I was very privileged to have met Alec and corresponded with him and his sweet wife Dorothy when they lived in Avant. I'm also in possession of pictures of me on board. Thanks for refurbishing her to such a good standard. Alec would be so well pleased. :O)
Thank you for sharing this. Born in 1944, I grew up in Sheffield about as far from the sea as one can get in England. Dad had experienced sailing in the Suez Canal, during the war, and in 1950 bought a GP 14 dinghy (#25) and with three other guys set up the SYSC on a local reservoir. A year or so later my brother and I became the proud owners of a Cadet (#806) and learnt to sail. In 1955 our summer holiday was taken aboard Lively Lady under her original owner, a Mr Cambridge. He had, I believe, retired from the Indian railway service and had her built in India then shipped over as deck cargo. He was supplementing his pension with skippered charters. I thought he was God. It was my first experience aboard a “proper” yacht and has stayed with me ever since. She was based at Yarmouth (IoW) and in two weeks we cruised the south coast, visiting Swanage, Lulworth, Weymouth, Brixham, Salcombe and Fowey. Getting back to Yarmouth in time necessitated an overnight passage and was one of the only two times I’ve actually been sick at sea. I’ve had a lifetime of sailing since, both in the U.K. and here in New Zealand, where I have owned 4 different yachts and sailed many thousands of miles. The memories of that adventure aboard Lively Lady (my first landfall, first night passage, first arrival at a new port and first sighting of a dolphin and a basking shark) are amongst the most vivid, and “Skipper” Cambridge was my first mentor and hero. Edit to add:- Of course, I also followed Sir Alec’s voyage with keen interest, and had often wondered what had become of Lively Lady. So good to see she’s being taken care of. I should also note that she was a straight cutter rig back in ‘55 and I caught my finger in one of the running backstay Highfield levers when we gybed on the first day out. Fortunately at age 11 you heal pdq and it only put me off sailing for about a couple of hours.
Magic story , lively lady pre Alec Rose, I followed his trip l with great interest as a child in the 60's along with the other solo sailors. Something about solo sailing I guess. I was already sailing and am still sailing..thanks for comment. My tiny claim to fame was sailing on HMS Adventure after it raced around the world! ( and the steering would reverse If over pressed , scary). Cheers Warren
-Thank you for this video. When I was a boy my father instilled in me a passion for sailing which I have enjoyed for over 50 years. I was about 6 years old when he gave me a children's version of Sir Alec Rose's book (also authored by the man himself). I can still recall the books pages, it had a big influence on my sailing in Australia. Sir Alec's influence spread far and wide. I am so pleased to see Lively Lady lives on and may well seek her out next time I return to old Blighty!
Was there on Southsea beach(with about 250,000 others!) when she came back home with Alec Rose. She looked a bit more worse for wear on that day! Was an amazing day and one I will never forget. Still have his book which he signed.
Saw her at the SBS, and sent the hairs on the back of my neck up, my childhood memories all came flooding back! Thanks for featuring her and special thanks to all who saved and 'refitted her a splendid job, well done!
Absolutely beautiful I have a 1962 y'all that is just as pretty and she needs a little makeup but still waiting to get her up on the water and hopefully she'll look is just as pretty she seems to be very sturdy I'm dry as a bone so I hope I made the right choice. Good luck my friend and hope to see you out there somewhere.
"If a boat isn't used it starts to rot". That is so true plus yachts are a dynamic work of art, meant to be looked at with all sails flying cutting through the water, not looking sad, sitting there like a worn-out athlete dreaming of days long past.
When I first saw it on the dock I took a picture to show it to some friends what a lovely boat. I did not know the story, which one of my friends lend me the book fantastic looking boat definitely stand out on dock.
Very pleased to see the boat still well kept and sailing. My interest in sailing dates, back to 1969 when I read Sir Alec book. But unfortunately I have never managed to go sailing. Am almost 64 now and planning to build my own boat.
