Our featured boats for December are Winkle Brigs. This is the second post provided by two East Coast Gaffers who sail ‘Tab Nab’ and ‘Philomena’. A brief history of the class is here. Watch out for a third where they make a comparison of the two boats.
Winkle Brig ‘Tab Nab’
My own Winkle Brig ‘Tab Nab’ (she was named ‘Tab Nab 3′ but I shortened it) was discovered by my brother Mark and myself in a boatyard in Wisbech sitting on her trailer in a very sorry state. Her mainsail and topsail together with their associated yards were missing. Almost all the external woodwork was rotten. Subsequently we discovered that she had been donated to the Sea Cadets and that she was in fact Winkle Brig number 21 built in 1988.
Having purchased her, she was towed by my brother Mark to his home near Peterborough and the process of restoration began. Interestingly, he discovered that the hull was formed of two GRP mouldings of which the starboard side was inferior with a lot of voids indicating poor layup whilst the port side was near perfect. All was made good and a new boom, gaff and topsail yard were made together with almost all the wooden parts, including the bulwarks. Three new sails were ordered from Jeckells, the trailer was overhauled and ‘Tab Nab’ was duly launched at the Walton and Frinton Yacht Club in May, 2022. My first trial sail was to Landermere in the Walton Back Waters and I then set out on a six week cruise coastal hopping to Lowestoft and back with two weeks on the Norfolk Broads in between. Sailing upright in a light breeze (F2) I found her well balanced and fast. However, when hit by a squall of F3/F4 she was thrown over on her beam ends and rounded up into the wind totally out of control. Equally, I have to say, I never felt the slightest concern about her absolute stability. Nevertheless, I was concerned about ramming a moored yacht when passing to leeward of it whilst on the wind. I soon learnt to avoid those conditions. I also learned that in a F3/F4 it was wise to put the first reef in the mainsail and two reefs in a F4/F5. In both cases this brought the centre of effort forward and made her less likely to gripe.
At the end of September 2022 ‘Tab Nab’ was taken out of the water and towed by my brother Mark back to Peterborough. The main work undertaken during the winter was the manufacture of a new mast from the aluminium extrusion used in making a spinnaker pole for a large yacht. This new mast weighed 8 KG whilst the old one weighed 16 KG. This did make a contribution to stability but not as much as I had hoped. During the season 2023 I undertook a six week cruise to Battlebridge on the River Crouch, visited the Roach and explored the Blackwater. On the way out from Tollesbury heading for the Wallet and home I was hit by a F6 squall whilst reaching under single reefed main and jib and totally lost control as ‘Tab Nab’ completed almost a half circle as she rounded up into the wind. It was obviously time for a rethink!
Winkle Brig ‘Philomena’
Yvonne found ‘Philomena’ as the result of an advert and towed her back to Walton-on-the-Naze from the Midlands. She has owned her for a longer time than I have owned ‘Tab Nab’ and thus has considerably more experience than I have in handling Winkle Brigs. ‘Philomena’ is rigged as a cutter which means that a quick reduction in sail area can be made by furling one of the headsails. Her mainsail is also peaked up more than the original but less than the high peaked version thus bringing its centre of effort forwards (but not as much as my Dutch mainsail).
Yvonne feels that one of Philomena’s greatest strengths is that, ‘She always makes me feel safe’. In addition, she has comfortable wide berths and doesn’t take much water aboard in heavy weather. Her one big weakness, she feels, is that she doesn’t like sailing close to the wind. Yvonne has made a number of alterations to the original design. Amongst these are:
Changing to cutter rig with a higher peaked main.
Cutting down the original cockpit tent and putting a flexible pole in the aft end to make it hoop shaped (See picture of ‘accommodation’).
Making steps, that also serve as lockers, to make it much easier to step up from the cockpit seats to the cabin roof (I have copied these on ‘Tab Nab’ and would thoroughly recommend them).
Lining the inside of the aft bulkhead and adding shelves.
Putting wooden slats on the cockpit seats to stop everything sliding off when the vessel heels.
Yvonne says: ‘Philomena’ sails well but doesn’t have the weight to cut through rough water. However, she is only small after all and she has always got to the intended destination eventually. She also motors well but needs a bit of speed to proceed astern which can be risky in confined spaces but can usually be sorted out with the judicious use of a paddle.’
SOON FOR SALE! ‘Philomena’, with her original rig, will be on the market soon as Yvonne has acquired another Winkle Brig . . . watch this space!
Research and articles by East Coast Gaffers, Francis Douglas & Yvonne Mitchell
Cover photo: Gerard Brown
You must be logged in to post a comment.