Square Rigger Club Newsletter 2012

Square rigger clubTS Royalist

TS RoyalistThe OriginsPart 2

Square riggeragMGosport

genesis and creation of royalist1971 Movietone

Plus:crew updatebosun’s lockerbracing Stations

commodore’s Annual Report 2011Dear Square Riggers,

My first year as Commodore has flown past, no doubt because this has been our 40th Anniversary year, culminating in our AGM and Visitors Programme at Gosport in September. It was good to meet again with so many old friends as well as local dignitaries and some of our new members at this special event; to be given the opportunity to join TS Royalist on the Solent with the cadets sailing the vessel in the glorious late summer sunshine was a bonus.

So, I would like to give my thanks to everyone who took the time and trouble to attend this happy day and there is more about the occasion later in this Newsletter.

This has been a demanding year for bursaries and there is an expectation of even more requests for 2012. Your support is as valuable as ever so thank you all – it means everything to us and the cadets we support, who without your help may not get the chances offered to them.

My hearty good wishes for a happy and healthy year.

Irene AgassCommodore

Square Rigger Club December 2011

commodore’s Message . . . . . . . . . . . . 03Membership News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 04little brigs update . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 05Square riggers agM . . . . . . . . . . . . 06-07Tales from the bosun’s locker . . . . . . 08charter 2012 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 09

general News . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .10 Movietone File . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11cadets’ corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12-13TS royalist – The Origins Part 1 . . . 14-19bracing Stations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20Membership application Form . . . . . 22

Contents

Membership News

have been The Honorary Treasurer for almost ten years at the club now &

thought it would be nice, to give you all a heads up on how we generate

our income and use these funds to benefit the Sea Cadets

I have analysed the last 10 year’s data and created 2 simple Pie Charts to give a

visual view, which I think gives a clear picture of the efficiency of the clubs operations.

income Total Income for the period £178,846

expenditure Total Expenditure for the period £155,952

income:

This shows how our income is generated, and percentages. Note the income from

charters generated 20% of the total, highlingting the importance of this revenue stream

for the club. The subscriptions as expected is the biggest slice of the pie making up

almost a 3rd of revenue. We had a large bequest £23,266 during this period which

helped bolster the clubs Reserves. If we take this out of income we have almost

matched income to spend in the period.

expenses:

The Pie Chart clearly shows we are delivering 78% of benefit to the Sea Cadets.

Bursaries payments taking the largest slice of the pie at 55%. We are constantly trying

to keep our operating costs down, we have steadly increased the use of email to

communicate with our members and would ask anyone not currently receiving emails,

to send me their address to [email protected] so I can set you up on our

mailing system. This saves us money on postage and stationery etc.

John MacDonald

Financial Report for the Years 2001 to 2011 gift aid – Act now!

he club is always trying to

generate more funds and one

that is available through the

revenue is that of Gift Aid.

We currently have 178 members

who donate via GA and this generates

some £1800 to £2000 pa in tax claims

from the revenue.

The 178 members account for

about 71% of total membership.

We will never achieve 100%

as some people are non-tax

payers, but feel we could raise more

through this method. Remember,

it does not cost you a penny.

Even if you are not sure if you

have signed in the past, you can still

fill in the form and return it back to

me at the address below. I can then

check our database to ensure we are

claiming the correct entitlement.

For further information you can look

on the Government’s official web-site:

www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/gift-aid.htm

Please address all completed forms to:

John MacDonald

Square Rigger Club

146 Manchester Road

Mossley

Lancashire OL5 9BG

all abOard! Do you know any potential new members? Turn to page 21!

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acknowledgements Once again a big thank-you to Photolink Creative Group for producing this edition. Thanks also to all the contributors for their pictures and articles.

05

bursary Report

he demand for bursaries has

been very strong, because of

economic conditions of course,

but also improved marketing of how to

apply for grants on the SCC course

booking web site, used by all Sea Cadet

units, has also helped.

The average bursary awarded was

approximately £70 for 2011.

Compared with 2010, 93 bursaries

with an average of approximately £80

were awarded, totalling £7,305.

Usually bursaries that one cadet is

prevented from accepting is transferred

to a similar cadet in the same sea cadet

unit, so the eight cancellations were

when one unit cancelled funding for a

voyage on Petchey, because they found

alternative funding.

Applications for funding was minimal

for the remainder of the season, some

tidying up of the bursaries account was

required in November, when a

reconciliation was completed jointly with

the Offshore Office to ensure all the

bursaries agreed were actually used and

the value of the bursaries tally with the

payment records this was particularly

important with the Tall Ships Bursaries,

because of the high value of the awards.

The bursary email address had been a

great success this season, greatly

simplifying the administration.

Assuming demand for bursaries

continues at the same rate in 2012, the

club should be working on a target

expenditure of approximately £13,000.

The Committee should consider this

matter at the January meeting.

T

grants bursaries

Jerwood 25 £1,465

Royalist 62 £4,710

Petchey 35 £2,280

Yachts 19 £1,110

cancelled bursaries 10 –

Total 151 £9,565

little brigs – Update

ittle Brigs have had another

‘interesting’ year: we had another

deployment to Liverpool (by

lowloader) and managed to take over

200 youngsters sailing in Salthouse Dock.

This is the third year we had been there

and we hope to be back yet again in 2012.

The rest of the year we have worked out

of our homebase of Cowes, with a week

in Lymington. Charters had been a mix

of sailing with local youngsters, birthday

trips and adult teambuilding. We had

also been working with some local Sea

Cadet units and hope to expand on

this in 2012.

In October we entered the ASTO

Small Ships race (again) and with almost

perfect weather (good breeze and a

reduced sea state) and a special course,

both brigs crossed the finishing line

(a first) and also won a number of prizes

including the Richard Langhorn trophy –

for BOB ALLEN – for the vessel that best

represents the spirit of the race.

l

06

Square rigger agM Fort Blockhouse Gosport

his year’s AGM broke with

custom and saw the Club visit

Fort Blockhouse in Gosport for

its 40th Anniversary Meeting. In what

used to be HMS Dolphin, the Navy’s

submarine headquarters, it was a chance

to get close to all the premier historical

Naval sites and Naval traditions

associated with the area.

A sizeable turnout of over 35

members attended the AGM in the

morning and were welcomed by our

President, Commodore Roger Parker,

RN (Retd.), when he announced the

recipient for the special award to the

most outstanding sea cadet this year.

Generously donated by Jane Hughes, the

sister of the late Martin Henwood, this

prize of £1,000 is to cover the cost of

a voyage to experience life aboard a

Tall Ship – a story we will return to later.

The Club was pleased to welcome

The Hon Martin Jay, CBE DL, the Deputy

Lord Lieutenant of Hampshire and

Dr. Sandra Jay, together with Councillor

Richard Dickson, the Deputy Mayor of

Gosport and Mrs. Roberta Irvine, the

Deputy Mayoress of Gosport, among

a large party of local dignitaries.

They were able to join us for lunch the

Visitor’s Programme and learn a little

bit about the Club and its activities.

Also in attendance were several old

friends from the very earliest days

including Lady Bell-Davies wife of the

late Sir Lancelot Bell-Davies along

with Rosemary and Colin Mudie and

Frank and Kirsten Scott.

