FACING PAGE: JAMES ROBINSON TAYLOR; THIS PAGE C/O SYSCAMBRIA
Above: To retain
and repair
wherever
possible was the
mantra forI Cambria’s refit
t was said in an entirely different context, but
Theodore Roosevelt’s advice to “speak softly and
carry a big stick” is curiously apt in the case of
Cambria. Her captain, Chris Barkham, never
raises his voice, regardless of provocation, and
her spruce mast is one of the largest and most
impressive wooden yacht spars in the world. In typical
style they have just completed a truly remarkable, major
refit at Southampton Yacht Services (SYS) in
Southampton, and then quietly departed back for the
Mediterranean with hardly any fuss.
The work was the culmination of several years of
thought and evaluation by Chris and his team. Few
captains know their charge as well as he knows
Cambria; and it was apparent during the last refit in
2008 that the time was coming for major work. Cambria
is composite, with steel frames and backbone all riveted
together; it is an integrated form of construction that
makes restoration work very challenging, and in some
hands this might well have resulted in a multi-million-
pound complete rebuild of the whole hull.
With the support of a loyal owner, and despite the
“expert” opinion often ranged against him, Chris’
approach was diametrically opposed to that; the guiding
mantra throughout the work was to repair and retain
original material wherever possible. The overwhelming
success of the work owes much to this ethos, and to the
intelligent and dedicated work of the team in
interpreting and implementing it.
Chris’ loyal, long-serving crew and sub-contractors
worked alongside the skilled workforce of SYS, many of
whom, such as lead shipwright Barry Argent, had forged
close ties with the boat during previous works. It was a
set-up that allowed a prodigious amount of work to be
co-ordinated successfully in a tightly controlled
programme, and the result sets a new benchmark for
how to approach major composite hull restoration work.
Cambria’s first refit at Southampton Yacht Services
took place during the winter of 2008/2009. The work
mainly involved engineering, and included a redesign of
the engine room – which, incidentally, is forward of thesaloon and accommodates a single engine driving the
two sets of sterngear hydraulically – as well as rewiring
throughout and a new navigation area.
About half way through this work, when the inside of
the hull had been exposed by the removal of various
items of equipment, it became apparent that the
composite hull structure – the steel framework and the
timber planks – also needed some attention. There was
no time to attend to this then, but when she was
relaunched – with visible plank lines in her topsides
reinforcing the need for further work – discussions
regarding a return to the yard were already taking place.
So after her owner had enjoyed five years cruising and
racing in the Mediterranean with family and friends,
Cambria returned to Southampton in September 2014.
Cambria still had her original teak centreline
components and teak garboards but her mahogany
planking had been replaced below the waterline, mainly
with pitch pine, in the Canaries in the 1970s. In a
subsequent refit in Australia in the late 1990s, after
extensive rot was repaired in the bow, transom and deck,
the whole of the outside of the hull was sheaved with
glass and polyester resin.
So one of the first jobs to do at SYS was to remove
the glass. As soon as this was done, the mahogany
planks were coated with Eposeal for fear of them drying
out too quickly but there were no such concerns with the
pitch pine and teak. “The moisture content below the
waterline at that time was between 20 per cent and off
the scale,” SYS project manager Matthew Townsend
said. “Although the scale only went up to 35 per cent.”
From the beginning it was clear that a number of
planks would have to be removed, mostly for access to
the steelwork, but it was not really appreciated just how
many: in the end it was 36 new planks on port side (
teak and 22 mahogany); 36 new planks on starboard (
teak and 19 mahogany); a further 41 planks were taken
off for repairs and re-edging. The removal of planks
forward, along with the teak stem down to the waterline,
allowed repairs to be carried out to corroded parts of the
centreline steel structure. This consists of a 0.45in