Another Steinlager moment
MALARKEY
Jo & Trevor Bush
Tue 24 Apr 2007 19:07
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Back in Falmouth Harbour, Antigua for the Classic
Rally.
It only took one visit to the Antigua Yacht club
and a whirl around the marinas to get a place as crew (or deck monkey) on a
classic yacht. But while walking the planks I stumbled across Steinlager.... yes
Steinlager, the very same yacht that won the Whitbread around the world race way
back yonder and the very same yacht I yearned about in an earlier blog.
So who would have guessed, what luck.....another Steinlager
moment!
 The boat seemed to be in good order and still in
the original condition. It was interesting to see how the spars were
manufactured like an aircraft wing being pot rivetted together out of small
shaped sections rather than one complete extrusion like masts today. There were
more winches than you could shake a stick at and so many bits of string.
I had real trouble sussing out which lines did what and the boat wasnt even
fully rigged for racing yet. Everything seemed very beefy and purpose made, I
guess it had to be bearing in mind what the boat was to be put through. It
is currently a charter yacht for those who would like a taste of
serious offshore racing. They are advertising for crew to help the boat
back across the Atlantic in May. I was tempted...Jo was not, so that was the end
of another Steinlager moment.
The classic yacht I had a place on was
'Nordwind'.
   She is a truly stunning yawl designed &
built by Henry Gruber in 1939 as a sail training yacht for the German Navy. She
was commissioned by Admiral Donitz and held the Fastnet Record of 88hrs 23 mins
for over 20 years, so was clearly no slouch. She was captured as a war prize and
raced by Lord Astor from the IOW. The current owner Hans Albrecht restored the
yacht to her original plan but with some modern bits & bobs. These
modern bits & bobs make her easier to sail and more comfotable to live
on, but resulted in her only getting 3rd place in the 'Concourse
d'Elegance' this year. If she had been entirely original, she definately would
have won, so the judges said. It was easy to see why. Every bit of varnishwork,
stainless steel and glass was polished to perfection right down to the crystal
glass cabinet down below behind the blue leather Chesterfield sofa in the
saloon!.
It was almost a shame to take her to sea and get it
splashed with salt water but after all, that is what she was there for. There
were 4 races in our Vintage Class and
despite the light to moderate winds, she perfomed well, with a good turn of
speed. We achieved 11 knts just off the wind in 16knts of true wind. Quite a
surprise bearing in mind her low tech sails had to push 68 tonnes of mahogany on
steel frames through sloppy seas. Where she failed was turning the marks
after relatively short legs. It took forever, even for a crew of 16, to
tack or gybe, and as a result our best finish was fourth. But it was great
fun and we made alot of friends. We have even been invited to sail her
again where ever she is & when ever we want. Not bad eh, specially bearing
in mind food & drink is served by a hostess upon request!.... could easily
get used to that.
But back down to earth and cruising again on
Malarkey, heading south this time.
Oh, bye the way, Falmouth & English Harbours
are much nicer when the sun shines and you have got some drinking pals
around!
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