MINGMING & the Art of Minimal Ocean Sailing

the cover of Roger's latest offering

Mingming's voyages

2007

2000 miles under patched up battens, 2007

Whales through the Porthole

Piloting Pilot Whales west of Ireland 2007

Pilot Whales West of Ireland 2007

2008

Jester Azores Fleet, Plymouth 2008

Leaving Plymouth for the Azores, Jester astern

Azores Arrival (Photo Tony Head)

Leaving the Azores for Plymouth, 2008

2009

Sailing North to the sun, 2009

Inside Mingming

Approaching southern Jan Mayen

Arctic ice

and again,ice



Yet more...ice

Coast of Jan Mayen 2009

Snaefell Glacier, West Iceland

Off north-west Iceland

Leaving Adalvik, NW Iceland

all photos and captions Roger Taylor

"There are, according to the tetrahedral view of the earth, four oceans; but of these three only are generally necessary to navigation, for the Arctic Ocean is only used by Polar bears and Polar explorers, and in any case not navigable."

So mused the intrepid Irish circumnavigator Conor O'Brien in the opening sentence of his account of his sail around the globe 'Three Oceans', published in 1928. 82 years on, I think Roger Taylor would take exception to that, though certainly not to it's author, whose adventurous spirit mirrors his own.

'MINGMING & the Art of Minimal Ocean Sailing' is Roger's second book. His first, 'Voyages of a Simple Sailor', tells of the events which have led him to his current philosophy and practice of ocean cruising. This new book deals with the implementation and execution of his ideas, and the results of his experiments in real tests, his cruises. He is building on the innovations and experience of his mentors, Blondie Hasler and Mike Ritchie, pioneers of small boat singlehanded ocean cruising. He also brings to his projects a wealth of hard won personal experience gained through a lifetime of sailing. But I don't want to give a false impression. These are not clinical trials. Roger's cruises are his passion. Though he only goes to sea once a year for six to eight weeks, leaving behind his duties as head of an investment management company, his entire year revolves around the planning and preparation for this escape to the solitude and grandeur of oceanic wilderness. It's remarkable that Roger conducts his forays into the Atlantic, the North Sea and the Arctic Ocean in a little 20'7" Corribee MkII, Mingming. Not only is she small, she's also junk rigged and has twin bilge keels, which according to some sailing pundits should make her next to unsailable. Roger's adventures prove otherwise, and I'd hazard a guess that at times he regards her as a living being. She's been heavily modified to allow singlehanded sailing from the warmth and safety of her cabin. Here's Roger on first the planning for his 2007 cruise, then his preparations and modifications to Mingming:

"The winter evenings gripped tighter, darker, colder, but I cared little. I had work to do. I may well have been intending to simply set off and see what happened, but this did not in any way presuppose some sort of lax approach to the project. True freedom of the seas, especially for the sailor of a tiny, engineless yacht, can only be derived from the most rigorous preparation. More than fifty years of sailing had honed my wariness to razor sharpness. Having concieved the general shape of my intended journey, I now had to drill down into the smallest navigational details. Every aspect of the potential routes had to be explored. I had to think through every possible adverse situation to ensure that, in the worst case, I would not be putting myself and Mingming at risk."

And later on, three major modifications to Mingming: Tuning his self steering to allow for infinitely fine adjustments...without having to go on deck, adding protection from spray and weather around the main hatch, and giving her a proper bowsprit.

"My winter preparations for the voyage north were therefore of a dual nature. Contemplation was supported by carpentry. The kitchen worktops, ideal for heavy duty clamping requirements, particularly when it was too cold to work in my garage workshop, were littered with weird works in progress and their constituent parts, along with the saws, files, chisels, glues, screws and so on used to construct them. In the lounge and by the bedside the piles of charts and pilot books and almanacs grew steadily higher. To sail properly, and by that I mean to go to sea unequivocally and without compromise for a month or two each year is a year round business. The preparatory ten months are as integral to the project as the weeks afloat. They are almost as satisfying, too. The more time and effort that go into creating a successful modification, and indeed a successful cruise, the greater the pleasure of experiencing that success during the weeks at sea."

