Round Britain Challenge Programme Old Gaffers

South West Gaffers
th
50 Anniversary 2013
Promoting Traditional Sail in Devon and Cornwall
www.southwestgaffers.org.uk
Round Britain Challenge Stopover
Plymouth 8-9th May 2013
South West Gaffers is the South West Area of the Old Gaffers Association
‘Old Gaffers Association’ and burgee logo with pitchfork motif are registered trademarks of the Old Gaffers Association
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The information in this booklet has been gleaned from a variety of sources and no
guarantee is given as to its accuracy nor can any liability be accepted for any loss caused by
any omissions or inaccuracies. If you are aware of any please inform South West Gaffers
Publications Editor (Peter Crook, The Banks, Belle Hill, Kingsbridge TQ7 1NJ
Telephone: 01548 857559 Email: admin@southwestgaffers.org.uk).
Please also inform South West Gaffers if you are aware of any infringement of copyright
caused by the inclusion of any material in this booklet as no such infringements if any are
made intentionally.
The information contained in this booklet is held on computer by South West Gaffers and
The Old Gaffers Association. This information is for the sole use of The Old Gaffers
Association and, apart from boat details and the names but not addresses of their owners,
will not be disclosed to any other organisation or individual except as required by law.
Cover map by Claudia Myatt www.claudiamyatt.co.uk
Booklet produced with
ncilla integrated software configured for South West Gaffers
This year The Old Gaffers Association is
celebrating its 50th Birthday!
To celebrate this landmark in the history of the preservation of traditional gaff rig some
of our lovely boats will complete the Round Britain Challenge, a four-month-long
circumnavigation of Britain, calling at many ports. Other boats will accompany the fleet
on part of its way in the form of a Relay carrying tokens from one Area of the OGA to
another. Boats set out on the first leg of the journey from the Netherlands and from
Maldon on the East Coast of Britain on April 21st. Boats from the local Area of the OGA,
South West Gaffers, will join the fleet at Plymouth to sail to the Isles of Scilly on
9th May.
The Climax of the Celebrations will be the OGA Jubilee Festival at Cowes from
15th to 18th August.
Plymouth will be the first stop for the fleet after leaving the Hamble. Mayflower Marina
is kindly providing berthing for the entire fleet, including boats from Holland and
France, which is expected to arrive on 7th-8th May. Festivities involving eating,
drinking, music and merrymaking are being organised for the afternoon of the 8th.
On the 9th there will be a grand parade of sail around Plymouth Sound before the fleet
leaves for the Scillies. This will include many local gaff rigged boats as well as those in
the Round Britain Challenge and Relay.
Details of the boats we expect to be berthed at Mayflower Marina and which will be
taking part in the Parade of Sail are shown on the following pages.
The South West Gaffers token that will be carried round Britain to be auctioned at the
Jubilee Festival is a bottle of Navy strength Plymouth Gin. We are confident that the
skippers and crews of the boats carrying this will be able to resist the temptation to
sample it en route!
The progress of the Tokens and of many of the Challenge boats to be followed online at
http://oga50.org.
Programme
Tuesday
7th May
Early arrivals will berth at Mayflower Marina
Wednesday 8th May
The rest of the fleet will arrive at Mayflower Marina.
The marina will be open for the public to view the
boats from 1-5pm
Jolly Jacks will be expecting crews for food and drink
from 7pm onwards – the Tavy Tars Shanty Group
will be entertaining us from 7.30.
Thursday
Boats leave the marina at 10am for the Parade of Sail:
they will sail past the Hoe and the Citadel and twice
around the Sound before leaving via the Western
Entrance.
9th May
Jolly Jacks cafe/bar will be open from breakfast time each day.
One of the principal aims of the Round Britain Challenge and Relay is to
raise money for the RNLI so please give generously when you see a
collecting box or donate online at
http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/OGA50
The RNLI is delighted to be supported by the Old Gaffers 50th anniversary
celebrations in 2013; thank you for your support at this exciting milestone in
your history. As I am sure you are aware, the RNLI is independent from the
Government and continues to rely on voluntary contributions and legacies for
its income.
