Bristol Channel pilot cutter: Difference between revisions
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==Pilots== |
==Pilots== |
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Most early pilots were local [[fisherman]] who undertook both jobs, latterly licensed by the local Harbour Master to operate within their jurisdiction. Until post-WW2, pilots were generally self-employed, and the quickest transport meant greater income. |
Most early pilots were local [[fisherman]] who undertook both jobs, latterly licensed by the local Harbour Master to operate within their jurisdiction. Until post-WW2, pilots were generally self-employed, and the quickest transport meant greater income. |
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Local legend suggests that the first official [[Bristol Channel]] pilot was barge master George James Ray, appointed by the Corporation of Bristol in May 1497 to pilot [[John Cabot]]'s {{ship||Matthew|ship|2}} from [[Bristol harbour]] to the open sea beyond the [[Bristol channel]]. In 1837 Pilot George Ray guided [[Brunel]]'s {{ship|SS|Great Western}}, and in 1844 William Ray piloted the larger {{ship|SS|Great Britain}} on her maiden voyage.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.annabel-j.co.uk/history.htm|title=History of Pilot Cutters|publisher=Annabel J|accessdate=2009-06-04}} {{Dead link|date=September 2010|bot=H3llBot}}</ref> |
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The pilots were known locally as ''Westernmen'', as their cutters raced westwards to meet the incoming ships in either the [[Irish Sea]] or the [[Atlantic Ocean]]. Pilots either owned their own or hired cutters, which were permenantly manned by a captain and an apprentice. Once negotiations over the pilotage-rate had been agreed, the apprentice's job was to row the pilot to the incoming ship in a clinker-built row boat. The cutter crew would then race back to port to pick-up the next pilot. Occasionally, incoming ships would tow the pilot cutters in, a practise which was unpopular with both the ships and the cutters crews, and the pilots. |
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==Design and performance needs== |
==Design and performance needs== |
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Revision as of 13:55, 7 July 2013
A Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter is a specialist style and design of single-masted cutter sailing boat, developed for the needs of speeding pilots to larger ships entering and leaving the Bristol Channel. The design has been described as the best sailing boat design ever, for being both highspeed, higly manouverable and yet easy to handle by just two crew.
Background
Cutter
When used to refer to sailing boats, a cutter is a small single-masted sailing boat, fore-and-aft rigged, with two or more headsails and often a bowsprit. A cutter's mast may be set farther back than on a sloop.[1]
Bristol Channel
The Bristol Channel is one of the naturally most dangerous shipping lanes in the world, due to its huge tidal range of 13 metres (43 ft)[2] - second only to Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada[3][4] - currents hitting 7 knots (8.1 mph) (faster than many sailing ships of the day); all combining to hide rocks and constantly shifting sand bars.
Even today there are no road or rail crossings of the Bristol Channel so direct crossings are necessarily made by sea or air, or less directly by the road and rail crossings via the River Severn estuary. The Channel can be a hazardous area of water because of its strong tides and the rarity of havens on the north Devon and Somerset coasts that can be entered in all states of the tide. Because of the treacherous waters, even today pilotage is an essential service for shipping.
As Bristol developed as a regional trading and financial centre, and as coal exports and the metal making industries rose in the South Wales Valleys as local sources of metal-ore rock quickly dwindled, the volume of shipping into and out of the Bristol Channel rose quickly. Owners, who didn't want to loose valuable ships or their cargos, had need for local knowledge of the wind, tides and underwater dangers.
Pilots
Most early pilots were local fisherman who undertook both jobs, latterly licensed by the local Harbour Master to operate within their jurisdiction. Until post-WW2, pilots were generally self-employed, and the quickest transport meant greater income.
Local legend suggests that the first official Bristol Channel pilot was barge master George James Ray, appointed by the Corporation of Bristol in May 1497 to pilot John Cabot's Matthew from Bristol harbour to the open sea beyond the Bristol channel. In 1837 Pilot George Ray guided Brunel's SS Great Western, and in 1844 William Ray piloted the larger SS Great Britain on her maiden voyage.[5]
The pilots were known locally as Westernmen, as their cutters raced westwards to meet the incoming ships in either the Irish Sea or the Atlantic Ocean. Pilots either owned their own or hired cutters, which were permenantly manned by a captain and an apprentice. Once negotiations over the pilotage-rate had been agreed, the apprentice's job was to row the pilot to the incoming ship in a clinker-built row boat. The cutter crew would then race back to port to pick-up the next pilot. Occasionally, incoming ships would tow the pilot cutters in, a practise which was unpopular with both the ships and the cutters crews, and the pilots.
Design and performance needs
As most fishing boats were purposefull heavy working boats built for capacity of haul and stability, and filled with fishing equipment, those who operated as pilots needed a new type of boat. Early pilot boats were developed from single masted fishing cutter designs and twin masted yawls, and latterly into the specialist pilot cutter.
Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters are generally seen as the most successful fore and aft rigged boats built during the age of sail. Speed was of the essence, and ease of handling - the more crew, the lower the profit. But the key in the Bristol Channel was also a need for manouverability with a low draft, and given the nature of the currents and speed of the local tides.[6] But, the boats were also required to race to ships in the heavy Atlantic Ocean waves of the winter, being able to operate in all weathers, whilst also keeping the crew safe at sea and on both legs of the journey.
The base design was based on a combination of a deep hull, long keel, heavy displacement and powerful gaff cutter rig. However, competition-based evolution between different builders and commissioning owners enabled the design to improve over a period in excess of 90 years.[7] This continual experimentation to gain slight adavantages created a fast boat that could operate in all weathers, resulting in what in the opinion of many was the best sailing boat design ever. As Admiral John R. Muir summarised:[8]
That they fulfilled their function admirably may be guessed when I say that I could find no record of one of those ships being lost through stress of weather. Remember we are speaking of the Bristol Channel in winter. One yachtsman I knew used to take off his hat and keep a moment’s silence if anyone mentioned cruising this area in his presence. The gesture was not meant as a joke.
Preservation
Today, only 18 original cutters are believed to survive:
- Alpha
- Baroque
- Breeze
- Cariad
- Carlotta
- Cornubia
- Dolphin
- Frolic
- Kindly Light
- Letty
- Madcap
- Marguerite
- Marian
- Mascotte
- Olga
- Peggy
- Raider
- Vivacious
References
- ^ Kemp, Peter, ed. (1976). The Oxford Companion to Ships & the Sea. London: Oxford University Press. pp. 221–222.
a small, decked ship with one mast and bowsprit, with a gaff mainsail on a boom, a square yard and topsail, and two jibs or a jib and a staysail.
- ^ "Severn Estuary Barrage". UK Environment Agency. 31 May 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2007-09-30. Retrieved 2007-09-03.
- ^ Chan, Marjorie A. (2003). Extreme Depositional Environments: Mega End Members in Geologic Time. Boulder, Colorado: Geological Society of America. p. 151. ISBN 0-8137-2370-1.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ "Coast: Bristol Channel". BBC. Retrieved 2007-08-27.
- ^ "History of Pilot Cutters". Annabel J. Retrieved 2009-06-04. [dead link]
- ^ "Cutters". BCPCOA. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ {[cite web|url=http://www.pilotcutter.co.uk/?q=traditional_boats%7Ctitle=Traditional Pilot Cutter boats|publisher=RB Boat Building|accessdate=7 July 2013}}
- ^ Surgeon Rear. Messing around in Boats.