33ft Pain Clark Gaff Cutter 1911 Classic Yacht For Sale
Wooden Ships Comments on this beautiful gaff cutter sailing yacht
33 foot gaff cutter yacht designed by J Pain Clark, built by William Kings and Sons of Burnham-on-Crouch in 1911.
This yacht has spent nearly her entire life on the east coast of the UK and has had only 5 different owners. She has been raced regularly over the years, including an entry in the Fastnet Race in the 1950’s.
Video of J Pain Clark Gaff Cutter Lora
She has been re-rigged a number of times, originally launched as a gaff sloop, converted to a Bermudan sloop in 1924 and into a gaff cutter, her current rig, in 2010. Her mast is unusually far forward in the hull giving her a long boom, but she will balance perfectly on all points of sail. She is a delight to sail in all conditions and can be handled by just 2 people without concern.
Bought by the current owner in 2000, she has since had major work carried out by a professional shipwright mainly between 2010 and 2013. This work included a complete new deck, re-fastened hull and many replacement frames, new engine, complete new rig, keel bolts drawn and floors/floor bolts checked.
An exquisitely beautiful yacht from any angle, she has been kept in good sound condition and would make an excellent yacht for partaking in the classic yacht regattas. Her interior is simple and cosy but could be adapted to offer more comfort if required.
Mashfords 4 Tonner, designed and built by the Mashford Brothers Boatyard of Cremyll, Plymouth in 1936.
Another example of this class was sailed by Ann Davidson in 1953 during her voyage to become the first woman to sail single handed across the Atlantic.
Bought by the present owners in 2019, she underwent a professional refit by Tim Gilmore of Birdham Pool over the winter of 2019/2020. The previous owner carried out a major refit in 2013 which included a new deck and coachroof, new strap floors and keel bolts, new Beta engine and new rigging.
The recent refit included the following: Hull re-caulked and payed from top to bottom with all new paint work. Hood ends and garboards refastened. Repairs to the horn timber and a new top of the stem. New toe rails and deck repairs.
A pretty boat with a proven track record as a capable cruising boat and a well documented refit history in recent years.
35′ bermudan sloop designed by Jack Laurent Giles, built by JJ Bickford Ltd of Topsham, Devon in 1956.
The basis for the Rambler design which was slightly smaller in length but otherwise very similar.
Designed and built for the director of Seagull outboard engines, her original build was to a very high standard using the best available materials. He wanted a safe and comfortable offshore cruising boat that could be easily handled, and although never designed to win races, she has proved to be both safe and capable with several thousand miles of cruising in the current ownership. The original specification and full set of construction drawings are available to confirm her provenance.
After purchasing the boat in 2014, the current owner has taken part in various classic regattas and sailed her across the Atlantic, around the Caribbean and back to the UK via Bermuda and the Azores. Subsequently cruised north to Scotland, Faroe Islands and on to the east coast of Iceland. The crew experienced some severe weather conditions during these various voyages the boat performed admirably the whole time taking the storms in her stride and looking after the crew.
In September 2022 a second hand low hours Yanmar 39hp diesel was installed. This is an excellent modern engine with only 600 hours, professionally installed in September 2022.
This is a really lovely and seemingly sound cruising boat, well proven in recent years with money spent in all the right places by the current owner. A maintenance program is currently under way to re-paint and re-varnish.
Built in Porthleven, Cornwall in 1971 by a local shipwright as his own boat.
Found on the beach in St Just in the 1980’s she underwent a decade long rebuild, finally being launched in March 1993. She then won first prize in the Amateur Boatbuilding competition at the Wooden Boat Show in London of that year, a testament to the quality of the rebuild work carried out by her owner over the previous 10 years.
After being neglected once again and left ashore for 3 years, the current owner bought the boat from the Isle of Wight in 2020 and carried out a further diligent refit with the help of a professional shipwright, replacing the transom, refurbishing the deck, replacing the rigging and ensuring the boat is absolutely sound.
This is a very pretty little boat with plenty of history that has had 2 significant periods of refit work leaving her in apparently very good structural and cosmetic condition.
Wooden Ships Comments on this Kim Holman Cruiser Racer Sloop
43′ bermudan sloop designed by Kim Holman, built by Tucker Brown, Essex in 1967. Yet another example of how the underrated Kim Holman was at the forefront of British yacht design at this time.
