Yachting

Wendy May alongside

Nightfall at the Harold

Hayles yard in Yarmouth

CRUISING

MAY 2016 http://www.yachtingmonthly.com 39

when I explained my intentions reminded
me that the slaying of vermin crustacea
in uncontrolled circumstances is now
outlawed all along this coast. Instead I had
to pay €156 for an hour’s lift-out.
Wendy May’s dripping hull was clean
apart from a brackish slime, which we
soon hosed off, but her chunky three-
bladed prop was festooned with fat white
barnacles. In the well-manicured marina
there was not a scrap of wood or piece
of metal anywhere to be seen and I was
reduced to using a fl attened cola can as a
makeshift scraper to remove the growth.
Once back in the water we set full
mainsail, number two jib and staysail and
set out across the vast outer harbour to the
western entrance, where, clear of the
fort on the mole, we settled down to a

Maurice Griffi ths, YM Editor 1927 to 1966

Wendy May was designed by Maurice Griffi ths. The

well-known editor, author and yacht designer helped to

popularise yachting in Britain. He was just 25 when he

became YM’s third editor. His 140 DIY shoal-draught yacht

designs made cruising affordable for many people. His

book, The Magic of the Swatchways (1932) is still in print.

In the Second World War he was awarded the George Medal

for bravery in recognition of his work in the RNVR trawling

for mines in the North Sea. He died in 1997, aged 95.

Having sailed GRP

boats for several

of years, Dick

went back to

the charm of a

wooden boat

PHOTOS: COURTESY DICK DURHAM