The National 12

newsletter

...is back!!!

Number 79

January 2015

Contents

Chairman’s Report .................................................................................. 1

Editor’s Musings ..................................................................................... 2

Sweet Chariot – ‘a design for home construction’ ................................ 3

The National 12 Goes International ...................................................... 6

Burton Week 2014 ................................................................................. 8

The building of ‘Gruffalo’ N3541

from the original 1936 National 12 Uffa King design ...................... 11

Club Sailing and Bargain boats.............................................................. 16

Four Plank N 12s..................................................................................... 18

Hi-Jack..................................................................................................... 21

National 12 Vintage Fleet:

Report of 2014 Witchcraft Bailer Series............................................ 23

Vintage National Twelve Inland Championships 2014.......................... 26

Home Made T-Foils ................................................................................. 27

The 2014 Gul Travellers Series.............................................................. 29

How to Design a National 12 Using Google SketchUp ......................... 31

The Restoration of Dinsdale................................................................... 33

Regional Reports .................................................................................... 34

National 12 Newsletter

Number 79, January 2015

Front cover photograph by John Murrell. Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte Stewart lead Graham

Camm and Zoe Ballantyne at Carnac.

Printed by Automedia Limited, Prince William Road, Belton Road Industrial Park,

Loughborough, Leicestershire LE11 5GU United Kingdom

2015 The National Twelve Owners’ Association

Ed the editor tells me that it is seven years since

the last printed National 12 newsletter, in this

time the class has seen some big changes.

Winged rudders on 12s are nothing new, Jon

Ibbotson and Simon Nelson had large wings on

the tips of their rudders back in 1996 and Tom

Edom won the Burton Brick for his rather heavy

attempt in 2001. When Gavin Willis put them on

his Paradigm, it caused a stir but the Foolishes,

and derivatives of, were still the boats of choice

for most. Jo Richards changed that. Jo designed

Dead Cat Bounce with less buoyancy at the

back because the rudder does the job and

Sophie and Jo proved the design at Thorpe Bay

in 2009 with resounding success. A flurry of

DCBs were built and the interesting, bulbous

bowed v-hulled Hi-Jack followed but since those

first years building has slowed down and this is

something that we need to address.

Through this time the class has done well,

running a successful travellers series, originally

started by Amelia Hall and Geoffrey Camm in

2003, kindly sponsored first by Gill and more

recently by Gul clothing, which has rewarded the

latest boats, the non-winged boats, the non-

double bottomed boats, as well as the vintage

boats and has encouraged owners of all types

of 12 to come racing at diverse venues up and

down the land.

One of the joys of the class is the huge variety

of boats spanning more than seven decades.

The vintage wing has been super active in the

past few years as has the Admiral’s Cup

division. Paul Turner is working hard to

encourage the four plankers that bridge that gap

to get out and play. The events where we get

boats from all generations of 12 are a joy and to

further encourage this, we intend to run a pursuit

race at the Royal Harwich Yacht Club Gul Event

and a handicap race at the Northampton

summer meeting in June, so not only can the

older boats start with the newest boats they

might beat them too!

The Northampton summer weekend is not a Gul

event but is designed to be a more relaxed affair,

with race coaching from a pro coach on the

Saturday alongside coaching from our in-class

experts and on Sunday, some relaxed racing.

This should be a great opportunity for people to

try out a 12 so if you know of interested parties

this is the event to encourage them to come

along to.

One of the strengths of our class is that you can

sail and compete with relatively small crews. The

National 12 is a great way to get out on the water

with your son or daughter and sail a boat that

thrills. Seven of the fleet at the last Gul event of

the year were family teams, we hope to

encourage greater family participation in the

years to come.

So our aim is to encourage more boats on to the

water, recruit more family teams, increase class

activity and hopefully drive the class forwards.

Finally, I offer my heartfelt thanks to Ed Willett

who has driven this Newsletter from start to

finish. Ed, who many of you might not have met,

also produced the mighty 2000 Handbook.

Thank you.

Tom Stewart

Chairman Tom Stewart with Andrea Ralph at

Pevensey Bay SC. (Fotoboat)

Chairman’s Report

The creation of this edition of the Newsletter prompted me to reflect on the

various publications the Owners’ Association has created over the decades.

The first edition of the Newsletter was actually published way back in July

1962, some four months before I was born! Looking back at issue #1 it is

interesting to reflect on its opening sentence…”We never know what is

going on in the 12 Foot Class…” and “so we hope to send out some news

three or four times a year”! Amen to that!

The Newsletter was then published in A5 format for the next 46 years with

two issues a year until 1994, and then a single annual issue until #78 which

was published in January 2008, when it quietly ceased publication…until now!

Despite the Newsletter first appearing some 52 years ago, it is not in fact

the longest running N12 Class publication. That distinction belongs to the

Annual Yearbook which was first published in 1950 with its stated objective

being to maintain a record of trophy winners and dinghies built…

By the late 1960’s the volume of information contained in the Yearbook had

become considerable and the Committee took the decision to limit content

to recent information only and commit the permanent records to a volume

which would be published at more appropriate intervals…thus giving birth to

the Association Handbook that first appeared in 1972 with the current sixth

edition having been printed in 2010. Looking back at Robin Steavenson’s

wonderful book “The Story of the National Twelves” published in 1966 I

wonder if that set the template that created the Association Handbook.

As the Newsletter publication reduced to a single annual issue in 1994 a

new newsheet was produced alongside the Newsletter – named “Ratchet”

it aimed to provide topical and current news with a degree of humour 3 or

4 times a year. The July 1993 issue was numbered #1 in perhaps an early

attempt at humour just 2 months after the first copy of the “New Ratchet”

had been published! However in fact the first editions of “Ratchet” were

actually produced in the 1980’s with a run of four in 1986/87, followed then

in 1992 by a re-introduction (returned by un-popular demand said the title)

called “Ratchet II”. Notwithstanding when it was actually first published or

how many were actually produced “Ratchet” ran until the Summer 2007

edition (numbered 48) over the years becoming a substantive magazine in

its own right when it too went quietly out of production…a victim of simply

not enough volunteers being able to assist in production. One final edition

of Ratchet appeared in digital format in September 2007 before it was re-

incarnated as “The Latest Chapter” in December 2007 - a new monthly

electronic newsletter that was emailed to those on the N12 e-mail list,

continuing to this day as time and copy has demanded.

So, at the time of writing we have been without a paper Newsletter/

magazine for some seven years and I for one have missed the winter “fix”

of having a N12 journal to read and digest as I look forward to the new

season, so volunteered to take the helm and re-introduce the Newsletter

with the production of this, the 79th edition!

Of course none of this would be possible without the support and help of

all those on the Committee and those who have contributed articles and

photographs…my sincere thanks to you all!

Special thanks to Michael Brookman and Christian Day without whose

support and encouragement this probably wouldn’t have got off the ground!

Feedback, comments, suggestions for next time to edwillett50@gmail.com

Ed Willett

Editor’s Musings

Sweet Chariot is designed for home construction

using a ‘one plank per side’ approach which

importantly can be rapidly as well as easily

built.

The development of Sweet Chariot represented

unfinished business from the 1970’s and my

previous N12 design N2882 Hustler (see N12

Newsletter No. 29 January 1976)

As a 4-planker Hustler was also conceived for

home construction involving a central ‘t-beam’

utilising the centre board box as part of the web

to which a long tapering flat floor plank was

attached. Around this spine the rest of the hull

was constructed using sub-frames.

This design however coincided with a ‘step-

change’ in N12 development during the

transition to round bilge moulded hulls.

Consequently the ‘idea’ of a hull for ease of

home construction was not further pursued by

me until some 35 years later.

The reasons for further pursuing this idea were

essentially:

1. My recent work on a ‘one plank per side’

construction approach.

2. Improved cost ‘gearing’ between home build

in plywood v production moulded.

It was my teenage daughter who encouraged

me to take up my drawing pens again to help

design a simple boat that she could build at

school as part of her Design Technology ‘O-

Level’. This brought me into the world of ‘one

plank per side’ construction using darts and

stitch and tape to form the hull shape.

Initially for simplicity I investigated double-ended

craft and identified a generic configuration

involving two contra-curving ‘darts’ based on two

types of bow. In one the chine intersects the

stem and in the other the chine intersects the

gunwale (e.g. Seafly/ Mirror 16). When these

were married in the same double-ended design,

the chines thus formed did not intersect and

instead created the ‘z’ outline within each side

panel. The closing of these ‘darts’ formed a

strong frameless hull-shell.

Sweet Chariot

– ‘a design for home construction’

Sweet Chariot underside view of hull shape.

(Colin Cumming)

Sweet Chariot beating. (Colin Cumming)

Sweet Chariot centre board case fabrication and

floor structure. (Fyne Boat Kits)

Using this approach (now patented) I further

developed the idea into a template for transom

craft. Initially this formed the basis for a

lightweight 15 foot racing dinghy able to be

constructed from four sheets of plywood and

weighing less than 95kg,

Panther as she was known proved to be

competitive in club competition in two sail format

gaining a PY of 1056 (faster than her peer

group). Despite this initial success, Panther

proved a bit too large for ease of home

construction in a typical household garage (15

foot long & 7 foot wide). Fyne Boats of Kendal

conducted an evaluation and concluded that

although Panther was a very effective craft, the

curved bow tended to give the design a

somewhat dated look.

The development issue now became that of the

formation of a vertical bow. Without a garboard

plank this can prove hard to construct without

significant torturing of the ‘one plank a side’

configuration.

The ‘light-bulb’ moment came when I

remembered my earlier approach to the

construction of Hustler. The introduction of the

‘t-beam’ spine and arranging for the forward

chine to intersect the foot of the stem enabled a

vertical bow to be easily formed without inducing

double curvature. Thus Sweet Chariot was born.

From the outset Sweet Chariot looked good on

the water, with its severe chine lines in stark

contrast to the rounded lines of the modern

production hull.

Sweet Chariot has been tried by a number of

helms in a variety of situations and has proved

to be an effective and forgiving club racer. Like

Hustler however this design was also developed

at a time of a step change in the class with the

advent of foiling rudders.

The lift produced by foiling rudders allows for

more vee’d rear sections and in the case of

Sweet Chariot would if adopted lead to a

narrowing of the central plank in order to

optimise performance.

Although Sweet Chariot’s construction is based

on a ‘one plank a side’ concept, it is technically

a late 4-planker (3 planks form bow section, four

planks form mid-section and 3 planks form stern

section but one of which is not the same as the

bow). In this context I would not adapt the design

Sweet Chariot decks installation. (Fyne Boat Kits)

Sweet Chariot during construction. (Fyne Boat Kits)

Sweet Chariot from above. (Fyne Boat Kits)

Sweet Chariot internals. (Fyne Boat Kits)

for a foiling rudder but instead tend to dispense

with the double floor which would further simplify

her construction. But what would be her

allocated rating in this format?

The reasoning behind Sweet Chariot has been

driven by cost considerations. A scratch build

hull can be built for significantly less than £2,000

incl. finishes (Fyne Boat Kits offer a kit for

around £2,300 excl. finishes). To this has to be

added the cost of rigging, sails and foils at

around £2,000 (depending on specification).

This brings the entire project to around £4,000

(taking account of ancillaries), a gearing of

about 1:2.5 over production craft.

This however still represents a significant

investment as compared to purchasing a good

second hand craft. Availability then becomes the

issue and this in turn is related to popularity. At

the current rate of increase in new registered

numbers I am under no illusion as to worth of

this idea. The real question perhaps being…’Is

there any real interest in home construction as

a means to create value, based on the inputs of

the individual?’

