MOST ACCURATE CARVEL EVER?
To claim that a particular boat is the ‘best carvel build’ of all time smacks of pedantry to the uninitiated, but anyone with even a passing knowledge of boatbuilding will know that it’s the equivalent of saying “best petrol-engined car ever made”, such has been carvel’s dominance in wooden boatbuilding. Of course, only time is the true judge of quality, and time will judge the 8-M yacht Starling Burgess as it judges all things, but the story of the boat’s build is one that breaks new ground in terms of accuracy. The entire boat, down to every fastening hole, has been computed in CAD and lofted full-size, with the result that Starling Burgess is symmetrical to a tolerance of 1.5mm over her entire length. What would Noah have thought of that, one wonders. Also in this issue, we have the story of the charming Brynhilde. Two years ago in the Med, her crew of three brothers saw me on the press RIB holding a camera and beckoned me over to take a shot of them recreating a pose from when they sailed the yacht as children. After restoration, she’s set to stay in the family for years to come.