They’re in danger of becoming devalued, and if you suspect I am referring to the old, small, wooden boat I am trying to pass on to new ‘custodian’ and that I’m using this column shamelessly to push the Vertues [sic] of classic boat ownership, as my old friend Roger Robinson claims, you’d be right.

Seems like the bottom is falling out of little wooden boats, so to speak, for reasons I can imagine, but cannot fully understand. Why would one not aspire to be the guardian of a fine collection of firmly fastened lengths of timber, of the quality boatbuilders can only dream of these days? Why would one not want to spend hours with a scraper, sandpaper and finally – after many hours – a varnish brush of finest badger bristle every spring? Why, lastly, would anyone prefer to be polishing a white wall of fading glassfibre, a slave to the latest miracle gel, guaranteed to restore the shine to even the most jaded of hulls?

I have seen at first hand the effort, cost and skill needed to have your glassfibre hull cut and polished by a professional, compared to the simple, quick pleasure of applying a top coat of Hempel’s Polar White to a wooden topside. It also takes a lot longer than you think; sprucing up glassfibre, that is.

I’ve long banished any thought of perfection when it comes to looking after an 87-year-old five-tonner. Life is too short. Leave that to the crew of those mighty Fifes poncing about the Mediterranean regattas, pampered under umpteen coats of Epiphanes, and every surface swathed in the winter with bespoke canvas. What satisfaction you get from working on your own boat comes from knowing every inch of her. At the risk of repeating myself, it is only when you have cast your hand all over her bottom that you can truly feel bonded with this extraordinary, precious maritime artefact that might, if you are intrepid enough, still take you safely around the world, to the admiration of all. Or if less intrepid, down channel to Falmouth where, I can guarantee you will find those who will ask you the age-old question: “What is she?” followed by: “She’s very pretty.” Followed by: “I bet she’s a lot of work”, to which you reply: “Well actually, no.”

But they won’t believe you. Wooden boat owners are at risk of losing the battle to convince the sceptical. The future belongs to a material that promised to be indestructible and unlike most promises, turns out to be true. That picturesque fishing boat on the shore, paint flaking, whose ribs and a section of deck are providing endless photo opportunities, will in a few years have all but disappeared into the mud leaving just a few Instagram-worthy bones reaching poignantly into the sky.

Meanwhile, that abandoned 1970s cruising yacht, brown-stained and growing mould, head lining peeling, will be the subject of endless town council meetings as to how to contact the owner or find someone to buy or dispose of it, without harming the environment. This is a tough ask. Your little old wooden boat is quite content to retire into the mud, her lead keel and every scrap of bronze long since looted by the ever-present gang of mudlarks or vultures, aka wooden boat owners, on the lookout for that rare Simpson Lawrence windlass or galvanised bottle screw. And there she will lie, possibly to catch the eye of a penniless dreamer, whose hopeless ambition will be to restore her or, more likely, the lens of a wandering photographer, Canonius peregrinus, whose brooding composition will win second prize in Practical Photographer, or even, dare I say Classic Boat, because romantic shots of deteriorating wrecks are always popular, as are whitewashed croft houses (or Highland cows) in the windows of Highland art galleries.

The only hope then, for those looking to pass on their irreplaceable boat – well, not for less than £100,000 or more, if you can find the timber – is to let them go for a song, to one of a dwindling band of kindred spirits, someone who will appreciate what they have and, one hopes, be as adept as you have been to lay on another coat of varnish next spring.

Show Me More:

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The post Is Owning a Wooden Boat Worth It? Adrian Morgan’s Classic Boat appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

Phil Cotton first dipped his toe into the world of classic boats in 2019 when he bought an 8-ton Gauntlet called Nausikaa which had been built by Berthon Boat Co in 1939. Having started sailing as a child, he soon developed a taste for racing fast dinghies such as 505s, and then multihulls including Dart 18s when he married his wife Miranda, a Formula 18 twin-wire catamaran, a Sea Cart 30 carbon fibre trimaran, and a Diam 24 trimaran (a French boat which he helped to establish as a one-design class on the Hamble River). He had always “enjoyed the look of a classic boat” but, even though he realised that Nausikaa would be “totally the other end of the spectrum” to his previous boats, he soon found that she was “too slow and too small” for the cruising and classic boat regattas that he had planned to do. 

He also found that the cost of Nausikaa’s maintenance was “a bit prohibitive” and so he decided to look for a boat that looked classic but was built of GRP, particularly bearing in mind that classic boat regattas are increasingly welcoming such boats. Then, towards the end of 2021 he saw a Cal 40 called Breeze – at that time owned by Robbie Boulter – advertised in Seahorse magazine. 

Cal 40s were built by the Jensen Marine Corporation in Costa Mesa, California. The company had been founded in 1954 by an engineer called Jack Jensen who began to work with the yacht designer Charles William “Bill” Lapworth. Their first collaboration was the Cal 24, a centreboard sloop, and this was followed by the Cal 30 and Cal 28. The first Cal 40s were built in 1963 and they soon established an impressive record in ocean races, including overall wins in two SORCs and three Transpac Races, and five of the first six places in their class in the 1966 Bermuda Race. “No great performer in light air,” according to the Encyclopaedia of Yacht Designers, “she was powerful in medium winds and unbeatable in heavy air downwind, owing to her ability to surf for long periods of time.” About 120 Cal 40s were built in total – “Cals were the Westerlys of the USA,” said Robbie – and amongst well known sailors who owned and raced them were Stan and Sally Honey, Ted Turner and Dennis Connor. 

The Honeys bought their Cal 40, Illusion, second-hand in 1988. They initially intended to go cruising “but old habits die hard so we mostly raced,” said Stan. They amassed an impressive series of results including setting the singlehanded Transpac record in 1994 (Stan), the Pacific Cup overall in 1996 (Stan and Sally sailing doublehanded), and 2nd in class in the 2005 Transpac (Sally with an all-female crew). “We’ve found that Illusion is a terrific boat to race shorthanded, mostly because the Cal 40 has such ‘nice manners’,” said Stan. After an intense period of racing (including racing to Hawaii five times) they eventually went cruising in 2014 and over the next few years they visited the Sea of Cortez, mainland Mexico, Central America, the Western Caribbean and Florida. In 2022, after taking part in the Newport Bermuda Race, they sold Illusion to Stan’s nephew. “We’re delighted that Illusion remains in our family,” he said. 

Breeze was built in 1967. Her first owners were Frank and Virginia Bedford who trucked her from her builders over to their home in Chesapeake; next, from 1971, came brothers Crosby and John Hitchcock who sailed her from Marblehead for 25 years; and her last American owners were John and Marianne Barsomian who kept her in South Bristol, Maine to which they had retired. 

Robbie (from Fareham in Hampshire) had first become aware of the Cal 40 when he took part in the Bermuda Race in 2006 and was impressed when one of them finished not far behind the Swan 46 on which he was sailing. A few years later he decided to look for one with a view to a purchase. After finding one in Greece (“a bit of a wreck”) and another in the USA (“I think she had fallen off her cradle”), he came across Breeze. He flew to the USA to look at her and found that “she was largely presented in original condition” and “a big plus was she had always been an east coast boat and hadn’t ‘baked’ in the Californian sun or indeed in the Mediterranean.” 

In June 2012, he purchased her. Concerns about her rudder bearings dissuaded him from sailing her across the Atlantic and so after he and two friends took her to Newport via the Cape Cod Canal, she was shipped to Sheerness and then sailed to the Hamble. 

Almost immediately, Robbie took Breeze to David Heritage in Cowes for an extensive refit (David had previously built a new Mills 37 for Robbie so they knew each other well). Work included significant upgrades to the deck equipment such as new Andersen stainless steel winches, Spinlock deck controls and clutches, Schaefer jib tracks and cars, Harken mainsail track and car, and Lewmar portlights and hatches. Furthermore, Breeze benefitted from a new Eurospars aluminium mast (with an increased height of about half a metre for IRC optimisation), boom, spinnaker pole and jockey pole; the deck and coachroof were repainted, and the worrisome rudder bearings were replaced by new Jefa needle bearings along with a new carbon rudder and stock. Four years later she had a new Beta 35hp engine and Maxprop. 

