Barge Yachts

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Yorkshire Exile

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I am re-reading Maurice Griffith's excellent book "The Magic of the Swatchways". He often mentions sailing in Barge Yachts. From his description they appears quite rectangular in section, without a central keel but have leeboards (similar to their larger cousins, the Thames Barge) They are not large boats, and appear to be have been an East Coast speciality. Mr Sutcliffe is not complimentary about their sailing performance. Does anyone know more about them?
 
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Maurice Griffiths? - will have to re-read the 'Magic' as I thought he quite liked them - for sitting on mud and slipping over the sands - he designed the hard chine Waterwitch with leeboards to start with. Read Ten Small Yachts Page 84.
 
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Egret said:
Maurice Griffiths? - will have to re-read the 'Magic' as I thought he quite liked them - for sitting on mud and slipping over the sands - he designed the hard chine Waterwitch with a leeboard option to start with. Read Ten Small Yachts Page 84.
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Thanks Egret, I have corrected the OP. He thought they had their problems, notably the potential for knock down when hard pressed,
 
Just as MG says they were smaller versions of Thames barges in style. Flat bottom, bluff bows and leeboards. Not surprising that they were built in the early days of yachting just as as boats such as the deep pilot boat or punts were built in the west country following local working boat fashion. Not sure any survive today, but MG did design the Waterwitch based on the same principles but an added shallow ballast keel. Here is a good example with leeeboards youtube.com/watch?v=9LPIy31bGmQ
 
MG did say he found it a bit of a handful to start with after a boat with a deep heavy keel, but once he had got the hang of it, it's limitations and need to reef early, found it was quite quick. Obvious compromises to be able to slip over the sands and sit upright on mud.

Swatchways & Little Ships P13 - right at the start of his sailing - after grounding he 'pondered whether a yacht with a flat bottom would be more sensible for muddy creeks' - P56 later he refers to missing his Barge Yacht Swan's sparkling performance. He did go back to more conventional boats with heavy keels for comfort at sea, but reverted back to the barge yacht idea with the Waterwitch.

Superseded by bilge keelers - otherwise there would still be new boats being built in the UK with lee boards.

Probably not many of the 1920's barge yachts left. Pictures of Barge Yacht Nancy Grey on the Swale on Google and pictures on this Forum at Paglesham where some were built.

The half sized Thames Barge Cygnet is looking for a new owner although will need quite a bit of work to get it going again.

Good that you've prompted me to take down the MG books and re-read them - still relevant today.

To Yorkshire Exile - do you have a particular interest as it is an unusual subject - did a relative have one, or do you have one sitting in a corner of a yard
 
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I think there was a yard in Paglesham that was known for building them. They look to me like relics of the olden days when it was fun to potter around in the East Coast creeks and not worry about getting home in time for Monday.
 
As for almost everything, there's a Thames Barge yachts FB group

Facebook

There are a few still around sailing, but several in dire need of new owners. The barge yacht MG owned was called "Swan" and she unusually had inboard lee boards. She was around the Leigh on Sea area early 2000's, I even took a photo of her and didn't realise until looking again many years later it was Swan. People say she went to the now defunct Lowestoft Boatbuilding School, but was taken away before it's demise, and nobody seems to know where she is now.

Also the young boatbuilder Ashmore Faire Ring has in recent years rebuilt the barge yacht Growler in Norfolk.
 
Shuttlewood's 'old black shed' at Paglesham on the River Roach was indeed where many barge yachts, were built. The poor old shed blew down in one of the many named storms of the past year or so and very few of the barge yachts are still afloat.
Doreen, designed by the pioneer of barge yachts E.B. Tredwen, was built by F.W. Shuttlewood in the early 1890s; there is a model of her in the Science Museum. In the 1930s Frank Shuttlewood designed and built barge yachts that were slightly better looking than Tredwen's 'boxes with topses'. Among these were Nancy Grey and Dione. In the 1950 Medway Barge Match Nancy Grey was first home, beating the trading barge Sirdar by one minute.
In 1956 Frank designed and built the Tiny Mite, at 35ft she was one of the only small barge yachts to be spritsail rigged. She was family-owned and based at Paglesham until the 1980s. By 2020 her second owner, who had extensively re-fitted her, was forced to put her on the market but there were no takers. After languishing in a bad state of repair at the Leigh Motor Boat Club she has recently been broken up. Bits of her were sold on eBay, her transom has been spotted on a driveway in Dovercourt.
1970s photos of Tiny Mite and Doreen alongside the old black shed, Doreen sailing, and Nancy Grey in the Medway are posted below:

