, he used a single, 64ft (19.5m) piece of old-growth fir for the keel; ribs were white oak; fir planks steamed, fitted, and caulked with cotton. The boat’s strength was offset by a graceful sheer and jaunty wheelhouse. In early 1940, scientist Ed Ricketts and author John Steinbeck combed the Monterey waterfront for a vessel that would carry them, along with a small crew and makeshift biology lab, on a scientific research mission to Mexico’s Sea of Cortez. No one was willing until Western Flyer tied to the pier and her captain, Tony…

One Thursday afternoon in June of last year, 35 Sunbeams – the most to ever take part in the same race – approached a start line just outside Chichester Harbour. This was the start of the last race of a regatta which celebrated the centenary of the Solent Sunbeam class which has been entirely based at Itchenor Sailing Club since the mid-1960s. It was at the newly-formed Hamble River SC that the first seven Sunbeams first sailed in 1923 after members of the club had asked Alfred Westmacott to produce “an improved Mermaid” which he had previously designed for Seaview YC. The result was a boat which many people, myself included, believe to be aesthetically peerless among small keelboats anywhere. It wasn’t long before these new boats came to the…

DUST CONTROL Ideally, prepare the work in one place, clean it thoroughly, then move it into another (clean) place to apply the varnish. If the piece of work is a whole boat, then clean the boat and its surroundings in situ. Towards the end of the job, a simple polyethene tent over the boat keeps airborne dust at bay. You need a good workshop vacuum with a small brush head to remove most of the dust then a tack cloth to really deal with the fine deposits before applying any coating. THE VARNISH Golden rule number one: never to dip you brush into that can. NEVER. The material in that can leaves the manufacturers completely clean, so let’s keep it that way. You always decant the varnish into a clean…

WROXHAM, NORFOLK A century of Landmores The famous Broadland yard of Landamores celebrated its centenary last year. The yard was founded by Edward Landamore in 1923, and the company remains in the family, now with Edward’s great-granddaughter Jenny and grandson Anthony. They said: “Our focus over the last few years has been electric propulsion and this is something that we plan to carry over into our next 25 years. As environmental considerations get higher on everyone’s agenda, the choices we make when designing a boat need to reflect that. Jenny added: “Landamores is still very much a family company, and we plan to continue as one. Of course, the Landamores ‘family’ not only includes blood relatives but also the fantastic team who work here and whose skill and dedication allow…

Working wood with hand tools raises the possibility of approaching a task in different ways. Take cutting a rabbet, perhaps to make a corner joint or accommodate a drop-in lid. Depending on the scale of the work, the rabbet might be roughed out with an axe and surfaces pared smooth with a slick, by making perpendicular cuts with a tenon saw, using a cutting gauge or even a scratch – a small scraper worked back and forth. But the yacht joiner, for whom rabbeting was a routine operation, would normally use a rabbet plane. Even the simplest rabbet plane consisting of stock, iron and wedge is more sophisticated than it looks. The iron, full-width so as to cut a true right-angled corner and bevelled on the side to minimise friction,…