During his ownership Robbie raced Breeze occasionally including two Fastnet Races (a class win in 2013, and 6th in class in the windy 2019 race when she also won the RORC’s ‘Iolaire Block’ Trophy for being the oldest yacht to finish); third places in two other RORC races, to Dieppe and Guernsey; and a class victory and winner of the Concours d’Elegance for the Best Presented GRP Yacht at the inaugural Hamble Classics regatta in 2016. Robbie also regularly cruised her along the English south coast and visited the west coast of Ireland in 2015. 

Since retiring as a chartered accountant at the age of 57 in 2015, Phil Cotton has taken on various voluntary roles, including, for the past eight years, that of World Sailing’s audit committee chairman (“I get to meet my heroes,” he said). But with more time on his hands it clearly made sense for him to have another boat, after Nausikaa, that could be cruised as well as raced, so after he saw the Breeze advertisement in 2021, he agreed to buy her from Robbie. It wasn’t long before he realised that she “ticked all the boxes” not least because she “sails beautifully, is well balanced, and is a rocket ship downwind.”

Phil lives in Poole and so he used local company Traditional Shipwrights Services to do the maintenance work on Nausikaa, and he now takes Breeze there too. “I’m not sure if they look after many GRP boats,” said Phil, “but I think there is enough wood on her to keep them interested. They do a cracking job.” So far they have only really needed to carry out cosmetic work such as the hull paint and the brightwork, but a new Brookes & Gatehouse Zeus 3 system has also been installed. 

Phil has raced Breeze with various friends in the Round the Island race and several classic boat regattas including Cowes Spring Classics and Hamble Classics, and at some point in the future they hope to make their way further west to take part in similar events in Dartmouth, Fowey and Falmouth. At Cowes Spring Classics this year Breeze put in an inauspicious performance. After essential work on the rig in Poole took longer than expected she arrived too late to take part in either of the races on Saturday, and she retired from the Sunday morning race in a dying breeze when Phil decided that exiting the Needles Channel with a favourable tide to allow a more enjoyable return to Poole was a priority. 

But with the British Classic Yacht Club now welcoming selected GRP boats to its regatta, Breeze was back in Cowes again in July. Although her results were, again unspectacular, Phil and his crew had a great time. After breaking their spinnaker pole in the second race they received several offers of help from fellow competitors and were up and running the next day. “It was an amazing experience to be amongst such beautiful and cherished yachts both on the race course and on the dock for the various pontoon parties,” said Phil. “The racing was close and competitive but ashore there is tremendous camaraderie and support. If the BCYC continue to invite classic GRP yachts we’ll definitely be back next year.”

Stats

LOA 39ft 4”

LWL 30ft 4”

Beam 11ft

Draft 5ft 7”

Displacement 7 tonnes 

Show Me More:

• 6 of the best classic yachts for sale
• Classic Yachts for Sale: Two Remarkable Boats on the Market
• Boat Design & No Need for Ugly Boats: Tom Cunliffe’s Column

The post Finding a Low Maintenance Classic Boat: Phil Cotton’s Cal 40 appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

Here’s two beautiful classic yachts for sale, just to cast your eye over… because why not?

Classic Yachts for Sale: Peel Castle

Peel Castle is a 50’ ex fishing lugger built in Porthleven, Cornwall in 1929.

Under the same ownership for the last 25 years she has undergone extensive renovation during that time and was converted to a three masted standing lug rig. This eyecatching rig allows for short handed sailing and she has cruised extensively, including Greece, the Azores and the Outer Hebrides. Her generous accommodation lends itself well to large groups for extended cruising and events and would suit the charter or sail cargo industry, having a registered tonnage certificate of 7.2 tons.

A very comfortable live-aboard with beautiful craftsmanship, she is currently afloat in West Cork, Ireland on her own mooring. With a new solid deck, engine and rig overhaul and recent haulout (including some new planking above the water, caulking, fresh anodes and antifoul), she’s for sale and awaits a new owner.

Learn more about Peel Castle

Contact Graham Bailey: ghambailey@yahoo.ie or 00 353 86 085 7067

Or check out Peel Castle on facebook 

Classic Yachts for Sale: Musketeer II

Musketeer II is a one-off Masthead Sloop designed by Alan Pape built by Curtis & Pape. In her 42 years of ownership, she has proven to be a classic and formidable racer. During the 1980’s & 90’s she achieved four 1st places and one 2nd in the West Bristol Channel Race, Fastnet 1989 2nd in class. 1St Place in 1996 Escale dans les Charentais (La Rochelle to Rochefort) and placed in the Round Ireland and European Cup (Brighton to Puerto Sherry).

Since 1996 she has been cruised extensively around the UK, Ireland, and Brittany. The 2021 Survey is a testament to her current Skipper/Owner.

Learn more about Musketeer II

Contact: Nikki Bowen at neyland@yachths.co or 07484079256

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• Dave Selby’s Confession: Secret Blackwater Sloop

The post Two Classic Yachts for Sale: Wooden Boats on the Market appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

Thinking of Buying a Smaller Yacht?

It is a truth universally acknowledged that… the smaller the [wooden] boat the greater the pleasure, and I would add, just as important, far less of a chore to fit out. It takes time enough to sand, fill, prime and paint Sally’s topsides, then I look to my right where stands, propped up in the yard, a yacht not many feet longer than my modest 25 footer, and I thank goodness for small boats. Z4s, Hillyards, Debens of various kinds, et al, the list is long.

Those hardy souls who camp in dinghies under ingenious tents, heating their rations on portable gas stoves, get even more of my admiration. It’s great to be invited aboard a big wooden classic, and I treasure my time racing the McGruer Kelana, or squatting on the aft deck of Moonbeam, but would not envy her owners the task of maintaining them every year to the highest standards. That’s like grooming an elephant, when all you really have the energy for is to stroke a kitten. One is exhausting, the other is relaxing. Up to a point.

I reckon 25ft is about as much as one person can maintain, allowing a day for each of the annual chores. A day to sand the topsides, another to strip the varnish, one to antifoul, and so on. Sally comes into that category, but even so, after a week which begins with despair at the task facing me, then satisfaction in seeing the work list slowly shrink, towards the final push to complete all by the time the yard want to launch her, I have lost much of the enthusiasm and just want to see her floating to her waterline again at her mooring in Loggie Bay, a spit opposite the yard where she has been for a couple of weeks.

That 34 footer alongside Sally is more like a three- or four-day per chore boat, and I would not want to be the one to have to tackle the towering wall of gleaming white enamel every few years. Besides, you’d need staging, not the wooden ladder up and down which I clambered these past weeks. And I can just about reach much of Sally’s topsides from the ground, and the higher bits by standing on a few keel blocks placed around her. 

Adding a few feet to a boat’s length increases the work at fitting out exponentially. I used to long for the day when, flushed with cash from a series of best selling nautical murder mysteries I could scribble a list of what needed doing and let the experts at the yard get on with it. I would write cheques, and appear at launching. In fact last year I tentatively asked if anyone might be free to lay on a perfect coat of Hempel’s Polar White, as I’ve seen the difference between my efforts and those of a professional. I was once given a badger haired – I think it was, or perhaps Madagascan squirrel – laying off brush, something I’d not come across before, by a painter of superyachts. Apparently you apply the paint, then quickly caress the surface with the fine. I tried it once, but never again. It’s hard enough to keep a wet edge without stopping to caress what you’ve just achieved with the neck fluff of an exotic creature. Nope, Sally’s topsides are again this year flawless… from a distance, and that’s the way they will stay, until a new owner familiar with the techniques of laying on brushes, and (the correct) thinners takes her on.

