Bristol Channel pilot cutter: Difference between revisions
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Speed was profit, and so in summer the sails were made of [[cotton]], and in winter of [[flax]]. There were four sets of reefing points, with later designs encompassing roller-reefing, which although bringing its own boat handling issues meant that the chances of a broken boom crippling the boat were low.<ref name=PilMag/> The size, scale and number of any [[headsail]]s were a personal captains choice, but were often be used to fool other pilots into thinking that they were being passed by a fishing boat, or as a signature to be recognised by approaching cargo boat captains.<ref name=PilMag/> |
Speed was profit, and so in summer the sails were made of [[cotton]], and in winter of [[flax]]. There were four sets of reefing points, with later designs encompassing roller-reefing, which although bringing its own boat handling issues meant that the chances of a broken boom crippling the boat were low.<ref name=PilMag/> The size, scale and number of any [[headsail]]s were a personal captains choice, but were often be used to fool other pilots into thinking that they were being passed by a fishing boat, or as a signature to be recognised by approaching cargo boat captains.<ref name=PilMag/> |
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===End of life=== |
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Due to their design and speed, the last pilot cutters only retired in the early 1920's once the new steam and diesel technology developed during [[World War I]] had overtaken the design in speed and efficency. ''Cariad'' was the last pilot cutter to retire in 1922.<ref name=Cariad/> |
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In 1913, all of the Cardiff pilots were amalgamated into a new company, the Steam Pilot Boat Company (Cardiff and Bristol Channel) Limited,<ref name=BCPCCariad/>{{cite web|url=http://www.bcpcoa.com/cariad.html|title=''Cariad''|publisher=BCPCOA|accessdate=7 July 2013}}</ref> which had commissioned a series of new steam powered pilot boats which were to be worked out of [[Barry Docks]]. The process of amalgamation was stoped during [[World War I]], but due to their design and speed, the last pilot cutters only retired in the early 1920's once the new steam and diesel technology had overtaken in speed and efficency. ''Cariad'' was the last pilot cutter to retire in 1922.<ref name=Cariad/> |
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==Pilots== |
==Pilots== |
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Revision as of 22:34, 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 maritime pilots to large ships entering and leaving the Bristol Channel. The design has been described as the best sailing boat design ever,[1] 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.[2]
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)[3] - second only to Bay of Fundy in Eastern Canada[4][5] - 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.
Design and performance needs
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As most fishing boats were purposefull heavy working boats built for capacity of haul and stability, and further loaded down with heavy damp 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.
Design
Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters are generally seen as the most successful fore and aft rigged boats built during the age of sail. The keys of a good design were:[6]
- Speed: pilots were in competition, with each other and the weather
- Seaworthiness: boats were 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.
- Ease of handling: fewer crew and easier handling meant higher profits and a more relaxed working environment in many weather conditions
But a further 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.[7]
Base form
The base design was based on a combination of a deep hull, long keel, heavy displacement and powerful gaff cutter rig. This made a light-weight and overpowered single masted boat with large steeply angled keels, making it deep draft under power and shallow draft in lighter sail.[8] However, competition-based evolution between different builders and commissioning owners enabled the design to improve over a period in excess of 90 years.[9] 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:[10]
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.
