AUTUMN 2018

CT Hl E a W O Rss L D’ S M Oi S Tc B E A UB T I F U Lo B O Aa T S t Restoring classics

RARE HERITAGE 1913 ga er back in action

AMERICAN MASTERPIECE S&S yawl on a comeback tour

AUSTRALIA’S FINEST Country’s first 8-Metre

EXPERT VIEWS Boatbuilders speak out

Restoration digi mag Cover options.indd 3 23/10/2018 18:27 Restoration: 6mr US114 Refit: 8mr If

We have a track recordWith ofa fi eldrestoring of dreams classicand a workshop yachts to realise and them, exciting this new builds,thriving for east clients coast boatyardall over is seekingthe world. boat owners to work with on future restorations and refi ts. Please call or visit us at: Want to restore a classicwww.demonyachts.co.uk but can’t find the right 01728 yacht? 452019 We have Newprojects Builds / availableRestoration /by Refi designers t / Repair / Design such & as; CNC Fife, Cutting Sibbick, / Storage R./ Lifting E. Froude and A. E. Payne. Please call or visit us at: www.demonyachts.co.uk 01728 452019 New Builds / Restoration / Refit / Repair Design / CNC Cutting / Storage / Lifting

New build: Flying Duckman Restoration: Powder Monkey

With a fi eld of dreams and a workshop to realise them, this thriving east coast boatyard is seeking boat owners to work with on future restorations and refi ts. Please call or visit us at: www.demonyachts.co.uk 01728 452019 New build: Ocean New Builds / Restoration / Refi t / Repair / Design & CNC Cutting / Storage / LiftingRowing Boats New build: Kite

RESTORATION SPLENDOUR Welcome to a special digital issue of Classic Boat magazine, focussing on the world x x

of restorations. The next 30 pages showcases three of the most stunning yachts E

restored over the past year, two in the USA, one in Australia. The yachts in question G

A are already well-known in the global classic scene, having raced widely since their P respective relaunches, their fresh varnish, polished gear and new sails all drawing onlookers aplenty as they tie up, countless social media ‘likes’ following on. Since

ROB PEAKE, being photographed for these pages they have raced in the Med, in the Caribbean, EDITOR in the Baltic, in Sydney Harbour. They represent the very best and most professional side of classic yacht restoring and racing, but each is a private project, with one proud owner at the helm, having invested signfi cant amounts of time, energy and money into bringing a historic old boat back to life. Elsewhere in the magazine we talk to some of the key people in the world of yacht restorations and hear about the big projects ongoing now. I hope you enjoy this glimpse into the pinnacle of the classic world in 2018 A GAME and maybe it will inspire you to invest OF CHANCE The S&S yawl Mah Jong was drying COVER PHOTO: TIM WRIGHT out on a Caribbean beach, but one man saw her potential. What followed in a classic of your own. Each month in would change both of their lives WORDS KATHY MANSFIELD the full, print version of Classic Boat magazine we feature ‘affordable’ TIM WRIGHT PHOTOACTION>COM wooden boats, as well as traditional Restoration digi mag Mah Jong.indd 4-5 07/09/2018 12:29 Fabulous S&S on a triumphant seamanship and woodworking advice. 4 comeback tour

RESTORATION SPECIAL RESTORATION SPECIAL

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classicboat.co.uk Sam Temple “ The process of restoration gives us the opportunity not WORDS NIGEL SHARP RESTORATION Azsd s fhsdfh xdfh only to re-build a historical vessel in the traditional way for all PHOTOGRAPHS CARLO BORLENGHI xdfh to see but also to learn the processes and thoughts that have Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, In striv dftdt iftyi ft7 become the roots of modern practice and technology. This ifgyjghkftyi“ dyj d 6 ughjd cgjcr process begins with detailed research and continues long after London, SW3 3TQ cghjc jcfgjdtyj ydr d srtysrtu launch; it is important to adapt the way you sail to the quirks of MEAN TO YOU? e6u e6u e56u e6ue6u erte6u the boat rather than adapting and modifying the yacht to suit e6ueu drtj kdrth dt fgdry 6u modern sailing practices. That said, the use of some modern We asked boatbuilders, naval architects, owners and others for their defi nition sttu st s df ewryser ysertsre adhesives and coatings to aid longevity and conservation EDITORIAL sdhfgh xfghxdfhxdfhxdfh xfhj without changing the overall structural arrangement should be drtj djdthd jd s srtdft jdft acceptable, it is important that current safety legislation is drtcfgh xdf u 6u srtd srtyser allowed for and it is always better that a yacht is restored to an ysrthd hsdr hserf jdrtjd owner’s requirements for comfort and usability than left to rot ” forever on the foreshore. Editor Rob Peake ”

+44 (0)203 943 9255 Donn Costanzo, Joe Loughborough, Wooden Boatworks, Carter Richardson, [email protected] LMI, Rhode Island Long Island East Passage Boatwrights, Rhode Island Associate Editor Ste an Meyric Hughes +44 (0)203 943 9256 ste [email protected] Senior Art Editor Peter Smith +44 (0)203 943 9257 Alex BrainerdWooden [email protected] Artisan Boat works Restoration these days has taken on some fairly broad end A restoration is going stops“ ranging from some varnish, paint and new curtains to to“ be a compromise. In the In striving for ultimate quality, consistency, and e ciency at Restoration means revival. An opportunity to ‘full-on’ from the keel up re-builds. For meaning I’d refer to the end, it is an interpretation Artisan“ Boatworks we have distilled our holistic approach to “bring a boat back to life using new materials, Publishing Consultant Martin Nott latter – an, as faithful to the original, rejuvenation or of a moment in history yacht restoration down to three principles: return hull shape, both traditional and modern, to sustain her for replacement of anything from keel to mast head, that has not combined with the rig, hardware, and joinery details to original appearance; another lifetime. A restoration allows the boat to weathered well with use and years; some structural knowledge, experience preserve as much original material as possible while ensuring adapt to the ever-evolving seas while keeping her improvement and a little ‘bling’. Then you have yourself a and limitations of its objective lifespan; and correct proven defi ciencies in spirit intact. restoration. restorer. engineering and/or materials. ” ADVERTISING ” ” ” Jack Shannon +44 (0)207 349 3731 12 CLASSIC BOAT RESTORATIION DIGI MAG CLASSIC BOATRESTORATION DIGI MAG 13

[email protected] Restoration Vox Pop.indd All Pages 07/09/2018 12:30 Restoration digi mag Chips.indd 14-15 07/09/2018 12:28 Hugo Segrave +44 (0)207 349 3794 [email protected] Expert boatbuilders share their Rare 1913 P-Class yacht is back Advertisement Production A l l p o i n t s m e d i a + 4 4 ( 0 ) 1 2 0 2 4 7 2 7 8 1 thoughts on ‘restorations’ in race action, in the Med allpointsmedia.co.uk 12 14 Published Monthly ISSN: 0950 3315 USA US$12.50 Canada C$11.95 CRAFTSMANSHIP Australia A$11.95 Restoration News Managing Director Paul Dobson DEFYING Craftsmanship Deputy Managing Director Steve Ross Commercial Director Vicki Gavin THE ODDS Publisher Simon Temlett The first Australian 8-Metre, Defiance, was designed and built by one man in his Digital Manager James Dobson back yard. It’s a very Australian story, says the boat’s current owner...