Don’t get me wrong; maintaining a small wooden yacht as best you can, given sunny days and plenty of time is a vital and mostly pleasurable component of ownership. Once a year you get the chance to pore over every inch of her, stroke her flanks intimately in a way that is more akin to the grooming rituals of the animal world. For fleas, read flaking paint and tangles, small divots. And this year, annus mirabilis, I may finally have managed to achieve what I am hoping will be the perfect waterline. Hoping, as she has yet to be launched as I write this. After nearly thirty years of ownership, perhaps this time…

Show Me More:

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The post Advantages of Owning Smaller Yachts: Adrian Morgan’s Boat Scale appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

The Old-fashioned Chandlers

I wonder when you last visited your local chandlers? In your dreams it may still be a place of romance manned by a chap, probably of a certain age, wearing a brown overall. As you walk in and step onto the scrubbed planks, your senses are assailed by the scents of the ancient kingdoms of the sea. Pungent Stockholm tar, the creamy aroma of fresh cotton sailcloth, a whiff of paraffin, sweet beeswax and an indefinable dustiness, all set off with a faint hint of distant mildew. Behind the wooden counter scarred by a million knife-scores, sit phalanxes of small drawers containing screws sold individually, by the dozen, or by the pound. Copper nails with roves that fit are racked up above them with smaller-sized fastenings alongside. Coach bolts, ring-bolts and the rest can be produced from the mysterious depths of a back room. Canvas sea anchors hang from the rafters and a shelf in the corner is replete with dark blue, cut-necked fisherman’s smocks to suit all sizes going up from ‘large’. The list goes on, with iron fids, sailmaker’s palms that sit comfortably on your thumb, thimbles galvanized or bronze depending on the depth of your pocket, and so on. If you find such an emporium you are blessed indeed. For most of us, the purchase of some decent screws involves an internet search where, should you be as lucky as I was on eBay not so long ago, you will find a description reading, ‘2 doz 2½ in. bronze No 10s in box. Not shiny. Made in Birmingham when Britain still had an empire. The best you’ll ever see.’

Chandlers Losing the Charm

I took a chance and hit ‘Buy now.’ They turned up exactly as advertised, but the buying experience wasn’t quite what it was when I used to frequent the yard stores in what was then Moody’s at the top of the Hamble River. Back in the day, Moody’s ran a smart chandlery that sat snugly by the main marina walkway, so you couldn’t miss it even if you wanted to. It was a harbinger of what is now the norm, with racks of sailing wear that make the wallet weep, light bulbs in shrink-wrapped packets, rope on reels and peg-boards offering stainless fastenings or small shackles in pre-packed plastic bags. If you wanted fifteen screws, you were obliged to buy two packs because they came with ten in a bag and ‘we can’t break the packs…’ To be fair, like its better modern equivalents, this shop was also good on antifouling and epoxy kits. The assistants did their best too, and it served the modern sailor well enough. For me and my pals with traditional boats, it was next to hopeless. 

One Saturday morning I’d gone into the chandlers looking for a small can of a specific paint to touch up my topsides. I remember exactly what it was. It was ‘International Green 175’. The sort of colour favoured by the Owl and the Pussycat for their cruise under the stars. The chandlers didn’t have it, but the excellent young man behind the till took me to one side. I knew him. He worked in the yard during the week and understood about sailors of the classic persuasion with lightweight purses.

It’s Not What You Know…

‘You’re wasting your time in here,’ he said confidentially. ‘Why don’t you nip down to the yard stores in the sheds by Debtors’ Jetty. They’re there on Saturday until noon when everyone knocks off. It’s not for customers, but the management isn’t around today and nobody will notice. Pop in and see if old John can help you. He might look intimidating, but he’s got a heart of gold.’

As it happened I lived on my boat halfway down the jetty in question and I’d seen ‘old John’ going about his business. He was a retired regimental sergeant major and was not a man to trifle with. He scared me silly, but armed with this new intelligence and in desperate need, I went down to try my luck.

I’d never been in the stores before and when I stepped inside and the wonderful smell hit me, I knew that even if they didn’t have Green 175 I’d struck gold. Old John looked me up and down. He’d seen me around too and probably already had my number. 

‘Good morning Sah!’ he began. ‘And what can we do for you today, Sah?’

I explained my predicament, knowing full well I shouldn’t be in there. John raised his eyes to the vaulted roof. Then he looked down at his polished boots and sucked his teeth. 

‘Well Sah, we do ’ave Green 175, but we don’t use them small tins ’ere. Let me see what’s on the shelf.’ And he disappeared behind a tongue-and groove bulkhead, soon to reappear bearing an unopened half-gallon can of the right stuff that would last me through the next decade if I lived that long.  

‘As it ’appens, Sah, the yard’s been using this large can but as you see, they ’ave not used much.’ With this, he picked up a screwdriver from his bench and popped the can lid open. As he tapped it back down again, he went on, ‘Why don’t you take it Sah, and ’ave what you need. You can bring it back on Monday when things are quiet.’

I did as I was told and I was at his door with my paint can at 0700 on Monday morning when the siren went for work to begin. John lifted the lid and peered inside. He saw I’d used about an inch off the top.

‘Not really worth saving now is it Sah,’ he said with a twinkle. ‘If I was you, I’d take it away and dispose of it as you think fit. It’s no use to us any more.’  

And so I had all the topside paint I’d ever need. Now, there was a real chandler. I think old John had enjoyed seeing me right as much as I enjoyed not having to pay a penny.

Tom Cunliffe’s Podcast

Want to hear more tips, tricks and musings? Listen to Tom Cunliffe’s Podcast.

Show Me More:

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• Dave Selby’s Confession: Secret Blackwater Sloop

The post How Chandlers Have Changed: The New Age with Tom Cunliffe appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

Classics on the Market

Whether you’re a serious buyer or ‘just looking’ these classic boats are too beautiful to miss. From Bermudan Fractional rigged sloop cruiser-racers to Dale Classics, these boats are in top condition and won’t be on the market for long…

Classic Boat Buyer’s Advice

Are you a first time buyer, or in need of some expert buyer’s advice? Why not take a look at:

• Our guide to planing craft designs, to help you navigate your way through the ever evolving the motorboat market…
• Dave Selby’s advice on how to actually make money from buying wooden boats.
• Our Editor’s top tips on how to buy a classic or wooden boat…

Serif 

Vertue No 28 built by Cardnells Bros. Maylandsea Essex in 1948.

Price £12,500

Specs and more info on this classic boat

Contact:

07762017204

jmsuter1@icloud.com

Glendhu

Bermudan Fractional rigged sloop cruiser-racer designed by Alfred Milne, built and launched in 1950.

Price £25,000

Specs and more info on this classic boat 

Contact: 

020 7389 1900

D.Cavanagh@kemmanagement.co.uk

Withy

24′ Gaff Cutter built by Elkins of Christchurch circa 1934. 

Price £14,995

Specs and more info on this classic boat 

Contact:

01243 512101

info@rbsmarine.com

Valegro

DALE Classic 37 – virtually as new. 

Price £815,000

Specs and more info about this classic boat

Contact:

07879481717

mike@dalenelson.co.uk

Morwen

32ft wooden motor cruiser built in 1965 at Conwy.

Price £29,500

Specs and more info on this classic boat 

Contact:

07866705181

win@staryachts.co.uk

Morning Wood 

Mahogany Hoskins Barrelback 19, built in 2020.

Price: £69,950 ono

Specs and more info on this classic boat 

Contact:

07501 954 949

tom@tkmarine.co.uk

Classic Boats for Sale: Still Looking?

Take a look at more classic boats on the Market.

