Classic glassfibre yachts

Frogmogman said:
Wot no Olin Stephens ? No Kim Holman ?
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Oh, all right, one or two by Olin Stephens! Provided we can have Albert Strange.

But if we let Kim Holman in, the flood gates are opened, and we will have to let in Robert Clark, and if we let him in someone will say “What about Fred Parker?”, and a Scotsman will want James McGruer, David Boyd and Arthur Robb, and the Kiwis will also want Robb, and if Albert Strange then why not Harrison Butler, and then someone will start wanting Laurent Giles, and most of his boats are “ugly but distinctive”, and then where are we????

Maybe just Fife. There are no ugly Fifes, but some Herreshoffs are weird.
 
Kukri said:
Oh, all right, one or two by Olin Stephens! Provided we can have Albert Strange.

But if we let Kim Holman in, the flood gates are opened, and we will have to let in Robert Clark, and if we let him in someone will say “What about Fred Parker?”, and a Scotsman will want James McGruer, David Boyd and Arthur Robb, and the Kiwis will also want Robb, and if Albert Strange then why not Harrison Butler, and then someone will start wanting Laurent Giles, and most of his boats are “ugly but distinctive”, and then where are we????

Maybe just Fife. There are no ugly Fifes, but some Herreshoffs are weird.
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Laurent Giles, and most of his boats are “ugly but distinctive”,

Oh boy! You've done it now..........

 
johnalison said:
I have long admired Starlights but to be honest I haven’t quite got used to the oval cut-outs at the stern. My comment about designing sterns was of course something of a misquote since the original was referring to performance issues rather than looks.
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I've sailed some miles on a Starlight 39 with the wing keel in all conditions. I'm not sure I like the motion. A classic? Possibly not.

Ink
 
Ink said:
I've sailed some miles on a Starlight 39 with the wing keel in all conditions. I'm not sure I like the motion. A classic? Possibly not.

Ink
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I haven’t sailed a wing keeled one, but I can vouch for the behaviour of the deep keeled 39 in all conditions. Though I am obviously biased, she is without any doubt a splendid design, I would agree it may be too early to call her a classic. I am with Kukri there, the term should be used sparingly. But give it a couple of decades…
 
Re a definition of a 'classic', the folk who run the wonderful Antigua Classics Regatta have summed it up quite well I think.
Home - Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta

Here they say :
"To be eligible for the Antigua Classic Yacht Regatta, entries are to have a full keel, be of moderate to heavy displacement, built of wood or steel, and be of traditional rig and appearance. Old craft restored using modern materials such as epoxy or glass sheathing, or new craft built along the lines of an old design, are acceptable. Vessels built of ferrocement may be accepted if they have a gaff or traditional schooner rig. Fibreglass yachts must have a long keel with a keel-hung rudder and be a descendent of a wooden hull design."

"Yachts not fitting into the above categories may nevertheless apply, providing documents, photographs or drawings to support their request for entry in the Spirit of Tradition or Historic Classes. Historic Class is new – pre-1976 designs and any keel configuration – will be limited number accepted. All entries unknown to the Regatta committee must be accompanied by underwater and rig photographs or drawings, and are subject to approval by the Committee, whose decision is final."
 
lustyd said:
No more than 911's killing a high percentage of their owners due to poor handling!
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911s only killed idiot drivers. If you knew how to drive them properly they were brilliant. A Darwinesque way of getting rid of overpaid yuppies.
 
Bajansailor said:
Re a definition of a 'classic', the folk who run the wonderful Antigua Classics Regatta have summed it up quite well I think.
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I completely disagree, they've set up a definition to support their own clearly biased world view. It's akin to suggesting that classic cars must not have alloy wheels or disc brakes.
 
lustyd said:
I completely disagree, they've set up a definition to support their own clearly biased world view. It's akin to suggesting that classic cars must not have alloy wheels or disc brakes.
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I’m with you there. Quite a number of boats that we call classics incorporated technical innovations that may well have been frowned upon at the start but proved successful and were followed. The definition that is used by the Antigua Classic Regatta is very restrictive and really means ‘boats of one type and one era and their imitations’
 
The definition as to what a 'classic' is seems to be as emotionally turbocharged as a 'Which anchor is best' thread.
But I have attended Antigua Classics occasionally in the past, and they have invariably had a good turnout of a wide variety of vessels, so it seems to work for them.
 
There is an odd argument to be made that a classic GRP yacht is in production today.

Although Rustler Yachts keep quiet about it, their Rustler 24 uses the hull of the Piper one design, but with a higher aspect ratio rig.

Now, the Piper was designed by David Boyd - in fact I think it’s his only GRP design - and David Boyd worked under and was trained by … William Fife III.

Rustler 24 - A beautiful classic, long-keel trailerable dayboat
 
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