Although a national charity, with over 230 stations around our coastline, the
RNLI also has a local presence. We have a national network of local
volunteers working in your community: giving sea safety advice to boat users,
teaching children how to stay safe at the beach and around water, raising vital
funds or risking their lives to save others on the coast and inland waterways.
By supporting us and getting involved with some fundraising you will benefit
from the support and help of local, experienced, fundraisers and possibly gain
links with a local lifeboat station. Our aim is to build a partnership with you,
engage your local community and help generate ideas so that you can make a
real and positive contribution to saving lives at sea. Your support in raising
vital funds for the RNLI during your 50th anniversary celebrations could
make the difference between life and death for someone in our coastal waters.
Our volunteer crews can only continue to save lives at sea thanks to people like
you - with your help we can go further to save lives at sea, thank you.
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Many thanks to the staff of Mayflower Marina for their help and support.
Aeolus (OGA No. 2502)
A Heard 28 designed by Martin Heard and built by Gaffers and
Luggers.
Owned by Steve Lorraine.
LOS: 41' 5" LOA: 28' 4".
Amanita (OGA No. 2951)
A Wylo II.
Owned by Mike & Janey Hill.
LOS: 43' 7" LOA: 35' 11" LWL: 30' 6".
Anna
A Gentleman's Cruising Yacht designed by F.J. Welch/M.H.
Jones and built by M.H. Jones in Blagdon's, Mount Wise,
Plymouth in 2004.
Based on a design from 1930.
Owned by Mike & Tricia Jones and based at Mayflower Marina,
Plymouth.
White hull and sails. Yellow & red racing flag.
LOS: 38' 2" LOA: 34' 10" LWL: 24' T(H)CF: 0.995.
Anna was built upside down in Alec Blagdon's shed. A light plywood mould was
covered with the required thickness of GRP. She was turned over, faired and finished
and ballasted internally with scrap lead and sash weights encased in cement.
The rig is from 1930 and has not been modified apart from the addition of clutches for
the sheets.
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Annabel J (OGA No. 2204)
A Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter designed by David Cox and built
by A&P Appledore/Bridgeend Boat Co. in Falmouth/Newton
Ferrers in 1996.
Owned by Phil Codgel and based at Hamble.
Grey/blue hull. Sail No. AJ.
LOS: 65' 5" LOA: 54' 6".
Annabelle J was designed on the lines of Margerite T with plans by David Cox and
detail by Gary Mitchell, son of the renowned boatbuilder Percy Mitchell of Mevagissey.
She is based at Hamble in the Solent and works as a charter yacht. See Annabel J
classic yacht charters - www.annabel-j.co.uk.
Arriana (OGA No. 2071)
A Tamarisk 29 designed by David Cannel and built in 1979.
Owned by Mike & Chris Forwood.
White hull; tan sails. Sail No. 2071.
LOS: 35' 11" LOA: 29' 5" T(H)CF: 0.967.
Designed by David Cannel on the lines of the Falmouth Quay Punt, used for unloading
ships in Falmouth harbout, but the rig altered. She was exhibited at the London Boat
Show in 1980.
BB237
A Converted RNLI boarding boat built in 1960.
Owned by Simon Stretton.
LOS: 19' 7" LOA: 17' 5".
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Bonify (OGA No. 2888)
A Yacht designed by John Hanna (1924) and built by David
Carter in 1980.
Based on a design from 1924.
Owned by Howard Wheelton & Sue Lewis and based at Ipswich.
Red hull; white sails, apart from red mainsail.
LOS: 44' 8" LOA: 37' 1".
Bonify, launched in 1993, has a double-ended ferro-cement hull with pine decks on oak
beams and Norwegian Pine and Douglas Fir spars.
John Hanna's original design for the Carol in 1924 was for an ocean-worthy ketch but
Bonify was built as a single-masted gaff cutter. She was built near Colchester, taking
over 13 years to complete, and then went to the west coast of Scotland with a new
owner. By coincidence she is now kept in Ipswich only yards from where she was first
launched.
Her current owners have added a cockpit and more recently a handsome wooden
doghouse. The next project is to add a mizzen mast and rig her as a ketch, closer to the
original 1924 design.
Her relatively shallow draft is very suitable for sailing on the East Coast and it's rivers
and she regularly crosses the North Sea to Belgium and the Netherlands.