The afternoon’s

programme began with

the showing of an old black

and white video about

the building, launching and

naming of Royalist. This

somewhat emotional film

was located by Keith

Smeaton who kindly

offered it to the Club for

this event. There were

many recognisable faces,

some of whom were present

today to see themselves

as they were 40 years ago!

Our President then gave

a very interesting talk

about the origins and history of the

Club, its contributions to Royalist over

the years and he included some colourful

anecdotes about past members!

24th September 2011

T

07

For this year’s Morin Scott Memorial

Lecture, Andy Krasun, our immediate

past Commodore, gave an interesting

and in-depth talk about the work of the

National Coast-Watch and although

technology temporarily let him down,

he was not to be defeated and gave

a good appreciation of this worthwhile

and important organisation.

Then it was the turn of S/Lt. (SCC)

Rosamund Leverett to tell us all about

the realities of Sea Cadet Training and

the sometimes difficult but always

rewarding work of actually taking

youngsters to sea for sail training aboard

Royalist. She painted a complete and

at times stirring picture of how these

cadets respond to motivational

leadership and the important role that

a weeks sailing on Royalist can have in

their development and growing up.

If anyone in the audience had doubts

about the role of the Club beforehand,

they soon lost them and Ros got a loud

appreciation at the end of her lecture.

Finally, the Offshore Commander

gave a fascinating outline of the workings

of the Fleet which was followed by a visit

to Royalist herself and one of the power

vessels moored nearby.

There was a sale of a variety of

nautical items and books, the proceeds of

which will go towards the Club’s funds

and thanks to those who contributed to

these items.

An eventful and busy event that ran

like clockwork thanks to some meticulous

planning and hard work by our Hon.

Secretary, Bernard Atkinson and the

SCC Offshore Commander, Jerry Bearne.

But it didn’t end there...

As this was the 40th Anniversary,

Bernard and Jerry arranged for members

and their guests to join that week’s new

group of Cadets for their first days’ sail

training on board Royalist the following

day. Leading Cadet Mark Brown from

Peterhead in Scotland, who was

announced as the winner of the

Outstanding Cadet Award for the year,

was as yet unaware of this so it was

a surprise to him to be presented with

his certificate and an even bigger

surprise for him when his father, who had

been contacted by Jerry Bearne whilst

he was at the Southampton Boat Show,

arrived to see his son being presented

with his prize. Also present was the

deputy Mayor of Gosport who made a

special return trip to attend the occasion

on the Sunday and gave a short address

following the presentation.

After this ceremony we were taken to

sea by the Commanding Officer Lt (SCC)

Angie Morris RNR. We had a beautiful sail

around the Solent, anchoring off

Osborne Bay on the North East Coast

of the Isle of Wight for a splendid roast

beef lunch, and a chance to witness the

cadets hard at work and undergoing their

training. We arrived back at Gosport

mid-afternoon in the glorious sunshine. A

fitting end to the 40th Anniversary

Square Rigger Club AGM celebrations.

From the bosun’s lockerA summary of 2011

Diving deep into the Bosun’s Locker for a salty seadog’s tale!

08

As many of you are well aware, we

have just started a winter refit, with a

lot of work being done to ensure that

the ship is ready for another fun-filled

season next year! This includes lifting

the ship out of the water for a re-paint,

fixing/replacing bits of the rigging and

servicing all the machinery onboard.

Next season will see TS Royalist sailing

the south coast, especially participating

in the Brest Festival (http://www.

lestonnerresdebrest2012.fr/); this should

be a good year for raising the profile

of the Sea Cadets and TS Royalist.

Less of the typing, I’m now going to

go back and play with string for a while!

Yours Aye

Bosun

PO(SCC) Alex Coakley

The cadets onboard

this year had enjoyed

themselves sailing the

ship to the limit! On

several occasions we had

sailed into Portsmouth

harbour under full sail

(with engines in

standby), we had sailed

up to Poole town quay,

reversed the ship out of

Southampton Ocean

Village Marina under

sail… I could go on! By

sailing to the maximum

we had reduced the ship’s fuel

consumption helping to reduce

our carbon footprint!! Lots of young

people benefited from the ‘majestic’

TS Royalist experience this year by

participating in lots of activities onboard,

including teambuilding and Bosun’s

Story Time!

ello Shipmates!

Well what a year we have had

onboard TS Royalist! With a slow start

to the season, we soon picked up the

tempo with the TS Royalist Regatta in

the Solent, shortly followed by the

Tall Ships Races 2011 from Waterford

to Greenock! Out of 40 Tall Ships,

TS Royalist came 6th in Class and

14th Overall! This was our best result in

quite a number of years! The ship also

won a Waterford Crystal trophy for ‘The

Best Presented Ship Alongside’ in

Waterford. We were ecstatic to receive

such an award. Whilst participating in

the Tall Ships Race we went to town on

TS Royalist’s 40th birthday, inviting

the Tall Ships Race fleet onboard for

bacon butties in Waterford and birthday

cake in Greenock!

H

09

gOSPOrT TO gOSPOrT

Friday 18th – Monday 21st May 2012

Prices: £195 (members) £220 (non-members)

le Havre TO gOSPOrT

Friday 14th – Friday 21st September 2012

Prices: £495 (members) £520 (non-members)

For more information, contact Leslie or Irene EddowesCharter Secretaries of the Square Rigger Club

Email: [email protected]: 01508 489706

www.squareriggerclub.org.uk

The price of the charters is inclusive of all meals and accommodation. The cost of the week charter from Le Havre also includes the overnight ferry crossing.

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a

W

lways a delicate subject

to broach but can be an

effective way of donating

no matter how small the bequest is.

Make a bequest to the

Square Rigger Club in your

will. It can include money, land,

property or stocks and shares.

The wording in your will should read:

“I give and bequeath, free of all

duty and taxes, to the Square

Rigger Club for the general

purposes of the Charity, the sum

of £ ….....…… , and I declare that the

receipt of the Treasurer or other proper

officer for the time being of the said

Charity shall be a sufficient discharge

of the same.”

remember us in your will

a

agM 2012This year’s AGM will be held

on Friday, 26th October, 2012 at The Naval Club, 38 Hill Street, London, W1J 5NS.

The timing will be from late morning and our Hon. Sec. will confirm the details in due course.

The history of the Naval Club owes its origin to a group of Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve Officers who, during the Second World War, formed the RNVR club. 38 Hill Street was dedicated by Lord Cunningham of Hyndhope in June 1954 as a War Memorial to Members of the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve who gave their lives on active service during the WW2.

replacement for Royalist

crew Update

New Members

he campaign to raise the

necessary funding for a new

ship continues, the complete

cost is estimated to be over £7 million,

and just under half the money has been

pledged in some way. This is an

important threshold because it proves

the project is now viable financially and

will offer a better foundation for other

requests for money. Of course this is a

tremendous achievement, given the

current economic background, and

financial uncertainty. The cost to build

ngie Morris, at the end of her

third season as Captain is still

enjoying command of Royalist.

