Welcome to the world of the classic sailor! We are still quite new – and while we are about good seaworthy boats we are also about a traditional approach to sailing generally. That said, what kinds of boat would a classic sailor sail?
Classic sailing is most often associated with wooden boats. That covers a wide range of styles and also materials; a speed-strip built boat is often considered to be wooden and at her core she is made of inch-thick strips of timber… But she relies entirely on resin and often glassfibre as well for her strength and seaworthiness; she is really very different from a traditional carvel (smooth planked) boat and also from a clinker (planks overlapping) boat. Those two last designs of boat are often considered the true classics because there are many of each type which have lasted a long time.
A wooden boat built like that can last a long time because she is built like a great big Meccano set. If she gets rot in one place she can be taken apart just there and put back together with a new piece.
But as glassfibre boats have been getting older we see value in their longevity too. Many were built by builders who were used to the scantlings of wood, with thick hulls and heavy long, or longish fin, keels. It turns out they are pretty much indestructible in normal use. Of course they still need a lot of TLC or a proper refurbishment every so often, and they are just like wooden boats in that.
In fact I wonder if boats like that will not become more sought-after as they get older. The two things that should concern a classic sailor most are hull and rig integrity. Those heavy GRP hulls are looking very stable, sometimes 50 or so years on; wooden boats after 60 or 70 years of hard use usually benefit from a total rebuild – a point eloquently made by Robin Page about his 19th century smack Alberta in our fifth print issue.
Meeting owners of older GRP classics is a bit like meeting owners of wooden boats 30 years ago; they have an old boat they are passionate about. Chances are they got her for a bargain price and yet she works as well as her rig and sails allow. So will we therefore cover any boat? Well I must say I gulped when Peter Poland made his case for the She 36, HERE. That fin and skeg and the reverse sheer make her look awfully modern… But then I realised that my old 1953 Scarborough sloop was 36 years old when we got her, and the She design is 40 this year. The main value of boats is how their owners swear by them. In the end what you want is a boat that will look after you. If she looks good as well then that is an excellent bonus! DH

The two things that should concern a classic sailor most
are hull and rig integrity

Image: Edward Penfield’s famous World War I poster of an emancipated woman rowing in a heavy sea was conceived to encourage donations and help from volunteers in the USA’s 1918 War Work campaign. Penfield (1866-1925) is considered by many to be the father of the American Poster. His message here is clearly as much about rights (and duties) for women as it was for the war effort