Hard life

It's not a hard life - it's a wonderful life. The title of this blog refers to the fact that, as a yacht surveyor, occasional boatbuilder, magazine contributor and book editor, I spend a LOT more time with boats on the hard than I do afloat! It's a reflection of that life in all its variety, from super yachts in the Med to less-than-super yachts in the mud.

Pre-purchase on a 40ft Colin Archer type

Another survey complete, this one on a timber cold-moulded Colin Archer style cutter, built in 2006, in Ipswich, Suffolk, and with surveyor friend Dan Hawkes in tow. Just like the good old days!

1 day ago1 min read

When did the cove line give way to the go-faster stripe?!

I was struck, once again, by the sober elegance of a properly painted coveline. This one is on a 1980 Kim Holman-designed Twister 28 (the GRP version of his original, wooden Twister). The boat was recently and quite comprehensively restored, and on a recent visit to sound her out our for an owner with a few to a pre-purchase survey, I found myself wondering: exactly when did off-white and dark blue hulls with painted, gold-coloured cove lines give way to toothpaste-white hull

Jan 131 min read

Ten prettiest sailing yacht ever. Number 5: the West Solent OD

The history of yachting, whether under press of the wind or turn of the screw, is frequently punctuated by stand-out designs that were originally hashed together by a committee (the Folkboat), designed by completely forgotten or one-hit-wonder yacht designers ( Grayling, Partridge and countless more) or conceived to be affordable. It seems hard to believe now, when we look at something like a West Solent Restricted One-Design (the name is not the catchiest), that it was one o

Dec 29, 20252 min read

Ten prettiest sailing yachts ever. Number six: Princess Svanevit

There has to be a Metre yacht, right? And it has to be Princess Svanevit - right?

Dec 4, 20252 min read

Classic glass: Twister 28 Mk II surveyed and ready for a new owner

It's been a busy time, completing my editing job on the new Adlard Coles title on the care and maintenance of wooden boats (more on this later), helping with the 20-year anniversary issue of the Journal of the Association of Yachting Historians, and keeping up with the good ship Classic Boat, where I'm still working about two days a week. There was time, however, to squeeze in a pre-purcahse survey of a nice, 1980-built Twister 28, which for those who don't know it, is the gl

Nov 7, 20251 min read

Ten prettiest sailing yachts ever. Seven: UandI

My last choice, the Rustler 33, was controversial, as I knew it would be. I’m equally certain that this one won’t be. The 24ft (7.4m) LOD sliding gunter yacht UandI was designed by William Fife III in and built by Hutchisons of Carrickfergus in 1897, to race on Belfast Lough. She was first found by Alastair Garland in 1995, but it wasn’t until 2011 that he decided enough was enough, and took on a rescue, with wife Mary and naval architect Paul Spooner. By that point she had

Nov 5, 20252 min read