Indeed you are quite wrong. British (Canadian) born Slocum is very well known and revered in the UK. He didn't become a naturalized US citizen until he was an adult. The difference is that Slocum gave up his initial attempt to circumnavigate east-about following the Clipper route and made his circumnavigation making numerous stops along the way. Still rightly revered as a great feat and Slocum himself as one of the greatest pioneers of small boat cruising. Chichester was the first to successfully complete the clipper route via the great capes with only a single 'loading stop' in Australia and specifically with the goal of beating the clipper record which he did. Knox Johnston was the first to sail single handed non stop around the world.
Some one can correct me if I’m wrong but I remember my old man telling me that poor Alex Rose sailed into Port Philip Bay on July 20 1969. Couldn’t have picked a worse “other” news day if he tried. Any other day he would have had head lines on all the national papers. Instead those went to Armstrong and his famous quote. Alex was a sadly a by line when he should and would have been celebrated by Melbournians.
The three steps for successfully backing-up a full keel sailboat. Step one... Make a wish. Step two... Say a prayer. Step three... Try again. By the way, that’s what a hank is supposed to look like! Cheers!!
Have a look at Elley Grey a grp St. Malo pilot cutter replica delivered 2012 built for a couple to sail the world with speed comfort and safety stunning !
Not that it matters, but it should be clarified that Alec Rose's Lively Lady was the second boat to be sailed around the world singlehanded WITH JUST ONE STOP. Francis Chichester's Gypsy Moth IV was the first in that category. Joshua Slocum's Spray and Harry Pidgeon's Islander were first and second to be sailed around the world singlehanded with multiple stops.
Correct - saved me typing. Although pedants might point out that Chichester and Rose went the 'easy way' (Good Hope then Horn). But Pidgeon also used the Panama Canal. But definitely hats off to Slocum...followed closely by Knox-Johnstone.
You need to read Nicholas Gray's new book "Astronauts of Cape Horn". There were many before Chichester and Alex Rose. One in particular who deserved more recognition than he got was Australian Bill Nance who circumavigated solo in 1965, including around Cape Horn, in the 25 ft "Cardinal Vertue", that Dr David Lewis sailed in the first transatlantic race with Chichester. He didn't seek any glory and went forgotten until now. Highly recommend the book.
@@thePronto Chichester's route was determined by the fact the whole point of his voyage was to follow the clipper ship route and aim to beat the fastest recorded clipper circumnavigation, which he did. Rose, who as said in the video is often forgotten, originally intended to race Chichester (hence his choice of route) but a combination a collision and mechanical issues with the boat prevented him from starting at the same time as Chichester and he had to postpone a year.
About that mizzen without a boom: "Rose bought her in 1964 with a view to doing the Transatlantic Race that year, and immediately had Illingworth & Primrose redesign the rig, but curiously her sail area remained the same. In a windy race she did very creditably, finishing fourth, but she was still evidently under-canvassed. Back again to Illingworth & Primrose, this time they added a mizzen mast and 4ft to the main mast. The mizzen was a curious object; there was no room to set a mizzen sail aft of the mast (because of the large Hasler self-steering vane); it was intended to allow Rose to set a mizzen staysail forwards." www.classicboat.co.uk/articles/design/great-yacht-designs-7-lively-lady/
What a pretty boat, I love that blue. Given where the mizzen is, I'd think that's a yawl, not a ketch. Also, why bother keeping the mizzen if you're not going to have a boom/sail on it? That bare mizzen is the only unsightly thing about this boat.
She is marginal either way. The mizzen is stepped pretty much directly over the rudder. She has always been referred to as a ketch ever since the mizzen was added. Ketch probably won out at the mizzen was never intended to carry a boom, but was purely to set a mizzen staysail to help make her better balanced, so she only set sails ahead of the rudder post - in effect, acting like a ketch.
I'm confused as to why it's called a ketch. I have always understood that the difference between a yawl and a ketch was the placement of the mizzen mast. A ketch mizzen mast is stepped forward of the rudder post and a yawl mizzen stepped aft of the post. This vessel appears to be a yawl.
I like how the mizzen doesn’t have a boom. It’s a self aware yawl! The previous owner of my boat removed the mizzen entirely because it was a lot of work and offered no real gains. That said, yawls look gorgeous!
