Innholdsfortegnelse for May 2025 i Classic Boat

JP Morgan Jr (1867-1943) inherited not just enormous wealth but his father’s taste for yachting on the grandest scale. Morgan Sr owned three yachts named Corsair, each one larger and more lavish. On the launch of one, the American banker retorted to an impertinent press enquiry about the cost with the famous riposte: “If you have to ask, you can’t afford it.” Jr, though, went one better. When launched in 1930 Corsair IV, measuring 104.4m (343ft) overall, was the largest US private yacht built and by far the most costly, coming in at $2.5 million – only to be sold 10 years later for a single Dollar to the British Admiralty to aid the war effort. Post-war she was sold off and converted into a luxury cruise liner, accommodating 82…

It was while enjoying a few ouzos at a café on the harbour front in Aegina, Greece, that I realised I had stumbled across the local wooden boat alliance. I was soon deep in discussion about the relative merits of Roger Dongray’s Golant Gaffer compared to Nigel Irens’s Romilly, both of which had been recently built on the island. Someone else was keen to talk about the advantages of the local Fibremax epoxy compared to WEST System – much cheaper and equally good, I was assured – while the sourcing of good timber was a constant gripe. But the main excitement was the new boat launched just a few weeks earlier by local boatbuilder Nikos Daroukakis. Nootka was the latest in a line of unusual vessels built by this highly-respected…

It had been on my bucket list for several years, but what was initially supposed to be a four-month cruise from Chichester to the Outer Hebrides and back aboard my classic Rhodes 6-tonner Sea Jay ended up taking two years all told. In retrospect, I wouldn’t have wanted it any other way. Great fun and comradeship, rewarding sailing, glorious weather, fantastic scenery and wonderful moments amid all the sea life. The cruise ticked all the adjectives and left us with life-long memories. It didn’t start off like that. After a year of preparation and planning – new sails and rigging, roller furling, new teak deck, a complete paint job and a pile of charts and guides, Sea Jay, all 27ft of her, looked set for action, if a little low…

Email steffan@classicboat.co.uk FREMANTLE, AUSTRALIA Historic dinghy collection In an unlikely looking industrial shed just outside Fremantle, Western Australia, there is an extraordinary collection of about 50 centreboard dinghies. The collection began about 30 years ago but was only formalised in 2020 with the formation of the Swan River Dinghy Heritage Association which now has about 120 members including Olympians, America’s Cup crew and other Western Australian sailors. While many of the collection’s boats will be well known to Australians – such as the Javelin, Manly Junior, 16ft skiff, Flying Ant, Mudlark and Vaucluse Junior (or VJ) – the collection also includes Mirrors, Cherubs, a Finn and an Optimist. The association’s chairman Tony Jones dedicates much of his time to researching and seeking out important boats. A while ago he wanted…

Hand sawing some of the more frictional timbers without first greasing the blade calls to mind rowing a dinghy through rafts of drifting kelp. Applying excessive force to the saw risks bringing the operation to a juddering halt, bowing the blade, perhaps even marking the occasion with a permanent kink. Wiping down the areas of contact with just a candle stub before starting work will guarantee an easier cut. A similar situation surrounds hand planing resinous softwoods which can drag on the tool as if plodding through harbour mud. Scribble that candle stub fore and aft of the mouth and the plane will lift and fly like a hovercraft. Today it’s the easiest thing to keep a candle stub floating free in the tool bag or pocket. Better yet, keep…

It is nothing if not remarkable that a rule of yacht design introduced by Nathanael Herreshoff in the 1890s, which was almost completely inactive for decades after the second world war, should now be enjoying a 40-year surge of interest at the start of the 21st Century. The rule, which became the Universal Rule and was adopted by the New York Yacht Club in 1903/04, aligned with letters of the alphabet: the ‘I’ class was the largest, followed by the infamous ‘J’ class down to the ‘S’ class, a small open day sailor. Some of the modern interest was triggered by Elizabeth Meyer’s resurrection of the J-Class Endeavour in the 1980s, but Europe has long had an interest in maintaining many of these yachts and giving them events to show…

Why is it that some sailors are forever linked to a particular boat? Take Sir Robin Knox-Johnston, skipper of many yachts over his long career, including a Jules Verne catamaran called Enza in which he and Peter Blake set a new record back in the day, but it’s always Suhaili with which he is most associated. Does he mind? You’ll have to ask him! There are parallels: Sir Roger Bannister, with a long and distinguished medical career who, while a student, broke the four-minute mile, or Sir Edmund Hilary, whose contribution to humanity was, arguably, more beneficial to those he helped post-Everest, the Sherpas of the region, than merely gaining the top of the world. Examples abound too in the world of entertainment. Sir Roger Moore: always James Bond, and…

This is the story of how an iconic boat with a rich history has benefitted enormously from the continuity of a relatively long period in one ownership, and under the command of the same captain and mate. The same family has now owned the 1928 Fife Cambria for 20 years. Almost as soon as they bought her, Australian Chris Barkham was appointed captain and a couple of years later Dave Hambly joined him as mate. Since then, they have overseen four significant refits, each of which involved meticulous advanced planning. Some may argue that it would have been more efficient and cost effective to carry out the work of all or some of these refits simultaneously, but doing them separately has provided the massive advantages of allowing detailed ongoing planning,…

