NORTHUMBERLAND OD20ft (6.1m)LOD
17ft 6ft (1.8m)LWL BEAM (5.2m)
250sq ft (23.2m )3ft 2in (0.9m)SAIL AREA DRAUGHT
DISPLACEMENT (APPROX) 1.3 tonsAlfred Mylne was commissioned by Northumberland YC in 190158 CLASSIC BOAT JANUARY 2016A little known fleet that could have become a northern rival to the Solent’s X One Design
THEO RYE, ADDITIONAL RESEARCH BY IAIN MCALLISTER
Arapidly acquired commissions for numerous small sailing boats such as his many contributions to the Clyde 19/24ft Restricted fter a thorough grounding from the master, GL Watson, Alfred Mylne set up independently in 1896. The design list shows he
Class, and he would therefore have been a good choice for the members of the Northumberland Yacht Club who commissioned a new one design from him in- They were to race from their headquarters at Blyth, from where the (now Royal) Northumberland YC still operates. The resulting design, which features in the
newly published book on Mylne by Ian Nicolson, is a wee delight. With typical economy, Mylne got a lot of information into the drawings (his lines plan is also the general arrangement)
and his lovely draughtsmanship is evident. The addition of a little colour and the careful calligraphy has lifted the drawings so they communicate beautifully. Four were delivered by rail to Blyth in July 1901 by
R McAlister & Son of Dumbarton, who enjoyed a reputation for high quality work and built many of Mylne’s designs. As Nicolson noted, it is a design that would be economical to build (as many one designs
were) but it is none the worse for that, and McAlisters would undoubtedly have made sound boats. Golden Eye, Scoter and Gadwall (all types of duck) Sheldrake,
evidently enjoyed some close sport between themselves and also in the mixed handicap fleet, for which (curiously) the club retained the old Length & Sail Area Rule of measurement (under which they were in the
1-rater class). The boats seem to have been up to McAlister’s (and Mylne’s) usual standards; was still racing at the club as late as 1937; but SheldrakeScoter (^) had
been sold down south, gaining a cabin roof at some point, and was based in Lymington from 1926. The fate of the other two is a mystery. At least one of the boats may have been re-rigged, probably after World War I,
because the Mylne archive contains a bermudan rig sail
plan as well as the original gaff sloop plan. There is nothing but moderation in the lines; but note the interesting addition of extra flare in the forward sections, and the corrected
outline in the plan view. Underwater blends easy sections to a flat-sided keel; but the very simplicity belies a very nicely resolved shape, with easy buttocks, and there is every reason to
expect these were fine little boats with a very respectable turn of speed and good manners. his training under Watson, whose analytical Certainly Mylne had every advantage with
methods he adopted, and whose reputation had in turn been founded with success in the smaller racing classes. A quick check of the hydrostatics indicates
same parameters that Watson used, and they were seemingly well ahead of their contemporaries. This was a that Mylne was almost certainly controlling the
thoroughly modern design.sports a modest club-footed jib, which looks as if it could be self-tacking. Whether the original owners had any The original gaff sloop sail plan is interesting as it
notion of single-handing, or merely wished to keep crewing requirements to a minimum, is unknown, but the set-up would allow junior crews to learn the ropes. The waterplane and general form looks tolerant of
crew weight, which is generally a very positive attribute in a one design. The mainsail, at 203 square foot, is sensibly sized to be the main driver without excess effort.
yachting, in the manner of Cowes, this design could have rivalled Westmacott’s X Class of 1904, to which, barring the short bowsprit, it bears more than a passing If Blyth had ever become a fashionable centre of
resemblance. As it is, these boats must have provided grand sailing, before subsiding into obscurity. A replica would be a relatively simple and economic
build today; as North America revels in the rediscovery of numerous, similar, dayboats that are now being rebuilt, perhaps it is time for a similar revival on the other side of the Atlantic? If so, this is a fine candidate,
and Mylne & Co would be happy to help.
