Gavin Atkin's weblog for the sort of people who like looking inside boat sheds. It's about old boats, traditional boats, boat building, restoration, the sea and the North Kent Coast
North Kent boatbuilders Abingdon & Skabardis Marine Carpentry has put the gaff-rigged Kenneth Gibbs 14ft Halcyon sailing dinghy mentioned in an Intheboatshed.net post a week or two ago up for sale.
The sweet looking and snug-rigged little clinker-build sailing dinghy is on eBay, listed as ‘Classic Clinker Sailing Dinghy’ in the ‘Other sailing’category. The posting comes with lots of photos…
Fowey Classics is a rally of vintage and modern classic sailing boats ranging typically from 12 feet to 12 tons (or more) representing a diverse range of designers stretching back to 1886.
It takes place the beautiful and historic port of Fowey (50°21´N, 4°38´W) on the south coast of Cornwall between Plymouth and Falmouth.
Anything up to a 100 boats attend from as far afield as America but largely consisting of visitors from along the south coast and the Brittany coast.
The organisers say the event is a particularly friendly annual gathering. It takes place following Plymouth Classics, with many of the participants sailing down the coast from that event to begin Fowey Classics on the the Tuesday morning (30th July this year) and continuing until the Friday (2nd August this year).
The parade of sail on the Thursday lunchtime is said to be a magnificent sight, and this year a cruise liner Silver Cloud will be moored in the lower harbour on the Friday and Gypsy Moth IV is attending and will open for all to see or sail in.
Other events include various parties, barbecues, a race or two, a cruise in company and talks about Gypsy Moth IV and the local Troy keelboat class – the last one is to be given by Intheboatshed.net regular Marcus Lewis.
If you’d like to see the event or take part, more information can be found at the www.foweyclassics.com or telephone Mike Sutherland on 01726833843.
For more intheboatshed.net posts mentioning Fowey, click here.
Stirling and Son are busy as usual this summer with varied work both in and around Plymouth and further afield.
Stirlings must be counted one of the most interesting boat building and design operations around. Down at their covered slipway at Plymouth, the pilot cutter Cornubia is having her hatches re-varnished and a replica Viking longboat is being repaired.
Further afield, in May a small team went to Germany to work on the 60ft teak built Mylne yacht Mingary. This is a link to a video of work on the yacht. See a video of the work on that job below:
In June Sara and Will visited Glasgow for the Clyde Classic Design Symposium and delivered a talk about the process of designing the new Victorian racing cutter Integrity at the Royal Northern and Clyde Yacht Club.
The plans for the 14ft sailing dinghy that Sara and Will sailed around the Eddystone Lighthouse and then across the Channel are now available. The plans comprise lines, sail plan, construction plan and technical detail with templates of the backbone, knees, rudder and moulds.
The study plans show the level of detail and are accompanied by a materials list and a scantlings list. The plans are not available through the website (which is due to be updated). For information on the plans please email Will at info@stirlingandson.co.uk.
14ft sailing dinghy study plans
In Spain Martin Scannall has built and launched a 9ft dinghy built to Stirling and Son plans. She is to be the tender to the cutter Sauntress.
At the other end of the scale Will is working in conjunction with naval architect Theo Rye on the design of a 140 ton topsail schooner of circa 1830 that is to be built in the far East.
Stirling and Son undertake traditional boat building and wooden boat repair and have an office at Tavistock, tel 01822 614259, and a covered yard at Devonport, tel 07727 233346.