Colin. N. Cumming October 2014

The precision of the kit from Fyne Boat Kits

makes building Sweet Chariot more about

assembly rather than boat building. The kit is

aimed at the amateur level or novice builder with

little experience. Fyne Boat Kits also back up

their kits with telephone and email technical

support, so should the need arise help is at

hand.

Fyne Boat Kits was established in 1998, located

in the Lake District and manufacture build

yourself boat kits and ready built boats. They

build to order and you can even take a boat

building holiday and build under their

supervision.

Website: www.fyneboatkits.co.uk

Sweet Chariot on the run. (Colin Cumming)

Sweet Chariot side view of hull. (Fyne Boat Kits)

The predecessor of Sweet Chariot, Colin Cumming

with N2882 - Hustler. (Colin Cumming)

The National 12 class took to international

waters as a fleet over the May bank holiday

weekend 2014 at Carnac Yacht Club in Brittany,

France. Remarkably the fleet of 12s were joined

by French sailors, Pauline and Jean Marie

Luthringer all the way from Paris, making the

fleet truly international.

On the water after an inter-class handicap event

on the Saturday (with some incredible reaches),

the shifty conditions on the Sunday left Graham

and Zoe Camm with two bullets after pulling

back to lead from Jon Ibbotson and Charlotte

Stewart. As the breeze increased on the

Monday, John and son, Oliver Meadowcroft (who

were sailing first time on the sea together!) hiked

out the beat to make it first to the windward mark

in both races, but once again the Camms pulled

their way back into pole position on the runs to

take the win.

3526 and 3477

gybemark action.

Neal and Freya

Lillywhite.

It all looked wrapped up for the Camms on the

final day, but the battle was on for second with

John and Oliver doing everything they could to

keep Jon and Charlotte behind them. However,

Jon and Charlotte led from the start of the final

race to take second.

A special well done goes to 12 crews Oliver

Meadowcroft and Freya Lillywhite who were the

youngest competitors at the event! Now let’s

hear from Freya …

A crew’s view of the event…

by Freya Lillywhite (aged 10)

On Saturday 24th of May the Carnac Regatta

started. The classes which took part were Larks,

Merlin Rockets, Enterprises, Scorpions and

National 12s.The first race was its fun handicap

race which got everyone wet without capsizing.

What I liked most about the Regatta was how

Graham and Zoe.

The National 12

by Sophie Day and Freya Lillywhite

(Photos by John Murrell)

friendly the race team and staff were and the

weather (as we heard reports from England of

bad weather). One of the social events was the

challenging three legged race which was funny

because adults would get a glass of wine at

every stop and children would get lemonade (5

stops in total).

After the race the prize giving started followed

by a Super Buffet! During the Super Buffet there

was football match - Meadowcrofts VS Stewarts

and Lillywhites.

Meadowcrofts 9

Lillywhites and Stewarts 7

The food at the Yacht club was excellent! The

super Buffet included langoustines, salmon,

sandwiches and cake. Things I liked: the food,

the staff and the race team, the course, the

social events, the weather.

A massive thanks from the National 12s goes to

Tom Jeffcoate for making the event a great

success and the team at Carnac Yacht Club

along with sponsors GJW Direct.

Overall Results

1st N3530 Graham

and Zoe Camm

2nd N3540 Jon Ibbotson

and Charlotte Stewart

3rd N3543 John and

Oliver Meadowcroft

First Admiral’s Cup Neal and

N3271 Freya Lillywhite

Jon and Charlotte

at speed.

Goes International

John and Ollie

Meadowcroft.

Breezy and shift conditions greeted the sailors

on day 1. Tom Stewart and Andrea Ralph in

N3544 started off well taking the lead from

William Warren and Sophie Mackley in N3519

at the end of the run on lap 2. However, by

missing the shortened course flag they let

William and Sophie back in to take the bullet.

Jeremy Hartley and son Luke were flying down

the reaches in N3474 to be the first non-foiling

boat and the vintage fleet were also out in force

with Brian Kitching and Olivia Stodieck crossing

the line first in N1657.

Burton Week 2014

By Sophie Day and Tom Stewart

(All photos by Fotoboat)

Race 2 saw Tom and Andrea make up for their

earlier mistake and firmly finish in front. First

non-foiler and first Admiral’s Cup boat was Matt

Reid and Emily Fardell impressively sailing their

Freak Out design, N3404 through the waves.

Brian and Olivia also continued to extend their

lead over the vintage fleet coming in again as

first vintage boat.

On day 2 normality seemed to have returned for

race 1 when Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne

in N3530 led from the front to finish in first.

Second place was tightly contested between

The National 12 fleet were warmly welcomed back to Pevensey Bay Sailing Club over

the 2014 August Bank Holiday to find out who would emerge national champion of

the fleet. Not only was the welcome warm from the club but also, unsually for a bank

holiday weekend, competitors were welcomed by glorious sunshine.

John and Ollie Meadowcroft In N3543 and

previous race winners, Tom and Andrea. Ollie,

one of the youngest crews in the

championships, aged 10, said that “The wind

was great – we could really concentrate on the

race and bring out all of our tactics. I was

surprised how well we did down the run and

overall I really enjoyed it!”

First non-foilers were Sam Mettam and Emma

Hivey coming 10th in their Numinous, N3492. In

the vintage fleet Alex Pausey and Jacques

Hunter in their Mark 8, N1777 stormed up the

first beat only to eventually to lose out to Brian

and Olivia, who also won the vintage fleet in the

second race of the day. In the Admiral’s Cup

fleet Matt and Emily put in another impressive

performance in both races in their Freak Out to

extend their lead in that fleet.

Race 2 on day 2 saw the fleet split; it was clear

half way in to the beat that the right hand side

was paying with Geoff and Amelia Camm in

N3515, nearly reaching the beach for an ice-

cream, but then rounding the windward mark in

first, with Christian and Sophie Day in N3526

following in second. Christian and Sophie were

eventually overhauled by Tom and Andrea who

won the race.

Alex Pausey and Jacques Hunter 2nd in both the

Shotgun Trophy and Corrigan Cup sailing N1777.

Brian Kitching and Olivia Stodieck winners of the

Shotgun Trophy in N1657.

After stormy Monday, which saw no racing the

2014 the GUL National 12 Championships 2014,

concluded on Tuesday with the Burton Cup. The

traditional 4 laps and a beat of a triangular

course with one mile legs for the Sir William

Burton Cup Race were carefully set by the race

officer, but as the start gun went, the wind shifted

right by 40 degrees and after a pause for thought

the race was abandoned to be restarted.

followed by a run and then a tight reach. Multiple

Burton Cup winners Graham Camm and Zoe

Ballantyne began to charge. They stormed down

the reach climbing to third and looked like a good

bet to catch the leaders.

A few rain showers and wind prayers later the

race eventually started. Out of the gloom, Tom

Stewart and Andrea Ralph arrived at the first

mark with Steve and Joanne Sallis in N3531 hot

on their transom. The pair of boats duelled for

two laps with Tom and Andrea covering hard to

gain enough ground up wind to survive the Sallis

team’s superior downwind speed. On the third

lap, the wind began to swing back to a more

northerly direction giving the fleet a fetch

The Burton Cup and GUL National

Championship Conclusion…

Tom and Andrea enjoyed the reset course and

pulled out a comfortable lead, Graham and Zoe

got past the Sallis team to finish an epic if not a

classic Burton Cup race in that order. The

leading non winged rudder boat was Nigel and

Chris White who revelled in the lighter

conditions. The top Admiral’s Cup (non double

floor) boat was Matt Reid and Emily Fardell who

finished 11th.

Matt Reid and Emily Fardell winners of the

Admiral’s Cup in N3404.

Overall winners of the YW Points Trophy and

Burton Cup, Tom Stewart and Andrea Ralph lead

John and Ollie Meadowcroft in N3543 (4th overall)

into the gybe mark.

Marcus and Douglas Wheel winners of the Clinker

Trophy (for amateur built boats) in N3503.

Steve and Joanne Sallis, 2nd overall in the YW

Points Trophy in N3531.

Position Sail Boat Name Helm Crew Club Boat Design Points

Number

1 3544 Whitebait Tom Stewart Andrea Ralph Northampton Dead Cat 5

SC Bounce

2 3531 Catbert Steve Sallis Joanne Sallis Hykeham SC Dead Cat 11

Bounce

3 3530 Very Hungry Graham Camm Zoe Ballantyne Burghfield SC Dead Cat 12

Caterpillar Bounce

4 3543 D. B. Cooper John Meadowcroft Ollie Meadowcroft Upper Thames Hijack 16

5 3519 Dead Cat William Warren Sophie Mackley Shoreham SC Dead Cat 18

Bounce Bounce

6 3527 Snagglepuss Kevin Iles Pip Jefferies Thorpe Bay YC Dead Cat 23

Bounce

Overall Results: Yachting World Silver National Points Trophy

Position Sail Boat Name Helm Crew Club Boat Design

Number

1 3544 Whitebait Tom Stewart Andrea Ralph Northampton SC Dead Cat Bounce

2 3530 Very Hungry Graham Camm Zoe Ballantyne Burghfield SC Dead Cat Bounce

Caterpillar

3 3531 Catbert Steve Sallis Joanne Sallis Hykeham SC Dead Cat Bounce

4 3543 D. B. Cooper John Meadowcroft Ollie Meadowcroft Upper Thames SC Hijack

5 3445 Capriccio Nigel White Chris White Burghfield SC Final Chapter

6 3519 Dead Cat William Warren Sophie Mackley Shoreham SC Dead Cat Bounce

Bounce

Overall Results: Sir William Burton Cup

3445 Capriccio Nigel White Chris White Burghfield SC Final Chapter

1st Non winged rudder

3404 Squirt Matt Reid Emily Fardell Spinnaker Club Freak Out

1st Admiral’s Cup (boat built before 1st Jan 1997)

3503 The Glass Bead Game Marcus Wheel Douglas Wheel Loch Lomond SC Wild Front Ear

1st Clinker Trophy (amateur built boats)

1657 Just Lucky Brian Kitching Olivia Stodieck Chew valley SC Chimp

1st Shotgun Trophy (vintage boats)

‘Gruffalo’ is a new National 12 but one that has

been constructed using traditional boat-building

techniques to the original 1936 ‘Uffa King’ design

by the legendary Uffa Fox.

I started work on her construction in June 2011,

while I was a student at the International

Boatbuilding Training College in Oulton Broad. My

original intention was just to loft the lines of her hull,

but as her shape developed on the lofting floor it

seemed only right that I should carry through the

process and actually build her, for the challenges

of constructing a traditional clinker or lapstrake hull

in this age of epoxy, plywood and plastic are the

ultimate test of one’s skill, patience and

understanding.

Two years later in March 2013, almost complete

and with her hollow wooden spars freshly

varnished and rigged, she was on display at the

RYA Dinghy Show at Alexandra Palace alongside

the very latest National 12 design - N3543 ‘DB

Cooper’ designed by Dave Hollom for John

Meadowcroft.

To be strictly accurate – I had only managed to fit

in a further six weeks work on the hull since

returning from College in February 2012, having

been busy trying to earn a living repairing other

people’s boats, building complicated oak

staircases, fitted cupboards and a host of other

bespoke carpentry jobs for a variety of customers.

Now it’s surprising how much pre-work there is to

do before you can start building proper – once

lofting is complete i.e. drawing out the boat full size

on the lofting floor in plan, side view and end view.