@@normanboyes4983 hi, the charity's details are in the end credits, but yes you can charter her as far as I know, Steve Mason will fill you in on details
Interviewer (3:50): "So what is it, that's special about this boat, Steve?" Steve:"I dunno, It gets in your blood." It's just a wooden boat to most people but to me, and the others that worked on it, and Alan, and my wife and, it's just something special, and erm, it's just something that you just can't explain really... ...some people like old cars... ... I like old boats... ...and this is a special old boat. Interviewer (4:32) "...and what does she sail like?" Cap'n: "...same as any other boat. Sound's some's good, some's bad, some's 'brilliant... some's orrible" "She doesn't point very well, you can't go astern in any direction you wanna (want to) go... but you get the right wind and she's the same as any other boat. She's a joy to sail..."
you found the catch on the ketch...it's a yawl, y'all. A cutter above the rest, perhaps? though, I'd rudder be sailing in person, I'm a wheel expert on youtube! Schooner or later, this is going to ketch up with me. Oops. Used ketch twice. I must be mizzen something.....
I think you're correct. Not that I tend to catch such things. I'd love to hear a few opinions from the locals, though, about the pros and cons of each. no opinions of my own, yet. I'm so new to sailing, I don't know the correct way to grab the first mate! :-)
It DOES look more like a yawl than a ketch. However, as I understand classes of boat rigging, a sloop becomes a cutter by stepping the mast a little aft to accommodate an additional forestay for a second headsail. A yawl keeps a sloop's main mast position and adds a short mizzen on the stern aft of the rudder post. A ketch steps the main foreward requiring a bowsprit for the forestay allowing for two headsails and making room for a mizzen mast stepped fore of the rudderpost. Lively Lady has a bowsprit indicating the mast is stepped foreward to make way for the mizzen. It's the stepping of the mizzen on Lively Lady that is a puzzler. Where's the boom? What kind of sail can be set on a mast without a boom? How do you sheet it? Cheers to all.
The mizzen is stepped directly over the rudder which makes her border line either way. However, the mizzen was only ever added to fly a mizzen staysail and never had a boom. Hence all the mizzen sails are carried forward of the rudder and exert the force well forward of the rudder which is why she was classified as a ketch. In a yawl the normal sail the mizzen carries is designed to place its effort aft of the rudder, which is what gives either type their unique handling characteristics.
Thanks for this historic film. The lines on this old lady is a bit awkward looking, somewhat bulky or maybe plumb, I come from Denmark so I don´t know quite the right word. But not elegant. VERY heavy for a 36 footer. Can´t be a Lively girl in a light breeze:-) Built for the worst conditions Alec could imagine. I like to see the interest in England for retoring old boats, thats so nice to have old wooden boats around us, instead of just the plastic jugs that surrounds You at sea these days, no charm in a Bavaria, never will be.
Not sure I like it when people refer to GRP as plastic. It's contemptuous of modernity. Think it should be classified as a hate crime coz my feelings are hurt... Telling the coast guard hate division. That guy can expect to be arrested. :)
CorwynGC So not plastic then.. Think I said that or can we start calling air nitrogen seeing as its the biggest component. Thought about it and adding flippancy to his charge sheet. We have to stop hate in its tracks. )
@@PaulAnthonyDuttonUk So, plastic. Unless you think 'blue plastic' isn't plastic. 'glass reinforced' is an adjective phrase, it adds specificity to the noun 'plastic'. 'Plastic', of course, isn't a specific material, but rather a description of the properties of any of a bunch of materials. "Plasticity is the general property of all materials which can deform irreversibly without breaking" - wikipedia. GRP maintains plasticity, so it is a plastic. QED.
CorwynGC GRP is a complex material. Polymer is a component but the whole is worth more than the sum of its parts yet my whole was about humour more than it was GRP.. chill pill. )
@@PaulAnthonyDuttonUk I'm chill. I'm not the one calling for people to be arrested. Humor works better if you don't make mistakes, and then try to defend them.
Figures, it takes a fairly brain dead person to not realize the adverts are assigned by RU-vid/Google's AI according to your viewing and browser history not by the video or it's authors. Then again, who you seem to support confirms your ignorance.
