Late as usual for an edition called ‘early summer’ but can offer the excuses of inter generational family hols in May/June plus having to learn to drive this new black computer. Really good to see a new crop of Memorys flowing off the Salterns production line (Mike and Bill !). The Chairman’s and Managing Director’s tub thumping and tramping beginning to pay off – even in New Zealand, as you will see later, they say now ‘Oh yes, we know about the Memory !’ The annual accounts are included with this edition, with explanation and a call for a bit more money please from those due. And also included is your copy of the up to date (I hope) list of members and boats. If any of these details are behind the times, which is bound to happen, please let me know, as you go. This list is only circulated to MOA members and is intended to help people contact each other for information, advice or just to boast of the latest maritime conquests. In particular, the baccy chewin’, rum swigging, crusted old Memory experts (you can see who they are) are always happy to natter wisdoms to those newer to the fleet. . (Ed.)

Neil and Ann Mordey have taken over their new Memory cabin version, called "Nipperkin" ("Dram" having transferred to Quintin and Zena Macorland) and not without one or two early ‘unexpecteds’ which he may or may not tell you about next time – Neil says the new one is going even faster than "Dram" - he says. We await the final outcome between "Letty May", "Greensleeves" and "Nipperkin", the little gaffer Cossacks of the east coast !

This month Patrick and Judy Colin launched their new, also black hulled cabin version, "Sepia", resplendent in the new all teak cockpit layout. And just about to be launched at time of writing is David Penn and Susan Goddard’s new "Uncle Bill", also black hull but with lifting hatch and outboard well. "Uncle Bill" will be a much-welcomed addition to Poole Harbour.

And I don’t think we’ve mentioned before that that famed Memory "Merlin", sailed on many a west coast saga by Ted Mason, is now with James Green back on the east coast. And work is currently under way on another new cabin version for Iain Hobbs, an old salt if he doesn’t mind the phrase, who will be sailing "Liz" (probably) out of Portsmouth Harbour. It’s been a good year for the appearance of new Memorys ! There are one or two other boats, which might be changing hands soon (Greg usually has the up to date news of brokerage deals) including, sadly, Derek Toyne’s "Sif", regularly featured in these pages, and on the front of the Salterns sales blurb for the Memory. After many many years with "Sif", Derek is finally retiring to sail other peoples’ boats but we’ll get a final review of 25 years plus in the life of an old Memory.

Other News Round-up

"Minikin" is owned by David Duff, up there North of Edinburgh, on the River Tay. When skippers reach a certain age of wisdom, their boats can be given the privilege of a marina berth, so "Minikin" is now to be cosseted in the new Tayport Marina. It’s run by a Harbour Trust association and it is too painful for those south of the border to give exact details but the cost is something around a fifth of what it would be on the English south or east coasts. "Minikin" is still sailed regularly in good order, but David is also Treasurer of the Yacht Club and as now retired is roped in to sail other peoples’ boats too. So time is a little shorter for "Minikin" – which David says he prefers – of course. With a Nicholson 32, David in the past sailed her up from Lymington, Hants to the Tay in five days and took the same boat 2 years ago on the three Peaks Scottish Islands Race. There was a climbing team and a sailing team for each entry. So he didn’t have to do the climbing bit. If anyone is ever thinking about trailing a Memory to ‘do’ the Scottish waters – David knows a lot about them and is happy to inform or advise.

"Talitha" - went from Max in Chichester to Giles and Hannah Frampton in Dorset and now has her mooring in the somewhat literary Lyme Regis Harbour. She has not been down there long and Giles says she hasn’t had much use this year – but has done some 30 to 40 evening and weekend trips out nevertheless ! A lot of current work pressures mean that Giles may not get to use his acceptance this year for ‘Brest 2004’. This is a heck of a big shindig for trad. Boats (I went to the ’96 event – but with the Brixham trawler "Provident" – and not in a Memory, which is what Giles originally intended to do). He hope to take her down Falmouth way this year, and will have another jaunt in the Med on one of the J Class boats (Some Memory owners do get around you know) If the J Class jaunt comes off, Giles has promised a report on its sailing limitations compared with those of a Memory………………. And how about Brest 2008, the South West fleet……………..?

