Sailing boat – Page 13 – intheboatshed.net

HJ Mears complete a new Beer lugger

Alex Mears of the long established Seaton, Devon boatyard HJ Mears has written to let us know about their latest project – this very handsome little Beer lugger. Here’s what he says:

‘She’s larch on oak, over 7ft in beam on her 16ft length so she’s a very broad boat, as ours always are.

‘Our boats are beamy because they are beach boats. To make the task of beach launching easier you want fairly flat bottomed, beamy boats with substantial bilge keels. Hence all of our boats fit this spec for the beaches around here – including Beer, Seaton, Sidmouth, and Branscombe and beyond.

‘The red top strake of the new boat will help distinguish her during lugger racing over at Beer. She could win in racing when handicaps are being applied – there are carvel boats with larger sail sizes and which also have a longer waterline length. In general, the Beer luggers are a pretty variable fleet and people, but Hannah will fit in happily somewhere amongst the fleet.

‘It’s great to be adding to the fleet of Beer luggers and continuing the traditional boatbuilding in a traditional craft. We are lucky to have appreciative customers who ultimately keep the tradition going by paying our wages!

‘She will be moored at Lyme Regis and will compete with the Beer luggers on Monday nights during the summer.

‘The owner is someone who has followed our work for many years and previously owned a Ron Lavis-built clinker boat. Ron is an Exmouth boatbuilder who trained with my grandfather. The appeal of the Beer lugger for this particular owner is the flexibility – he can sail her, he can fish from her, he can go potting for lobsters with her, go off for picnics on the beach, and so on. She is a multi purpose boat as the history of these has proved.’

Thanks Alex! We look forward to the next commission and set of photos!

Commodore Munroe’s Egrets sailing on a blue sea…

This is especially for everyone who, like me, is dreaming of the summer.

If you’re curious about these elegant and unusual craft (which you may very well be, particularly if you’re a flat-bottom averse British sailor) take a peek at these links: Munroe and Egret at Duckworksmagazine, Ralph Munroe at the Wikipedia, Planing Around. Munroe was hugely influential – it seems to me his ‘Presto sharpie’ lifting keel hull forms would have seemed reasonably modern for decades after his death in 1933.

Fascinating though the Egrets are, I do wonder how you reef them before the squall arrives, which of course is essential in the waters around the UK – and yet boats like this used to perform all-weather services such as delivering and collection the mail, and life saving. As someone who single-hands quite often, I would not be keen on tottering about trying to manage those foresails.