Any thoughts on the Nicholson 30?

Nicholson 30

345000 said:
Sorry to be a wet blanket, I've just bought a Nicholson 30 MkII, and I've sailed a couple of Nicholson Half Tonners, and I grew up sailing a Nicholson 345, and this confusion between the Nicholson 30 (Ray Wall), and the Nicholson Half Tonner (Ron Holland) doesn't half get my back up... Some people even get confused between the Nicholson Half Tonner and the Nicholson 303: They share the same hull and perhaps the same rudder, but that's it.

People really should ensure they're correct before posting comments.
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Hello

Yes Ive managed to distinguish between the two - probably the problem is they dont know what to call the half tonner!
Am currently looking at a Nik 30. Do you have any information on when the mk II came into being and what the basic differences are?

regards

Dave
 
Hi sailordave,

There are three different models, and the main difference is with the rig; and extract from C&N's notes on the design follows:

"63 yachts were completed in the U.K., 17 of them being completed by their owners from a Part Assembly kit. As this yacht was raced hard and competitively numerous modifications were made to the keel, rudder and rig both during production and as an after sales service. Boats 1, 2, 3, 5 & 10 all had the Mk1 Rig with the shorter mast. There were no changes to hull shape apart from a modification to the rudder skeg and in some cases its removal".

From this information, one can deduce that the first of the Mk.II yachts was hull No.4, "Red Cloud" in 1972. Also, hull No.10 ("Czarina Blue") is dated 1973 - the inference from the above is that this was the last Mk.I. My boat, Jasrah III (hull No.9) is a Mk.II.

I've only ever come across one Mk.III, which is currently for sale on the continent.

Best Regards,

Dave.
 
wetzel said:
The 32 is a much better boat
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A bit like comparing a Landrover to a moderately quick hatchback. Both are good boats but very different. If I wanted to combine a bit of coastal cruising with some evening club racing the Nic 30 would be good. If I was heading for the Arctic I'd prefer the 32.

The 30 and half-tonner are different boats; the half-tonner is beamier and more of a pure racer. I am not sure if the Jeanneau Rush is actually identical to the Nic half-tonner, but they are certainly very similar in design.
 
My Nic 30 "Spreadeagle of Lombard Street" is the last but one of these built, being No 63 of 64. She is now for sale, sadly for us, but is currently lying happily in her retirement in Port Leucate, France ("Spread to the Med" mission duly fulfilled!)
We cannot visit her as often as she needs us, due to work commitments, so I will be putting her up for sale quite soon.
Having owned her since 1987 and sailed her in the Solent out of Lymington for many years, I remember Jasrah and several other Nic 30s we encountered in those days. Spreadeagle was quite a fixture in the Cowes Week social life in the early/mid 1990s! (She was a well-known party boat, if not a very seriously committed racer...)
Please look out for my advert, as I would like her to go to a fraternity that recognises these classic boats.
Eileen Abell
 
Spread Eagle Of Lombard Street

abellemed said:
My Nic 30 "Spreadeagle of Lombard Street" is the last but one of these built, being No 63 of 64. She is now for sale, sadly for us, but is currently lying happily in her retirement in Port Leucate, France ("Spread to the Med" mission duly fulfilled!)
We cannot visit her as often as she needs us, due to work commitments, so I will be putting her up for sale quite soon.
Having owned her since 1987 and sailed her in the Solent out of Lymington for many years, I remember Jasrah and several other Nic 30s we encountered in those days. Spreadeagle was quite a fixture in the Cowes Week social life in the early/mid 1990s! (She was a well-known party boat, if not a very seriously committed racer...)
Please look out for my advert, as I would like her to go to a fraternity that recognises these classic boats.
Eileen Abell
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Eileen,

Many thanks for your post - Once Jasrah hits the water again (she's currently in Weymouth undergoing repairs and a fairly comprehensive refit), I will do my best to follow in your worthy footsteps !

David Seer.
 
Re: Spread Eagle Of Lombard Street

345000 said:
Eileen,

Many thanks for your post - Once Jasrah hits the water again (she's currently in Weymouth undergoing repairs and a fairly comprehensive refit), I will do my best to follow in your worthy footsteps !

