Governor's Cup Yacht Race entry,Running With Scissors

Picture of Jamestown,St Helena island


St Helena Isle tourist site logo


St Helena Yacht Clubs burgee


V&A Waterfront logo



RWS leaving the CKD Boats premises in Paarden Eiland,Cape Town.
Didi mini transat in ply/epoxy,up to 100kgs lighter than some GRP moulded designs and at a much lower cost.


Governor's Cup 2008 Entrant - 5 November 2008

Col, Lionel Dyck

I am a 65 year old paratrooper turned sailor. After a life inland in tumultous Africa I came to Simons Town to settle and sail. Up to now my hobbies have been ultra distance running and mountain climbing. I have climbed most of the big peaks in the Western Hemisphere including Aconcagua in South America. My business ( as a consultant now ) takes me to such exotic places as Iraq, Afghanistan and Sudan, to name a few. I decided that to go to St Helena by yacht, on my own, would be a change to the airports of Bagdhad and Kabul!

My wife Clare is the worlds greatest supporter of sailing, as long as I do not ask her to sail ! Our children are no longer around when I need a shore crew so it is a very single handed affair.

The Boat:
Running With Scissors. She is a lively mini Transat ( 6.5 m ) Originally built to do the Bahia race, she had technical problems and did not start. After much reconstruction she is now ready. It is a boat designed for a 25 year old Chimpanzee, and is therefor perfect for a 65 year old gorilla ??

Famous names in yacht designing,William Fife,Solway Maid

Reliance and Shamrock 3 in the 1903 Americas Cup Race.


Shamrock 3 on launch day,Dumbarton,Scotland in 1903.


Shamrock and Shamrock 2 racing.


Solway Maid


Solway Maid,Fifes last build.



Built for F Ivan Carr she was to be the last yacht in which William Fife III contributed to the design and she was completed during the war. Ivan Carr died of a heart attack in 1974 and 'Solway Maid' then went into the ownership of his "2nd wife, Marjorie H Carr who continued many wonderful years sailing the Scottish Lochs." In 1988 she was bought by only her second owner in her 48-year life, Rodger Sandiford. She is a regular on the Mediterranean regatta circuit, has been to both Fife regattas and is usually seen with her 'mothership', MY Istros. At the Jubilee Regatta in the Solent in 2001 she was one of the unfortunate casualties of the strong winds that the first day entailed and her 1940 spruce mast was brought down. A sad day for all but after a fine scarph by the infamous Spencers Yard she has been continuing to compete in the regattas ever since. Quotes courtesy of Andrew Carr

Submit information on this yacht!

Name: Solway Maid
Class:

Designer(s): William Fife III

Type of Boat: Bermudan Cutter
Year Built: 1940
Built by: William Fife & Son, Fairlie, Scotland
LOA m / ft: 16.03m / 52' 6"
LOD m / ft: /
LWL m / ft: 10.67m / 35'
Beam m / ft: 3.28m / 10' 11"
Draft m / ft: 2.29m / 7' 6"
Yard No: 825
Sail Stats: Sail Area: 1,200sqft (111m2) Sail No. 44C
Construction:
Other: Displacement: 15 tons.

More on William Fife the third:

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Shamrock I & Shamrock II in 1901William Fife III (1857-1944), also known as Wm. Fife, Jr., was the third generation of a family of Scottish yacht designers and builders.

Fife was born in the small village of Fairlie on the Firth of Clyde. His father and grandfather (both also named William and often referred to as Fife I and Fife II) had also been designers and boatbuilders in Fairlie. The family business operated from a yard on the beach in the village. Fife began building yachts in 1890 and soon surpassed the achievements of his father and grandfather and became known as one of the premier yacht designers of the day.