This season she has been joined by Roy

Taylor who came to Royalist after a spell

with the, MoD, Joint Services yachting

sailing school just across the water from

Petrol Pier at Hornet, Roy is a very

enthusiastic sailor and very keen to see

young people sailing. Mick Hazzard, the

long time engineer has transferred to

shore based duties in the Offshore

Office, to be replaced by the very able

ex-Royal Navy stoker, Buster Brown,

most recently an instructor at the RN

engineering training school at HMS

Sultan. Annette Edmonds the Coxswain,

has moved to the National Bookings

Office at Fort Blockhouse, to be replaced

by an old hand and relief coxswain Peter

Usher, Peter comes to Royalist via the

elcome to our New Members

since our last news letter.

the new vessel is approximately £5

million, with a further £2 million

required to provide funding for

maintenance, repair and life cycle

replacement of expensive components

such as engines and the deck as it wears

out, and most importantly upgrades to

comply with changing statutory

regulation’s, and electronic aids to

navigation. Anyone who would like to

contribute to the funding campaign,

should contact the SRC Commodore

who will assist with contacts.

Royal Marines and the MoD police

Martin Burton, the ex Royal Marine

continues to churn out the meals

whatever the weather, while balancing

his duties as a District Officer the Sea

Cadets. Alex is Bosun, just completing

his first full season and he is doing very

well. This year, it was decided to have

permanent watch officers, and not have

watch officers that were replaced weekly.

To this end David and Dawn joined the

ship in March, both waiting to join the

Royal Navy, they were able to gain an

enormous amount of sea time and

experience. It was interesting to find the

David’s father had been aboard the ship

as a cadet when it was launched on the

Medina in 1971, and his grandfather had

been instrumental in the building of

Royalist. Next season two new Watch

Officers will be recruited for next year.

Darren Gibbings Torquay

Derek Gibbons Snr Newton Abbot

Paul Bennett Llandeigo Carms

Richard Mannion Manchester

Julie Hobson Manchester

Joseph Dowdall Pembrokeshire

Peter Salisbury Shropshire

Virginia Hughes British Columbia, Canada

Arthur Mason NE Lincs

Ann Quinton Somerset

Greville Henwood California USA

Robert Mann Lowestoft

Keith Taylor Bournemouth

Jonathan Leask Derbyshire

Joan Soole Colchester

Annette Edmonds Gosport

Caroline Pocklington London

Lady Joan Bell Davies Southampton

Richard William Bell Davies Denmead

Daphne Alexandra MacDonald Gloucester

David Plumpton Wilson London

Carolyn Mills Essex

Andrew Rycroft Dorset

embers will have noted from

the report on the Visitor

Programme associated with

the 40th Anniversary AGM that a thirty

minute film was shown to the guests.

This film explained the genesis of

TS Royalist, the design, the keel-laying,

the naming by the Princess Royal,

the rigging of the vessel and the inaugural

sail and much else besides.

In 1966 Lieutenant Commander Morin

Scott MBE RN was so irritated with

the lack of Sea Cadet participation in

the Tall Ships Race, he borrowed a

brigantine called Centurion from a fellow

Royal Cruising Club member, found a

cadet crew and had a successful race.

This experience of the value of such

sail training for young people was a

revelation to him and he decided that the

Sea Cadet Corps needed their own

vessel. So he got his friend Colin Mudie, a

member of the SRC, to produce designs

for a future TS Royalist. The film tells this

story and every member of the SRC

knows how that imaginative concept of

off-shore experience has

enhanced many a young life.

The professional quality

of the film, having been

produced by one of the

leading documentary makers

of the time and shown in

cinemas around the world,

impressed our visitors and

particularly a small number

of members of the club, who

found themselves as ‘stars’,

having participated in the

initial rigging of the vessel

in Cowes.

The existence of the film had

‘disappeared from memory’ for many

years and was brought to our attention

a week before the AGM, thanks to the

much appreciated efforts of Keith

Smeaton, a member. It turned out that

Keith had a copy in his loft in the original

16mm format, which we were unable

to project with the equipment at the

club’s disposal. It was therefore a race

against time to get the film converted to

a disc format that was compatible with

the facilities available to us in Fort

Blockhouse. Fortunately this was

achieved by the evening of the 23rd and

the rest is history – but not quite.

Later it turned out that none of the

present incumbents at the Marine Society

and Sea Cadet HQ knew of

the existence of the film,

which we believe has

particular resonance to the

fund-raising strategies

regarding Royalist 2.

Furthermore a number of

1971 Movietone Film ‘Genesis and Creation of Royalist’

members present at the AGM expressed

a view that a mechanism should be

devised that allowed members access to

the disc format of the film for reasons of

personal interest. To meet these needs

four disc copies have been produced,

one of these has been presented to the

MSSC and the Hon. Sec. has the other

three available for members to borrow

for short periods whenever they wish.

To borrow a disc please email, write

or telephone the Hon. Sec. and a disc

will be sent to you in the ubiquitous

‘jiffy’ bag as soon as practicable.

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M

cadets’ Corner

12

Dear Square Riggers Club,

My name is Callum Snape, I was one of the cadets from Milford Haven Sea Cadets that went on the

TS Royalist voyage from Holyhead to Milford Haven 2011. It was my first time offshore and I really enjoyed

it. I came away with “Offshore Hand 2” qualification and hopefully I will go for my “Offshore Seamanship”

qualification soon. My favourite part of the trip was going up the main mast to stow the sail. It was great

fun and a challenge. I was scared of heights but I didn’t even think about going up the masts but after

we all did, the practice climb up the mast and then down the other side I wanted to do more. I didn’t do

much climbing because I was not a yards-man. It was on the 3rd day after we did the day’s sailing that

the staff asked did anyone want to do any climbing, and my hand shot up’ they said to me “Snape get

your harness on” and I went happily to go and get it. When I came back on deck there were people with

there harness’s on. We then had a talk just to say what we were going to do, so when we got up there we

knew what to do. We all went up one after another from a safe distance. When I got up there the staff

said “Snape go on the port side” I went out to the far port and then there was another cadet who went to

the inner port. The same happened on the starboard side. We were grabbing the sail, folding it, stowing

it and before we knew 15 minutes had passed and we were done. When we climbed down, I was feeling

great, I had overcome my heights problem, I have you to thank for that. I did not think that I would do that

at all! For our “Offshore Hand 1” qualification we all had to learn about the sails and the parts of them. We

had small booklets to record our time on board, how far we travelled, where did we travel to and from. On

the voyage we travelled 150 nautical miles from Holyhead port to Milford Haven port. To get any offshore

qualification you need the staff to sign you off in your booklets. The booklets are in parts, to help you and

each part needs a certain staff to sign you off. This is shown at the bottom of the section of the booklet.

Thank you for supporting all Sea Cadets and I hope you continue to do so. I hope that I am lucky enough

to go on TS Royalist again and I have you to thank for giving me the chance to do this.

Thank you

Yours sincerely,

Able Cadet Snape


We would like to thank you very much for sponsoring us on a magic week on the TS Royalist, we joined

the ship in Holyhead very nervous and excited at the same time, we were quickly shown our mess

and informed of do’s and don’ts. On the Sunday we went out to sea for the day where we practiced our

seamanship skills and looked for our sea-legs.Monday to Thursday we sailed round the coast of Wales to our destination in Milford Haven, we all passed

our offshore sailing badge and would love to go again.Once again thank you very, very much for the brilliant experience we all had.Diolch yn Fawr

Luke Gibson-TurnerLewis EmanuelBrandon Roberts

TS Cardigan BayAberystwyth

13


My week on the TS Royalist was brilliant, I was very nervous when I went on board, but found that I need

not have been.

