Classic Boat

2 weeks ago | classicboat.co.uk | Tom Cunliffe

On my way for a lunchtime pint in the Jolly Sailor I paddled up to the doorstep of the waterfront house of an old friend between the boatyard and the pub. He invited me in for a coffee, remarking that despite all he’d read in the papers and the southwesterly that had been blowing up the Solent all week, today’s spring tide wasn’t going to be any higher than the other big ones he’d seen since the 1950s.

4 weeks ago | classicboat.co.uk | Tom Cunliffe

One of the surprising things about traditional boat building is the variation in levels of sophistication. I have deep admiration for those who create a curved deck beam out of a single piece of oak, cut dovetails into the ends, then lower it into the cutouts in the beam shelf. It fits to the millimetre first time. How do they do that? And what about shaping the close-seamed planks for a Tumlare yacht or a Mevagissey Tosher?

1 month ago | classicboat.co.uk | Steffan Meyric-Hughes

Yard News from the River OrwellIpswich-born George Garrard set up a boatyard in Pin Mill on the River Orwell in 1850, and soon became known for ‘foot boats’ – clinker dinghies of 12ft or so, predominantly used by Thames barges and fishing boats. They were also used in annual rowing competitions, with Garrard-built boats often winning. One local paper at the time described George Garrard’s yard as the best place to obtain a foot boat.

1 month ago | classicboat.co.uk | Steffan Meyric-Hughes

An engaging, humour-filled conversation… about yacht insurance! Steffan Meyric Hughes talks to Simon Hedley, head of commercial partnerships at Pantaenius UK. It’s hardly the first subject people want to talk about. Underwriters, brokers, risk, death, destruction, disputes and confusion might be the first things that spring to mind. The marine world seems to have a great humanising influence on all things though, and it seems that insurance – at least the way Pantaenius does it – is no exception.

1 month ago | classicboat.co.uk | Steffan Meyric-Hughes

RORC and the Fastnet Race turn 100 this year and, to celebrate, the classics are hitting the water in both Cowes Week this summer, and in the return of the Admiral’s Cup. Want to get involved in the RORC Centenarian events? The Royal Ocean Racing Club, known to all as RORC, celebrates its centenary this year and will be marking the event in a number of ways, not least by holding a classics day in Cowes, Isle of Wight, on 19 July.