Yachting

LETTERS

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12 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com MAY 2016

YM has teamed up with Beaulieu to offer

you the chance to win a luxury visit to the

famous Boatjumble on Sunday 24 April.

Beaulieu’s Boatjumble – Europe’s largest

• is in its 39th year and packed with even
  more fantastic nautical bargains to buy
  before the sailing season starts.
  You could win a two-night mooring at
  idyllic Buckler’s Hard on a river pontoon or

swinging mooring, with full use of facilities,

plus free transfer to Beaulieu and two tickets

to the Boatjumble, with its Ask the Experts

feature, Boatmall for the latest kit, Boatmart

for craft on sale, classic boat display and

Trunk Traders. Return to the historic Master

Builder’s Hotel at Buckler’s Hard, on Beaulieu

River, for dinner in its River View Restaurant

and a night in a luxury Classic double room!

WIN

a luxury stay for BeaulieuÕs Boatjumble

Beaulieu Boatjumble http://www.beaulieu.co.uk/events/ Te l 01590 612345

Master Builder’s Hotel http://www.hillbrookehotels.co.uk/the-master-builders/ Te l 01590 616253

Buckler’s Hard Yacht Harbour http://www.beaulieuriver.co.uk Te l 01590 616200

TO ENTER, GO TO

http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/beaulieu

TO ENTER, GO TO

http://www.yachtingmonthly.com/beaulieu

Spend the day

fi nding bargains

then enjoy a

night of luxury

Does anyone recognise

this beautiful boat?

My father, Richard Norman Vine, grew up on

the J Class yacht Velsheda, when she was in

her Hamble mud berth. In his youth, he sailed

from Bursledon and went on to become

well known as a frequent winner in the

International 14 Class.

Recently, while going through my father’s

photo albums, I came across a photo of this

lovely boat. The photo is stamped ‘John I.

Does anyone recognise

this cutter-rigged gaff

ketch, apparently

named Quintilla?

PHOTO: JOHN I THORNYCROFT

Or this one?

I wonder if any of your readers can help me

fi nd out more about a yacht that came into

my ownership a year or so ago, and about

which I know very little?

She is called Odessa of Beaulieu, she is a

Cobra S42, hull no. 5 as far as I know, and

built by Cobra Yachts of Hayling Island in

1982, although I believe she was actually

constructed in Taiwan by Ta Tong Yacht

Building Company. She has lived around the

East Coast for a decade or more and may

have sailed out of Portsmouth for a time.

I would be grateful for any information about

her history or build, however insignifi cant.

Tim Goodwin

Ed: If you can help, contact us at

[email protected] and we’ll

forward to Michael or Tim.

Thornycroft Co. Limited’ and, according to a

note on the back, the boat’s name is Quintilla

and she was designed by Maurice Griffi ths. I

imagine she was probably built in 1940-

or thereabouts.

Any information you or your readers may

be able to provide about the boat would be

very helpful and greatly appreciated.

Michael Vine, Alberta, Canada

Does anyone know anything about the

Cobra S42 Odessa of Beaulieu?

PHOTO: TOM GOODWIN

Can you bump

start an engine?

A correspondent in your April issue claims to

be able to bump start his engine by putting it

into gear when sailing quickly. I have read this

suggestion many times but remain sceptical.

Turning the shaft once requires the engine to

turn over about 2.5 times, making the concept

even more unlikely. I have put my drive in

gear many times when sailing quickly and the

engine has not rotated by one degree as far

as I could ascertain, although maybe engine

size has something to do with it. Having tried

to start a Bukh 20 by hand several times I was

totally unsuccessful, never able to get it to

turn past the fi rst compression stroke. Maybe

it would work on a clapped-out engine!

However, I have not yet closed my mind.

Can anybody do this? It would be nice to see

the other old fairy tale tested: gybing the boat

with a line taken from the boom around the

alternator pulley, but the mechanics of trying

it would presumably be too demanding.

Vyv Cox

My AGM batteries are fine

Are AGM batteries worth it? (Mar 16) was

interesting. Eight years ago I had to replace

a second set of batteries in four years with

gel batteries. Shortly afterwards, an article

in YM compared battery types but excluded

gel batteries as the author felt they had short

lives. Mine still give good service and a solar

panel keeps them topped up, running electrics

and electronics while sailing, and when I’m

away from the boat. From memory, four

batteries and the solar panel cost under £600.

I bought the boat from a Swiss couple who

had taken a three-year cruise to the Chilean

fjords, Tahiti, Port Lockroy in Antarctica and

then back to the Norwegian fjords before

leaving the boat at Nieuwpoort, Belgium.

They had a wind generator but did not use it

because it was too noisy. I believe it was to

their cost not to keep the batteries topped up.

Chris Highnam