Innholdsfortegnelse for June 2025 i Classic Boat

Boat Building Academy students Sophie Allen and Ariana Cottam have commissioned, and are leading the builds on, two boats using 100 per cent British-sourced timber. The first, led by Sophie from south Devon, is a rugged 12ft (3.7m) lug-rigged clinker dinghy built in Scottish oak and larch. The second, led by Ariana from St David’s in Wales, is a 14ft (4.3m) clinker boat with larch planks sourced from a single tree and British oak and chestnut for the rest. Passionate about sustainability, Ariana commented: “I believe it’s important in this industry to question where our materials come from and make conscious decisions based on that knowledge, so when I entered the course, I knew I wanted to build using homegrown timber”. “The materials are central to the project, allowing us…

A photo in an old album brought it back to me. A younger Morgan, this must have been in the late 90s, in Sally’s cockpit, cradling a lump of wood, which I can tell you was iroko. In my hand a Japanese rasp, the kind that consists of what look like hacksaw blades, riveted together, one side coarse, the other fine. Those who are familiar with wooden boats of that era, ie pre-war, will notice Sally has no bumpkin, or should that be bumkin, or even boomkin? It’s a cute little spar that adds to the fees harbour masters charge, the mean ones, though usually they don’t notice. It’s missing and the lump of iroko is being fashioned, laboriously, with the only tool aboard, luckily the one that will transform…

It was a sultry evening and the lights of Marseille were already twinkling as we nosed Puffin, my friend Tom Unia’s Hillyard 4-tonner, towards her berth in the heart of the Vieux Port. This was journey’s end following a very enjoyable summer cruise. The great port thrummed; it was alive with music, traffic, the din of a thousand voices. Even tear gas lay thick in the air at times, following some traditional civil unrest. The heat was oppressive and the night air seemed to crackle with the wild uncertainty that lies at the heart of southern Europe. Littlehampton, where Puffin had been built back in the 1930s, felt light years away. We were also a long way from Oxford – yet in many ways this was where the voyage had…

Sails: a sailing boat’s principal driving force, the most visually conspicuous part of a boat and perhaps the most expensive item of boat equipment that needs replacing with reasonable frequency. So it is hardly surprising that sailmakers offer a large array of options, for cruising and racing, and, importantly, for owners of classic boats. Woven polyester sail cloth – now generally known as Dacron, du Pont’s trade name – first became available as a more practical alternative to cotton in the 1950s and is still much the most popular choice for sails. But laminate or membrane sails are coming to the fore, often made up of a seemingly bewildering blend of high-tech materials known by various acronyms and trademarked names. Membrane sails, which are effectively custom-made laminate sails, are significantly…

Rattan, naturally Air circulation below deck is essential where galley, heads and crew exist in close proximity. Fling wide the hatches, open all vents, but let’s not overlook furniture design. Not all surfaces need be solid obstacles to air. Louvres are one solution but so too is woven rattan which is light, adaptable and perhaps more welcoming than slatted panels reminiscent of machinery. Rattan is a tough, flexible plant material with long maritime history, employed everywhere from canoes to ocean liners where its typically hexagonal weave makes for a strong yet slightly giving seat. Michael Thonet’s shapely cafe seats are 19th Century classics of the species. Dispensing with the chunky mortice-and-tenon frames, showy splats and swollen limbs of what had gone before, he used just a handful of timbers steamed…

FAIREY The Irish have a love for one-design boats and the Fairey OD is a great example. Built between 1902 and 1907, this 22ft keelboat is still thriving 130 years on. SHOWS & REGATTAS As we approach the season, we take a look at the shows and regattas that will run through the summer and beyond; it’s looking like a busy year. BOATBUILDER’S NOTES Robin Gates looks at how to achieve better boring and sawing with a backing piece and scribing marks, for a clean finish and the avoidance of a splintery mess! PLUS… Ulerin, designed by GL Watson, is a racing yacht with a history, a top-scoring boat in the 10-ton class that also raced through owners. JUNE 2025 ISSUE ON SALE 9 May, 2025 Or why not subscribe?…

An unsympathetic conversion shortly before World War One may have damaged her elegant flowing lines, but it also helped ensure her survival into the 21st Century. This season, it has been possible to admire Sparklet’s original lines thanks to a lifetime’s research by her current owner Mike Barnes, and the skills of the St Olaves-based Broadland Boat Builders. Their combined efforts now mean Sparklet can compete on equal terms against Maidie, her sole surviving Edwardian rival, for the first time in 114 years. Sparklet’s origins date back to 1905 when the Broadland regatta circuit was dominated by the large racing yachts of the A & B Classes. They were built to cutting-edge designs by some of the area’s finest craftsmen for the sole purpose, aside the pleasure of sailing them,…

In September 1938, New England was hit by a massive hurricane which killed nearly 700 people and destroyed almost 60,000 homes. It was, of course, far less consequential that it also wrecked over 3,000 boats. One of these, a Colin Archer-designed gaff cutter called Escape which had been built in 1890, would result in a significant chapter of yachting history. Escape was owned by Llewellyn Howland who, in 1926, had established Concordia Company Inc – a builder and marine services business originally based in Boston before moving to Fairhaven, Massachusetts – before handing the company over to his son Waldo and successful racing sailor Ray Hunt six years later. It is said that when he first saw the wreck of his beloved Escape, Llewellyn declared that he would never sail…