Show Me More:

• Classic Yachts for Sale: Two Remarkable Boats on the Market
• ‘True’ Vs Technology: Adrian Morgan on Sailing Gadgets
• Dave Selby’s Confession: Secret Blackwater Sloop

The post 6 Beautiful Classic Boats for Sale: Wooden Boats on the Market appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

Planing

A planing craft is a far more recent development, than displacement or semi-displacement boats. A flat or vee-bottomed hull with the bottom lines running straight and parallel create hydrodynamic lift, letting the boat skim, or plane, easily over the surface of water. These are the fastest of all powered vessels, but that speed comes with many limitations, the first being size. As the planing surface increases, the weight of the craft it must lift into the air increases arithmetically, so for large craft, planing becomes increasingly difficult. Fuel economy is the worst of the three main types, particularly at low speed, when the large immersed transom is dragged through the water. Then there is the slamming: any waves take on the feel of concrete as a boat jumps over waves and slams down into troughs, placing a strain on vessel and passengers alike. It’s fun for a short blast, but not feasible for cruising. In short, the planing craft sacrifices almost everything for speed. The extreme trade-off makes sense more often than you might assume. On lakes and sheltered waters, planing boats can be supremely elegant and smooth-riding and various larger, offshore planing craft have proven their seaworthiness in racing.

Planing Craft: CMB4R

Design John Thornycroft
Build Volunteers at Boathouse 4
LOD 40ft (12.2m)
Power Single 430hp diesel
historicdockyard.co.uk

It’s hardly the sort of thing you’re going to buy, but it would be remiss not to include one of the most stunning and interesting boats built since our last guide. CMB4R is a replica of the Coastal Motorboat 4, one of a series of fast torpedo boats built in wood for the First World War. What makes CMB4R interesting (other than the fact she exists at all), is the fact she has been engined not just to look original, but to perform as original. This replica antique will hit 34 knots.

Spirit P35EF

Design Sean McMillan
Build Spirit Yachts
LOD 35ft (10.7m)
Power Electric
spirityachts.com

It’s possible that you are looking at the future here and if you are, you read it in CB first. Spirit’s 35ft timber-built foiler, built in association with BAR technologies to a ‘rum runner’ style, foils at speeds of over 30 knots with an unprecedented range of 100 miles at 20 knots. This planing craft recently slashed the electric record for rounding the Isle of Wight (51 miles) to just under two hours. It had been about eight hours.

Fairey Huntsman

Design Alan Burnard
Build Fairey Marine
LOD: 28ft (8.5m)
Power: Twin 200hp Perkins diesels

syharbour.co.uk

Much has been written about the legend of Fairey Marine over the years, not least in this magazine. Their racing success and appearance in the chase scene in From Russia with Love have made them true icons of post-war Britain. These days, Fairey motorboats (particularly the 28ft Huntsman) have exploded back into popularity, and Suffolk Yacht Harbour has become the restoration hub. Owners enjoy the near-40kt top speed and seaworthiness.

Hood 42LM

Design CW Hood Yacht Design
Build Lyman-Morse Boatbuilding
LOD 38ft 8in (11.8m)
Power Twin Volvo Penta D6 (440hp each)
lymanmorse.com, cwhoodyachts.com

It’s just a drawing – so far. But hull number one is now in build in cold-moulded timber at the Lyman Morse yard in Maine. If the previous two have been anything to go by, this will be worth waiting for. The 57 was one of the most stunning looking motor yachts of recent years (like this one but with a bright finished hull), and the 35 was a technical marvel. This will do 39 knots flat out and cruise at 30. Going that fast rarely looks so good.

Show Me More:

• • Motorboat Market Guide: Top Semi-Displacement Craft Designs
  • ‘True’ Vs Technology: Adrian Morgan on Sailing Gadgets
  • Top Classic Motorboat Designs on Market: Displacement Craft

The post Planing Craft Buyer’s Guide: The Motorboat Market appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

Motorboat Designs: Displacement Craft

Displacement craft are the oldest of all vessels, dating back to when the first man sat astride a log. The maximum speed of a displacement vessel is limited by its wave-making: at maximum speed its transverse wave length will equal that of its waterline with a crest at the bow and a crest at the stern.

To increase its speed it needs to increase the wave length but is unable to push the stern wave further aft and is locked in the trough between the crests. This is called hull speed. In knots, it is 1.34 times the square root of the hull length in feet. So a yacht with 25ft of waterline will top out at 6 knots. Displacement hulls can exceed hull speed by reducing weight and waterline beam, but for a boat with any accommodation, hull speed remains a good guide to performance.

These days, displacement boats are generally used on inland waterways, where pottering – often enforced by a speed limit – is the order of the day; and for the blue-water cruising. In both instances, the qualities of a displacement craft remain undiminished: fuel economy is the best out of the three hull types, meaning a smaller engine, more tankage and longer range. This shape is also best for comfort and internal volume.

JORVIK

Sandy Miller delves into this English, mid-20th-century, displacement motor cruiser, which has become perhaps the most recognisable type in the classic motorboat renaissance.

Not long after VE day, W. Rowland Ingle made the 1 mile trip along the Gare Loch from Silver’s yard at Rosneath to McGruer & Co Ltd at Clynder for the purchase of his next boat, Jorvik, a 42′ twin-screw motor yacht. He was already the owner of a Silver 30′ Silverette and James McGruer might seem a strange choice given his reputation for sailing yachts, but the answer may well lie with his son Douglas. Douglas had been in Combined Operations on a Landing Craft Tank (LCT), and was part of the initial D Day Operation Overlord assault. Grandson Matthew Ingle is certain that his father wanted to apply these experiences to a new design: “Jorvik has a strange bridge deck like nothing else you’ve ever seen, until you see a photograph of my father on his landing craft tank, the LCT 455. It’s almost exactly the same arrangement”. One might also note that during the wars McGruers produced military craft, including 110 foot HAM class minesweepers and high speed 72 foot MLs.

Matthew tells us that after life on an LCT, Douglas wanted a central, outside bridge position, high up with a clear view of the entire boat and surrounds, both fore and aft. On a gentleman’s yacht of 1950, this was radically ahead of its time. Restorations are now adding external helms, and twin positions are commonplace on new builds, but this was very unusual mid-twentieth century, in the same way that outside seating was not the fashion. Silver’s John Bain was renowned for his high quality motor yachts but they tended to be more ‘off-the-shelf’ classes such as the Silverette and Silver Leaf. It seems likely that the forward-thinking Ingles went in search of a designer who would incorporate their innovations.  

Jorvik was launched in 1951 as a fast and capable cabin cruiser, albeit with a slightly menacing torpedo-boat style glare (!), completing her maiden voyage from the Clyde to Scarborough via the Forth & Clyde canal in just 20 hours non-stop. Douglas Ingle was aboard and was delighted with her handling. She was kept at the Naburn Marina in York, where W. Rowland was commodore of the Naburn Yacht club. During the 50’s and 60’s, she was cruised on the Ouse and Ure, and Matthew Ingle has early memories of great adventures clambering about on the ‘out of bounds’ bridge as a toddler. He also remembers, however, dark cabins, heads banging on low overheads and mother’s exclamation of “awful” at the tiny heads being opposite the galley! 

Fast forward to the turn of the millennium. The boat is no longer part of the Ingle family and Matthew is very busy turning the Howdens business that he started from nothing into the multi-billion pound company that it is today. He sees her, however, in Scotland and says to himself that one day he’ll buy her back. Fast forward again to Covid in 2020. He’s newly retired at home and hears the fateful words: “You need a project” from his wife. He rings Classic Yacht Brokerage to learn that she is in a shed at Fambridge on the Crouch in Essex, possibly for sale, and is put in touch with John Buckley of Harbour Marine Services in Suffolk. 

Matthew has had a lifelong love of timber and is a strong believer that the creative process starts with getting the right people involved. Gentlemen’s yachts are part of Harbour Marine Services’ identity, and big name restorations such as Saunders Roe boats Magyar, Gralian and Maimonde, Silver yachts Chinda, Meridies and Kingfisher and Dunkirk Little Ships Wanda and Lazy Days have all been through the yard (among many others). 

Together John and Matthew make the trip to Fambridge on a bleak and foggy day to find Jorvik in a rather desperate state. They are able to see each other through the hull to discuss the project, which seems appropriate given the Covid protocols. “I felt it was my duty as a family member to do something with her. If anyone was going to put a match to her and if anyone was going to save her it was going to be me” says Matthew.