These drawings are then used to create templates

for the major components eg the centreboard case,

the keel and hog and so on. They also provide the

shape of the station moulds which represent the

shape of the cross-section of the hull at various

points (or stations) along its length.

Armed with these, one can start to set up the

framework on which the boat is built. In this pic of

‘Gruffalo’ in the early stages of the build, see how

the frame (or strongback) has been cut to match

the curve or ‘rocker’ of the oak keel which has

already been steamed into shape. Note also the

station moulds and attached to them, the ribbands

– thin strips of wood positioned to represent the

position of the planks. For the first time you can

begin to get an idea of how the finished hull will

look.

With the backbone all set up and levelled – keel

and hog in position with the stem attached (at the

front) and transom (at the back), planking can

begin. Unlike laying floorboards or putting up a

The building of ‘Gruffalo’ N3541

from the original 1936 National 12 Uffa King design

fence – planking a clinker built boat is much more

complicated and time consuming.

Each pair (port and stbd) is uniquely shaped - most

like a banana, curved and wider in the middle and

narrower at the ends, so that once they are bent

around the station moulds they create the shape

of the hull. Where the planks overlap or land on

one another – the ‘lands’, the top edge of each one

has to be bevelled to allow the overlapping plank

to sit tightly against it. As no glue is used – only

varnish, this fit has to be extremely good or the

boat will sink. As each plank is fitted it is riveted

along its length to the one below it using small

copper boat-nails and roves as mechanical

fastenings in a process known as ‘roving’.

After drilling a pilot hole, a boat-nail is driven

through both planks, then a rove (like a domed

washer) is driven down the nail which holds the two

planks together. Finally, the excess nail is cut off

and the remaining few millimetres are peined over

with a hammer to create a rivet head – this process,

if done properly, should pull the planks very tightly

together. There are over 1500 rivets in ‘Gruffalo’

so there is plenty of opportunity for practice!

See picture of nailing up in progress on previous

page – note the specially made, traditional wooden

clamps and wedges used to pinch the planks

together at the ‘land’.

the nail a heavy steel weight – or ‘dolly’, is held

close to the pilot hole to prevent the planking

from bouncing.

2. When the rove is driven down the nail, using a

hollow roving tool, the ‘dolly’ is held against the

head of the nail to prevent it from being pushed

back through the planking. Care must be taken

not to drive the rove down too far, or it will crush

the wood. The hole in the rove is slightly smaller

than the nail itself, so it grips the soft copper

shank of the nail when driven down onto it.

Photo 2:

1. The nail is nipped off above the rove using

special flat cutters to leave a clean, chisel like

finish. The amount of nail left above the rove

is roughly equal to the cross section of the nail

itself, which should provide just the right amount

of material to create the rivet head.

Photo 3:

1. With the dolly in place against the head of the

nail, a ball-peined hammer (one with a

hemispherical head) is used to flatten out the

small stump of copper nail into a rivet head,

which spreads out over the rove and locks it in

place.

2. The process of doing this also pulls the two

components tightly together.

‘Roving up’ as it’s known, can be done single-

handedly if both sides of the operation are

accessible. However, sometimes a second pair of

hands is required. In this case, the person holding

the backing weight is sometimes known as the

‘dolly molly’. Carmen, my then fourteen-year old

daughter, took on that role and did very well. It’s

not much fun lying on your back under a boat trying

to hold a very heavy weight in place over a small

nail head – not just once, but many times.

And here is a picture of her hull fully planked and

varnished with the centreboard case already fitted.

After planking up is completed, the station moulds

are removed to be replaced by stretchers running

from port to starboard at each station.. These

maintain the width of the hull along the line of the

sheer strake (the top plank). However, because the

narrow, riveted planks are not strong enough on

their own to hold the shape of the hull, a process

known as ‘timbering out’ – steaming in the oak ribs

approximately 7” apart along the length of the hull,

must be carried out. It is these ribs, or ‘timbers’ as

they are known in larger clinker built vessels, that

will help to maintain the hull’s shape once they too

are riveted into place.

Earlier I briefly described the riveting up process –

here is a fuller description with some photographs

to show how it’s done:

Copper boat nails and roves are available in various

sizes and this same process is used not only to join

planking, but to hold together many other key

components of a wooden boat – both large and

small, without glue. (See section on fitting out)

Photo 1:

1. The boat nail has been driven through the

planking and a rove has been driven down the

point to meet the timber surface. When driving

Note: The builders of the elegant, clinker built,

Thames Rowing skiffs in the 1920’s and 30’s used

to check the roving-up work done by their

apprentices by using the ‘stocking test’. If a lady’s

stocking snagged when passed over a rivet head

then the work was not good enough. Hopefully,

most of the fastenings in ‘Gruffalo’ would pass that

test – but, despite having had the company several

excellent female crews, I have yet to find one who

sails in stockings to check them out.

Timbering out

This describes the next part of the build process

and involves the fitting of the timbers (sometimes

known as ‘ribs’ in small dinghies, or ‘frames’ in

larger boats), into the planked hull, to help maintain

its shape and give it strength.

The ribs in ‘Gruffalo’ are small in section – approx

¾” by 5/8” and run transversely over the inner

surface of the planking from one side to the other,

where they are riveted into place. But what they

lack in size they make up for in number. There are

nineteen altogether over the length of the boat. The

majority, where the long 8ft centreboard case runs

along the hog, are fitted in two pieces.

You will see in the picture the horizontal stretchers

that have been fitted across the hull where the

station moulds used to be located. These ensure

that the hull shape is maintained during the

timbering out process. Without them the hull might

splay out and lose shape – not a good idea when

the finished boat has to be subjected to careful

scrutiny to make sure it meets the National 12

Class measurement criteria.

Steam Bending

Ideally, the ribs should be cut from straight-grained

green oak – timber that is not yet fully dried or

‘seasoned’. The retention of some of the moisture

in the wood makes it more flexible. However, some

of the curves required mean that the wood must

also be steamed in order for the ribs to be bent into

place without breaking.

Timber that has already been air-dried can also be

successfully ‘steam bent’, but it should not be

attempted with kiln-dried material – where the

water in the wood has been rapidly extracted using

ovens and high temperatures. Invariably such

timber splits when being bent into place and, even

worse, can be prone to breakage once fastened in

place, often some time later.

In this picture is a very simple steamer made from

a piece of heavy- duty plastic piping. A number of

wooden rods pass through the pipe on which the

timber lies suspending in the hot steam provided

by a wall-paper stripper. Note how the piping has

bent from the heat of the steam!!

It is the heat, not the moisture, which causes the

oak ribs to soften and become pliable (like rubber),

so that they can be bent without splitting or

breaking – but they have to be fitted quickly while

they are still hot – within 10 seconds of them

coming out of the steamer if possible - even sooner

in very cold weather.

Once in place they are bent into place then

clamped at the ‘sheerstrake’ (top plank) and nailed

to the planking at the ‘lands’ where the planks

overlap and allowed to cool down, whereupon they

will regain most of their original strength and retain

their new shape – brilliant! In some areas of the

hull, especially where the ribs cross the hog at the

centre of the boat, it is not possible to bend the

timber right down to the planking so special

wedges must be cut and fitted to bridge the gaps

and through which the boat nails are driven, uniting

the planking, the wedge and the rib (see pic).

Fitting Out

With the timbers (ribs) in place, we can now move

on to fit the final components to strengthen and

maintain the shape and rigidity of the hull.

Stringers – Lengths of straight-grained oak approx

1” x ¾”running almost the full-length on both the

port and starboard sides of the dinghy following

one of the ‘waterlines’. They are clamped then

copper riveted through both the planking and the

ribs. Ideally these should be bent in un-steamed,

giving the sides of the hull additional strength and

resistance to inward compression.

They also form a bearer for the ends of the ‘centre

thwart’ – the seat in the centre of the dinghy. Note

the countersinking for the rove and peined rivet

head. The copper rivet is a heavier gauge than that

used for the planking

Inwales and Outwales (or gunwales) Further

lengths of oak sandwiching the top of the timbers

and the ‘sheerstrake’ – the top plank, on each side.

Again cold-bent if possible, they give shape,

strength and resistance to compression at the top

of the hull like giant springs. Through-riveted with

oak spacers in between the ribs to prevent

compression and splitting of the timber. Both the

inwales and stringers can be shaped and sanded

before fitting. The final shaping and tapering of the

outwale is carried out once fitting and fastening is

completed. (See pic of hull with stringers, inwales

and outwales fitted)

Knees (grown oak) These are essentially wooden

brackets that, when fastened in place, lock the key

parts of the hull together. The first to be fitted were

the vertical stem and transom knees that were fixed

in place when the backbone was installed.

Next, horizontal ‘quarter

knees’ at the stern are

added which hold the

transom and the hull

together at deck level.

At the bow the

‘breasthook’ – a special

type of horizontal knee,

ties together the stem

with the inwales and outwales, again at deck level.

Further ‘standing knees’ are placed vertically to

support and lock the ends of the thwart in place.

All these components are cut from solid oak, the

aim being to choose material whose grain follows

the curve of the knee, providing extra strength to

the joint. All are copper riveted into place with

various diameters of copper nails and roves to suit

the thickness of the material and the likely loading.

Mast Clamps and Thwarts

In the following picture the oak mast clamps are

fixed horizontally to the inwales in the region of the

mast position and add additional support and

strength in this area.

They also provide support for the mahogany

forward thwart and mast gate which, in the Uffa

King, is at deck level. Vertical support to this

assembly is provided by a bespoke, wishbone-

style, split oak kingpost. Underneath this thwart

was also fitted a ‘mighty screw’ which allows

control of fore and aft mast-bend at mast-gate

level. The main thwart is also mahogany and is

fastened centrally to the centreboard case and to

the hull by four standing knees which themselves

are through-riveted to both the thwart, the planking

and the outwale/inwale.

This completed the process of fitting out the bare

hull of ‘Gruffalo’ which, after careful sanding, was

finished using the Deks Olje D1 and D2 system.

Her minimal fittings and equipment were then

attached –

1. Stem-head fitting for the painter, forestay and

jib at the bow

2. Shroud plates (ss) – for attachment of the

shrouds which support the mast

3. Traditional round-section, brass mainsheet

horse

4. Transom gudgeon and pintle

5. Keel-band – convex brass strip to protect the

wooden keel from abrasion

6. Floorboards, buoyancy bags, centreboard,

rudder and rig (mast and boom)

7. Elvstrom ‘mini’ bailers

8. Blocks and cordage for the cascade kicker

system and the ‘Mighty Screw’ mast bend

control.

In the next Newsletter, I will describe in detail how

the hollow 21ft Sitka spruce mast and boom were

made and how her laminated rudder and special

centreboard were constructed.

Tim Gatti

Information

N3541 ‘Gruffalo’ built 2011-2013

Design: Uffa King – the first National 12 design

Launched June 2013 and first raced at the N12

Vintage Inland Championships that year when she

won a Derwent Pursuit Race – her first competitive

race.

Materials

Keel, hog, timbers and all knees– English oak

Inwales, outwales, kingpost and mast clamps –

American white oak

Planking – Sitka spruce with sheer strake in African

mahogany – khaya

Centreboard case – African mahogany - utile

Thwarts and transom – rare Cuban mahogany

reclaimed from an old bedstead

Rudder – marine ply and mahogany stock, red and

yellow cedar laminated foil

Spars – hollow mast and boom constructed with

selected Sitka spruce

Spars and part-laminated stem glued with

Resorcinol – all other components riveted and

varnish fitted

All hull fixings copper or silicon bronze (but with

marine grade stainless steel used for stainless

steel fittings on boom, mast, stem and rudder

assembly.)

