Classic GRP Yachts; this is mine, where is yours?

[rotrax]

There are so many GRP Plastic Fantastic yachts from the 60's, 70's, 80's, and perhaps 90's sailing around and looking great.

Careful! You will have Brent Swain after you!

He IS after all the acknowledged expert on all things sail boat.

According to him, we take our our lives in our hands every time we untie from the dock and are always dealing with rotted balsa cores, serious condensation, leaky windows, eggshell structures etc.etc.

And if you own a GRP boat you are a Marina Queen.

You have been warned!

Definitions are tricky, but perhaps the Vintage Motor Cycle Club's outline of classes might help. These may have been updated - I have not been a member for some time.

Veteran - Pre Dec 31st 1914.

Vintage - Jan 1st 1915 to Dec 31 1930.

Post Vintage - Jan 1st 1931 to Dec 31st 1945

Post war - Jan 1st 1946 to IIRC Dec 31st 1972.

Classic- Jan 1st 1973 to up to 25 years old.

Vintage was often defined as " Of fine and rare quality. "

I like that. Many fine GRP yachts will fit well with that definition!

 

[Tomahawk]

 

[Lightwave395]

Classic- Jan 1st 1973 to up to 25 years old.


I like that. Many fine GRP yachts will fit well with that definition!

I'll take that ! I've finally made it and become a classic...

 

[doug748]

I'll take that ! I've finally made it and become a classic...

View attachment 85687

How nice to see a tiller.

 

[Tomahawk]

I have a wiggle stick on each side.

 

[Lightwave395]

How nice to see a tiller.

Yes indeed, a dilemma really, I have a cobra pedestal, new wheel, lever arm and linkages etc in the garage thinking when my racing days are done (about now really) I'd fit it as part of my cruiser conversion. However, it's still there and as an ex-dinghy man I still enjoy steering with a stick, the added bonus being that when we're moored or anchored, the tiller folds up to the backstay and the cockpit is twice the size !
It's great fun in a blow with a big sea too, the boat is well balanced and at double digit speeds I can 'feel' what's going on...

 

[Bluefin 1961]

Great to see another catamaran in this thread!

Definitions are tricky, but perhaps the Vintage Motor Cycle Club's outline of classes might help. These may have been updated - I have not been a member for some time.

Veteran - Pre Dec 31st 1914.

Vintage - Jan 1st 1915 to Dec 31 1930.

Post Vintage - Jan 1st 1931 to Dec 31st 1945

Post war - Jan 1st 1946 to IIRC Dec 31st 1972.

Classic- Jan 1st 1973 to up to 25 years old.

Vintage was often defined as " Of fine and rare quality. "

I like that. Many fine GRP yachts will fit well with that definition!

Some further food for thought from the Vintage Sports Car Club and Veteran Car Club's definitions for cars. Veteran being pre 1905 (also the cut off lining up with eligibility for the Brighton Run), and Edwardian then being used from 1905 up to pre '1919, but with 1920s vehicles with rear braking only also eligible. Vintage is pre 1931 (the VMCC would have lifted this from the VSCC who defined that date in 1936), but the VSCC also has a Post Vintage Thoroughbreds category for eligible 1930s cars. Some marques have their entire Pre WW2 production defined as PVT, some only specific models i.e. technically interesting (such as the Citroen Traction Avant) or sporting models, and some none at all. Whilst some perceive this as elitist, the reality is that it is true to the original founding aims of the club, which was a reaction against the increasing effects of mass production on the quality and design of cars.

In that respect, I would not personally use the term vintage for GRP boats, whereas classic is much more appropriate as well as being less tightly defined. Beyond the widely used VCC & VSCC definitions, there don't appear to be any widely agreed definitions on the basis of simply age for 'classic', which is I guess comparable with GRP vessels in that they aren't percieved in the same way as the wooden boats (whether genuinely old, or spirit of tradition) which are widely viewed as 'classic' outside of boating circles but at the same time, there are many GRP vessels of the same age as old (as opposed to spirit of tradition) wooden craft. This all feeds back into the what is a classic debate, in that is classic simply about age, or is it refering to a certain quality or desirability? I've always put it down to individual taste - ultimately whether it is something that someone is prepared to invest time and money in preserving, often in excess of the actual monetary value is often a good acid test - and I reckon the world wouldn't be a terribly interesting place if we all liked the same things!

 

[Tomahawk]

Is a Centaur a classic?

 

[Koeketiene]

Our next boat - subject to survey.

 

[doug748]

Our next boat - subject to survey.

Obviously a man of exquisite judgement. Good luck with the survey.

 

[spottydog]

Our next boat - subject to survey.

View attachment 85735

Looks very purposeful....... what is she?

 

[Tomahawk]

Great to see another catamaran in this thread!
...

The biggest problem with cats is making them look pretty. By nature of having a bridge deck which needs standing headroom, they look like a brick if anything less than about 40 feet long.

These days most cats are really floating caravans rather than sailing boats. Which is we love Tomahawk. She is a sailing boat first and foremost. the accommodation was almost an afterthought to performance and sailing pleasure.

 

[Poignard]

Is a Centaur a classic?

In the same way as some might regard a Reliant Robin as a classic car. ?

The biggest problem with cats is making them look pretty. By nature of having a bridge deck which needs standing headroom, they look like a brick if anything less than about 40 feet long.

These days most cats are really floating caravans rather than sailing boats. Which is we love Tomahawk. She is a sailing boat first and foremost. the accommodation was almost an afterthought to performance and sailing pleasure.

The biggest problem with cats is making them look anything less than hideous.

Some of Wharram's designs didn't look too bad though.

 

[Buck Turgidson]

Looks very purposeful....... what is she?

Looks like a CO32 to my eyes.

Falmouth Classics use 1970 as a cut off in their definition but I think there is some flexibility.

 

[Koeketiene]

Looks very purposeful....... what is she?

1981 Contessa 32

 

[spottydog]

A fine choice

 

[Praxinoscope]

Contessa 32, my dream yacht but unfortunately over my budget.

 

[Laminar Flow]

Is a Centaur a classic?

Good question. In the sense of and by comparison with some of the beautiful boats others have posted, perhaps not (as is mine). But, at their time they were definitely a game changer in the industry and come from the board of a celebrated designer.

 

[differentroads]

Offbeat, my 1978 Offshore 34. Not exactly elegant compared to, say, a Contessa. She gets complements like 'oh, she looks very strong' and 'I bet she looks after you'. And she is and she does and I love her for it. Her beauty is hidden below the waterline though, and stopped me in my tracks in a boatyard on a day I ended up buying her. Her lovely wineglass hull, I think, ensures her a place in the 'classic' category.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Is a Centaur a classic?

Surely its a classic