This must rate in my top five of amazing things I have done. I even climbed the mast, going over the top

and back down. I had been really nervous about doing this, as other cadets from my unit had told me they

had done it when they went onboard TS Royalist.Our voyage was from Holyhead to Milford Haven.I enjoyed doing watches, with a few night time watches done as well.Thank you for providing me with a bursary toward my trip and for this opportunity, it was a really good

experience.

Yours sincerelyAlex Peake


I’d like to thank you for the chance to sail onboard the TS Royalist. I found the voyage very helpful

and hope to use what I learned onboard to further my career in the Sea Cadets and hopefully my

future career when I leave school.

Whilst onboard I learned about the importance of working as a team and how teamwork makes jobs

easier, about safety onboard, the various types of sails and masts, what they do, how to furl and unfurl

sails and how to stow them. I also learned what was expected of me whilst on watch.

I thoroughly enjoyed the voyage and look forward to joining the TS Royalist again in October.

Yours sincerely

A/C Tucker D

Milford Haven Sea Cadets


On the 2nd of July 2011, you funded me for a trip on board one of the sea cadets national training

boats – TS Jack Petchey, it was a very enjoyable week consisting of multiple activities that I have

never experienced before.

Including taking the helm of the ship, preparing the ship for coming in and out of port and planning the

route for us to go. My favourite part of the trip was when we entered the North Sea just off Scotland.

Over the period of time we were aboard Jack Petchey, we travelled from Newcastle to Arbroath, Scotland.

We stopped at a number of ports in between including one of Scotland’s ports, Port Edgar.

Thank you again for making this opportunity available to me.

Yours faithfully

Able Cadet Ashley-Jane Shaw – Gravesend SCC

TS Royalist – The Origins Part 2

Compiled from Sea Cadet archives and extracts from Morin Scott’s narrative, edited by Hugh Illingworth with the help of Frank Scott.

n the 2010/11 edition of the

Square Rigger Club Newsletter,

the early beginnings of Sea

Cadet offshore experience was described

and how finally, from early designs, the

hull and rigging for a new Brig to be

know as TS Royalist evolved. Part 2

provides the history of the building of

TS Royalist and the associated story of

raising the necessary funds to pay for her

construction.

Two committees were formed in May

1969, one to undertake the detailed

design and specification of the vessel

and one to raise the capital sum required.

The Ship Design & Building Committee

Following experience in TS Centurion

and TS Duenna and for the various

reasons considered earlier, the decision

was made to go for a square rig and

an early sketch by Colin Mudie showing

a brigantine rig was extended into a

full brig for a ship’s company of 28 for

which an indication of cost of £50,000

was made and a preliminary building

specification produced.

Inevitably this was modified as time

passed, with each detail being examined

closely and adjusted if necessary while

simultaneously investigating the supply

of necessary equipment. The final “as

built” drawing is shown below.

It must be realised that whereas there

are now several square-rigged vessels

under the British flag, back in 1969/70

there were none, and there were very few

people in Britain who had any experience

in square rig and even fewer with

experience in sail training in such vessels

with young people. There was,

consequently no vessel one could visit to

observe details of rig or discuss various

ways of arranging rigging, or the ideal

tackles for various tasks. For this reason

the original rigging plan was intentionally

“over blocked” since the cost and difficulty

of increasing any tackle power after

commissioning would have been tiresome

and expensive, but any reduction was

quite easy and merely resulted in a small

build-up of spares in the bosun’s store.

Certain concerns were discussed and

conclusions reached at an early stage to

enable the appointed designer, Colin

Mudie, to progress the general

arrangement plan of the ship.

Total accommodation was originally

planned for the following:-

• Captain: single cabin

• Second-in-Command: single cabin

• 4 voyage officers in Wardroom

• 4 Petty Officers: in fore peak

• 18 cadets in mess deck

• Total = 28

This was later increased during the

design period to:-

• Captain: single cabin aft

• Second-in-Command: single cabin aft

• Cook: single cabin amidships

• Engineer and Bosun: double cabin

port side

• Coxswain: Wardroom

• Four voyage officers: Wardroom

• 22 cadets in mess deck and fore peak

Total = 32

At that time there was a separate

organisation for female cadets, the Girls

Nautical Training Corps (GNTC), the

hierarchy of which had up until then

rejected outright all offers of involvement

with SCC sail training. However, in 1970

Mrs Evelyn Cleverly OBE was put in

14

i

PrOPOSed 80 TON brig TS ROYALIST

LOA 76 feetLOA (Hull) NALWL 58.5 feetBEAM 19.66 feetDRAFT 8.25 feetTOTAL SAIL AREA 5,155 sq. ft.

aS builT Sail PlaN FOr TS ROYALIST

LOA 97 feetLOA (Hull) 76 feetLWL 60 feetBEAM 20 feetDRAFT 8.5 feetTOTAL SAIL AREA 4,415 sq. ft.

charge of the GNTC, and immediately

agreed that GNTC cadets would benefit

from sailing in TS Royalist. Initially the

GNTC wanted their cadets to have ‘all girl’

cruises, on the lines of those run by the

STA Schooners, but these did not work

out at all well, since it proved extremely

difficult to get enough female cadets to

fill the ship for a voyage, and the GNTC

were totally unable to generate enough

female voyage officers. It was also found

that the voyages with purely female

cadets tended to operate at a less intense

level than the standard boys’ cruises, and

this was clearly wrong. Thus it was

decided to curtain-off six bunks on the

port side on some cruises, so that six girl

cadets could be embarked along with 16

boy cadets, a system that only required

one female voyage officer. This worked

well, and as time passed the demand

grew so much that ‘mixed’ cruises

became the norm, though it took much

longer than expected for females to join

the permanent or relief crew. It is worth

noting that TS Royalist was the first

square rigger in the world to take female

trainees and in the 1970s the SCC was

considered very radical in operating

with ‘mixed’ crews.

Other early major decisions were

made which had to be incorporated

into the basic general arrangements plan.

The first was to fit two auxiliary engines

driving twin fixed blade propellers.

Each engine was capable of driving the

vessel at six knots so that the failure of

one would not put the vessel at risk, nor

out of regular commission. Twin screws

also improved manoeuvrability in

harbour, bearing in mind that back then

a bow-thruster would have had to be a

custom installation of great expense.

Some consideration was given to fitting

variable pitch propellers which can

“feather” to reduce drag under sail, but

this was rejected. They would have been

more expensive, more complex and less

reliable, and the very small theoretical

speed gain under sail would not have

been of real advantage on normal cruises,

nor indeed during Tall Ships Races,

where it would have been covered by

the handicap system.

The galley was intentionally sited

amidships to suffer least from the ship’s

movement in a seaway and was specified

to be in a deckhouse or sunken deckhouse

to provide adequate ventilation and keep

cooking heat and smells out of the

messdeck with the intent of reducing the

prevalence of sea sickness.

Three foot high bulwarks were also

specified to reduce the risk of ‘man

overboard’, and improve the overall

sense of security for the young cadets.

It also made the deck space more

sheltered at sea.