Tim Gatti (above) with Gill Bilton – is a long-

standing NTOA member, professional boat builder

and repairer and owner of ‘Gruffalo’, along with five

other vintage National 12’s. He is currently

restoring a ‘Tigress’, built by Bob Hoare in 1980,

along with a 1973 four-planker ‘Sting’ N2701

belonging to the Editor (!) and the original ‘Mr

Jones’ N2399 from the Paul Turner ‘First Edition’

collection.

Email: tim@smallboatcraft.co.uk

Mob: 07944 500749

Club Sailing and Bargain Boats

One of the joys of being a National Twelve

enthusiast is that the Class offers something for

everyone regardless almost of budget, age and

to some degree even levels of fitness! I write

this at the end of my 60th active season in

Twelves including my crewing years.

As a Yorkshire bloke I have a particular liking for

the low cost of owning and sailing a competitive

club level boat that can also be used on the

open meeting circuits and for me an AC (single

bottomed) Twelve and/or a Vintage Twelve

(Clinker construction ribbed or glued) is the

perfect answer.

Good single bottomed Twelves can be bought

for anything from a few hundred pounds up to

around £1200 depending on condition and

equipment levels etc. At our club reasonable

boats have changed hands for circa £300 and in

some cases included combi trailers and have

been in ready to race condition although

improvements can always be made it is a very

cheap route into sailing. Yes caution is required

with purchasing any used kit and the condition

of sails etc. is crucial as a new suit can easily

cost more than the boat but again most things

are available second hand via the Class website,

club notice boards, magazines and eBay etc .

My most recent purchase was a Gerry Ledger

built Crusader 88 that cost me less than £1200

but it came fully refurbished by Paintcraft having

been epoxy coated and spray paint/varnished, it

has a carbon mast, boom, dangly pole all in new

PnB bags as is the Winder rudder and stock.

Included was a lightly used under cover, a new

over cover, new/unused sails and a serviceable

combi trailer. Basically ready to race and she will

be next season! My only concern is that she

looks too good to use almost and really is in the

as new condition described by her previous

owner.

It is true that these boats will not keep pace with

the latest boats with double floors and winged

rudders on open water but they are in my view

more comfortable to sail and on the more

restricted waters can be very competitive and

at less than 10% of the cost of a new boat

incredible value. In general Design Eights (GRP

ones) are a little more expensive than the

wooden boats and at the other end of the scale

the four planked boats are generally less money

but many of these can be very quick in the right

conditions. Most open meetings have prizes for

the AC and Vintage boats as well as the overall

winners and Vintage and Four planked boats

even have their own open meeting series.

Beautiful bargain boat. (Howard Chadwick)

If you are looking for a fun, club competitive boat

the guide to designs on the website is well worth

checking to find out which designs are best for

your weight and local sailing conditions etc. If

in doubt ask your own club expert to view a

prospective purchase with you or check out the

extensive advice already posted in the

discussion pages of the website there are very

few questions that have not already been asked

and answered. In many cases the boat’s history

will also be recorded on the website as well, just

search on the boat number.

For club racing the Class provides age related

handicap figures which clubs may elect to use

making the older boats very competitive indeed,

although it is important to check with your own

club as not every club elects to use the age

related figures.

For those of us who like the more traditional

boats, Vintage (Clinker Built) also offer excellent

value with the added bonus of having a

dedicated open meeting series as well as being

able to compete in all open meetings including

the National Championships again with specific

trophies and prizes. Vintage Twelves are often

available for just a few hundred pounds although

again care is required when purchasing as these

boats are generally at least forty years old and

were built before the days of epoxy glues. For

those who want a project there are boats around

for almost nothing or even from time to time “free

to a good home” as many of us older Twelve

sailors just want our boats to be passed on and

used and it is more important that the boat goes

to a good home.

Whatever National Twelve you own a key benefit

is the Class Association which provides a wealth

of knowledge and information and the people

who are members and enthusiasts who will help

new owners to quickly get to grips with any new

boat and it doesn’t matter if you have the latest

boat or the oldest boat the support, help and the

friendship of other Class members is just

amazing! I guess that’s why I still have a small

fleet of four boats and all of them are used even

though it is now sixty years since I first started

sailing and crewing for my father in N427.

Howard Chadwick

N2266, N2687, N3347 and N3356

Internal view of N3347. (Howard Chadwick)

Four Plank N12s

Where are all those four plankers? There must

have been 250 of them? Back in the 1970’s I recall

selling my clinker China Doll N2524 “Ethelred” and

proudly taking to the water in a David Mathews’

designed and built “Aftermath 2” N2808 “Wild Oats”

– it had no transom flaps (“I’m never going to

capsize it’s so stable” – famous last words!) and as

it was brightly coloured, it rapidly become known

as the “Yellow Submarine”! Its nose down

idiosyncrasies and disintegrating plywood meant

an early sale. The next four planker was a Cheshire

Cat N2810 “Cat’s Whisker” which was soon re-

named “Pampered Pussy”. (Thinks – should I

mention that the wife’s name is “Pam”?) I hated

that boat. Whenever I sailed against Nick Gill he

always got past us in his Cat (usually with a smug

grin across his little face). It was sold to buy a boiler

at our new house, and that was the end of N12

sailing for me for many years.

Returning to sailing in the Naughties, I was amazed

at how the N12s had moved on; but where were

the Four Plankers? Whilst collecting clinker boats,

I briefly had Warwick Groves’ 4 plank China Doll

N2989 to play with before finding her a new home

- and then in the Midland Area, the likes of John

Sears in “Punkawallah” and Tom White in the Ken

Goddard built “Le Shed” (China Doll) made me

wonder if there wasn’t still more fun to be had from

this forgotten bunch of boats, especially as they

are now very cheap to buy (and repair). And so I

persuaded Jim Hunt and Andy Davis of HD Sails

to sponsor a mini-series this year to see if we could

dig out some of the old four plank boats. The

reports of Ely, Trent Valley and Olton Mere are on

the NTOA website and although I have listed five

“Cool Cats” below with thoughts from past and

present owners, there are a number of other

designs which qualify as four plankers.

The “Cool Cats”:

N2750 “Cheshire Cat”

“Having “accidentally” bought (the) Cheshire Cat

and then having spent some money on having her

re-decked by Gerry Ledger she has now been

repainted in her original dark blue and has proved

fun to sail – she has now competed in the HD Sails

Four Plank Mini Series taking to the water at Ely,

Trent Valley and Olton Mere. However the low

slung skull bashing back breaking metal boom has

got to go as too have the ancient P&B sails! There

are various other tweaks required and the de-

laminating floor too needs work before next

season...”

N2760 “Grimalkin”

“So why a four planker National 12 I have been

asked, interesting question, I hear you cry! The

truth is it was much more accident than planned,

for those that know me, that may not be complete

surprise and I do like a challenge so here is the

story. Last summer 2013, my lad followed me on a

sailing course for something do to and fortunately,

like me, absolutely loved it, passing his L3 in a

week. Since I qualified in 2012 I had bought an old

Laser and then a much newer, bright and shiny one

which of course now got covetous eyes from the

14 year old 6’1” man child, not interested in the old

one pal. Not one to give in it is suggested we try

our hand at a double hander but

something that would be a laugh

and a challenge at the same time,

anyone can keep a Wayfarer

upright right? After a brief search,

again no surprise for anyone that

knows me, and I spotted a nice

looking boat on eBay, not too far

away at Burton Sailing Club

(Foremark reservoir). To cut a

long story short, I went to see it

and was instantly taken by its

appearance, the fact that the top

edges of the boat are fashioned in

different woods, because they can

be and numerous other small but

beautiful touches make her stand

out and look fantastic. I guess if

you ask “why a wooden boat” then

you would not understand the

answer– similar in my mind to

asking what’s so special about a

V12 engine. No matter how long I

spent explaining it. Needless to

Author Paul Turner and Christine Preston at Trent Valley SC 2014.

(Kevan Bloor).

say, the boat is now a popular sight at Swarkestone

whenever I (too rarely) get the chance to get the

bottom wet, the opportunity when the lads Xbox

5000 (or whatever it is this year!) coincides with a

lull in a hectic family schedule allow are sadly too

few. Look on the bright side, the two youngest (6 &

7 years old) are also working hard on their L3 RYA

so that should increase the odds somewhat,

perhaps even taking in one of the N12 meetings

next year?” Paul Farmery at Swarkestone SC,

Derby

N2835 “Tabitha Twitchet”

“Tabitha Twitchet 2835 was part of my divorce

settlement that was back in 1994, we had already

owned her for a couple of years by then. Tabitha

Twitchet had been at Earlswood Lakes Sailing Club

for quite a long time, owned initially by Val Mackie,

I think she may have been the second owner, the

last suit of new sails she had had, was when Val

gave birth to a daughter, and received them as a

present. Her next owner was Ed Rolf, I do not know

much about this period. On one occasion when we

sailed at Salcombe a member from Salcombe

Yacht Club claimed he had seen Tabitha launched

at Queen Mary, when we bought her she was

laying forlornly with a plastic cover that had seen

better days. It was quite some time before I felt

comfortable helming her, someone described

sailing her as like holding a tiger by the tail. I learnt

that trim was as important as balance, when

Dougal Weir (Chocolate Smartie N2573) was

crewing for me and I had difficulty steering. I

regularly hit the mark and in a very Victor Meldrew

style he claimed he could not believe it! Not long

after I had a lighter crew and steering was never a

problem after this. Yvonne crewed for a couple of

years, and then Mike Guest joined the club, then

he was a fellow National 12er and his daughter

Hayley only about 8 became my crew. I think

(know) I was a baby sitter whilst he sailed with his

son. Hayley came to a few opens with me, I only

attended with the proviso that I was helped to lift

my boat on the launching trolley and again had

help lifting the mast (one of the original

Needlespar). At one open Staunton Harold, I asked

a passerby, bear in mind I was young, slim,

attractive (I think), to help with my mast, I warned

him it was heavy but being butch, he waved me

aside and then his knees nearly buckled. I never

was going to be number one at the opens, but I did

arrive at the second mark at Burton in 4th, in front

of Tim Gray who politely asked "How did you get

there!” At Beeston I pushed Brian Herring over the

Line, that felt good as well. I had been thinking for

a while that I needed some new sails, so at the

John Sears in the famous Pipedream Punkawallah (N2957) at Trent Valley SC in 2012. (Kevan Bloor)

Midland Area Dinner Trent Valley, I

started talking to Kevan Bloor,

Brian Herring and my former

partner George Mallen were

signaling hectically to Kevan to

humour me, as he had already

made me a set for Christmas. The

sails had done so much travelling

by the time that I received them, I

think that it nearly wore out Brian,

but thanks he measured them and

I was up and running. Tabitha

Twitchet has always been held in

esteem in Earlswood, one of the

highest pointing boats up wind,

often referred to by name, I have

merely been a custodian, and the

older members who knew her

often used to ask after her. Tabitha

Twitchet has spent the last few

years in the garage, whilst I had a

dally with Merlin Rockets, and then

as I have matured, and rounded out with a few

aches and pains I have found sailing quite painful.

I could not bear to sell her just to get rid of her, as

the thought of her being bought just as a cheap

boat, appalled me, so I placed an ad on the 12 web

site and I passed her on to another old crock, with

a tear in my eye but I know she is in good hands.