In the late spring of 2020, John was tasked with cutting her back to bare bones to evaluate. The initial task was repairing the water ingress damage created by a leaky deck. 3/4’s of the oak frames were replaced and although some original larch planking remained at the canoe stern, about 75% was re-planked in iroko. New larch beam shelves, deck beams and carlins were fitted, and a ply deck sheathed in West cloth was then topped with teak covering boards and a swept teak deck, described by Matthew as a work of art. 

From the outset, Matthew had a vision of what he wanted, albeit a slightly blurry one, and much of the head-scratching was how to get there. Mathew is a self-proclaimed fair-weather sailor: (“If it’s raining, we don’t go”) and didn’t plan to spend long periods on the boat. The original dark and cramped saloon and state room, difficult access to the interior, lack of outside seating, tiny heads opposite the galley, low overheads and general feeling of being trapped below were not part of his plans. If he was to go through all the heart-ache and expense of such a project he didn’t want a dark cabin cruiser, he wanted a light and airy dayboat with facilities and accommodation for over-nighting.         

The first decision was to bring the engines aft under the wheelhouse (the helm controls were removed but can easily be put back). This would allow space for new heads, sink and shower between the wheelhouse and the forepeak, which would be kept as accommodation. The creative process involved some trial and error, and Matthew was driving down from Yorkshire fortnightly. During one 3-day brainstorming session, John recalls fitting some ‘sexy’ curves to the bridge surrounds in ply as a trial and chuckles: “all it needed was a horse on the foredeck and you’d have a Roman chariot”! They reverted to the original design but this session produced an ingenious coachroof just forward of the wheelhouse to stop any head banging in the shower and heads, and a dramatic decision to cut away the aft end of the cabin, effectively consigning the state room to history.

This would create a cockpit for outside seating. A bench would also be added just aft of the bridge to allow more people ‘up top’. The cockpit is perhaps the highlight of this restoration. The design was left alone for a couple of months whilst the re-planking was completed and the engines were fitted, but one morning John had the idea for a curved and tilted backrest, to juxtapose the canoe stern, and when he tried the ply model it all fitted into place perfectly. Solid 5mm strips of teak were laminated, clamped and twisted with staggered joins to create the right angle for a back-rest and teak benches were added on either side. The polished result is stunning. From the cockpit, Matthew could then see what he wanted below. Wheelhouse/saloon and saloon/galley bulkheads would be removed to open up the interior and John produced a very neat solution. Highly polished stainless steel support poles (to look like 1950’s chrome) were erected in place of the bulkheads, which equally served as a conduit for the cabling from the new engines up to the bridge.   

The spring of 2021 was full steam ahead at the yard, and Matthew was then able to lorry Jorvik down to Devon to enjoy the summer of 2021. She has since been back to the yard each winter to have the new galley, heads and shower areas completed and interior and exterior varnishing.

Jorvik has not been rebuilt for lengthy cruises through all types of weather, or cosy afternoons in a warm fug down below. She has been re-designed for outside life on the water; a picnic boat with real style and a regal view from her bridge. Matthew plans to have a crew and join her at different points of her travels. Up the Thames from Queenborough to Tower Bridge….the Upper Thames to Henley, back to St Kats for the festival and then down to Cowes for the British Classic Yacht Club Regatta, for example. She is light and airy, with a teak deck and joinery to make wood-lovers swoon. Her bridge is an absolute joy, she handles a swell very comfortably and her gorgeous, curvy cockpit is both practical and will turn heads. Given the restorations his yard has completed, it is also testament to the entire project that John says he has ‘never been happier’ than during his time working on Jorvik. Douglas Cawthorne, author of “The McGruer Lorne Class Yachts: Their History and Architecture”, says of McGruer: “His genius was to use his knowledge of aesthetics in a way that the resulting designs impart a subliminal feeling of life and contained energy”. Matthew has re-imagined Jorvik’s design but, in his words,: “She has kept her soul, and I feel lucky and privileged to have had the chance to bring her back to life”.   

Design and Build: McGruer, 1951

LOD: 42ft (12.8m)

Power: Twin Beta 60hp diesel

Harbourmarine.co.uk

For sale at £195,000 through Sandeman Yacht Company.

MARALA

“The objective has been to be true to the spirit of the vessel, to preserve elements of her past – from both her original era and successive eras – but to bring in new design elements so as not to be captive to it. We wanted a comfortable boat and we wanted a pretty boat.” These were the aspirations of the new American owners of the 1931 Camper & Nicholsons’ motor yacht Marala, and there isn’t any doubt that they have achieved all of that and more. 

Life afloat for the owners began on the Thames when they lived in London with their three small children in the 1990s. Having initially rented a house overlooking the river, they bought a 1909 house boat on which they lived for seven years during which time they “pretty much rebuilt everything.” They then moved to Hong Kong where they owned not one, but two locally-built 1930s boats: Wayfoong and Java which had been built for the Hong Kong & Shanghai Bank and for the marine department of the Hong Kong government.  

The owners “had this little game” which they played with their long-term captain Chris Lawrence (aka Lawrie) whereby they regularly kept an eye out for other yachts for sale and exchanged emails about them. When Lawrie shared the sales details of Marala, it prompted the response: “well that one really is special.” After flying to Greece to look at her, the owner “just fell in love with the boat. I was captivated. So we had a survey which basically said that she’s an old vessel and you’re going to be in trouble if you buy her. And I said ‘yeah, I understand that’ and we bought her.”

Marala was commissioned in 1930 by the aircraft engine and car manufacturer Montague S Napier who already owned Saracen, which had been built as Crusader in 1927 and was the largest yacht built by C&N at that time. Napier’s new yacht was about 20 feet shorter, but unfortunately he would never see her completed as he died in January 1931, just a few weeks before the launch.  

So the yacht was temporarily registered with the name 388 – her C&N build number – and while a new owner was sought, she was extensively described in the yachting press. Yachting World reported, for instance, that “she is a typical Nicholson motor yacht, from her destroyer bow to her cruiser stern, with her upper works so proportioned  that there is no suggestion of top heaviness, in spite of the wonderful extent of her accommodation.”

Towards the end of 1931, she was purchased by the aircraft manufacturer Richard Fairey who named her Evadne. During the course of the 1930s, Fairey would successfully race three sailing yachts with the same design and build pedigree as Evadne: the 12-Metre Flica which had been built for him in 1929, the 1930 J Class Shamrock V which he purchased in 1934, and a new 12-Metre Evaine from 1936. 

Two days after the war broke out in September 1939, Evadne was requisitioned by the British Admiralty and renamed HMS Evadne. She spent the first part of the war escorting convoys in the Irish Sea where she shot down a Luftwaffe Heinkel 111; in July 1943 she escorted a convoy to Bermuda where she remained, mainly on anti-submarine duties, until early the following year; and she was then based in Gibraltar from where she disabled a German submarine which surrendered a couple of days later. After arriving back in Portsmouth in September 1945, she was paid off and then extensively refitted before being returned to the now-knighted Sir Richard Fairey who kept her until 1950.

Evadne was then sold to Richard Reynolds, the son of the founder of the Reynolds Tobacco Company. He renamed her Zapala but he only ever intended to keep her for a year while he was waiting for his own C&N yacht, the 79ft ketch Aries, to be completed. 

With Zapala then on the market again, potential purchaser Arturo Lopez-Willshaw – a Chilean whose family had made their fortune in the guano trade – was given a tour of the yacht by Charles A Nicholson (whose uncle Charles E Nicholson had designed her) at the end of which he said that he liked her very much. A few weeks later, Nicholson phoned him to see if he was interested in taking the matter further. “Oh,” replied Lopez-Willshaw, “I told you I liked her so I presume I had bought her.” He then did so, renamed her Gaviota IV and kept her until his death in 1962. 

