Innholdsfortegnelse for February 2023 i Classic Boat

ANNIVERSARIES Among the centenaries we’ll be marking in 2023 is that of Alfred Westmacott’s iconic Sunbeam class. The first Sunbeam, Dainty, was built in 2022 and the class plans a three-day Centenary Regatta from 7-9 June 2023 in the Solent, with the Sunbeam Championships in Falmouth at the end of the summer also expected to be a big turnout. More on the class website solentsunbeam.co.uk/2023-centenary-year-programme Another significant birthday in 2023 will be the 70th of the Osprey racing dinghy, a boat raced by so many young sailors of the time. The Osprey was designed by Ian Proctor in 1953 and to mark the anniversary the Osprey Class Association is producing a publication for its membership and for wider circulation at events including the RYA Dinghy & Watersports Show in February.…

BONHAMS/CHRISTIE’S Scott finally beats Amundsen Norwegian Roald Amundsen may have beaten Captain Scott to the South Pole but the British explorer bested his rival in the sale room when a desperately poignant and stoic farewell letter sold for £415,900 to set a new auction record for a polar artefact. Arriving at the south pole a month after Amundsen had planted his nation’s flag on 14 December, 1911, Scott and his companions perished in their tent on the trek back at the end of March, 1912. As death approached he wrote a series of farewell letters which were later retrieved by the search party that discovered his final resting place in November, 1912. “We have been to the pole and shall die like gentleman” Scott writes early in the letter to…

“It’s all about beauty. Elegant lines and refined shapes. The poetry of curves, materials and colours. Boats and cars aren’t simply vehicles. I see them, quite literally, as works of art.” Calm voice and smiling features, Corrado Lopresto shares a lifetime of treasurehunting while navigating his 1936 motoryacht Thelas in the clear waters of the Aeolian Islands. Over the course of four decades, he has amassed an astounding collection of more than 200 automobiles: the entire history of Italian production, starting from 1901, represented by one-of-a-kind vehicles. Prestigious names as well as forgotten ones: Ansaldo, Diatto, Bianchi, Stanguellini, Isotta Fraschini, Cisitalia. Mr Lopresto has made the tabloids for his eccentric selection criteria: only prototypes or No 1 chassis. It’s the most famous collection of Italian prototypes in the world. He…

A DORA BLU Inter-war motor cruiser This Stephens 43, as they were known, is one of a series of twin-screw cruising motor yachts designed and built by the Stephens Brothers in the early 1930s. They offered variants at 43, 48 and 55ft. This one, A Dora Blu, was built in 1931 and thoroughly restored in 2007, a job that left the teak interior mostly intact. Stephens Brothers, based in California, was active for most of the 20th century, and the company’s yachts became known for their elegance. Today they are sought after with an active members’ club. A Dora Blu offers two cabins (one twin, one double), two heads compartments, a galley and the saloon and helm station which are in the deckhouse. The relatively slim form ensures a good…

Working by candlelight In the context of the current energy crisis, and ongoing concern over the use of fossil fuels for generating electricity, the vintage spill plane described in November 2021 (CB 401) may be revived as a feasible tool for the 21st century. As a relict of the pre-industrial age, well before matches let alone butane lighters, this plane’s sole purpose lay in producing long tapering shavings known as spills, which were used to transfer the flame between candles. The scene of a candlelit carpenter’s shop has been a favourite with artists down the centuries. Perhaps the tallow or beeswax candles used by earlier generations would be a more ethical choice today than the common paraffin wax type pictured here, but the spill plane authenticates in the most practical…

For 150 years, Cowes Harbour was managed by Newport. This came to an end when the Cowes Harbour Act 1897 was passed, and it was agreed that a harbour commission would be formed. The first meeting of Cowes Harbour Commission was held on 7 December 1897. HC Damant was elected Clerk, he was a prominent local solicitor, Lloyd’s agent and one of the founders of the Island Sailing Club. Attending the first meeting were representatives of Newport Corporation (Newport was still a commercial port at this time), Councillors for Cowes and East Cowes, the Isle of Wight Steam Packet Company (now Red Funnel), other marine trade representatives as well as The Board of Trade and Yacht Racing Association (now RYA) – 19 representatives in total. The early meetings were fraught…

The build up to the Voiles de Saint Tropez cannot be exaggerated. It’s the last event of the classic calendar and the end of the summer, so there’s quite often an emotional attachment to this regatta for a lot of sailors. For us on Shenandoah the intention was to bring the boat to the south of France to showcase her on the circuit because, after a 22-year tenure, the owners are looking for the next custodian to look after her. As is customary before Saint-Tropez, we took part in the Régates Royales in Cannes, with a couple of days training preceding it. It’s been a while since Shenandoah has graced the racecourse, so we spent a week removing all the charter toys, extra anchor, books and many spares that we…

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CHRISTOPHER WARD TRIDENT Meet the new C60 Trident Pro 300, the answer to the perfect dive watch, says British manufacturer Christopher Ward. “They asked and they listened,” the sought-after watch-maker says. Water resistant to 300m, which they tell us is “the equivalent to 68.5 double decker buses”, yet is apparently “easier to slip under cuffs”. From £695 christopherward.com NORTH SAILS CLOTHING At Les Voiles de Saint-Tropez last year was a new range of sailing clothing by North Sails, that provided the branded regatta kit. It comes with a distinct south of France vibe and North says the range is inspired by the ‘Tropezian’ spirit of the event. There are vests, jackets, polo shirts and more. For the personal touch, North Sails can customise garments with a boat or team name.…

