Holt rowing sculls search
In my research on the history of boat building of Jack Holt, Yachting World and one of its early editors, Captain Haylock, was mentioned. I wonder if [anyone has] any information on single racing sculls built by Jack Holt?
Perhaps I am looking for a needle in a haystack, but I am hoping someone may have knowledge of his building of single sculls. It would help to verify one which has been hanging in my family’s barn for over 30 years. The boat was owned by a Mr Anthony Stout who is now many years deceased. He would have been in his 20s when he purchased it in the UK, and he supposedly rowed on the Thames. He was there when Jack Holt was a young man designing boats.
Margaret Hunter
Stability curves
First let me thank Toby Hodges for all the wonderful tests and reviews that he has (and continues!) to contribute to Yachting World. Since I’m a little older I still remember the 1979 Fastnet Race and the misfortunes of many yachts. After this race it became a custom to publish stability curves for yachts as they were tested.
These days yachts get wider and as a consequence of the added form stability, ballast gets lower. Wouldn’t it be a good idea to start publishing these stability curves again?
Mats Ohlsson
Toby Hodges replies:
Thank you for the kind words Mats. We published stability curves for every test we did (and polar diagrams) until a few years ago when we redesigned our test pages. If readers are keen to see this reintroduced, we would happily do so!