The next owner was Robert de Balkany who changed the name to Marala – derived from the names of his daughters Marina and Alexandra – and whose second wife was Princess Maria Gabriella of Savoy, the daughter of the last King of Italy, Umberto II. After de Balkany died in 2015 Marala was held up in probate for two years before she then came onto the market again and was purchased by her current owners.  

The owners’ initial expectation was that Marala would be gradually refitted while remaining in commission. But after a family cruise in the Greek Islands in the summer of 2017, Lawrie suggested that it would be significantly more efficient to take her out of commission and do all the work in one go. So Marala spent a two year period at Melita Marine in Malta where a great deal of the steelwork was replaced in the forward part of the hull, the original 750BHP MAN eight cylinder diesel engines were reconditioned and a bow thruster was installed. She was then shipped to Falmouth by DYT’s Yacht Express for work to continue at Pendennis Shipyard. 

Over the years a number of changes have been made to Marala’s external appearance and layout. Originally the only superstructure on the upper deck was a small shelter aft of the funnel and a captain’s cabin with an open bridge above it. Within a couple of years, the bridge was enclosed and the spaces below it were converted to an owner’s cabin. Subsequent modifications included extending the upper deck aft; adding a fixed awning aft of the shelter; extending the superstructure around the funnel between the owner’s cabin and the shelter; replacing the railings around the foredeck with solid bulwarks; and extending the small sheltered areas each side of the owner’s cabin aft and adding three more windows to the two originals. This latter modification allowed the addition of an extra cabin on one side which was initially used by Lopez-Willshaw’s lover Baron de Rede and was known as the Baron’s cabin, and latterly as a storage area. 

“But the ship got really bulky and was top heavy, and had lost some of her elegant lines,” said Nathan Hutchins of the London-based Muza Lab who was now responsible for Marala’s design work. “So there was a little bit of a stripping back.” This included reverting to both the two-window arrangement each side of the owners’ cabin (which has now regained a better view) and the railings around the foredeck. 

Each of the guest cabins on the lower deck has now been given a name with some significant reference to  Marala’s history: forward of the engine room there are the Evadne and Gaviota cabins; while the cabins aft are Japan (where there were a number of Japanese prints on display when the owners bought the boat), Savoy and 388. Originally the 388 cabin was divided into two along the centreline with their bathrooms aft. Some time ago this was converted into one cabin and the area where the bathrooms were has now been incorporated into the lazarette. No other significant layout changes have ever been made but almost all of the internal joinery and fabrics have now been renewed. There was very little of the original joinery remaining anyway, as much of it had been replaced by the French designer George Geffroy during a 1950s refit. All of the new joinery is made from American walnut – and from just two trees, one for all the lower deck joinery and the other for the saloon, dining room and owners’ cabin. Great efforts were taken to replicate the style of Camper & Nicholsons’ 1930s joinery, and the lightly stained walnut was deliberately not too highly lacquered so that the open grain remains apparent.  

Once the old carpets in the main deck accommodation were removed it was discovered that the soles were made up of Douglas fir which came from trees that were already around 300 years old at the time Marala was built. These have now been restored and re-used. 

Hutchins has strived to address the “incredibly dark and oppressive spaces” which he found in some parts of the boat by careful choice of fabrics, addition of mirrors and by maximising the natural light from outside. Much of this light comes through the original  portholes which were made by John Roby Ltd who also made those for the Titanic.

With regard to the fabrics, “we wanted to play a little bit with the history of the boat,” said Hutchins, “but at the end of the day, this is the owners’ yacht and so there also had to be touches of their personality throughout.” In particular, the owners have a love of art deco, and that is reflected in many areas, not least their own cabin “which is a little bit of a nod to the 1930s liner SS Normandie and includes a quite lovely de Gournay Chinoiserie panel on the forward bulkhead.”  

The berth surround in the Japan cabin is clad with sixty-six goat skins which were individually dyed in a beautifully deep red colour and then meticulously arranged so that the small variations in colour subtly blend together; in the Savoy cabin a rather short sleigh bed from the 1950s refit has been lengthened and then replicated to provide a twin; and as a homage to the source of Lopez-Willshaw’s fortune, the bulkhead fabrics in the Gaviota cabin are “reminiscent of seagull feathers”.

Amongst many original drawings found in storage at the National Maritime Museum Greenwich were two which detailed the sideboards at the forward ends of the dining room and saloon. These units were reconstructed to a slightly modified design, not least to incorporate discreet air-conditioning grilles.

Although most of the joinery has been renewed, many old fittings have been restored and reused. These include a multitude of brass door and drawer fittings; four light fittings that have been completely refurbished by Dernier & Hamlyn; a small stool from each cabin, all of them restored and reupholstered; a World War Two MOD-issue clock on the bridge; much of the artwork which was hanging on the bulkheads; and “lots of little treasures and discoveries throughout the boat,” said Hutchins. Furthermore, twenty-two refurbished 1930s US Post Office telephones have been installed.  

In addition to the hull steel structure made good in Malta, Pendennis have replaced a further 100 tonnes or so, while most of the deck structure was found to be in good condition. In keeping with the appearance she would have had originally, no filler was applied to the outside of the hull which has been painted with a matt finish. 

The aft bulwark teak capping rail had been damaged and distorted by the rusting bulwarks and so was replaced with iroko. Much of the old teak was reused in other parts of the boat, however: for repairs to the shelter framework and the sea chest self-service bar, for instance, and for the surround and steps up to the new copper jacuzzi on the upper deck. Almost half of the teak decking – not original but probably about 50 years old – was also replaced. 

Although it may have made significant practical sense to replace the engines with modern diesels – not least because when manoeuvring five engineers are needed in the engine room – it was never for one moment considered. Apart from the engines themselves, everything was removed from the engine room and then either replaced or reconditioned. 

With the restoration complete it is now mostly impossible for anyone to tell what is new and what is not. “It all just merges seamlessly,” said Pendennis project manager Nick Kearton. Not only was that exactly what the owners wanted, but they now hope that this topic will stimulate conversations whenever new people come aboard.  

By his own admission, Hutchins had previously carried out very little yacht design work but he had known the owners for a long time, so how did he find the project? “You just have to do a lot of research and get your head around the fact there’s no straight lines at all, which on a classic yacht is quite challenging at times when everything is curving in every direction,” he said. “But it was a fun challenge.”

Marala is now in the Mediterranean where it is expected she will be based for the foreseeable future. “Initially we will have a reintroduction to the vessel for my family,” said the owner. “Then I would love to be aboard Marala a few times every year and we will try to find a balance between that and letting other people use her on charter. There has been a lot of interest in that which is not surprising as there aren’t many of these old girls left in the world.” 

Marala isn’t for sale, but she does represent a boom in the restoration of large 1930s motor yachts, and Pendennis Shipyard are now working on another – Amazone. These things are possible!

Design and Build: Camper and Nicholsons, 1931

LOD: 192ft (58.8m)

Power: Twin Man 750hp diesels

Visit Pendennis Shipyard website for more info.

BIBBIDY

Nic Compton meets John McShea and Bibbidy. 

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 churning out a steady stream of wooden launches to help stem the tide of ugly rubber ducks.

The latest of these is the 18ft Bibbidi built by John McShea and launched at the beginning of October. I went down for her first run down the Salcombe estuary and was blown away by what I found. 

It was back in June 2021 that I first visited John’s workshop and was impressed not only by his standard of craftsmanship but his thoughtful approach to the whole process of building a boat (see CB 399). It was clear that he took nothing for granted and was willing to apply new approaches to a deeply traditional craft. Take the spacing of the plank fastenings. Where most builder approximate the spacing by eye, John had rigged up a set of laser lights to create lines of light on the keels and ribbands to show exactly where the fastenings should go. The procedure not only improved accuracy but also, ultimately, saved time.

It turned out that Whisper, as that boat was called, was just the latest incarnation in what has been an evolutionary journey. It all started about 15 years ago when John was asked to repair a 20ft launch built by Coves in the 1930s which was languishing in someone’s garden. The repair turned into a complete rebuild, giving John a unique, close-up insight into the construction of a traditional Salcombe launch.

