Over the past few months, the AC75s of the 37th America’s Cup, and the AC40s of the inaugural Women’s and Youth America’s Cups, have been showing off their wings, foiling along the coastline of Barcelona, Spain. These complex machine-like boats, committed to speed and precision, are the culmination of a long and prestigious history in the world of racing – a history largely characterised by J-Class yachts. It was therefore fitting that the AC75s of this America’s Cup be joined on the water by three of the J-Class fleet – Velsheda, Svea, and Rainbow – as they competed in the 2024 J-Class World Championships. The timeless Velsheda, Svea and Rainbow are equipped with cutting edge technology, and the latest advancements in sails and components, yet serve as the perfect reminder of America’s Cup, and yacht racing history.

From the 7th-11th October, the days before the Italians beat the British team in the Women’s America’s Cup Final, and INEOS Britannia had similar misfortune against the Kiwis in the Men’s, the J-Class yachts took the water, with two windward-leeward races each day.

From Velsheda, lovingly maintained since her launch in 1933, to Svea and Rainbow, recent builds from original J designs, the three-strong fleet reflected the full design history of the class as they competed for the title. After some brilliant and demanding racing, not least on ‘Big Wednesday’, where Barcelona saw winds peaking at nearly 30 knots with big waves, Svea took the overall win, a clear victory – having already won the title with a race to spare! 

Final standings after seven races:

1 Svea J/S1: 1,2,1,2,2,1,1 10pts 

2 Velsheda K7: 2,1,2,1,3,3,3 15pts 

3 Rainbow J-KZ: 13,4(DNC), 3,3,1,2,2, 18pts  

Steve Hayles, Svea’s navigator, commented: “This has been a three-year project that our two owners put together a while ago, and this is the culmination of that. It has been a nerve-wracking week with all sorts of conditions and so great to come out ahead of great competition. But these are such amazing boats. I think everyone who has been involved has been blown away and everyone who has been watching has been saying lovely things about the boats.’

The Swedish flagged Svea, based on an original design by Swede Tore Holm, was not the only boat representing this Scandinavian country in Barcelona. Indeed we saw the Swedish Challenge Women’s Team powered by Artemis Technologies fighting it out in the semi-final where, out of 12 teams, they achieved 4th overall.

Show Me More:

• Shamrock V Relaunch: Sole Wooden J Restoration Complete
• Classic Boats for Sale: Two Wooden Motorboats on the Market
• Boat Design & No Need for Ugly Boats: Tom Cunliffe’s Column

The post J-Class World Championships 2024: America’s Cup Then and Now 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.

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• 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.

Spirit of Tradition

Spirit C72 Gwenhyfar II, winner of the Spirit of Tradition boat in our 2024 awards, took the overall regatta trophy at the Spirit Yachts owners’ regatta in Guernsey, Channel Islands this June, after a closely fought, six-race series, seeing off strong competition from Spirit R52 Happy Forever and Spirit C65 Chloe Giselle.

Hosted in partnership with Locate Guernsey, the biennial regatta was based at Guernsey Yacht Club. Despite stormy conditions making for challenging delivery trips to get there, the weather settled down for the regatta and the yachts enjoyed 15-20 knots and sunshine for most of the week.

Overseen by race officer Peter Saxton and a team of volunteers from Guernsey YC, the racing programme delivered a series of windward leeward courses in the Little Russel Channel and longer passage races around Herm and Sark islands.

Spirit Yachts’ MD Karen Underwood commented, “What a fantastic week! Champagne sailing in a beautiful location; the perfect conditions for our owners, crew and guests to enjoy these elegant yachts to their fullest, share stories, and make new friendships.”

Owner of the winning yacht, Gwenhyfar II, commented, “A great week on the water and ashore, Guernsey really was at its best. Spirit organised a fantastic programme, which was flawlessly executed.”

Highest Placed Female helm went to Chloe Giselle and the newly-launched Spirit C72 Elvis won the Spirit of the Regatta prize for embracing the event’s spirit on and off the water.

The Spirit Yachts Guernsey Regatta races were complemented by a variety of social activities including a sunset BBQ on Herm Island, Nyetimber champagne bar on the dockside provided by Pantaenius Insurance, and charity Optimist racing on the regatta lay day to raise funds for Guernsey Sailing Trust.