LOUGHBOROUGH MARINE INTERESTS, PORTSMOUTH, RI WORDS NIGEL SHARP PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD BENNETT AND NIGEL SHARP NEW ZEALAND Bermuda winner returns Arch Logan yacht re-launched For English émigré Joe Loughborough, who runs LMI Marine Interests in Rhode Island, the big project right now is Kirawan, pictured. She's not a On 29 April, Auckland Harbour bore witness to the spectacle of the re-launch of the 1904 ga cutter Ariki, designed and famous yacht by a designer with the kudos of Herresho— or Stephens, but certainly she deserves to be. She was drawn in 1936 by Philip Rhodes, built by Arch Logan, New Zealand’s answer to Fife III. She was bought by Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart in one of the most prolifi c and diverse of all naval architects who designed as many as 50 one-design classes, motor yachts and military and cargo December 2016, who sent her to boatbuilder Robin Kenyon of Auckland, who started a complete restoration in April vessels of all sizes. His triumphs include Carina II, a 1955 yawl that won two Transatlantic Races, two Fastnets and a Bermuda. The only Metre THE 2017. Not only is she by New Zealand’s most hallowed designer (Arch Logan was actually born in Scotland to Scottish yacht he ever designed, the 12-M Weatherly, won the 1962 America's Cup. Kirawan herself won the 1936 Newport-Bermuda Race in 45 knots of of parents, but moved to the other side of the world at the age of nine), but her triple-diagonal hull is built in a wood of wind, beating the S&S Stormy Weather boat for boat. The 53ft (16.2m) fractional-rigged cutter, built by Jakobson and Peterson of Brooklyn, NY, Defiance in her almost mythical status – kauri pine. She’s 54ft (16.5m) over spars, with a waterline length of 36ft 6in (11.1m). Her has had a di¤ cult history of half-completed restorations, the fi rst of which Joe describes as "lots of lipstick on a pig", and the second of which, a successful pre-WW2 displacement, as befi ts her racing purpose, is just 9.35 tonnes. Dinghy cruising maestro and occasional CB contributor replank, was good, but the owner ran out of money. She was found recently by a new, local owner, who has sent her to LMI for the full works. As days, ga-rigged Roger Barnes (brother of the owner) has been out to get the full story for us – so more soon! for the new interior, he showed Joe a photo of the 1937 Alden yacht Sonata, featured in our December 2017 issue, and said simply: "I want that!" He despite her 1935 aims to take Kirawan back to the scene of her former glory, in the 2020 Newport-Bermuda Race. CHELSEA launch date MAGAZINE SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK Saunders-Roe motor yacht The 1936-built Saunders-Roe 'TSMY' (twin-screw motor yacht) Magyar that we saw halfway through restoration at Harbour Marine Services two years ago was the unoˆ cial star of the show at the recent COMPANY Thames Traditional Boat Festival (see p16). She’s a superb example of her type from a builder of glamour and LTD history, restored by a boatbuilder at the peak of his craft, for an owner with an exacting attitude to authenticity and originality – and deep pockets. They don’t come any better, and we hope to get aboard soon to fi nd out more. She will be kept on the upper River Thames HENLEY, UPPER THAMES and used for occasional charter for the fi rst year or so. The Chelsea Magazine Company Ltd Henwood apprentice wins Best in Show Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place, Winning the Fred and Sheila Bourne Trophy for 'best in show' at this year’s Thames Traditional Boat Festival was a 1912 motor launch called Sweet Myrrh. This was a cause for celebration for the yard that restored London, SW3 3TQ her, Henwood and Dean, which now belongs to Colin Henwood’s DEMON YACHTS, SUFFOLK former apprentice Tony Knights, 26 years old, and business partner Dan Wood. Colin himself has left the yard to concentrate on +44 (0)207 349 3700 Olympic 6-Metre to be restored boatbuilding rather than running a business. Sweet Myrrh, 27ft (8m) in Our story on the 'Field of Dreams' in CB May featured a host of mouth-watering craft awaiting restoration at Demon Yachts in Su– olk. Among length, was restored comprehensively by the yard over fi ve months. them was Jo, a First Rule 6-Metre built by Anker and Jensen for the 1920 Olympic Games at Ostend, where she won gold for bermudan-rigged She was built, by Saunders-Roe on the Isle of Wight, to the copper- chelseamagazines.com Sixes. The boat has now found an owner and will be restored by Demon Yachts in time for her 100th birthday in 2020. "She is the last First Rule stitched ‘Consuta method’, which makes her a rarity. There were no Six built and was already outclassed by 1922," says Matthew Lingley of Demon Yachts. "In 1995 we found her in a hedge at the back of the plans to go on, but the boat is a displacement type, albeit quick boatyard at Pin Mill, with a tree growing through her and both bow and stern knocked o– . Peter Wilson [former yard owner] rescued her." because of her fi ne shape and not having much under the water and ©Copyright The Chelsea Magazine an “almost tunnel section” towards the stern. Company 2018 all rights reserved 30 CLASSIC BOAT RESTORATION DIGI MAG CLASSIC BOAT RESTORATION DIGI MAG 31 Restoration digi mag Defiance.indd 22-23 07/09/2018 12:28 ISSN 0950-3315 Restoration Digi mag yard news.indd All Pages 07/09/2018 12:30 Follow the Classic Boat on Twitter and Facebook The fi rst Australian 8-Metre is Some of the biggest refi t 22in new hands and still winning 30projects ongoing worldwide

CLASSIC BOAT RESTORATION DIGI MAG 3

Restoration digi mag Contents/Ed.indd 3 24/10/2018 10:28 A GAME OF CHANCE The S&S yawl Mah Jong was drying out on a Caribbean beach, but one man saw her potential. What followed would change both of their lives

WORDS KATHY MANSFIELD

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TIM WRIGHT PHOTOACTION>COM MAH JONG ROB PEAKE

Above l-r: fresh transom lettering declaring her Martha’s Vineyard base; owner Pat Ilderton; original timber inlays were uncovered

estoring a classic boat can change your life. little water came in when they refl oated her, and they Ask the owner of Mah Jong, who hadn’t were able to sail her carefully to nearby Tortola. This old quite expected it. The choice of yacht, yacht had fortitude too, not to mention her exceptionally boatyard, restorers and project grew into fi ne planking of old-growth Burmese teak that is not just a new project but something much irreplaceable today. She was shipped to Newport, and Rmore: a new family of friends, a whole new challenging from there Pat sailed her to Martha’s Vineyard. The area of interest and expertise, great adventures, and a spars were taken off and the hull was moved into fresh take on life and companionship. Gannon & Benjamin’s shop, where she would remain for Pat Ilderton’s commitment to having a boat of his the next two and a half years. own came slowly, having sailed on other yachts, chartered and raced. He grew up with an interest in S&S LINEAGE sailing: he had started with a humble Sunfi sh, growing The boat Pat had bought had a colourful history, and had up in North Carolina, and had raced on a Farr 70 from touched other people’s lives as well. This 52ft 2in (15.9m) Charleston to Bermuda. It was over a bottle of wine in a LOA yawl was built in just six months, the fi rst classic small restaurant in Ipswich, England, with Ross and yacht built by Cheoy Lee and the beginning of a Kirsten Gannon, that Mah Jong came into his life. succession of fi ne yachts to come from the yard. The teak Designed by Sparkman & Stephens and built in Hong had been partly harvested by elephant; the vignettes of Kong in 1957 at the renowned Cheoy Lee Shipyard, Chinese life that decorate the interior had been carved or Mah Jong had been left on a beach on Virgin Gorda in cast by local craftsmen. Mah Jong had been the British Virgin Islands for some years in fi erce commissioned by three graduates from the USA who had sunshine. That is an ill-fated destiny for a wooden boat gone to the pre-eminent yacht designer of the day, Olin and none of Pat Ilderton’s family, friends or advisors Stephens, and said they wanted a deep-draught ocean- thought Mah Jong was sensible. But Pat is a builder, racing yawl with a tall rig, easy to handle with a small restoring handsome old homes and building custom new crew, to be built in Hong Kong on a tight budget. Olin ones in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, and he suggested they adapt his earlier design for Baccarat and could see the original quality of build and wood, despite sent them to one of his in-house designers to help them Mah Jong’s deterioration. But more than that, the boat save costs. The name Mah Jong (literally, ‘grey sparrow’, had given an instant feeling of being just right for him, and a popular board game) was chosen – they considered and it was, after all, his decision. He sat on it, slept on it, the whole project a game of chance – and it fi t well with and couldn’t get the idea out of his head. the name of the original design, also named after a game. He wasn’t totally alone in his gut determination These were hardly penniless students: Hovey Freeman against the odds. Ross Gannon of Gannon & Benjamin was fi nishing his draft duties as a Navy navigator after Marine Railway on the island of Martha’s Vineyard, off his degree at Princeton and chose the Hong Kong Massachusetts, had seen the yacht years before on the boatbuilders while on destroyer duty in the Pacifi c; Mike Connecticut coast, where she had spent three years at Merle-Smith came from a sailing family with exclusive Mystic Seaport. Ross knew he could bring the most New England connections, and Gilbert M Grosvenor, a decrepit hull back to life if he was allowed enough time Yale classmate of Mike’s, was the grandson of a president and resources. Mah Jong was not beyond saving, but as of the National Geographic Society, whose father later with any major project, it would need the right moment ran the National Geographic magazine before Gilbert and the right customer. himself took over. After the build, Freeman and Merle- Months later, after much hesitation, Pat negotiated to Smith, plus Freeman’s wife and two crew, sailed Mah buy the boat in 2014 from Thorpe Leeson, a characterful Jong from Hong Kong to Manila, North Borneo, yacht captain with a penchant for buying interesting Singapore, the former Ceylon, Aden and through the Suez boats on spec. He and Ross convened in the Caribbean Canal to the Mediterranean. The oldest of them was 30;

