Clyde to Tobermory Yacht race 1968 - no plastic here

[dylan winter]

Thanks Dylan. That was fun.

Some of it sounded like a Monty Python skit.

you are correct...

although the script at least treated us as human beings as opposed to fleas with the attention span of gnats

when I look at all that wood I just think of the endless hours in boatyards with bits of sandpaper and cans of unguent

mind you... judging by the accents I would guess that most of the winter work was done by stout fellows with rather different accents

we are probably the luckiest sailors ever to have existed

immortal boats, rot proof sails, uberstrong sheets, fantastic communications and navigation gear, safe waters, almost instant rescue, perfect weather forecasts

my boat is currently afloat attached to a pontoon in a 300 year old Scottish Harbour and taking no harm from being out in this bloody awful weather

the way I treat boats I would kill a wooden one every year

D

 

[SemiSalt]

Few among the armchairs here have actually ventured so willingly into the tortured realm of extreme tide and

current. My finest bit of sailing was crashing out of strange inlet into the Atlantic in a shoal Catboat heading south to parts

unknown. Navigation was a boxed compass between my knees, pelorus and bamboo pole for sounding. I never developed the taste for

spending hours aground waiting for the tide to set me free again, but like marmite, it takes discipline and the denial one is

experiencing some discomfort, qualities which are decidedly English. Once, one bitterly cold day on the bay, trying coax the

topping for my day's measure from an especially hard oyster reef, I heard the cries of seagulls waiting for a handout as they

circled my boat.

Perhaps he is doing research for a sequel to The Singing Sands (Josephine Tey) or The Riddle of the Sands (Erskine Childers).

 

[Presuming Ed]

Autres pays, autres mœurs. (Well, ish)

So, boatspotting. First boat seen - the white ?square metre? boat on the mooring. Has to be a windfall yacht?

Next looks like a Vertue. Or if not, definitely Giles, with that transom.

Then a Fife - with the dragon on the cove stripe.

Sawn off shotgun for sound signals! (They're well illegal now in the UK. Used for too many bank robberies & other nefarious activities by those with a looser appreciation of the law.)

Ian Nicholson. Does the designer's notes in ?PBO? http://www.mylne.com/Ian_Nicolson

And If. There's the chap circumnavigating Great Britain (rather slowly, it must be said), who got some film of her in Aldeburgh. But then I wouldn't trust him - he's got some mad idea to go chopping holes in Centaurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzNAm3gidC8

 

[WunHungLo]

Yep,

Very nice but very English.

I like mousehole best as Harbour.

I want to sail her with this yacht.

Mousehole cornwall.png

koopmans 10 meter aluminium retractable keel

https://www.google.nl/search?q=koopmans+yacht+te+koop&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=RcjLUs_ZDKe60QXlkoDADQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=998

How do I get the docking right?

Contact the harbour master years in advance?

Mousehole, pronounced "mau-zall" in Cornish, is a great little fishing port near Penzance, just East of Lands End. The harbour dries out so you may have to anchor in the bay outside the breakwater with that boat, unless you can dry out against the wall.

I was there one blustery and cold March day and the town was almost deserted. Very narrow lanes between buildings. I went into a gift shop and asked what goes on in Mauzall at this time of year. The shopkeeper said in a perfect pirate's Cornish accent " aaargh,.... naaht a laaht... Some 'effin, some fishin' "

The Tobermory race movie was excellent and reminds me of the inside legs between Vancouver Island and the Mainland, of the 630 mile Van Isle 360 Race. Exactly the same relaxed rivalries, great scenery, wicked currents, fjords, mountains, desolation, big wild life...

Roll on summer 2015 for the next one.

 

[dylan winter]

Autres pays, autres mœurs. (Well, ish)

So, boatspotting. First boat seen - the white ?square metre? boat on the mooring. Has to be a windfall yacht?

Next looks like a Vertue. Or if not, definitely Giles, with that transom.

Then a Fife - with the dragon on the cove stripe.

Sawn off shotgun for sound signals! (They're well illegal now in the UK. Used for too many bank robberies & other nefarious activities by those with a looser appreciation of the law.)

And If. There's the chap circumnavigating Great Britain (rather slowly, it must be said), who got some film of her in Aldeburgh. But then I wouldn't trust him - he's got some mad idea to go chopping holes in Centaurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzNAm3gidC8

well spotted Ed

I had not noticed her

she is such a cracking looking yacht

it was wonderful to see her sailing on the river alde

as for the Centaur project

look upon me as a surgeon cutting out the cancerous bits (fekked old engine) and replacing it with something that will actually work

the project does seem to have upset a few of my fellow brits but they post threads about buying dry suits for £1250 a pop

I really am looking at boats that are one step away from a meeting with a JCB and a skip because the cost of a new inboard (6K) means that the hull is going to get chopped up

http://www.keepturningleft.co.uk/scuttlebutt/port-dinorwic-centaur/

I am going down to the Solent this weekend to poke around a few boatyards looking for immobile Centaurs

 

[Bob Perry]

"the way I treat boats I would kill a wooden one every year"



You made me laugh. Don't do that much.