Jo Stoddart, Director of Locate Guernsey added, “It was a pleasure to welcome the Spirit fleet and guests to Guernsey for such a fabulous week. They embraced Guernsey life to the full during their stay. We were delighted to give many local inhabitants the opportunity to step on board these beautiful modern classic yachts and we look forward to seeing several of them back in Guernsey soon.”

The event was sponsored by a various well-known marine companies including WEST SYSTEM, Lewmar, OneSails, Pantaenius and Oceanskies, with support from Hattiers Rum.

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 Spirit Yachts Guernsey Regatta: Race Results and Gallery appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

Spirit at Speed

It wasn’t the first time I’d ridden on a speedboat at over 20 knots. As a yachting journalist, I’ve spent untold hours in RIBs chasing classic yachts around the course at regattas from Ajaccio to Langkawi. It’s at once exhilarating, often uncomfortable and occasionally scary. So when I was invited to ride on board the new electric foiler (Spirit 35 F) from Spirit Yachts, with its top speed of 32 knots, I was quite prepared for a thrilling white-knuckle ride across the Solent. After all, just a few days before she had beaten the speed record for an electric boat going around the Isle of Wight, slashing four hours off the previous record holder by completing the 51-mile course in just 1 hour 56 minutes. I had butterflies in my stomach just thinking about it.

What I got was actually surprisingly sedate. For a start, the 35ft Spirit foiler looks every bit like a vintage speedboat from the 1920s, with its long, pointy bow, its slipper launch-style stern, and its curvaceous hull and deck – all varnished to stunning effect. Inside the boat, the cockpit is luxuriously fitted out with cream upholstery, varnished trim and retro-looking analogue instruments. It’s also unnervingly quiet. There’s no deafening roar or clouds of smoke as we leave the dock; just the quiet whirr of an electric motor. 

Once out on the Medina River, the boat gathers speed, rises 3ft in the air and flies off across the Solent at over 20 knots. Sure, the water is rushing past in a blur, the wind fussing our hair, the hull vibrating and twitching slightly as the ‘flight control’ adjusts the angle of the boat to the shape of the waves. But aside from that, it’s smooth, comfortable and really quite unremarkable. The question that keeps popping into my head is: why aren’t all motor boats like this? The answer might have something to do with the boat’s £1.8m (ex VAT) price tag, but once the development costs have been recouped and boats like this can be produced at a reasonable cost, there’s no doubt in my mind that the majority of speed boats in the future will be just this: electric foilers. It just makes so much sense.

Sean McMillan & Spirit 35 (F)

Back at the Spirit Yacht offices, the boat’s designer (and company founder) Sean McMillan shows me a photo that makes the point succinctly, the way only a photo can: the new foiler is powering across Lake Como in Italy alongside a replica of her aesthetic inspiration, the 1920s runabout Baby Bootlegger. The photo shows the huge wash left behind by Baby Bootlegger, which is fitted with a traditional petrol engine and propeller drive, while the electric foiler leaves no wake at all. You don’t ned to be a naval architect to understand that it requires a huge expenditure of energy to create all that wash, while the electric foiler requires a fraction of the power. I later find out the actual figure is 15%: ie the foiler consumes 15% as much energy as a conventional speedboat going at the same speed. 

But perhaps the most important point about the Spirit 35 (F) is that it overturns all our preconceived ideas about electric boats. For decades, electric boats have struggled to provide the kind of performance most sailors really need, generally offering a range of 50 miles or so, at around 5 or 6 knots. That’s fine for pottering around inland waters but not nearly beefy enough for coastal passages. Technology has improved, but you still have to choose between speed and range. For example, the Optima e10 offers the best range, an impressive 200 miles, but at a measly 6 knots. The nearest equivalent to the Spirit 35EF is the all-carbon fibre Candela C8 foiler, which blasts along at 24 knots, but for a mere 51 miles. 