to move the hull off the beach. They were surprised how Joan Freeman was 24 and had only sailed twice before. FROMTHEBLUE.CO.UK

6 CLASSIC BOAT RESTORATION DIGI MAG

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Gilbert Grosvenor Jr joined them in Rhodes once they Above: 1958 issue taken apart, labelled and stored. The fi ne quality of the reached the Mediterranean and spent two months of National original Chinese construction and joinery work was exploring the Greek Islands, subsequently writing a Geographic revealed. Years of dust was vacuumed away. All 48-page article in the December 1958 issue of National records her hardware, including hinges and fi ttings, were soaked in Geographic with his photographs. They sailed the boat condition and diesel oil. Pat’s daughter, Sara-Mae, came to work, from Rhodes to Crete, Santorini, Milos, Delos, Patmos, fi t-out in detail. stripping paint and varnishing that fi rst winter; up the Turkish coast and over to Mt Athos, eventually to Opposite main: in boatbuilder Robert Bennett came to work; Zoli Clarke, Athens and through the Corinth Canal. Grosvenor then her element in who had worked at the shipyard since he was 13, now a returned to Washington, where he was summoned to the blue-water qualifi ed shipwright and a wizard at welding, and rigger work with his father, and a crew helped the others sail the conditions of Myles Thurlow, who had worked there since he was 12, boat back to the United States. The three owners sailed in Antigua Classic were deeply involved. Seavor Jones spends part of his the 1958 Newport to Bermuda race, but after that Yacht Regatta, time on his ranch in Chile, part boatbuilding at Gannon regretfully agreed to sell Mah Jong and proceed with their where she won & Benjamin. Andy Lyon, sailmaker Ben Sperry and careers. The boat was owned by Richard C McCurdy for her class in 2018. others worked on the restoration. This was essentially 25 years, who left it to Mystic Seaport. A succession of Inset: original Ross Gannon’s project but almost all of the employees owners followed, before Mah Jong ended up on the wheel and contributed to its design and execution. beach in Virgin Gorda… binnacle; fi ne oriental detail TEAK RE-USED RESTORATION PHILOSOPHY throughout; Mah Jong was stripped down to her frames, planking Pat had liked the boatbuilding ethos of Gannon & gooseneck; and deck beams, making sure no issues were left Benjamin, where the craftsmen are encouraged to buy foredeck hatch in undiscovered, the original and numerous copper rivets and restore a boat of their own and then sail and period style by cut out. The teak yakal backbone had split and needed adventure as the boatyard owners do themselves, and Gannon & to be replaced. The deck beams were replaced one by where other boat owners can live on their boats and Benjamin one, keeping the shape of the boat, plus all frames, work at the yard or use the machinery after hours. They steamed and sawn. The sawn frames were 2½in (60mm) know and care why and how they are building. It creates live oak, heavy and solid and perfect for a tight bilge: a cohesive, creative atmosphere and results in long-term these needed to be carefully patterned and fi tted with employees whose work is also their passion. “Few trades overlapping futtocks. Tough angelique was used for new are left now, other than making musical instruments, fl oor timbers and any bronze fl oors were put back in that need such skill and precision in wood as place. There had been no bilge stringers in the original boatbuilding,” Pat comments. The yard has attracted a construction, and these needed to be painstakingly range of characters though over the years and created incorporated. The framing for a new coachroof was set strong bonds through their shared love of sailing and in place. Brad Abbott laid out new engine stringers to craftsmanship. That human aspect drew Pat from the mount the old Perkins diesel engine under the galley start and his strong input and responsiveness to their sink, which would allow the interior to be a more open skills and personalities made the Mah Jong project grow space for Pat’s friends and also for Pat’s fi ddle. Music and evolve along with the growing practical needs of the was to be an important part of the newly reconfi gured restoration. An inspired boat owner can make all the Mah Jong. Nine bunks and a series of cabinets, shelves difference. Ross and Kirsten Gannon, too, have a way of and drawers were designed and fi tted, along with a enhancing and encouraging conversations about life and galley and lounge area, all illuminated with a butterfl y work. “In an atmosphere of wood chips and dust and hatch in the coachroof above. winters huddled around a wood stove during lunch Teak continued to be a major component of Mah break, camaraderie and mutual respect blossoms,” adds Jong, as in her original build in Hong Kong. Anything Alex Goldhill, boatbuilder and now skipper of Mah not painted was made of teak. “The dismantled original Jong. As the end of the rebuild approached, Pat was boat became a rummage pile for fi nding teak stock,” said heard to say: “I hope I enjoy sailing her as much as I Seavor Jones. “Nothing was wasted. If it wasn’t shavings have enjoyed rebuilding her.” Above: skipper Alex and sawdust on the fl oor, it was screw-hole bung stock.” Mah Jong was dismantled. Fittings, stanchions and Goldhill worked on Ross and Pat found new and repurposed wood and other hardware were removed, the coachroof and the boat at Gannon hardware, from the live oak and sinker cypress from hatches lifted off, the interior unfastened and other bits & Benjamin Steve Cross to New Zealand bronze winches.

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ROB PEAKE 24/10/2018 10:31 TIM WRIGHT PHOTOACTION.COM MAH JONG ROB PEAKE TIM WRIGHT PHOTOACTION.COM