This design reflects the cutting edge thinking of the time when wetted surface areas were under consideration and attempts made at reduction by putting the rudder on a skeg separate from the keel and reducing the surface area of the keel which was still a moulded section of the hull and had not yet become the simple fin now universal in GRP designs. The counter is retrousse, the hull has ample freeboard with the extra beam we came to expect at this time .
The additional freeboard means that there is ample head-room below without having a coach-roof the full length of the deck. The coach-roof is restricted to aft of the mast where the cabin sole level is raised over the engine leaving ample, clear fore and side decks.
The cock-pit is particularly attractive being divided in racing fashion with the helmsman right aft untrammelled by the boom and main sheet with a radiussed seat , separating the helm from the crew who have plenty of space to work the 2 pairs of sheet winches from the deep, safe forward well, sheltered behind the coach-roof with a spray-hood over the cabin entrance.
Bought by the present owners in 2009 after some years of neglect, they spent 3 years rebuilding the boat in preparation for some long distance cruising. A full list of the work carried out is available, but it involved repairs to the hull with new planks, frames and fastenings, various new floors and a new cockpit. The engine was replaced, systems upgraded and the rig improved. She set sail in 2012 for the Caribbean and has since covered many thousands of miles with her 2 owners, and has proved to be a very comfortable, safe and fast passage making yacht, plus she was raced successfully at the Antigua Classics Regatta.
After many years of adventures it is time to pass the boat on to new owners who can continue to use her as she was designed, and although they will be very sad to see her go the current owners will take solace in the knowledge they will be passing her on in great shape and ready for whatever new adventures await.
This is a very fine quality yacht, very nicely built in the best materials, capable of being driven by only 2 crew on fast, comfortable passages. She is easily managed with a sensible rig but is still a fast and competitive yacht
Wooden Ships Comments on this Kim Holman Bermudan Sloop
Designed by Kim Holman and built by Kimber and Blake in 1961 for ‘Kip’ Alexander, son of famous Bristol Channel pilot Lewis Alexander, owner of the pilot cutter Kindly Light. She is mentioned in Adlard Coles ‘Heavy Weather Sailing’ book because of her exemplary sea keeping capability. She competed in several Fastnet races and survived the well known Santander Race of 1964 where she was one of only 6 yachts to finish out of 46 starters.
The design is typically Holman, far greater beam than was common from UK designers of the time, more akin to the American designs from S&S. Her overhangs are understated and her sheer is sweet but not exaggerated. She is without doubt a very pretty yacht with superb sailing characteristics and yet another example of the genius of Kim Holman.
After her early racing career she was fitted out for blue water cruising and made several trans Atlantic voyages plus a cruise of the Norwegian Fjords.
The current owner bought the yacht in 1999 and after many happy years cruising the English Channel and France, she was laid up ashore and is now in need of a full restoration.
The yacht has not been surveyed but is clear she will need largely re-splining, some replacement shifts of planking, checking of keel bolts and fastenings, new sails and rigging plus a complete refit of the interior and systems.
This is not a small project but she is a superb and beautiful looking yacht certainly worthy of the time and money required to get hr afloat once again. At only 36’ long she is a very manageable sized yacht, but her generous beam and freeboard give her exceptional internal volume with a Thames Tonnage of 10TM.
Wooden Ships Comments on this Percy Crossley Bermudan Sloop
37′ bermudan sloop designed by P.C. Crossley and built by the Ponsharden Shipyard, Falmouth, in 1934, apparently for the yard owner.
Percy Crossley who worked with the great Linton Hope was perhaps best known for designing the Windermere 17s, a large fleet which is still racing on the lake. He was a notable club member and the resident designer of the Windermere 17s, a developing design, for 60 years.
An incredibly beautiful and elegant yacht from the years between the Wars, some might say a great era of British yacht design. Typical shape for her era with a beautiful sheer line and counter stern, flushed decks with a narrow teak coachroof. The lack of guard rails and deck fittings keeps her lines smooth and elegant.
The history of this boat is well known and the owner has the full set of registration documents going back to her launch. She is registered on the National historic Ships Register.
Bought by the present owner in 2016, she then underwent a major professional refit in 2018 which included all new stainless steel strap floors and many new frame heels. Since then the interior has been replaced entirely.
This is a supremely elegant yacht full of pedigree and charm. She has been well cared for in the current ownership and used regularly around the Solent. She could continue to be used as a cruising yacht but could also make a superb classic regatta yacht that would certainly turn heads everywhere she goes.
