November 1937 Yachting Monthly

Robinetta proves herself; Reflections on an Unusual Little Tabloid
by D A Rayner

The high rail and freeboard are cleverly disguised

Robinetta’s body, sail, and accommodation plans have already appeared in the February 1937 issue of the Yachting Monthly, so that anyone interested may refer to that for any detail.

The Editor, in his remarks on the design, seems to doubt the sailing capabilities of the ship, and ends up by a rather doubting query as to how she will sail.

This article is, therefore, the answer in so far as I can describe the ways of a very gentle little lady.

First a word as to why such a form was chosen when I came to draw out the plans. At the time when they were drawn there was nothing further from my mind than that she would ever be built, and the drawings were an answer to a thesis which I had set myself after reading the designing articles in The Yachting Monthly. It ran as follows.
“Owing to the small capital available, and the need for economy in upkeep, the smallest possible sailing vessel is required to accommodate a young married man and his wife, or three young men. The vessel must be capable of open water cruising and must carry sufficient stores and water to be entirely independent from the shore for fourteen days. The maximum of comfort below is to be provided and standing headroom is also a necessity.”

One other consideration governed the construction plan, as great strength was required for taking the ground in an anchorage where the ebb stream runs at 4 knots. This meant that the iron keel would preferably run right to the heel of the ship, and a projection at the after end must both protect the heel of the rudder and also take a pin from the forged rudder shoe to form the lower pintle.

As a start the following points were assumed, which are, admittedly, only my own opinions, and I make no claim that they are infallible.

First it was assumed that the water flows round the boat along the diagonals and not along the waterlines so that the former were of more importance to the design than the latter; and as a secondary to this, that in a very small boat the upper diagonal was of relatively small importance compared with the lower ones, so long as the “in-and-out” wedges were kept reasonably approximating at bows and stern.

Secondly, it was assumed that a clean run was of more importance than a fine entrance, and that the main body of the boat should be forward of the midship section, so as to approach as nearly as possible the theoretical streamline form, always bearing in mind that the bow must be sufficiently well shouldered to keep her head out of the water, and thus ease the steering at the maximum normal angle of heel. In this connexion it was realised that a small ship needs proportionately heavier quarters than her larger sisters, due to the fact that the minimum sized cockpit in which the crew can be comfortable does not decrease in comparison to the size of the smaller ship. So many small ships have cockpits that not only give one cramp but also the sensation of sitting on a ridge tile with every chance of being blown off.

Thirdly, as it seems proven that the longest possible leading edge is desirable, this desideratum was also added to the list, which was completed by the fourth - to wit, that for serious cruising in a comparatively heavy ship below 6 tons, or 25’ on the waterline, the gaff rig gets to windward better in a seaway than the Bermudian.

A start was then made with a rough sketch of the minimum accommodation necessary to fulfil requirements of the thesis, and this produced an overall length of 22’6” and a beam of 8’ and a waterline length of approximately 18’.

These having been laid down, the profile was next drawn. It was then apparent that is the iron was to run the whole length of the keel it would have to stop well forward of the after water line ending. The only way to achieve this was to give the rudder post a very pronounced rake, and this was accordingly done.

A midships section having been chosen, the body lines were sketched out, and here a difficulty presented itself in that it was found that, to get the shoulders sufficiently powerful to stop her trimming by the head at 33º heel, the quarters would have to be fined down – or alternatively given a very marked tumble-home. The latter alternative was chosen, as I was particularly anxious to have sufficient room in the cockpit lockers.

I then found that I was producing a baby sister to a Camaret crabber – which not only confirmed my opinion of what was desirable at sea, but also provided me with a type to aim at, so that the sheer line and sail plan might embody that character which is so desirable in the small cruiser.

In order to provide the maximum of air in the saloon, the cabin-top was carried out to the ship’s side, and its apparent height greatly reduced by running 9” bulwarks round the fore and aft decks, these being secured to the fined down ends of the main frames. It should be noted that the tumble-home also detracts considerable height from this house, as the round of the hull above water produced an ever-increasing curve towards its after end.

I had feared that this might be a very awkward erection to cross at sea, but a single handed cruise on the West Coast of Scotland has assured me that my fears were not born out by fact. This may in some measure be due to the fact that, as all the halyards with the exception of the jib – for which in any case a trip to the foredeck is necessary- lead aft to the cockpit, one is not so often called on to make the journey as one would be in a normal ship. The roller reefing also is worked from the cockpit, and is simply a length of Tungum steel wire wound round a drum at the heel of the boom, whence it is led through blocks to a single whip purchase along the top of the cabin. It functions perfectly, and the power obtained has always proved adequate. When reefing one sits at the tiller, and, by slackening off the main and peak and hauling on the reefing tackle the main is reefed – and to think that there are still people willing and apparently anxious to hand out over the counter passing reef pennants!

