Classic glassfibre yachts

[NealB]

Here's another nomination .....

Tomorrow, I'll be sailing a friend's Hustler 30 out of the Twizzle: just a brief afternoon's drift around. I'll report back.

 

[Daedelus]

On a 31' boat a wheel takes up too much space in the cockpit. If the tiller is hard work on a Moody adjust the sail area to suit the conditions.

The tiller shouldn't be 'hard work'. Using a wheel to adjust for incorrect sail balance means it will be working as a brake. Very inefficient.

Ink

Waves dear boy, waves

 

[NealB]

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.

I'm no QC (though Joscelyn has a distinct legal bent), but I never noticed any lee helm at all on our fin-keeled Trident.

Nor any serious weather helm: just enough to give a little 'feedback'.

We did have a decent set of new sails, and well set-up rigging.

So, nervous as I am, I'll have to stick my neck on the line, and take issue with the great JDS.

There .... I've said it!

 

[Blueboatman]

I'm no QC (though Joscelyn has a distinct legal bent), but I never noticed any lee helm at all on our fin-keeled Trident.

Nor any serious weather helm: just enough to give a little 'feedback'.

We did have a decent set of new sails, and well set-up rigging.

So, nervous as I am, I'll have to stick my neck on the line, and take issue with the great JDS.

There .... I've said it!

Which is funny in a way Neil because on the one side is JDS and on the other , his great literary creation Old Harry ?
Much missed writing flair
Think he ( jds) ended with a Rival 34-ish?

Hustlers are fab on the eye I’ve always thought

 

[BobnLesley]

Centaur? Row away factor? I don't think so.

When I was compiling a 'possibles' list ahead of buying our first boat, I included a Centaur on the list; one of the few repeatable comments made to that suggestion by Lesley was that she wasn't 'sailing anywhere in a floating transit van'. The odd thing to me though, is that whilst I'd accept the 26' Centaur's fugly, the 31' footers (Berwick, Renown, etc) look fine

I'm intrigued as to why the OP adjudged that a yacht needed to be 'British made' to warrant classic status? Excluding that, the Albin Vega would seem to tick all his boxes and with regard to popularity by sales, I suspect that the Vega might've outsold those listed combined?

PS: I thought Twisters were - or at least originally were - wooden?

 

[Praxinoscope]

Endorsing the post by NealB #72 I would certainly add something by Van de Stadt, being very biased In that I did sail one for years, I would suggest the Invicta 26

 

[BobnLesley]

On a 31' boat a wheel takes up too much space in the cockpit. If the tiller is hard work on a Moody adjust the sail area to suit the conditions.

The tiller shouldn't be 'hard work'. Using a wheel to adjust for incorrect sail balance means it will be working as a brake. Very inefficient.

Agreed: wheel steering as opposed to a tiller is more expensive/time consuming to build and maintain, more susceptible to failure and takes up more cockpit space. IMO it's unnecessary complexity on any well balanced yacht (including ours) below say 38'; but then again, I'm not in the business of marketing/selling yachts and I suspect those that are would consider wheel steering very necessary.

 

[lustyd]

more susceptible to failure

I'm not a fan of wheel steering, but the 1" stainless rod connecting my wheel steering is less likely to break than the 2" wooden tiller on my old boat. I certainly wouldn't let it sway my decisions. I definitely miss the tiller though, wheels in cockpits are awkward even on the modern twin wheel setups. That said, I do like having the instrument pod in front of me and not blocked by crew sitting in the cockpit!

 

[BobnLesley]

...but the 1" stainless rod connecting my wheel steering is less likely to break than the 2" wooden tiller on my old boat...

But what about all the other links in the steering system? I'm guessing that you carry an 'emergency tiller' on the wheel-steered boat; did the tiller-steered one carry an 'emergency wheel'?

 

[Blueboatman]

I always meant to remove the wheel steering and go tiller @36ft available both tiller and wheel .

But grew to like the neat wheel, pedestal, grab rail, compass location, friction wheel brake, diy drinks holders and underdeck beefy waterproof autopilot set up, for a variety of reasons rather a lot.
Not least of which is or was the ability to let go of it and do something like hoist a sail or wind a winch in or take a looksee through the binoculars without having a tiller banging around or wedged between ones knees, comes to mind …
Each to their own ( writes a died in the wool tiller man ?) . Perhaps , never say never !