Thanks Tabitha Twitchet for much so fun.” Diane

Thornton Earlswood Lakes

N2946 “Caterwaul”

“...to be renamed “Lucky ****” “Having recently

completed a two year full restoration of a Merlin

Rocket, I found to my surprise it was both

interesting and rewarding. The boat was destined

for the bonfire. So I turned my eyes towards a field

full of dinghies and trailers stored and owned by a

local farmer who wishes to remain anonymous –

probably for tax reasons. Anyways much to my

wife’s surprise I arrived home £175 poorer but the

proud owner of four combi trailers, a National 12

and a load of bits. After short discussions with my

beloved, the Nat 12 remained, all else was eBayed

and now N2946 resides stripped and ready for

restoration. I have been told she is a four planker

“Cheshire Cat”. Sails and spare parts have been

obtained from Paul along with a great deal of

information. So all that needs to be done now is a

complete restoration – simple!” John Wood

N2967 “Black Cat”

“I was introduced to N12 sailing by the legendary

Paul Turner whose main aim in life is to get the

whole world sailing N12s which is no bad thing!!!

The first time I knew I wanted a N12 was when Paul

phoned me one Saturday morning, telling me “you

need a N12! I’ve found an old boat at East

Bridgford, I’ll meet you there at 11.00am".Off I

went, very hopeful. The boat was not quite up to

the standard he and I had expected from the info

(and out of my very meagre price range, less than

£300.00). A few weeks passed by until I heard from

Paul again. True to his word a call came. " John

Sears has found a N12 at Ollerton, and I’m going

to fetch it”. As soon as I saw her I said “yes”! I

became the proud owner of Black Cat, number

2967, a 4 planker built in 1977, a Cheshire Cat

design. She was previously owned by the late Brian

Smith of Trent SC at Newark, but this is all I know

of her history. Black Cat is generally in good

condition but I have had to do some work, which is

ongoing. The bottom is fine but I’ve had to strip the

top and replace the ply down one side deck. I’ve

also got to replace some solid timber "spine like

pieces" on the inside of her. She is stored on my

drive at the moment, the plan is to get her under

cover, varnish her and then fit her out ready for next

Summer. My son Ben aged 12 also sails, so the

intention is for both us to sail Black Cat together.

We’ve sailed together in one of Paul’s N12’s

(Editor’s note: N1650 Smuggler) before with varied

success but enjoyed it every time. The thing with

them you is never know what’s going to happen

next, you have to be alert all the time which is never

boring. If anybody has any further information

about Black Cat, please don’t hesitate to get in

touch.” Jono Clipsham, Trent Valley

Of course there are a number of other four plank

designs – it would be great to hear from those

owners so we can do an update on those boats!

And Jim & Andy at HD have again kindly agreed to

sponsor another mini-series in 2015. There may be

a fourth meeting to be added to the series as

Jonathan Garfitt (he of “Subversion”) is negotiating

with Milton Keynes SC. We would love to welcome

loads more 4Ps to the series in 2015!

Paul Turner N2750, N2835

Tom White in Le shed (N2765) at Trent Valley SC. (Kevan Bloor)

Hijack

D.B. Cooper is the name of Dave Hollom’s new

“Hijack” design, which was built during the Summer

of 2012 for John and Katy Meadowcroft. It is always

a risk putting a new design on the water but quite

quickly the boat has started to show its potential,

winning two windy races at the 2012 Inland

Championships and then taking 3rd in the windy 2013

Burton Cup and 4th in the light winds 2014 Burton.

At the Pevensey Burton Week this summer, sailing

with son Ollie, D.B. Cooper was very quick

downwind in planing conditions recording two

second place finishes in medium winds. The boat

is well mannered when it gets a little windier and the

only potential weakness might be in the lightest of

winds, but that could easily just be the helmsman!

Dave Hollom may be a new name to many Twelve

sailors, but he is actually well acquainted with 12s,

but 12 Metres rather than Twelve Footers. Dave was

involved in the British America’s Cup challenges led

by Peter de Savary in 1983 when the Australians

won with a winged keel, and then in Freemantle in

1988 when Dave designed one of the two British

boats. Since then he has worked variously on other

Americas Cup challenges and indulged in his

original passion as a designer of model yachts.

Dave Hollom’s approach to “Hijack”

“Hijack” represents a completely different approach

to dinghy design. Whereas, current dinghy design

invariably utilises a U section this design uses a V

section.

Contrary to popular opinion, a U section does not

necessarily represent the minimum wetted area for

a given volume. It depends on the other design

criteria and taking these into account, the V section

may well end up with less wetted area. A V section

also has less wave drag for a given beam/depth

ratio and also has the advantage of having less

waterline beam, within the rise of floor

measurement, which reduces the sections

naturally low wave drag even further.

Whilst the design utilises a V shaped midsection this

blends into a pronounced U at the bow and a soft U

at the stern. The idea here is to put more buoyancy

into the ends raising the prismatic which reduces

wave drag at most of the speeds we are interested

in. Normally, a rise in prismatic is accompanied by a

coarsening of the waterlines but, because of the

narrower waterline beam the bow waterlines are no

coarser than those of U sectioned boats.

Reducing wave drag, besides allowing the boat to

sail faster at displacement speeds, also allows the

boat to reach planing speed sooner and because

Hijack decks and floor inverted before fitment.

(Composite Craft)

Hijack hull being fitted out. (Composite Craft)

Hijack hull in the mould. (Composite Craft)

V sections are better planing sections than U

sections (when did you last see a planing

powerboat that was not V sectioned) the boat

should stay on the plane longer.

There are other advantages too numerous to list

here but include being able to fully raise the

centreboard on the run, with a consequent

reduction in drag, and having more grip when

stalled before the start which enables more room

to be made to leeward.

The shape is a culmination of many years of

development and has also been used on my aptly

named International 14 “Departure”, which won the

2014 Prince of Wales Cup and the 2014 European

Championships. The design principles have

therefore achieved considerable success, further

demonstrated by my One Metre “Arrival” another

amongst a number of successful designs all of

which have proved fast.

‘HIJACKED’ – Building D.B. Cooper by

Gavin Tappenden of Composite Craft

We were really pleased to be given a chance to build

a new shape National 12. Projects like this don’t

come along very often and thanks to John

Meadowcroft we were able to proceed with building

a new boat. It takes a lot of courage to choose a new

boat from a designer who hasn’t really been involved

with the fleet before. Fortunately Dave Hollom is no

ordinary designer. His successes are borne out in

the fastest International 14’s ,12 and 6 metres and

the fastest boats in a range of R/C classes.

We are always aware that the majority of

prototypes aren’t quite as good as the subsequent

boats taken out of moulds produced from them.

With this in mind we had a CNC machined plug

produced including the deck and this left us with

minimal work to ready it for the moulds to be taken

off. This ensures that the shape stays true to the

original design which is imperative when you are

seeking the slightest advantage in performance.

The moulds were constructed using high

temperature resin systems ready for us to use pre-

impregnated fibres which will only cure properly

once exposed to 85 degrees for 12 hours.

We decided early on that the boat would be a full

Carbon layup with Nomex honeycomb cores. We

favour honeycomb over foam as it is lighter and

allows us to increase the skin weight without

affecting the finished panel weight therefore

increasing the overall stiffness. All of our Int 14’s

are built this way and it has proven to be

unbeatable with Archie Massey sailing the same

boat to 3 consecutive world championship wins

over 6 years. National 12’s are extremely wide for

their length and so athwartship stiffness is as

important as longitudinal. The boat was built with

emphasis on eliminating the twisting loads caused

by the crew perching in one corner of the structure

and the rig pulling in the opposite direction and we

believe we have succeeded in providing John with

a very stiff boat.

Once the hull was cooked we started fitting

structure. We invested in a CNC machine some

years ago and all of the bulkheads and webs were

cut from the original design files. This worked well

and the parts dropped into place with minimal glue

and time. All the structure was manufactured in

carbon/foam sandwich panels. The deck was dry

fitted with one of our staff inside to check the

tolerances. All was within 1-2mm and the hull to

deck flange mated beautifully again with no big

build ups of glue.

The mast gate was moulded separately from a

CNC cut mould and this was glued in. The thwart

was designed and placed with John’s input and

helps to stiffen the structure further. John decided

early on that he didn’t want to have a boat that is

not tied together at the transom. This is obviously

good for eliminating the bending force exerted by

the helm and sometimes the crew as well sitting in

the corners but also serves to keep the sailors

firmly planted inside the boat.

We built a Trim tabbed Centreboard and a lift

foil/rudder set up from our moulds, again designed by

Dave Hollom. The boat was sprayed with a very

durable paint system in house. We then delivered the

boat to P&B who did a great job of fitting the boat out.

All in all a very enjoyable boat building experience.

Website: www.compositecraft.co.uk

Email: gavin@compositecraft.co.uk

Tel: 07971 817444

And finally, so who is D.B. Cooper?

Too much to write here and who knows what the

real truth is? Try Wikipedia!

John Meadowcroft + friends,

N3543 “D.B. Cooper”

John and Ollie Meadowcroft sailing Hijack at

Pevensey Bay. (Fotoboat)

National 12 Vintage Fleet:

Report of 2014 Witchcraft Bailer Series

The 2014 ‘Witchcraft Bailer’ series for Vintage 12’s

was scheduled to be sailed at nine different venues

around the country. Nineteen boats overall

competed, along with seventeen helms, ably

supported by twenty-one crews across the series.

Two venues were severely affected by high winds

at the beginning of the season – Annandale and

Burwain, where participation was either curtailed

or cancelled due to the inclement conditions which

threatened the integrity of both the vintage boats

and in some cases, their vintage helms (sorry Ed!).

One venue, Staunton Harold – new for the series,

unfortunately received no attendees.

The series was therefore based on the best three

results from the remaining seven venues and, once

again, the trophy was awarded to Howard

Chadwick sailing his Starfish N2266 ‘Triarda’ with

his regular crews Helen Nicholson and Naomi

Bilton. Over his many years as a N12 sailor, he has

developed an infallible knack of finding wind from

nowhere, always being in the right place at the right

time – as well as being able to produce boat-speed

far in excess of the level normally associated with

old vintage clinker hulls.

However, he did face stiff competition from other

regulars in the fleet, with Brian Kitching, Brian

Herring, Ed Willett and Philip David all posting race

wins across the series – and also from newcomer,

to the Vintage fleet at least - Dave Peacock in his

newly acquired China Doll N2620 ‘ Fair Lady’ who

trounced the opposition in fine form at both the

Trent Valley and Ripon meetings, but unfortunately

fell short of the qualifying tally of three race results.

With her restoration work and re-varnishing now

completed, I suspect that ‘Fair Lady’ will be the one

to watch in 2015!

Here is a brief run-down of the seven Vintage

meetings that made up the Series in 2014:

April 12th – 13th Annandale SC

Three vintage boats in attendance but only

one launched due to very windy conditions –

Ed Willett in his Proctor Mk 9 ‘Water Nymph’

N1833 was first vintage.

April 20th Burwain SC

Cancelled due to strong winds

May 17th Staunton Harold

No 12’s in attendance

June 8th Yorkshire Ouse SC

A good turnout of six vintage boats with Philip

David winning the Naburn Paddle yet again!

August 9th & 10th

NBYC Vintage Dinghy Regatta

Only three Vintage 12’s attended this regatta

and all were Starfish designs – low turnout

possibly due to the weather which was

unseasonably wet and windy, although the sun

came out for the barbecue on the Saturday

evening. Howard Chadwick was first N12 in

N2266 ‘Triarda’

August 31st Redesmere SC

Three Vintage boats competed in a mixed

fleet. Brian Herring and his crew Ros

Stevenson were on top form – winning both the

event and the Vintage prize.

