ALFRED JOHN WESTCLASSIC BOAT FEBRUARY 2018 73THE LOSS OF OONA
Oona was built
to beat the
GL Watson
design Doris,
shown here in an
image by WestFighting for their lives, the crew succeeded in sawing
through her 7-inch diameter mast, in order to reduce her
windage. They then lashed together the spars and sails to
make a sea anchor. However, before they were able to
deploy this she found herself in amongst the breakers,
where the crew were swept away.
The wreck showed the whole of her wooden and lead
keels had been torn off, as well as 5ft of her solid oak
stern post. It is clear from photographs that the hull had
been sturdily built and remained intact for some hours in
heavy breakers. The loss of her keel was undoubtedly
due to repeated heavy groundings, rather than the
materials used in her construction having been too light.
An inquest concluded that Frederick West had
drowned accidentally. Five weeks later the body of
Captain Porter was found. The only trace found of
Paton was his Glengarry bonnet, which was washed
ashore. The remains of Oona were sold at auction by her
insurers for £50. Her hulk stood in a boat yard in
Malahide, for sale as a restoration project, but no
purchasers were forthcoming.
By the time of his death Paton, aged 23, had designed
some 40 vessels, from 3-tonners up to a 150ft torpedo
boat. All his yachts were notable for the quality of the
engineering that went into them. Given his early success,
one is left to ponder on what he might have achieved
had he survived longer.
The loss of the Oona was the final nail in the coffin of
the Tonnage Rule with its tax on beam. It was accepted
that the decrease in beam had been taken to its ultimate
extreme and that the design envelope should not be
pushed further. Urgent work was undertaken to develop
a new rule that encouraged greater beam, in order to
produce a more wholesome design.
LOA 45ft 3in, LWL 34ft, beam 5ft 6in, draught 8ft and displacement
was 13.25 tons, of which her lead keel was 10.22 tons, a ratio of ballast
to displacement of 77%. Lowest freeboard was 2ft 5in.
A comparison of the spar dimensions of Oona and Doris is
telling (figures for Doris are shown in brackets): masthead (deck to
hounds) 28ft (24ft); topmast (fid to sheave) 28ft (23ft 6in);boom 34ft 5in (32ft); gaff (sheave to jaws) 22ft 5in (20ft 6in);
bowsprit (outboard) 16ft (17ft 7in). Total sail area (based on the
Ratsey & Lapthorn sail plans) was 2,120sq ft (1,799sq ft). Oona’s sail
plan, unlike those of her contemporaries, was tall and narrow. To
support Oona’s tall rig on such a narrow beam it was necessary to
fit her with outriggers, 2ft 6in long and 1ft 3in broad.OONA