The cockpit was to be roomy and

provide a sheltered position for the whole

watch on deck, whilst the steering

position had to have good visibility all

around and aloft. Any thought of an

enclosed wheelhouse was quickly

discarded.

One experienced yachtsman asked

why we had so many square sails since

they could only be set with the wind

astern. He was quite surprised to learn

that in a real square-rigger one sailed

to windward with all square sails set.

Indeed, in the Sail Training Association’s

topsail schooners Sir Winston Churchill

and Malcolm Miller (built respectively five

and three years before TS Royalist) the

square sails on the foremast had been

very much a last minute add-on, and as a

result their bracing limit was so poor that

they could not be used when sailing to

windward!

The Royal Corps of Naval Constructors

(RCNC) dredged through their files

back to a 1939-built Royal Research Ship,

the brigantine Research, and found

that their specifications required that

the topsides were not to be pierced for

opening scuttles (portholes). This was a

result of the loss of the German sail

training ship Niobe in the Baltic in 1932,

which capsized after being caught by

a white squall, reputedly with all her

scuttles open. The same limitation was

therefore placed upon TS Royalist,

though at first this led to a squabble with

the Department of Transport who initially

demanded full-size opening portholes

for ventilation, at least until they found

that they too had an obscure regulation

forbidding opening ship-side portholes

in sail training ships!

A great deal of time was spent

investigating the best and the most

economical material for the upper and

lower deck and for the deck in the galley

and bathrooms where requirements

were slightly different. Eventually, teak

was specified for all decking, except for

the galley, where the latest non-slip

compound used by the Royal Navy was

used and the bathrooms, where

patterned stainless steel was fitted.

Some difficulty was experienced

during the construction of the brig in

obtaining teak for the main deck planking

in adequate lengths and free of shakes,

but a call to the dockyard at Portsmouth

produced some first quality teak from

the stock held to repair the Royal Yacht

Britannia, and from this TS Royalist’s

beautiful decks were laid.

Following a lot of potentially

dangerous electrical problems

encountered in Centurion and Kenya

Jacaranda, a 24 volt DC system was

installed with two small diesel generators

and generators were also fitted to

both auxiliary engines with an extensive

24 volt double battery system. One can

get a shock from 24 volts but it is not

fatal. Thus, until she went over to AC

in 1990, the generators did not need to

run for much of the day, and in those

days TS Royalist was able to spend

most of her time when under sail entirely

free from machinery noise.

And so the design and the detailed

specification progressed and

simultaneously efforts were made to

locate a yard willing to build the vessel

and be able to produce an estimated

building cost based on the designer’s

basic proposition drawings and brief

specification.

Although there were many more

shipyards in operation in 1970 than

today, it was found that, to some extent,

TS Royalist fell between two stools.

She was too small for many commercial

shipbuilding yards used to building in

steel, and too large for most yacht

building yards confined to building in

wood or fibreglass. Some yards were

also scared of the problems they

might encounter in building a square-

rigged sailing ship which was outside

their experience.

One well-known yacht yard quoted

an interesting price based on having a

steel hull sub-contracted with the fitting

out taking place subsequently on their

own premises. However, when the

Design Committee showed interest, they

had to withdraw their quotation since

they had inadvertently omitted to

include the price of the steel hull in

their figure. Needless to say the cost of

the steel hull represented a significant

proportion of the final cost of the vessel!!

Although the acquisition of parts of

the vessel as free gifts or at substantial

discounts were mostly carried out after

the commencement of building, some

efforts were made at an earlier stage.

For example, an approach to British

Steel Corporation for free steel narrowly

missed achieving fifty per cent of the

15

TS Royalist – The Origins Part 2 (cont.)

increased to £25,000, and £35,000 from

the sale of “Scholarships”. Additionally,

there was the gift of steel from the British

Steel Corporation, an engine from Perkins

Diesels together with a number of other

items “in the pipeline”, such as the radar

from Decca, which was worth £1,000.

Since the Navy League (the parent

organisation of the Sea Cadet Corps) was

planning a national public appeal to raise

money to rebuild the Sea Cadet Boating

Station on the island of Raven’s Ait in the

Thames, the TS Royalist Promotions

committee was severely restricted in its

activity on a national scale, but begging

of gifts in kind was permissible, as well as

an appeal to Units to raise money locally

towards the capital cost of the vessel.

This resulted in the “Scholarships

Scheme”, whereby Units were asked to

subscribe £100 towards the cost of the

ship building, upon which the Unit earned

the right to send one cadet to sea in

TS Royalist for one week each year at half

the standard rate. This scheme was

launched on 1st November 1969.

The Promotions Committee produced

various aids for money raising and

arranged to send personal and individual

letters to every Unit Commanding Officer,

every Unit Chairman and every Sea Cadet

Staff Officer explaining the working of

the scheme. The work of designing and

producing all the necessary brochures

and letters was almost entirely the work

of Allan Watling and Richard Grasby and

the speed with which the money rolled in

is proof of the excellence of their work.

Methods of obtaining the £100 were

varied and sometimes ingenious. Some

Units were shrewd enough to purchase

several scholarships.

Coffee mornings, jumble sales,

sponsored walks, sailing and rowing

marathons were held with enthusiasm.

Rotary Clubs and Lions Clubs were

rise in material costs or labour during

the 12 month period between signing the

contract and delivery. An important

means of keeping the price down was

to ensure that ‘add-ons’ were kept to the

absolute minimum. Thus, any such

variation on the original design &

specification had to be formally costed,

approved, and signed off by the designer,

the chairman of the design committe

(a Royal Marine General), Morin Scott,

and the Groves & Guttridge ship manager.

All four had to agree and their signatures

had to be on the variation form before

it could be actioned, and any non-

approved items would not be paid

for. The Royal Navy are notorious for

incurring massive cost overruns with

last minute extras and variations, but

for this project no admiral or ship’s officer

could indulge their pet ideas.

Michael Coombes, the Managing

Director of Groves & Guttridge, and

Ken Downer, the ship manager for the

project quickly became most enthusiastic

and this enthusiasm spread through

the whole yard with everyone keen to

make TS Royalist an outstanding example

of craftsmanship. Throughout the 12

months this was noticeable time and

again in the way that the whole work-

force greeted the members of the Design

Committee during their frequent visits

and constantly asked questions or

offered alternative ways of doing work

in an endeavour to be sure that the

result was absolutely right. It is telling

that a time of considerable industrial

unrest in the UK a union-backed ‘no strike’

agreement was put in place to cover

the ship.

At the time of signing the contract

the Promotions Committee had amassed

the cash figure of £60,000. This was

comprised of the Royal Navy Treasury

grant of £20,000, which had been

16

total cost – unfortunately our approach

came some weeks after they had agreed

to pay the entire cost of the yacht

British Steel for Chay Blyth’s Against the

Wind world circumnavigation. As a result,

their donation was limited to a free gift of

steel frames and plates which was

gratefully received.

Perkins Engines very kindly donated

one engine and supplied the second at

a special price and obviously these two

major items had some effect in keeping

the final price down. We also agreed to

take the masts, spars, rigging and sails

out of the shipbuilding contract and deal

with that separately to simplify the

quotation process for the various

shipyards. The different yards had also

to be visited by a group of members

from the Design Committee in an attempt

to judge their ability to construct the

vessel to a high standard and their

enthusiasm for the project generally.

