Events

On Friday and Saturday, 24th and 25th September 2021, we organised a very successful joint visit with the Friends of the Maritime Heritage Trust to enjoy the extensive maritime heritage of Cowes and the Isle of Wight. Read more here

12th May

Report by Jeremy Lines
The visit to Holland was a great success, not only due to Hal Sisk’s organisation but also the weather was fantastic.

Starting with super apple tart and cream in the Amsterdam Scheepvartmuseum with the East India Company’s Amsterdam just outside, we were then given a tour of the unique collection of contemporary yacht models dating back to the 17th century, most of them fully rigged. Then there were sections on maps and charts from the earliest times, navigational instruments and a gallery of paintings including one by Abraham Stork in 1697 depicting a mock battle between yachts.

Our next stop was Volendam where we visited the museum devoted to the history, local dress and customs of the area, before walking UP to the harbour where there were several traditional boats from the area surprisingly with no shrouds. Our Arts hotel was built in the 19th century right on the IJsselmeer and apparently largely paid for by resident artists selling their paintings. Also right over the water on the seafront was a room with windows all round with a table and chairs for the locals to use for chatting and keeping an eye on the harbour, apparently a traditional feature in these marine villages.

In the morning 16 of us joined the Utrecht a replica of a statenyacht built in 1746. No winches, all tackles, even to lift the 700 Kg leeboards, so there was plenty of work for us as the crew consisted solely of Marika the captain, who apparently owned a similar vessel, and young Jarl who was very capable. We motored out of the harbour with a lovely 10-12 knot northerly, released the main brails, sheeted in and set the staysail and the raffee by hoisting its yard to the masthead and sheeting it using the vangs of the lower yard which was permanently hoisted. Next to be set was the flying jib on a traveller on the unstayed jib-boom, again all with blocks and tackles on halyards and sheets. We were close-hauled to weather a lighthouse on a point to the southward so had to keep an eye on the luff of the raffee.

We then bore away, hoisted our starboard leeboard and gybed several times as we crossed the shipping lanes, we only drew one metre. Lunch was served with bottles, plates and glasses standing steadily on the flat table tops of the skylights with swinging chandeliers below. After lunch we tied up to a jetty on Pampas Island to visit the fort, one of a number built to protect Amsterdam. In the late afternoon we continued round some more islands before entering Muiden to tie up right on the quay of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Zeil & Roei Vereeniging.

Here we were welcomed with drinks on the balcony overlooking the marina with the Royal Yacht Green Dragon just below. After a super dinner with the glass doors open, as it was so warm, we were taken by minibus to our hotel in Huizen, which was a bit difficult to find as there is more water than roads!

The next morning we all had different objectives as some had to fly home directly while others had things to see in Amsterdam. Personally I was delighted to return to the Maritime Museum to meet Elisabeth Spits who is in charge of all the models and who said she would send me the details for my model list.

Planned Agenda

Tuesday 9th May	We visit the Scheepvaart Museum (National Maritime Museum) in Amsterdam at which the expert Ab Hoving will give us a presentation on Dutch 17th century yachts, featuring the smaller speeljacht of about 1620, the ancestor of all non utilitarian leisure craft, as well as the larger paviloenjacht type, the 17th and 18th century equivalent of an executive jet, or a floating boardroom.
	We then travel to the Spaander Hotel in Volendam, about 40 min north of Amsterdam, an unusual venue full of art
Wednesday 10th May	The highlight of our Dutch trip will be a day sail on Wednesday 10th May on the Utrecht from Volendam to Muiden on the Ijsselmeer, formerly the Zuider Zee. The Utrecht is an authentic replica of a statenjacht of 1746, very similar to Charles’ Mary. http://www.statenjacht.nl/
	On the evening of Wednesday, after our day afloat, we dine at one of the oldest yacht clubs in Holland, Koninklijke Zeil- en Roeivereniging in Muiden, and we have reserved rooms at nearby Huizen.
Thursday 11th May	And we may also visit the Batavia Werf in Lelystad, where the East Indiaman replica Batavia was built, and where the flagship of the Dutch fleet, the 80 gun Zeven Provincien of 1665 is now under construction. This was the ship commanded by Admiraal Michiel Adriaenzoon de Ruyter when in the Raid on the Medway 1667 he captured the flagship of the Royal Navy, HMS Royal Charles!

An enjoyable weekend took place at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club in September when several members travelled to a warm welcome in Rhu organised by Robert and Dr May Fife Kohn.

This group visited the Denny test tank at the Scottish Maritime Museum in Dunbarton and were shown interesting records of the firm’s earliest days, including the lines of the first Shamrocks.

Also visited was MacClaren’s Nautical Book Shop in Helensburgh, where George Newlands welcomed us. Several of us were delighted to find volumes we had hoped for, and others were even more delighted to discover how valuable the books were on their shelves at home.