By contrast, the Spirit foiler will cruise at 20 knots for 100 miles on a single charge. That’s the distance from Cowes to Cherbourg (easily) or Dartmouth to Jersey (just), which suddenly sounds a whole lot more interesting. At a stroke, the Spirit foiler makes electric propulsion a seriously viable option. Not only that, but it does so while looking supremely classy. Only the Riva-style Boesch 750 comes near it for aesthetic appeal, and that only offers a range of 14 miles at 20 knots.

So, how did they do it? How did the builders of lightweight ‘modern classic’ sailboats (with a few displacement and semi- displacement motor boats thrown in for good measure) come to produce the best-performing electric boat currently on the market?

The idea for the Spirit 35 (F) came from one of the company’s most loyal customers: the man who loved his Spirit 52 so much that he commissioned an even bigger one: the 111ft Geist, the biggest boat built by the yard to date. The owner wanted a chase boat that was in keeping with the retro style of his sailing boats, was electric-powered (like his 111-footer), and yet would provide a fun, fast ride for all the family. It was a challenge that Sean took on with enthusiasm. After all, this is the man who has made a career out of designing ultra-lightweight sailing boats that look classic above the water while clocking up remarkable turns of speed. It was just a matter of applying this “visual joke” to a motor launch. 

Wood might not seem the obvious choice to build a lightweight hull, but Spirit Yachts are adept at doing just that. As Sean put it: “It was a slightly more extreme version of what we do on a daily basis.” Indeed, the yard used much the same approach as it does on all its boats, starting with a layer of 12mm douglas fir planking. The hull sides and deck were then stiffened with “judicious” use of carbon fibre, before being covered in a 6mm layer of sipo veneers, and then varnished to great effect. The bottom of the boat, which would be subject to the most pounding, was strengthened with a layer of hemp saturated in epoxy on the outside, and a layer of carbon fibre on the inside.

“The carbon fibre is there mainly just to stiffen the timber,” says Sean. “We find that if we take the timber scantlings down to where they’re absolutely strong enough, they then get a little too flexible, so we sandwich them with a little bit of carbon to stiffen everything.”

The finished bare hull of the Spirit 35, without any of the propulsion system or fit-out, weighed just 595kg.

Ben Ainslie Racing (BAR) Technologies

But, while Spirit Yachts had plenty of expertise building beautiful lightweight hulls, they weren’t so well qualified in the mechanics of how to make a boat fly. For that, they teamed up with BAR Technologies, the company created by Ben Ainslie for his America’s Cup bid in 2017 (BAR is an acronym for Ben Ainslie Racing). Thanks to this alchemy, the project benefitted instantly from years of research and development, which gave it a huge head start. And there’s little doubt that foiling was key to the project’s success.

“Foiling inherently reduces your engine requirements massively,” says Simon Schofield, chief technology officer at BAR Technologies. “Once the boat is up and flying, the engine requirements is about 85% less than a similar boat going at the same speed without foils. And getting there is not as hard as you might think. We use about same energy at take-off as we do at 30 knots foiling.”

Unlike a planing hull, which requires a large amount of energy to get it on the plane in the first place, it doesn’t take much effort to get a foiler to fly, providing the hull is at the correct ‘angle of attack’ (a phrase that comes up a lot when you’re talking about foilers). The other key factor is weight – especially on an electric boat.

“Batteries have very limited power so the challenge is getting range,” says Simon. “You can quickly get yourself into a negative spiral where you end up making something less efficient, which means need more batteries, which means it gets heavier. It’s a compounding problem. You’ve got to get that design spiral going in a positive direction and making things more efficient which means you get lighter so you can reduce batteries.”

To achieve that ”positive spiral”, BAR designed a stepped underwater hull optimised for foiling. Thus, while the above-water shape designed by Sean might be redolent of another era, the underwater shape is “as modern as you can get”, according to Simon. 

To make it fly, the Spirit 35 (F) has three retractable foils, all made from titanium. A T-foil rudder aft controls the pitch and yaw (or ‘angle of attack’) while the two forward foils are joined by a fixed bar with trim tabs at either end to control the roll. An ultra-compact 80kW electric motor, made by the pioneering British electrics company Equipmake, is imbedded in the bottom of the rudder to maximise drive. That in turn is powered by a custom-made 120kW battery pack. 