As the third generation of a venerable Scottish boat building family, William Fife inherited a rich legacy but was quick to establish his own reputation as one of the top designers in the yachting world. Often dominating his chief competitors, Fife was a master of his trade who received commissions from European royalty and from clients as far away as Australia. Following on the heels of the success of his design Dragon (1888?), Fife adopted a stylized Chinese dragon as his trademark. Thereafter, those yachts that took shape on the shingle at Fairlie were known throughout the yachting world by this distinctive scrollwork.


Launching Shamrock III in 1903 at Dunbarton, Scotland,Fife designed two America's Cup yachts for grocery and tea magnate Sir Thomas Lipton who challenged for the cup a total of five times. The Fife designed Shamrock I lost to Columbia in 1899 and Shamrock III lost to Reliance in 1903. After the establishment of the first International Rule in 1906, Fife became a prolific designer of meter boats, designing and building several very successful 15- and 19-meter yachts in the years leading up to the Great War.

Famous names in yacht designing,Bob Perry,yacht The Orphan

Not the best scan copy ever made but you will get the general idea,my many thanks to Kathy at Sailing magazine (usa) who replied to my email this morning re which issue Bob Perry had featured this design,with her help we had the archive copy we hold in no time at all,she writes:

Roy,

The Orphan 38 was in the Perry on Design in September 2000.
Happy New Year,
Kathy
Sailing Magazine




Bob Perry,yacht designer

Bob had this design on his board when the person who commisioned it,changed his mind and bought something else,this is what Bob wrote in Sailing magazine on a yacht he ended up calling The Orphan,if I can get a drawing and sail plan I will update this blog with same.

Message from Bob.

The "orphan" lies forgotten in a tube. Even I had forgotten about it.
Bob P.

Orphan 38
Coastal cruiserr

Patrons come and patrons go. Sometimes, right in the middle of an absorbing design, they find another, already built boat that will "do the job." So what can a designer do? Here I sit with an orphaned design of my own forcing me to do the work of a surrogate parent. I designed this boat for an East Coast client who wanted a traditional 38-foot yawl. I've become quite attached to the little hooker. We have bonded.
The hull is moderate beam and displacement on the light side of moderate with a D/L of 213. The entry is slightly hollowed and overhangs are minimized for sailing length. I gave this hull some deadrise because deadrise makes for a natural bilge sump. I consider this hull capable of good performance, but I wouldn't square off against a Mumm 36.

The owner wanted a 6-foot, 4-inch draft, but now that I am the foster parent I have altered the draft to 7 feet, 6 inches. I like a boat that will stand up to its sail and tenaciously claw its way to weather. In Puget Sound draft is not an issue. The rudder is a carbon fiber partially balanced spade.

I struggled with this sheerline. I didn't want to exaggerate it and get the boat looking like a cartoon. On the other hand I wanted a strong sheer statement. The computer can't do it on a design like this. You have to draw the sheer by hand and then transfer the data to the computer. When I look at Ted's sheer on his Bahama sloop I think I'd like to draw this sheerline again.

The rig is a yawl. I drew standing rigging on the mizzen but I think it would be nice to do the mizzen as a carbon fiber free-standing spar. The bowsprit is a pipe frame type that incorporates the anchor rollers. Note the Chuck Paine headstay offset from the masthead. Chuck will chuckle over this, but dammit, it just looks right on this design.

The mizzen will be furled when sailing upwind in any breeze over 10 knots. Mizzen included, the SA/D is 21.05. Chainplates will be inboard to allow the use of a 140-percent genoa. (I added that for Seattle's light air.) The mizzen will make a nice riding sail when the boat is anchored.

The interior is laid out for a couple. The galley is big. My galleys are always big. My client wanted the trash bin where you see it in the drawings, but it really should be closer to the sink. The centerline sinks will work well. The settees are 6 feet, 9 inches long and deep enough to make comfortable berths in a pinch.

Note the large fo'c'sle and expansive lazarette. I'm not wild about fore-and-aft chart tables, but in this layout it's the only way I could get a decent-sized chart table in. The key will be to have a good swing-away seat built. An extra 2 feet of LOA would remedy this. Headroom is 6 feet, 5 inches.