 

[lustyd]

But what about all the other links in the steering system? I'm guessing that you carry an 'emergency tiller' on the wheel-steered boat; did the tiller-steered one carry an 'emergency wheel'?

The tiller steered one carried an emergency tiller, so exactly the same on that front. The difference is the tillers were both wood and exposed to the elements. Yes there are other components, but i wouldn't expect any of them to break as they are beefy metal and live in a sealed dry environment covered in grease. My emergency tiller is also made of metal. As I said, simply not part of the decision making process, I prefer tiller for many reasons but failure modes is not one of them.

 

[NealB]

Endorsing the post by NealB #72 I would certainly add something by Van de Stadt, being very biased In that I did sail one for years, I would suggest the Invicta 26

Very, very, dear friends (she'll know what I mean, and may be along, if she sees this) used to have a beautiful Invicta.

They sailed her, via inland France, to Corsica and Sardinia in 1990.

Jos and I met them in Calvi (we were on our comparatively palatial Moody 33), and then sailed in company with them for the next few months, and have stayed in close contact ever since.

Yes, the Invicta is undoubtedly another very fine, very good looking, very capable, sailing boat (though she'll tell us that their subsequent She 31b was an even better looker).

 

[NealB]

........ Lesley was that she wasn't 'sailing anywhere in a floating transit van'. The odd thing to me though, is that whilst I'd accept the 26' Centaur's fugly, the 31' footers (Berwick, Renown, etc) look fine

Interesting comments!

I certainly wouldn't describe the Centaur as 'fugly'.

In fact, to my eyes, she looks rather sweeter than the slightly bigger sisters that you mention.

 

[NealB]

Which is funny in a way Neil because on the one side is JDS and on the other , his great literary creation Old Harry ?
Much missed writing flair
Think he ( jds) ended with a Rival 34-ish?

Hustlers are fab on the eye I’ve always thought

JDS was one of my childhood heroes.

I loved YM during his editorship (and during MG's before that).

I've still got all JDS's books (and quite a few of MG's, too).

I'm just waiting for the Forum's Old Harry to tell me that I'm wrong, and that the Trident does have lee helm.

I promise not to sulk (well, not much).

 

[PeteCooper]

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

Back in the 60s we knew the guy who completed Tinker Liz from a kit. He sailed her on the Humber based out of South Ferriby.

 

[Biggles Wader]

Endorsing the post by NealB #72 I would certainly add something by Van de Stadt, being very biased In that I did sail one for years, I would suggest the Invicta 26

It would have to be the Van de Stadt Pioneer 9, a trailblazer in GRP yacht construction and still a very quick sporty boat. We looked at buying one about ten years ago, a bargain it was, but Mrs B thought it too cramped.

 

[Gary Fox]

The Alahuela 38 is a plastic version of Wm. Atkins' delectable Ingrid design. They tend to be used hard and cover galactic mileages, so all the pics on the net show them encumbered with voyaging neccessities. So no real glamorous shots on google I'm afraid.
They are basically like a longer version of my Atkins Vixen, 'Marihøna', with a bit more overhang and sheerline. Various rigs have been fitted over the years, even leg o' mutton abortions. A gaff cutter is most sensible but the Youtube channel 'Acorn to Arabella' have chosen a gaff ketch and I get it.

 

[oldharry]

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.

No. That is most definitely not normal. In fact as Commodore of the Owners Association for many years, thats the first time I ever heard of it. Something must have been very badly out of trim. I never had the slightest suggestion of lee helm on mine or any oher Trident I have sailed. Tinker Liz is still going strong, so I will see if I can contact her owner.

 

[Ink]

Agreed: wheel steering as opposed to a tiller is more expensive/time consuming to build and maintain, more susceptible to failure and takes up more cockpit space. IMO it's unnecessary complexity on any well balanced yacht (including ours) below say 38'; but then again, I'm not in the business of marketing/selling yachts and I suspect those that are would consider wheel steering very necessary.

@deadalus seems to think a wheel is necessary when it gets a bit wavy on a 31' boat. Oh Dear.....


Ink

 

[Metabarca]

You're all missing an obvious contender: the Centurion 32 by Wauquiez. Pretty, solid, seaworthy!