After a plywood sub-deck was pieced together, fi ne tools,” he said, “but Ross came out in a power launch teak was needed for the coamings as well as the new and told me that work started at 8 the next morning.” coachroof. Local yacht historian Ginny Jones sold them Alex found work, play and adventure. He arrived some big pieces of teak that came to the US from Burma about the same time as Mah Jong, and was invited by some 60-70 years ago. She and several other wooden Matt Barker to help him sail The Blue Peter to Bermuda, boat enthusiasts had invested in these now unique pieces along with Pat and others. It was a hard slog in 40-knot that would not be found on the market today. Though gusts, and at the end of it Pat asked Alex to be his she hesitated to part with it, it seemed the right moment, Top l-r: bronze skipper. Alex turned him down twice, telling him to fi nd the right boat. The deck and coamings would need pieces fl oors were someone older, more experienced and respectable, but wide and thick enough to curve out and up; the retained; owner Pat is a good judge of character and integrity, part of the coachroof would use much too. More teak was laid Pat on the helm at reason he fi t in so well at the boatyard. above the plywood subdeck, following the curve of the Antigua Classics. boat, over a layer of Bituthene membrane to stop leaks. Above: some ONBOARD Then there was painting, wiring, plumbing. The winches were I joined Mah Jong in Maine during part of the series of mainmast was found to have developed a twist, which repurposed, some races that run from Castine to Camden, Camden to needed a new core of spruce and skilful work by Miles were new Brooklin and then the Eggemoggin Reach Regatta, the Thurlow. mecca of classic sailing in northern New England. The As the launch date got nearer, there were limitless jobs boat’s new varnish gleamed, the deck was uncluttered to be fi nished. Some could be handled once the boat was and perfectly laid, the sails caught every gust as we launched – cue a splash of champagne and a temporary moved easily through light airs. The helm was balanced feeling of satisfaction. Then spars were set in place, and the crew were impressed with the boat’s standing and running rigging connected, sheets and sails responsiveness in the heavy weather they had MAH JONG added and suddenly Mah Jong was reborn, heading to experienced before. Below, there was surprising space, Mystic Seaport just in time for the WoodenBoat Show LOA and the bunks gave privacy while not closing off into where she won a fi rst prize for restoration, and for her 52ft 2in cabins. There was space for navigating, cooking, living. fi rst regatta, the Vineyard Cup. Since then she has sailed (15.9m) We were racing, the young crew was alert and watchful widely, from Maine to Grenada, chartering and racing. as we tacked upwind, but also easy, welcoming. Alex, a She shares two home ports, Martha’s Vineyard and LWL resourceful and impressive skipper, has said that “people Sullivan’s Island in South Carolina. who have sailed with us always leave with a personal Mah Jong has, in a sense, taken Gannon & Benjamin 37ft (11.3m) attachment to the boat, and touched by the camaraderie with her, both its creative outlook and its people. Pat BEAM and friendship that exists on board”. Ilderton invited the boatbuilders who had worked so 11ft 8in I hope Mah Jong’s original owners had as good a hard to restore her to join him as crew during the (3.6m)) time, as they fulfi lled their dreams by sailing her halfway summer months, and he employed one of them, Alex around the world, as the present owner and crew and Goldhill, as his skipper. Alex, who grew up sailing local DRAUGHT guests. As for the music, there are two guitars and a double-enders on the small Caribbean island of 7ft 6in fi ddle on board, and when the weather allows, they play. Carriacou, bought a wreck of an old boat in his early (2.3m)) Or, as I found, a sudden spike of rhythm is heard around twenties, once he had learned the basics of boatbuilding the hatch and cockpit – clicking fi ngers and blowing into in Denmark and Antigua, and sailed it singlehandedly up DISPLACEMENT hands, a beat starts up, and John Huey, Pat’s friend and from Antigua to Bermuda, on to New York and then 16 tonnes crewman today, adds a spontaneous rap dialogue. We all Martha’s Vineyard. He had met Ross Gannon, who had are carried along on it, as the wooden houses of offered him a job if he ever got there. SAIL AREA lobstering port Isleboro slide past, and we weave past “It was with some trepidation that I sailed into 1,253sqft rocky islets sometimes hidden in fog. This is quality of Vineyard Haven with a busted engine and a bag of rusty (116.4m²) boat, of sailing, of living.

10 CLASSIC BOAT RESTORATION DIGI MAG

Restoration digi mag Mah Jong.indd 10 24/10/2018 10:31 ESTD 1790

“THERE IS ONLY ONE STANDARD IN THIS LOFT AND THAT IS THE VERY BEST”

T RATSEY 1833

Visit our newly expanded loft in Cowes to discuss your requirements whether it’s winning races, creating the most authentic looking sail or patching-up your old favourite. Whilst embracing the latest technology, the team at Ratsey and Lapthorn are still working to Tom Ratsey’s principle; one standard, the very best.

CONTACT THE TEAM E: HELLO@RATSEYANDLAPTHORN OR T: 01983 294051 WWW.RATSEYANDLAPTHORN.COM RESTORATION SPECIAL WHAT DOES RESTORATION MEAN TO YOU? We asked boatbuilders, naval architects and brokers for their defi nition

Donn Costanzo, Joe Loughborough, Wooden Boatworks, LMI, Rhode Island Long Island

Restoration these days has taken on some fairly broad end A restoration is going stops“ ranging from some varnish, paint and new curtains to to“ be a compromise. In the ‘full-on’ from the keel up re-builds. For meaning I’d refer to the end, it is an interpretation latter – an, as faithful to the original, rejuvenation or of a moment in history replacement of anything from keel to mast head, that has not combined with the weathered well with use and years; some structural knowledge, experience improvement and a little ‘bling’. Then you have yourself a and limitations of its restoration. ” restorer. ”

12 CLASSIC BOAT RESTORATIION DIGI MAG

Restoration digi mag Vox Pop.indd 12 24/10/2018 10:33 RESTORATION SPECIAL

Barney Sandeman Sandeman Yacht Company, Dorset

Proper restoration must focus“ on the vessel’s original design, structure and style – and once completed be good for another 50 years. Simply to renew would lack the essential magic engendered by a soulful Paul Spooner, WHAT DOES preservation of the ghosts. Paul Spooner With their spirit intact, such Design, boats remain happier for it. ” Southampton Sam Temple “ The process of restoration gives us the opportunity not RESTORATION Rockport Marine, only to re-build a historical vessel in the traditional way for all Maine to see but also to learn the processes and thoughts that have A restoration suggests that become the roots of modern practice and technology. This someone“ got a boat really process begins with detailed research and continues long after right. It’s our tribute to a past launch; it is important to adapt the way you sail to the quirks of MEAN TO YOU? achievement of aesthetics, the boat rather than adapting and modifying the yacht to suit performance and comfort. modern sailing practices. That said, the use of some modern As for scope of work, I think of adhesives and coatings to aid longevity and conservation it as enabling a boat to without changing the overall structural arrangement should be perform to original abilities acceptable, it is important that current safety legislation is and usually beyond them. The allowed for and it is always better that a yacht is restored to an aesthetic end goes without owner’s requirements for comfort and usability than left to rot saying. ” forever on the foreshore. ”

Carter Richardson, East Passage Boatwrights, Rhode Island

Alex Brainerd, Artisan Boatworks, Maine

In striving for ultimate quality, consistency, and e ciency at Restoration means revival. An opportunity to Artisan“ Boatworks we have distilled our holistic approach to “bring a boat back to life using new materials, yacht restoration down to three principles: return hull shape, both traditional and modern, to sustain her for rig, hardware, and joinery details to original appearance; another lifetime. A restoration allows the boat to preserve as much original material as possible while ensuring adapt to the ever-evolving seas while keeping her objective lifespan; and correct proven defi ciencies in spirit intact. engineering and/or materials. ” ”

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Restoration digi mag Vox Pop.indd 13 24/10/2018 10:33 LUCKY CHIPS A rare P-Class designed by Starling Burgess in 1913 is racing again – and looking good enough to eat

WORDS NIGEL SHARP PHOTOGRAPHS CARLO BORLENGHI

Restoration digi mag Chips.indd 14 24/10/2018 10:34 Restoration digi mag Chips.indd 15 24/10/2018 10:34 CHIPS