I liked that little Cardinal Virtue in the movie.

 

[fdsailor]

I ran a comparison between this vid and one shot last year a month or two back...the race has really died a death unfortunately, with only a handful of entrants compared to the glory years, and not many of them all that pretty. What amazes me about the old film is that the boats seem to be maintained to a PRACTICAL (some might say 'noble') standard, often by owners, whereas nowadays on the Clyde a lot of the classic yacht scene seems to be going the way of perfection and the accompanying expense over other virtues. I like looking at perfect varnishwork and immaculate paint as much as the next man, but it's also great meeting boats which are kept to a practical 80% standard by their doting (and often skint) owners, many of whom sweat blood and tears over their boats and have some great stories to tell and advice to give. This summer in Tobermory we were moored just along from the Fife Kentra, when a chap in an interesting looking ketch rowed over to tell us that ours was the best looking boat in the anchorage. Thinking that he should have gone to Specsavers, I pointed over at Kentra. He just looked at me and said 'but your boat is YOUR boat, and that shines through'. That's my excuse anyway!

Photo of Bull Hole on Mull, opposite Iona

 

[olaf hart]

Thanks Dylan. That was fun.

Some of it sounded like a Monty Python skit.

The contrast between the laconic Scotts sailor in Lola and Ian Nicholson, the "try hard" yacht designer is classic.

Scott to reporter, "here you hold the tiller, I am going to have a cigarette"

Crew to Nicholson, "do you have a chart of the area handy?". Nicholson "no, not handy"

He then hits a rock the next day "awfully bad luck"

I am also impressed with the way he navigates by depth sounder.

 

[Schakel]

Hi WHL,

I been in Mauzal for 30 times I think,

She is my favourite holliday destination and my wife to.

What means:

aaargh,.... naaht a laaht... Some 'effin, some fishin'

The only part I understand is some fishing to do. :lol:

Effin?

naaht a laaht?

This translation site doesn't give a clue.

http://www.howlsedhes.co.uk/cgi-bin/diskwe.pl

Yep,

Very nice but very English.

I like mousehole best as Harbour.
I want to sail her with this yacht.

Mousehole cornwall.png
koopmans 10 meter aluminium retractable keel
https://www.google.nl/search?q=koopmans+yacht+te+koop&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=RcjLUs_ZDKe60QXlkoDADQ&ved=0CAcQ_AUoAQ&biw=1920&bih=998

How do I get the docking right?
Contact the harbour master years in advance?

Mousehole, pronounced "mau-zall" in Cornish, is a great little fishing port near Penzance, just East of Lands End. The harbour dries out so you may have to anchor in the bay outside the breakwater with that boat, unless you can dry out against the wall.
I was there one blustery and cold March day and the town was almost deserted. Very narrow lanes between buildings. I went into a gift shop and asked what goes on in Mauzall at this time of year. The shopkeeper said in a perfect pirate's Cornish accent " aaargh,.... naaht a laaht... Some 'effin, some fishin' "

The Tobermory race movie was excellent and reminds me of the inside legs between Vancouver Island and the Mainland, of the 630 mile Van Isle 360 Race. Exactly the same relaxed rivalries, great scenery, wicked currents, fjords, mountains, desolation, big wild life...
Roll on summer 2015 for the next one.

 

[Jim in Halifax]

Thanks for that, Dylan.

Such a pleasure to find Magnus Magnason narrating. Eons ago in university I plowed through many of his Icelandic saga translations; I knew he had worked for the BBC but had no idea he ever did a sailing film. A more appropriate narrator to find on deck off the western isles of Scotland I can not imagine. What a treasure that documentary is on so many levels!

 

[Ishmael]

Hi WHL,

I been in Mauzal for 30 times I think,

She is my favourite holliday destination and my wife to.

What means:

aaargh,.... naaht a laaht... Some 'effin, some fishin'

The only part I understand is some fishing to do. :lol:

Effin? = Effing...short for fucking...a bit of the old slap and tickle.

naaht a laaht? = Not a lot, spoken in local dialect.

aaargh...= aaargh

 

[oioi]

Dylan

Thank you for sharing the link. I have just sent it onto ian's son. I might just have to take the piss about the rock...

