The fate of "Suhaili"

[iLens]

There's a report in the Times today that Robin Knox-Johnston may eventually have to send "Suhaili" to the US to be looked after because the Historic Ships Register (and associated maintenance funding) only accepts vessels over 10 metres - and she's 32' 5"
She was at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, but started to split in the dry atmosphere, so Knox-Johnston has refitted her himself at the Elephant Boatyard in Southampton, and she's now back in the water.
Perhaps the makers of "Mercy" could stump up some cash.

 

[Seajet]

Couldn't she be looked after afloat at Falmouth museum in some mutually beneficial way ? She is after all a national treasure.

 

[lpdsn]

Code her and charter her out.

 

[Seajet]

Only with top notch skippers I hope, considering what happened to Gypsy Moth IV; and while at it Lively Lady deserves better support than I'm aware of, the last I saw she was being re-decked but I forget by who ?

What exactly have we got a National Maritime museum for - Greenwich or Falmouth - if they're not preserving iconic boats like these ?

 

[xyachtdave]

Only with top notch skippers I hope, considering what happened to Gypsy Moth IV; and while at it Lively Lady deserves better support than I'm aware of, the last I saw she was being re-decked but I forget by who ?

What exactly have we got a National Maritime museum for - Greenwich or Falmouth - if they're not preserving iconic boats like these ?

Suhaili could be displayed alongside an Anderson 22, with the suggestion RKJ was a little ‘over-boated’ with his 32 footer....!

 

[Prasutigus]

...

What exactly have we got a National Maritime museum for - Greenwich or Falmouth - if they're not preserving iconic boats like these ?

+1

 

[Birdie]

Only with top notch skippers I hope, considering what happened to Gypsy Moth IV; and while at it Lively Lady deserves better support than I'm aware of, the last I saw she was being re-decked but I forget by who ?

What exactly have we got a National Maritime museum for - Greenwich or Falmouth - if they're not preserving iconic boats like these ?

Lively Lady is having some work done at Hayling Yacht Company, they have a few pictures on their Facebook page.

 

[lpdsn]

Only with top notch skippers I hope, considering what happened to Gypsy Moth IV; and while at it Lively Lady deserves better support than I'm aware of, the last I saw she was being re-decked but I forget by who ?

What exactly have we got a National Maritime museum for - Greenwich or Falmouth - if they're not preserving iconic boats like these ?

Well, they've got to pay for it somehow and it'll do that, as well as keeping the boat in the water and in use. Would you not fancy a go skippering Suhali yourself?

The NMM have an awful lot of other things to preserve too.

 

[Prasutigus]

How about a jolly British solution: rig her with a fixed bowsprit to get over the 10m hurdle!

 

[penberth3]

How about a jolly British solution: rig her with a fixed bowsprit to get over the 10m hurdle!

Or wrap the measuring tape round your hand a couple of times - the old bricklayers bonus trick.

 

[mainsail1]

Am I the only one who sees no merit in keeping either Lively Lady or Suhaili.?
As I understand it, both are not very good at what they were designed to do i.e. sailing at reasonable speed, long distance. So they sailed around the world......so what?

 

[Prasutigus]

Am I the only one who sees no merit in keeping either Lively Lady or Suhaili.?
As I understand it, both are not very good at what they were designed to do i.e. sailing at reasonable speed, long distance. So they sailed around the world......so what?

Horatio Nelson's tunic wasn't very good at stopping musket balls either, why keep it in a museum?

 

[mainsail1]

Horatio Nelson's tunic wasn't very good at stopping musket balls either, why keep it in a museum?

i agree, no use to anyone. I would send it for recycling.

 

[bedouin]

Seems difficult to see how Suhaili can reasonably be kept afloat - wooden boats require a lot of maintenance long term that will get increasingly expensive and it is hard to see her generating much in the way on income.

Perhaps she should be kept ashore and accept that she is unlikely to sail again.

A bit of thread drift - I was very disappointed in my last visit to NMM Greenwich - there hardly seemed to be any boats/ships on display there

 

[TLouth7]

Am I the only one who sees no merit in keeping either Lively Lady or Suhaili.?

I agree, there isn't widespread public affection for these vessels (even if there is for the impressive feats they were used for) in the way that there might be for Gypsy Moth IV. Therefore I see no mandate for places like the NMM to maintain them.

If a private individual or a trust wants to maintain her either ashore or afloat then that is their prerogative, there are plenty of historic vessels sailing around without a rational justification for the cost of upkeep.

Maybe I am just not sentimental about these things, but personally I think any boat should be sailed or scrapped (or laid up with the intention of being sailed in the future). Should an exception be made for vessels of historic interest? Perhaps, but I don't think that really applies for Suhaili.

 

[westhinder]

Not being British I have no patriotic interest in preserving Suhaili.
Still, I would be saddened if she were to be scrapped. Purely from a historical perspective, it is important that later generations can see for themselves in what boat an individual made the first non stop solo circumnavigation. For a 12-year old, 30 meter foiling trimarans is what you use for that. If a blurry picture is all they have to compare with, the difference wil not be so striking.
Ideally you hope that a boat can be kept in commission. I always feel joy when I see one of the Pen Duicks in port or at sea. Erick Tabarly and Robin Knox Johnston are in the same league, as far as I’m concerned.
In the same vein, I’m glad Williwaw was preserved as a floating museum piece, the yacht in which Willy De Roos made the first transit of the North West Passage in one season.
So if the French and the Belgians can do it, why not the Brits?

 

[mainsail1]

Why not the Brits? We do........ and now have so much old junk around we cannot afford to maintain it properly. I think we just need to be a bit more circumspect.

 

[Prasutigus]

Suhaili is a genuinely historic vessel, because she made the first ever solo, non-stop voyage around the world.
This means she is unique.
She WILL be looked after, one way or another, never fear.
Obviously an exception should be made for the 10m rule, but if jobsworths deny this fact, other means will be found.

 

[KINGFISHER 9]

If she's put in a museum what's RKJ going to sail ... he might have something to say on the matter!

 

[Prasutigus]

Yes well RKJ is getting on a bit, and this whole inflammatory, almost trolling News International non-story came about because he has big enough cojones to comment publicly about Suhaili's future after the old boy sails to the great Cape Horn in the sky.
Any sad individual who thinks that the vessel should not be preserved for the nation will be disappointed.