One has to wonder where the time was found to write this book.

Roger goes on to recount three voyages taking place in '07, '08 and '09, two tales of northing and one southern cruise to the Azores. His straightforward accounts of sailing are interspersed with musings on the nature of his projects, and they pull you along with him and Mingming quite skilfully. This is not, in my estimation, your run of the mill cruising yarn ( and I've read lots ). In the interest of brevity here, and so as not to spoil any surprises, I'll leave the rest for you to discover.
The scale of what Roger Taylor is achieving with these cruises brings to mind Joshua Slocum and Webb Chiles, to name a couple. Like those intrepid sailors, he is pushing at the edge of the possible.
Inevitably, I questioned Roger on his influences. Here's his reply:

"Hasler

Richey

Slocum

Guzzwell

My real guiding light, for all his faults (see the article on my website for that) is Bill Tilman. He was of course sailing big fully crewed craft, so with him it’s not about technique but attitude.

And of course Moitessier, whom I met in NZ in the 70s."

I asked Roger to expand on his meeting with Moitessier. His response :

"Nothing to tell, really. He had Joshua on the hard for a while at Opua in the Bay of Islands, where I kept Roc after her Tasman crossings. This was mid-70s, so he hadn’t quite established his legendary status. He was just a fairly well known French sailor. We just had a nodding acquaintance. Can’t even remember exactly what he looked like, apart from a shock of hair. I look back now and think what a missed opportunity it was. If I knew then what I know now I’d have made a much greater effort to get to know him – and I’d have been down there with a camera looking for photo opportunities!

Too late now..."

I hope you'll enjoy Roger and Mingming's adventures as much as I do, and please visit his website.

You can order the book directly from Roger here, or from my Amazon bookstore, too the right.

A great last minute gift idea.

I've never met Roger Taylor in person, but we have had many exchanges (see my earlier posts) and some dealings over the years, and I count him a friend. I'm sure that he's a quiet, retiring type in a crowd, but he opens up deeply when writing. And, I recently persuaded him to join facebook, look for him there.

Constance .3: First Sail

Constance ready at East Mersea

courtesy Dick Wynne

Sailing photos off East Mersea by Martin Treadway

courtesy Martin Treadway via Dick Wynne

courtesy Martin Treadway via Dick Wynne

courtesy Martin Treadway via Dick Wynne

courtesy Martin Treadway via Dick Wynne

Nice rear end

courtesy Martin Treadway via Dick Wynne

Mr. Wynne looks pleased with Constance

courtesy Martin Treadway via Dick Wynne

courtesy Martin Treadway via Dick Wynne

Constance at Wivenhoe 18 July, presumably returning from Mersea

photo unattributed

Fabian Bush (who built her) just sent me (Richard) this snap he received of Constance, with first reef, on the return leg of this year’s white-knuckle-ride of a race. Me helming, son Mike sheltering. More about the race at the East Coast Classics website.
(And here, on the ASA site)

photo unattributed

Dick Wynne's new venture, Charm

canoeyawl.org

Constance was launched July 8 2006, and a week later Dick picks up the narrative of her first sail:

A week later my son Mike and I took her for her first proper sail, downriver to Mersea Island and out on the Thames Estuary, in a moderate breeze on a gloriously hot day. On a reach under that ample sail area, she was just exhilarating; I’ll need a lot more experience of her to report in full on her sailing characteristics. On beaching her for lunch at East Mersea we were pleasantly besieged by admirers.

We were lucky enough to encounter ASA Hon Treasurer Peter Maynard on his Folkboat ELIZA, with professional photographer Martin Treadway on board, so were able to secure that Holy Grail, photos of our own boat under sail, on her very first day out. Readers will be familiar by now with the details of her design, so I leave you with these photos of her finally in commission, and a promise of more detail photos to come.