David Seer.
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Hope Jasrah is now happily refitted and back in her element! Sorry no posts for ages but due to Spain property market angsts and now Brexit, have had other probs. Spreadeagle is still for sale but only on Why Boats website or http://www.boatsandoutboards.co.uk/view-trader/why-boats/2625 at the moment. She is still in Port Leucate and is fine, last time on board was March this year but still don't get chance to use her enough, sadly. If you know anyone who is looking for the last-but-one Nic 30 MkIII to be built, a "bank boat", ie high spec interior etc, please post. Best wishes
 
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My late parents were the first owners of Nicholson 30 hull number 6. It was moulded with a dark blue hull and exhibited at the London Boat Show. This was the first of the taller masts, it was raised by 2ft 6in as it rated too low for a half ton rating. But this did not raise it enough, and later boats were fitted with a lead shoe to the bottom the keel. The raising of the mast gave us the name for the boat, Mumeskara. We raced as a family of 4 plus one extra. So my mother commented the higher mast was going to make the boat a "mummy scarer".

We raced this extensively on the EAORA circuit. I believe we were the first boat to put one on the plane. Definitely overcanvassed for the wind, but was too directionally stable. It took 3 out of the crew on the helm to keep her in a straight line. We would have won the Harwich to Ostend race, if we had not suffered a wipe out just off the Belgian coast. Ended up being second overall, out of over 70 boats, losing out to Richard Mathews in his Hustler 25.5 (later of Oyster fame). There was a skeg fitted to the original boats and at the end of the first season, we removed the skeg (this was now standard on new boats). We consulted Raymond Wall, the designer, on many occassions including how to lay up the hull after removing the skeg. Our boat had a plywood rudder made, but to a new swept back design by Raymond Wall. This was a total disaster as it made the helm very heavy. So over a week, we had to make another plywood rudder to the shape of the original skegged rudder. That is how she remained.

I forget the number of times we had the boat rerated with every small change that was made. One expensive change was having the folding propeller blades enlarged to decrease the rating, but this was a nightmare. The propeller worked fine in forward, however in reverse the blades folded - leaving us without reverse! So the blades were then cut down to the original size.

The only major problem we had with the Nich 30 was the flexible hull. When we wound the tension up in the backstay, the boat would flex, making the main hatch impossible to move. So before going up wind, we had to decide if we should have hatch open or closed! Otherwise a great boat to sail.
 
hi,is the boat still for sale, if so can I have a contact no

abellemed said:
My Nic 30 "Spreadeagle of Lombard Street" is the last but one of these built, being No 63 of 64. She is now for sale, sadly for us, but is currently lying happily in her retirement in Port Leucate, France ("Spread to the Med" mission duly fulfilled!)
We cannot visit her as often as she needs us, due to work commitments, so I will be putting her up for sale quite soon.
Having owned her since 1987 and sailed her in the Solent out of Lymington for many years, I remember Jasrah and several other Nic 30s we encountered in those days. Spreadeagle was quite a fixture in the Cowes Week social life in the early/mid 1990s! (She was a well-known party boat, if not a very seriously committed racer...)
Please look out for my advert, as I would like her to go to a fraternity that recognises these classic boats.
Eileen Abell
Click to expand...
 
Re: hi,is the boat still for sale, if so can I have a contact no

We raced Trilogo a Mk 1 Nich 30 in the 70's and frequently up against Barclays Bank's boat 'Spreadeagle' and the other main UK banks at that time, in the Inter Banks series each year.
Ours pulled like a train, very tough and a 'go anywhere' boat and we participated in all the JOG races too each weekend, mostly cross channel, in the summer months.

We always carried as much sail as possible, and I remember many a time being hard on the wind in 6-7+ and having to cradle the tiller in the crook of both arms to maintain control- it was simply too powerful to hand-hold it.

One thing which we didn't fully resolve was that after bashing to windward for a few hours one had to wear boots below unless in a bunk for it brought a new meaning to being ' a wet boat'- possibly some keel bolt problem
 
