Watson Lifeboat sail details wanted

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Making sails

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Hello all,

at the SWMEE show last weekend I was demonstarting sail making, especially for Thames barges when I voluntered to make sails for a fellow modeller and his lifeboat.

His model is of the 41' Watson class lifeboat "Mary Ann Hepworth", at 1/12 scale, that was the Whitby lifeboat, and still sails giving trips out and about Whitby.

I'm trying to get precise details on the sails, the associated gear, and how it was rigged. At present I have measurements and images from the model and the picture below, that's all. I could do a reasonable job from that but would like to make a real good attempt.

Has anyone the details to pass on? Can you suggest where to get them from? The Lifeboat plans only have general arrangement and sections.

I will also contact the Lifeboat enthusiasts group via Adrian, and have contacted the Mary Ann Hepworth website for help.

Many thanks, I know from experience how good this forum is at finding and sourcing everything.

Kimosubby.

Edited By Kimosubby Shipyards on 07/04/2012 09:25:57

Edited By Kimosubby Shipyards on 07/04/2012 09:28:04

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Hmm I wonder what the sails were used for? I know some fishing boats have them, to steady the boat against rolling or keep into wind or whatever,, but a lifeboat?? Perhaps to augment the dismal output of the engines?

Ashley

[neil hpParticipant @neilhp]

it would have been very rare for the 41' watson to use sail, as her engines……little35hp Weyburns, swapped later for Porbeagle diesels were quite reliable by that time…….I know that from speaking to the old lads at fleetwood which had the same type of boat….sails were never used, and you'll probably find little info on such……..but good luck with the quest..

neil.

[Kimosubby ShipyardsParticipant @kimosubbyshipyards]

Hi Neil and Ashley,

yes the petrol engines originally used did proove quite reliable, but I think the sails were there because it was the transitional stage from rowing/sailing to motor/sailing so gave confidence to the crew as a back up should they have mechanical failure, and also this was the war period, so any fuel shortages that might possibly have stopped a long deployment could be assisted by auxillary sail power. If you look at modern lifeboats you'll still see gear hark back to the ol'days – our Mersey still has two boat hooks on deck, one white and one blue, the old port and starboard colours for the oars!!

I know how change can often be seen as a backward step, and if you have always used sails then being without them could cause major worries. The young accept change much more readily, but they would have been called up for war, so the crew would have been the "old guard."

As Neil states, once the engines were swapped to more powerful diesels, the sails were most probably left in the sail locker at the boathouse. As with thames barges converting to diesel engines, they very soon found that having lots of mast superstructure actually added to the fuel bills, so masts were shortened or removed, engine power prevailed, the sailing barge was no longer required!

Still, the photo shows the sails, so the modeller wants them on. Facts is facts!

Thanks for your comments, always welcome, Kimosubby.

[ashley needhamParticipant @ashleyneedham69188]

Kimo. I like the sails, dont see lifeboats with sails on normally..despite them being of dubious value..and would certainly make the model stand out in a show amongst a sea of lifeboats!

Most long running series of boats carry over gear from their earlier incarnations, a bit like cars really.

One wonders what a car would look like as designed by an alien who had never seen a car before, and was given a very simple design brief?

Ashley

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