The boat of my dreams

The best boat design should combine old and new, says Tom Cunliffe. And he put it into practice in his own craft, ‘The Westerman’.

Read the magazine article.

This week, the Summer Boat Show in London is resplendent with fine yachts, bristling with new technology. Nearly all are descendants of the hull-shape revolution that took place 25 years ago. By contrast, my own lies quietly on a tidal creek off the south coast. She was designed last year but, seeing her, you might imagine her to be 100 years old and think that her owner must be some kind of lost-soulromantic.

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It has to be said, however, that despite being an indispensable tool in current design methods and boat-building practice, sophisticated technology frequently insulates crews from the harsh realities of maritime life. These are often the very realities they hoped to rediscover by going to sea in the first place.

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The occasional battle with flapping canvas is surely part of a seaman’s life. And for what purpose should we abandon common sense and move our steering positions from the security of the aft end to some vulnerable perch half-way to the bow? The sad answer is that this creates a cabin like that of an ocean liner, with space for a bed larger than the one at home.

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Her sails were heavy, and she had no pumped water, no electricity to speak of, no fridge, no central heating, no winches, and absolutely no electronics, especially in the navigation department, yet she was the kindest, easiest boat that I have ever sailed at sea.

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The Westerman has never disappointed me. Although Nigel Irens, the designer, and Ed

Burnett, his right-hand man, are adept with computer-assisted design programs, Irens

initially drew this boat on a paper napkin, and only later transferred his ideas to the computer. After this had generated a set of lines, he carved a model, just as boatyards did in the days of sail. Together we considered the primary embryonic vessel, then fed the design back into the electronic box for modification.

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Her appearance is ageless, her motion at sea is a pleasure and her accommodation, much of it in reclaimed pitch pine, emanates an atmosphere of deep peace. Maybe this is because she was drawn purely as a sailing craft, without reference to any furniture we might put into her. That is the well-tried method of the sea.

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Constructed in timber treated with a penetrating glue, she is totally impervious to water. Thus she has all the benefits of a glass fibre boat yet looks like, feels like and sails like the real thing.