On Saturday, May Kohn gave an absorbing account of the histories of the two clubs and theiramalgamation. Members wereastonished at the range of items of historical interest that she and her colleagues had put on display.

On Sunday we visited the Scottish Museum of Transport and were quickly absorbed in the numerous maritime models of boats of all types that had been built on the Clyde over many years.

Our weekend visit to the National Maritime Museum Cornwall in Falmouth was a success, I think. We have now boxed the British Isles, with visits to Liverpool (twice), Glasgow, Harwich, Swansea, Dublin and now Cornwall. 27 of us made the long trek west, Maldwin and Gilly Drummond leading the van from the Solent, May and Robert Kohn flying in from the Royal Northern, Nick Jedynakiewicz motoring down from the Royal Mersey, Hal Sisk arriving from Dublin, and by contrast new member, Nigel Sharp, just hopping across on the ferry from St Mawes.

Amongst our guests was Ashley Butler, a young man who is keeping the old skills going in Dartmouth by building in wood by eye.

Saturday morning, after coffee, George Hogg, the NMMC’s librarian, and Jonathan Griffin, NMMC Director, did a great double act in explaining the history and workings of the Museum, and were followed by Tony Pawlyn, a Trustee of the NMMC, with his enlightening tales of the wide role of the Falmouth packets. The morning was rounded off well with James Wharrram and Hanneke Boon’s entertaining account of James’ early days on two hulls (with two girls).

The afternoon started in the NMMC’s beautiful library with George again, after which Mike Bender and expert IT sidekick Ron Burns, guided us through the fascinating mechanics of establishing an online reference library and Mark Wynter nobly brought up the rear at short notice with a lighthearted dash through the JOG celebrations.

Dinner that evening was at the Royal Cornwall YC and very good it was, and very gossipy – the chat is partly what makes these meetings so enjoyable, so many views exchanged and stories told.

A bright sunny Sunday morning saw George and Jonathan welcoming us uptown to the NMMC sheds, to marvel at the volume and variety of stored craft, artefacts, documents – the mind reels, what most of us wouldn’t give to spend more time amongst such treasures. Finally a hard core of stalwarts made it to James’ and Hanneke’s boatyard home up Devoran creek for coffee and to see his latest catamaran parked in the mud outside his design office, before heading home with a store of inspiring memories.

‘Dublin Bay – The Cradle of Yacht Racing’ was the published theme of the Association’s spring visit to Dun Laoghaire over the weekend of 10th April. It certainly made good its claim to this description, with no less than four yacht clubs and goodness knows how many yachts crammed into the artificial harbour lying to the south of Dublin Bay, leaving barely enough room for the Holyhead ferry to turn round. Hal Sisk – our committee member in Ireland – put on a tremendous show for us which reflected his great pride in his home port.

Most of the members arrived from England (we were warned that the word ‘mainland’ was not to be used), but also from Germany and Italy. Hal arranged a wonderful welcome dinner at the Royal St. George Yacht Club, justly renowned for its hospitality.

On the Saturday morning, Hal took a party of us for a trip around the bay in his Irens-designed Molly Ban. This was motor yacht quite unlike the modern plastic deep-vee hulled wash-makers so popular on the south coast of England. She was long, low and relatively narrow, and capable of passage making in seas that would send those high plastic wonders scurrying for port. The morning was clear and fresh, fine for sightseeing, and Hal took us out to Dalkey Island and back into the harbour for long enough to satisfy ourselves that the Association was not entirely land-based.

After a quick lunch at the National Yacht Club, and a chance to admire their collection of superb Willy Maguire models of Dublin Bay’s wooden one designs, we made the short walk north to the Royal Irish Yacht Club. This club is, perhaps the most senior of the Irish clubs, and is accorded the privilege of allowing its members to wear a white ensign on their yachts.

The upper and middle classes were enjoying great prosperity, and were able to exercise their considerable ingenuity in coming up with some fascinating designs, some of which have stood the test of time.

Michael Clarke spoke first about the Dantzics that sailed in Dublin Bay, Loughs Erne and Gill, and in Cork Harbour, in the 1820’s. He was followed by naval  architect Theo Rye who spoke about the discovery of a large iron sailing yacht near a lake in the Irish midlands. This was industrial archaeology meeting naval architecture, made all the more remarkable by the fact that the vessel seemed to have little or no history and only a very small lake to sail in.

The morning’s business was concluded with two short talks, the first by Hal Sisk on William Cooper, a pioneer of yachting who wrote under the nom de plume Vanderdecken. He was followed by Martin Black who spoke about his eagerly-awaited biography of GL Watson, entitled ‘Justice to the Line’. I had heard much of GL Watson, of course, but Martin’s talk, and the autumn visit to their offices
in Liverpool (see Mike Bender’s report), have served to make me realise what an important designer he was.