Next, he was asked to build a new launch in collaboration with local wood importer – and guardian of most of the Salcombe Yawl fleet – Tristan Stone of Stones Marine Timber. The new boat was to be built to the design of legendary designer Ian Howlett, who knows a thing or two about fast hull shapes. Built in traditional clinker, the 18ft design was relatively beamy, at 8ft wide, with a flatter bilge than most of the older boats. Launched in 2011, Tempest has given steadfast service ever since.

Having had close up experience of those two launches, John decided to design the next boat himself. 

“I laid the plywood down on the workshop floor and drew the boat I wanted, full size,” he says. “I really wanted to get a nice wineglass shape. There used to be much more of that in launches than has been seen recently, but it’s been lost because it’s easier to build boats without it. I also gave it less of a hard turn on the bilge, because that’s where many old boats break, and increased the number of planks from 11 to 13 per side, to control the shape of the sheer better.”

Launched in 2021, Tenacity was 19ft 6in long and 8ft 2in wide, resulting in a big, beamy, comfortable boat. The boat also set a high standard of craftsmanship, not least thanks to a demanding owner who pushed John to work to the best of his ability – something John is grateful for and which he sees as a necessary part of his professional development. The outcome was a gem of a craft which was Highly Commended in the New Powered Vessels category in the 2022 Classic Boat Awards (see CB407).  

For his next boat, again built to his own design, John decided to moderate the beam somewhat – more because of the inconvenience of trailing and storing such a beamy boat ashore than any performance issues, as Tenacity performed beautifully – this time settling on a beam of 7ft 6in. As Whisper’s owner wanted wheel steering, he ended up combining the rudder tube and stern knee in a single stainless steel fitting which he manufactured himself. He also incorporated a pivot fitting which, combined with a pin in the bow, meant the whole boat could be “turned on a spit” while he worked on it.

And thus the design of his boats has evolved, so that when he received his latest commission he was happy to use the moulds of the previous boat, tweaked slightly to produce a slightly fuller bow, to build his next one. The 18ft Bibbidi (named after the owner’s dog, in turn named after a song from the movie Cinderella) took the better part of a year to build, which might sound like a long time until you look at the boat up close up and start to appreciate the fastidious attention to detail. 

It was a crisp autumn day when I drove to South Devon to see John’s latest creation. The Venus café in East Portlemouth, the village on the other side of the estuary from Salcombe, provides a perfect vantage point to watch the Salcombe Yawls at play – or, in this case, the latest Salcombe launch. And Bibbidi made a fine sight powering down the estuary, looking both retro and yet bravely new. Unlike John’s previous boats, which were all varnished, the hull of his latest launch is painted Tamar Blue – also known as Land Rover blue – to match the owner’s car. With her varnished sheer plank and varnished interior, she stood out against the azure water like a finely crafted piece of furniture. 

From that height, it was possible to appreciate the lovely shape of the hull. Some traditional launches tend to be slightly flat amidships, but John’s hull is all curves, with a nicely rounded midships section somehow morphing into a bold, plumb stem and an elegant transom with a touch of tumblehome. And, while John might have agonised about painting over all that perfectly rendered mahogany, the dark blue paint shows off his plank lines to perfection. 

But it’s up close that you really see the details that make Bibbidi so unique – and, let’s face it, most owners experience their boats close up rather than from some distant vantage point. And once again it’s the curves that stand out. The fore and aft ends of the engine box are rounded, with bevelled panels worthy of a piece of Makepeace furniture. The aft locker doors are rounded, as are the fore and aft lockers. The coamings are rounded, of course, but John has gone further by notching the ends into the covering boards, so that the curve carries on right to its natural conclusion. Even the cross pieces on the grating are curved – requiring them to be laminated to the required shape – to echo the shape of the engine box.

The other first impression is that there’s a lot of varnish, something that tends to happen on most clinker boats built these days, where builders are keen to highlight the beauty of the materials and the value of their work – or perhaps simply because buyers like it! But John has been careful to break up the predominance of mahogany with the judicious use of other timbers. And not just any other timber. 

“When I drew my first design, Tenacity, I initially wanted to build the whole boat from English timbers,” says John. “So I went to a timber yard in North Devon to find some sweet chestnut for the planking. Once you select a log, the sawyer cuts it open and you have one chance to say if you want it or not. When he cut open this log, I saw it had a ripple, so I said, ‘Wow, it’s got a ripple!’ He said, ‘Oh, don’t you want it then?’ And I said, ‘No, I definitely want it! That’s rare.’” 

For John, it was a precious opportunity and, while the owner of Tenacity opted for mahogany planking, he has been using that rippled chestnut planking to special effect ever since. He used it for the engine box on Whisper and has used it extensively on Bibbidi. 

One area in particular stood out for me: the aft locker doors, which are pure John McShea. Whereas most builder would have opted for panelled or tongue-and-groove doors, John has made each of the asymmetric doors out of a single, curved piece of that magic rippled chestnut – except of course it’s not a single piece. Look carefully and you’ll see it’s two pieces of wood laminated together to hold the curve. And he’s not bothered with anything so crude as a latch: the door is sprung in place by gently pressing it in the middle, while a hole takes the place of a handle. Simple, clever and supremely elegant.

Behind the locker door is another McShea special: the bathing ladder. Like most of the metal fitting on the boat, the ladder was custom made by John, to ensure it was long enough and secure enough for his mostly ‘older’ clientele. When not in use, it slides into place behind that ingenious locker door. Other similar touches include a drawer of custom-made tools for opening the fuel tank and removing the fuel filter, as well as the detachable bow and stern lights. There’s even a dedicated drawer for the obligatory bottle of fizzy.

Other custom-made stainless steel parts include a set of hanging knees for the boarding steps amidships, complete with wood infills, a 1/2in-thick shoe for the keel, to provide strength as well as a bit of ballast, and the stem band, which ends in a stylish drop motif (or devil’s tail?) spilling onto the foredeck. 

There was no time for fizzy as we headed down the estuary towards Sunny Cove. Bibbidi’s 16hp Vetus combined with a fancy carbon cutless bearing from Michigan Marine pushed us along at a fair clip – up to 6.8 knots, according to John’s GPS – without creating anything like the wash and noise of those dreaded RIBs. Nor was there excessive vibration on the tiller, just a comforting hum and the gurgle of passing waves.

Of course, all this attention to detail comes at a price. Bibbidi ended up costing its owner £120,000 – a seemingly huge amount, until you consider that a large, mass-produced RIB (with outboards) can set you back by as much as £140,000. Or, as John’s boat are often described as “floating works of art”, you could might consider that a single Damien Hurst print (not an original, mind, just a print) sells for up to £150,000.

There’s no doubt that John – who, when not building boats, makes sculptures – sees his boats as much more than a purely functional means of transport.

“Wooden boats used to be built cheaply: materials were cheap, labour was cheap, they were built very fast, but they were not built to last,” he says. “The market’s not there for that now, so you have to create your own market. The boats we build now are better made, leak less, and last longer. They take more time, but they are something different. People are buying something made for them, something really special, something that will outlast them. 

“If you have a kitchen made, the reality is that when sell the house, that will be first thing that gets pulled out and dumped in a skip. But if you build boat to a quality that stands out, then it’s going to get looked after one way or another. Yes, they’re expensive and you are using high-value materials, in terms of their environmental cost, but the materials are not used lightly. They are used to make something that really can outlast generations.”

In fact, it really should be shouted from the rooftops to all the wealthy summer visitors who flock to Salcombe that for the price of their uncomfortable RIB and its fuel-guzzling outboard, which will all end up as landfill, they could do the right thing and pay a local craftsman to build something beautiful out of sustainable materials. Something which will be loved and treasured by future generations. And John is just the man for the job.

Design and Build: John McShea

LOD: 18ft (5.5m)

Power: Single Vetus 16hp diesel inboard

For more information visit John McShea’s Website. 