Construction could be in a wood composite method or all composite GRP. I prefer all GRP, and with this healthy D/L ratio you can afford to build this boat strong and durable. Tankage would be 60 gallons of fuel and 120 gallons of water. I would have no genset and only two batteries. I would keep the boat as simple and as light as possible. The auxiliary would be a saildrive Yanmar 51-horsepower 4JH2CE.

I didn't expect to find this baby in a basket sitting on my doorstep when I came to the office that Thursday. But it's a handsome little fellow, and I think it would make someone a darn good and satisfying cruising boat.

Famous names in yacht designing,German Frers

Yacht Horizonte close up.


Horizonte under mizzen,main and spinnaker


Horizonte on the wind

A chap named Bogdan contacted me some time back,having seen the Astra restoration job done here,he wanted to know if I was interested in a restoration job for himself?He had approached a number of brokers,put out his request for suitable older style wooden yachts and came up with some quite remarkable designs,this was one such offer,its a design by Frers senior,built and raced in Argentina I am sure you will agree its a very nice boat.

Words taken from a book by Barry Pickthal, Passion for Design.

unashamedly to fuel the desire to own - or to dream of owning - a beautiful boat. The yacht design heritage spans three generations of the name German whose designs have generated more than 10,000 boats, from dinghies to day-sailors; distinctive cruisers and racers, to power boats and superyachts.
During the origins of the yard in the 1950's and 1960's good yacht design as practiced by the master - German Frers senior - was largely intuitive. Today those traditional skills remain and are mixed with the precise demands of structural analysis, aerodynamics and hi-tech engineering.

Halley six (6) Antartica,has Fluid Film samples

Fluid Film international logo.


The Antartic flag is none country specific.




The British Government are preparing to vacate their old antartic base,Halley five,so a brand new one,Halley Six is being built here in Cape Town,this was designed in the UK,the internal modular componants being made there but the actual structures and the GRP exterior cladding was made here,trial assembled,then taken apart prior to shipping to the new base camp site.

Halley six will be different to any other base,its on hydraulic legs which can lift the structure high up and above the snow,the idea is they are aerodynamic and the snow will pass underneath.The ice shelf they will set up on moves and over a period of ten years or so ends up at the edge of the ocean,so Halley Six is built on skids and as each unit can be disconnected,they can pull them on their skids to a new location further inshore,then link up with the others and life can continue.CKD Boats have supplied Fluid Film samples to apply to those skids and also to the Skidoos snow tracks,Fluid Film will stay liquid and work as a lubricant down to minus sixty degrees (-60) we will report on our sucess with Fluid Film at the Halley Six base as the info comes in.

Some marine type uses,its also very good for Snow Plow blade application,stopping the snow and ice from building up,which then requires manual removal.

Fluid Film® has been used effectively in the following maritime applications:

Anchor Chains - Lockers - Windlass
Wire - Rope - Winches
Cranes - Hoists - Rails
Sponsons - Stabilizers
Hawsers - Hatch Coamings
Offshore Platform Mach. and Tools
Equipment - Vehicles - On Deck Cargo
Container Guides
Elevator Guide Rails
Open Gears
Cables and Electric Connectors
Ballast Tanks
Voids - Skegs
Bilges - Keels
Stern Tubes
Pontoons
Caissons
Undersea Equipment
Hatch Covers
Water Tight Door Dogs
Locks and Hinges
Grey Water Tanks
Mast Fittings
Probe Fittings
Helical Rods
Couplings Make Up
Screw Threads - Mud Spikes
Outboard Motors
Battery Terminals
Sensors Screw Set
Fasteners on Current Motors
Buoy

Fluid Film® penetrates to base metal and cable core.
Fluid Film® displaces rust.
Fluid Film® acts as a descaler on heavily corroded surfaces.