Re: hi,is the boat still for sale, if so can I have a contact no

Yes, Spreadeagle is still for sale. She is lying at Port Leucate, France. We were last on board on 24 October and she is in great condition since we last were on board in March this year! However, her rudder has mussels on it big enough to eat, so we need to have a haul-out, pressure wash and antifoul soon. Everything on board is dry and clean and although we only spent 2 nights there before flying back to UK, we only needed to clean the cockpit of a bit of wind-blown debris. The Tramontane was blowing whilst we were there, so it was a bit trying, but weather was wide blue sun and 23degrees.
If your contact would like to view her, please let me know, as I have an English friend in Prades (fairly close and who speaks French) who could accompany them. The mooring is in the protected Bassin Sud on an annual basis and is around E2000 per annum.
Wish I could remember Trilogo, but sadly can't. However, have happy memories of roaring up the Solent to Cowes in Spreadeagle under full large jenny etc, bent over her ears, with my 14 year old son (now 43) at the helm and me, possibly waiting by the winch.....! Those were the days!
Thank you for your interest and I look forward to your reply.
Kindest regards
Eileen Abell
 
Re: hi,is the boat still for sale, if so can I have a contact no

Yes, of course - my landline number is 01455 27 2197 and my mobile (poor reception in my village) is 07785 940387,

I am at work from Wednesdays till Fridays but any other time I can be reached on my landline, or email me direct on eileen.abell@tiscali.co.uk

Many thanks and kind regards

Eileen Abell
 
Re: hi,is the boat still for sale, if so can I have a contact no

Yes, we love her, she is part of our family history. My son learned to sail her from Lymington in the early 1980s and we enjoyed most weekends on board her and made many friends. When my son went to live in Spain in 2003 I had her transported to Port Leucate overland via the services of Augizeau (French from Normandy company) and my son sailed her down to Oliva in Valencia from where he sailed her most weekends. The harbour there kept silting up so with a 2m draught we moved Spread to Denia , the new little marina called El Portet. Then my grandsons were born and sadly Spreadeagle wasn't used as much, so when the Recession bit, my son came back to UK, so within 6 months we went back and sailed Spread back up to Port Leucate where moorings were much cheaper than Spain, where she has been since 2013ish.
My son has since made his businesses grow in UK but we still have our Spreadeagle pied-a l'eau in France and we still dearly love her for not just the memories of those Solent years but just that she is the only boat that I have ever wanted or loved, so fast and so steady. I am now too old at 73 to actively sprint up to sort out the sails etc (can just about manage mooring lines, stern-on, a la Med). So, reluctantly, despite my son's desire to bring Spreadeagle back to Lymington, (lack of money for Augizeau sadly) I am offering her up for sale. Full details can be found at whyboats, (just google it,I'm no good at putting links, sorry).
Thankyou for your interest in Spread

With kind regards
Eileen Abell
 
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Re: hi,is the boat still for sale, if so can I have a contact no

Further to my post #28, we never any problem with water below except when we put the mast in the water on port tack in a knockdown. Water flooded into the cockpit and it poured in through the sail locker. Ended up with quite a few inches of water in the main cabin.

I can still remember a Wednesday race in Burnham Week when ½ and ¾ tonners were in the same class. The wind was northerly and meant we could set our star cut spinnaker out and back, no one else had one. Won the race by over 5 minutes on corrected time over Richard Matthews with his newly introduced UFO 34 with a professional crew. He was not known for loosing gratiously but he lined his crew on deck in their matching uniforms to applaud us. By Saturday morning he had a star cut spinnaked delivered by Hoods! Unfortunately the following day our mast folded due to a manufacturing fault and it took 4 weeks to get a free replacement. I ended up sailing on the Landamores boat, they ended up completing Oysters for Richard Matthews.

An other memory was the EAORA Round the Goodwins race in another year. It was a heavy weather race and rounding the S Goodwin we decided to set the star cut spinnaker and before it was half hoisted the wind filled the sail, The boat went from about 6 knots to being on the plane. We passed 5 other ½ tonners before we dropped off the plane. The halyard could only be winched whilst on the plane as the wind pressure on the sail was so high. Once back on the plane it was gound up to the mast head. We left the competition way behind. An exciting ride with the kite cleated and only one person on the helm.

Yet another memory was the final race in a series on the Medway. We were over the start line when the gun went off in a flat calm. Once we had managed to return and start the rest of the fleet was at least half a mile ahead as they had the tide under them. We used all our skill and slick crew work to keep raising and lowering the spinnaker for legs as short as a few hundred yards. By the time we reached the turning mark we were leading boat and went on to win the race and the series. Oh, I forgot to mention we were also a crewman down.

I certainly have plenty of good memories sailing our Nich 30 Mumeskara in conditions from flat calm to Force 11/2 and can vouch she was an excellent boat to sail on.
 
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