It would be invidious to name the

yards which, for one reason or another,

failed to gain the contract but suffice

to say that it was finally awarded to

Groves & Guttridge Ltd. of East Cowes,

I.O.W., and a letter of intent was duly

signed containing a number of caveats

in July 1970.

The final price to be inserted in the

signed contract had to await the

complete detailed specification and a

number of construction drawings that

were produced by the designer and

meanwhile, on the financial front, the

Promotions Committee were forging

ahead attempting to raise the required

sum which grew almost daily with the

speed of a London taxi meter.

Part of the growth was due to that

old bugbear – inflation – and part was

due to the need to sign a contract for a

fixed delivered price in which the building

yard had to forecast (and include) any

approached and local dignitaries cajoled

with such success that all three hundred

(finally increased to three hundred and

fifty) scholarships were sold by 1st May

1970. Every scholarship donor received

a specially inscribed engraving of the

brig and then the printing plates were

broken, so that no other person could

ever own one of these memorable and

unique pictures.

Admiral Sir Mark Pizey, GBE, CB, DSO

& bar, chairman of a west country Unit,

aged 70 and warned by his doctor not to

walk more than three miles, laced his

thermos flask of coffee with rum, and

completed the full ten miles to help his

Unit buy their fifth scholarship.

Units had been allowed to send a

“deposit” of £10 as a sign of interest and

good faith with the balance of £90 to be

paid when available but so rapid was the

response to the scheme that when the

350 were sold, Sea Cadet Headquarters

were holding £700 in £10 deposits which

had not been completed, and all these

deposits were returned to the Units with

an explanation that they had missed the

chance of obtaining a full scholarship.

The number of scholarships was limited

intentionally to 350 which represented

about 40 percent of the berths available

in any one year so that Units which had

not been astute enough to acquire

Scholarships would still be able to send

cadets to sea in the brig.

Due to serious inflation problems in

the economy, the cost of the vessel was

rising at the rate of £500 a month and

there was a real danger that this monthly

rise might increase and might also be

more than the Promotions Committee

could raise in the same period.

Very fortunately, Vice Admiral Sir

Hugh Mackenzie had just become

Chairman of the Navy League having

recently been in charge of Britain’s Polaris

project and he rapidly appreciated the

financial danger of delaying construction.

He therefore gave the go ahead to sign

the building order on 4th August 1970

and guaranteed that the Navy League

would meet the shortfall, provided that

an efficient scheme to acquire gifts in

kind was put in hand and a plan made

to raise the further moneys necessary

to reimburse the Navy League. The

contracted figure for the delivered vessel

was £87,000.

Richard Grasby produced another

impressive brochure which was used to

accompany any letter sent to companies

who might provide items for free or at a

reduced price, stressing that the vessel

was to be built to the very

highest standards and to be an

example of the best of British

workmanship in every way

possible. He also designed the

medal, and chose the font for

ship’s name on the stern

carving and trail boards.

Many firms reacted

favourably and the full list of

the participating donors were

on permanent display in the

vessel on large boards either

side of the engine room. (Even

the boards were donated)

During the major “half-life” refit of 1991/

92, when extra watertight bulkheads and

doors were fitted, these boards had to

be removed but they have been

replaced by a handsomely produced

book listing all the original subscribers of

money or equipment, together with

subsequent and future practical

supporters of the vessel.

The Building of TS Royalist

Between the signing of the building

contract on August 2nd 1970 and

October 21st of that year, very little visible

progress was made at the shipyard but

Colin Mudie was kept busy producing

the detailed construction drawings and

the shipyard was hard at work ordering

all the materials and equipment and

stipulating delivery dates.

With a little bit of encouragement the

yard agreed to have the first two plates

of the keel ready for welding and the

building blocks in place by October 21st -

Trafalgar Day – chosen intentionally for

a keel-laying ceremony to gain some

much needed publicity for the project.

The press were notified and Southern

Television and BBC South agreed to send

camera crews whilst British Movietone

News, who had filmed aboard Centurion,

Kenya Jacaranda and Duenna were also

on hand to record the event which

appeared in cinemas all over the country

as well as being an important part of

a film of the building which they had

contracted to make. This film finally

entitled “A Ship of Their Own” and ably

directed by Peter Hampton, won prizes

at International Film Festivals and was

bought by the Government Public

Relations organisation – the Central

Office of Information – and, at their

behest, was translated into more than

50 languages and circulated to British

Embassies and High Commissions

around the world. It was even translated

into South Korean!!

So, Trafalgar Day 1971 was TS Royalist’s

first big day. Sea Cadets were gathered

in from local units, the Captain of the

Corps and many Headquarter Officers

together with members of the Design

and Promotions Committee attended

to watch Mrs. Veronica Scott (wife of

Lieutenant Commander Morin Scott the

“Godfather” of the brig) lay the keel by

welding the first two pieces together and

proudly say, “It gives me great pleasure

to make the first weld and thus lay the

keel of the Sea Cadet Sail Training Brig

“Royalist”. May she make many fast

passages and always enjoy safe harbours

and so introduce many Cadets to the

discipline that the sea imposes on all who

would sail upon deep waters.”

Afterwards someone was heard to

remark “Well now today, at last, we have

a greater weight of ship than paper!”

Once the keel had been laid it soon

became apparent that it was not a

question of sitting back and waiting for

the building yard to complete the vessel

without further direction or assistance.

While the overall design was in place

the numerous details still had to be

discussed and decided upon and at every

step efforts were made to obtain

materials and fittings as gifts or at very

much reduced prices and in this work the

Corps was lucky to acquire the services

of the retired Paymaster Lieutenant

Commander Ivor Hutcheson, who had for

many years organised the British Marine

Equipment Council and Exhibition

Colin Mudie, the designer, found

himself completing detailed drawings,

rushing them to Lloyds and the

Department of Transport for approval

and then to the building yard for

immediate execution. The Design and

Building Committee met monthly at Sea

Cadet Corps Headquarters in London

and conducted innumerable telephone

meetings as well as visiting the yard with

increasing frequency as building

progressed.

17

TS Royalist – The Origins Part 2 (cont.)

18

ratlines or rattling bars. No opportunity

existed for any trials of the gear aloft, and

it eventually transpired that only one out

of 126 ropes was slightly misled, a twisted

reefing pennant on the mainsail. This did

not interfere with sail setting & was easily

remedied in a matter of minutes. Members

of the rigging party were highly amused

to find out that within a few months this

particular facility was found to be

unnecessary, and the mainsail reefing

pennants were removed! It is worth

mentioning that Bruce Ashwood, later

went on to become a key member of

the crew of the Dutch ketch Flyer when

she won the 1977/78 Whitbread Round

the World Race, probably making him

the most successful offshore sailor

produced by the SCC.

Secondly we had the Rattling Bar

Party under Sub Lieutenant (E) Peter

Rundle RN (ex engineer of Centurion)

and the redoubtable Lt. Cdr. (SCC)

Maurice Ball RNR from the North Eastern

Area who had sailed in Kaylena in 1968

and many SCC voyages in MFVs. The

names of all the others in this party were

not recorded, but they did a fantastic job

albeit that it was deathly slow, laborious,

repetitive and unglamorous. Their job

was to set up the rattling bars on the four

shrouds. Groves & Guttridge supplied

lengths of teak bar one and a half inches

by one inch, lots of three quarter by three

quarter inch galvanised angle iron and

bulldog grips, and allowed us to use

some of their power drills. Starting at the

bottom the length of teak bar had to be

measured and cut together with the steel

angle bar. These had to be marked for

drilling, taken away and drilled and then

brought back and bolted into place.