Development
Pilot skiffs had developed for many years, but the earliest records date to 1795 held by Bristol Museum, which lists 12 registered pilot cutters with tonnages raging from 14 to 24 tons. Other port's records suggest that older surving cutters ranged in length between 33 feet (10 m) and 40 feet (12 m).[6] The earliest photograph of a cutter are of the boat Trial of Pill-based pilot Thomas Vowles (1847 -78), showing a square rig sail that was a common feature on early cutters.[6]
Few period plans or detailled drawings exist, as often the builders were illiterate, and as the designs developed from boat to boat the blue print for the next boat was taken from measuring and the experience of building the last boat, or from half-hull scale models which were then adapted. Resultantly, lengths in the 19th century varied between 40 feet (12 m) and 50 feet (15 m).[6] Construction methods were common, with: frames of English oak; planking of English elm; hulls sealed by pitch pine; interior fittings made of imported teak.[6] The boats had high bulwarks of between 1 foot 6 inches (0.46 m) and 2 feet (0.61 m), with a removable section through which a white-painted clinker-built rowing punt of 13 feet (4.0 m) could easily be put over the side.[6] Punts were painted white to allow them to be seen at night, and traditionally stored on the cutter's port-side.[6]
Speed was profit, and so in summer the sails were made of cotton, and in winter of flax. There were four sets of reefing points, with later designs encompassing roller-reefing, which although bringing its own boat handling issues meant that the chances of a broken boom crippling the boat were low.[6] The size, scale and number of any headsails were a personal captains choice, but were often be used to fool other pilots into thinking that they were being passed by a fishing boat, or as a signature to be recognised by approaching cargo boat captains.[6]
End of life
In 1913, all of the Cardiff pilots were amalgamated into a new company, the Steam Pilot Boat Company (Cardiff and Bristol Channel) Limited,[11]"Cariad". BCPCOA. Retrieved 7 July 2013.</ref> which had commissioned a series of new steam powered pilot boats which were to be worked out of Barry Docks. The process of amalgamation was stoped during World War I, but due to their design and speed, the last pilot cutters only retired in the early 1920's once the new steam and diesel technology had overtaken in speed and efficency. Cariad was the last pilot cutter to retire in 1922.[12]
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.
Pilots in the Bristol Channel were self employed, based at ports and harbours all along the Welsh and English coastlines. Bristol's pilots were actually based at Pill, Somerset, which resultantly became a local boat building centre.[6] The relationship between Pill and Bristol became strained, due to the distribution of the locally collected taxes, which was not solved until the passing of the 1807 Bristol Channel Pilotage Act.[6]
Pilots in the Bristol Channel were known locally as Westernmen, as their cutters raced westwards to meet the incoming ships in the Western Approaches of the Irish Sea and the Atlantic Ocean. Pilots either owned their own or hired cutters, which were permenantly manned by a captain and an apprentice.[9]
"Pilot on board"
"I require a pilot"
Records from Pill suggest 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.[6] 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.[13]
Operations
Cutters would leave their home-port in the Channel for the Western Approaches in all weathers, either having been previously contracted by a shipping line to do so, or more frequently as self-employed individuals in competition with other pilots.[6][9]
From 1858 whilst in transit, cutters were required by law to display white side lights, but often on the outbound leg these were turned off so to give a traditional westerly advantage over the competition.[6] Once on station - a situation that could last for a few weeks - the boats were required to display a pilot flag, which in 1849 became the white over red flag still in use today. At night, kerosene flares were required to be fired, with each port having its own sequence; Bristol's was two shorts and a long.[6]
Once a ship was encountered, whilst the cargo vessel heaved-to the cutter would pull-in on the lee-side. The apprentice would then row the pilot in the punt to the vessel, whilst the captian would sail-clear; the cutter would then return once the pilot was on board and the vessel underway. If the cutter had two pilts on board, the sequence would be repeated for a second vessel; if not, then she would race away home.[6]
Once steam power began to replace sail in cargo vessels some cutters would be towed back in,[6] a practise which was unpopular with both the vessels and the cutters crews.[9]
Off duty
When not racing into the Western Approaches, cutter captains would take place in port-based "reviews", which were a local mixture of parading and open challenge-based racing. When in windy conditions, cutters would regularly win these open races against professional racing crews, when with full sails on they would reach speeds in excess of 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph).[6] Ilfracombe was a popular annual Review, which with its long flat firm sands provided a good place for repairs, as well as a good holiday location for the crew's families during the week.[6]
