N2492 Whisper

[National 12 Webmaster]

The life of N2492 Whisper.   Design: Whisper 7, designed by: Phil Morrison in 1970

Previous boat names: Whisper, Whisper Seven, prior to reverting to Whisper.

 

Whisper, YW Silver National Points Trophy & Burton Cup winning boat, Llandudno 1970, Phil Morrison.

[paul turner]

I collected N2492 yesterday from a field just north of Worcester; many years under a tarpaulin has left her as a long term restoration project. She is now safely tucked away in a barn at the farm between Smuggler (now restored) and Mr Jones (in progress) awaiting her turn in the workshop but you are talking 2013 earliest. Photos will follow.

[grazz]

Following my post of 20^th August, the two photos show Whisper about to be stacked away in a barn roof to dry out over the winter for restoration to start next year. You will see from the photos that she is in a very poor condition. A number of scarf joints in the planking are coming apart, all the fore deck joints are loose and the decking can virtually be lifted off. The rear buoyancy tank is also coming apart and the transom has rotted around the hog and there are gaps between it and the planking. Sadly this famous boat is close to being firewood but we will see what we can do!

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More photos from Paul Turner

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And a final photo

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More photos pre-renovation

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And another

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Photos from Phil Morrison

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Update from Gerry Ledger

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One more update

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in the final stages of restoration

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And the finished article in 2015

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One more to show off the varnish

[grazz]

I purchased the boat in the mid-late 90's I think around 96-97 from someone in Basingstoke as I wanted to learn to sail and was looking for a first boat. Needless to say I didn't have a clue what a National 12 was but the owner told me that he used it to teach people to sail in ( I don't think this was true but he could obviously tell I knew nothing about boats) and so I naturally thought it would be suitable and bought it. Once I realised what I'd bought I then looked up clubs that sailed 12's and ended up joining Henley Sailing Club.  I never really sailed the boat much as it wasn't really the boat for a novice and I always struggled to find a crew and so sold the boat on.

Over the next few years it passed through the hands of a couple of other HSC members but it never really got sailed much as it always leaked like a sieve, one assumes because it was originally glue together with Aerolite which was failing. Eventually the boat ended with someone who moved abroad and N2492 was abandoned in the dinghy park for a few years. Being aware of it's place in N12 development,  in around 2006 I suggested to the club committee that it should be advertised on the N12 website to see if someone would save it.  From memory no interest was shown in the boat, however after some while it was collected by Phil Pope from Severn Sailboats for a donation of £35 to club funds. I believe Phil's plan was to restore the boat and campaign her himself, though I'm guessing this never happened but it would explain how she ended up as a wreck in the Worcester area.


Attached is a photos I took of the in the Henley boat in 2006 prior to her collection by Phil Pope, as I recall the sails were by Alverbank and were in better condition than the rest of the boat!


Richard Coates

[Gareth Parker]

Whisper is now in the Norfolk Broads, sailing out of NBYC. Not racing - at least not yet - she's my singlehander while my little boys are getting around in Optimists.