Classic Boat — January 2018

Spi

CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2018 85

CRAFTSMANSHIP

The stunning 103-year-old Herreshoff schooner Mariette of 1915

was hauled out at Pendennis on 1 September for the fourth phase

of her seasonal refit at that shipyard. She first visited Pendennis

for a refit in 2010, with the focus on an engineering overhaul and

the addition of folding propellers to improve efficiency and

performance. Her 2012 winter programme at the yard was mainly

in preparation for the Pendennis Cup that summer, which she

won. She was in again in 2014, and this time, her schedule of

works was more extensive, and included metal repairs to hull and

structure, a new deck and new engine room.

Two New Zealand plumbers – Bill and George Fisher – built this

14-ton Gauntlet yacht in 1947. She’s a serious proposition: a 41ft

6in (12.6m) bermudan cutter built in three layers of^7 / 8 in (22mm)

Kauri pine. She was found in Dartmouth four years ago by

28-year-old RN officer Rob Stone-Ward, who took her to the

Hornet Services SC in Portsmouth and got to work. “Her builders

were amateurs, which gave me the inspiration to do it myself,”

said Rob.

It was, he says, a “heart-over-head” decision, and Ruawaka, as

she is called, proved to be a lot more work than he’d expected.

He doesn’t regret it, finding the

process as much an adventure

as sailing. She is his first serious

yacht. Work included partial

toerail and deck replacement,

most of the interior, all systems,

engine overhaul, new windows

and a new caprail. A new mast

was built by Bob Cann in Totnes

and the rigging was done by

Lee Rogers of Dartmouth. The

plan is to sail to Spain next year

and, one day, a round-the-world

voyage to her birthplace in NZ.

PENDENNIS, CORNWALL

Mariette refit fourth stage

PORTSMOUTH, SOLENT

Heart over head for Gauntlet

C/O PENDENNIS

NIGEL SHARP

C/O ROB STONE-WARD

Ed Burnett’s legacy continues to grow, after his death in 2015, as

several designs of his continue to be built. Ben Harris was asked at

the end of last year to build Burnett's 110th design for a customer in

Perth, Australia. She’s a 23ft (7m) gaff cutter with an elliptical

cockpit to seat six, and two-berth accommodation below, along with

a galley and heads, under a near-flush deck with a gull-wing skylight.

The build, as well as the underwater profile, is very traditional, of

larch planks on all-steamed oak timbers and a teak deck. The hull is

now complete and the rig and engine (20hp diesel) are in place. Ben

is working to finish off the cockpit and interior for an anticipated

early summer launch. Readers may remember Ben Harris’ larger build

Alva, launched in 2011, another traditional cabin yacht built in tribute

to the famous Falmouth quay punt Curlew.

Skol ar Mor boatbuilding school, last mentioned here for its new
Shark Class sloop, has started a new build. She is called Rascar
Capac, a type known as a ‘Le Havre 12SqM’ to a 1924 rule. Boats
to this rule, and its smaller iterations, are generally 4-6 metres in
length, making Rascar Capac a giant at 26ft (7.9m) long over a
beam of just 5ft 7in (1.7m). Although the hull is traditional, her rig
is radical, with a short boom and tall mast. The design was drawn
by Stéphane Monnier, owner of the Linton Hope yacht Morwenna.
Stéphane will share Rascar Capac with two others. Although
she’s in traditional carvel, her projected displacement is 700kg.

FALMOUTH, CORNWALL

Ed Burnett daysailer in build

BRITTANY, FRANCE

Racing yacht replica

STEPHANE MONNIER