Bonita (OGA No. 26)
A Yacht built by Crossfields in 1888.
Owned by Mike Beckett and based at Faversham, Kent.
LOS: 32' 8" LOA: 35' 11".
35 ft gaff yawl built as a prawner yacht by Crossfields 1888.
Cine Mara
A Galway Hooker built in 2012.
Owned by Rik Janssen and based at Schermer, Netherlands.
The Cine Mara is the first Galway Hooker built in steel. She is the replica of Moorhen
and was completed in the spring of 2012.
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Cygnet of London (OGA No. 2743)
A Yacht designed by G. Chalmers and built by Burgoine Brothers
in Kingston-Upon-Thames in 1906.
Owned by Kim Hartley.
White hull and sails. Sail No. 2743.
LOS: 43' 7" LOA: 39' 3" LWL: 33' 9".
Devon Maid (OGA No. 110)
A Southampton Day Boat built by H.J. Beazley in Belsize
Boatyard, Southampton in 1914.
Owned by David & Cecilia Bisson and based at Helford.
White hull; tan sails. Yellow, blue diag stripe racing flag.
LOS: 38' 2" LOA: 30' 6" LWL: 22' 10" T(H)CF: 0.92.
Devon Maid was built as a dayboat in 1914. She was one of the many boats sunk on
purpose in either the Beaulieu River or entrance to Lymington during the 2nd World
War. She was owned by OGA Member Mrs Fiona Beale from 1959-2009 (50yrs!) and
before that by C.S.A. Simey. David and Cecilia Bisson took her over shortly before
Fiona's death on 1st May 2010.
The cabin was added 1928 and an engine with port-side wing propellor 1934. Fiona
Beale added cockpit lockers in the '70s. A chart table and electirics were added in
2008. In 2010 the cabin was refitted with 2 berths, a galley and heads, and main and
mizzen topsails added. The Volvo Penta MD2 was fitted in 1974. She is still yawl
rigged, gaff on both masts, with 2 headsails.
She has had two names before becoming Devon Maid: Winkle and Bingle, according to
the 1952 Lloyds Register.
She was once found in the Alderney Race quite happily sailing along with no-one
aboard. The owner had left Southampton and presumably had been lost overboard
sometime during the night or early morning; Devon Maid had come down between
Alderney and the French peninsular on the west-flowing ebb.
A Beken photograph from 1928 shows that there have not been many changes since
then apart from a reduction in the size of the mainsail.
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Edna
A Golant Gaffer designed by Roger Dongray and built by John
Moody in Lincombe Boatyard, Salcombe, Devon in 1996.
Owned by Vic Love.
LOS: 18' 6" LOA: 24'.
Edna was fitted out by her previous owner David Robinson in France. Returned to
England in 2000 and launched at Dartmouth 2003. Only sailed for a few seasons
before a serious accident ashore prevented David from sailing. Vic Love bought her in
October 2011 and after 17 months work she was re-launched April 2013 at Weir Quay
Boatyard on the River Tamar.
Equinox (OGA No. 2427)
A Cornish Crabber 24 designed by Roger Dongray and built by
Cornish Crabbers Ltd in Rock, Cornwall.
Owned by Simon D'Arcy and based at Chichester.
LOA: 24'.
Simon D'Arcy sailed solo around the entire UK in 2010 in Equinox - see
www.sailingchallenge.blogspot.com.
Ester (OGA No. 1701)
An Oysterman 22 designed by Paul Gartside and built in Penryn,
Cornwall in 1986.
Owned by Chris & Cathy Danby and based at Southdown Marina,
Millbrook, Cornwall.
Red/cream sheerstrake hull; cream sails. Sail No. 1. Breton flag
racing flag.
LOS: 31' 7" LOA: 22' 10" LWL: 22' 10" T(H)CF: 0.896.
Ester was the first of a run of about a dozen boats and featured in 'New Gaffer on Test'
in the November 1987 edition of Practical Boat Owner.
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Furstin (OGA No. 2513)
A Tamarisk 29 built in 1988.
Owned by Peter Garratt and based at Yarmouth I.O.W.
White with green rail hull; tan sails. Sail No. TK12.
