STEEL GOLDEN HIND 26

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simonadams4961
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Joined: Sun August 7th, 2016, 10:06 pm

STEEL GOLDEN HIND 26

Post by simonadams4961 »

By chance I happened on the website and lo and behold some pictures of my steel, home built "after Maurice Griffiths" GH26. Someone was asking about her and the drawings used.
Long story short!!!
A friend of mine bought his GH26 "Lady of Lockerly" from Terry Erskine in Plymouth towards the end of the 1970s (at a guess). Just before Terry packed up shop. I wanted a hull and deck moulding to home finish but was too late, the moulds had been seized by the receivers (I think) but Terry was very helpful and gave me some basic plans for the 26 in GRP or ply construction. I also noticed he included a steel version on his price list, although he had never built one.
Left to my own devices therefore I decided to build a steel GH26. The decision was based on no GRP moulds being available and a ply one would take too long for the hull construction, fit out times much the same for all.
I am a marine engineer by profession so I teamed up with a Naval Architecht colleague of mine who nodded sagely and said the exiting lines would not support the extra weight of the steel. He therefore re-drew the lines with 9" more beam and a lot more draught to cope with a displacement of around 5 tons. Still with a length on deck just over 26'
I set to with a truck load of steel plates, bars etc and finished the job in about 2 years from 1981 to 1984. I say "finished", does one ever finish a job like this. Anyway we sailed "Tarka" as she was known for 30 years and sold her in 2011 or so.
She was a great boat to sail, rock steady on a draught of 4'-6". I omitted the bilge keels as I had no use for them anyway, deep water sailing in the English Channel.
She has been through a couple of owners since I sold her and is no in Portishead Marina. The current owner has the original drawings.
Lots more to tell but I won't bore anyone more at the moment.
Incidentally the former owners of "Lady of Lockerly" now have a GH31 "Pilgrim" based in Cowes IOW.
Simon Adams
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Fiddler's Green
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Joined: Wed March 1st, 2006, 12:58 pm
Location: Essex
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Re: STEEL GOLDEN HIND 26

Post by Fiddler's Green »

Hello simon,

Just strayed onto the forum and seen your post.

Great story and that does explain the description. We knew Terry offered steel as an option but as far as we knew he never had one built. Thus the query.

I will add this description of her to the Gallery.

Incedentally the Steel version of the Eventide 26 went through much the same process, we used a marine archtect and with the assistance of Maurice, the lines were drawn out very much the same. Same length but 6 inches wider, keel depth kept nearly the same as the latest timber E26, just adding the extra 6 inches of depth that had been added to some, (mine included) to assist sailing and add weight where it was needed. The hull topsides increased by about the same amount to compensate for the deeper displacement.

Bilge keels as standard.

The result is a hull that draws a metre but whose deck level is still the same as early boats. When moored side by side they look very similar, only when you step abaord do you appreciate the additional depth in the hull, as you find standing headroom!

they sail better for it too!

Lady of Lockerly has resold in the last year. Not sure who has her now.

Regards
John williams
Website coordinator
Eventide Owners Group.
Proud owner and builder of 'Fiddler's Green'
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