PHOTOGRAPHS NIGEL SHARP

runo Troublé is something of a sailing legend Above l-r: blocks When Olympian’s restoration was complete she in France. He competed in two Olympic by Ording; started to chalk up some impressive race results, and that Games – in the Flying Dutchman class in Hutton self- was when two of her owner’s close friends, Sebastian 1968 and in a Soling four years later – and tailing winches; Bazin and Bernard Liautaud, decided they would like a then skippered three French challengers for the butterfly boat of their own to race against her. Bruno knew of two Bthe America’s Cup, in 1977, 1980 and 1983. “We had a skylight other P-Class boats that might be available. He and John tough battle against the British challenger Lionheart in went to look at the first of these, the Herreshoff 1980,” he told me. “We beat them 4-3 after collisions in Corinthian, but both described her as “a wreck” [see every race. We were then beaten 4-1 by the Australians p85 for the latest on this]. The other was Chips, which in the challenger final. Not very good but still the best was in Newport and still in commission. “Each time she America’s Cup result for France.” He also took part in went out they had to do a lot of pumping as the boat three Admiral’s Cups and he won the Quarter Ton World was broken,” said Bruno. “But she looked good,” added Championships in 1981. John, “and the rig looked decent and she was a similar In recent years he has turned his hand to the rescue of price to Olympian, so they went ahead and bought her.” old boats, and Universal Rule boats in particular. The first of these was the Q-Class Jour de Fête which he P-CLASS acquired in 2012 after her owner Konrad Ulbrich died. The P-Class is one of several Universal Rule classes, the “We won a lot of races with this boat,” he told me. Next biggest of which are the Js and the smallest the S-Class. came the P-Class Olympian which he found on Lake While they vary in size, they are more or less the Michigan, where she had been sailing with a bermudan- equivalent of International Rule 10-Metre yachts. The rigged carbon mast and Kevlar/carbon sails. “Because first P-Class boat was Seneca, which in 1907 represented there were no classic boat races in that area, the owners Rochester YC in the Canada’s Cup, the match racing had transformed her to race with modern boats,” Bruno competition between the USA and Canada which still explained. He arranged for a friend of his to buy her, takes place on the Great Lakes, and beat the Royal without the rig, and she was then taken to John Canadian YC’s Adele in three straight races. Anderson Boat Building in Maine to be restored. The boat we know today as Chips started life as You may have read about John in the April 2018 Onda III, designed by Starling Burgess and built at his issue of the print version of Classic Boat. Liverpool-born, Marblehead yard in 1913. Her first owner was John he did an engineering apprenticeship at ICI in 1982, got Greenough, whose previous Onda II was a P-Class boat a job on a boat in the south of France and has been and famously quick – “able to show her heels to nearly working on boats ever since, alternating a life at sea with all the P fleet,” according to the Boston Daily Globe. building boats or restoring them. He attended IBTC Burgess had produced her in 1908, in spite of the fact Lowestoft in the late 1980s, then worked at Spirit Yachts that he was at that time no great fan of the Universal and has been based in the USA since 1990. He worked Rule. “It’s too complicated and puts too many with Konrad Ulbrich on Jour de Fête’s restoration, which restrictions in design…and will make slow boats,” he is when he met his now wife, Ulbrich’s daughter told the yachting editor of the Boston Herald. “The data Wilhelmina. John spent about a year restoring Olympian which we have gathered for years is swept away…we while Bruno searched out other Universal Rule boats, must begin again and feel our way.” including the Q-Class Falcon and the R-Class Aloha, for Greenough kept Onda III at Gloucester, friends and clients. “I have some connections in the US Massachusetts, but raced her at Corinthian YC at having been a New York YC member for many years,” Marblehead. The Boston Daily Globe reported on a explained Bruno. “I know where to find boats there regatta on 7 August, 1913, in her first season, in which which is why people ask me.” there were five P-Class boats out of 190 starters.

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Restoration digi mag Chips.indd 16 24/10/2018 10:34 CHIPS Yacht Club de Saint Lunaire P Class François Chevalier © Starling Burgess 1913 CHIPS

LOA 55ft 2in (16.5m)

LWL 35ft 1in (10.7m) BEAM 10ft 4in (3.15m)

DRAUGHT 7ft 7in (2.3m) SAIL AREA Approx 1,300sq ft Above: Olympian was winner of the 1913 (120m2) Harbour Springs Cup DISPLACEMENT 10 tonnes

DRAWING BY FRANCOIS CHEVALIER

Restoration digi mag Chips.indd 17 CHIPS 24/10/2018 10:35 Yacht Club de Saint Lunaire P Class François Chevalier © Starling Burgess 1913 CHIPS

“The Timandra, Onda III and Sayonara II of this class made the prettiest finish of the afternoon, crossing the line neck and neck,” the Globe reported. In a race the following year at the same venue, Onda Racing on Chips III was up against seven other P-Class yachts. Yachting at Saint-Tropez magazine called it “the largest and most representative fleet of this class that has ever been gathered together”. I joined Bruno and Chips for a race at Les Voiles de Saint- In 1927, John Greenough sold Onda III to Malcolm Tropez. Bruno was at the helm and among the crew were his Greenough, presumably a relative, and she remained at wife Melanie, three professional crew – one full-time, Max, and Gloucester until 1933 when Llewellyn White bought her two part-time – and John Anderson. Although the owners, and took her to Marblehead. He renamed her White who refer to Bruno as their “Minister for Sea Aairs”, were not Indian and then just a year later renamed her again, this on board, they were due to arrive the next day and take part in time Wah-Hoo-Wah. She became plain Onda again in the remainder of the regatta. It was blowing about 15 knots at 1941 and very little is known of her history for the next first but it soon dropped to about 6 knots, and then fluctuated 40 years, except for one enjoyable but possibly back and forth throughout the race. We didn’t have the best of apocryphal anecdote that sees the boat bet by her owner races: the mainsail foot outhaul broke just before the start and, in a game of poker – unsuccessfully! The lucky winner, it although it was repaired in time, we then had, by Bruno’s own is said, decided to call her Chips, the name she has admission, “a bad start”; not long afterwards, while beating out retained ever since. of Le Golfe de Saint-Tropez, a trailing spinnaker sheet to We catch up with her in the late 1970s at a point leeward caught itself on a mooring buoy and we came to a where the chips, you could say, were down. Chips was sudden stop. By then the one boat we would have liked to being used as a houseboat with no rig and in 1980 was beat – the P-Class Olympian – had a significant lead over us, donated to a non-profit organisation called Full Sea, run but for Bruno and his crew the race was much more about by David Kiremidjian for the purpose of saving historic getting to know Chips’ characteristics. boats. He towed her to Long Island Sound where she was the largest of the 16 vessels he had at various times, ORIGINAL RIG two of which were New York 30s. According to the It is thought that all P-Class boats were originally rigged as New York Times in 1981, Kiremidjian planned “to use ga sloops with no bowsprit and Chips was no exception. In Chips not only as a working sailboat, but also as a fact in June 1913 the Boston Daily Globe reported that she was floating classroom with weekend seminars for adults on having “a larger suit of sails and spars” made because after sailing and marine ecology”. she was measured “it was found that she had considerable to It’s not clear if this ever came to anything, but it spare to rate at the top of class P.” When Adrian Pearsall wasn’t long before she moved on again, this time to bought her, to combat perceived weather helm, he furniture maker Adrian Pearsall, another saviour of commissioned Olin Stephens to design a new rig with a wooden boats. He had previously restored the New York bowsprit and a higher-aspect mainsail. Bruno suspected that 30 Amorita and would later do the same to the Fife this modification in fact might have given her lee helm, so the cutter Hallowe’en, but not before he turned his attention bowsprit was shortened as part of her restoration. Among the to Chips, on which he carried out a great deal of the tweaks the crew made during the course of our race, the work himself. In 1993 he sold her to Genevieve Cerf but headsail sheeting angle was moved forward. “It was much only on the condition that if she were to subsequently better,” said Bruno. “It made her faster and gave her more life.” put Chips on the market, she would give first right of Olympian won the race (and at the end of the week was refusal to him or any of his family. During Cerf’s second overall, by the narrowest of margins, to the New York ownership, Chips was regularly raced and won her class 50 Spartan) while we were fifth in a fleet of eight. Bruno was in Nantucket’s Opera House Cup on two occasions. Cerf philosophical about the result. “We spent three years tuning honoured the agreement when she decided to sell Chips Olympian and now she is really fast, and Chips is a much more in 2007 and it was Jed Pearsall, Adrian’s son, who took sensitive boat,” he told me. “These things take time.” the opportunity to buy her. The younger Pearsall As we re-entered the busy harbour at Saint-Tropez, Bruno campaigned the boat in various New England races. In handed the helm to Max who undertook the task of bringing 2014 she was the oldest boat in the New York Yacht Chips, with her long keel and oset propeller aft of the rudder, Club Race Week at Newport and won a race around stern-to against the harbour wall and alongside Olympian Prudence Island, in her 101st year. which was already moored up. “Bravo,” Bruno sportingly called Chips was moved by truck to John Anderson’s to Olympian’s crew. workshop in Maine in October 2015. John and his team These two rarest of classic yachts make a magnificent sight, of Matt Floge, Daniel Creischer, Simon Jack and Abe side by side, in virtually mint condition, and unsurprisingly Stimson started by building two steel cradles to jack the were already attracting a host of photographers. boat up and remove the ballast keel. Almost all of the oak centreline components, apart from 3ft (90cm) of the stem, was renewed in utile. “It is virtually impossible to “We spent three years tuning Olympian find seasoned oak with these scantlings,” explained John. The stem and stern post are virtually straight but the keel and now she is really fast, and Chips has a significant curve and so had to be laminated. is a much more sensitive boat” Almost all of the tapered steamed oak frames from just aft of the mast back to the cockpit were broken, and