LOS: 39' 3" LOA: 29' 5".
High Barbaree (OGA No. 2721)
A Cornish Crabber Pilot Cutter designed by Roger Dongray and
built in Rock, Cornwall.
Owned by Tim & Liz Dodwell and based at Bucklers Hard,
Hampshire.
LOS: 32' 8".
Josefine
A Danish Kotter built by Anderson and Ferdinandsen in
Denmark in 1931.
Owned by Charles Atkinson.
LOS: 66' 6" LOA: 49' 1".
Josephine is constructed of oak on oak and has a displacement of 40 tons. Her first 40
years were spent ring seine fishing in the Baltic and North Sea, and she was often away
for weeks at a time before returning to port with a live catch.
In 1975 she was re-commissioned as a sail-training vessel, working out of Denmark
until 1989 when she was re-registered under the British flag and relocated to the south
coast of England.
Between 2000-2002 she was completely rebuilt and refitted on the south coast, and
then relocated to Gibraltar. In 2003 she was purchased by the 10th and present
custodian, Charles Atkinson, who sailed her with the help of a few friends from
Gibraltar to Watchet in Somerset.
In June 2009 Josefine relocated to Plymouth where she now enjoys the clear blue
waters of the South Coast all year round.
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Kochi
A Yacht designed by Ed Burnett and built in India/Gloucester in
2006.
Owned by Richard Ayers.
LOS: 59' 11" LOA: 48'.
"Kochi" is inspired by the Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters "Baroque" and "Cariad". Her
main structure was constructed in India to design drawings produced by Ed Burnett.
The vessel was shipped to UK where she was completed by the owner and T Nielsen &
Co. in Gloucester.
Leonara 3 (OGA No. 4659)
A Replica Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter.
Owned by Ben Oostrum and based at Enkhuizen, Netherlands.
Mary Hay (OGA No. 3086)
A Kite designed by Andrew Wolstenholme and built by Dick
Phillips in Lyme Regis, Dorset in 2012.
Owned by Gil & Carolyn Hayward and based at Dittisham,
R.Dart, Devon.
Tan sails. Sail No. 2.
LOA: 21' 9" LWL: 18' 6" T(H)CF: 0.849.
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Mary Louise
An Ebihen 15 designed by Francois Vivier and built by John
Harris (Tavy Wooden Boats) in Tavistock in 2011.
Owned by John Harris.
White hull; cream sails. Sail No. 'E' in blk crc.
LOS: 21' 9" LOA: 14' 2" LWL: 13' 1" T(H)CF: 0.804.
The Ebihen 15 design is based on traditional small fishing craft of North Brittany and
Normandy. Most set lug sails on main and mizzen but in the Morlaix/Roscoff area gaff
cutter rig was preferred. Mary Louise is rigged after the fashion of the Roscoff/Morlaix
boats.
Menna
A Yacht built by Penarth Boatbuilding Co. in Penarth, S.Wales in
1969.
Based on a design from 1939.
Owned by Giles Bowen and based at Exmouth.
White hull; cream sails.
LOS: 40' 4" LOA: 35' 11" LWL: 32' 8" T(H)CF: 1.003.
Built on the lines of the Laurent Giles designed 'Dyarchy' scaled down to 35'.
Minstrel (OGA No. 2494)
A Yacht designed by Alan Pape and built in Totnes, Devon.
Owned by E Stonham.
LOA: 34' 10".
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Moon River (OGA No. 3028)
A Yarmouth 23.
Owned by Barbara Runnalls.
LOA: 23' 11".
Morgaine
A Yacht designed by J. Jansen and F.J. Scotman and built by F.J.
Scotman in 1986.
Owned by Fred Schotman and based at Makkum, Netherlands.
Dark blue hull; white sails.
LOS: 46' 10" LOA: 42' 6".
Morgaine's design is based on the lines of Nina, designed by Stirling Burgess.
She is a very comfortable racer/cruiser and has a lovely interior with a wood stove; she
sleeps 6. A real long distance sailboat, she has made trips to Spain, Norway and
Sweden and sailed around the Shetlands, Fair Isle and the Orkneys. She went to
Douarnenez in 1986 and has never missed the festival since.
