Heckstall-Smith and du Boulay on the origin of 19th century racing yachts


Wood engraving The Yacht Race – A Sketch from the Deck of a
Competing Yacht
, was published in Harper’s Weekly in  1872.
Taken from the Wikimedia Commons

Although Charles II was almost as enthusiastic about yachting as he was about his many mistresses, his collection of 16 yachts do not seem to have had much of an influence on later racers.

From their researches including studying Clark’s History of Yachting up to the year 1815, Heckstall-Smith and Du Boulay say later racing yachts derived their form largely from revenue cutters.

They write: ‘the fashionable type of cutter was about three and a quarter beams to her length, her midship section was so round it might have been drawn with a pair of compasses. She had a nearly vertical stem, and a  short counter high above the water. The greatest breadth was just abaft or close abreast of the mast. The bow was therefore bluff, and the run long and often not ungraceful.’

The type was known as ‘cod’s head and mackerel tail’ and had evolved  in competition with the craft used by smugglers. This seems to me to be a case of a rather imperfect form of evolution, if faster boats could have been achieved by moving the greatest beam aft, but there are some good stories about how the same boat builders worked for both smugglers and  the revenue men.

Living in Kent as I do, this one from Heckstall-Smith and du Boulay appeals to me particularly: ‘it has been recorded that Mr White of Broadstairs, whose descendants afterwards moved to Cowes, used to lay down two cutters side by side, very much as 19-metres and 15-metres are laid down today, and the Government officials used to puzzle their brains to puzzle out which would turn out the faster, knowing that whichever boat they bought, the other would be sold for smuggling.’

For more on revenue cutters at intheboatshed.net, click here.

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Classics at Lough Erne

Ireland’s three great inland yacht clubs on Loughs Derg, Erne and Ree, came together for the first Waterways Ireland Classic Boat Regatta at Lough Erne Yacht Club on the weekend of September 15th and 16th.

The fleet was clearly splendid, and so was the weather, and from what we can see the photographers had almost as much fun as the people in the boats. Go to the page, scroll down and gaze at the photos, and sigh.

http://www.lryc.ie/

I just love these Shannon One Designs photographed by Gail McGowan. See more at:

http://www.cloonaveel.com.

Vintage Wooden Boat Association

The Association has over 900 registered boats ranging from classic racing dinghies to wooden ships. Membership extends world wide and there are a number of Regional Sections holding regular meetings; members meet at a national rally and at boat shows.

One of the VWBA’s current projects is compiling a pictorial and historical archive of registered craft that will provide a lasting record for the future.

For more on the VWBA:
http://www.vwba.org

Each month the site features a different boat, and at the time of writing it was Cordon Rouge, a 28ft 1930s Broads sailing yacht built by Applegates of Potter Heigham: