Morning Cloud 3?

[alant]

40 yrs, since it was lost, with 2 crew dead, whilst returning from Cowes.
According to BBC News, it was caused by a large wave.
Anyone got details?

 

[johnalison]

I don't remember the details but I always remember it as the Morning Cloud gale. The storm arrived very suddenly with us, and the morning forecast had been F5. We were stuck for a week in Brightlingsea while I wrote down weather reports of F10s and 11s around the channel. I think the Cloud was lost in the region of Beachy Head while heading west, presumably after Burnham week in September. It must have been horrendous in those conditions.

 

[Wansworth]

I think it was wrecked over the shallow bank off Selsey Bill....

 

[Keen_Ed]

The Owers.

 

[Colvic Watson]

Once met a chap in the Isle of Man called Ted Heath - no relation to the pm - he called his boat "Cloudy Morning".

 

[Strolls]

Googling Morning Cloud 3 took me to wikipedia, but often the best way to read wikipedia is by following the citations, which led me to this blog: http://sparkmanstephens.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/design-2157-morning-cloud-iii.html

I think that may be the blogspot of Sparkman & Stephens themselves.

I am late replying because the "click to zoom" on that page doesn't work, and it took me some minutes to extract / correct the URLs for these hig res images:

The best summary of the loss of Morning Cloud can be found in the very good book, Heavy Weather Sailing by Adlard Coles. Here's a reprint of appendix 6.

Heavy Weather Sailing by Adlard Coles at Amazon: http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0071592903/

Imgur album: http://imgur.com/a/g5hbK

Download all images as a .zip file: http://imgur.com/a/g5hbK/zip

 

[Habebty]

Sobering account.

As a child, I can remember Ted Heath standing in front of our house (no idea why!) watching one of the next Morning Clouds sail down from Hardway on trials, before the then revolutionary carbon fibre rudder (stock?) kept breaking. Bit of a hazy memory though.
There are two places that always seem to have an inexplicable eerie feeling about them for me, Orford Ness, and the Owers. Much prefer the Looe Channel ( in good weather!)

 

[sarabande]

Heath's Morning Cloud and Sir Maurice Laing's Sasha had been in Burnham for the week, and the plan was to sail in company back to Cowes for the end of season Solent races. As the navigator, I was bringing Sasha back with a couple of delivery crew.

We saw Cloud go off with nearly a full crew, and we were held up with some minor technical problem for an hour. We left and halfway across the Thames estuary, picked up the weather forecast for Dover and Wight. It was far from pleasant, and having only three persons on board, I decided to head back to Burnham and wait for a couple of days.

It was early the next morning that a boat came out from the club, asking me to phone the owner. I went ashore and had an anxious conversation with the owner, asking how we were still in Burnham, and telling us that Cloud had been lost.

Cloud and Sasha were both out the same yard, Lallows, and pretty nearly sister ships. We knew them well as competitors and, indeed, friends, and their loss was deeply felt. The impact on Ted Heath was significant, despite his exposure to more violent death in the Second World War.

In 2005 I was browsing though secondhand books in the BookBarn near Shepton Mallet, and came across a copy of Heath's book on his sailing life. It was signed by the author, and the dedication was to his godson, Christopher Chadd, who was lost in Cloud's sinking. It was a chilling and black moment to hold that book, and I regret not having the courage to buy it.

 

[tat27]

I went to the ceremony at Arundells on Friday where the bow of MC3 was unveiled in the garden by Ben Ainslie in the presence of Margaret Chadd and two of Christopher's brothers.
It was simple but very moving.

I had found the bow for sale on eBay a couple of years ago after visiting Arundells in Salisbury and my wife bought if from a Southampton boatyard for about £150. The Friends of Arundells found about it from a local paper report and they were keen to have it in the garden.

It was restored by James Dickens from Hythe marina and Laurie Boarer from Lallows who remembers her being built in 1974.
I'll try and post some pics from the day but I would recommend a visit to the house if you haven't been before.

 

[itchenseadog]

The bow section of Morning Cloud was for many years mounted on the inside wall of one of the sheds of Belsize Boatyard in Priory Road, Southampton. I understand "Squeeker" Smith (so named because of his high pitch voice) purchased tbe wreck of Morning Cloud from insurers. Belsize was a salvage yard and they probably made four or five times the value of the wreck by selling off all the fittings. The site of the yard (as with so many) is now a block of flats and Squeeker retired to Florida.

 

[tat27]

Thanks for that update - when was the yard sol off/closed down ?

 

[Seven Spades]

A fascinating account. It seems that boat was not very strong with all those deck beams splitting and breaking. I always thought that wooden boats were as tough as old boots but it seems not to be the case here.

 

[itchenseadog]

Belsize was basically a marine scrapyard. Squeeker woud buy anything marine related and you literally had to climb over engines, winches, scrap boats, chain and wire cable etc. Everything was cash based and to my knowledge there were several tax investigations although it didnt stop Squeeker owning many properties in Bitterne Park and driving around in a Roller ! As far as I can remember the yard must have closed down around 2000. The architect for the flats on the site was the same one who designed the flats at Swan Quay - the site of our old boatyard. The architect went bust shortly afterwards so if must have been around the same time.
Seven Spades, the fact that there was so much left of Morning Cloud after being continually pounded by heavy waves on to the sand bears testament to the strength of the construction of the vessel. Having been in the yacht repair business all my working life, there are not many grp craft around that would have survived better.

 

[lw395]

A fascinating account. It seems that boat was not very strong with all those deck beams splitting and breaking. I always thought that wooden boats were as tough as old boots but it seems not to be the case here.

It was a racing boat, built to win.
I think any boat that gets dropped off a big wave onto its side might have similar failures.

 

[Seven Spades]

It was a racing boat, built to win.
I think any boat that gets dropped off a big wave onto its side might have similar failures.

I was not referring to the damage she sustained by pounding the sand but at the damage she sustained just by wave action. If you read the report she took a wave and substantial damage was caused including split beams. I am surprised at this level of damage and I don't think any boat would suffer the same fate, some would but many would not.

 

[lw395]

I was not referring to the damage she sustained by pounding the sand but at the damage she sustained just by wave action. If you read the report she took a wave and substantial damage was caused including split beams. I am surprised at this level of damage and I don't think any boat would suffer the same fate, some would but many would not.

I think it dropped off a wave onto its side, hitting the water very hard?
I have seen that are in F5, I can well imagine it could damage many yachts in F9, particularly a racing yacht built to competitive weight. Modern construction might be tougher.
I don't know what the scantlings were like, or whether the rig would have been heavily tensioned, but 'wave action' as you call it should not be under-estimated IMHO.

 

[Daydream believer]

I remember seeing her at Burnham week she looked lovely
But seeing the damage makes one wonder just how a modern GRP benny, bav, hanse etc would fair in the same situation
& also how would say an HR or X Yacht fair have modern designs taken this sort of thing into account?