Donald Young on Boatbuilding
Originally when we started doing Albacores, they had the rights to the hulls so there was us and a few other little boatbuilders who could finish them off cheaper than what they could finish them off (laughs) and that’s how we really started on Albacores, wasn’t it? I mean before that we did a few Enterprises and other dinghies …
Albacores was the main thing. Once we got going with Albacores … I don’t know how many for sure we did but we did …
Lisa: Where do they get their sails and rigging?
Well, originally the masts were wood, and we used to make the masts and the rigging would be from Spencer’s at Cowes. They were Rigging Merchants. They did a lot of rigging for all sorts of different boats. Big boats as well as little ones. What else was it?
Oh sails, yeah well, Ratsey’s were always the best sails in the old days because they would make them big enough. You see, sails are measured, they have to be I think it was 25 square metres on the … I don’t know, that sound a lot … I can’t remember exactly what it was, but they have to be within so many metres and Ratsey’s were the only ones that would make them to full size.
All the other little Sailmakers would make them smaller because they were afraid they were going to stretch, because they do stretch, especially when they was cotton.
It was still cotton when we was first doing these things and cotton sails stretch like blazes. When they changed to Terylene sails, the story is that I always had a have a fairly new boat to try and advertise it because being on the Island, you’ve got to advertise somehow and I used to go round to the Championships with my new boat and I used to have to change the boat every two years ‘cos there are always little bits you can make different and you hope you’re improving it.
You see the sails could be from any Sailmaker as long as it conformed to the rules and some Sailmakers sort of specialised in them. In the early days, it was Lucas at Portsmouth that made quite a lot of Albacore sails but Ratsey’s were the only ones that would make them full size.
All the other small Sailmakers in those days were frightened they were going to stretch oversize and they’d have them back to alter, so they all made them small and Ratsey’s was the only ones that made them to full size and in the end I decided I had to have a suit of Ratsey’s sails ‘cos I used to go to the Championships and do reasonably well but somebody was …
Margaret: Ratsey’s sails.
Ratsey’s sails would always beat me (laughs). Anyway, where was I going in this? Then they changed from cotton to Terylene. The year previous I’d decided to buy a set of Ratsey’s sails, and they were great, but of course during the next winter, they brought in Terylene ones and at the next Championships, I still had my cotton Ratsey sails and I was last every time (laughs). It made that much difference. The Terylene sails were so …
Margaret: Precise weren’t they?
Yeah but I suppose the wind blew over them easier and pushed them along better, but you know I couldn’t believe it ‘cos these were special sails I’d paid quite a lot for and …
Margaret: They weren’t so good.
They weren’t no good at all.