The Melonseed skiff is simultaneously a very old and wonderfully new craft: a 13ft 6in (4.1m) cat-rigged skiff, designed almost 150 years ago, indigenous to the US east coast. Its rabidly loyal fans – they identify as Melonheads – love its beautiful lines, simple and classic rig, easy launching and fun sailing. It’s surprisingly stable in strong winds for a small boat and has built-in auxiliary power; if the wind dies, you just break out the oars and row. The original Melonseed was designed in the 1880s by duck hunters to handle both the protected shallow marshes and rough open waters of the coastal mid-Atlantic. For a while, this working watercraft was a Goldilocks solution: not too big, not too small, not too deep; but fast, nimble and tough. Just…

There’s no calling like the sailor’s for rich vocabulary. So many of our day-to-day phrases have passed into the universal vernacular that we’ve lost count. ‘Three sheets to the wind’, ‘taken aback’, ‘between wind and water’ the list goes on. Some phrases are more specific. At a hustings in our town recently the main protagonist was ‘brought up all standing’ by a shrewd heckler. I suppose you could say he’d ‘run into a brick wall’, but it’s not the same. The image of the noble ship piling onto a submerged reef with the topmast backstays parting and the whole rig collapsing over the bows comprehensively trumps the idea of a motor car spreading itself over the stonework. Some sailor-talk never reaches the man in the street, however. Last week I…

STANLEY 220 PLANE Hand tools carried to the boat for unexpected repairs and inspired mid-season modifications may have to meet different criteria to their shed-based counterparts, perhaps to fit a bicycle basket or be carried on public transport without unsettling fellow passengers, not to mention work unhampered by their own size and weight in the confines of a tiny fo’c’sle or cockpit. So, the tenon saw stands in for a less wieldy rip or cross-cut, the egg-beater drill for an elbows-out brace and bit, and the compact block plane for a bulky No 4 or jack. Incredibly, the Stanley No 220 block plane remains in production 125 years since first listed in the company’s catalogue. Seen alongside similarly long-lived models – the No 9½ and low-angle No 60½ in particular…

Slicing a classic Italian wooden Riva Aquarama down the middle to turn it into a nautically themed wet bar would certainly save on fuel bills, but would do little to increase its value or improve your social standing in polite European society. But that’s not the case in America, where bisecting classic mahogany Chris Crafts to turn them into a talking point also massively multiplies value. This craze reached new peaks recently when half a 1948 Chris Craft 17ft (5.18m) Deluxe Runabout sold for $240,000. Assuming the other half were to sell for the same sum that would add up to $480,000. And that that certainly raises the bar, considering that few complete and intact Chris Craft 17 Deluxe Runabouts command more than $40,000, or one-twelfth of the money. Taste…

Frantz Liuzzi, in addition to being a great champion, always designed and built his boats individually for a demanding clientele. This Lido model from 1964 has been lovingly restored as a tribute to this small, extraordinary Parisian boatyard. Embarking on the restoration of a classic mahogany runabout requires a taste for effort. High standards and continuity are allied to a sure sense of beauty in order to respect the legacy of past generations. Coincidence or not, the requirements of a winegrower, as practised by Jean de Roquefeuil, seem very close to this criteria and, having fallen under the spell of this boat’s style, surely helped as he took up the challenge of restoring her. A former operations manager of Château Reissued, a premier grand cru classé of Sauternes, and of…

Those who didn’t live through the 1960s, and some who were there but not all there, tend to date most of the decade by Beatles albums and conflicts in far-off places. The year 1967, for instance, was Sergeant Peppers and the Six-Day War. But of course other things happened too: Sweden, for instance, changed from driving on the left-hand side of the road to driving on the right, a move that involved repainting every road in the country and 350,000 new street signs. But it’s in neighbouring Finland that our story begins, at the Teksoglass shipyard in Hämeenlinna, where a novel boat was in build, one that would go on to win scores of races and found a great marque in yacht-building that is strong to this day. Before the…

RAINBOW The ultimate SOT? Rainbow needs little introduction. A replica of the famous 1934 J-Class designed by William Starling Burgess, she was launched in 2012 by the Holland Jachtbouw shipyard, winning many awards. Her modern Spirit of Tradition build includes innovative hybrid propulsion allied to a luxurious art deco interior and the kind of exceptional racing performance you expect from this hull. This 131ft (40m) yacht kept to the original ‘J’ plans, while incorporating modern materials to enhance her performance. With her carbon mast and boom, carbon fibre standing rigging and optimised hull, she offers exceptional racing performance, while being suitable for smooth cruising. Accommodation is for six to eight guests and as many crew. The interior, designed by deVosdeVries, pays homage to the 1930s, appointed with mahogany panelling, light…

Things can move pretty slowly on the banks of the River Deben. As we visited Woodbridge Boatyard (formerly Eversons) in the late afternoon light of yet another perfect spring day, yard manager Matt Lis was on hand for a tour of the yard. One thing he talks about are the delightful little clinker Orford 10 dinghies, a class of perhaps just 10 boats, but still keenly raced, some of them by owners in their 70s and 80s who have been racing each other since the age of 12! There’s one in the small boat shed, ready to emerge after winter, but another one that was built as a rowing version of the same (the Orford 10 has a single lug sail and daggerboard). It was a lucky find for a…

The curlew’s cry and the seagull’s screech are the pleas of a lonesome wanderer’s tortured soul, but there is no sound in nature as woebegone, mournful and miserable as the anguished moan of the solitary and stormbound marina mariner, condemned to pace wobbly pontoons in the eternal purgatory of a nether world between land and sea. To be fair, the pontoons in Ipswich dock aren’t the least wobbly, as each finger has at least 480 stainless screws securing the 37 hard wood slats. With 56 fingers and the walkways in between that amounts to 1,735,642 screws, although at least three are missing. This is just one of the many fascinating facts that any practically-minded sailor will discover if you’re marina-bound for four days by summer gales and with patchy internet.…