"Neried" - up on the Suffolk Deben with Mike Hawthorne has blossomed, even to the extent of a new DIY cabin being built, with some help from Greg and Mike Brackstone whom you will recall tackled the same sort of project on "Merganser". And she has changed in the opposite direction to some, having the existing inboard replaced by a new outboard well. Mike has managed, a la shades of David Sutton and "Troost" to lower the well and outboard so that the existing tiller and mainsheet horse can remain. Mike has been lent upon to produce more detail of these and other tasks accomplished in the refurbishment of "Neried" – for the next edition of the Newsletter.

"Jess" - has been sold on by Will Burville to a friend and colleague after three years work done on her, and she is now based in Salcombe and is sailed there regularly. "Jess" is a 1978 vintage boat from Liverpool Boat Company and for some reason was given a mainsail which is even bigger than the standard. As part of the recent work, she has had a specially made mast clamp and goose-neck fitted, to replace the boom jaws, which keeps the tack of the sail in a fixed position and she is sailed with a high peaked gaff, almost a gunter rig. Other amendments included a new tailor made tabernacle fitted – and a new road trailer acquired which did not prove to be all that was intended, due perhaps to some of the points made earlier in this edition about ‘making sure you get the right trailer’. Will has gone on to an Achilles 30 footer for modern race sailing but still says he has a bit of the nostalgia for the character, ease and the speed of a Memory. Few more years….reckon he’ll come back….

News from Germany ( Olaf and Ulrike Opitz)

Hi ! – it’s been a rather cold – and busy – springtime until late May and we haven’t done much sailing, but we are hopefully going to catch up as from this coming weekend. So we’ve not had any reefing problems yet, but thanks for advice received. I shall see how it goes. Maybe I do need the smaller jib as well. It’s been a rather busy winter too, boat wise. I have been building a small 9 ft wood pram dinghy, together with a friend, and under supervision (!) – in a 350 year old barn and workshop which belongs to a master boatbuilder here. Using hand tools only ! So I have been collecting all sorts of preferably antique woodworking tools, like spokeshaves etc. , through the e-bay website. Having a lot of fun though, including working at near zero temperatures during the winter. At the moment, we are building the new 15 ft sail and oar ‘whilly boat’, designed by Ian Oughtred , using plywood and oak. My cellar at home is now a workshop ! Obviously, I don’t really need any new boats, but it’s fun building them – and it’s always the most relaxing thing to be able to do something you don’t need to do. Next project may be to build a planked wooden Memory, preferably open, without a deck, cabin, outboard well, engine an all that. So – watch out Greg !! Anyway, it will be some time before I tackle the 60 ft gaff schooner I’ve been dreaming of………….. All this in one of the reasons why we will be visiting the Beale Park Boatshow in June, and doing a little garden- tour of Cornwall. We were wondering if the famous Salterns Boatbuilder will be at Beale Park this year ??

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Question from "Kate" (Keith Davidson)

Greetings……has anyone any experience of this or how to avoid it in the future ?

Having launched "Kate" in May, we hoped to get any early sail in when the weather improved. However, Sods Law prevailed as it so often does and upon unfurling the cutter’s fore sail, it took one look at the weather and promptly re-furled itself around its wire luff, yanking the Wykham Martin furling gear with it ! No amount of coaxing could persuade it to come out to play and so it was with a heavy heart that I presented it to L & G Sails in Burnham for comment. Their scathing remarks and short shrift should have been expected ( well, this is Burnham you know…) and they barley deigned to touch it. Expecting a quote for a new sail, I was pleasantly surprised when they sorted the problem, in about a week – for £30. Apparently, the wire luff had gradually developed its own ‘memory’ due to the method of tight furling and maybe rather intermittent use. Have any other members had this problem ? Should I slack both jib and fore-sail halyards when not in use ? Should one expect this of WM furling gear ? (Idiosyncrasies of WM furling gear next time – any comment and experiences, to me please – but Keith would no doubt appreciate any earlier word of advice or sympathy. Ed.)

