This month we introduce ‘Josephine of Hoo’ as our last ‘featured boat’. She’s kept in the north of our extended Area, at the Royal Northumberland Yacht Club, Blyth. A stunning 32′ Stor Tumlaren, ‘Josephine’ was built in 1960 by Hampers of Fareham to Knud Reimers’ 30m² rule design. With Honduras mahogany on Canadian rock elm, sitka spruce mast, jumper stays and running backstays there’s nothing decorative, everything is functional. She was built to sail close, sail fast and sail successfully. People say “she sails like a witch”… what they mean is: she performs!
If you’re thinking of wooden boat ownership as a lifestyle accessory, she’ll correct that quickly. A yacht like this demands planning, maintenance and a skipper like Will Temple, who understands that small jobs become big jobs if ignored. Varnish, paint, fastenings, bilges, rig tension – nothing looks after itself.
Her history is straightforward. The late Bruce Grant brought her north from the Hamble, to Royal Northumberland Yacht Club, in 1980. In 2015 Will Temple became her current owner and continues the ‘Josephine’ tradition. ‘Josephine’ is equipped for cruising although really designed for racing, with only rudimentary accommodation. There are two cabin berths with lee cloths (boards), one quarter berth aft and one comfortable pipe cot forward. Despite that, she has been cruised and raced extensively: Norway, the Shetlands, the Faroes and the length of the Northumberland coast. She has a well-travelled easy presence and anyone who knows wooden yachts can read the potential in her lines and equipment.
She responds well to her skipper’s practical demand. Will recalls a singlehanded entry into Eyemouth in the dark, tight tidal gates and long passages in mixed weather. She has often delivered the kind of moments that justify her upkeep – seals lifting their heads and singing as she rounds Coquet Island, dolphins carving phosphorescence around her bow in the Channel, seabirds gathering at dawn halfway to Norway while a surfaced submarine sits silently off her beam.
Let’s be realistic, this is simply what such a well designed wooden yacht can provide: capability, confidence and the kind of adventure that comes only from managing something that demands respect. ‘Josephine’ is not a museum piece or a nostalgia project. She’s a fast, honest, seaworthy yacht that calls for a skipper who plans ahead and understands the need for timely maintenance. In return, she offers real sailing – clean, responsive and rewarding. This type of craft will always demand an owner who is practical, prepared and realistic about what ‘classic’ actually means. Someone who wants a boat that gives back exactly what they put in.
Will Temple & Francis Mogg
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