Annandale SC - start of the windy first race (it only

got windier). (Angus Beyts)

Burton SC – Vintage Champs winners Bernard and

Ellie Clark. (Kevan Bloor)

September 7th TVSC

A tricky, frustrating almost windless day on the

River Trent saw five Vintage 12’s sniddling up the

bank against the current. Dave Peacock in his

newly refurbished China Doll N2620 ‘Fair Lady’

won his first vintage event with close competition

from Howard Chadwick and Paul Turner. Brian

Kitching gracefully retired from the competition

after lunch to return home to Bristol as he had

an early flight to the USA the next morning.

Oct 4th Ripon SC (GUL meeting)

Twenty National 12’s travelled to Ripon Sailing

Cub for the penultimate event in the National

12 Gul series, a third of which were vintage

boats. Luckily for the competitors the heavy

rain cleared before racing began and the fleet

took to the water in a light breeze.

Following his vintage win at Trent Valley in

early September, Dave Peacock and his crew

Ann Britton repeated their performance with

two race wins out of three. Gear failure had led

them to retire in Race 1. Howard Chadwick

and Helen Nicholson were second and Brian

Kitching and Olivia Stodiek came third.

This event also saw the successful launching

of Peter Robinson’s newly restored ‘Starbuck’

N2358, a modified Starfish design, which he

sailed with his Yeadon-based crew Leonie

Sutherland.

Ripon SC Oct 2014 - Dave Peacock and Ann Britton took the vintage win in N2620. (Sarah Chadwick)

Pevensey Bay SC - Tim Gatti & Gill Bilton fly the flag

for the Vintage fleet. (Fotoboat)

Yeadon SC Close light airs racing. (Charles Hurford)

in Scotland, events are now planned in each of

these areas to encourage the widest possible

participation and the total of twelve separate

venues also includes three GUL venues where

separate vintage prizes will be awarded.

Encouraging more sailors to come to the Vintage

Championships is crucial to the success of this

event, especially those wanting to sail ‘ribbies’, of

which a number are still available for loan. It has

also been rumoured that Dare Barry may also

attend with his recently restored ribby ‘Amante’

N1002, a Jack Holt design from 1952. Dare was

awarded the Ribbed Boat Trophy for the detailed

restoration work he carried out to this boat in 2013

and she was successfully launched earlier this

year.

I look forward to seeing a growing fleet of vintage

12’s on the water and participating in the Witchcraft

Bailer series in 2015. It promises to be an exciting

season.

Tim Gatti, NTOA Vintage Representative

Yeadon SC – Witchcraft Bailer winners Howard

Chadwick and Helen Nicholson. (Charles Hurford)

Oct 5th Yeadon SC

Light and changeable south-easterly winds

greeted the helms and crews of a dozen

National 12’s who attended this Open meeting.

Three trophies were being raced for – the local

Tarn Trophy, the ANYEC Trophy and the

‘Witchcraft Bailer’ Trophy for Vintage boats.

The fleet was dominated by vintage, clinker-built

boats, eight in all, ranging from Ian and

Margaret Purkis’ Proctor Mk4A ‘My Little

Margie’ built in 1957, through to a modified

Starfish design ‘Starbuck’ built in 1966 and

recently renovated by local sailmaker and ex-

Merlin sailor, Peter Robinson. In addition there

were three Admiral’s Cup designs – a Crusader,

Crusader 88, and a Baggy Trousers with one

double-bottomed Feeling Foolish design, ‘Out

of the Blue’, making up the numbers.

Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson were

overall vintage fleet winners in ‘Triarda’, with

Brian Kitching and Olivia Stodieck in second

place, sailing Brian’s immaculate Chimp

design – ‘Just Lucky’ N1657. Angus Beyts with

local crew Gail Kay sailing Ed Willett’s

borrowed and beautiful Proctor Mk 9, N1833

‘Water Nymph’, sailed exceptionally well to

take third place. So perhaps it’s been the boat

all along that’s been holding him back!

Vintage ‘Witchcraft Bailer’ Series for 2015

Venues for the 2015 Witchcraft Bailer series are

now confirmed and will be published before the

New Year. The majority of the fleet are still based

in the North and Midlands so it seemed sensible to

keep the majority of the venues in these locations.

However, with a growing number of keen vintage

12 sailors in the south and south-west and others

After the start order for the pursuit races had been

determined during lunch, the first of those races

saw Howard Chadwick crewed by Naomi Bilton in

N2266 ‘Triarda’ take the lead, with Brian Herring

crewed by Ros Stevenson in N2345 ‘Bakewell

Pudding’ pulling through the fleet to 2nd place. With

half the race to go the faster boats who started last

were struggling to join the leaders. The finish

positions were 1st Howard Chadwick, 2nd Brian

Herring with Alan Beeton crewed by Sylvia Beeton

in N1520 ‘Surprise’ in 3rd place.

The final pursuit race was again led by Howard with

Brian in 2nd place. The third boat over the line was

Bernard Clark, but he was over the line at the start

which gave the 3rd place position to Alan Beeton.

The overall positions for the Towan Hancock

Derwent Trophy were 1st Howard Chadwick, 2nd

Brian Herring and 3rd Philip David.

On Sunday three races were sailed for the Gill Half

Model Trophy, with slightly less wind, and an extra

entry which put 10 boats on the water. In the first

race Tricia Peacock led to the first mark but lost out

to Jeremy Carey, crewed by George Rowland

sailing N1277 ‘Flying Saucer’. There followed much

place changing during the race and the final

finishing order was 1st Jeremy Carey, 2nd Bernard

Clark and 3rd Philip David.

In the second race, with the wind picking up a little,

there was again much place changing on the long

beat with Tricia pulling up the fleet from a bad start.

As the race progressed the leading three boats

closed up so that approaching the final mark they

were almost overlapping and rounded the mark

Vintage National Twelve

Inland Championships 2014

altogether. The final places however were 1st Philip

David, 2nd Jeremy Carey and 3rd Bernard Clark.

The last race began with slightly less wind which

later increased as a heavy rain shower passed over.

The racing was very close with the usual suspects

at the front of the fleet, which stretched out as a big

wind shift removed the beats from the course, luckily

all the boats finished before the wind dropped to

nothing. The finishing positions were 1st Bernard

Clark, 2nd Philip David and 3rd Jeremy Carey.

The overall result for the Gill Half Model Trophy

was very close. All three boats scored three points,

all had a 1st, 2nd or 3rd each, so the tie was broken

by the finishing order in the final race! The positions

were 1st Bernard Clark, 2nd Philip David and 3rd

Jeremy Carey.

The prize for Gill Admiral’s Cup for ‘Ribbies’ (ribbed

clinker construction) was won by Tim Gatti in

N3541 crewed by Gill Bilton, in his recently built

Uffa King ‘Gruffalo’.

The ‘Concours d’Elegance’ was awarded to Tim

Gatti with ‘Gruffalo’.

The youngest competitor prize was won by Ellie

Clark sailing in ‘Xanthus’. The prize for the first

Lady Helm was won by Tricia Peacock in ‘Dolly

Daydream’.

Once again this was a successful and enjoyable

event which unfortunately was lower on entries than

the previous year, partially due to lack of crews,

injury and for some, family commitments, plus only

two boats from the Turner collection were available.

Kevan Bloor

Vintage Championships Trophy

Winners 2014. (Kevan Bloor)

For the second year the National Twelve Vintage Inland Championships were held at Burton Sailing

Club over the weekend of the 28th/29th June. Nine vintage Twelves arrived on Saturday to compete

for the Towan Hancock Derwent Trophy which is a handicap/pursuit race series of three races. The

first race which is a scratch race to determine the starting order for the two following pursuit races,

was held in a force 2. At the first mark Tricia Peacock in N2487 ‘Dolly Daydream’ crewed by Dave

Peacock was leading from Philip David crewed by Christine Preston sailing N2545 ‘Little Meg’. The

leading two boats had a close race but maintained their position over the line, followed in 3rd place by

Bernard and Ellie Clark sailing N2149 ‘Xanthus’ who had pulled up through the fleet from a poor start.

Home Made T-Foils

We have produced a number of T-foil rudders now

for National 12’s which have worked to varying

degrees. We are by no means experts but from our

trial and error approach have found a few things

that you might want to avoid. Homemade foils

might not be quite as efficient as professionally

made one’s, however the speed difference I have

found to be negligible compared to one’s sailing

ability. We have ended up with a design and

construction method which produces a fast and

controllable foil which is easy to build and robust

enough to stand up to normal use and abuse.

We have also developed a cheap and simple

control mechanism, which involves a modification

of the standard Winder rudder stock and a bare

minimum of work to the boat itself.

Materials

We use epoxy resin and glass fibre cloth (not

carbon which is stiffer). We are looking for flexibility

so the foil can flex through waves and manoeuvres,

which we have found to improve handling. An

experimental stiff foil was extremely hard to control

as it never spilled the power by twisting off at the

tips, just like a soft sail would. Plywood cores have

inherent strength and negligible weight and help in

the production as the glue lines are used to shape

the foil. Foam cores are much harder to shape, are

weaker and the weight difference is trivial.

For the rudder you could use the method already

available on the National 12 website with increased

skin thickness in the upper part of the blade for the

increased loads. Many people have had problems

with the rudder snapping above the lifting foil, so

we now use plywood or cedar cores for extra

strength and ease of manufacture, which gives

peace of mind to push the boat hard in a force 6.

Taper, Dihedral and Rake

We found dihedral foils much more stable and

easier to control. Don’t use anhedral as they are

extremely hard to control. Tapered foils are more

efficient than straight foils. Better still would be

elliptical foils but they would be much harder to

shape.

We want the lift to be as far back from the transom

as possible so as to suppress the stern wave. The

blades are therefore raked back at 25 or 30 degrees.

Hydrofoil Sections

We used the free download of profili to obtain the

hydrofoil section as a drawing file. If you choose a

foil section with a concave curve in the underside

of the section, as these are generally more efficient

than asymmetric sections with a flat underside.

However these are harder to produce as you will

need a means of forming the concave curves.

Sections you might want to look: NACA 63412, a

foil section which was used a few years ago for the

international moths. DAE 51, the foil section used

to win the International 14 Worlds.

I sailed with a NACA 2R12 in 2013, which has no

concave surfaces and is very easy to produce and

this would be my recommendation.

Lifting Foil Production

Measure the various veneer thicknesses of your

plywood. Import your chosen hydrofoil section from

profili into a CAD program and overlay it onto a side

view of the plywood section showing the actual

veneer thickness. Make an allowance in your

drawing for a 1mm thickness of glassfibre. The

distance from the front edge can then be measured

at the intersections between the hydrofoil core and

each veneered layer. This was then repeated at

different foil widths as shown below.

For a tapered foil (recommended) produce one

drawing and set of coordinates for the foil 100mm

wide and then scale it down to draw a similar foil

about 50mm wide at the tip.

To produce the foils you are going to need 2 pieces

of 9mm plywood about 600mm long and 100 wide.

Mark on the plan shape and then cut out.

All photos by Peter Ballantine

Provided the front and back edges are straight,

mark the points at each set width where the first

veneer needs to be removed to and join up these

points with a pencil and straight edge. Then use a

plane to remove the excess material until the

veneer line is just touching the marked line earlier.

Repeat this process until the veneers are

completed on the leading edge then repeat the

process on the trailing edge. Use some coarse

sand paper to finish. Hopefully you will end up with

two cores looking similar to the photo below. If you

don’t like the result you can easily ditch the core

and start again as this process isn’t that time

consuming and is inexpensive.