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The most obvious thing to say about the Memory trailer is that it must be designed to fit the boat. The trailers we have supplied have always been built to our designs (albeit interpreted differently by various manufacturers over the years) and are not ‘off the shelf’ trailers adapted to fit. The problem with most ‘standard’ trailers is that they are designed to carry speedboats/ribs/cabin cruisers etc which are V- bottomed and distribute the loadings through the flat panels along the hull bottoms and not down the centre line spine like a sailing boat. They also tend to be much heavier at the aft end (where the engines are) whereas the Memory is heaviest in the middle. The thought of getting the loadings wrong do not bear contemplating – the point loading of an incorrectly positioned guide roller taking the entire weight of the craft could punch a hole in the bottom of the boat ! Towing a Memory is not quite as bad as people think and having towed Memorys all over the country, delivering and collecting, then I can assure readers that with a well set-up car-trailer combination, it is a doddle. You must ensure that your car is capable (legally !) of towing the boat; your vehicle should have either a plate affixed or a notice in the handbook stating its towing capabilities. As the all-up weight of a Memory plus trailer is in excess of 750 Kg, the trailer must have its own integral braking system. The weight will probably be described as ‘towing weight’ (you should allow between 1.25 to 1.5 tonnes depending upon the weight of your particular Memory, the amount of kit on board and the weight of the trailer). This all-up towing weight is added to the gross weight of your towing vehicle to give a ‘Gross Train Weight’. This should be also stated in your car’s handbook or as an identity plate fixed somewhere. Typically, the ideal towing vehicle is either a 4 by 4 or a larger family estate car; I imagine a Volvo, for example, would be perfect. Removing ballast etc just might bring the weight to below the magical 750 Kg, so that a lighter and un-braked trailer could be used, but the towing vehicle must be at least two times the weight of the load behind – however – this is NOT an option I would recommend. Finally, take a look at your driving licence; many years ago when you passed your test, it used to allow you to drive all sorts of interesting things, like steam rollers, grass cutting machinery, plus towing trailers etc. Many of these categories have been deleted on modern licences and I believe that there is now a towing test for newer drivers; check it out ! Terry reminded me that all of the above is ‘accumulated understandings and not necessarily the letter of the law’. Er…. quite so…. so don’t hold me responsible for any of the above if I am wrong on some detail…………Happy trailing, Greg.

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Roy Hart and "Greensleeves" won the ‘Swale Match’ last year, having sailed over from the Crouch and across the Thames estuary to get there. Then came the big Nore Race – in gale force 8 with the helicopters out looking for the remaining boats, washed onto the notorious sands as the tide receded, "Greensleeves" included. But sitting almost upright and undamaged Roy was able to cook lunch for some of the other crews stranded on their beam ends and waiting the 12 hours or so for the water to come back. When it did, they were all faced with a flat calm. And he’s doing it again this year ! For competition work up-wind, Roy had a new flat foresail made, with the foot longer than the norm – and then beat the well known modern 26 footer "Dirty Gerty", to win the Kentish Cup. Other amendments have included a new mainsail, mast raked back a bit more, all lines brought back for single handing convenience, a treble purchase on the jib halyard and the changes to the back end pictured in the last edition. In the subsequent Royal Burnham Race Meeting, "Greensleeves" won two first placing and a second place – when Nick Hillman and "Letty May" got the first. And overall "Greensleeves" won the Regatta – and we’re not talking little wallop town regatta on the pond stuff here. At the North West Kent OGA Rally on the Medway, sailing over from Essex for the event, Roy won their Cup and an extra bottle of brandy for being first over the line as well. On the way back, the new genoa, which is about a third bigger than the normal jib, logged a sailed speed of 7.5 knots (had anyone else used a GPS or a Nelsonian log-line to record speeds ?). Roy has also taken 9 inches off the top of the topsail, mainly to get rid of the belly-out in the sail, so that it is taut and flat. Again, just off the wind, this has added to its effectiveness. At the big East Coast OGA Race with 60 starters, "Greensleeves" lost about 5 minutes at the start line and "Letty May" was soon some 2 miles ahead, having done the thing properly ! With nothing now to lose, and with all sorts of tacking and where-is-the-wind options, Roy could watch where all the canny east coast smacks skippers were heading; they know a thing or two about these waters. After 6 hours, it was "Letty May" and "Greensleeves" engaging in a luffing match right up to the finish line, with 2 seconds between them. First and second again. "Greensleeves" had won all of the last four races she has entered. For those curious about such things, the OGA Handicap awarded to "Greensleeves" is 8.867 – but Roy says he is going to measure the boat again accurately to see if there is another edge to be gained. Worth noting too is that, in the cabin version of the Memory, something like 80% of the total ballast is carried forward of the bulkhead. If people think, for whatever reasons, of shifting it around – it makes a big difference to how the boat points. One final anecdote, that maybe shouldn’t be told but I will – concerns the skippers traditional use of ‘the heads’, black bucket version. All quiet early morning and empty sea, the necessary bodily functions were performed discrete and quick – only then to find the crew’s brand new camera also at the bottom of the bucket ! You see – even winners make big mistakes sometimes………………

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(Earlier this year Andrew Hind and Marion Shirley took over "Souvenir", a Salterns boat previously owned by Peter Thomas. I asked Shirley to keep a diary for the start of their ownership because the ‘new experience’ is always of interest and sometimes very helpful to others. Ed. )

We are pleased to report that as of today, 27th March, 'Souvenir' is afloat and on her new mooring at Kemps Quay on the River Itchen.

