Adrian Morgan
CRAFTSMANSHIP
CLASSIC BOAT MAY 2015 91T
here may be some interruption to service
soon, or at least a sense that the column is
being distracted in some way. This probably
comes as no surprise to the loyal reader who, under
different guises, writes every month to say how much
he enjoys this page which “he to turns first, with eager
anticipation, when the new magazine arrives.”
Thank you, Mr Cadwallader, Thripp, Prendegast etc,
of 32 Acacia Drive, Warton under Mendip, Burton over
Sutton, Cheriton Fitzherbert and numerous other
addresses and noms de plume. I am touched. I really am.
But my distraction is that a role, that of commodore, no
less, of the ancient and royal Loch Broom Sailing Club,
has been thrust upon my unworthy shoulders.
I have been in training for a year now as these things
are pretty much sewn-up in advance, to maintain
decorum and a sense of continuity, important in keeping
a steady ship in these high-latitude waters. Barring a
last-minute coup by the secretary, or an audacious bid to
hold on to the reins of power by the present
commodore, by the time you read this I shall be
ensconced and in full control of the (R)LBSC’s destiny
for as long as three years, the maximum term allowed.
That suggests my attention will inevitably be drawn
by more weighty matters than banging out 666 words
every month for you, Mr Cadwallader, Smith, Hodgson,
Ramsbottom, Thripp etc, etc.
The club is an ordinary classic club, in the sense of
any ordinary classic boat; we are not talking £3 millionrestored Fifes. Thus she leaks, is
held together by the love of her
owners, runs on a shoestring, is
idiosyncratic, cranky even, has been
known to flood, but has never
seriously been in danger of going
under. The paintwork is also peeling
and there’s a distinctly damp smell
down below, especially in the
vicinity of the changing room
(which I suspect is Catherine’s
wetsuit, discarded last year in a fit
of pique having been pipped at the
finish of the Junior handicap by her
sister. They are now again on
speaking terms, by the way.)
The club is also classic in that it
hosts a small fleet of perhaps the
classiest (and classic-est) keelboats
ever produced in this country: the
Flying Fifteen, designed by Uffa Fox
in 1947 and going stronger than
ever with well over 4,000 boats built
and counting. Our fleet, in contrast
to the latest Ovington or Dingwall,
averages 30 years old, and some were
born long before decimal coinage.
They are not as fast as the new boats
for the simple reason that tweaks to the hull shape,
allowed under the rules of the class to facilitate amateur
building, have resulted in newer boats having waterline
lengths nearly 24in (0.6m) longer. Also keels are
polished, hull weight is critical, and, of course, rigs can
be bent and twisted in many ingenious ways. The latest
FF News, for example, has a frankly unintelligible article
about masts by a man who has more FF masts stashed
away in his garden than we have boats.
At national and international level racing is fierce and
highly competitive, with, from what I can make out,
most championships won by sailmakers and boat
builders who come up with a new boat and sails every
year. For classic clubs like us, this makes second-hand
sails ridiculously cheap, and old boats as well. For all
the superbly-restored classic FFs which fetch good
money there are dozens of sad specimens clogging up
driveways or festering under apple trees gathering moss.
And these are the kind of true, down to earth, expense
spared [sic] boats the LBSC prefers, truly classic, sailed
by those who love to sail and compete in club races. And
these are the members I shall be representing, and I’d like
to think this holds true for many sailing clubs whose
members are unconcerned with buying a new mast or
suit of sails every year, even if they could afford an arms
war. We just want to have fun and be as fast on a good
day as our rivals (or siblings). Not unlike Catherine.thetroublewitholdboats.blogspot.comAn unlooked-for honour
Adrian, barring last-minute glitches, has a new role
“Keels are
polished,
and rigs
bent in
ingenious
ways”
CHARLOTTE WATTERSCB323 Adrian Morgan.indd 91 23/03/2015 17:35