Smaller Tiny Mite and Doreen alongside the old black shed .jpeg
2. Doreen.jpeg

3. Nancy Grey in the Medway.jpeg
 
The recently re-built barge yacht Growler is quite possibly the one originally owned and cruised extensively by Alker Tripp in the 1920s. She features in both of his books, Under the Cabin Lamp and The Solent and Southern Waters. According to Lloyds Regiser Growler was designed by T. Hughes and built in 1922 by White at Conyer although according to Tripp she was built by Howard of Maldon. Tripp wrote chapters entitled Her Sore Offences and Her Sailing Virtues, describing the problems encountered when handling a barge yacht.
After WW2 Growler came to the East Coast. The 1970s photos below show her ashore at the Wakering yard of Sutton and Wiggins, with boatbuilder Bill Sutton and his man Ed, doing some work on her garboards.

Growler at Wakering.jpeg

Growler at Wakering 2.jpeg
 
Tiny Mite built by Shuttlewoods was broken up at Leigh motor boat club last year, Nancy Grey & her sister Dione are both still going on the Medway. Anyone who thinks they dont sail obviously hasnt come up against those two!
Another one of interest is the "Come at last" built by the Acorn barge yard at Rochester in 1902 she lay at Leigh on sea for many years & had a lot of work done on her in the last 5 years of so by Robbie Bush. She is unusual in that she has a clipper bow & counter stern but has a Transom inside! but her hull form is that of a perfect little barge.
Unlike most barge yachts she was originally fitted with a centreboard case.
Another barge yacht of about 25ft was the Ann which was derelictt at Benfleet in the late 70's probably long gone now.
 
When I was doing an MSc at Aberdeen University in the ealy 2000's I took my inflatable kayak up to the Ythan estuary and there was a lee-boarded Waterwitch apparently abandoned ashore by a shed. Dunno how it got there but I suppose it could have been floated in at high tide, though the Ythan seemed very shallow at the mouth.

Nothing obvious in the (2026) Google Maps Imagery

I THINK I've mentioned this before but it doesnt seem to be in either of these Barge Yachts threads.
 
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Barge Yachts were still being built into the late 20th century, mostly by canal narrowboat builders but one, Blackthorn, converted from a small lighter on the Medway by a welder for his own use. A good example is Sunlight, sailing out of the Woodbridge Tidemill harbour. Of course all these modern barge yachts are steel and are sprit rigged where most of the 1920s barge yachts were gaff rigged.

Peter
 
That you Jan for posting those lovely photos and for your account of the last days of Tiny Mite. In the early 2980's I went to a job in Spain for a few years, so I missed her being offered for sale - I might have been tempted if I had stayed in East Anglia.

Peter
 
PeterWright said:
Barge Yachts were still being built into the late 20th century, mostly by canal narrowboat builders but one, Blackthorn, converted from a small lighter on the Medway by a welder for his own use. A good example is Sunlight, sailing out of the Woodbridge Tidemill harbour. Of course all these modern barge yachts are steel and are sprit rigged where most of the 1920s barge yachts were gaff rigged.

Peter
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1770024823540.png
 
The Dutch interpretation of the breed

Barge yacht Vlissingen.JPG

spotted in Vlissingen and....

Barge yacht Terneuzen.JPG

....Terneuzen (Apologies for picture size/quality. Butchery required to post)

Barge yact Texel.JPG

Bigger version butting across the Wadden off Oudeschild (Texel). Plenty of power in that rig.

Barge yacht OVNI 370 perps 03.jpg

The 21st century incarnation, from France? Internal ballast, lifting leeway mitigation, full length chines, flat(tish) bottom, sturdy aluminium construction, designed to dry out.​
 
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Jan Harber said:
The recently re-built barge yacht Growler is quite possibly the one originally owned and cruised extensively by Alker Tripp in the 1920s. She features in both of his books, Under the Cabin Lamp and The Solent and Southern Waters. According to Lloyds Regiser Growler was designed by T. Hughes and built in 1922 by White at Conyer although according to Tripp she was built by Howard of Maldon. Tripp wrote chapters entitled Her Sore Offences and Her Sailing Virtues, describing the problems encountered when handling a barge yacht.
After WW2 Growler came to the East Coast. The 1970s photos below show her ashore at the Wakering yard of Sutton and Wiggins, with boatbuilder Bill Sutton and his man Ed, doing some work on her garboards.
Click to expand...

Hi Jan, it appears there were two Growlers, and the rebuilt one wasn't the H Alker Tripp one. I can't remember the details how this was worked out, but at the time it was quite exciting to think a boat featured in so much of AT's wrtings had been found, but it was the wrong Growler. The 1938 Lloyds Register has both Growlers, AT's one built by John Howard at Maldon in 1910, the other built by Whites at Conyer.
 
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