sounds like a vintage 14

[Obscured by clouds]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/International ... 3cbbc3bcdd

no photos [as yet] but maybe worth further investigation for anyone in Norfolk [St Olaves]

[billytwiglet]

pics are up on ebay; nice project if you have the time and space.

[JimC]

Hope that gets posted on the 14 site... if she is a 14 then that transom looks pre Uffa to me, so *very* old...

[Rupert]

Planing hull shape, I'd have said a very Uffa like transom, complete with the Firefly style mainsheet horse & tiller cut out, so likely a 1930's boat, though there were many built after the war with ribs, I believe?

Transom could do with being at the back, though...

[Bill-Conner]

It is indeed a Vintage International 14, not however an Uffa boat, the clue is in the sellers name it was built in the past by Mr Bowles on the Norfolk and Suffolk borders probably before the war another clue is must of Uffas boats were with the outer veneers fore and aft this is diagonal. Probably easier to put back together than many of the projects one reads of here.
It deserves to be put back together, but only by a skilled boat builder.

[Rupert]

Any ideas on a designer?

[Michael Brigg]

Any ideas on a designer?

You can just about make out the name "Blue Peter" on the bow.

Is that a clue?

The forward extention of the plate case to reinforce the hog under themast foot wasI thought an Uffa design feature, but one I would guess was easily copied.

I dont think being in norfolk is a reason not to be Uffa as by the time this was built I'm pretty sure the two conferences had amalgamated.

If it was a Norfolk conference design it would have been (probably) clinker, and the mast would be forward, as they only allowed the sail area "all in one sail."

[Ed]

All seems rather sad to me.

This boat looks in much better condition than some of the others we have seen recently. OK, so the transom and case are out, but to be honest, this is no bad thing and any decent re-build would of needed this anyway.

There are 40 mins to go and there hasn't been one bid....not even at one penny. Surely someone wants to give this boat a home!

For what it is worth.

I presume this is Blue Peter....because as Michael says, the name is visible.

In which case she is K483 - a Jack Holt Design, built by Buss & Elston in Watford in 1946. Would be great if she could be back on the water for the Holt centenary year - next year?

I can understand the viewpoint that a boat as nice as this should be re-built by a 'real' boatbuilder.....but what if there is no-one who wants to take on the many thousand pound of restoration, to have a boat at the end of it worth a few hundred?

Then it goes on the fire and this seems a criminal pity. I would much prefer it was in our hands and safe than burnt, even if the burning is done by 'the right kind of jolly good person'.

I gather there are lots of people interested...I hope some of them are CVRDA members.

eib

[Obscured by clouds]

the seller had expressly told interested parties 'do not bid' [no longer evident in the description, but several have contacted him. I think he wants to choose who he gives it to, since it's a 'free to a good home' item

[Hotspur]

Hello all, first time poster. I'm going to have a look at this boat in the next few days so will report back. I happened to contact the owner first so I think that puts me top of the queue, but I need to be sure that I have the resources (physical and emotional) to take on this lovely boat. I'm sure there are those among you good folk who could make a beautiful job with it should I feel I'm not up to it. If I do go for it (and the owner is happy for me to) I may well be back here for help and support....

[jpa_wfsc]

Hotspur - you will find lots of emotional and practical support here -- hope you do indeed take this on and best wishes for it!

[Michael Brigg]

Quite an important point not to miss is the quantity of accessories this boat has if the hull turns out to be irredeemable.

Lovely looking ?Lead? bottomed Composite wooden plate, one of them wire drum contraptions for the kicking strap, two wooden masts and at least a suit or two of decent sails.

I expect it has a few of those old bronze cylinderical bouyancy cans?? Id love to get my hands on some as I have an old clinker restricted 14 that has lost hers. (The boatyard thought they were rubbish!! )

If anyone on here gets the nod, I'll look forward to seeing some more posts on her. Good luck.

