ALVA
“Plan A was to build a replica, but sense soon prevailed: Curlew does not offer much accommodation below”
Top left: Alva takes shape in the shed. Top right: Close- spaced, laminated frames Botton left: Antique tap and copper kettle - boat jumble finds Bottom right: Bowsprit is on a roller-and-track arrangement
the two berths are united by an infill to create a large double. In the forepeak is a children’s V-berth with a bucket-and-chuck-it toilet nestled between. This simpler kind of heads makes a lot of sense, saving space that a separate compartment would take up. It also avoids another through-hull fitting, more cost and, worst of all, the certainty that one day you will have to unblock it. The overall effect below is one of bright, subtle elegance provided by the cabinetry in pitch pine throughout. On a day like this, though, even Alva’s cabin could not hold a candle to the Chain Locker pub, to which we repaired for pints of Doom Bar bitter.
INSPIRATION
Ben has been working in wood since the age of 15, in milling, cabinetry, woodland management and, briefly, under Luke Powell of Working Sail, known for his Scillonian pilot cutters; but Alva is the first yacht he has built. He enrolled at Falmouth College’s boatbuilding course to learn lofting, the only aspect of building a boat this size that intimidated him. The inspiration for Alva came from Curlew at around that time. Curlew is a 1905-built Falmouth Quay Punt of 28ft (8.5m) found in 1968 and restored over many years by Tim and Pauline Carr who cruised, raced and lived aboard her for 32 years. Like all Quay Punts in their pre-war heyday, she was used for ship-to-shore service, as well as fishing and
36 CLASSIC BOAT APRIL 2012
any other work she could find. She is flush-decked with a tight turn of the bilge and flies 975sqft (91m2 including a 185sqft (17.2m2
) of canvas, ) jackyard topsail. She once
sailed across the Indian Ocean averaging 6.8 knots for 15 days straight. She cruised to both poles and won many races along the way, including Antigua Classics. Tim and Pauline Carr were awarded the Blue Water Medal from the Cruising Club of America. Clearly there was brilliant DNA in the Falmouth Quay Punt type, so Ben was keen to investigate: “I’d set up shop in Cornwall [Ben’s yard is in an old cowshed near Restronguet Creek] so I wanted to build a West Country boat, and then the opportunity to take Curlew’s lines arose.” Plan A was to build a replica yacht, but sense soon prevailed: Curlew does not offer much accommodation below. That, the big rig and the fact that most sailors are, unlike Tim and Pauline, mere mortals, drove Ben to think in terms of a softening of the formula, and design no109 from Paul Gartside proved to be the answer. She’s not a true Falmouth Quay Punt: the peak of the gaff is too high, she has a softer turn of the bilge, and she lacks the offset leg-o’-mutton mizzen yawl rig – but she’s a good representation of a West Country ‘work yacht’ that will go anywhere at a good pace with decent accommodation.
Ben Harris, Tel: +44 (0)7570 780864,
harriswoodenboats.co.uk
BEN HARRIS
BEN HARRIS
BEN HARRIS
BEN HARRIS
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