A gauge was then mounted to ensure

the correct spacing of the next rattling

bar and the whole process repeated.

Needless to say a race developed

aboard HMY Britannia for Cowes Week.

An uncompleted vessel on that day

would have been a severe embarrassment

to all concerned! Altogether the rigging

party, all with square rig experience

(Midshipman F. Scott RN, PO (SCC) ‘Alf’

Smith, PO (SCC) Bruce Ashwood, & Peter

von Witzendorff, later joined by POs Tony

& Fred Heywood) did a fantastic job in

only ten days, starting from bare poles, to

have all yards crossed, sails bent on,

running rigging in place, and the vessel

in all respects ready for sea. The number

of splices and sailmaker’s whippings

required was in itself daunting, but the

two riggers from Harry Spencer’s were

more than happy to pass on all the tricks

of the trade in return for an intense

course in square rig. They worked very

closely with the Sea Cadet rigging team

and did much more than simply position

the necessary hard points as directed on

the masts & spars, and check through all

the rigging gear as it arrived. Modern

readers will be horrified to learn that the

rigging team were always well ahead of

the rattling party, so that for most of the

time they had to shin up & down the

standing rigging without the benefit of

The stores department of Groves &

Guttridge was most efficient and ordered

every piece of equipment and material

in good time with clearly stated delivery

dates but their efforts were frequently

frustrated by the casual attitude of

suppliers to punctuality of delivery. On

being reminded that delivery was

overdue one supplier actually had the

brass neck to say, “Well you did not

really expect to get delivery on the date

requested, did you?”

Even on the day of the launching

it was necessary to change the plans and

hold the cocktail party in the morning

and the launch in the afternoon as the

ship’s two propellers were only coming

down in the sales director’s car that

morning, and they still had to be fitted.

Disasters and set backs of one sort or

another occurred as an almost regular

weekly event and much ingenuity had to

be exercised to find a way round for by

mid February 1971 the day of completion

which was to take the form of the naming

ceremony to be carried out by Her Royal

Highness The Princess Anne had been

definitely fixed for 3rd August, when the

Royal Family were due to be present

19

between the four teams (and much

competitive spirit) but it was a

desperately slow race. The rattling

spacing was deliberately reduced from

the industry standard of 380mm to

300mm because of the age and size of

the average cadet, and all footropes

and stirrups were similarly sized for

small people.

Thirdly there was the Ballast Mining

Party under Lt. (SCC) David Brown RNR

(ex Coxswain of Centurion, Kenya

Jacaranda and Kaylena) who, due to a

slight error in ballasting by Groves &

Guttridge, had to “mine” ballast

consisting of steel punchings set in

concrete from below the wardroom sole

and then carry it forward to re-site it

around the heel of the foremast. This was

another hard, repetitive and unglamorous

task with the added frustration that

everyone else working below seemed to

feel they were just “getting in the way”!

Altogether there were some forty Sea

Cadet personnel working at these and

other tasks for the last two weeks up to

the naming and commissioning ceremony

and this was in addition to the similar

sized work force from Groves & Guttridge,

two riggers from Harry Spencer Ltd and

various other outside technicians

involved in installing and testing their

equipment. It was thus a bit congested

on board!! Engine trials at the start of

week one took up a valuable day but,

despite everything, all was completed

by the afternoon of the day prior to

the ceremony.

Commander John Wheeler OBE,

Royal Navy, a dagger ‘N’ and TS Royalist’s

first Captain, together with the Sailing

Master (Nigel Harry – wartime Lt RNVR),

Engineer (PO (SCC) John Davis), Buffer/

Coxswain (PO (SCC) Keith Smeaton),

and Cook (David Rogers – ex RN) had

joined, though initially everyone virtually

camped in the Sea Cadet Unit across the

river. Gradually they and other members

of the crew were able to move on board,

but, remarkably, ‘JB’ had not yet taken

up permanent residence, so we did

not enjoy his cooking at this time.

The son of the Training Commander

SCC was one of the crew for the first

cruise, and found that in addition to

everything else he was appointed

“sword polisher” for all the officers who,

of course, had to be in “full fig’ for the

Royal Day.

In view of his unceasing enthusiastic

and skilled work over this period it was

decided to equip Peter von Witzendorff

(son of the Captain of Gorch Fock) with a

Sea Cadet uniform so that he could take

his place with the other riggers on the

topsail and topgallant yards at the

moment of “man and cheer ship” at the

end of the Royal Ceremony. This was,

however, made conditional on his having

his long, hippy-style, hair shorn off, and

the others in the rigging party ensured

strict adherence to regulations by

advising the barber that Peter was joining

the Royal Navy the next day. He emerged

looking much shorn and somewhat

shocked, but in good humour agreed

that it was worth it to be part of the crew

for the Royal occasion.

August 3rd 1971 the third great day in

TS Royalist’s life dawned clear and sunny.

Her crew gave the new teak decks a

good scrub and all the brass work a final

polish. Every rope was checked, and

every coil had to be both perfect. The

wooden board obscuring her name on

the stern was removed and replaced by a

large sea cadet ensign, and a smaller

ensign was hung over the silver plate on

the forward end of the deck house. All

the special extra steps were in place (no

step up or down can be more than eight

inches on a Royal tour). Petty Officer

Fred Heywood’s four man piping party

held a last practice and gradually all the

crew began appearing on deck spick and

span in their best uniforms, the officers

resplendent in “sword and medals”.

Ashore the grandstand began to

fill up, press and photographers began

to make their appearance together with

t e l e v i s i o n

cameramen and

the crew from

B r i t i s h

Movietone

News and

then the

S o l e n t

ferryboat

“ G a y

Enterprise”

( s p e c i a l l y

chartered for

the day) edged

her way through the

throng of spectator craft and moored in

her allotted berth close to TS Royalist to

give all her two hundred passengers a

grandstand view of the proceedings.

Eventually at the allotted time the

Royal Barge with the Royal Standard

flying at her stem head came alongside

the pontoon, astern of TS Royalist, where

Princess Anne was met, according to

protocol, by the Lord Lieutenant of the

County and the Commander-in-Chief

Portsmouth. A short walk along the

pontoon, past a contingent of local Sea

Cadets under the piratical looking Lt. Cdr.

Tom Blow, brought her to the gangway of

TS Royalist where she was piped aboard

and met by Commander Wheeler, Lt. Cdr.

Morin Scott and Rear Admiral Earl Cairns.

The Sea Cadet Chaplain led the

company in prayer and Princess Anne

unveiled the silver plaque calling out with

a clear voice, “I name this ship Royalist

and may God bless all who sail in her.”

Simultaneously the blue ensigns

shrouding Jack Whitehead & Norman

Gaches’ magnificent stern carving fell

away to reveal its beauty, and so she was

truly named.

