CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2018 95
LETTERS
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Classic Boat, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place,
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email: [email protected]Back to my roots
Mayfl y search
Harris Brothers excellence
Following the articles and letters about Anne Marie, it may be of interest to remind
ourselves that Harris Brothers of Rowhedge were in business for nearly 50 years, fi rst at
East Donnyland and latterly at Rowhedge, before being absorbed by Rowhedge
Ironworks at the time of the First World War. They were builders, primarily, of
commercial vessels, but often built both bespoke yachts and yachts on spec.
The 1912 register shows a number of Harris Brothers boats were built under special
survey by Lloyd’s of London. For a vessel built on spec, the owner chose to buy it either
during the course of construction or after it was launched and could be assured that it
would be built to the highest standards. In the case of Anne Marie it would appear that
she started her life as a yacht built on spec to a Harris Brothers design, as on the
original drawings, fi led with Lloyd’s, the title is for a proposed ‘28 ton’ cutter. Her
construction took over two years from January 1909 until May 1911 and during that time
the chief London surveyor for Lloyd’s made 23 trips to Rowhedge to inspect progress.
She received the highest classifi cation for a wooden yacht: 18 A1. None of this, by the
standards of the time, would have been cheap. By the time she was launched and
commissioned she had become a yawl of 29 tons and it is likely these changes resulted
from input from her fi rst owner, Robert Katz, who had previously owned a yacht,
recently restored by Robert Partridge, called Columbine.
It is clear that Harris Brothers could and did build vessels to whatever standard was
required. The men involved working at keeping the yard going were highly skilled and if
an owner showed up who didn’t require the highest quality they would build to suit his
needs and pocket book but still turn out a handsome vessel.
As the owner of Anne Marie for 13 years during her Canadian sojourn, from to 1992
to 2005, I can attest to the fact that she is beautifully built with teak planking, swept
teak decking with bronze edge fastenings as well as fastenings into the deck beams,
elm garboards and fi rst plank, and long-length Louisiana pitch pine for her underwater
sections. Her 5x7in double sawn oak frames are closely spaced on 17in centres and all is
fastened with yellow metal and copper. The hand forged ironwork forming the knees
and fl oors are massive and beautifully made. This was typical construction of a high
quality Victorian yacht. The hull and interior is largely original and in terms of structural
condition, on a scale of 1 to 10, is probably about seven.
She was let go of in Vancouver during the last few years,
but Simon Allan and his friends did a magnifi cent job of
getting her ready for sea. This would not have been
possible without a major restoration if she had been
cheaply built. Her extraordinary voyage from Vancouver to
Falmouth is testament not only to the doggedness and
fortitude of Simon and his crew but also the crew of men at
Harris Brothers who could build a wooden vessel that would
last 105 years without the rebuilding or restoration of its
essential structure.
Robert Lawson, via email
It was with great interest that I read ‘A Lick of
Paint and a Rebuild’ in the November issue of
Classic Boat. in particular it was nice for me to
see the wooden Drascombe Lugger Malthus
which was built by my brother John Elliott and
myself at our Yealmbridge Boatyard. I think it
was 1978 or 1979. John carved the name in the
transom return.
We built Malthus for Raymond and Shirley
Wergan and when launch day arrived, the
whole family was there to celebrate the event
on the River Yealm at Bridgend Quay slipway,
Newton Ferrers.
Malthus has been well used by the family
over the years which is especially pleasing for
me to know. The boat was maintained by
Raymond himself for many years, such was his
pride in his boat and the varnished fi nish,
Malthus was often referred to as “The Violin”.
Attached is a photo of Malthus and crew
taken on launch day. In the background to the
left of the photo can be seen the building that
was the old Kelly and Hall boatyard where we
fi rst built Drascombe Luggers before they
ceased trading. Drascombes were then built
under licence by my brother John Elliott and
myself at Yealmbridge.
Douglas Elliott, PlymouthI am looking for our old Mayfl y dinghy. The
one we owned was built by Moore’s of
Wroxham in the 1960s and the class
association emblem was an ‘M’. Our boat
number was 355, a marine blue hull with a
graphite bottom, varnished decks and
white sails with a red spinnaker.
We sailed at Clacton-on-Sea Sailing
Club, which was at Holland-on-Sea, Essex,
in 1960, and we had a fl eet of about 38
boats at one time.
I would love to hear from anyone that
owns our boat or knows where it is, and
from anyone who still owns a Mayfl y.
Brian Clark, via emailCT H E W O R L D’ S M O S T B E A U T I F U L B O A T Slassic Boat
Bringing
her home9,000-mile epic to
save rare gafferCowes, Suffolk, Baltic, Med, USAREGATTA REPORTS
RACING A GAFFER George Holmes yawl^ MARINE AUCTION What’s in your attic?BROADS CRUISING Historic boat for hireSKYLARK S&S yawl in
race fettle‘A gaffer from REUNITED
my childhood’
Tom Cunliffe on deadeyesPRACTICALi
SEPTEMBER 2017 33333333333000000000000 YEARS1987-2017YEARSYEARShttp://www.classicboat.co.uk£4.95