Classic Boat — November 2017

(Romina) #1
CLASSIC BOAT NOVEMBER 2017 27

NEWS


COURTESY OF MARTHA COOLIDGE

Q A&


Yacht stylist Martha Coolidge


You own the 6-M Jill. What do you
love about the 6s?
I’ve come to realise I don’t actually
like cruising. I much prefer racing. Big
boat sailing is just not for me! And
the 6-M is such an obvious only-
meant-to-race boat, related to the 12s
and the 8s and just a little bit over-
powered, and it’s also a boat on which
Olin Stephens, who I knew, honed his
skills. Mine is one of the few that he
actually drew himself, pencil to paper.
I showed him the drawing and he
said: “Oh yes, that was me!” This
summer I am campaigning an Atlantic,
a glassfibre design by Starling
Burgess. It’s not as powerful as the
6-M, so it’s more available to junior
sailors and women. The only job I can
do on the 6 is to helm it. And I need
to be in very good shape. I need to
work out. The Atlantic is a bit easier.

You were a Chief Lighting Technician
in Hollywood. Is the importance of
lighting forgotten on board?
You Europeans coined the phrase
‘ga”er’, but over here we are known
as CLTs. Yes, in whatever I’ve done
since my film days, I’ve thought about
lighting more than most. And
because most of the work I do is
custom, I often design the actual light
fixtures, cast or machined, which I
really enjoy. Plus, I have really poor
eyesight so if things aren’t lit properly
it’s a disaster!

Is interior design overlooked in
classic boats generally?
One of the big projects I did was a
Sparkman & Stephens Spirit of

Tradition boat. I would have been
happy to show Olin the drawings, but
he couldn’t have cared less. He never
drew the interior of Bolero or Dorade.
The yard craftsmen refined the rough
arrangement during the build. Today
it’s more about comfort afloat, so
people pay more attention.

Will we one day see a Martha
Coolidge Design yacht?
I would love that! My education is in
architecture and art history, not naval
architecture. Mind you, my son
designed a boat when he was 12, so
maybe I should look over his
shoulder...

What are your total refit no-no’s?
Handling new systems without
intentionality. A good boat has
integrity on every level. I want to see
that in the smallest details.

What is it that you enjoy about
designing for boats?
I mostly enjoy the physical act of
drawing by hand. That’s where I’m
happiest. And problem solving.

Your favourite yacht designer?
I’d have to say Olin Stephens. He had
zero sentimentality for his career and
he loved whatever new technology
was being brought to the sport. I
found that very inspiring. A lot of my
generation grew up sailing on our
grandparents' Concordias and there’s
a sentimental attachment to those
boats, but when I started really
looking at boats around me, they
were S&Ss.

NATIONAL HISTORIC SHIPS UK
New course for ship

conservators


THE MERCY
Release date for Donald
Crowhurst film

EISCA AUCTION
Goddard's
legacy lives on

National Historic Ships UK has launched a new distance-
learning course aimed at those involved in historic vessel
conservation – boatbuilders, shipwrights and museum sta”.
It’s an online-based, distance-learning course that can be
completed in anything between six months and three years,
and costs £3,100, payable in instalments (£2,850 with the
'early-bird discount'). Applications must be submitted by
31 November this year for a January 2018 start. The first wave
of applicants should be eligible for the discount. The
qualification, for successful students, is a certificate in Historic
Vessel Conservation, governed by National Historic Ships.
Apply at nationalhistoricships.org.uk.

Our article on the EISCA
auction last month failed
to recognise the central
role of David Goddard
(right), who founded the
International Sailing Craft
Association and the
Exeter Maritime Museum.
Mr Goddard, who died in 2015, was responsible for
amassing the unique collection of ethnic boats in the
auction. In 1996, Exeter Maritime Museum was forced to
close due to lack of funds, but much of Mr Goddard's
collection has now found a new home in Shanghai. We
apologise for any upset caused.

WORD OF THE MONTH
Catenary
“A length of cable used to form the centre part of a
long tow, where it helps withstand any sudden stress .”
A Dictionary of Sailing, FH Burgess (1961)

The long-awaited release date for The Mercy, the new
film about Donald Crowhurst’s ill-fated campaign in
the 1968/9 Golden Globe Race, has been announced
as 9 February 2018. Colin Firth (The King's Speech),
seen here on the right, plays Donald, with Rachel
Weisz (About a Boy) as his wife Clare.

CB353_TT Q&A Martha.indd 27 26/09/2017 13:59

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