Earl Cairns then presented Her Royal

Highness with a gold medallion struck

from the same die as the silver medal

designed by Richard Grasby to

commemorate this great day. Silver

medals were presented to Rigging Crew

and others involved with the building

of the TS Royalist.

The Royal Party and accompanying

VIPs then toured the ship finishing up

in the cockpit as the Captain gave the

order “man and cheer ship”.

The crew raced up the rigging to

take up their allotted stations, with the

Rigging Party, some following their

classification as “Upper Yard Men” by

standing on the yard arms of both top

gallant and topsail yards.

“Royalist will give three cheers for Her

Royal Highness, The Princess Anne

Hip Hip Hurrah

Hip Hip Hurrah

Hip Hip Hurrah”.

The cheers ringing out across Cowes

Harbour marked the end of the ceremony

and a few minutes later Princess Anne

and the admirals were piped ashore to

board the “Gay Enterprise” where a

champagne party celebrated the end of

a perfect day and the beginning of

TS Royalist’s life as the flagship of the

Sea Cadet Corps.

In truth, the Sea Cadets now had “a

ship of their own” starting her first

training cruise the following morning.

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bracing Stations – An outline of a charter taken on board TS RoyalistThis article was originally written for a non-square rigger audience but hopefully will be of interest to Club members and friends , who might like to participate in one of our SRC charters.

By Hugh Illingworth (Vice Commodore of the Square Rigger Club)

ou are all familiar with

expressions like “Going About”

and “Lee-oh” but would you be

so familiar with expressions like “Bracing

Stations”, Overhaul Clewlines and

Buntlines”, “Main Course Lift”. These are

just a few of the many expressions and

terminology in daily use on TS Royalist.

For the first time on board TS Royalist

it all seems a mass of ropes and rigging

but within a few hours it begins to fit

into place as one finds out how each

piece of rigging performs a single basic

task. Many people will find TS Royalist

a familiar and beautiful sight around

these shores. She is the principal ship of

the Sea Cadets and frequently manned

by energetic young crew, who sail her for

a week at a time and for longer periods

such as in the Tall Ships Races. However,

fewer will know that there is ready access

for people of all ages and sexes to

become involved with TS Royalist

through the Square Rigger Club.

The Square Rigger Club was set

up with charity status to “provide

support in men, matériel and money for

Britain’s square-rigged training ship

TS Royalist”. It is a commendable cause

and the sums raised from the modest

subscription provide bursaries for

youngsters, who would otherwise find

it too expensive to sail in her. Additionally

the Club funds items of equipment,

ranging from sails to computer

equipment. Whilst this all sounds

excellent, perhaps the greatest

opportunity of the Square Rigger Club

is to sail on TS Royalist and two

specific charters are set aside each year

for adult members.

The weekends are generally in May

and September, and TS Royalist departs

from her berth in Gosport on a Friday

evening with a permanent crew of 5 and

20 Club Members with a destination

possibly in France or Alderney. Having

sailed on TS Royalist many times, I have

been to France on a number of

occasions but I have to say that lately,

we have remained on this side of the

Channel owing to poor weather but this

is no great hardship since there are

interesting places and ports to visit on

the south coast of England too. Since

TS Royalist is a square rigged sailing

ship, she does not point to the wind

very well and consequently for a

comfortable passage it is better to

have the wind behind or on the beam.

There are two powerful engines, which

can be used to push through a head

wind but with the windage of the vessel

the progress is slow.

Having departed from Gosport on

a Square Rigger Weekend on a Friday

evening, the crew soon settles down

to watches for a night sail, a night at

anchor or a night alongside somewhere –

all dependent on the weather and the

itinerary. A good cooked meal is served

on board and whatever the activity

during the night, there will be more

sailing on the following day before

arriving in a suitable port for the Saturday

night. Following an evening meal on

board or ashore on the Saturday night,

the ship departs the following morning,

settles down to watches and sails

through the day. If there has been a

crossing to France, the ship will arrive

off the Isle of Wight in the morning.

Following some sail training exercises

and a good lunch, TS Royalist with the

Square Riggers returns to Gosport on the

Monday afternoon.

The experience offered to the Square

Rigger Club is very affordable with

long weekends inclusive of meals for less

than two-hundred pounds for club

members, a little more for non-members

but this may be reduced by becoming

a member of the Club. Apart from a

weekend charter there are also one week

charters from time to time with the

fee being approximately five hundred

pounds for Members.

For anyone requiring a new sailing

experience with a little hard work (there

are no winches carried other than those

for the anchor!), good camaraderie and

some sailing instruction – and a great

time then I recommend one of these

weekends to you. More information can

be supplied on request.

Please contact the Charter Secretary

on E:[email protected]

or Tel: 01508 489706.

Y

Who we areTS ROYALIST, the square-rigged sail training brig of the Sea Cadets, was launched in 1971. Formed to support the ship, The Square Rigger Club provides support in men, materials and money for the Sea Cadet’s square rigged sail training brig TS Royalist and assists the Sea Cadets with a bursary scheme.

More infoMore details on the Charter Weekends, Sea Cadets and Offshore Yachts can be found at www.squareriggerclub.org.uk

• Sail TS ROYALIST on at least two weekends each year – no previous sailing experience required!

• Plus additional week or weekend charters (dependent on the availability of the ship).

• More experienced? Sail as afterguard crew with the Sea Cadets.

• charter one of the Sea Cadets offshore yachts.

Membership starts from just £20 per year.

The perfect gift for any would-be sailor!

It’s easy to join. Fill out the application Form overleaf Or download it from www.squareriggerclub.org.uk (in Acrobat Reader format) and post it to the Membership Secretary: John MacDonald, 146 Manchester Road, Mossley, Lancs OL5 9BG

Join the

interested?

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The Square rigger club Membership application Form

Membership fees are due on joining the Club and on 31st March each year. In order to keep expenses to a minimum we would ask you to pay by

Bankers Standing Order. Please complete and return to:

John MacDonald. 146 Manchester Road, Mossley, Lancs OL5 9BG

if you are a tax payer please use gift aid. remember it does not cost you a penny!!

Membership details

Title

Surname

Forename(s)

address

Postcode

Telephone number

email

Occupation

bank Name and address

Postcode

Sort code bank account Number

account Name

Signed

date

Please pay

Sort code bank account Number

account Name

Please credit the above account NOW and on the 31st March of each year until cancelled in writing with the value below.

This cancels any previous Standing Orders made payable to The Square rigger club.

value

Standing Order Mandate

annual Membership level required

Subscription by cheque S/Order Member £25.00 £20.00

Master’s Mate £35.00 £30.00

rear commodore £75.00 £60.00

Please sign and date the declaration below

Signature date

gift aid Section

Please treat this donation as gift aid

Please treat all donations from 06/04/2000 and all donations i make from the date of this declaration until i notify you otherwise as g.a. donations

Note: You can sign as long as you are at least a basic rate tax payer and the tax you pay is equal or greater than the tax element of your donation. For more info: www.hmrc.gov.uk/charities/gift-aid.

registered charity No. 280393

barclays bank Plcgosport branchHampshirePO12 1dN

20-30-89

The Square rigger club

60156019

Please sign and date the Mandate

registered charity No. 280393

How did you hear about us?

Friend rNli cadets quayside

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Square Rigger Club Newsletter 2012

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Transcript of Square Rigger Club Newsletter 2012