The whole emphasis is on keeping things compact, light and ultra-efficient to provide the maximum output for the least weight. The boat’s finished displacement, including coolbox and waterski attachment, comes to 2.4 tonnes – not bad for a 35-footer. 

But getting the Spirit 35 to fly is one thing; controlling it while it’s up is the really tricky bit.

“A boat that’s foiling is inherently unstable. It’s like an upside-down pendulum,” says Simon. “It’s like balancing a broom on your finger and you have to keep moving your hand to keep the broom up. That’s effectively what we have to do the whole time to make the boat fly. It doesn’t want to fly; it wants to fall over because the centre of gravity is all the way up in the air.”

To stop the boat ‘falling over’, BAR have developed a flight control system – its so-called Foil Optimization and Stability System (FOSS) – which can read the state of the sea and adjust the foils accordingly. Although this isn’t allowed in the America’s Cup, where the foils have to be controlled by the crew, the technology was originally developed for the British America’s Cup campaign for simulation and testing purposes.

The Spirit 35 (F) is fitted with five sensors, which determine how high the hull is off the water, as well some monitoring equipment to calculate the boat’s inertia and acceleration. Between those sensors, the on-board computer develops a mathematical picture of what the boat is doing and what the sea surface is doing around it. From that information, it adjusts the foils to correct for roll and pitch movements according to the size of the waves. If it’s just a bit of chop, it just skips pass them, but if it’s a longer wave it will follow it.

What’s more, all that clever technology means that there’s only one control more than there would be on a non-foiling powerboat: the up and down lever. The rest is all done by the BAR program. Choosing how high to fly is a matter of judgement which is left to the driver.

“It’s a trade-off between efficiency and manoeuvrability,” says Simon. “The higher you fly, the less foil there is in the water so there’s less drag. But, if there are waves and you’re turning sharply, you’ve got less margin before that foil starts reaching the surface. So if it’s rougher or you’re doing lots of aggressive turning, you tend to fly a little deeper in the water. If it’s silky calm and you are going in a straight line, you can fly higher and minimise drag.”

An unexpected development when they were testing the Spirit 35 prototype was the discovery of what they call ‘skimming mode’. In really rough conditions (usually above a Force 6) when it’s too uncomfortable to fly, the foils are used to ‘lighten’ the boat, reducing its displacement to a minimum without actually rising out of the water. Thus the boat remains in displacement mode but just skims from crest to crest, without absorbing the full brunt of the waves.

Only once, right at the very beginning, when Simon accidentally tried to turn the boat too sharply, the system simply refused and dumped us back at sea level, before resuming what it considered a safe trajectory. As ever, human error is more likely to get you into trouble than the machine itself, something Simon is acutely aware of.

“This project was technically more complicated than an America’s Cup boats,” he says. “The flight control system is much more developed. The America’s Cup boats are driven by experts who know what they are getting into. If something goes wrong, they have engineers around to fix it. But this boat is being driven by general public, and you’ve got to keep them safe, so there are layers of safety added in.”

Despite the boisterous sea conditions, the prototype Sprit 35 (F) Moquai was in full flying mode when she set a new round-the-Isle-of-Wight record, yet she still proved more comfortable than the RIBs trying to keep up with her, which had to retire in ignominy. The main difference for this run was that the aft part of the cockpit was covered over with purpose-made wooden cowlings, to turn her into a two-person ‘spider’ mode. In family mode, the cowlings turn into seats and a table with seating for six people, thanks to some typical McMillan design ingenuity. 

It might seem a pointless exercise – or deliberately contrary – to build a boat with such a modern provenance out of wood, but Simon reckons it only added 15-20 per cent extra weight, something their highly-developed foiling system could accommodate quite easily. Certainly her owner would have it no other way, and nor would Sean. Not surprisingly, however, BAR Technologies are developing the idea for a more mainstream clientele, with a carbon composite hull, which will no doubt fly even faster. They are also applying the technology to commercial projects, such as a flying catamaran which will be used to service wind turbines in the North Sea. 

For make no mistake about it, the Spirit 35 F represents a quantum shift in the potential of electric boats – something which will eventually before the norm. The future starts here.

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 Spirit Yachts New Electric Foiler: Ben Ainslie’s Tech in Spirit 35(F) 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.