Olwen
A Chesapeake Flattie designed by Reuel B. Parker and built by
Fred Schotman in 2012.
Owned by Fred Schotman.
Black hull; white sails.
The original Chesapeake Bay Flattie was a turn-of-the-century workboat, used along
the coasts of Virginia and North Carolina to carry produce down shoal creeks to
market, and for hauling oysters from shallow flats and bars.
There's a good video of Olwen's launch at www.youtube.com/watch?v=0cxy70nu2FI.
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Peggy (OGA No. 2544)
A Morecambe Bay Prawner.
Owned by Phil & Rose-Marie Newman and based at Ipswich.
LOS: 36'.
Periwinkle (OGA No. 2872)
A Tamarisk 24 designed by David Cannell and built by North
Cornwall Marine in Rock, Cornwall in 1983.
Owned by John & Philomena Gallagher.
Black hull; dark tan sails, striped topsail. Sail No. 6557Y. Yellow
racing flag.
LOS: 30' 6" LOA: 24' LWL: 21' 9" T(H)CF: 0.888.
Periwinkle's design was based on the traditional fishing craft of the late 19th century
from Itchen Ferry on the Hamble.
Pierette (OGA No. 475)
Built by Teignmouth Ship & Yacht Builders in Teignmouith in
1898.
Owned by Fleur & David Lewis and based at Weir Quay,
R.Tamar.
White hull; cream sails.
LOS: 32' 8" LOA: 28' 4" LWL: 23' 11" T(H)CF: 0.9.
Pierette was rescued about 5 years ago from a marina on the South Coast where she
had been left to rot by her past owner. Since then she has been restored to her former
glory.
The National Maritime and Teignmouth Museums have been helping to research her
history and so far an entry for her has been found in the Lloyds register from circa
1900. There are various theories about her design. The National Maritime museum's
first thought is that she could be a Fife 27.5ft, 4ton, Bermudian sloop which appears in
the 1950 Lloyds Register as owned by Commander M C Morgan Giles, Teignmouth.
The search into her history is ongoing and she is now registered on the small historic
ships register which is a reflection of the importance of her heritage.
The hull is pine planking copper fastened to steam bent oak frames and grown oak
floors and the lines are typical of the period, very much plank on edge with a very fine
stem and counter stern.
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Pleione
A Yacht built by W. Wyatt in West Mersea, Essex in 1960.
Owned by Rupert Reid and based at Weir Quay Boatyard,
R.Tamar, Devon.
White hull and sails.
LOS: 32' 8" LOA: 26' 2".
Pleione has has recently been substantially renovated, whilst retaining her original
features.
Raven (OGA No. 4503)
A Yacht designed by Lyle Hess and built by Fred Schotman in
2005.
Owned by Fred Schotman and based at Makkum, Netherlands.
White hull and sails.
LOS: 31' 7" LOA: 24'.
Raven was built by her first owner Fred Schotman between 1992 and 2005. She is a
lovely little gaffer, sleeps 3/4, very cosy inside with a Faversham stove and a real chair
for the skipper-cook.
Sailed to England, France and Norway, she certainly has proven herself, being a sturdy
and safe pocket cruiser.
Ruach (OGA No. 2647)
A Yacht.
Owned by Neil Oliver.
Green with black top strake hull; tan sails.
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Sea Daisy (OGA No. 2873)
A Tamarisk 24 designed by David Cannell and built in Falmouth
in 1981.
Owned by Pete & Alison Sharp and based at Cargreen.
LOS: 30' 6" LOA: 24' T(H)CF: 0.888.
Sea Daisy's design is based on the traditional fishing craft of the late 19th century from
Itchen Ferry on the Hamble. She is a sister ship to Periwinkle but built at a different
yard.
Shamrock
A Tamar Sailing Barge built by Fredrick Hawke in Stonehouse,
Plymouth in 1899.
Owned by The National Trust and based at Cothele Quay, R.
Tamar, Cornwall.
LOA: 72'.
