NIGEL SHARPTERN
THE BELFAST LOUGH ONE DESIGN
In 1897 the concept of one-design racing was a decade
old. It had come about as a reaction to the rating rules of
the time, which typically produced extreme boats that
quickly became outdated by yet more extreme designs.
Fife’s first one design was an 18ft LWL class for the
Bangor Corinthian SC (on Belfast Lough) in 1891, of
which four were built; followed by the Cork Harbour
ODs (such as Jap) in 1896. The following year he
designed two new ODs for Belfast Lough; a 15ft LWL
and a 25ft LWL class, which were 24ft and 37ft on deck
and known as Class II and Class I respectively.
HC Folkard, writing about the classes in his 1901
book The Sailing Boat, said “the utmost care and
forethought” ensured “the cost of the boats should meet
the purse of the majority”. The new 37-footers were
built by John Hilditch of Carrickfergus; an initial batch
of seven was shortly followed by two more (only one of
which joined the fleet). After lots were drawn to allocate
them to their new owners, number 7 went to WA, AG &
TJ King – a Belfast family of coal merchants – who
named her Tern. Ratsey and Lapthorn’s Gourock loft
made the sails for all the new boats and were under such
pressure to do so before the first race at the end of May,
that when they found they didn’t have a number 7 forI
n September 2013, the owner of the 131ft (40m)
ketch Antares – a British businessman and an
accomplished sailor – was in Port Andrax,
Mallorca with Iain Cook, his captain of four
years. Antares was part of his small fleet of boats
which didn’t, then, include anything that could
be described as “classic”, but that was about to change.
“We saw this old boat called Tern in the water looking
very sorry for herself,” Iain told me. “She was down in
the stern and the varnish was peeling off her, but my boss
showed an immediate interest when he saw that she had
a ‘Se Vende’ (for sale) sign hanging from the boom.”
After getting in touch with Tern’s owner, Jon Baigent,
who said she was a William Fife III 1897 Belfast Lough
One Design, the decision was made to buy her. She was
taken to a 1,000m^2 (10,764sq ft) shed in Port Adriano
where, it was expected, work would be carried out to
allow her to sail again the following summer.
Then traditionally trained shipwright Robert Eldridge
was invited along to report on Tern’s condition. He
advised that all the centreline structure from stem to
stern post would need replacing, showing signs of decay
from contact with the heavily corroded iron strap floors,
and keel bolts. It became clear this would be no small
undertaking.Clockwise
from top left:
Leathered hook
with jammer
holds fenders;
dovetail joint;
boom end fitting;
mainsheet horse
and block with
leather protection