FROLIC 31

The Frolic 31 is a ‘new’ boat in the mould of an Edwardian saloon launch, but it was a pioneer of early electric boating, at least in it’s second coming, in the 1980s. It’s all about seating and elegance, and various builders over the years have build models with varying levels of timber trim, with and without cabin and so on. The hull is GRP. The above model, by Creative Marine, is for the sale used. New ones are available from Landamores in Norfolk.

Design: Andrew Wolstenholme

LOD: 31ft (9.6m)

Power: Various – very suitable for electric

For more information visit the Landamores Website or Henley Sales & Charter (HSC boats).

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The post Top Classic Motorboat Designs on Market: Displacement Craft appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

When Buying a Wooden Boat

The first golden rule when considering buying a wooden boat is… don’t. The second golden rule is that if someone offers to give you a wooden boat for free it will cost you even more.

The third golden rule is that when you’ve fallen in love with that beautiful sheer line and honey-coloured varnish and hand-crafted cabinetry there really is no point in getting a survey, because you know that unless the marine surveyor says it’s planked in low-grade kitchen-carcass chipboard you’re going to buy it anyway.

And that’s exactly what happened to me. Yep, I actually paid money for my wooden boat and the process has turned this cynic into a romantic, and so it can for you too if you closely observe one more golden rule.

It’s been a long journey, and I owe much of my awakening to my hippie carpenter chum Dreadlock Dan who berthed a series of variously distressed wooden boats alongside my Sailfish 18, which is made of low-maintenance glass-reinforced osmosis.

As I lazed in the cockpit of my plastic soap dish clipping my finger nails and drinking tea and passing Dan the occasional broken custard cream I must admit the constant banging, thwacking and swearing that emanated from down below in his latest “bargain” only increased the serene sense of well-being and superiority that comes from owning a Tupperware tub.

Being of the empathetic type I occasionally passed him down a crow-bar or angle-grinder and said: “Oi, keep the noise down, mate, I’m trying to read. Got any factor 15?”
We soulless cynics have been known to scoff at wood worriers – even though not all of them are Morris Dancers – so when Dan splashed out a whole £100 on his latest wooden yacht I said: “Gosh mate, they must have seen you coming. Don’t you realise they also make boats out of fibre-glass?”

Dan, who by then had had a haircut, which meant we had to change his name to “Desperate,” smiled enigmatically and said “Dave, you’re looking at it all wrong,” as he hoiked something heavy under a tarpaulin into the back of his van.

That got me thinking, because over the years as a series of wooden boats passed through his hands, Dan had also upgraded from a ratty Vauxhall Astra van to a nearly new Mercedes Sprinter, seemingly without poisoning any rich relatives, or doing much in the way of paying carpentry work.

You’ve got to admire that, and later Desperate became known as Dauntless, on account of buying a clinker boat of that type. Likewise we changed Dan’s name again when he bought a Deben four-tonner. Then he bought Folk Boats, Finesses and Kestrels, which we thought rather unsporting, as none of them began with D.

And still the boats came and went and got larger, each accompanied by a lot of banging and thwacking down below, followed by him humping a concealed load to his ever-improving vans and usually under cover of darkness.

The worst of it was that Dan seemed happy, which is not what you like to see in a hippie or a wooden boat owner. The only thing that seemed to unsettle his equilibrium was when we started calling him Debs after he bought a plywood Debutante, at which point the more sensitive among us enquired as to “they’s” preferred pronouns, just to rub it in.

Then one day, not long after he’d bought a truly charming Purbrook Heron and done all his thumping and banging and hauling his clandestine bundle to his van, he sailed away.
By then I’d been bitten by the wooden boat bug and bought my 1953 3½-ton Blackwater Sloop, built of larch on oak. And I’m ever thankful that before Dan departed he’d imparted the most important golden rule of all.

Years later I caught up with Dan in Ipswich Dock and asked him why he’d left Maldon, to which he replied: “Simple economics, Dave. The supply dried up.”

And here we get to the bottom of the matter, and Dan’s number one wooden-boat buying golden rule: “Don’t worry about rot. As long as it’s got a Baby Blake sea toilet you’re on to a winner.” You see, these gilded royal thrones of the sea cost around five grand new, and even reconditioned second-hand ones can be £2k-plus.

Some might say that’s like flushing money down the toilet, but you’d be missing the point, because that’s more than I paid for my Baby Blake, which came with a Blackwater Sloop attached. I sold the Baby Blake which had been under the foredeck, but was there purely as a status symbol as no one over 2ft 3in tall could actually sit on it.

It earned me more than I paid for my boat and with the proceeds I bought a new suit of sails… and a very smart bucket that’s so comfortable you can do the cryptic crossword on it while steering to windward with the tiller tucked under your arm.

That’s probably too much information. But the point is that these days Dan, purveyor of Baby Blakes to the gentry, is flushed with pride because he now has a lovely Laurent Giles Virtue with a super-rare pink porcelain Baby Blake. When I asked him if it was for sale he said: “I think I’ll sit on it for a bit.”

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The post How to Actually Make Money from Buying Wooden Boats appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

From silver sailing boat cufflinks to top sailing books, like Barry Pickthall’s A History of Sailing in 100 Objects, we’ve selected 12 perfect gifts for sailors.

Are you on a voyage for something special for your sailing mad Dad, Sister, friend, or other half? With this wonderful selection of gifts for sailors, your search ends here…

From top-quality waterproof dry bags, to Bernard Moitessier’s book accounting the first Golden Globe Race 1968-1969, and sea-inspired jewellery, we’ve got you covered. Here’s our sailors gift guide, so that you can gift something that says… ‘I know you better than you think’!

Top Classic Boat Gifts for Sailors

Barry Pickthall’s A History of Sailing in 100 Objects 

The perfect gift for a real or armchair sailor, the book gives an alternative insight into how and why we sail the way we do today (Hardback).

Available for £22

OtterBox LifeProof Phone Case

Top of the range phone case for sailing and outdoor activities… WaterProof for 2 meters up to 1 hour, 5X as many drops as military standard. Multiple colours available!

Buy as a Gift for £79.99

Genoa Mini Carryall

Musto’s top quality, splash-resistant fabric, with heavy zip closure.

Buy it for £30

Monica Vinader Pearl Pendant Charm for Necklace

Naturally nuanced by the ocean, each charm is unique. A beautiful gift for a sea-loving sailor.

The perfect gift for £80

Silver Sailing Boat Cufflinks

The ‘cant-go-wrong’ gift! Classic sterling silver cufflinks, made from solid hallmarked silver.

Wonderful Gift for £98

ITIWIT Waterproof Dry Bag: 60L

Perfect for sailing, swimming and kayaking – so you can take all your essential gear and more!

Grab it for £57

Laura Ashley Sailing Stripe Mugs: Set of 4

A lovely Father’s Day sailing gift: Set of 4 Mugs: 320ml, Blue/White.

Buy the Set for £48

Bernard Moitessier’s experience of the first Golden Globe Race 1968-1969

The incredible story of Moitessier’s 7 month solo, non-stop circumnavigation rounding the three great Capes of Good Hope, Leeuwin, and the Horn.

Gift for Sailors – £12.99

Nkuku Nautical Mugs: Set of 2

For a sailor who also likes to kick back with a cuppa: Indigo Drop Ceramic Mug, Set of 2, 370ml.

Available Now for £30

Titanium Pocket Multi Tool & Knife

True Utility all-in-one toolkit that houses a 70mm fine edge Sheepsfoot blade and a pair of spring-loaded Pliers & Wire Cutters.

Gift One for £49.99

Morris & Barth A/O Sailor Ditty Bag

Top-quality gifts for sailors: A Traditional seabag built from 15oz. canvas duck with oil-tanned leather and solid brass grommets.

Buy For Someone Special – £184

A Subscription to Classic Boat Magazine!

The perfect present: A subscription to Classic Boat Magazine (Digital and/or print)!

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The post Gifts for Sailors: Top 12 Boating Presents appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.