There are few sailors who have not been beguiled by Erskine Childers’ The Riddle of the Sands. This turn of the century thriller is arguably the first spy novel: it superbly dramatises the threat of invasion posed in Edwardian times by the Kaiser’s Imperial German Navy, and it gloriously evokes the pains and pleasures of cruising in small yachts. For many it’s one of half a dozen essential books in a yacht’s library. It nestles cover to wellthumbed cover with Slocum’s Sailing Alone Around the World, Nansen’s Farthest North, Shackleton’s South!, Milne’s Winnie the Pooh and – of course – the volume of Mahan’s The Influence of Sea Power Upon History (in two pieces). What, then, could be more tempting than to follow in Childers’ wake by sailing across the…

Although most spars for classic boats tend to be timber, aluminium and even – in various guises – carbonfibre can also be used. Timber spars will be constructed from one of two species: Sitka spruce which is the lighter of the two, more flexible and has a better strength to weight ratio; or Douglas fir (also known as Oregon pine and Columbian pine) which is more durable and harder wearing. SOLID SPARS The degree of sophistication with regard to the construction of a timber spar can be hugely variable. At its most basic, a spar is merely machined from one tree, as in the masts for the nine pilot cutters built by Luke Powell, for instance. Otherwise spars are constructed from a varying number of staves, the name given to…

Yard News Edited by Steffan Meyric Hughes: +44 (0)207 349 3758 Email: steffan@classicboat.co.uk SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK Full house It’s always a bit of a challenge to even list the number of projects going on at Harbour Services Marine in its idyllic corner of Suffolk, so busy is the yard. “We’ve usually got around 15 boats in”, as yard owner John Buckley tells us. Two of their recent projects were shortlisted in our awards this year in this issue. The first of these is the 35ft (10.7m) Kim Holman yawl Rummer, built by Whisstocks in nearby Woodbridge in 1959. The “major restoration” included new decks, deckbeams, carlins, beamshelf, chainplates, a thorough strip of all coatings and repaint and varnish, and a rerig of standing rigging (including new spreaders) and running rigging. The…

Highly technically-minded individuals are frequently classed as “geeks.” Many are quite shy, with a preference for socialising among folk of their own ilk, where they can share and compare their mathematical or algorithmic theories, undisturbed. Alfred Mylne was such a man. His after-dinner speeches, when required, were extremely short and to the point. He was not inclined to push himself forward, gave few interviews, avoided being photographed, and seems to have been relatively disinterested in acquiring the self-publicising, schmoozing, sales-clinching skills displayed by other successful designers, such as GL Watson with all his millionaire clients, or perhaps the greatest entertainer of them all, the wily Uffa Fox. Mylne would open up to his friends, but gave that friendship sparingly, although he was truly loyal and supportive once trust had been…

It’s been a real creative tour de force”, reveals Dan Lee I turned my passion for wood and electronic design into a business using the internet to enable me to undertake research into the latest methods and materials for restoring wooden boats and investigating boat design. who operates the Dan Lee Boatyard located at Springfield Farm business park in Perrott’s Brook, Cirencester. Dan’s love for boats began with small fishing craft and canoes when, as a youngster, he would holiday on the River Stour where he’d meander up to Mudeford, sometimes venturing into Christchurch Bay for a spot of fishing. He also turned his hand to making model boats, one in particular which his mother still proudly keeps as a memento of her son’s early handiwork. School over, Dan had…

Hand-tool woodworkers know only too well what David Pye meant by ‘the workmanship of risk’ described in his 1968 classic The Nature and Art of Workmanship. When the edge angled too steeply or driven too hard opens a disastrous split, you can almost hear the one-time Royal College of Art professor explaining it’s where ‘the quality of the result is not pre-determined, but depends on the judgement, dexterity and care which the maker exercises as he works.’ At times like this you’ll almost sell your hand-tooled soul for push-button machinery. Almost and yet never, because the (mostly) pleasurable business of working with the likes of a nakedly-edged adze, axe or – in this case – drawknife is something which, once found, you’ll not relinquish without a fight. A Romano-British drawknife…

MARISHKA The 28ft Loch Fyne cutter yacht Marishka was built in 1895, shortlisted in our awards this year, and so beautiful that her current owner spent 27 years restoring her. RE-RIGGING TO WIN The yacht Kelpie was always fast on CIM rules – but then everyone got fast, so it was time for a re-rig REFLECTIONS ON SAILING Reflections on sailing the globe and navigation, from an experienced yachtswoman and newly-qualified pilot PLUS… The restored 57ft S&S yawl Patrician Tiger; books; cordage guide; restored motor cruiser Ryegate; Alfred Mylne part 2 MARCH 2023 On sale 10 Feb 2023 Or why not subscribe? 30 YEARS AGO FEBRUARY 1993, CB56 The cover of our February 1993 issue depicts Norway’s oldest paddle steamer, Skibladner, whistling for the camera. What follows between the covers is…