NORTHUMBERLAND YC
ONE DESIGN
CLASSIC DESIGNS
C/O MICHAEL KRUGER
LETTERS
Send your letters (and also any replies, please) to:
Classic Boat, Jubilee House, 2 Jubilee Place,
London SW3 3TQ
email: [email protected]
Getting up a head of steam
North East heritage
I was wondering if those involved in the Cutty Sark might
have been a little red faced this week. The magnifi cent and
triumphant return to service of The Flying Scotsman can
only be described as a great success. The engineers
involved are to be congratulated. I note the conspicuous
absence of a debate over whether the locomotive is a
replica or a restoration. The public are simply very
gladdened to see her/him/it back on the main line pulling
fi rst class passengers: £4m well spent.
Compare this with the circa £34m spent on the Cutty
Sark restoration by architects and builders which, as far as I
can see, has left her unfi t for sea. The appointment of
architects was a good choice when you consider her (or
should that now be its) new use. How many shipwrights
could have built such an excellent coff ee shop? I wonder
how many visitors get a sense of the terrifi c power and
majesty of a tea clipper and how many are resigned to a
(no doubt wonderful) cup of coff ee below her keel, one of
the few uninspiring views of the ship.
Robert Lawrence, Aberdeenshire
As the owners of two Northumberland ODs, my
brother and I were interested in the article in
January’s issue by Theo Rye on the class. The
recent history of the Royal Northumberland YC tells
a slightly diff erent story, with the class being
commissioned in the early 1920s, based on plans of
the Lee-on-the-Solent OD, a clinker-built
centreboard 16-footer. Ten were built but only two
are still in action, No 8 (Fluff ) and No 9 (Wren).
Both are carvel built. We understand that another
‘original’ is being repaired in the North East. Fluff
was bought in 1929 from a Mr Nisbet, who kept her
in Tynemouth Haven and taken to Beadnell, where
our mother sailed her until her death in 1989, then
moved by me to Hayling Island. Wren was bought
by my brother Fred Hoult from the Newbeggin
family in 1969, since when she has been
at Holy Island.
Tim Hoult, Richmond, London
Our
Oscars:
diversity
of Classics
As global headlines
concern themselves
with the diversity, or
not, of the Oscars, I
couldn’t help
wondering, as I posted
my vote this afternoon,
whether the Classic
Boat Awards might
come under similar
fi re. Does a taped-up
old gaff er berthed in
Oban stand the same
chance of winning as a
multi-million-pound
restoration that’s just
emerged from an East
Coast US yard?
A brief glance at
your nomination
categories suggests
there is no reason to
worry, as you have
created categories
that span the classic
world, but the Oscars
did that too.
I hope nobody
thinks I’m making light
of the real diversity
issue. That really is
worth worrying about,
but the celebrities
seem to have things
well in hand.
Oscar (no relation)
Holland-Smith
Ed replies: We publish
the winners on page
- We strive to
represent the entire
classic boat world,
with the Awards and
with the contents
of the magazine
every month.
The article in the October issue and the letter in the
December issue reminded me of my own happy memories
of ice-yachting, when stationed in Germany with the RAF in
1950-2. We had our yacht club on the Lake Steinhudemeer,
near RAF Wunstof and Hanover and by January the lake
had frozen to a depth of over a foot, so out came our two
ice yachts, something I’d not seen before. When I enquired
how we would cope with just two, the answer was: “You’ll
soon fi nd out.” My fi rst trip was exciting, with speeds of up
to 50mph, but after just fi ve minutes your body was numb
with cold, so there was never a queue waiting to sail!
In 1951 we had four ice yachts, but we started too early
that winter, before we had enough thickness of ice. You
realised all was not well when you looked astern and saw
an ice wave following you. Several times skates put through
the ice which left the helmsman, including me, the walk
home acrosss ice to the clubhouse often about a mile away
David Hastings, NorwichMemories on the ice
Stepped planks
I may be able to shed some light on Graham
Lamond’s letter about the stepped plank fi shing
vessel (March issue). She belongs to a Mr Edward
Dawson, who has her for salmon fi shing during
the season. He has a large boat with a wheel
house for his lobster and crabpot fi shing. Susan D
was built in the 1970s by CA Goodall of Sandsend,
near Whitby, who built a lot of double-enders for
the whole of the Yorkshire coast. Mr Dawson
knows of no particular reason for the stepped
planks, so Mr Lamond’s thoughts that like this
they might be easier to bend at the ends, might
be right. However, he is looking up some of the
original paperwork when he bought her for any
further information.
Tony Peereboom, Beadnell, NorthumberlandAwardsIN ASSOCIATION WITH
WINNERS