2021 insurance survey available. Reluctantly for sale due to the owners ill health.
Wooden Ships Comments on the Looe Lugger Guiding Star
39′ gaff rigged working boat built in 1907 as a mackerel drift netter for the Soady family of Looe. One of the last Looe boats built without an engine so her hull lines are sweet and fair giving her excellent sailing performance while still having a generous internal volume, originally to carry home the catch.
Known as one of the fastest boats of her era, she fished until 1936 when she was sold by Mrs Soady while her husband was away crewing on a large yacht. Bought by a doctor from Paignton, she was converted into a private yacht by Uphams yard in Brixham, rigged as a gaff ketch with Bermudan mizzen and fitted with a teak coachroof which is still in place today. An interior was fitted to give comfortable berths and a saloon, much of this is still in the boat in the form of some delightful period joinery.
After changing hands a few times, she was purchased in 1960 by Brigadier Jack Glennie, a true character by all accounts who cruised the boat extensively with his pipe-smoking French wife Marguerite around northern Scotland and Norway, taking paying customers on many voyages with the proceeds being donated to Save the Children.
The previous owners purchased from Glennie in 1989 and undertook an extensive 3 year refit with much new planking and framing, new deck and transom.
The current owner took charge in 2016 and embarked on a rolling program of upgrades and maintenance in line with his surveyor’s advice which has kept the boat in good seaworthy condition and improved her sailing performance. This included new keel bolts, several areas of planking, decking and stanchions, new sails and all new rigging, a full list of work done in the present ownership is available. She has been a regular visitor to traditional sailing events and regattas in both England and France through recent years and is always well received.
A lovely looking and easily managed boat with a rich history and pedigree and a well documented refit history.
2021 survey available.
The vessel has her own website with further details of her more recent sailing exploits: https://guidingstar1907.com/
Wooden Ships Comments on this Laurent Giles Vertue sailing yacht
Designed by Jack Laurent Giles and built by Elkins of Christchurch in 1954. Vertue no. V67.
The Vertue was designed by Jack Laurent Giles before the war and has become probably the most celebrated small cruiser ever, largely due to the amazing voyages made in these tough little ships. It was Humphrey Barton who made the design’s reputation with his blue water voyages in Vertue XXXV and Hiscock spoke highly of the design. The latter engaged Laurent Giles to design his Wanderer 2 and 3, both designs owing much to the Vertue.
Since the first extended voyages proving that a well-designed and built small yacht could sail safely off-shore, many Vertues have made similar and longer voyages with some completing circumnavigations of the globe.
The early boats had a very short coachroof with sitting head-room below. After the war, the topsides were raised by a plank and a much bigger coach-roof added extending forward of the mast and raised to a dog-house aft so that Vertues are often identified as “long” or “short” dog-house models, there being a few inches difference but seen as a one window or two dog-house. In a little boat, a few inches can make a significant difference.
This is the short doghouse model with a single window in the doghouse and is a very attractive example of the famous Vertue.
Bought by the current owner with a view to local cruising, but unfortunately circumstances have changed and she is no longer a suitable boat. Sold by Wooden Ships to the previous owner who kept her in France and lavished time and money on the boat to keep her in top condition. As well as regular cosmetic maintenance, she had a new engine, standing rigging, various sails and updated systems in the previous ownership. This is an exceptional example of the class with a recent clean survey and ready for her next owner.
With a beautiful teak deck, varnished teak coamings and mostly bronze fittings she is a delight to behold. Below decks she has 4 berths, a baby Blake sea toilet and paraffin Taylors stove. The 27 foot yacht is well equipped with navigation gear, sails and numerous covers.
A super example with a detailed documented history of ownership and maintenance.
