Tag: Gaff-rigged

BBA student Shane Butcher builds composite copy of traditional dinghy Barnacle (offsets included below)

Shane Butcher's composite dinghy 'Dreamer' Photo - Jenny Steer Dec 2011 Shane Butcher's composite dinghy 2 'Dreamer' Photo - Emma Brice

Shane Butcher's composite dinghy 'Dreamer' Photo - Emma Brice Shane Butcher's composite dinghy 'Dreamer' 3 Photo - Emma Brice

Boat Building Academy student Shane Butcher built a gaff-rigged 10ft sailing dinghy while on the BBA’s 38-week course, and launched it on the big student launch day in December.

Shane’s previous life was in civil engineering, however he has always had a passion for sailing and woodwork, and to him a change of career starting with a course at the Academy seemed an obvious next step.

Shane’s build was Dreamer, a composite-built copy of a clinker-built rowing boat belonging to the Academy.

The BBA folks reckon that Barnacle’s stem hull is a good general shape for rowing and sailing, and Ollie Rees, who was on the 2010 long course also built a copy of Barnacle, although  he used traditional clinker construction methods.

The BBA has kindly agreed to share a set of offsets for Barnacle for anyone who would like to build their own version of the boat. They can be downloaded here: Barnacle 10ft stem dinghy offsets provided by the BBA. It’s nice to be able to get something like this for free – thanks BBA!

Dylan Winter on gaffers and smacks

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The gifted Dylan Winter has excelled himself this time with his latest short YouTube video series Keep Turning Left. In this one he drools over a series of gaff-rigged yachts and smacks, and praises the English for their amazing reasonableness.

Hopefully someone, somewhere will one day have the vision to commission him to do a series of properly budgeted videos – if nothing else this hugely enjoyable series must be a great advert for his skills and screen persona. Maybe the lucky man will even be offered the rich prize of a book contract!

It seems churlish to say it but one thing I slightly regret is that chooses a lot of Irish music for these videos. Maybe he knows and has rejected the wealth of great English traditional music that might seem a more approriate accompaniment to videos that are at least for the moment centred on the English coast, but my feeling is that the Scots, Irish and Welsh will no doubt get their turns later…

PS – I was delighted to find this exchange in the comments to this video on YouTube:

‘What are you watching,’ my wife asked. ‘You’ve got that look on your face.’

‘What look?’ I replied.

‘That look that says I want to be doing what they are doing – you’re not watching porn on that thing are you?’

Christmas at Rye Harbour – and a handsome old motor launch hull for sale

Small gaffer Petrel makes for home

The small gaff-rigged cruiser Petrel makes her way back through Rye Harbour. As usual, double-click on the images for a larger picture

Small gaffer Petrel makes for sea Small gaffer Petrel at sea Small gaffer Petrel makes for home

Small gaffer Petrel makes for home

Four images of Petrel making for sea, out on Rye Bay, and making her way back to the harbour

A few photos taken at Rye Harbour today, Boxing Day 2007. There were a lot of people out and about, all trying to make up for the previous day’s blowout, no doubt.

I was entertained by Petrel’s brief trip out to sea (above). The little boat’s crew had a great day for a sail, but they stayed out for just minutes: could they have been rushing back for turkey tikka massala followed by Christmas pudding sauteed in butter?
Wooden motor boat hull for sale at Rye Wooden motor boat hull for sale at Rye Wooden motor boat hull for sale at Rye

A handsome carvel-built wooden motor boat hull for sale – click on the central image for the phone number to call

Rye Harbour My kids, Ella and Ewan on the beach Rye Harbour red shed

A view out to sea from the harbour; my kids Ella and Ewan on the beach (note Petrel at sea, and WWII pill box gun emplacement to right); Rye’s brightly painted landmark red-roofed shed

Rye Harbour entrance derelict dolphin Rye Harbour’s heroic lifeboatmen and their boats Cottage at Rye Harbour Camber Sands busy with people

Disused dolphin at the entrance of Rye Harbour with Dungeness Power Station in the background; Rye’s heroic lifeboatmen’s rescues included a rowed rescue of an aeroplane in the 1920s, and the subsequent loss of all 17 crew in another rescue some time later; a cottage at Rye Harbour; Camber Sands full of people having a Boxing Day walk

The Francis Frith Collection has some fine photos of Rye from long ago.

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PS – Don’t miss Dick Wynne’s great story – click on the Comment link below.

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