Glassing the foils

For all our foils to date we have glassed them with

a couple of 50mm wide strips of 160gram weave

tape on both sides. Getting the trailing edge right

is quite important, as the glass extends slightly past

the core and needs to be set in the same profile as

the core. None of the lifting foils we have made

have been vacuumed bagged.

After the excess glass fibre was removed we have

put about 25-30 degrees of sweep on the foils. This

also helps with shedding weed as a shift jiggle of

the rudder should always clear the foils.

We glassed the two foils together with 4 strips of

50mm tape on the top and bottom surfaces. Lift the

tips of the foils by about 50mm as they are bonded

together to get the diheadral. You will end up with

a boomerang shape.

Join the foil and rudder with a small amount of filler,

making sure everything is square and symmetrical.

Then fillet the joint and add short lengths of glass

tape to strengthen the joint.

We might be overdoing the strength here but we

have never had one break at this location.

All that remains to be done is lots of fairing and

then a finish of white spray paint. We use normal

sand-able marine filler for the fairing since it sets

rapidly and is cheap and easy to use.

Peter Ballantine

A notch was taken out of the rudders trailing edge,

angled 4 or 5 degrees down to give neutral lift (The

foil is angled slightly downwards in its neutral

position since the water is actually rising upwards

at this point.) A notch is cut into the front of the

‘boomerang’ foil and the foil and rudder are slotted

together. This notch was between 20-25cm below

the bottom surface of the Winder stock, this is the

most important measurement in my opinion. Foils

deep in the water we have found to be fast in

planning conditions while foils closer to the surface

are faster in non foiling conditions, i.e upwind

sailing.

The 2014 Gul Travellers Series

The 2014 Gul Series took in venues from as far

South and West as Salcombe and as far North

as Annandale in Dumfries and Galloway. Eight

events were held with four to count towards the

series.

Those that competed were well rewarded with

Gul’s very generous sponsorship, vouchers

were awarded at each event.

The Family division is possibly the most

important in the class. The National 12 is a

superb boat to sail with youngsters and plenty

of parent child teams competed. John and Ollie

Meadowcroft N3543 were both consistent and

well-travelled, they were only beaten in the

family division twice in six outings. The sibling

pair of Nick and Tanya Copsey N3528 finished

second three points adrift. Nine of the crews

who competed in the family cup were still pre-

teen, the future is bright!

The Admiral’s Cup was a showdown between

Burghfield rivals and mates. Alan Beeton and

Helen Barry N3388 were pipped to the post by

Neal and Freya Lillywhite, in the beautifully

restored N3271, who held the advantage in the

light winds at the final event at Northampton.

Both boats showed dedication to the task

competing at Salcombe and Shoreham along

the way, as well as waters closer to home.

The Vintage boats, as usual put in a good

performance with nine competing. The rock solid

Brian Kitching N1657 took victory from the

Angus Beyts N1833 who took the time to travel

from Scotland to impress us all with his kilt

wearing at the Northampton prize giving. In one

Action from Gul#2, Chris and Sophie Day at high speed during a very windy event. (Angus Beyts)

Action from Gul#5 at Pevensey Bay SC, Jeremy Carey and George Rowland lead Neal and Freya Lillywhite

around a gybe mark. (Fotoboat)

of the races at Northampton Angus crewed by

Gerald Copsey beat one of the ultra-modern

DCB’s defying an age gap of more than half a

century!

This year, recognising the advantage of winged

rudders, the non-foiling boats were rewarded with

their own sub series. Nigel and Chris White

swapped their Numinous design for a Final

Chapter N3445 and enjoyed success, they were

pushed hard through the series by Jeremy Carey

and George Rowland N3444. Jeremy and George

had the chance to seize victory at the final event,

but in light winds Antony and James Gifford

N3348 stole their hopes with a fine performance.

In the overall series the DCBs dominated yet

again. Tom Stewart and Andrea Downham

N3544, shot off to a good lead taking advantage

of Zoe Ballantyne not being available to crew

Graham Camm at Burghfield which is usually a

banker for the Camm’s. However as the season

panned out it looked like, as last year, the Camm

team would succeed with a late tilt at the title.

Graham and Zoe won back to back events at

King George and Ripon to draw level with Tom

and Andrea for the final event.

However on this occasion things went the other

way. With Andrea expected to be out of action

Tom’s fist reserve Robert Stewart was called into

action and with the weight advantage in their

favour Tom and Robert Stewart drifted to victory

at the final event at their home club.

Tom Stewart

Nev Green, owner of many N12’s, designer and

builder of N3352, and a N12 enthusiast for more

than 50 years has produced an extensive and

excellent article on how to design a National 12

using software freely available on the internet. The

article was received just as we went to copy and is

unfortunately too long to replicate in full in this

issue, however the introduction and first chapter on

how to create the Skin is captured below and the

complete article will be published on the Class

website www.national12.org Give it a go! It would

be wonderful to see some new amateur designed

N12’s Ed Willett

Google SketchUp is a free 3D drawing package

that is used by thousands of amateur and

professional designers across a multitude of

different disciplines. It takes time and practice to

How to Design a National 12

Using Google SketchUp

become proficient with the software but there are

many tutorials and articles on the web (e.g.

YouTube) which help with the learning process.

There are many extensions available which help

and some are more or less essential when working

with curved surfaces. In particular the following

extensions are required to design a curved hull,

Bezier Spline, Fred6 LibFredo6, Fredo6 Curviloft

and Fredo6 Joint Push Pull.

The National 12 design detailed in this document

could be built in wood or composites but the writer’s

experience is mainly with wood and the design is

biased towards that form of construction.

The build technique envisaged could be described

as ‘inside out’: -

lThe build mould simply supports the floor.

lThe centre board case combined with the

central spine is mounted on the floor.

lThe forward bulkheads, stem and inner keel are

added to the case/spine.

lThe remaining bulkheads and transom are

assembled on the floor

lThe fore deck, side decks and thwart are

added.

lThe stringers are added (only at ply junctions if

strip planking).

lAnd finally a skin developed. The skin is mainly

4mm marine ply with 2 layers of 2mm ply (or

veneer) using ‘epoxy saturated cold moulding’

for the curved surfaces. Finally the skin is

reinforced with an epoxy glass cloth outer

surface. Alternatively the curved part of the skin

could be strip planked with cedar.

1 The Skin

The first task is to produce a ‘wire frame’ that is

used with ‘Curviloft Skinning’ to produce a skin with

the required shape.

Curviloft Skinning is sensitive and will fail to work

when asked to produce anything too extreme. It is

suggested that the initial wire frame simply consists

of (i) keel line, (ii) transom line, (iii) sheer line, (iv)

stem and (v) a mid-length section.

The skin produced from this simple wire frame will

not be satisfactory but acts as a starting point.

Gradually a waterline and more sections are

introduced to refine the shape. It will be necessary

to keep making minor modifications to the wire

frame and generating new skins until eventually a

satisfactory skin is produced.

Typical keel bands are 12mm wide so the wire

frame should start 6mm from the centre line. The

6mm part of the skin is added later once a suitable

skin has been produced.

It is essential that there are no discontinuities in the

wire frame. The SketchUp plug-in ‘stray lines’ is

useful for identifying stray lines and later in the

design for deleting stray lines which inevitably get

left behind when deleting unwanted lines and

surfaces. Also the plug in ‘CleanUp3’ is useful for

cleaning up the model and eliminating un-

necessary surfaces and lines; although it is

sometimes too enthusiastic and removes lines that

are required e.g. grid lines.

A horizontal plane (group) at the load waterline will

show the achieved waterline. The first step in

refining the wire frame is to introduce a water line.

The new water line should loosely follow the

achieved water line but ‘pull’ the line in the required

direction. After drawing the new water line (on the

horizontal plane) it will be necessary to redraw the

cross sections to ensure that all lines are joined.

The smoothness of the skin can then be assessed

by moving a vertical plane (group) through the skin

and looking closely at the intersection line. Points

that are distorted can then be corrected by

changing existing sections or adding new sections

to the wire frame.

Keep iterating until completely satisfied with the

skin. Time spent at this stage will save time later

on. However it is almost inevitable that the design

process will be repeated a number of times as

deficiencies are identified and one realises that ‘if

I changed xxx it would improve everything’. The

design presented in this document is ‘mark 9’ and

there are still aspects that could be improved.

The design exercise requires some ingenuity and

skill with the use of SketchUp but a great deal of

satisfaction will be obtained.

The writer has not pursued this, but believes it

would be possible to take the SketchUp design and

produce sufficient information to allow CNC cutting

of all of the ply parts.

The next step is to take your own design and

actually build a boat - good luck.

Nev Green

nevgreen@gmail.com

The Restoration of Dinsdale

Back in January 2007 I was trawling through e-bay

as one is want to do every so often when I noticed

a China Doll for sale, it was a Friday evening and

the auction was finishing at midday that Saturday.

On closer inspection it was N2632 Dinsdale but the

vendor didn’t really appear to know very much

about Twelve’s. As I was catching a midnight ferry

to France that Friday night I decided to put a bid on

at the starting price – there were no other bidders

– and stand back and see what happened. Arriving

back into Plymouth Sound early on the Sunday

morning, switched my phone back on and guess

what I had won the auction with a maiden bid of

£150.00…

Dinsdale was in deepest darkest Cornwall so I

arranged to collect it that afternoon, that way I

didn’t have to put my passport away!

Unfortunately the e-bay photographs hadn’t told

the whole story, whilst the hull appeared to be

sound the decks were lifting and the sapele

veneers had been partially sanded through and the

lovely sycamore gunwales partially replaced with

ash ones.. But the worst part was that Dinsdale had

been stored outside with the bow down so water

had got into and rotted the plate box, the

centerboard pin wasn’t attached to anything.

However on the plus side the sails were in nice

condition, the mast straight and clean but would

need re-rigging

Once Dinsdale was sitting in my garage and after

a bit of head scratching and wondering it the boat

was worth saving I decided to take out as much of

the rot as I could and let everything dry out.

Fortunately due to the way that Rowsell’s built

Twelve’s the strip was relatively straightforward and

the old pieces kept as patterns. The plate was

enormous and heavy so as Meds was selling an

‘old’ Winder Foolish plate this was acquired only to

realize that it was wider than the original – doh! All

the fittings I put on e-bay as if the rebuild went

ahead I wanted to completely refit the boat; they

sold for more than I had paid for the complete boat!

March 2007 - Removing Rotten centreboard case.

(John Murrell)

Other projects came and went and so Dinsdale

stayed, getting dryer and dryer all the time until one

Saturday in the autumn of 2013 I was talking to

Kevin Driver over a pint in the bar at Salcombe and

he was bemoaning that he was very quiet. I

mentioned Dinsdale and wondered if he was

interested in having a look and giving me a price

for a rebuild, which of course he was. Surprisingly

his price was very close to my guestimate so

Dinsdale went off on holiday to Seaton.

Dinsdale’s hull had proved to be sound so in reality

Kevin had a bare shell with the front bulkhead to

work from. So the to do list included widening the

slot to take the Winder plate, new centerboard case

with a captive pin, thwart, re-deck with sapele fit

sycamore gunwales and a host of other detail

items. Impressively and ‘supervised’ by Dinsdale’s

original builder, Spud Rowsell, an ugly duckling

became a swan again in just 4 weeks.

Dinsdale interior after restoration. (John Murrell)

Dinsdale on driveway after restoration. (John Murrell)

New decks and centreboard case. (John Murrell)

A lot of thought went into the fit out and possibly

upsetting the traditionalists I followed the way that

I had fitted out the 3 Foolish’s – everything works

and even the sails measured, 20 years after they

were made!