Further to my last, this afternoon we motored Souvenir down the Itchen and then, once we'd worked out how to lower the centreboard, sailed her as far as the BP terminal on Southampton Water and back to the Itchen Bridge. When we got back, we had to make some adjustments to the mainsail attachments (I don’t know the technical term) but we are pleased that a report from the sailing club (yes, we're already recognisable) said that we were 'looking very good.'

3rd April, 2004. Today we ventured out with the intention of joining a group from the sailing club, who planned to head for Cowes, but when we reached the Moorhead buoy, there was no sign of them. Clearly they had heard the gale warning before we did ! We did pull up the mainsail but, as I embraced the mast as refuge and Andrew yelled at me to come back, reefing seemed all a bit much and the sail seemed very loose off the mast. We need to find a way of checking that it's rigged right. I thought it was too tight the first time we 'bent' it on and so we freed it up. Greg's notes say one and a half inches off the mast but how do you tell, when it's down what it will do when it's up? So we sailed happily on the genoa with the (newly serviced) engine in neutral, just in case it wouldn't start again. We had a good sleep back on the berth during the afternoon! Later, we read in Tom Cunliffe's book that we could have hoved-to in order to reef. We do know about this, having practised it in various sailing school boats. We reefed the mainsail anyway, just for practice, when we woke up to find ourselves dried out on our mud berth and so we hope to be better prepared for this reefing while under way (but not making way) in future !

25th April. Four months ago we were eating turkey and today we've caught the sun. Hamble oil terminal - eat your heart out. Having moved Souvenir at midnight on Friday to make sure we had enough depth to leave on, we tacked down Southampton Water, with two short ones to avoid the liner Oriana and a tug and kept up with some bigger blokes in larger yachts. Wind and tide (Andrew said, 'we're sailing away from that buoy but we're still at it') meant that we motored most of the way to Ryde (I.O.W.) which was where the rest of the sailing club cruisers (three) were headed and we edged in on a falling tide thanks to our shallow draft. We recommend Ryde on a Saturday night for the active high life, or until you keel over with fatigue at about ten o'clock. The tide came up in the night and went down again, giving us a comfortable sleep. We could profit from requests for guided tours of Souvenir, as long as one of us gets off first; there is loads of onlooker interest. Our spiel is based on Greg's sales leaflet and we only came unstuck when someone asked us exactly what fish she caught in Brightlingsea. I expect John Leather (amongst others) knows. The question, "Is she new?", asked more than once, was a tribute to her previous owner and her builder. We're not sure about, "What a pretty boat ! " We don't go racing, but we nearly did catch up the boat in front until my arm got tired of being a spinnaker pole and he motored into Kemp's to beat the tide. We got in anyway! I'm a new sailor and one day I will hope to engage with the Memory newsletter correspondents who talk knowledgeably about sailing on the wind and off it and all that. Meanwhile, we need to get to grips with the topsail. We can't go out again for a couple of weeks but watch this space ......  P.S. I never hurt myself getting in and out of the cabin in the way I did on the Cornish Sh****** and the Cape C***** that we chartered last year.

PS - to the end of the beginning, in which we go Memory spotting and acquire a land-rover. On the second day of our stay in Andrew’s parents’ caravan I spot a familiar looking bow poking out from behind a tree. And there is "Ruffler" on her trailer. A day or two later, we drool over "Nipperkin", looking very new and moored in a nearby marina. We envy the bits she’s got to stop the jib sheets catching on the nav. Lights. We tell a friend’s son that we couldn’t bring our boat because we don’t have a vehicle to pull the trailer. Being ten years old he knows where such a vehicle is to be had for sale second hand and before you know it……. ! Andrew rewards him with a trip in Sunny, the canoe, and they experience the full effect of the wash from a Ferryways transporter on its way up to Ipswich. The tide is right for Sunday and evening sailing the week of the longest day – and we’re planning our passage to Chichester, along with othe Solent based Memorys

We have always been impressed by the number of things that sailing instructors remember to tell you that you have to remember. Here are two that we forgot: stopper knots on the end of any bit of rope that can fly out of a hole (mainsheets, jib sheets, reefing lines); securing your boat on a cleat the second you can. The boatperson at Kemp’s Yard asked us to tell him what time we’d be leaving and returning. We suspect that this is because he wants to sell tickets.