British Classic Week 2024

Founded in 2002 by the British Classic Yacht Club (BCYC), this annual Isle of Wight regatta attracts around 500 competitors and guests from around the world. Based in Cowes Yacht Haven, last week almost 50 wonderfully restored boats, new classics, and their crews, came together to race, celebrating the boats and the classics community. 

This year’s five-day race series, managed by Race Officer Peter Saxton and his team from the Royal Yacht Squadron (RYS), saw some exciting sailing and commendable victories. Regatta Chairman Giovanni Belgrano commented, 

“It was an awesome week and some of the best sailing I have had in my life.  The race management team did an exceptional job giving us five varied races in challenging conditions. The camaraderie and socialising on the dock matched the racing, it was fantastic to see everyone making friends and sharing their beautiful yachts.”

British Classic Week 2024 Winners

Je Ne Sais Quoi prizes

Class 1: Crusade

Class 2: Anne Sophie

Class 3: Sunstone & Whooper

Class 4: Sabrina

Gaffers: Snippet

Motor Boat: Maudorces

Overall Je Ne Sais Quoi winner: Harlequin

In Need of a Stiff Drink Trophy donated by Spirit Yachts

Crusade (for an engine fire onboard)

Best Presented New Entrant, Per Ardua ad Mare trophy

Sheevra

Forts Race sponsored by Spirit Yachts: Classes 1 & 2 overall winner

Happy Forever

West Solent passage race sponsored by Global Forecaster

Gwenhyfar II

Female Helm race sponsored by Raymarine

Class 1: Gwenhyfar II

Class 2: Anne Sophie

Class 3: Anna Mai 

Class 4: Timoa

Gaffer: Dorothy

Overall Female Helm Winner: Anne Sophie

Long Inshore Race sponsored by OneSails GBR

Class 4 and Gaffers: Sioma II

Class 3: Sunstone

Classes 1 & 2: Anne Sophie

British Classic Week 2024 – Highest % female crew

Quailo III

British Classic Week 2024 – Youngest crew member

Florence Spooner on Snippet (13yrs)

British Classic Week 2024 – Highest % family crew 

Arctic Skua

Overall Class Winners: British Classic Week 2024 

Class 1:

3rd: Crusade

2nd: Gwenhyfar II

1st: Happy Forever

Class 2:

3rd: Helen

2nd: Cetewayo

1st: Anne Sophie

Class 3:

3rd: Whooper

2nd: Sunstone

1st: Anna Mai 

Class 4:

3rd: Timoa

2nd: Enchanted

1st: Sioma

Highest Placed Gaffer

Eilun

Highest Placed Spirit overall

Happy Forever

Small Yacht of the Week

Sioma

Large Yacht of the Week

Anne Sophie

Classic Boat Pontoon Party

The racing days of British Classic Week 2024 were rightfully rounded off with various sponsored events around Cowes, including Classic Boat Magazine’s infamous pontoon party, with drinks from Hattiers Rum and Dartmouth Gin.

After a summer’s day out on the Solent, it was wonderful to see all the crew kicking back with a cold drink, enjoying the evening sun and atmosphere, while live music drifted through Cowes Yacht Haven. 

BCW 2025

If, like us, you’re already looking forward to next year, whether you’ll be getting stuck in or watching the action, we’re happy to announce British Classic Week will be gracing Cowes and the Solent from 6th-11th July 2025. 

Show Me More:

• Motorboat Market Guide: Top Semi-Displacement Craft Designs
• ‘True’ Vs Technology: Adrian Morgan on Sailing Gadgets
• RNLI 200 years: History of Life Saving Boat Design

The post British Classic Week 2024: Round-up and Results appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.

The Happy Middle

This is the compromise between the two extremes and out of all three, the type that has gained the most popularity in recent years. These boats fall into two sub-categories: chine hulls and round-bilge hulls. The former, with its uneven stability curve, will give better initial stability and the potential for higher speeds – up to around 25 knots is typical. The trade-off is firmer motion in bigger seas. Depending on their exact form, the round-bilge boats may be less efficient at higher speeds but have a more neutral stability curve. This means a little more rolling in calm conditions, but an easier motion when things get rough. In both cases, the formula involves finer sections forward and a straight, flat run towards the aft, and generally a keel or skeg to aid directional stability.