Ok cost wise no doubt I could have almost bought

a new boat from P&B but the upside is that I have

succeeded in getting a very much loved 7 plank

Doll ready to hit the water again and Spud thinks

the boat looks even better than the day it left

Camperdown Terrace back in 1972!

John Murrell

REGIONAL REPORTS...

12s in the East, 2014

It has been another rather quiet year for 12s in

East Anglia (with the honourable exception of

NWNW). Nick Copsey continues to fly the flag for

the region most actively in the big events, while

Ian and Alex Gore have been back in action on

the Gul Series trail in their new (to them) DCB.

During the year N3291 returned to her original

home at Royal Harwich sporting wings and a floor

fitted in sunny Devon. Richard Elston & George

Finch took her to Burton Week and came back

even more enthusiastic than they left. At the end

of season Gul Series event at Northampton the

Gifford family finally managed the logistics

necessary to get the Design 8 out of Suffolk and

sailed well enough to be first Admiral’s Cup boat.

The Royal Harwich Open saw the usual unusual

courses and friendly banter with the Firefly & Lark

sailors. 8 boats took part with Jon and Charlotte

Ibbotson coming out on top despite some early

navigational issues.

RHYC continues to have a large number of

members that own 12s but we still struggle to get

more than one out at a time... but more of that

later. We did manage to get three out for our

regatta weekend and Jo and I took away the main

handicap prize. From what I can gather the

message from other clubs is similar, a bit of happy

handicap sailing but little more.

The story for 2015 looks a lot brighter with the

draft schedule treating us to two Gul Events, at

Brightlingsea and Royal Harwich. Sadly initial

rumours of Burton Week in Essex have now been

scotched. The Royal Harwich fleet is showing a

little more life with the arrival of a Gifford DCB and

rumours that George Finch will take the plunge

into 12 ownership shortly.

If anybody wants to know

more about sailing 12s in

East Anglia feel free to drop me an email at

antonygifford@aol.com.

Antony Gifford

N3348 & N3529

Unfortunately I could only make it to my own

open meeting this season so I can’t give a great

overview of the season just gone.

No helm entered more than 2 open meetings,

but over 20 different helms sailed the series.

The club fleet at OMSC is strong with 5 12s

sailing regularly, and the Northampton Winter

Champs were well attended.

Next year, there will be a good mix of venues in

the Midlands Area - Hykeham, Midland and

Northampton being more open, Redesmere and

Olton Mere smaller ponds, and TVSC on the

river, with 3 to count.

Chris Troth

Overall results for

Midlands Area 2014:

1st Graham Camm and Zoe Ballantyne

(Burghfield SC)

2nd Paul Turner and Christine Preston

(and 1st AC) (TVSC)

3rd Arthur Bedford and Sue Burton

(Midland SC)

Northern Series

Roundup 2014

The Northern/Old Spice series has once again

been successful with a total of 32 boats

competing and 9 boats qualifying for the series

despite some fairly mixed weather reducing

numbers at a number of the events to a very low

level however 9 scheduled events were run with

an average turnout of six boats and one event

was not run due to the adverse weather

conditions.

The series started at Newburn on Tyne on the

23rd March however some very severe weather

forecasts resulted in only three boats competing

and only two of these finishing, Philip David and

Caroline Clark taking the win from Mark and

Emma Simpson. The very strong winds

continued through to the Burwain Open Meeting

in April where with only two visitors one a DB

boat and one a Vintage and a rapidly building

wind it was decided to enjoy the coffee and

bacon butties rather than race. This event was

also due to be for the ANEYC trophy which was

rescheduled back later in the year.

Thankfully slightly lighter winds were in evidence

for the next event at Yorkshire Ouse in early

June which was also part of the Vintage Series

and saw ten boats come to the line. Philip and

Caroline again proved worthy winners sailing

Little Meg Philip’s vintage boat with Bernard and

Ellie Clark finishing a worthy second in Xanthus

another vintage boat. The next event was Leigh

and Lowton an open regatta as well as part of

our series and held in mid-July. Despite the good

forecast the only National Twelve to arrive was

Tim Gatti in his ribbed boat Gruffalo. Taking the

win was almost a foregone conclusion and in the

overall regatta Tim and Gill Bilton finished with

Big Fleet at Ripon SC Oct 2014. (Sarah Chadwick) Close racing at Yeadon Oct 2014.

a creditable result despite sailing a boat built to

1936 plans.

In August the series went to Redesmere where

conditions were very light and the series was

sailed alongside the club racing. Brian Herring

and Ros Stevenson took the win at this event in

Brian’s rebuilt Starfish Bakewell Tart with Patrick

Hamilton and C Dobson in second place in a Big

Issue. Yet another day for a Vintage boat to beat

a Double Bottomed boat given a small water and

some skilful handling.

In September we went to Yorkshire Dales with a

healthy turnout of seven boats and the second

race also being Bart’s Bash where we had a

total of sixty two boats on the line it brought an

interesting dimension to the day’s racing. Ed and

Tom Storey won the day with three firsts and

some interesting and varied results behind them

Mark and Anna Simpson fighting through to

second place.

The Ripon event in early October was again a

Gul event as well as Northern and Vintage and

we had the largest turnout of the season with

twenty one boats on the water and good winds

and sunshine all day. Graham Camm and Zoe

Ballantyne took the win with team Stewart taking

second place, first non-foiling was Philip David

in his Feeling Foolish, first AC were Bernard and

Ellie in a Design Eight and first Vintage was

Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson in a

Starfish. The event was followed by an excellent

dinner at the club.

The good weather held the day after at Yeadon

where we had 12 boats on the water and again

some good racing, Philip and Caroline took first

place in a Feeling Foolish, John and Alison

Cheetham took second place in a Crusader and

Howard Chadwick and Helen Nicholson took

third place and first vintage in a Starfish.

The final event of the series was in late October

back at Newburn where the series began but

once again the forecast was for very high winds

and this affected the turnout badly. The two

boats that did go however did manage to do two

exciting races in ideal river conditions with

victory going to Philip and Caroline chased hard

by Ed and Tom Storey. In retrospect the relatively

sheltered Tyne Valley was quite sailable and

those of us who didn’t make the journey

undoubtedly missed a great sail.

Looking forward to the 2015 series we have

another busy year in prospect, most of the long

standing venues are once again in the series

giving a good mixture of river, small lake and

large lake sailing.

New for this year is also an event at Sunderland

Yacht Club where we could have the option to

sail out at sea, in the harbour or up the river

depending on the weather conditions. Hopefully

we will get a good number of vintage boats

attending the event in which case the more

sheltered options are likely to be chosen rather

than going out to sea. Dropped from the series

will be Leigh and Lowton due to the poor support

last year although as it is a standalone regatta it

is possible for Twelves to enter should they wish

to do so. Sadly it also appears that we will miss

the early open meeting at Newburn as the only

weekend when the tides are right is the weekend

of the Dinghy Show and as such is a major clash

and hence the event will be dropped for this

season only. At the time of writing the fixture list

is still being finalised so as always the

programme on the website will be the definitive

one for dates, notice of race and the full reports

after the event.

Howard Chadwick on behalf of

our Northern Fleet Representative

Brian Herring

Overall Series results 2014:-

1st N2545/3499 Philip David Caroline Clark

2nd N3514 Ed Storey Tom Storey

3rd N2335 Tim Gatti Gill Bilton

4th N2345 Brian Herring Ros Stevenson

5th N3209/3468 John Cheetham Alison Cheetham

6th N3216 Neil McInnes Matt Foster

7th N2266 Howard Chadwick Helen Nicholson

8th N2153/1833 Angus Beyts Various!

9th N3479 Will Mitchell Louis Spooner

Scottish National

12 News

2014 Review

We have two nice pieces of silverware available

for N12 competitions in Scotland…the Scottish

Daily Express Trophy…awarded for the Scottish

Championships; a single annual event; and The

Lairwell Trophy, presently awarded for the winner

of the Scottish Travellers series.

In 2014 the Scottish Championships was once

again held at the popular Annandale SC in cold

and at times very windy conditions. Sadly only

six boats turned up and given the inclement

conditions only four took to the water for the

racing. The event was deservedly won by Nick

and Tanya Copsey sailing their Dead Cat

Bounce design N3528 who had made the long

journey north from Hunts SC. Chris Day and

Sophie Richards in N3526 were 2nd ahead of

Ed and Tom Storey in third in N3514. The

Mariner Mug for the best AC boat went to Ed

Willett and Sarah Smith in N1833.

Angus Beyts with N1833 Water Nymph in which he

won the Castle Semple meeting. (Piotr Wojtczuk)

The Lairwell Trophy (originally presented by the

sailors of Perth SC in 1972) was to have been

awarded for the best results at Cramond Boat

Club, Solway Yacht Club and Castle Semple SC.

Wild conditions prevailed at Cramond near

Edinburgh at the end of May. All five boats (three

home boats plus two visitors) safely took to the

water, however the difficult sailing conditions

saw the rescue fleet fully occupied even before

the start of race one and with conditions

unrelenting racing was abandoned with no

results posted. At the end of August Solway was

contrastingly different with much sunshine and

significantly less wind and little in the way of

waves. A good turnout of nine boats enjoyed

some fantastic racing out on the Estuary on the

Saturday and up the River for the Palnackie

Race on Sunday. Visitors Philip David and Elaine

Ross in N3499 took the overall from Mark and

Anna Simpson in N3472 with the first home boat

being Ian and Margaret Purkis in third in N3384.

The series concluded at Castle Semple SC near

Glasgow in October and was sailed in generally

very light winds. Close racing was enjoyed

between the four competitors with Angus Beyts

and Piotr Wojtczuk taking the overall after three

race wins in N1833, perfectly suited for the

conditions ahead of Ed Willett and Ania Basista

in N3274 and Crawford Johnstone and Ross

McGlennon in N2801.

2015 Look Ahead

For 2015 the Scottish Championships will return

to Solway YC with the Lairwell Trophy scheduled

for competition on the estuary of the Firth of

Forth at Cramond BC (Edinburgh) and the inland

waterway of Castle Semple SC, near Glasgow.

The 2015 dates as follows :

23/24 June

Castle Semple SC, Lairwell qualifier.

29/30 August

Cramond BC, Lairwell qualifier.

12/13 September

Solway YC, Scottish Championships

Ed Willett

N402, N1833, N2679, N2701, N3274

Ed Willett and Ania Basista, winners of the Lairwell

Trophy with N3274 at Castle Semple SC. (Piotr Wojtczuk)

Nick and Tanya Copsey, winners of the Scottish Daily

Express Trophy 2014 at Annandale SC.

(Frances Copsey)

Lairwell Trophy Results 2014

Position Sail Number Boat Name Boat Design Helm Crew Club Points

1st N3274 Mr Incredible Crusader 88 Ed Willett Sarah Smith/ Cramond BC 7

Ania Basista

2nd N3223 China Crisis Crusader Alex Tulloch Dewi Williams/ Cramond BC 10

Karolina Kolodziejczak

3rd N1833/N2153 Water Nymph/ Proctor Mk9/

Reflection Sparklet Angus Beyts Ian Murgatroyd/ Forfar SC 11

Piotr Wotjczuk/

Lewis Martin

REASONS SAILING IS BETTER THAN SEX

lYou don’t have to hide your collection of Sailing magazines.

lIt's perfectly acceptable to pay a professional to Sail with you

once in a while.

lThe Ten Commandments don't say anything about Sailing.