P.S. I never hurt myself getting in and out of the cabin in the way I did on the Cornish Sh****** and the Cape C***** that we chartered last year.

We did not realise how badly "Sif’" was set up last year until we had the great pleasure of sailing with "Talitha" and "Little Bear" in the Falmouth classics. Prior to this occasion, winds had been consistently strong and for most outings we had at least one reef down and no topsail. Under this rig, "Sif" seemed to achieve her hull speed irrespective of the subtleties of sail trim and handling. It therefore came as a surprise when, in the flukey airs of Classic day, she declined to point and handled like a proverbial haystack. However the situation was not without its positive side. Classics day highlighted the improvement gained through our new broad reach sheeting, and the rough weather early in the season proved the excellence of our reefing arrangements. The basis of our reefing gear is I think standard Memory. We have reef combs on the boom with pennants running up through cringles for the first and second reefs. When we first acquired "Sif", sheaves were fitted in the combs (are these Bee Blocks ?) but they proved troublesome. Under tension, the reef pennants would ride off the sheaves and jam against the boom. We therefore replaced the sheaves with rollers, actually short lengths of stainless steel tubing, and have had no further problems. The second (i.e. longer) pennant is rove with a thimble spliced into the ‘roller end’ and a stopper knot at the other. The first pennant is also secured into the comb by a stopper knot, but has a thimble on a short tail spliced into its working end. (see diagram (i) : I regret I am not a John Leather and all my illustrations are therefore more diagrammatic than picturesque. Also they omit any gear which is not necessary to the attempts to understand the text !)

Beneath the boom, close to the mast, is a rope strop, seized round to provide an eye. To this is fastened a carbine hook (when I set it up, I used to refer to this as a dog lead sneck – but I understand that ‘carbine hook’ is the proper term.) spliced to the end of a line. This line leads aft to the far end of the boom, through a block attached to another carbine hook, then back to a cleat on the side of the boom. This forms a single purchase tackle. Another strop, which is seized around the reef comb to provide an eye, supports the second carbine hook when not in use by the reef pennants. With luck – anyone now bemused by this description will find clarification in diagrams (ii) and (iii) . To haul down the first reef, the aft carbine hook (i.e. the one on the block) is fastened into the thimble, which dangles from the reef pennant. "Sif" is then hoved to, with the jib aback and the mainsheet slacked off. The topping lift is set up, peak and throat halyards eased and the luff cringle lashed down. The tail of the tackle is unhitched from the cleat and hauled, bringing the leech cringle firmly down to the boom. The loose tail of the pennant is then made fast on the vacated cleat. With the boat hove to it will be found possible to tie most of the reef points. When the boom is again sheeted in, it becomes easy to complete the reefing and return the carbine hook to its strop, as in diagram (ii). On "Sif" we always keep our second reef pennant rigged. However, with the first reef down, this becomes far too long and we therefore gather the slack at the stopper knot end and secure the pennant tight against the forward end of the reef comb. The second reef is now ready for instant use. When the moment comes, the procedure is similar to that for the first reef, except that the carbine hook remains hanked to the pennant and the tail of the tackle made off on the cleat. The final move, when taking in either first or second reef, is too obvious to mention – and thus too easy to forget – adjust the halyards and loose the topping lift.

Our broad-reach sheeting arrangement is based on an article by Don Street in the Nov. 2002 edition of ‘Classic Boat’. I have always felt that the standard Memory jib sheeting position produces a rather uncomfortable alignment of sails when the main is eased. The shape of the hull is such that no greatly superior position presents itself. Don Street suggested however that the jib can be sheeted with advantage via the end of the boom. It is here that the cleverness of our reefing tackle comes into its own ! The carbine hook nearest the mast (see diagram (iii) ) is unfastened and the end of the tackle led outside the shrouds, to the clew of the jib. The jib sheets are then slacked off – and the sail itself assumes a pleasing curve, more or less parallel to the main. Fine tuning is achieved by adjusting the tail of the tackle, which is cleated to the side of the boom. The bottle neck between the luff of the main and the leech of the jib is eliminated and "Sif’s" speed increases by all of a fraction of a knot. Further, as one plays the mainsheet to exploit the vagaries of a shifting wind or a wandering course, the jib adjusts automatically.