The previous speakers almost always ran over their allotted times, whilst there is usually an absolute deadline at which proceedings must be wrapped up. On this occasion, the final speaker was our host, Hal, whilst the deadline was to allow enough time to go away to change before dinner back at the Royal Irish. This session was an irresistible force meeting an immovable object, for even Hal’s best friends would have to admit that his enthusiasm and wide knowledge was  matched by an occasional tendency to prolixity. Hal’s subject was the (homeless) Royal Alfred Yacht Club, and its influence on amateur yacht racing in general, and in Dublin Bay in particular.

Some 20+ members gathered at the White House in Birkenhead, courtesy of Nick Jedynakiewicz, on the Friday night to sample a buffet of a most amazing gastronomic variety, which must have taken Nick many hours, if not days, to prepare. His parents and sister also graced the occasion, adding a very welcome
family dimension.

The AYH day kicked off for most of us with a crossing in a Mersey ferry to the Pierhead and thence to G.L.Watson’s offices in the old St Martin’s Bank Building. Built when Liverpool was in its pomp, we could only peep into the lavish banking
hall, before ascending to Watson’s Egyptian-style offices, overlooking the city.

It was a full day of talks, in three sessions. The first by William Collier, a director, gave an overview of British yacht building, from its beginnings, the work of the founder, through to “generational exhaustion” after the Second World War; and told of some of their recent renovations, such as Campbell’s Blue Bird, Nahlin and Saint Patrick – hugely detailed, time consuming and expensive. Jack Gifford and Kathryrn Preston told of the yachting racing – 1899 at Hunter’s Quay and 1904, the return of the Scottish Antarctic Expedition to Great Cumbrae.

After a spot of lunch and the opportunity to see the firm’s present day offices, we moved onto models and restorations. David Spy showed us the secrets behind the
construction of half models and scale models. The hours required make them an expensive purchase, and he told the nice story of how, after he had fulfilled a commission – a model of a Drascombe Lugger, for the retiring Chairman of the
Association – there were a number of enquiries from members also wanting their boats commemorated. He had to point out to them that the model would cost more than their boat! It was interesting how it needed a beautiful or well-balanced yacht to bring out David’s artistry.

Chris Moseley from the Conservation Centre, Liverpool, again showed us the secrets of his trade, which aimed at restoration, not replacement.

Jeremy Lines then told of his longterm work finding and cataloguing half-models, which started three years ago. The Royal Thames YC had the most, followed by the National Maritime, Greenwich and the Science Museum. But, since many local history museums of seaside towns will have a half model or two, as will National Trust or National Heritage mansions, Jeremy could be on his travels for some time yet.

The third and final session, fortunately for those like myself with flagging attention spans, was mainly visual. The Classic Boat Museum has been given the Thornycroft photographic archive, and the pictures Rosemary showed of Edwardian Bembridge were really of a time gone by, especially the women’s outfits.

Jack Gifford came back on, to tell of a three-man voyage in a 15 square metre, Vixen, from Cowes to Sweden, which replicated Uffa Fox’s sail in a similar class boat, Vigilant, described in Uffa’s “Sailing, Seamanship and Yacht Construction” (1934).

In April an encouraging number of members, 17 in all, travelled to Swansea to a warm welcome as guests of the Bristol Channel Yacht Club. Included were Hal Sisk who flew in from Dublin, Enrico and Chiara Zaccagni coming all the way from Italy, and others who had made even more arduous car journeys from all over England. The idea was to hold an open meeting for local people as well as for members, and the Bristol Channel YC provided a full and interesting programme.

A film show on the Friday evening was an opportunity to socialise, and on the Saturday, after an excellent buffet lunch at the Clubhouse, much material was on display in the Club’s billiards room overlooking Swansea Bay.

In the afternoon, visits were made to the Swansea Museum, by kind permission of the Trustees, where, in an unusual arrangement, the records of the BCYC which are over 50 years old have been handed over to the local records office, the West Glamorgan Archive Service. This practice seems to work well, the Archive Service having the expertise to preserve documents, and yet with the Club retaining more recent items held for members on their own premises. Ronald Austin of the BCYC and Kim Collis of the WGAS were thanked for a fascinating display of yachting memorabilia from the area. A jolly evening was enjoyed in a local hostelry.

In June about 30 members took advantage of Maidwin Drummond’s kind offer to members to visit the RYS. Two groups were formed and together with Diana Harding, the Squadron’s Archivist, a very enjoyable tour was made, with many stories, some serious, many hilarious, of the Castle premises, its pictures, library, trophies andplatform.

A favourite tale was of when new floorboards were needed for an extension for a ladies’room. The local timber merchant was able to supply the offcuts found on their premises of the original flooring laid for Queen Victoria’s visit to the Castle, 140 years before.