I was driving past my local Marina and they had this ship in the lot. Can anyone tell me what it is?
Thanks!
Thanks!
What is this boat?
- Thread starter Sweetnlow
- Start date
Looks like a small Bristol channel pilot cutter. Very fast, with lots of sail area. Designed to handle rough seas racing other pilots to get to cargo ships off shore and deliver the harbor pilot.
Delivering a pilot to a cargo ship with that takes a very good sailor!!! Or uses up a lot of pilots ;^))))
Bristol Channel pilot cutter From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A Bristol Channel pilot cutter is a specialised sailing boat the style and design of which is derived from the single-masted cutter. Based upon bulkier, less nimble, fishing boats but modified for use in the strong tides, winds, currents and coastline of the Bristol Channel its purpose was to quickly ferry local maritime pilots to and from large ships to assist in safe navigation into or out of any of the port cities in the Channel. The speed and manoeuvrability of the cutters allowed a minimal crew, in almost any weather, to quickly arrive at and easily lie alongside larger ships for easy and safe transfer of pilots. The craft was also equipped to stay 'on station' for days or even weeks, awaiting arrivals just outside the channel.
The design has been described as the best sailing boat design ever,[1] for being both high speed, highly manoeuvrable and yet easy to handle by just two crew.
With the advent of steam engines and vessels made out of metal, the wooden sailing cutters fell out of use and many were sold and later lost. Only a relative handful of the many Bristol Channel pilot cutters survive today.
To me it looks like a Gartside cutter .
https://store.gartsideboats.com/products/30-ft-gaff-cutter-design-109
https://store.gartsideboats.com/products/30-ft-gaff-cutter-design-109