Classic Boat – July 2019

ORKNEY HISTORIC BOAT SOCIETY

You never know what you'll fi nd tucked away in the New Forest, writes

Tom Cunliff e. Right now, Lyndhurst is hiding the restoration of the 48ft

(14.6m) Thalassa, one of the 20th century's best-loved racing yachts.

Thalassa was started by Charles Sibbick of Cowes in 1903, completed in

Southampton by Fay in 1906 after Sibbick went bust, then went on to

compete in two early Fastnet races. Her subsequent life is well documented

and has become a legend for fun, frolic and serious sailing in the hands of

the Sewell family who had her for more than 70 years. Acquired by Nick

Walker (pictured), he's now rebuilding her in his back garden, aided by his

brother-in-law, Steve Jennings.

Nothing daunts this bold pair. Both veterans of the construction industry

• Nick is a consulting engineer while Steve is a project manager – they bring
  outside-the-box solutions to age-old issues. You'd have hidden in the dog
  kennel as they craned her over the house to the workplace. It comes as
  a revelation to inspect their giant CNC machine cutting new frames from
  locally sourced oak after they have fed the lines of the originals into the
  computer, and don't ask how they forge copper bolts.

LYNDHURST

Restoration of 1903 Thalassa

Jeff Mackie has joined Ian Richardson and a team of volunteers to restore

a 28ft lightly built carvel fl eet launch, reports Rod Daniel. The deadline

is the centennial of the scuttling of the German High Seas Fleet in Scapa

Flow on 21 June 1919 which is being marked at Scapa 100 in Stromness.

Cingalee, built in Gosport for John Mellish de la Taste of Jersey, was

acquired by RN contractor William Miller Ltd of Portsea in 1910. Miller was

involved in operating canteen boats and Cingalee was almost certainly

requisitioned by the RN and transported to Scapa Flow, Orkney with the

fl eet support ships following the passing of the Defence of the Realm

Act (DORA) in 1914. Cingalee may however, have remained with Miller

until the Navy and Army Canteen Board was formed in 1917. Research is

ongoing. She also served as a canteen service launch with the NAAFI in

Scapa Flow during WW2, thereafter becoming a private launch before

falling into disrepair around the millennium.

Designed as a fast motor launch and fi tted with a JW Brooke & Co

15-20HP 4-cylinder petrol engine Cingalee was one of the fi rst small

boats to carry an internal combustion engine with her lugsail rig.

The curators have decided to retain the original ribs and strokes,

currently in reasonable condition, and restore her to museum exhibition

state rather than a seagoing rebuild. Cingalee has a rare carvel ‘whale or

turtleback’ fo’c’s’le which has been restored and new gunwales, half

decking and aft deck as well as restoration of the original tiller/rudder

confi guration that had been replaced by wheel steering before WW2.

The Orkney Historic Boat Society (ohbs.org) acquired Cingalee in 2017

and spent 15 months researching her story before successfully initiating

the Save Cingalee Campaign in January. A National Heritage Lottery

Fund grant of £9,100 topped up by ‘Scapa100’ Orkney Islands Council

funds and signifi cant private donations allowed the project to launch.

ORKNEY HISTORIC BOAT SOCIETY

Unique 1910 Navy boat under restoration

Main picture: Cingalee

Right: Pearl, a 15ft North Ronaldsay

pram from 1926 restored by OHBS

Far right: 17ft clinker dinghy

Falcon of 1927