I often have clever ideas for improving sail trim and performance. Usually it turns out that they either do not work or that everyone else has known about them for years. The same may apply to this idea, although I have not seen it on another boat. It may also be that what works with our sails of a particular age and cut may not work for your newer/older/different suit. You can however always try the idea of sheeting the jib to the boom end, with a quick lash up on a gentle day – and see how it affects your Memory.

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See salutary warning in the picture.. Certainly one full missed season and part of another with the boat out of use. There was a good boat cover and pumping out now and then but the damage that rain water can do sloshing around the mast step is there to be seen ! Then also the season’s sun on an enclosed space and you have the perfect conditions for dry rot to flourish. The hard wood mast step itself was undamaged but the way the dried out bottom foot of the mast, on lift out, crumbled away into powder was a bit of a shock. After amputation, Bill at the yard said burn it immediately ‘cos it and its spores are like a lump of the plague to any healthy softwoods around. But immediate saturation in four star external wood preservative was accepted as an alternative – temporarily for photographic purposes. Fortunately the mast on "Adrienne V" , the Salterns prototype, was about a foot longer than the norm, so if I keep quiet about it no-one will really know what I did…………….

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The Wykham Martin furling gear is nearly impossible to break. However, you should release the tension on the jib halyard when on the mooring; it can cause unnecessary strain and possible damage the ball races. Allegedly, you should always rig the drum so that it tightens up the lay of the wire when furling. I suppose you could damage the luff wire in the end – but it would take some managing with the size of wire we use nowadays. Check the stitching of the sail to the luff wire, especially if you are one of those lazy ones who leave the jib in place to rot on the mooring. (It is better to take the jib off and store it down below). Most sail makers only reckon for sails to last 10 years or so but most Memory sails (on the older boats) are only now being replaced, sometimes after 25 years ! This is quite remarkable, because the old sails are made of fairly light material and not built substantially like proper working boat sails such as we are using nowadays. And yes, I am as guilty as the rest, as I’m only just replacing the sails on "Flugel". I was astonished, having not sailed a new Memory for ages (we only get to build them, sob sob !) when we took "Sepia" down river for a quick test, to see how powerful the new sails are. So in the interest of speed, I have at last gone for a new main and jib as well. P.S. Anyone want a cheap set of old sails, no rips or tears, only 27 years old – many years of life left….etc

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And yes, Salterns were at the Beale Park show again this year, near Reading on the Thames, where little boats are gathered. Very traddy and pleasant, if the weather’s right. Greg also noted – ‘ Whilst at the Beale Park weekend this year we invaded one of Peter Burr’s ("Nilla") old haunts, the John Barleycorn Inn, when an acquaintance, Ian the local lock-keeper, came in with the actor David Suchet. The question had to be asked, as David Suchet had starred in the Agatha Christie Hercule Poirot episode (Evil under the Sun), which was filmed on Burgh Island and co-starred the Memory "Greensleeves", now owned by Roy Hart. Had David (a sailing person) seen this part of the filming, had a sail in her and how did the film company manage to damage the rudder !? Sadly the answer confirmed that all this had probably happened a month or so before or after the human stars actually arrived to do their bit. So, sorry Roy, we can’t claim that "Greensleeves" had been sailed by the authentic Hercule Poirot – but at least he did seem genuinely sorry not have seen or sailed her………….’

Greetings

Any experience of this, or advice you could pass back on how to avoid this in future?

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Just to let you know that "Susan" achieved a third place for the second year running in Class 3 of the Brixham Heritage Festival Rally and Race, which is for sailing trawlers and gaff-rigged vessels. Conditions were perfect: two laps of a five mile course. We had one reef in for the first lap to keep her under control and then as the wind dropped off a bit, we took out the reef and moved through the field to take the third place cup. "Susan" is now berthed in Brixham and loving it. Feels at home there. The photo from "Susan" (see pics. Page. Ed.) was taken approaching the first buoy. The trawler "Vigilance" was this year’s winner, built at the Upham yard 100 years ago and now been fully restored by trust shareholders and volunteers. Good that there are now three sailings a week of these working boats, in which members of the public can take part, for a very modest sum. (Recent article in Classic Boat about the ‘re-gathering up’ of all the old Brixham sailing trawlers back to their home port. Ed.)

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