That was four years ago. While I was in correspondence with Dick about this series, he informed me that he is in the process of selling Constance, with mixed feelings, of course, and acquiring a new(old) Albert Strange masterpiece, Charm, a sister ship of Thad Danielson's Sea Harmony.

I have also included a link to the new (as of July) website put up by Dick Wynne and two other members of the Albert Strange Association, canoeyawl.org , home of the Canoe Yawl Association, whose raison d'etre is as follows:

'The CYA was started by three active members of The Albert Strange Association as a means to focus exclusively on a small boat type which offers so much to today's cruising sailor. We encourage you to visit the ASA where we think you will find much of interest.'

Take a look in. If you like canoe yawls (who doesn't), you'll find much beauty there. The site is still in it's incubation phase, so you can have a hand in growing it

'Constance' .2: Launch

Down the ramp in Rowhedge on the River Colne

Easily seen here, some stern details, click the photo for a larger image to study further.

Into the Colne, with a local audience

Isn't she lovely

Quayside, stepping the mast, and rigging

All rigged

Constance in her mudberth

Preparing for the first sail


all photos courtesy Dick Wynne

In my previous post on Constance I shared several photos of the building of Dick Wynne's Albert Strange Wenda. Here we see the result and her launching. Here's Dick on Constance's launch:

On Saturday 8 July CONSTANCE, a traditional clinker rendition of Albert Strange’s much admired but seldom built Design No 45 WENDA of 1899, slipped into the waters of the River Colne at Rowhedge in Essex, across the road from builder Fabian Bush’s yard. With the aid of a sweep Fabian and I got her alongside the little quay to step her mast and rig her with the help of family and friends, and by next day were able to sail her past the crowd assembled for the annual Rowhedge Village Regatta to applause well-deserved by her builder.

And here some comments from Phil Bolger via the ASA weblog:

Bolger on CONSTANCE

August 10th, 2006 by Dick Wynne, London

Readers may be aware that the working plans for Albert Strange’s Design #45 WENDA were developed for WoodenBoat magazine by Phil Bolger about 20 years ago, in response to strong interest from the magazine’s readership. Both Fabian Bush and I have corresponded with Phil during the building, and on receipt of some photos of her on the water which I sent him, Phil wrote back:

“Thank you very much for the photos of your lovely Wenda (CONSTANCE). They all delight me, especially the one showing her nestled into a mud berth, and those showing the beauty of a canoe stern.

My compliments to Mr Bush, and to Mr Hall as the cut of the sails looks extremely nice. Watch out for that added halyard outside the jib roller. I had a traumatic experience with such an arrangement when the sail was allowed to thrash, rolled the second line into itself, and would not go in, out, up, or down, in the mid-watch and a rising wind in the middle of the Med.”

I plan to move the lower end of the spare halyard to the foot of the mast, where it will be out of the way yet available if needed. I doubt that loss of the wire forestay through the jib roller would result in danger to the fairly short, keel-stepped mast before the spare could be deployed.

[Postscript — Phil Bolger also did us proud with a double-page spread in the October 1 (2006 ed.) issue of Messing About in Boats — Ed]

You can access many more photos as well as informative articles on Albert Strange boats, designs, painting and stories, and boats by his contemporaries, on the ASA weblog .

Next up, first sail et al.

In the meantime, visit the ASA blog for more Strange boats, and there's also a new kid on the block, started by Dick and others from the ASA, canoeyawl. org ...go! ( more on this later)

'Constance' .1: the build

Albert Strange: Taken in the Bennett family's garden. Edmund Bennett, a Gravesend architect, commissioned Strange to design Wenda, named after Bennett's daughter.

Wenda, AS #45


Clinker larch on a wych elm backbone, with oak stems and frames. Centre-case and rudder trunk are iroko. Steel centreplate. Plywood deck. Oak brightwork. Fitted out in oak, cedar and ash. Spruce spars. Built by Fabian Bush. Sails in Clipper synthetic canvas, made by Steve Hall, North Sea sails.

