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On the 20th and 21st of July 2024, and on her 120th year, Sheila was racing and parading at Port-Navalo.

“Les Grandes Régates de Port-Navalo” were celebrating their 130th year.
Port-Navalo is the harbour at the entrance of the “Golfe du Morbihan” in the South of Britanny. The tide race in the entrance of the Golfe is up to 8 or 9 knots, which makes it an interesting harbour to enter under sails !

Sheila raced on the Saturday against boats which were both magnificient and much bigger than her.

Pen Duick 2 (14m Costantini schooner winner of the 1964 Ostar Race with Eric Tabarly) won easily. The Lys Noir (24m 1914 Yawl), Krog E Barz (15m Gaff Cutter), and 3 Frères (11m Sinagot) finished ahead of us as well, in a dying wind. No boat smaller than Sheila finished before her and a lot of bigger boats were behind.

We took a safe start, as a port tack was the only way to pass the line, in the strong tide. The management of tide currents was also instrumental to finish the race. With boats of such different speed capacities, after 10 miles, many of our smaller opponents had given up. The reacher was a great asset and we used it with the spinnaker pole used as a whisker pole. We did not use the spinnaker and the pole extension.

On Sunday we paraded in the tide, with west wind increasing to 26kn. Sheila was sailing under jib and mizzen during much of the parade, her signature look. We surprised many Breton boat watchers who discovered her and I believe they enjoyed the show.

Many thanks to the organization, we had a great week-end, and many thanks to my competent crew.

Cheers from France !

Greetings to the Court of Princess Sheila !

On the 13th and 14th of July 2024, we are training for next week regata in Port-Navalo with Vincent.

We want to try our two “regata sails”. The spinnaker is 200sq’ single luff, set masthead to stem-head with a 20’ pole. The pole is in the 2 parts, with a bamboo extension and is actually longer than the hull ! The reacher is set to the end of the bowsprit and sheeted direct or to the boom end. Sheila delivered beyond expectations and proved very fast in light airs. We have some minor adjustments to make and we look forward to next week !

Maybe you will notice that Sheila received some attention over the past weeks so that she is pretty for the summer with little details here and there. I will try to update you with those details later on.

Cheers !

The Court of Princess Sheila will be glad to see that she is back in shape.

We were blessed with one week of glorious weather. The efforts of the crew to get her back to sea water are just a memory and we are enjoying every moment. Still a lot to learn but we are improving our understanding of this wonderful yacht each time.

The next week was not as magnificient. But now Sheila is dressed for every occasion, thanks to Yvonnick and Karine.

Cheers from France !

Sheila has been worrying her lovers lately.

It all started with two weeks with wind over 40 knots everyday and two months of rain.

That is when she decided she wanted to go to the beach at night. Unfortunately, I must take the blame for letting her. The stainless steel swivel on which the two mooring lines were set lost its shackle pin – the plastic strap proved insufficient under the circumstances.

Fortunately I realised it in the morning and with the next tide she was towed back for examination. A big thank-you to Loïc and Yves for making themselves available at short notice on a Saturday and being so professional and caring.

During the week-end spent on a mooring she was water-tight. We lifted her out on the next Tuesday and we were relieved of such a minimal outcome after a near catastrophy. Sheila scratched her hull and that is fixed. She damaged the bottom of her rudder – Loïc is working on it.

Still we did our review and extracted the wooden rudder stock (as good as in 1987) and decided to seize the opportunity for a professional review and tightening of the helm. In the meantime I was planning to sand and protect the deck with new coats of wood stain.

Our remaining challenge is that in the process we found crumbling steel bolts in the stern post, a broken stainless steel brace on the keel and a stem knee in dire straits. This area of the boat was last restored in 1979 and is under the cockpit so more exposed to rain water. And 1979 is a third of century past. The shipwrights have a challenge to meet without prior notice before she is back to sailing and I must confess I had other plans as well.

More news to come !

16th April update

Sheila should be back on the water on the 3rd of May. The deck is protected with two coats of stain and we found the time to paint the hull so that she can be pretty for the Summer.

30th April update

Loïc and the team have been doing wonders.

He uncovered the mystery of the original Albert Strange pintle bearing. The device was broken ages ago and replaced by a crude stainless steel brace more recently. To restore the original system we would need to remove the keel so this could only be undertaken at a later stage. The device deserves an article in its own right. In the meantime we have a restored stern post and a much safer system for the rudder.

Weather in Brittany is suboptimal for outdoor life.

The sails are sent out for cleaning, the wooden jib furler is in the shed, fixed, with new coats of paint and varnish.

The team at Delta sails are creating a new mainsail cover and a new cockpit cover.

The ship has a small solar panel to operate a bilge pump when she is on her mooring. It is just removing the rain water that gets into the cockpit and the cabin is dryer that way.

Lady Sheila is not an illegal alien anymore, and she can fly a French ensign. I think it is the first time in 120 years that she is registered as I did not find a Lloyds registry entry for her (1) I am not sure it is a sign civil administration has been improving in over a century. Also, this was a prerequisite to get a MMSI number for the portable ASN VHF. I will be able to send an automated distress signal with an identification and a GPS location – Groves never had that in his pocket.

And we are designing a new topsail rig. Many thanks to Mike for keeping the old invoice with the measurements of the yard and the club.

Greetings from France !

(1) 1st May 2024 note : I finally found a 1907 Lloyd’s registry entry. More to come on this !

With no main sail on the rig, I decided to test my talent at using her oar.

She is a canoe after all !

But she is a sailing canoe and I failed miserably at beating the tide and the wind.
The solution was to restore her sailing capabilities with jib and mizzen. That was done rapidly (enough.) Still a bit of forward planning would have improved our looks. Of course Sheila was safely returned to her mooring.

I still have some maintenance work to do before she can sail again and I will be waiting for the new mail sail cover. Sheila will resume her sailing program in April or so.

Greetings from France !

We are sailing Sheila on the 14th of Feb with my friend Stéphane.

We are slowly improving our understanding of this perfect little yacht.

Next steps : the mizzen will get a cover to protect the new sail JP had for her and the main sail is going away for cleaning. Sheila will not be able to sail before mid March.

Greetings from France !

Sheila is sailing with dolphins early in Feb 2024 !

This is very special : it is the first time I see dolphins inside the Golfe du Morbihan.

Kind regards from France.