Mischief
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Mischief was a 45 feet (14 m) Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter built by Thomas Baker of Cardiff in 1906. Commissioned and sailed by pilot William “Billy the Mischief” Morgan, he once sailed her into Ilfracombe harbour in such appalling weather, that he and his boat earned great respect from the local pilots for "a first class piece of seamanship."[9]
Sold in 1921, after various other commercial owners she ended up in Valetta, Malta, where in 1954 the mountaineer and explorer Bill Tilman purchased her. After a refit, he sailed her over 110,000 miles (180,000 km), from the Antarctic to the Arctic, including stops in Patagonia, Greenland, South Georgia and Heard Island. Tilman wrote six books during his adventures in Mischief, until in 1968 she hit a rock off Jan Mayen Island in the Arctic Ocean, and then began to sink before being crushed by ice.[9]
Tilman continued his adventures in two other Bristol Channel Pilot Cutters, Sea Breeze and Baroque. Invited in his 80th year in 1977 to work as expert crew aboard the Simon Richardson skippered En Avant with mountaineers sailing to climb Smith Island, the ship disapeared with all hands whilst enroute between Rio de Janeiro and the Falkland Islands.[14]
In 2007 a new Mischief was commissioned and built by RB Boat Building.[15]
Preservation
Today, only 18 original cutters from the hundres built are believed to survive. Some are available for private charter, whilst many attend maritime rallies and occasionally join the Barry Yacht Club's annual Cock of the Bristol Channel race:[16]
| Name | Date | Builder | Original Owner | Length | Beam | Draft | Displacement | Current Location | Notes | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alpha | Privately owned | [1] | ||||||||
| Baroque | Privately owned | |||||||||
| Breeze | Privately owned | |||||||||
| Cariad | Cariad (Welsh language for Loved One) was by 1922 the last working sail-powered pilot cutter. Bought by Frank Carr as his private yacht, she featured in his 1936 book A Yachtsman's Log. Preserved in 1972 at the Exeter Maritime Museum, after its dissolution she was resold into private ownership. Relaunched in 2006 after an extensive refit.[12] Sailed by Tom Cunliffe in the fifth episode of Boats that Built Britain.[1] | [2] | ||||||||
| Carlotta | Originally launched as The Solway, where in Maryport and Whitehaven, Cumbria she acted as the fisheries police boat. Sold off in 1907, she has since operated as a private yacht. Privately owned | [3] | ||||||||
| Kindly Light | New pilot Lewis Alexander of Barry commissioned Armour Brothers of Fleetwood to build a pilot cutter for him because William Stoba, the foreman shipwright who had designed ALPHA, the highly successful Newport pilot cutter of 1904, worked for them. Launched in 1911, at £500 she cost 40% more than the standard price for a cutter. After being laid-up during WW1, she was considered the fastest of 100 cutters still working post-war. Privately preserved, she is on the register of National Historic Ships.[17][18] | |||||||||
| Marguerite | Built for Frank Trott, he had her fitted with a tug’s towing hook to the fore side after steam-powered cargo ship became common, to allow them to tow Marguerite back into port. | |||||||||
| Mascotte | Privately owned, largest of the surviving boats | [4] | ||||||||
| Olga | Preserved at the Swansea Museum | |||||||||
| Peggy | Replica Polly Agatha built by Cockwells.[19] | [5] |
- Baroque
- Breeze
- Carlotta
- Cornubia
- Dolphin
- Frolic
- Kindly Light
- Letty
- Madcap
- Marguerite
- Marian
- Mascotte
- Olga
- Raider
- Vivacious
Replica
There are an increasing number of replica boats, often built for the private hire and charter market.
References
- ^ a b Tom Cunliffe. "Bristol Channel Pilot Cutter". BBC Four. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ 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.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s JCB (23 December 2009). "The Bristol Channel Sailing Pilot "Skiffs"". Pilot Magazine. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "Cutters". BCPCOA. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "Pilot Cutters". Cockwells. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f "Traditional Pilot Cutter boats". RB Boat Building. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ Surgeon Rear. Messing around in Boats.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
BCPCCariadwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ a b "Cariad". Cariad. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "History of Pilot Cutters". Annabel J. Retrieved 2009-06-04. [dead link]
- ^ "The Life and Times of the Legendary Explorer Bill Tilman". Retrieved 5 May 2009.
- ^ "Mischief". Mischief Expeditions. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "Pilot cutters at Barry Yacht Club's annual 'Cock of the Bristol Channel' race". Barry & District News. 16 May 2010. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ "Kindly Light". National Maritime Museum. Retrieved 7 July 2013.
- ^ Paul Brown. Historic Sail. The History Press.
- ^ "Polly Agatha". Polly Agatha. Retrieved 7 July 2013.