The 9” bulwarks have been a great blessing; the feeling of security on a dark night in a seaway is well worth any small extra windage, and in addition they allow the fore hatch coaming being the same height without undue prominence, thus keeping out of the way of ordinary foredeck water.

Like a Camaret Crabber aft - with the same easy run

When the designs were faired up and the finished drawings completed, a model, to the scale of 1” to the foot, was made. This was hollowed out and movable weights added to bring it up to scale weight. By moving the weights the hull could be trimmed to varying degrees of heel, and tank tests at a scale speed equivalent to 6 knots in a the local marine lake.
It was found that up to angles of 20º of heel she ran remarkably straight – so straight in fact that our Heath-Robinson arrangements for testing yaw could make nothing of it. In quite a popple in the lee corner of the lake we found that she carried her way remarkably well, in spite of her bluff entrance, and at 20º of heel showed no desire other than to follow the direction of the tow. Her wake was also remarkably clean up to a scale speed equivalent of 8 knots, when she formed a very bad counter wave and the tension on the tow rope increased out of all proportion to the difference between 6 and 8 knots. As, however, I felt that this was well outside the maximum speed likely to be attained under sail, I made no alteration to the hull.

After the unfortunate loss of Pearl* my father light-heartedly suggested that I should build to the design, and after assuring myself that there was nothing on the market at the time which I preferred, or which suited my purpose better, I decided to approach one or two local builders, the “local” being a very definite stipulation, as I felt that if I were going to build I would also have the fun of seeing her grow.

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* The 35’ barge yacht designed for himself by the late E.B. Tredwen, built in 1909 on the Deben and burnt out at moorings, 1936 Ed.

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Finally the Enterprise Small Craft Co., of Rock Ferry, undertook to build for the sum I had at hand. They certainly built well and built strongly, and, what is also important, they built to the designs, the frames when erected needed barely any fairing up – and the iron keel, for which the calculations had nearly driven me to the madhouse, balanced within a quarter of an inch from the calculated C.G., and was returned by the foundry only 18 lb overweight.

Seeing her in the builders’ yard, all my friends, almost without exception, made the following remarks: “You’ve given her a grand run, and off the wind she should be quite fast if you can hold her straight, which I very much doubt with that short keel – I don’t think that the bow will ever get you to windward – on the other hand, no weather on earth will ever hurt you, and as long as you don’t fall off or hit something you ought to live out your allotted span.” Not entirely encouraging, coming as it did from many who have far greater experience than I; however, I refused to be worried, and now am vindicated in my faith.

The little ship was launched on Monday, May 10, and has since cruised to, and quite extensively about, the West Coast of Scotland.

Unfortunately – or fortunately – it has so happened that her long sea passages have been made in light or moderate going so she has yet to meet her first big ocean sea. She has however, had plenty of hard blows in the squally lochs of Scotland, and has had to contend with the short, steep seas knocked up in those localities – in fact just the sort of stuff that she was not primarily designed for. That she has taken everything that she has yet met in her stride argues that if she can take the short she will simply revel in the large waves when the inevitable happens and we get caught out together some day.

Her motion in a seaway is much steadier than I had anticipated, due most probably to the relatively heavy tophamper and very stout mast – the latter a necessity if it was not to look like a toothpick.. This does not mean that she is at all tender. Comparing size for size she is stiffer than most of the little ships I have met, and stands up to her canvas remarkably well. She has a delightfully easy roll, and if the pitch is perhaps a little short and sharp it is only to be expected in such a very small boat, and, of course, soon clears itself as the seas lengthen.

The bluff bows make less fuss than I had anticipated, and the water gets away under the lee bow easily and leaves the run very sweetly, with no sign of drag until she is well down to the covering board – a very large angle, and one at which she was never intended to sail, and only experienced in one of two vicious mountain loch squalls.

She points very much better than the critics foretold, and goes the way she is looking better than I had been led to expect, if not quite as well as some of the racers, certainly well enough for general purposes, where more compromise is necessary in the hull form. When really driven hard to windward in a fresh breeze she has rather astonished me by her performance, as she is then well above the small ship average at windward work.

