2015-09-06
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A. It’s not that I’m suggesting that sailors should go back to enduring every hardship. It’s always been important to me that my boats have a coal stove for warmth and dryness and cosy berths for sleeping. But why go cruising at all if every sail sets and furls itself?
B. Back on land, however, it is a sad fact that the very antiquity of classic boats means
that they need a lot of looking after. When I had a bad injury to my back, I realised that
my 15-year love affair with her had to end. Searching for a younger replacement produced no credible contenders, so I decided to build a new boat from scratch.
C. In her timeless serenity, she is the living proof that it works; that there is no need to
follow current fashions to find satisfaction, and that sometimes it pays to listen to the lessons of history.
D. The next version was nearly right and by the time the final one appeared, the form was perfect. The completed boat has now crossed the North Atlantic and has won four out of her first six racing starts.
E. At the same time, having lived aboard an ancient wooden beauty in the early seventies, it’s easier to understand more of this area of the mechanics. My designer, for example, knows more about the ways of a boat on the sea than anyone I can think of.
F. Perhaps I am, though I doubt it. This boat has benefited from all the magic of old fashioned boat design, but it would have been a much harder job without the advances of modern know-how.
G. For me a boat should always be a boat and not a cottage on the water. When I bought an earlier boat, Hirta, in which I circumnavigated Britain for a TV race series, the previous owner observed that she had every comfort, but no luxury. During my long relationship with her, Hirta taught me how wise he was.
UNIT 5 FOOD AND COOKING