A semi-displacement craft with manoeuver well at low speeds and give better comfort and fuel economy than a planning craft. Going upwind is where the semi-displacement craft is king. Downwind, this form of hull can ‘squirm’ with a slight broaching moment, but displacement hulls are, overall, excellent sea boats, so much so in fact, that if you come to peril on the sea, your orange and blue saviour with the letters RNLI painted on the side will probably be a semi-displacement craft. Modern classics of this ilk tend to have a handsome, workmanlike appearance that would not embarrass a sailor to own.

Semi-displacement craft: Dale Classic 45

Design: Arthur Mursell

Build: Dale Nelson

LOD: 46ft 1in (14.1m)

Power: Twin 480hp/550/600hp diesels

Contact: mike@dalenelson.co.uk 

These Welsh-built boats are famous for their hulls and heavy, solid build, with their owners swearing that you can take a Dale through anything. The classic looks on the outside are matched by quality solid wood joinery below. The photo shows an existing Dale Classic 45. The new one is in much the same vein, but with up-to-the-minute technology inside, and a slightly modernised look to the exterior. It will be on show at Southampton this year.

Semi-displacement craft: Duchy 27

Design: Andrew Wolstenholme/Cockwells

Build: Cockwells

LOD: 27ft (8.2m)

Power: Single 200hp Nanni

More info visit the Cockwells website. 

The Duchy 27 has been a staple from Cornish boatbuilder Cockwells for many years now, after the firm took the proven Aquila 27 hull and added some sparkle to create this. The 27ft-long GRP boat is powered by a single 200hp Nanni diesel to give 20 knots cruising speed and 24 knots top speed, making a relatively fast, economical way to voyage, for instance, the French and English channel coasts and Channel Islands. She’ll sleep two, with a double berth and enclosed heads and small galley, or take six out picnicking. The 27 is designed to take the seas in her stride and travel far and wide, but luxurious touches include the interior cabinetry, teak laid decks, bathing platform and swim ladder. 

Semi-displacement craft: R37

Design: Sam Chamberlin

Build: Rockport Marine

LOD: 37ft (11.3m)

Power: 550hp diesel

More info visit the Rockport Marine website. 

The R37, shortlisted in our awards this year in the powered vessel under 100ft (30.5m) category, is a lobster boat of sorts, built with the traditional ‘down east’ look from cold- moulded timber (four layers of it), but this time with an open transom for easy tender access, swimming and fishing. She’s powered by a single diesel that gives her a top speed of over 25 knots and cruising in the high teens, and has been conceived of as the ideal dayboat, but she has the capacity to cruise simply as well. The design inspiration here is the lobster yachts of the 1950s by Newbert and Wallace, but modern concessions include an open transom with flip-down bronze swim ladder that “turns any anchorage into a lee-side beach.” And the tender is always ready to go. Features include a shower and galley.

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The post Motorboat Market Guide: Top Semi-Displacement Craft Designs 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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SALLY II

Adrian Morgan’s own Vertue

To regular readers of this magazine, Sally II, a Laurent Giles 5-tonner, built in 1937, sail number V2, might be the most famous yacht in the world! Columnist Adrian Morgan has been describing adventures aboard her monthly for nearly three decades in his monthly column. The Vertue name only became associated with these sturdy, record-breaking wee yachts after the war, when astonishing transatlantic and long distance feats were achieved by the likes of Humphrey Barton and others. Sally was commissioned by a Poole solicitor for local sailing, but in her time has cruised all over the UK, from Wales, across Channel to France, and now on the west coast of Scotland. Structurally in excellent condition – her tungum bronze floors, lead keel, bronze bolts and pitch pine on massive oak timbers – have stood up well, and she makes next to no water on her mooring. After 30 years in the same ownership, she deserves a new owner who can wield a paint brush. Her Yanmar IGM10 diesel is a few years old, with very low hours. Her six Richardson sails are good for many more miles. Her varnished Noble mast is almost as new. An archive of photos and documents includes her original bill of sale from Elkins, her Blue Book and much more. With a clear bill of health from a recent survey, she is for sale at £15,000. A sheltered mooring is available, just across the loch from wooden boatbuilders Johnson & Loftus where she is slipped annually for maintenance.