Single handed as I was in Scotland, I found her most endearing trait to be her ability to sail herself. In any sort og going under the three lowers she will sail herself close-hauled, without the tiller being pegged. I can’t say that I have ever let her go for very long – her longest fetch without any one touching her was about 1½ hours – but on many occasions when sail trimming and always when entering or leaving harbour, she has gone by herself while I have been getting the anchors ready or clearing up. Alterations, of course, can be made by trimming the sails, and she can be steered by mainsail alone from 4 to 8 points off the wind, as long as it is reasonably steady. Beyond this to twelve points off, or if the Genoa is set she likes to have the tiller pegged one notch to windward. Only once have I tried her with a dead run under mainsail without a spinnaker, and she then steadily held her course for ten minutes with the tiller pegged two notches to windward. Unfortunately, Inverary pier intervening, I had to take her in hand myself, but she seemed quite happy about it, and I should have liked to have seen how much longer she would have gone.

She will go to windward and come about either under mainsail or staysail alone – although I have only tried the latter in smooth water, in which condition she will also point quite well under jib alone. However I should not like to try the latter rig, in either very light or fresh winds.

Quite frankly, I was not prepared for speed, and in the design everything was sacrificed to obtain comfort at sea with the necessary powerful hull and a certain modicum of sailing manners. She has, however, proved to be quite definitely fast for her length, as the under-mentioned instances bear adequate testimony, especially when everyone was made towing a rather bluff 8’6” dinghy of normal boat shape. May I remind you once again that this little ship is only 18’4” on the waterline, and with a beam of 8’ has to trail a solid 13” propeller?

On May 17, off Ailsa Craig, wind NNW, force 3, sea rather short, between 22:00 and 23:00 the ship logged 4¾ sea miles by harpoon log under full main, Genoa, and staysail. Close hauled on port tack.
On June 1, reaching down Kerry Kyle ship made good 6½ sea miles over the ground in one hour, wind NW to N, strong and squally; sea short and following; under three rolled main and no 1 jib, and beat back this distance dead to windward against a short chop under 4 rolled main, staysail, and no 2 jib ub two hours and 1 minute. Slight favourable tide both directions.

I would emphasize that these runs were all made under normal cruising conditions, and that no sail dragging for record’s sake was ever undertaken, although, naturally, I always try to get the best our of any ship within the limits of comfort.

All these runs, of which I was rather proud, pale into insignificance when compared with one vouched for by Engineer-Lieutenant J.S.Carlisle, R.N. and his wife, to whom the ship was loaned for the month of July, and who also spent their time off the Scottish coast. They claim 22½ miles in 3 hours 10 minutes, coming down Loch Fyne before a moderate gale on a broad reach; an average of 7.01 knots. This, I should think, is a speed which is likely to remain her record for many years. While I would very much like to have been present, to see the way the water left her, I feel that it might have been a bit nerve-racking for one of my temperament in so small a ship.

I can just imagine anyone reading thus so far and saying – “What! Has she no faults?” Of course she has some little ones; no ship can be entirely faultless with a limit on her price. I am often asked how I would alter her if I built another, and I can truthfully answer: “I would not touch anything unless I could spend another £100, when the bow would be pulled out and the stern altered to a rather long sawn-off counter.” This would, I think, improve her performance in the one sort of going she detests as cordially as her owner, i.e. close-hauled in a light wind and a popple which is the carry-over from a hard blow earlier in the day. With no real drive in her mainsail and staysail, her bluff bows just sog into the short sea, and she does not get to windward in such conditions with anything like her usual cheerfulness. Happily, these conditions are not over common, and had the motor been functioning it would have been told to work on every such occasion. Alternatively a large jackyarder might do the trick, but I have no stowage room for the long spars necessary.


Of the equipment used in her construction I can heartily recommend the Tungum steel wire used throughout, also the Dunlopillo mattresses, which give an entirely new conception of luxury for the watch below. All internal gear is fully illustrated in the February number, with the exception of the folding table, drawings of which are shown as they may be of interest to others faced with the same problem of wanting the floor space for an extra bunk and yet desirous of having a table sufficiently strong to hold on to and to stand being bumped against. The whole essence of this construction lies in the strength of the hinge to the mast, as this holds it firmly in the fore and aft directions and the broad feet on the legs support it ’thwartships.

The engine disgraced itself on its second running, and we have been without it all this season, so that for her first year she has been a pure sailing vessel. Perhaps it is fortunate, as I have certainly learnt far more about her than I would have done with it in working order.