Great film, just makes me want to go back to the west coast.

Mike

 

[Peggy Bawn]

Autres pays, autres mœurs. (Well, ish)

So, boatspotting. First boat seen - the white ?square metre? boat on the mooring. Has to be a windfall yacht?

Next looks like a Vertue. Or if not, definitely Giles, with that transom.

Then a Fife - with the dragon on the cove stripe.

Sawn off shotgun for sound signals! (They're well illegal now in the UK. Used for too many bank robberies & other nefarious activities by those with a looser appreciation of the law.)

Ian Nicholson. Does the designer's notes in ?PBO? http://www.mylne.com/Ian_Nicolson

And If. There's the chap circumnavigating Great Britain (rather slowly, it must be said), who got some film of her in Aldeburgh. But then I wouldn't trust him - he's got some mad idea to go chopping holes in Centaurs.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzNAm3gidC8

Re: "First boat seen - the white ?square metre? boat on the mooring. Has to be a windfall yacht?"

Could be a "windfall"... But also, pre WW2, Baltic yachts often found their way to the Clyde and west coast of Scotland via the Forth & Clyde Canal (in effect North Sea – North Atlantic canal). Before it was insanely closed in 1963, I believe the canal could accommodate vessels of approx. dimensions: LOA 70ft; beam 18ft; draft 10ft – with no air height restrictions. The canal reopened in 2000 but with vastly reduced dimension limits and low air height.

I believe her to be a yacht named Ivanhoe (see the yacht leading the start at 03:10), owned by the Steedman family. West of Scotland yachters of a certain age may remember their later Ivanhoe, a Nicholson “Jolina” Class sloop. There is also a slight possibility that she is Blink, a “45 Square Metre” (to which rule I know not) and an active Clyde Cruising Club yacht of the 40s – 60s.

Tobermory Race 1968 film boat-spotting contributions welcome at http://peggybawn.wordpress.com/2013/10/01/summer-of-68-the-tobermory-race/

 

[Peggy Bawn]

Aye, but present advertised numbers for the Forth & Clyde Canal are:

Max. Boat Length: 19.20m (63ft)

Width / Beam: 6.00m (19ft 8in)

Channel Depth: 1.83m (6ft)

Maximum Headroom 3.00m (9ft 10in)

(http://www.scottishcanals.co.uk/media/996517/skippers%20guide%20a4.pdf)

Note that it's "channel depth", not max draft...

 

[mrming]

I get my sails made by Nicolson Hughes. Didn't realise the connection until I saw this film. Love the way the other guy has an enormous glass of whiskey in Ian's hand before they've even tied up!

 

[dylan winter]

I get my sails made by Nicolson Hughes. Didn't realise the connection until I saw this film. Love the way the other guy has an enormous glass of whiskey in Ian's hand before they've even tied up!

there are so many wonderful things in this little film

everytime you watch it you see something new

my advice to you guys is to rip the film

stick it on a decent screen

get yourself a bottle of scotch and glass and then take a sip every time you see something nice in the film

 

[sparau]

Such an excellent film, especially for the time, thanks for posting that link up.

Really makes me want an old slow wooden mono

But i guess boats are like guitars in that there's a perfect one for how you feel at the time, pity they are somewhat more expensive and harder to store !

I've always thought the British Isles a cold wet and unpleasant place to be but what an awesome, interesting sailing playground that is.

 

[Presuming Ed]

The Western Isles are one of the truly great cruising grounds.

 

[dylan winter]

Such an excellent film, especially for the time, thanks for posting that link up.

Really makes me want an old slow wooden mono

But i guess boats are like guitars in that there's a perfect one for how you feel at the time, pity they are somewhat more expensive and harder to store !

I've always thought the British Isles a cold wet and unpleasant place to be but what an awesome, interesting sailing playground that is.

It is crap here

never stops raining, shit climate, cloudy water

 

[TwoLegged]

I've always thought the British Isles a cold wet and unpleasant place to be but what an awesome, interesting sailing playground that is.

Wet and cold, but that's why the goddess invented thermonuclear underwear, oilskins, and whiskey for internal heating.

The joy of sailing on the Atlantic coasts of Scotland and Ireland is well worth the loss of bikini time. One of the great memories of my life is being alone on deck on our J/24 at about 10 knots under white sails blasting past the Skelligs, with big mountains and islands as the backdrop to sparkly blue seas and white tops. Helm in one hand, cuppa tea in the other ... which I raised to the red-faced fat git at the back of the 40-foot slug we were passing. He had hauled his crew on deck to break their backs piling on more sail in the forlorn hope of keeping up.

A million times more fun tan any race