architects on the planet. It had taken until his mid-20s to decide that he wanted to be a yacht designer, but an international racing career swiftly followed. Meanwhile, his mentor, Alfred Mylne, remained largely at home in Scotland, competing under handicap in secondhand boats designed by others. Despite the contrast in their fortunes the two were close friends.
Putting the English in their place A good anecdote demonstrating a much older Tid’s sense of his own importance (despite a very obvious and painful stutter) was told by Sherman Hoyt in his memoirs. There had been an important conference on ‘Racing Measurement and Rules’ at the Royal London Yacht Club in the early 1930s, and the designers Charlie Nichol- son, Mylne and Glen Coats, along with Hoyt, retired to the Grosvenor Hotel after- wards to continue chewing things over. The terrace was crowded, service was
slow, and when Tid queried what had happened to their order of double whiskies and sodas he was informed that it was, alas, after hours. Pointing to a nearby table, well loaded with glasses of whisky, the irate Scotsman demanded extra rounds to be brought to his party. Once again there was a firm refusal. Then he burst out, ‘I ordered four doubles; refused. I now demand eight doubles each. If you are fined I shall pay it or, if necessary, I will buy your damned hotel!’ Hoyt said that it took some time to
consume all the drinks, which were hurriedly supplied, and during that alco- holic evening no knotty technical problems
of consequence were solved. The story shows how a famous institution like the Grosvenor Hotel was no match for a Glen Coats who felt his status and wealth put him above the ordinary rule of law, whether in Scotland or in England.
Thetis and Pallas Three decades earlier Tid first came to serious attention in the famous Clyde 30ft restricted class for which he commissioned Thetis from Alfred Mylne in 1904. The designer’s endlessly patient and profes- sional approach to every client’s needs and queries would have ensured that the curious young man became very closely involved in any technical decisions that attracted his interest. It must have been a fascinating meeting of minds. After two seasons, with Thetis passed
on to his brother, he decided to take the plunge himself. Tid the budding naval architect was at great pains to ensure, despite Mylne’s tutelage, that everybody knew the new 30-footer Pallas had come from his own board. She was no copy of his master’s work, and her design innova- tions were all his. The drawings had been begun, completed and faired by him alone, in the autumn of 1905. Advice had been there if requested, but not offered other- wise. Mylne had not been breathing down his neck. Pallas was Tid’s brainchild. When she was observed under construc-
tion the knowledgeable Clydesiders viewed her optimistically in the belief that Tid’s family heritage would have honed his ‘intu- itive knowledge of what the sea loves in the way of racing craft’. But they were still
deeply curious to see the result. Fortunately Pallaswas extremely successful: in 1906 she achieved a fine haul of 12 firsts, 10 seconds and four thirds, headed only by Thetis her- self in the end-of-year table. This was the start of Tid’s stream of self-designed racers, season after season, which launched his reputation as a true designer and a fine Corinthian helmsman.
Heatherbell and Hera As the new International Rule became established in 1907 (Alfred Mylne having been extensively involved in its creation) Tid produced Heatherbell, the first ‘proper’ 12 Metre built on the Clyde, for his uncle Andrew Coats. Down south there had been little enthusiasm for the ‘Twelves’ but the Clydesmen, as was so often the case, put their energy and their money into promot- ing the new class right from the off. Lloyd’s Register carried Tid’s name as the designer of the first Scottish example. ‘Prepossessing
and racy-looking’
Heather bell (1907) was swiftly followed by the 12 Metre Hera (1908), created for Tid’s own use. She was criticised at first, but later was described as a design that Herreshoff, Mylne, Fife or Nicholson would be justly proud of. As for linking north and south, this was
expressly why the new International Classes had been created. The founding fathers aimed to create a situation allow- ing competitors to race on equal terms, as far as their boats were concerned, wher- ever regattas were held. Geography was not to be an impediment to fair play. For Tid and his fellow Scottish ‘Twelve’
SEAHORSE 53
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