86 November 2017
Extraordinary boats
RUPERT HOLMES ON THE REFURBISHED QUARTER TONNER BELINDA
as a relatively late custom build (the majority
of quarter tonner new builds were launched
between the mid-1970s and mid-1980s) the
structure is light, and even with 120kg of lead in
the bilge the displacement will be around 50kg
lighter (more than three per cent) than most of
the other top boats in the fleet. However, the
new carbon boom has been made over-length,
so that additional area could be added.
One indication of the attention to detail
that has gone into this boat is that, while most
replacement coachroofs are fairly slab-sided
and flat-topped, Corby and his team producedRupert Holmes looks at the latest yacht to
join the highly competitive vintage class after a
comprehensive refit and upgradeS
pending around 1,800 hours and the
price of a new boat on revamping a
30-year-old 26ft keelboat might seem
extraordinary, yet it’s par for the course for
a quarter tonner. The enthusiasm this class
inspires in its owners means that a large
proportion of the fleet has benefitted from this
sort of unusually throrough refit.
One of the latest to undergo the full refurb
treatment is Belinda, a 1986 carbon Kevlar
Gonzales custom design, which had a full
makeover in the hands of John Corby. The
entire project came in at a six-figure price,
including sails, electronics and VAT.
“She had been built to a really high standard
in a male mould and was already a very sweet
boat,” explains Corby. “I had a client, Tom Hall,
who at the time owned another quarter tonner
[the 1977 Whiting-designed Runaway Bus] as
well as a Spirit Yacht and wanted to refit a boat
from scratch.
“Fortunately Tom and I aligned well in
terms of what we thought was the best way to
approach the project and our visions for the
final outcome,” says Corby. “He wanted a boat
that looks right – not all quarter tonners do –
and the detailing had to be as good as possible.”Substantial changes
The original keel was to be replaced with the
Mark Mills-designed foil that has become
almost standard among the reworked boats
in the class. However, the original was bolted
through a massive baseplate in the bilge and
the keel bolts were thoroughly corroded. The
easiest solution was to cut the entire area away
with a chainsaw, leaving a 1.2m (4ft) long and
0.46m (18in) wide gaping hole in the bottom of
the hull.
Dismantling of the boat didn’t stop there; all
the remaining metalwork, including chainplates
and deck hardware, was removed and
discarded, as was the coachroof. Below decks
the bunk fronts and a partial bulkhead are all
that remains of the original interior. There’s a
new substantial grid in the floor to take the keel
loads, as well as a vee girder joining the partial
bulkheads underneath the mast step to addPRACTICAL
strength and stiffness to this part of the boat.
“In all there is a huge amount of new structure
around the keel, the mast and the chainplates,”
says Corby.
To optimise the feel in the helm he also
wanted the keel to be slightly forward of its
original position. “Over the past 30 years
mainsails have become much flatter,” he
explains. “Designers used to struggle to reduce
weather helm, but now you can be struggling to
achieve enough feel.”
The boat has a slightly smaller sail area
than some others in the class, reflecting thatLOA 7.74m (25ft 4in)
LWL 5.69m (18ft 8in)
Beam 2.70m (8ft 10in)
Draught 1.65m (5ft 5in)
Displacement 1,341kg (2,95 6lb)
Headsail area 14.85m^2 (159.8ft^2 )
Spinnaker area 45.46m^2 (4 89. 3 f t^2 )SPECIFICATION