Sheer Tenacity,St Helena Island

THE ANCHORING DANCE:

A couple of years back, Tom & Johness(Springtime), gave us a musical
cd composed , written and sung by an obviously cynical and experienced
cruiser! One of the memorable songs is titled "The Anchoring Dance" !
Well, in our brief stay in St H, we have seen every dance, from waltz
to Tango ! Anyone who has anchored here knows that it is common to
swing 270dgs every day, and unless your anchor is well dug in, and on
at least 50-60mts chain, one can be in a spot of bother, or off on an
unscheduled trip to Ascension ! Ferry man Craig says "yawll swing
together", but thats not always true here: just depends what dance is
playing in your area of the anchorage! Yesterday we watched with
amusement( everyone watches other people anchoring!!), as Ze French
skipper of a cat tried to anchor in front of everybody, too close to
the landing jetty. He started out calling politely to his little
french wife, who could not hear with the engines running, and they
clearly had no hand signals either, and ended up yelling fit to wake
the Island! They had to haul up, and re anchor four times ! We were
also nearly rammed by a 53ft cat with inadequate ground tackle, left
in the hands of two youngsters who spent hours motoring around on
their dragging anchor, trying to avoid hitting the other boats! When
his stern was 3ft from my bowsprit, I suggested that they B.. off and
anchor properly, in a suitable place , with enough rode! When Skipper
returned, he listened to their stories, he then moved the boat, much
to everyones relief!
The RMS St Helena came in yesterday morning , loaded and unloaded
containers and passengers, , including the Muira "Didakoi", which is
doing the Governers cup, which starts on the day the ship arrives in
Cape Town ! Didakoi is now a Sts boat, and this will be the first race
in which a Sts boat ,fully crewed by sts, is taking part.
As mentioned earlier, we have been invited to Annes for Xmas
lunch. We have made up a gift bag of assorted Pugs t shirts, and other
mystery items for the family to share. The Visitors book, now runs to
about 12 volumes, and contains the names of so many yachts and sailors
whose names are part of SA's yachting history. Anne opened 30 years
ago, with one table, and 6 chairs! The first visitors book starts in
1979 , and we will be pleased to add our entry before we leave! Roy
McBride and his mates Notty and Simone, passed this way in Ocean Cloud
in 1987, and it was quite something to page through the books of that
era, and find their entry.
The very professional musically accompanied video produce by
Notty, covering both this trip, and his own on Jacana, are part of our
cruising library, both as a source of reference, and fun! Thanks to
Roy & Notty ! More after Xmas!
In the meantime, this blog and the photo of Xmas on Sheer
Tenacity, come with all our best wishes, and grateful thanks for all
the help and encouragement!
Posted by Rod & Mary at 5:27 AM

Materials supply to Andrews Hartley 37 named Tididi

Where Andrew is up to now,he will now start skining his hull with two layers of 6mm marine plys.


Frames being glued to shape.


Frames cut to size and shape.



Setting out stages.

We like to sell our own kits but basically we are material suppliers,so a sale of materials only with no CNC work at all,is still an attractive order for us.We met up with Andrew only recetly,he bought 41 sheets of 6mm ockume marine plys and our epoxies,possibly we could have saved him a huge amount of hand cutting time if we had met earlier,just look at all his setting out (very neat) he then had to hand cut each piece!watch our blog pages for updates on the boats build.

Whats in a boats name is often vague or sometimes hidden,this boat will be called Tididi,Andrew asks we read that spelling backwards,we will then have some idea about what this is all about?

Andrew says:

This Blog will revolve mainly around the Yacht I am building, which is a 37ft Hartley Cape Otway. Progress has been slow so far -time and cash flow dictates, however things are progressing at a faster rate at the moment and I am hoping to have all the hull planking completed by the end of January 2009.

