Practical Boat Owner – June 2019

USED BOAT TEST

different sheer line and deck layout to our

MkII. But her hull, accommodation, layout

and rig are the same. Around 50 Wind Elfs

were built by a variety of East Coast yards

over the years as Alan Buchanan’s

undoubted talent made him one of the

most prolifi c designers of his era.

When I asked Ben McMinn what made

him decide on this classic Wind Elf as his

fi rst yacht, he replied “Insanity perhaps?

No, actually I have a general leaning

towards classics. We live in a 250-year-old

cottage in West Sussex, principally heated

with coal and logs, because I don’t like

new houses... so wanting to get back into

sailing, a classic boat seemed like the next

logical addition.

“I’m a sucker for anything that has a bit

of history, heritage and character and I

also truly believe that, possibly with the

exception of my 1967 Triumph GT6, things

built before about 1970 were just built

better and with more care. Hightime was

built during a period of austerity post

World War II but was made properly by

true craftsmen despite the hardships of

the time. She was commissioned by a

veteran minesweeper commander (Hilbert

Hardy RNVR) and registered in Colchester

in September 1950.”

When we bought our Wind Elf MkII in

1968 she was just 14 years old so we only

had small maintenance jobs to do.

However the Stuart Turner inboard rarely

condescended to work so was probably

in need of a big overhaul. Since Josa II

ran on paraffi n (cooker, navigation lights,

saloon light etc) and we were happy to

do everything under sail, we gave little

thought to this recalcitrant lump of ballast.

But the 59-year-old Hightime has

inevitably needed more maintenance and

repairs over recent years. Ben told me

she’d undergone restoration work in the

1960s (when the doghouse was changed

from the original design) and further major

restoration in the early 2000s. After the

owners paid £1,250 for the boat, this work

cost around £2,500 for materials and a bit

of yard work, but excluded around 1,000

man hours put in by the owners; one of

whom was an experienced carpenter.

By the time Ben became her owner,

Hightime’s old Volvo Penta had been

replaced by a reconditioned 16hp Yanmar

2GM20F. He told me: “I bought Hightime

in June 2017, from Mike Sinclair, who had

owned her for around four years.

“This was as a result of an ebay search

for ‘classic wooden yacht’ with a price

limit of £5,000. I went down to Birdham

and met Mike for a quick look and made

the decision on the spot. Hightime was

mine £2,700 later.”

Sailing tutorial

“Mike agreed to take my fi ancé,

Samantha, and me out on Hightime as

part of the sale process after I admitted it

had been about 15+ years since I last

sailed anything bigger than a Hobie Cat!”

As is often the way with classic wooden

boats, there has been other work to do.

But this is just part of the pleasure of

ownership for Ben.

Most owners of ‘classics’ I have met make

the point that they are merely ‘custodians’,

not owners. So they really enjoy keeping

LEFT The author’s

Josa II on the hard

in Bosham for

painting back

in 1968

RIGHT Josa II

launched at

Bosham. Sadly

the home-made

self steering

perched on the

stern didn’t work

‘I’m a sucker for anything that has a bit

of heritage, history and character’

Pe

te

r^ P

ol

an

d

eP

te

Pr

ol

na
d