When we were thinking of buying Our Boys, I had heard talk about luggers being difficult to sail and coming from a Gaff cutter background, I thought about converting Our Boys to gaff-rig. However, on sailing Our Boys, we quickly discovered that the rumours about luggers being difficult to sail certainly did not apply to this boat. As anyone who has sailed a large gaff rigged yacht will testify, because of the huge boom, running back-stays etc, in particular gybing can be a bit fraught. As Our Boys is a standing lug on both masts and has no boom or back-stays, when gybing, the sails merely flop across the other side with no effort at all apart from releasing one sheet and taking up on the other. I believe that the rumours about them being difficult comes from the original dipping lug type rig, which involves lowering and raising the main sail every time one tacks or gybes; however, this is not the case on a standing lug. We almost always sail with just the two of us so were looking for a boat which could be easily handled by a crew of two. In this respect, Our boys has been the perfect choice. All of the sails are sheeted on to winches; the main sail is sheeted just like a genoa, with one sheet each side, led onto winches; the jib (there is no stay-sail), is furling so can be deployed and recovered quickly and again, the sheets are led to self-tailing winches. The mizzen sail only has one sheet which is also led to a self-tailing winch. Hoisting the sails again is not too strenuous as the yards are GRP hollow spars so not as heavy as the traditional wooden spars. Another advantage of he lug rig is that because of the lack of rigging, the main and mizzen sails can be hoisted and lowered without it being necessary to be head-to-wind. The two of us have now cruised Our Boys for nearly 9 years, from Plymouth to Southern Brittany, the Scilly Isles and the north coast of Brittany, and attended the many classic boat festivals along the way. We have successfully raced her against the other luggers, again sometimes with no additional crew. This year we won our class most convincingly in the Falmouth Classics festival. Owning and sailing Our Boys has been a privilege and a huge pleasure.
Wooden Ships Comments on this Looe Lugger
Built by Pearce of Looe in 1904 to traditional West Country fishing boat lines with a transom and straight stem. She has very fine underwater lines common to the early boats built for sail only. At the time of her build there were 60 boats in the Looe fishing fleet, all sailing out to the fishing grounds on a daily basis to haul their nets and lay the long lines. The design developed from many years of building these boats with ideas and techniques passed from generation to generation, these early sail only boats being exceptionally fast if handled correctly and very sea kindly helping the crews work in all conditions.
Built for George Pengelly, a local fisherman, and named after his seven sons, she was put to work in the family fishing business, drift netting for pilchard and herring or long lining for conger and turbot in the spring. She has undergone several changes over the years to adapt to the changing fishing industry, including the installation of her first engine in 1912. During World War 2 she was a guard ship for the Looe fishing fleet, and until the quite recent replacement of her deck she still had the fittings bolted on the foredeck to carry the machine gun. She fished commercially until the mid 1970’s at which point she was a twin engine motor fishing vessel with a small wheelhouse and gaff mizzen sail to help with directional stability while hauling nets.
At this stage she was sold out of fishing and first converted to a private yacht, but has since undergone several transformations, most recently in 2014 with the current owners who fitted a larger coachroof and a new interior, which at the same time allowed them to inspect the complete interior hull structure. In 2015 the hull was re-fastened completely with galvanised screws and various planks replaced as necessary.
The rig has been adapted and altered to make it as simple to use as possible, the boat is regularly cruised and raced with just 2 people aboard, and although self tailing winches may not be traditional, they help to make her a practical and user friendly cruising boat for modern times. She has been cruised extensively from southern Brittany, the Scillies and the south coast of England, and has attended numerous traditional boat festivals and regattas, always a popular boat and won her class convincingly at the 2022 Falmouth Classics. Our Boys is known to be a fast boat and her pedigree as an engine-less fishing boat is clear to see as she eats up the miles with ease.
45’ Laurent Giles cutter built in India in 1949. Double diagonal teak planking. Unmistakably Laurent Giles, she is just a big Channel Class. Proven ocean cruising boat, fast and capable. Offered for sale at only £24,000 due to the owners personal circumstances. woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/45-laurent-giles-bermudan-cutter/... See MoreSee Less
After posting some teaser photos of Nell a little while ago, we have now formally put this fine yacht on the market. Nell is a G.L. Watson gaff cutter built on the Clyde in 1887 and completely rebuilt in Normandy, France between 2009 and 2017. This yacht is a totally unique piece of maritime history and is presented in superb condition. Her interior is her most remarkable feature and was designed by her first owner Robert Cowan Robertson. He was an artist based in Glasgow and his interior design was influenced by the fashions of the time with raised and fielded oak panelling, ionic pillasters and most notably stained glass sliding windows covering the portholes. The interior has been restored sympathetically and is largely original apart from some very small areas where damaged joinery needed replacing. The result is magnificent and sets this yacht apart as a unique piece of history. Full details and many photos available on our web site with the following link:woodenships.co.uk/sailing-yacht/g-l-watson-gaff-cutter/#classicboat #classicboatforsale #yachtforsale ... See MoreSee Less