The Knysna Lagoon,Warlock waiting for the wind

Simply one of those pictures that are just right,Warlock a Didi mini transat we built from one of our kits,it takes just twelve days for one man to finish a hull,probably twice that to fit the decks,finishing takes about the same time but its still an easy build.

A good wooden boat,Voortrekker

TBA logo


That's the ex TBA Commodore Pat Frazer standing at the back of the boat,he has what I assume is a cold Castle beer in his hand,Pat put in a lot of foundation work to the setting up of the TBA,the constitution and the burgee design being two items.


Owned by the South African Navy and kept at the Simonstown Naval Base,she was recently retored to a very high standard,these pictures were taken by myself at a V&A Waterfront,Cape Town, Traditional Boat Regatta around 1995.

Roy

Tumlaren number eight (8) named Astra

Left click on any picture to view in a full screen mode.


Astra truly is a star,here she is sailing on Table Bay,the man smiling is certainally her once owner,the late George Meek,who the other man is I have no idea,if anyone knows,please advise? Astra is now seventy four (74) years old.


This is one of the two ultra rare pictures of Astra that have not been seen for many years,the basin they are sailing in is what is now the RCYC Small Craft Basin,which is now jam packed with marinas and yachts,the large yacht behind may be Halloween?


That's Trevour the second partner in the Astra progarm waving,Doug is the skipper,the event was the Opening Cruise at HBYC (why do we not have these anymore?)


The finished job,ready to sail.

Oscar,one of two guys who eventually took the Astra program over,sanding International Paint etch primer EGA Intergard,this is an epoxy base coat and bonds 100% with the Shell Chemicals 816 epoxy underneath it,Oscar was soon showing me his bleeding fingers as the day went on!


Mike stripping the original sixty three years old coach roof,we then skinned it with a layer of quality ockume marine grade BS 1088 plywood and and our Shell Chemicals 816 epoxy,with International Paints Interthane top coats.International Paints donated all paints to this project,many thanks to manager Tim Woodburn and his helpfull staff with this project.Commercial Lumber cc donated all other materials and labour.






I am told the original Tumlaren drawings are kept in the Swedish Naval Archives,we could make a kit set of this design easy enough.

When Knud Reimers designed his Tumlaren,it saved his financial status and started a cult following, its thought that over one thousand may have been built,registers for them exist in many countries outside Knuds home county of Sweden.Astra,sail number 8,was given to me for free by the FBYC Astra trustees, on the understanding I repair her and so it came to be, the whole story was published at Duckworths Magazine,so I will not repeat myself here but two new pictures have just surfaced,so this blog is a world first showing of them.

Saint Helena Anne's Place,street map and picture

21 Anne's Place: Restaurant

Anne's is on the left hand side of the main street when you walk through and under the old fortified gate, its number 21 on the map

Anne's Place on Saint Helena Island,South Atlantic Ocean

Left click on any picture to view full screen size.


Anne with one of her diaries that yachts passing through are invited to write in.

Anne,thank you for all you have done for myself and the other yachties who have met you,I will post you some pictures of Ocean Cloud to insert in your diary record.
Regards Roy


Ocean Cloud in her berth at RCYC prior to departure.


My diary entry on arrival last time at Annes Place.

This is one of my more proud and special entries to my blog pages,having sailed to St Helena Island twice now my memories of the island and its super nice people is still very fresh in my mind,even if its now some twenty years past since my last visit.

Good friends of mine Rod and Mary Turner-Smith have just sailed there from Hout Bay,a first ocean trip for them and their Shearwater 39,Sheer Tenacity,I asked them to see if Anne still had a record of my last visit? It seems Annes records are well taken care of,thanks Anne for making us all so welcome at your place.

Roy

Ex Ocean Cloud,an Endurance 37

CKD Boats build a Didi 26 from one of their kits

It took me just fifteen days (15) to build this boats hull.

This boat was for a sailmaker named Joe,what was orginaly a kit order,became a full build order and we then shipped it to the USA in a 40ft steel container.