PERFECT
PANACEA
THE
An Ed Burnett design built in Cornwall
for an Australian owner who intends
to use her for the wider good
WORDS AND PHOTOGRAPHS NIGEL SHARP88
CLASSIC BOAT JUNE 2019
CRAFTSMANSHIP
In the final part of our series on the
23ft gaff cutter Panacea, it's time
for champagne and sailing
WORDS AND PICTURES NIGEL SHARP
BREAKING THE BOTTLE
W
ith the work complete, Panacea was
launched in the Penryn River on 20 June
2018, giving time for sea trials in style, at
the Falmouth Classics regatta, before
shipping to Australia the next month. Ben Harris, Panacea’s
builder, was sailing his own boat so he asked his friends
Melissa Williams and Kat Bruce – both experienced sailors
- to sail the new boat. Melissa and Kat agreed to do so but
they decided not to race as they thought that with such
a new boat about to be shipped to the other side of the
world it would be better to “stay out of trouble”.
Ben and his girlfriend Iona subsequently had the chance
to sail Panacea four times and had very favourable impressions
of her. Ben found her to be “really well balanced” and was
often able to “leave the tiller on different points of sail for
a few minutes at a time”. This was even the case when he
took her into some quite big seas south of St Anthony’s
Lighthouse in an easterly Force 4-5. “She was just pounding
through that without a hand on the tiller,” he said. “It was a
great, exhilarating feeling as she kept her momentum slicing
through the waves, the bowsprit going under the wave ahead
but still balanced. Quite extraordinary.” He told me of another
occasion when they were sailing back to Falmouth as the sun
was going down with the breeze dying, to the extent that
“we couldn’t even feel the wind on our faces, but Panacea
was still going on, almost as if she didn’t need the wind.”
I had a very enjoyable sail with Ben and Iona on a glorious
day soon afterwards. We sailed over to St Just Creek and
then into the pool which lies inside the bar where Pasco’s
Boatyard is based, something I had never done despite it
being just a couple of miles from my home. I have to confess
to being slightly anxious about it – unnecessarily as it turned
out – as we didn’t have a lot of room on either side or below
the keel, and the wind was inevitably very fickle there. “You
really want to have a boat that will do as you ask of it when
doing something like that,” Ben said afterwards.
Later that day Ben dropped me off on his own boat on a
swinging mooring off Falmouth so I could take photographs
of Panacea sailing back and forth. From my vantage point
I could see that Ben needed to skilfully manoeuvre the boat
in some tight spaces to avoid other moored boats and some
children swimming off a nearby quay. “But she is very
responsive,” he said, “and I knew with total confidence that
she would turn really easily whenever I needed her to.”
More importantly, what does Panacea’s Australian owner,
Richard Allen, think of her performance now that he has had
the best part of a season to enjoy her? His first report was
that he had been able to get out a number of times “in varying
winds up to 35 knots, and under all conditions she behaves
admirably”. At that time, he was anticipating taking part in a
Swan River Retro Yacht series which would be the first time
he would be able to assess Panacea’s performance in a race
against other traditional boats. The race was cancelled due
to strong winds but that didn’t stop Richard going for a sail.
“We had a great time with one reef in the main,” he said, “and
she stayed completely controllable and balanced even when
she was hit beam on by the wash from large motor cruisers
travelling at speed.” Another attempt at racing didn’t go well
because of “an extremely dirty bottom” but he is clearly
delighted with her. “She is a remarkable little boat and living
up to all expectations. I just need to learn to sail her to her
full potential.”
It seems Richard gets as much pleasure out of her when
he isn’t sailing. “She is a great time waster. All users of the
jetty where she is berthed complain that they have to stop
to look at her as she is the prettiest yacht in the marina.”
Opposite clockwise
from top: the joys
of sailing - Ben and
Iona on one of the
maiden voyages;
sailing towards St
Just Creek; among
the moorings off
Falmouth;
champagne
moment; her
launch – the
moment of truth