On my way for a lunchtime pint in the Jolly Sailor I paddled up to the doorstep of the waterfront house of an old friend between the boatyard and the pub. He invited me in for a coffee, remarking that despite all he’d read in the papers and the southwesterly that had been blowing up the Solent all week, today’s spring tide wasn’t going to be any higher than the other big ones he’d seen since the 1950s. He indicated the worn stone slab on which I stood and remarked that its defences had still to be breached. While the kettle boiled, I asked him whether he ever got bored looking out on the same river year after year. ‘How could I be bored?’ he said. ‘The landscape might not…

THE LAST GREAT BROADS RESTORATION Sparklet, the great Edwardian racing yacht of the Broads, has been restored, and is ready to race against sister Maidie, for the first time in 117 years BORN IN PARIS Rare 1964 Liuzzi runabout, built in Paris and restored by a wine-grower, still with the original 125hp petrol engine – but now with 20 coats of varnish! PLUS… Catching up with Cornish boatbuilder Sam Heard; the story of the Cape Cod Melonseed Skiff; the S&S yacht that never lost a race; and more JUNE 2025 ISSUE ON SALE 9 May, 2025 Or why not subscribe? SAILING TODAY WITH YACHTS & YACHTING IN THE MAY ISSUE • Expert tips on buying a multihull • On test: the Bali 5.8 • Summer regatta guide • Caribbean 600…

The opportunity to compete in a race on Sydney Harbour in January, while the UK was gripped by miserable weather, may seem too good to be true, so imagine my delight when I was invited to take part in four such races, in three different boats and all of them in a cracking breeze and hot sunshine. First up was a Sydney Amateurs SC pursuit race in David Salter’s 1965 Swanson double-ender Mister Christian in which we came second to the 1961 Carmen class Caress. The following day was Australia Day which commemorates the date in 1788 when Arthur Philip and the First Fleet arrived in what subsequently became known as Sydney Harbour. To mark this anniversary, a sailing regatta has taken place there every single year since 1837 and…

After a record 20,000 votes were cast from around the world, we can finally reveal the winners of the 2025 Classic Boat Awards IN ASSOCIATION WITH 19TH CLASSIC BOAT AWARDS Welcome once again to the annual Classic Boat Awards, now on its 19th outing. It’s been a manic period of online voting from around the world and this year, we received more than 20,000 votes. Over a quarter of them were for one boat – Tally Ho, the big Albert Strange yacht rebuilt in the Pacific northwest by Leo Goolden. The last time a category was so convincingly dominated was by the Bluebird K7 rebuild in 2019. Another notable feature of this year’s awards is the higher-than-usual number of sailing yacht restorations, something that we also saw in the 2024 awards. The…

Madiz is a unique survivor from the early 20th century. No other yacht so old, so large or so original remains. Built as a tender to the largest two masted-schooner ever built, she went on to serve as a tender to a Hebridean island, in two world wars and as a yacht with a distinguished guest list. She has evolved over her incredible 120 years but still retains significant original Edwardian features below and on deck. James Coats Jnr was a beneficiary of the colossal fortune made from the cotton thread spinning mills his family established first in Paisley, Scotland and then around the world. They bought out their rivals, the Clark family, and created the world’s first multinational. Between 1870 and World War II, the family owned nearly 100…

CYGNET Classic Alden cruiser The American designer John G Alden is best known today for his great schooners, including the famous Malabar series. His practice though, was actually very diverse and includes a great number of yawls, sloops and ketches, nearly all admired for their good looks and solid seaworthiness (he also designed many racing yachts for various rules). Cygnet is one of four boats built to his “Seagoer” design and was launched from Maine’s Morse Boatbuilding yard in 1954, the second of four, and perhaps today the only one left. The clue is in the name of course; this is described by the broker as a “true classic cruiser.” She’s mahogany planked on oak frames, bermudan ketch rigged, and was repowered in 2017 and given new B&G instruments in…

DIY multipurpose wax oil The worker intent on authentic tallow might obtain some mutton fat from a friendly butcher, render the rank-smelling material in a saucepan over a low heat for several hours, then strain to extract the stringy bits before it sets. Alternatively, for multipurpose wax oil serving to lubricate tools, inhibit rust, add 100g of raw linseed oil to a small (200g) baked beans can and heat gently in a water bath (saucepan). Meanwhile grate 50g beeswax (two sticks), adding one spoonful to the warming oil. When the wax is seen to be melting turn off the heat. Continue adding wax while stirring, reheating the water bath as necessary. When all the wax has melted, add a few drops of essential oil (we used sweet blood orange) to…

I recently acquired this image (right). Judging by the paper it is printed on, it dates from the late 1880s. The caption on the back reads “Bermuda Yacht Undine”, indicating not that the rig was bermudan but rather the yacht was based there. Research revealed that Undine was 5.3 tons, with a 23ft waterline and a sail area of 468sq ft. Built in 1808, she was active on the race circuit until 1897, regarded as being Bermuda’s fastest racing sloop over a great many decades and was the winner of numerous cups throughout her career. Why did the bermudan rig come into being? The Bermudian Islands are aligned to the prevailing wind, so, of necessity, the local rig had to provide boats with a strong performance to windward. Undine’s rig…