Shamrock was built as a ketch rigged boat with twin drop keels for Tom Williams of
Torpoint. She carried manure between Plymouth and Torpoint for twenty years and
was then sold in 1919 to a group of quarrymen and converted for trading along the
coast of Devon and Cornwall. She worked the stone trade until 1962. She then was
fitted out with engines and used as a salvage and prospecting dredger. Sold again in
1966 she was used as a diving tender in Plymouth Harbour but in 1970 she ended up as
a scrap store in Hooe Lake. In 1973 she was purchased by John Fildrew who started to
restore her. The National Trust and the National Maritime Museum then acquired her
and she was taken to Cotehele Quay in July 1974 where restoration continued to
completion in August 1979.
Spirit of Mystery
A Replica Mounts Bay Lugger built by Chris Rees in Millbrook,
Cornwall in 2008.
Based on a design from 1854.
Owned by Pete Goss.
LOA: 37' 1".
Spirit of Mystery is a replica of the Mounts Bay lugger Mystery which was sailed to
Australia in 1854 by 7 Cornish fishermen hoping to make a better life. She was built for
Pete Goss who re-enacted the 12,000 mile voyage in 2008 with a crew consisting of 3
of his family.
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Susan J (OGA No. 2363)
A Heard 28 designed by Martin Heard and built by Gaffers &
Luggers in Mylor, Cornwall.
Owned by Mike Shaw.
LOS: 41' 5" LOA: 28' 4".
Syene
A Sadler 34.
Owned by David Walters.
LOA: 34' 10".
The picture is of a Sadler 34, but not Syene.
Toucando
A Heard 28 designed by Martin Heard and built by Gaffers &
Luggers in Mylor, Cornwall.
Owned by Andrew Hind and based at Southampton.
LOS: 35' 11" LOA: 28' 4".
Toucando has a Martin Heard "Falmouth Quay Punt" GRP hull, finished by David
Hopkins and Barry O'Laughlin in Howth, Co. Dublin 2003/04.
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Tregatreath (OGA No. 1670)
A Heard 23 designed by Percy Dalton and built by M.D. & T.L.
Heard in Tregatreath Boatyard, Mylor Bridge, Cornwall in 1987.
Owned by Alan & Lisa Londesborough and based at Falmouth.
White hull; tan sails. Sail No. OGA 1670. Blue with white circle
racing flag.
LOS: 30' 6" LOA: 23' 11" T(H)CF: 0.91.
Victoria Ruth (OGA No. 2882)
A Heard 28 designed by Percy Dalton and built by Gaffers and
Luggers in Mylor in 2002.
Owned by Brian Neale and based at Sutton Harbour, Plymouth.
Cream with green topstrake hull; cream/tan/cream sails.
LOA: 28' 4" LWL: 27' 3" T(H)CF: 0.963.
Victorious (OGA No. 2983)
A Kings Lynn Smack built in Kings Lynn, Norfolk in 1902.
Owned by Russell Farraday.
Grey hull; white mainsail, others tan. Sail No. LN196.
LOS: 56' 8" LOA: 39' 3" LWL: 34' 10" T(H)CF: 1.096.
Vlieter (OGA No. 5297)
A Yawl designed by Henk Tingen Amsterdam and built by KOK
Vinkeveen Holland in 1947.
Owned by Kees Brooshooft and based at Makkum, Nederlands.
LOS: 37' 1".
Vlieter hais an 'S' shaped riveted steel hull. She was restored by her owner in 1997.
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Windbreker (OGA No. 4301)
A Yacht.
Owned by Edgar Wagemakers.
Blue hull; white sails. Sail No. W.
LOS: 54' 6".
Windflower
A Yacht designed by Koopmans.
Owned by Han Julius and based at Medemblik, Netherlands.
LOA: 32' 8".
The designer of Windflower, the Dutch yacht designer Koopmans, designs yachts that
are very seaworthy, safe, and easy to handle for a short-handed crew. The boat is very
strong, and comfortable in a seaway. She steers herself with Windpilot or Autohelm in
all kinds of weather. Rigging was renewed over the 2012/13 winter, as were mainsail,
two jibs and several sheets. Han Julius uses paraffin for cooking and heating and can
do most of the cooking on board.
Witch (OGA No. 615)
A Yacht built in 1898.
Owned by Alastair Randall.
LOS: 37' 1" LOA: 31' 7".
Witch was originally a ferry boat for the Isle of Gigha in Scotland.
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