Classic Boat

Admire the world's most beautiful boats, brought to life through breath-taking photography. Classic Boat offers a unique blend of yacht reviews, seamanship and restoration features, history and design columns, practical advice and coverage of the leading international regattas and events. Whether your interest lies in working on restoration projects or sailing in classic regattas; whether you're a wooden boat owner or simply an admirer of traditional marine workmanship, Classic Boat will have something for you.

Classic Boat

Three things

Featured Contributors

THE GREAT ESCAPE • Old boats have the best stories, but few can match Tahilla’s epic tale of riches to rags and saviour to survival. We met with her owner and the builder responsible for an impressive restoration, both fully and passionately invested in this 1922 Thornycroft

Gaffers Return

Six clean sweeps

Racing and good-natured revelry

Tell Tales

A TRUE ORIGINAL • The 50ft Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter Marguerite is an easy boat to fall in love with. And she still has almost exactly the same sailplan that she originally worked with after a remarkable 133 years afloat

Saleroom

Mixing it with a serious crowd • Seeing a big, engineless lugger manoeuvre brings home how hard life must have been

FATHER & SON • Jan and Romke Loopik, two Frisians whose lives are bound together by their love of sailing and a boat they have owned for more than 50 years: the 7.10 Metre Class Sperwer

MODERN LEGEND • Next month we will sail her, first we delve into the design and build of a new Q with a backstory and pedigree few can match

NEXT LEVEL SKILLS • Giving a whole new meaning to the term passenger boat, this impressive fleet races – and manoeuvres in and out of harbours without using their engines – not only for glory but also to keep working-sail traditions alive

Overwinning: a traditional Dutch tjalk reimagined

GO WEST • Not always easy to access but definitely worth the effort, the South West’s rivers and smaller harbours are steeped in history and surrounded by charm. We select some of the best, each one offering visitor moorings and a hot shower along with services, yard facilities and village pubs nearby. Berths can be limited and yacht sizes and draughts need checking, so it pays to plan ahead.

BOAT TRANSPORT • It’s not always possible, or advisable, to sail your boat to or from far flung locations. Time, strain (both on you and the boat) and conditions are all valid reasons to use transport. We look at the market and costs during a challenging period.

Still a core skill • …or is splicing becoming a lost art?

MODERN CLASSICS • New Spirit of Tradition and traditional builds

Yard News

NEW BUILDS AND RESTORATIONS • This enterprising shipyard is on a roll delivering new yachts, both power and sail, while also giving historic vessels a new lease of life

Boatbuilder’s Notes

Traditional Tools

ROPE & KNOTS • Welcome to our new regular look at all things rope

Letters

Next month

SUMMER SALE • 6 ISSUES FOR £10

Colregs and keyboard heroes • From our social yachting forum correspondent, Captain Hardly, calling for calm in the eye of a storm of words