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Restoration digi mag Chips.indd 18 24/10/2018 10:35 PHOTOGRAPHS NIGEL SHARP PHOTOGRAPHS

Racing from Saint-Tropez with Bruno Troublé at the helm; the expanded doghouse and coamings are clear; the boat fl ies an asymmetric spinnaker

Restoration digi mag Chips.indd 19 24/10/2018 10:35 CHIPS

these were replaced, like for like. The frames in the ends Above: back in been made in laminated American white oak and are of the boat survived: at the bow because they are almost waters she knew now varnished. A plywood subdeck (two layers of straight, and at the stern because they are sawn and well, o the ¼in/6mm) was fitted with grooves CNC-ed into the match the shape of the hull there perfectly. The New York YC, but underside to give the appearance of a laid deck, while replacements were fitted alternately to ensure the shape now under a there is now a laid swept teak deck on top, secretly of the boat was maintained, and four additional French flag. fastened with angled bronze ring nails through the seams laminated frames, slightly larger than the originals but Below: John and down into the deck beams. also tapered at their heads, were also fitted. “We added Anderson with The initial plan was to retain all of the deckhouse that these because the hull has an extreme wineglass shape in the boat’s logo, was fitted in the 1980s, but John convinced Bruno and that area,” said John, “and we knew that the boat would designed by the owners that it should be modified to give the cabin a be sailing in heavier conditions than she had been used Bruno better feeling of space. So new Peruvian mahogany to on the US eastern seaboard.” coamings were made and whereas the old ones were The original planking was yellow pine and all but fitted inboard of the carlins, the new ones were fitted on three full-length strakes of this had to be replaced. The top of them and bolted down through them. The new top plank is also yellow pine but because of the laminated cabin top (together with the two butterfly difficulty of obtaining this in a reliable quality, the rest is skylights) was retained but extended outboard to span now utile. “It is readily available in long lengths with the greater width. Six rectangular bevelled glass windows nice clear grain,” said John. The original yellow pine – “very much an American detail,” said John – were stringers (of which there are two each side) and fitted each side, giving more natural light below than beamshelf have been retained. four small oval portholes which were there before. Some The original floors were fitted in alternate frame bays new deck and rig fittings were cast to patterns made by and taken up to the first stringer, but these have been John, including the bowsprit heel fitting and some cleats, replaced in laminated oak with every other one taken up but very little work was needed on the rig itself. to the level just above the second stringer. The interior layout is essentially the same as it was, The deck has been completely renewed. Although the with three berths, a heads, galley and sail storage area deck beams were replaced in the 1980s, they had too forward, but all of it has been renewed in solid timber, little camber and were painted and so new ones have mostly Peruvian mahogany but the sole boards were made from the discarded original yellow pine planking: “the provenance of the old boat,” said John. John and his team had a deadline to work to: May 2017, when Chips was booked on a ship to take her to Europe. But before that she was launched in Maine where the rig was stepped, engine trials were carried out and she spent nearly a week beginning to take up. She was then lifted, de-rigged and trucked to Newport where she was launched and rigged for a day’s sailing trials with Bruno and the owners in her old stomping ground from the NYYC. “Luckily everything worked,” laughed John. She was then shipped to Le Havre, allowing the owners to spend most of the summer cruising around KATHY MANSFIELD KATHY NIGEL SHARP Brittany, near their summer homes, before she was taken by road to the Med to race in the autumn regattas.

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Restoration digi mag Chips.indd 20 24/10/2018 10:35 Bristol 32

16 18 22 22.5 27 32

www.staryachts.co.uk • +44 (0)7866-705181

“Carlotta”

22-28 Tower Street, Brightlingsea, Essex, C07 0AL Tel: 01206 302863 [email protected] www.jameslawrencesailmakers.com

Made with Britain Pride in Great DEFYING THE ODDS The first Australian 8-Metre, Defiance, was designed and built by one man in his back yard. It’s a very Australian story, says the boat’s current owner...

WORDS NIGEL SHARP PHOTOGRAPHS RICHARD BENNETT AND NIGEL SHARP

Defiance in her successful pre-WW2 days, ga-rigged despite her 1935 launch date

Restoration digi mag Defiance.indd 22 24/10/2018 10:36 Restoration digi mag Defiance.indd 23 24/10/2018 10:37 DEFIANCE

t was in 1934 that Uffa Fox wrote of the virtues of Above: wooden disaster: due to light winds it took much longer than the 8-Metre class that “a young owner could…sail blocks; owner expected and genuine concern was expressed in such a vessel around the coast from regatta to Nicole in newspapers that the crew would run out of food and regatta just as the owners in the larger classes do, foreground with starve. But Defiance – most aptly named, as it turns out for coastal cruising in an 8-Metre would give Harold Cudmore – reached her destination safely. Bullock carried out Iowners the two most sought-after things in life; health at the helm; some modifications to allow her to race offshore and happiness”. Just a year after he wrote that, an gooseneck fitting including a reduction in the cockpit size, the addition of 8-Metre called Defiance was launched in Australia and, a hatch, a gimballed stove and an ice box. He then took as if to endorse Fox’s words, she would become known Facing page: part in the second Sydney-Hobart race in 1946, finishing as the ‘Offshore Eight’, not least because of the five Royal Sydney third overall, and again in 1947, when Defiance led the Sydney-Hobart races in which she would compete. Yacht Squadron fleet through 50-knot winds for five days, was overtaken The story behind Defiance’s conception is quite home port as the just before the finish and then found that she was remarkable. Not only was she the very first 8-Metre to Australian ensign disqualified for not reporting that she had hit the starter’s be built in Australia, but her designer, builder and first flutters proudly; boat. She also competed in 1954, 1955 and 1957. No owner was, in this context, an amateur. Ernest Digby halyard jammer other 8-Metre has ever taken part in the race. was employed by the Melbourne Harbour Trust as on the mast When the first 8-Metres were built soon after the foreman shipwright, and in that capacity he designed partly disguised formation of the International Rule in 1907, they were and built a number of commercial vessels – including the with a timber all gaff-rigged, but by the time Digby designed Defiance, tugboats Victory and Goudie, both with yacht-like cover; discreet most European 8s would have been converted to or built features – but it was in his spare time that he worked on instrument panel with bermudan rigs. For some reason he gave Defiance a Defiance and his other sailing yachts. in a washboard; gaff rig, but having done two Sydney-Hobarts in her, It is said that on his office wall Digby had a photo of headsail sheet Bullock decided to convert her to bermudan in 1951. his hero William Fife III, himself the designer of almost fairlead She changed hands several times in the 1950s and fifty 8-Metres. This may have given him the inspiration then was bought in 1960 by Alan and Ann Hinds, who to design Defiance, but how Digby learned to do so and took her to Pittwater. There she was frequently raced comply with as complex a rating formula as the against two other 8-Metres, Pakerdoo and Varg, but it International Rule is unknown. In the middle of a was family cruising with their four children that the depression and with the help of three of his sons he built Hinds cherished most. For the first few years of their Defiance in his own backyard in Williamstown. ownership, the Hinds were perfectly happy with the “To me, Defiance is very much an Australian story,” engineless Defiance but as the moorings in Pittwater says Nicole Shrimpton, the boat’s sixth and current became more crowded they reluctantly admitted it was owner. “At a time when large Metre boats were the time she had her first engine. The Hinds sold the boat in preserve of the very wealthy and the royalty of Europe, 2012 after half a century of ownership. Ernest defied all class barriers.” Nicole Shrimpton grew up “gazing at classic boats” Digby was also an accomplished sailor and was from her family home in Mosman Bay in Sydney described by the Sporting Globe in 1932 as “one of our Harbour and later in the Mediterranean. “They say best and most popular yachtsmen”. When Defiance was boats find you and Defiance found me,” she says. “From launched in 1935 she caused something of a local the moment I heard she was for sale I was struck by the sensation and became a source of great pride in Port desire to own and restore her. And even now six years Philip Bay. She established a winning reputation with on, her beauty stops me dead.” seven victories in her first twelve races, success that Nicole came late to sailing and from the start has continued throughout Digby’s ownership. sought the advice of a number of respected classic boat At the end of 1945 Digby sold Defiance to Sydney experts, including her friend Duncan Walker, formerly of sailor Frank Bullock. Her first offshore voyage, the Fairlie Yachts, now of Greybeard Yachting. Nicole knew delivery from Melbourne to Sydney, might have met with right from the start that Defiance would need a fair

