WORD OF THE MONTH
Flogging the glass
“Where there is no ship timepiece, the watches and
half-hour bells are governed by a half-hour sand-glass. The
run of the sand was supposed to be quickened by vibration,
hence some weary soul towards the end of his watch was
said to flog the glass.” Sailor’s Word Book of 186720 CLASSIC BOAT SEPTEMBER 2016TELL TALES
COURTESY OF DANEL DESIGNQ& A
Theo Danel of Danel Design
How is the Spirit of Tradition scene?
Not so much of tradition and not
enough spirit. Many yachts
are pumped up with wood and call
themselves SoT and most are rigged
like modern yachts. It is just so hard
to define what is SoT and what is not.
There is no governing body to deal
with the limitations of these yachts
and define what they are. I prefer to
say “modern classic yachts” and
“modern vintage yachts”.A surprising number of yacht
designers started in fine art, like
yourself. What was your artistic style
and has it helped you draw yachts?
My style has always been figurative
and organic. I see yachts as organic
floating devices constructed out of
millions of different lines. It's all about
lines and composition. When you
design organically you need to add
some errors. This creates more voice
in the design. Most yachts are
designed by CAD, resulting in many
designs that feel static or soulless.You’re a proponent of keeping it
simple in terms of design. How does
this manifest itself in your own work?
The design process is a difficult spiral.
From the preliminary drawings you
must take into account that the more
you want, the more complicated it
gets. It is like painting. If you keep on
working and working on certain ideas
and details they might look great.
Crossing design boundaries is
possible but most of the time you
overwork and are failing the design
and composition.You restored the Fife Iona. What did
you learn from the experience?
I hate it and love it. The time and
money spent on such projects is
ridiculous but preserving these
historical beauties is priceless.You favour the classic aesthetic but
the D&D 43 has a negative bow. Can
you explain the idea behind this?
Negative bows can be found centuries
ago for example in ancient Egyptian,
Greek and Roman warships. I used it
to create an optical illusion to enhance
the bow's line. You take some off to
create more, as the line in your mind
continues to the edge of the bowsprit.
I used the Godinet rule from 1892 as
the basis for the design. All her angles
conform to the 1890s. Her underwater
sections and the fin-and-bulb keel
were common in that era.Should crew look in keeping with the
aesthetic of the boat they’re on?
Yes, every detail is important. At
regattas, the crew's look must suit the
appearance of the yacht.Any more designs on the horizon?
I finished three designs last winter: a
65ft (19.8m) pilot cutter, a 14ft (4.3m)
sailing dinghy and a 12-M spin-off. We
will soon be returning a restored 57ft
(17.4m) Olin Stephens design from
1949 back to Europe, after about 50
years in the USA. She was built at
Plym's shipyard in Sweden and has a
stunning sheer. Olin was not restricted
to any rule in her design, so she has,
for example, longer overhangs. We
will keep CB readers posted!NIGEL SHARPNIGEL SHARPDARTMOUTH CLASSICS
Dipping lee rails
In early July, 26 boats raced in Dartmouth Classics, run
alongside the 150th anniversary of host, the Royal Dart
YC. The weekend saw southwesterly winds of force five
to six, frequently submerged lee rails, and smiling faces.
Two races were held on the Saturday over triangular
courses: the Swan 55 Lulotte and the 1947 Sun Sanvik
Baltic Bris traded places at the head of Division 1, each with
a first and a second. In Division 2, although the Yachting
World Diamond Bristol I – co-owned by Kit Noble, proprietor
of the magnificent Nonsuch House hotel I was staying in- took line honours twice, the Nordic Folkboat Boomerang
won both on corrected. I had cracking sails on the windfall
yacht Sea Scamp (Division 2) then on the 1963 S&S Admiral
Cup yacht Clarion of Wight (Div 1). We came fifth in both.
After a parade of sail on Sunday morning, the third
race was held over a longer course. Baltic Bris wrapped
up Division 1 but she, and the 1971 Admiral’s Cupper
Cervantes IV, had to retire after missing a mark, handing
victory to Lulotte, followed by the 1956 Laurent Giles
Pazienza. Meanwhile Bristol I managed to save her time
over Boomerang but the latter had already done enough
to clinch the Division 2 series. Nigel Sharp
Happy crew of Clarion of Wight1965 Laurent Giles PazienzaDivision 1- Lulotte
- Baltic Bris
- Pazienza
Division 2- Boomerang
- Bristol I
- Manduvi