FALMOUTH 18-FOOTERS
“When he mentioned a transom-hung rudder it met with disapproval”
Top left: Rob Collins and Daniel Duff adjusting rigging on Myrtle Top right: Whisper off St Mawes Above left: The restoration of Magpie, and above right: Magpie before work began
new boat, called Whisper, is now owned by Julian Davey (of Pasco’s Boatyard, St Just-in-Roseland) and Pete Little. Myrtle herself was then due to be scrapped, but somehow she was saved and was in Pip Guest’s garden in Fowey for many years until, once again, Dougie Burnett came to the rescue and instigated another restoration with John Fuge. Sadly, Dougie died before the work was complete but the project was then taken on by Jonathan Money and Phil Badger, who sailed her on the Helford River until 2006 when they sold her to the ‘Gerrans Syndicate’ headed by local sailmaker Rob Collins. Marie is the only boat which has not been troubled by such uncertainties. Frankie sold her to local plumber Joe Madden in the late 50s, and she then had several changes of ownership before Mo Sawle bought her from Jack Cannon in 1992. He put a gaff rig on her for the first time and enjoyed many years of sailing in her, mostly racing in the Falmouth Handicap G Class. In 2008 he decided he wanted a lower-maintenance boat with more freeboard, so he sold Marie to Chris de Glanville, having taken a GRP mould off her. From that he moulded himself a new boat which he called Francis, after his father. This was his first attempt at GRP boatbuilding and he soon came to realise that she was too heavy, so in early 2010, using the same mould, he built another hull which he expected to be 600kg lighter. He took absolutely everything off Francis including the rig,
42 CLASSIC BOAT MARCH 2012
deck fittings, ballast keel and even the cockpit coamings and toerails, and fitted them to the new hull. Christened Moey, she was launched on 25 June 2010 and took part in her first race less than 48 hours later. The 18-Footers are clearly in Mo’s blood as Fred Pasco, builder of three of the original boats, was his great-great-uncle.
DOUBLE FIGURES AND HIGH-TECH That makes nine boats – the 10th is due to be launched this year. She is being built in Falmouth by Steve Neal who has sailed Thames A-Raters and multihulls, and will be called Daisy May after his grandmother. Construction is relatively hi-tech – cedar strip planked with epoxy/ carbon inside and out. Above the waterline her lines are very similar to those of Magpie, but she is relatively flat-bottomed and will have a lifting keel – mainly for easier trailing but also useful on long downwind legs in passage races. Even though he can do what he likes within the 18ft length restriction, Steve is sensitive to the spirit of the class – for instance, when he mentioned to existing owners that he might have a transom-hung rudder and it met with disapproval, he changed his mind. While it is obviously sad that two or three of the original boats no longer exist, it is almost a miracle that all of the others do. And it is also highly appropriate that the five boats currently sailing are all based in the Percuil River, so close to the birthplace of most of the fleet.
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