Classic glassfibre yachts

Daydream believer said:
So what you are saying is that it is not a well balanced yacht. That takes it out of "classic" status if it sails badly. We might all be talking about looks but handling must surely come very high on the list & slow old dogs just do not do it for me.
A friend of mine has sailed a couple of Swans & said they were very heavy on the helm. There was an article in Y & Y or PBO ( forget which)a couple of years ago in which the reporter referred to the quarter wave as being good. Rubbish, it is a result of drag caused by less than perfect hull design. So I would knock out any yacht with such characteristics.

So ( in my opinion) to qualify, one wants- good looks, well balanced, excellent motion at sea, good performance, ease of sailing,
I will not comment about accomodation below - others might
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I recall Bajansailor telling me that “Stormy Weather” (wood of course and almost the Platonic Idea of a “classic yacht”) is exceptionally easy on the helm at all speeds.
 
Kukri said:
Yes she is. Well spotted. I particularly like the lower profile, varnished, coach roof.

Blue is “Chaser” and white is “Lord Portal”. All are in their original colour schemes.
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Thought so. She is even prettier with that coach roof ( no disrespect to Kukri intended).

Chaser is the one I have enjoyed a cruise on.
 
Daydream believer said:
A friend of mine has sailed a couple of Swans & said they were very heavy on the helm.
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They can be. You have to be sensitive to the sail set up. In common with many boats in the early years of the IOR rule, they had massive headsails, relatively small rudders and much less form stability than modern designs.

The Swan 43 I sail on still has it’s original trim tab fitted to the trailing edge of the keel (most of the class had them glassed in when the rule decided to punish such moveable appendages). We never use it, but I guess the idea was to use it to counteract weather helm and to reduce leeway. I’ve never bought the idea, as sailing along with the trim tab on seems akin to driving along with the brakes on. Olin Stephens must have believed in them as his America’s Cup boats of the era featured them.
 
Bit of drift
Long time ago c1980 having sailed a 50sq m ( arguably a beautiful sweet sailing classic but of course wood) down to N Spain we were in La Corunna feeling a bit sorry for ourselves, old leaky boat , November, one very hairy Biscay behind us and a long way yet to go to the Med, I bumped into an old pal of my dads- ex test pilot turned skipper of one of Kukris sister ships - I think she was blue, it had an RAF mark on the ensign but perhaps they were all joint service owned ??)- and it was turn around week : The crew donated all their unused victuals and ahem a few compo tins too to us and were just great fun at a much needed time. Seem to remember the boat was pretty amazing too, so sorted and impeccably run .. the following week Angus had a crew of officers on board , the humour changed but they too were incredibly supportive of us in our wretched shabby wooden floating ‘adventure’

I have never got over my love affair with boats that are just plain easy on the eye, powerful and a delight to sail .. and when they’re long enough , there’s accommodation enough too!?
 
Kukri said:
I recall Bajansailor telling me that “Stormy Weather” (wood of course and almost the Platonic Idea of a “classic yacht”) is exceptionally easy on the helm at all speeds.
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She is - but she does need to have the sails trimmed well.
She is 54', about 20 something tonnes, and tiller steered.
I sailed on her a lot in the early 90's, and once under her new owner in one of the races in Antigua Classics in 2011.
Generally you just needed one hand on the tiller, sometimes two if she was being hard pressed,
Going to windward, she would sail happily with the main eased out, and just the leech driving her - the rest was backwinded from the genoa with a big bubble in the sail. But she was happy like this, and would go like a proverbial train on rails.
I remember the windward legs of our race in 2011, the tactician ordered the main to be cranked in tight - it did not improve things.

Here is her previous owner's website - http://stormy.ca/marine/index.html

And her current owner's - home
 
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Kukri said:
26 were built, one was lost at sea, in Biscay, one (“Lord Trenchard”) blew up, in Poole, 24 remain.

There are also two half sisters - a wooden precursor of the design, “Blauwe Dolfin II”, owned in Belgium, and an alloy one, “Pacha” , which won line honours in a Sydney-Hobart, long ago, owned in Australia. “Pacha” has less displacement and flatter sections.
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Blauwe Dolfijn has been for sale for some time. Tweedehands 1968 Camper & Nicholsons Blauwe Dolfijn | Botentekoop
She has always been a stunning yacht, impeccably cared for by the look of things, but clearly underused the last few years.
 
westhinder said:
Blauwe Dolfijn has been for sale for some time. Tweedehands 1968 Camper & Nicholsons Blauwe Dolfijn | Botentekoop
She has always been a stunning yacht, impeccably cared for by the look of things, but clearly underused the last few years.
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I do love a classic, wooden boat... to look at, but not to own.

I must admit that I have so first hand experience of sailing a wooden boat, other than a couple of minesweepers I served on at the start of my career, but whenever I talk to owners of classic boats they always mention the amount of maintenance involved.
I don't think I could do a wooden boat justice.

FWIW: this beauty is currently my pontoon neighbour - a truly stunning boat.

Le Bateau Hallali 12 M CR

 
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Some of the bigger ones don't really do it for me (as they're too far out of my reach), so I'll second Oldharry's nomination in #36: the Trident 24 is absolutely one of the very nicest boats I've either sailed or owned (and, there's been more than a few).

Something by Van De Stadt should be in the list, too. If size matters, I've always thought his Excalibur is a lovely looking vessel:

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oldharry said:
How about the Trident 24? A Classic Alan Hill design , and not only looks like a 'proper yacht' of her era, but sails remarkably well, too. No 1, built 1959 was raced on the Medway until a few years ago and won almost every race.
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I’ll vote for the Trident 24 also. Particularly the centreboard version. I remember seeing Des Sleightholme in “Tinker Liz” on the Orwell most weekends.

The Trident
 
Kukri said:
I’ll vote for the Trident 24 also. Particularly the centreboard version. I remember seeing Des Sleightholme in “Tinker Liz” on the Orwell most weekends.

The Trident
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According to Des Sleightholme it carried lee helm. I think you would need to engage a QC to persuade me to include it if this is general.
 
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