JOHN GUIDER
86 CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2019
CRAFTSMANSHIP
Contessas seem to be holding their appeal with the original builder, the
Jeremy Rogers yard, at full pelt refurbishing CO26s and CO32s. The CO26
is a favourite for anyone with designs on winning the Round the Island
Race's top prize, the Gold Roman Bowl. Aside from family wins by Jeremy
himself in Rosina and Nick Rogers in Sundowner, last year’s RTI saw CO26
High Potential triumph and the Rogers-refurbished CO26 Maya with her
young skipper and crew come third. Pictured is CO26 Coco (foreground)
undergoing a refurb for a launch in time for the Round the Island. Her
complete overhaul includes deck and topside respray; new winches and
deck gear; interior refurbishment including rewiring; new engine; and
electronics. The CO32s pictured are embarking on more modest refi ts
including removing the old GRP water tanks and fi tting in their place a
custom-made stainless steel tank which will provide better-tasting water
and more stability and stiff ness through the centre of the boat with
glassed-in webbing straps. "Contessas being of a certain age, there is a
steady stream of orders for new rudders and hull work including peeling,
relaminating and osmosis treatments," said the yard's Jessie Rogers.
"Always in search of a better environmental solution, we tend to favour
Hempel’s Silic One system over antifoul. It has been a great success on
the family CO32 Assent and for a growing number of customers." Later
this year, the yard will start build on a new CO32 for launch in 2020.
LYMINGTON, HAMPSHIRE
Contessas ready for RTI race
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The fi rst 'Guider' in build in plywood
John Guider, a photographer who has shot album covers for ‘the man in black’
- country music legend Johnny Cash – has cruised 10,000 miles in open dinghies,
8,000 of them in the original Skerry Raid, designed for him by Chesapeake Light
Craft (CLC). When he entered this year’s Race to Alaska, an extreme 750-mile
small-boat race from Port Townsend (WA) to Ketchikan (AK) leaving on 3 June, he
returned to CLC for a bigger boat. The new boat is longer (18ft 7in vs 15ft) and
around fi ve times the weight of the Skerry Raid, at 600lb. The brief included more
storage, room to sleep aboard in comfort and the ability to push harder in rough
and windy conditions. “While the new boat will be fast and handy under sail and
oar, there's an emphasis on safety and camp-cruising comfort. There's plenty
of room for two adults to sleep in the 6ft 6in long cockpit,” said John C Harris
of CLC. Storage and buoyancy are in 12 watertight compartments and a small
footwell. The centreboard is aluminium and the rudder is in an inboard trunk.
"It avoids having to grope awkwardly over the pointed stern to adjust a more
typical kick-up rudder," said John Harris. Build was in plywood. No doubt, CLC
will soon off er the boat on a home-build basis, either as drawings or full kit.
It's name? The Guider, of course, named by CLC after its owner.
ANNAPOLIS, MARYLAND, USA
New boat for Johnny
Cash photographer