Tuesday 24 November 2015

Name that Boat.



Update 


Derek has been back in touch to say he's tracked down some details of his new boat. He's found an article reviewing the boat back in 1981 when it was first produced.
Unfortunately IPC mags who published it in PBO or Yachting Monthly or one of their other comics are a bit sensitive about their copyright so I can't reproduce it here. 
I can say that the boat was marketed by Court Marine but built in North Walsham by Hardy Marine. Moulds were taken from an original Shetland racing Skiff, hence the rather generic North Sea Skiff name. 
Price back then was a fairly stiff £1214 + VAT excluding trailer. 

The reviewer makes all the usual excuses about not being able to test this and that due to the conditions on the day but as you'd expect she's fast, easy to row, and just a tad flighty in a gust. 
She doesn't like tacking due to that long keel, but the later models had the bowsprit mentioned by Derek which helped a bit.

Enjoy Derek, and reef early! 







I've had an e-mail from Derek who is now the proud owner of this fine boat. He's trying to find out a bit more about the type. 




Quote, "Hi I have just bought a  Shetland  style  boat called a  North Sea skiff  it is 16 ft  and am looking for information  about it but can't find any on the Internet. And was wondering if you could help.

Grp   And just has  long keel  no centreboard  She has a lug sail and a jib on a bowsprit  have u ever seen this type of boat before  thanks Derek 







She definitely has a Nordic look about her and would be a close cousin to the Shetland Yole. 
 That deck looks like its been added later, the planks are going in all directions, although I do like the idea of decking these over, makes them very traditional looking and provides plenty of dry storage. Our Scaffie at the Ancient & Vulnerable has no storage at all. 

 Anybody recognise the design? Answers via the comments box please. 

3 comments:

Chris Waite said...

I used to have a very similar 'Shetland Skiff' in the late seventies.

It was slightly shorter than the hull in the pictures, which I think appeared a short time later, from a different company. Really there is not much else you need to know. These small double-enders are all imitations of the Shetland boats, which were in turn just miniature long-ships, with the curly bits cut off.

The rather larger versions from previous centuries were the sixerns (sixareens) and fourerns (fourareens) - six and four oared versions. I had a twenty-one foot fourern for a while, meaning to restore it, including the cabin that it had when I got it, though I 'timed-out' and sold it on. The St Ayles Skiff is just the latest version.

In the last four decades there have been a number of designs so similar that to be honest, I wonder why anyone bothers to call them anything else. Graham our host on this blog has built an Oughtred Whilly Tern and Richard Rooth a series of three in increasing sizes culminating in his Caledonian Yawl.

Lovely, lovely boats, every last one, but if they have the original long, low aspect keel, they are terrible to bring up onto a beach as they fall over, broach and with the low waist and lack of side decks, they then fill with the next breaker rolling in.

They row beautifully, but only sail adequately. Particularly with that keel, they do not go well to windward and the extreme rake of the ends means that the hull speed is lower than their length might otherwise allow for, while the double ends reduce the available and therefore useful volume in the hull.

I once had a Lotus 7 and it was just as lovely and just as impractical.

Glad I owned both the boat and the car, but they are long gone –

Sadly sacrificed to function

Christo, the Opinionated

Unknown said...

I have got one too. Sitting in the garage at the moment. None of that deck on mine. Needs a bit of work done on it all the same. I have not had much luck in finding out more about the builders. At some point mine has been altered to a very high and narrow gunter rig, with the mast going through the forward thwart, about 18" further after than previously, and no bow sprit. I was pleasantly surprised by how well she sails.

Unknown said...

H I could u post some pictures of your boat Robbie