Asking £14,000, Lying Ullapool, Scotland, contact adrian.james.morgan@gmail.com

SPIRIT OF JOSEPHINE

Spirit 65DH

Here’s a rare chance to buy a recent Spirit. It seems hardly necessary to say, such has been the company’s success in the last two decades, but this is a wood-epoxy, spirit-of-tradition yacht – classic looking above decks, and modern below the waterline. All Spirits are (a least!) semi bespoke and this one has good eco credentials, luxury all in natural materials, and an electric drive system with propeller regeneration. These larger Spirits are fast, capable boats, quite capable of competitive regatta participation, but they tend to be popular with couples who want to cruise far. “In our view, the 46 and 52 were among the most successful Spirit Yachts designs, and for good reason,” says the broker. “But at 65ft (19.8m), the deckhouse proportions really work and the concept probably reaches its sweet spot – a beautifully timeless aesthetic – and could easily be sailed by two people only. Elegance combined with modern handling above and below the waterline, and great craftsmanship, are of course a Spirit Yachts specialty, but it takes commissioning owners with vision to create a boat like Spirit of Josephine. From natural zinc surfaces to Harris Tweed chesterfields, she leaves you wanting to spend time aboard. This is no average boat: Spirit of Josephine is a modern classic with an awful lot of soul.

Asking £1,980,000, Lying UK – Visit the Sandeman Yacht Company Website. 

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Q-Class Yachts

Sometimes known as the ‘mini J Class’ and steeped in sailing heritage, Q-Class yachts were first built to the Universal Rule in the early 1900s, developed by Nathanael Herreshoff in the same period that Europe adopted the International Rule, AKA the Metre yachts. The Universal Rule was adopted by the New York Yacht Club in 1903 to determine entry criteria for the America’s Cup and facilitate competitive racing. It is best known today for the J-Class yachts, but at least 16 Q Class boats were built in the 1920s and 30s, some of which can be seen racing today, after a revival in their fortunes over the last two decades.

The ‘Falcon Study’

Spirit’s current project (named ‘The Falcon Study’) has been commissioned by the owner and founder of Q7 Yacht Designs, Peter Silvester, who owns the original 1926, Herreshoff-built, Q-Class yacht Falcon (sail number Q7). Falcon was recently re-launched on the west coast of the USA following an extensive restoration ahead of her centenary anniversary in 2026.

Peter Silvester commented: “The ‘Falcon Study’ is a unique partnership of world-class industry leaders set up to honour the history and legacy of Falcon and to celebrate her centenary with a new commission launching in 2026. The ‘Falcon Study’ will re-imagine Falcon’s original design using the best systems, materials, and craftsmanship available today.”

Peter added: “Imagine taking the beauty, sailing pleasure, and race-winning pedigree of an original Q-Class like Falcon and refining her to deliver optimum performance combined with modern maintenance characteristics and ease of use.”

Dykstra Naval Architects was appointed to adapt Falcon’s original Burgess, Swasey and Paine line drawings for modern-day sailing and contemporary manufacture. Dykstra was tasked to retain the original hull lines, full keel, and fractional rig, while introducing state-of-the-art rigging, systems, and deck hardware. The design brief from the client was to “create a ‘modern masterpiece’ that could inspire generations of sailors for the next 100 years.”

Thys Nikkels, CEO of Dykstra Naval Architects said: “We love to focus on projects that make our hearts beat faster and the Falcon Study is certainly one of those. Being part of a team creating a new, reimagined version of a Q-Class Yacht is time well spent.”

Spirit Yachts MD Karen Underwood said: “Our roots are embedded in wooden yacht construction, marrying timelessly classic design with modern technologies. The Falcon Study is a perfect fit for our in-house skills and fulfils our passion for custom projects commissioned by visionary owners.”

The project is in the final design stages with the build due to start this spring leading up to launch in 2026 to coincide with Falcon’s centenary anniversary.

For more info on Spirit Yachts go to their website.

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The post Falcon Study by Spirit Yachts: New Q-Class Yacht Planned appeared first on Classic Boat Magazine.