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amount of work, but she wanted to use the boat first, to get a better idea of what needed doing to get her back to top racing condition. There were a few jobs that needed immediate attention and for these she went to Noakes Boat and Shipyards, who lengthened the mast step, installed two new ring frames in the mast area, fitted a new feathering propeller, tidied up the topsides and made some minor rig improvements. With this work completed, Defiance sailed in the Australia Day Regatta at the beginning of 2013 and followed this up with a win in the Cruising Yacht Club of Australia’s winter series. The major work on Defiance would go to Colin Beashel Marine, at Pittwater in Sydney. The third generation of the Beashel family to build and restore boats, Beashel is something of a legend in Australian sailing circles, not least for being the mainsheet trimmer on Australia II when she won the America’s Cup in 1983. “Colin was the one,” says Nicole. “He is a Metre boat man and thoughtful about everything he does.” Ernest Digby Apart from putting right a modification that had been Among the other sailing boats designed and built by made to the transom, little work was needed on the hull. Ernest Digby was another 8-Metre, Frances, which The Australian kauri planking and celery top grown followed immediately after he sold Defiance and frames were good, as was the centreline, testament to which he named after his wife. Frances had a Digby’s skills and diligence. The main task was to replace remarkable record in the prestigious Sayonara Cup, the deck, fitted around 1980. Many of the beams and Australia’s premier sailing trophy at that time and parts of the beamshelf needed repairs and replacements, named after William Fife’s 1898 ga cutter. (Defiance in Douglas fir. A ½in (12mm) plywood subdeck was never competed for it, as it wasn’t held during Digby’s fitted, then covered with glass and epoxy, which was ownership.) Frances won it in 1951 and retained it the wrapped over the sheer plank. following year. She lost it to the Tasmanian 8-Metre Nicole would have liked the new laid deck planks to Erica J in 1953, but in 1954 won it back. In 1955, she be kauri, just as the originals were, but it proved was beaten by the Fife 8-Metre Saskia and was impossible to obtain in sufficient quantity and lengths, so unsuccessful the following year too. teak to a thickness of ³⁄8in (9.5mm) was used instead. Digby became a highly respected designer, builder The original coachroof coamings have been retained, and sailor, commodore of both the Hobson Bay Yacht veneered on the outside with a length of Queensland Club and the Royal Yacht Club of Victoria. At the age kauri, which also forms the outer part of the cockpit of 78, while he still owned Frances, tragically he was coaming. “We chased around everywhere for that,” killed by a drunk driver while riding his bicycle. Colin says. “Eventually I went through one of father’s But his legacy lives on. Not only are both his old lists and found that we had a board that had been 8-Metres still actively sailed but his grandson Peter is here for about 30 years.” Opposite: Nicole a highly accomplished Melbourne sailor (as was his The cabin top had rot, so the beams were renewed, in the stripped son Len), and his tugboat Victory is currently being with Huon pine planks and kauri margins, as original, out interior. restored in Hobart. laid over the top. Below: Defiance’s The interior fit-out is simple and appealingly light, launch at thanks to the white painted surfaces and a number of Williamstown, Davey deck prisms. Among the few parts which are a Victoria, in 1935.

An earlier design by Ernest Digby called Independence

CLASSIC BOAT RESTORATION DIGI MAG 27

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natural wood colour are three massive celery top pine Above l-r: new would still have an engine, although the one installed by floors which have been restored to their former glory. “It covering board; the Hinds has now been replaced with a Volvo Penta D2 was such a joy to uncover them,” says Nicole. Nicole in the four-cylinder diesel which can be removed, along with its As far as Nicole was concerned, the question “what companionway stern gear, in the event that she might one day compete would Digby have done?” was a guiding mantra with the new in a major 8-Metre championship. A completely new set throughout the process, with early photos – in the coachroof taking of cross laminate sails was made by Ian “Shorty” Short, absence of any drawings, all lost – providing vital clues. shape; laying the who made the sails for Saskia and sailed on her when she “The more I learn about Digby,” she says, “the deeper new deck; Colin won the 8-Metre World Championship in 2007. my admiration for him grows.” But some time after and Nicole talk Defiance was back with a vengeance by Christmas Colin Beashel thought he had completed the work, a 2016 and since then has had her fair share of success, “very expensive envelope” arrived through Nicole’s with wins in various races on Sydney Harbour. letterbox, having been sent by Digby’s grandson Peter. It Nicole is delighted that the stars of the sailing world

contained a previously unseen photograph of Digby DEFIANCE are drawn to her boat, and at various times her crew has standing in the cockpit, which was clearly longer than it LOA included: Colin Beashel himself; Hugh Treharne, Colin’s now was. Nicole knew straight away that she wanted to 48ft 6in former shipmate and tactician on Australia II; David revert to the original even though that would involve Giles, Colin’s crew in the Star at four Olympic Games removing quite a bit of internal joinery that had only just (14.8m) (they won bronze in 1996), who is now Defiance’s been installed and into which “so much love had been LWL Sailing Master; Carl Ryves, 1968 Olympian and winner poured” by Colin and his boatbuilders. 30ft 9in of multiple subsequent championships; Irish Olympian Nicole’s biggest dilemna was whether to keep the Harold Cudmore; Sir Richard Ottoway, former 1951 bermudan rig or recreate the original gaff rig. “I (9.4m) chairman of Cowes Classic Week; and many more. often look at the early photos of Defiance with her gaff BEAM While I was in Australia recently, I was thrilled when rig and think how gorgeous she was,” she says. But in 9ft 5in Nicole invited me for a sail on Defiance, and what a the end she decided that, for the occasions when she (2.9m)) delightful sail it was. Not only was it a glorious day with would be sailing just two- or three-handed in the sunshine and a southerly F3, but we were sailing from crowded confines of Sydney Harbour, it would be more DRAUGHT Sydney up the coast to Pittwater, giving me my own practical to retain the bermudan rig. 6ft 6in ‘offshore’ experience of Defiance, and I had the So the solid Oregon pine mast from 1951 remains (1.9m)) opportunity to steer most of the way as well. (although Nicole often talks about replacing it with a We set off from the Royal Sydney Yacht Squadron hollow Sitka spruce mast in the not-too-distant future). DISPLACEMENT pontoon, hoisted the sails promptly and soon left the For similarly practical reasons she decided Defiance 8.3 tons famous bridge and the opera house behind us. Once outside the Heads, there was a bit of a sea left over from stronger winds the day before, but those seas and the wind were behind us, and Defiance’s long keel made steering down those waves easier than it might have been in a modern boat. We were consistently sailing between 9 and 10 knots, briefly touching a tantalising 10.99. My helming skills couldn’t quite get us to 11, but it was glorious sailing and over too soon as we arrived at Beashel’s yard in Elvina Bay where I met Colin. And what of Nicole’s future plans? She is a regular visitor to Cowes and is seriously considering entering Defiance for the 8-Metre World Cup, to be held there in 2019. “I have always thought that Digby had the Solent in mind when he designed Defiance for Port Phillip Bay,” she says. “And I do think she would relish the Round the Island Race. I love Cowes and I love the Solent. My Above from left: Carl Ryves, Andrew Cutler, Aimee Walsh, David Giles, Nicole dream has always been to take Defiance there.” Shrimpton, Colin Beashel, Harold Cudmore, Hugh Treharne