(I was caught looking last night and recieved a stern look from the treasurer! )

[Hotspur]

First up, this boat will make someone a wonderful project - that person will not be me. It kills me to say it but I don't trust my abilities to do this superb craft justice. It would need some woodwork which I'm not capable of to do the best job, including creating new laminated and/or steamed inwales etc. Otherwise I believe it would be down to elbow grease, common sense, time and patience.

Let's start with the positives. This is an amazing boat. It's not entirely clear which 14 it is - according to Neil, the owner, someone from the class looked at it and could not identify it positively, other than to say it's definitely a 14 and it would be fitted into the class by one means or another. So it sounds like even if the original number could not be pinned down, one will be found for it.

It appeared to me that the planks were all relatively snugly fitting and don't seem to have shrunk. They are actually tongue-and-groove, so I imagine this has helped hold it all together over the years. It looks like quite a few of the original (or at least contemporary) bits and pieces are there and in pretty good order. This includes centreboard, rudder (and pintles and gudgeons for it), a winch (for the centreboard I presume), two masts (one wood, one aluminium) and a box full of smaller bits. The owner is not interested in someone taking the boat just for the parts - the hull is too good for that, and he is in a position to offer it to someone who will commit to restoring the whole.

The hull has some damage around the forefoot, and this will need some new wood letting into the area and I imagine a fair bit of glueing and clamping. The inner layer of planking is a little broken where the transom was attached (some of the planks are broken off around an inch and new pieces would need letting in so the transom can be reattached securely).

The gunwales have been removed and new ones are needed. The inwales/carlins have been replaced at some point, a little amateurishly using too-short pieces which have just been screwed into each other with a little glue - the owner (a boat builder and repairer) recommended that new ones should ideally be formed from long pieces of oak, steamed to shape and glued/laminated.

The interior has been completely stripped. All the tanks/seats, thwarts, deck-level beams, tabernacle and centreboard case have been removed but are present and looked to me to be sound and ready to re-install. The varnish has all been stripped from the interior but the exterior remains to be done. With all those frames, the inside was by far the tougher job!

Unfortunately the buoyancy tanks are not bronze - I think the boat is a touch newer than that. In fact it seems to have an early form of closed-cell foam of a type which I understand came in sheets around 3/4in thick and was intended for soundproofing. The wooden side tanks are filled with pieces of this which have been carefully cut to fill the space as fully as possible. All the pieces have been retained to be replaced like a jigsaw when the tank goes back in.

The centreboard seems to be a free-floating design I have not come across before. It does not have a pivot - the upper leading corner is radiused and appears to have acted as the pivot. How it was held in or moved I have no idea. It is a long, streamlined, tapered wooden board with the last ten inches or so formed from possibly copper coated lead. The ballast will need reattaching as there is some play in it but I don't see this being too taxing especially with modern materials.

Rudder is a fixed, lobular design. The tiller wasn't present but the current owner has added a laminated wood Enterprise item which seems to go well enough.

The wooden mast is complete with diamonds and jumpers. It looks sound but will need re-rigging. The alu mast unfortunately seems to have had a foot sawn off the base by a previous owner.

Not sure about sails - there are evidently some with it but they came from another boat as the sail number equates to a clinker hull. I didn't check if the owner intends to include them, I'm afraid.

Anyway, that should give you an idea of what's involved. If anyone fancies a challenge and has not contacted the owner through the eBay page yet, let me know and I'll pass on his contact details. There is evidently quite a bit of interest in the boat, and rightly so, but the owner is keen to ensure that the person he passes it onto will nurture it. All I can say is that if any among you do end up with it, I'll happily crew for you!

All the best
Matt

[Hotspur]

All is not entirely lost - I am looking at a 1964 Merlin Rocket on Friday so I may get to hang around the CVRDA forum after all...

[JimC]

Not sure about sails - there are evidently some with it but they came from another boat as the sail number equates to a clinker hull. I didn't check if the owner intends to include them, I'm afraid.

I didn't know there was a clinker 14 era. Weren't they (at least mostly) carvel rght from the start?