Superstitions at sea

Cutty Sark figurehead

The Cutty Sark’s figurehead from an angle calculated to save her blushes. However, I can confirm that her breasts are as startling as Chris Partridge suggests they should be (see comments below). Click on the photo to visit the Cutty Sark website

Despite all the potential conventional hazards of collisions, groundings, capsizes, sudden leaks, engine failures and the rest, they do say that boating is a fairly safe activity – or so I believed until I read a press release this morning from the Scottish Traditional Boat Festival.

Inexplicably, their release lists a long series of potential sources of boating danger I had never previously considered, and which I’ve never seen marked on any chart Continue reading “Superstitions at sea”

262-year old East Indiaman Götheborg returns to London

Götheborg
Götheborg Götheborg Götheborg

Götheborg; sailmaking; ship’s boat; teapot excavated from the wreck of the original ship

A full-scale replica of the Swedish 18th-century East India merchantman Götheborg is scheduled to sail into London with cannons firing on the 19th May 2007. She will stay in London until the 2nd June.

The Götheborg is returning to London 262 years after her original namesake left for Sweden in a dramatic, final voyage that saw the ship wrecked Continue reading “262-year old East Indiaman Götheborg returns to London”

Newson’s builds a competition hydroplane

Hydroplane built at Newson’s

Not yet a classic exactly but part of a grand tradition, this is a hydroplane built by Newson’s for the 2007 OSY400 Hydroplane World Championships, which are to be held on Oulton Broad this year.

OSY400 is a hydroplane class in which the competing boats are powered by a standard Yamato 400cc engine – OSY stands for Outboard Stock Yamato. The little engines develop 33BHP, but the diminunitive plywood and FRP hulls are so well developed that the boats reach astonishing speeds of Continue reading “Newson’s builds a competition hydroplane”