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Restoration digi mag Defiance.indd 28 24/10/2018 10:38 Wooden boats repairs and restoration. 50 years experience in the boat building industry. We can accommodate boats up to 40’. T: 07802509032 E: [email protected] webb-boats.co.uk Marcus Lewis Wooden Boatbuilder

Rowing Boats, Sailing Dinghies, Motor Launches, Mayflower Dinghies, New Builds, Repairs, Restorations Fowey, Cornwall Tel: 07973 420568 www.woodenboatbuilder.co.uk CRestorationraftsmanship News

NEW ZEALAND Arch Logan yacht re-launched Auckland Harbour was treated to the spectacle of the re-launch of this 1904 ga cutter, Ariki, designed and built by Arch Logan, New Zealand’s answer to William Fife III. She was bought by Andrew Barnes and Charlotte Lockhart in December 2016, who sent her to boatbuilder Robin Kenyon of Auckland, who started a complete restoration in April 2017. Not only is she by New Zealand’s most hallowed designer (Arch Logan was actually born in Scotland to Scottish parents, but moved to the other side of the world at the age of nine), but her triple-diagonal hull is built in a wood of almost mythical status – kauri pine. She’s 54ft (16.5m) over spars, with a waterline length of 36ft 6in (11.1m). Her displacement, as befi ts her racing purpose, is just 9.35 tonnes. Dinghy cruising maestro and Classic Boat contributor Roger Barnes (brother of the owner) has been out to get the full story for us – so more soon in the full print edition of Classic Boat.

DEMON YACHTS, SUFFOLK Olympic 6-Metre to be restored Our story on the 'Field of Dreams' in Classic Boat's May 2018 print issue featured a host of mouth-watering craft awaiting restoration at Demon Yachts in Su‚ olk. Among them was Jo, a First Rule 6-Metre built by Anker and Jensen for the 1920 Olympics, where she won gold for bermudan- rigged Sixes. The boat has now found an owner and will be restored by Demon Yachts in time for her 100th birthday in 2020. "She is the last First Rule Six built and was already outclassed by 1922," says Matthew Lingley of Demon Yachts. "In 1995 we found her in a hedge at the back of the boatyard at Pin Mill, with a tree growing through her and both bow and stern knocked o‚ . Peter Wilson [former yard owner] rescued her."

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Restoration digi mag Yard news.indd 30 24/10/2018 10:39 CRAFTSMANSHIP

LOUGHBOROUGH MARINE INTERESTS, PORTSMOUTH, RI Bermuda winner returns For English émigré Joe Loughborough, who runs LMI Marine Interests in Rhode Island, the big project right now is Kirawan, pictured. She's not a famous yacht by a designer with the kudos of Herresho˜ or Stephens, but certainly she deserves to be. She was drawn in 1936 by Philip Rhodes, one of the most prolific and diverse of all naval architects who designed as many as 50 one-design classes, motor yachts and military and cargo vessels of all sizes. His triumphs include Carina II, a 1955 yawl that won two Transatlantic Races, two Fastnets and a Bermuda. The only Metre yacht he ever designed, the 12-M Weatherly, won the 1962 America's Cup. Kirawan herself won the 1936 Newport-Bermuda Race in 45 knots of of wind, beating the S&S Stormy Weather boat for boat. The 53ft (16.2m) fractional-rigged cutter, built by Jakobson and Peterson of Brooklyn, NY, has had a di¤cult history of half-completed restorations, the first of which Joe describes as "lots of lipstick on a pig", and the second of which, a replank, was good, but the owner ran out of money. She was found recently by a new, local owner, who has sent her to LMI for the full works. As for the new interior, he showed Joe a photo of the 1937 Alden yacht Sonata, featured in the print version of our print December 2017 issue, and said simply: "I want that!" He aims to take Kirawan back to the scene of her former glory, in the 2020 Newport-Bermuda Race.

SOUTHWOLD, SUFFOLK Saunders-Roe motor yacht The 1936-built Saunders-Roe 'TSMY' (twin-screw motor yacht) Magyar that we saw halfway through restoration at Harbour Marine Services two years ago was the unocial star of the show at the 2018 Thames Traditional Boat Festival. She’s a superb example of her type from a builder of glamour and history, restored by a boatbuilder at the peak of his craft, for an owner with an exacting attitude to authenticity and originality – and deep pockets. They don’t come any better, and we hope to get aboard soon to find out more. She will be kept on the upper River Thames HENLEY, UPPER THAMES and used for occasional charter for the first year or so. Henwood apprentice wins Best in Show

Winning the Fred and Sheila Bourne Trophy for 'best in show' at the 2018 Thames Traditional Boat Festival was a 1912 motor launch called Sweet Myrrh. This was a cause for celebration for the yard that restored her, Henwood and Dean, which now belongs to Colin Henwood’s former apprentice Tony Knights, 26 years old, and business partner Dan Wood. Colin himself has left the yard to concentrate on boatbuilding rather than running a business. Sweet Myrrh, 27ft (8m) in length, was restored comprehensively by the yard over five months. She was built, by Saunders-Roe on the Isle of Wight, to the copper- stitched ‘Consuta method’, which makes her a rarity. There were no plans to go on, but the boat is a displacement type, albeit quick because of her fine shape and not having much under the water and an “almost tunnel section” towards the stern.

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Restoration digi mag Yard news.indd 31 24/10/2018 10:39 Untitled-11 1 23/08/2018 09:36 CRAFTSMANSHIP NIELSEN BOATYARD YARD VISIT RATSEY & LAPTHORN WIND IN THEIR SAILS The world's oldest sailmaker is thriving, with new owners and fresh investment

WORDS AND PICTURES STEFFAN MEYRIC HUGHES

Main picture: the main loft floor Inset: Steve Meakin (left) and Jim Hartley. Inset above: the 'gore books', part of the huge archive; Rowena Olden at work on one of the sewing machines in her sailmaker's pit

atsey and Lapthorn is one of those names that is instantly One example is Whooper, the Laurent Giles sloop that has recognisable and today the company, with new owners and probably won more races, at least in the UK, than any other classic a relatively new business premises in Cowes, is thriving. yacht in memory. Owner Giovanni Belgrano is frequently at the loft The company behind the famous red semi-circular logo is and intimately involved with every decision concerning his sails. Rthe oldest sailmaker in the world, continuously in business for well Cruising sails are very much part of the game, too, and many over two centuries. It is said to have made the sails flown on Nelson's Westerly owners are finally coming back to R&L for their second suit HMS Victory at the Battle of Trafalgar. More recently it has made sails of sails (R&L made the sails for every Westerly yacht that left the for many of the great classic yachts, including Altair, Adix, Creole factory). Making sails that last three decades is "not the best and Shenandoah of Sark, although its bread and butter is in much business model", says Jim with a chuckle. smaller work for private ga­ers and like. A year ago Ratsey and Along the walls of the big lofting rooms, where Gary Pragnell and Lapthorn was bought by two new owners, James Hartley and Robert Rowena Olden are at work in the sailmaker's pits, are the company's Shaw. On the day of our visit, James (Jim) is there to greet us, along archives. If you have a classic yacht, there is a high chance that R&L with Paralympian gold-medallist Andy Cassell (sail designer) and will have your sail plan – or a number of di­erent ones – on record Steve Meakin, who has been MD for the last four years. from when the boat was built. Flicking through a single book turns Jim admits that R&L's enormous reputation is not without its up several classics still sailing today, with owners who probably have perils: "We're sometimes viewed as the Rolls Royce of sailmakers. In no idea that these valuable original documents exist. fact, our sails are no more expensive than any other of comparable The history is palpable and meanwhile a big recent investment in quality. And Royces are not the fastest of cars, either, which is rather equipment means there shouldn't be much trouble sticking to Tom at odds with the company's present focus on modern sails for racing W Ratsey's 1833 tenet, which now hangs on the wall: "There is only classics... albeit of traditional appearance." one standard of work. That is the very best."

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