Lead keel 1350 lbs

Backbone - elm
Builder Fabian Bush's friend George lending a hand.

Lining out - 14 planks

Planking - 1/2" larch

Planked up

A stern "to die for"

That expanse of deck will be broken up by 3 deadlights to illuminate sleeping area and forepeak, oars, anchor, jib sheet blocks etc.

Internal fitout complete apart from stove to be near bulkhead on port side. Keep it simple!

Building outside the lines and raising the deck 2 inches meant the steeply raked rudder shaft reached 2 inches further back, very close to the mizzen. This left no room for the horse to be as drawn between rudder and mast, so rather than move either we moved the horse forward a few inches to avoid a crowded look.

A couple of planks at the bilge have sacrificial layers added for a few feet, to take the wear of grounding. We may add a metal-shod rail. (They did, creating in effect, a bilge runner , ed. )

Roof framed, decklights fitted,bow rollers fitted

near completion



all material and photos courtesy Dick Wynne

I first became acquainted with Albert Strange through a WoodenBoat article (WB #64, pg 49) by Mike Burn who had discovered and renovated Strange's first Sheila. That article appeared in 1985, and I've since never lost interest in the work of this most distinguished designer. There is a wealth of research and information on Strange, his work and that of some of his contemporaries to be found at the Albert Strange Association website. The site also offers views and articles on Strange designs sailing today, and I highly recommend it. Dick Wynne is one of the principals of the Association and and author of many of the articles found on it's weblog. He became enchanted with a smaller Strange design, Wenda, the plans for which were resuscitated and offered by WoodenBoat. Initially imagining that he would build her himself, after taking some steps in that direction, Dick began to realize the project would be better realized by a professional. In his words:

'The rationalisation continued: If I could not build her someone else would have to, at least in part for me to complete. And whilst I was about it, why not have what I really wanted, a traditional clinker rendering of the design? To my mind this would show off her lines to perfection, as can be seen in Jake Roulstone’s Sally, and provide a high strength-to-weight ratio.

It didn’t take long for me to locate Fabian Bush (of Rowhedge, Essex)* on the basis of a hull-only clinker build by him written up in Water Craft magazine (Molly Cobbler in No25, Jan/Feb 2001). Molly is a super boat with a lovely job of lining out, so if Fabian was game to repeat the experience I was too. As Fabian puts it:

“I must say that I have always found it more pleasant and satisfying to be afloat on a traditional-built boat … in a way, maintenance is easier (simply using basic traditional paints and varnishes), the materials and surfaces are kinder, the smells are more pleasant, the sound of the boat sailing and at rest is more gentle and ‘full’; the hand-built nature of a traditional boat is much more evident …”

I was keen to achieve a robust craft in which I need not worry too much about taking the ground or indeed the odd knock, and equally keen to keep costs down. After some discussion and thought Fabian suggested doubling up the planks at the bilge for a few feet, with the ends faired-in, in fishing-boat style. As well as a measure of protection, this would impart additional rigidity and may enable us to dispense with bilge stringers (longitudinal internal members, one each side against the frames) along with the inconvenience in maintenance and repair which they contribute. Their value in adding rigidity to a clinker hull, where the planks are joined to each other as well as to the frames, seems questionable.'

And so happily the work commenced and was brought to fruition. I've selected a sampling of photos of the build process here, but there are many more to be found on the ASA site. You can also track the project through several articles written by Mr. Wynne as the work progressed from inspiration to completion, with a progress report along the way. There is also a bit of commentary by the late designer Phil Bolger, who drew up Wenda's plans for WB.

*I first discovered Fabian Bush also through a WB article on the British Wooden Boat Revival back in 1986. Take a look at his Osea Brig in that article.

This is the first installation of what will likely be a three part series, stay tuned.