We hope you like our latest issue – No4, January, which is in the shops now.
Our cover feature is sailing L’Hermione a replica French frigate whose captain we interview for a piece on living history. The ship is amazing he reports, more stable, more easy to handle and more fast than they had at first expected. It sheds new light on how things were in the 18th century when this vessel would have been state of the art technology!
We have a feature on surveying an older glassfibre classic – what can go wrong with boats like this and how to find it. It’s written by qualified surveyor Aidan Tuckett and makes interesting reading, if you don’t mind us blowing our own trumpet!
We are into restoring the old Mirror dinghy too with detailed photos and exhaustive description of the processes involved.
London Boat Show – what to do and what to see. We will be there – sharing stand F017 with Amelie Rose’s Nick Beck – who has a great illustrated feature on how to make a turn in a long keel boat in this issue.
It’s common to hear the shipping forecast referred to as poetry, which is odd but understandable given the number of words which sound like a kind of code… So we’re decoding it and offering some advice on how to interpret it.
We’re also remembering Galliopoli campaign in 1915 with a rather unusual smack once owned by a first world war hero, and we’re off to Bembridge with a cruising guide and pilotage notes.
And of course there’s lots more!
Our full Contents for January:
Eye opener – Brest Festival
Signals – Historic Ships apprentices project, plans for a new Cutty Sark to sail, Clovelly Fish Festival, Falmouth marina scheme ditched
Association News – Historical Maritime Society, Sceptre, Hurley 22, Lysander
New series: Classic Coast – Mousehole, Cornwall
Smylie’s boats – Mike Smylie on Grimsay Lobster Boats
Around the yards – Portsmouth Dockyard: IBTC moves into Boathouse 4, a big ship
for Stirling’s slip, laying up a new Contessa 32, Staley and Dolly
The Post – Your favourite GRP boat? It’s a landslide for… which one?
Andrew Bray – A sextant in one hand and Mary Blewitt in the other
Nardi’s nods – Federico Nardi’s pick of GRP classics: Sparkman & Stephens 34
Guest column: Sam Llewellyn – Hoovering up the fish and to hell with the consequences
Sisters in the Solent – Two families, two Harrison Butler yachts, a summer’s morning
and a simple passage from the Hamble to Bembridge
London Boat Show 1: What to see there – Our concise guide to the must-see stands for classic sailors
London Boat Show 2: How to survive it – Guy Venables’ guide to some of the must-miss attractions
Across the Atlantic with L’Hermione – The French frigate’s captain, above talks about her great sailing ability
Dusmarie, the smack that went back to Gallipoli – Her long-term owner served there at the age of 15 and was determined to return, but that’s only part of the story
The perilous coast – Dinghy cruiser Roger Barnes nearly loses his boat when he sails into maelstrom of wind, waves and rocks off Brittany
Pioneer’s project funding guide – The secret of successful fundraising is working out what your boat will do once you’ve restored her, says Pioneer Trust’s David Tournay
Daybreak, the liveaboard Humber Keel – To her owners she’s home; to National Historic Ships she’s a Flagship
Silverleaf and chrome plating – Scottish ancestry, Kentish build, Suffolk restoration for Chinda
Rowing: Up the Thames from Docklands to Ham – Competitive, colourful and a bit crazy: it’s the Great River Race
Practical: Decoding the Shipping forecast – Listen in on Longwave, and learn how to work out what it means
Practical: Navigation – Plotting your position
On Watch: Some things old, some things new – Tried and tested or net even on the market yet
Sailing skills: Making the turn – Get it right and you can cut your turning circle by a boat’s length
Surveying: Assessing a GRP hull – Simpler than wood, but they still have their pitfalls
Practical: Restoring a Mirror dinghy part 2 – Finishing the outside of the hull
Practical: Heaving mallets and boards – Des Pawson on the portable lever that gives you added strength
Over the Yardarm, Calendar and Next Month – Christmas spirits, diary dates for 2016 and what’s in our February issue
The last word: Artist of the Month – Janet Shearer, Cornish painter