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"Tudor Rose", 32ft Arthur Robb Classic Lying Essex
"Tudor Rose", 32ft Arthur Robb Classic Lying Essex
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Owner's Comments
Rosie with reefed main on the River Deben in 1994 - prior to fitting the new windows, the Sailspar genoa reefing and the sprayhood When I first started sailing out of Brightlingsea, in an 18ft plywood Lysander in the early 1970s, I was always attracted to the most beautiful yacht that I had ever seen "Tudor Rose" moored in the entrance to the creek. She was owned by the Commodore of the Colne Yacht Club. At that time, I thought, "one day I will own a boat like that". After her owner died, her new owner rather neglected her and eventually, in February 1983, I persuaded him that she needed someone to look after her and, reluctantly, he sold her to me. I got her into a local dry dock for a couple of weeks, chopped off a (rotten) false transom that had been added to increase her waterline length and gradually worked through a long list of jobs to make her sound and seaworthy again. That summer we took her over to Ostend and up into Holland - I have taken her back there almost every year since then. At that time her Sabb engine used almost as much oil as diesel, so the next winter the engine was stripped right down and the culprit found. - At some stage in her history it had been put back together and an oil scraper ring had broken completely in two. The offending bit was found in the sump. Fortunately the cylinder bores were perfect. The valves were reground and new springs fitted and the engine re-assembled. Since then she uses negligible oil between annual services. She comes into her own above force three and is absolute magic in a five or six on the beam and has clocked seven plus knots on many occasions. Under either storm jib alone or mainsail alone she will sail comfortably and tack through the wind. Her long keel and deep protected cockpit give a very safe ride when the going gets rough for the lightweight Plastic Saucers and Tupperware Bathtubs. Her wide side decks and deep toe rails make for safe movement on deck though the requirements for this have been minimised since fitting the Sailspar Genoa reefing. Her Sabb twin cylinder diesel slows comfortably to a donk, donk, donk, donk --- and the variable pitch propeller gives very fine control of speed - extremely useful when waiting in a queue for locks and bridges. If in a rush, the engine pushes her along at six knots using only 1/3rd gallon per hour. The anchor and ground tackle is much heavier that on most boats her size, but then she has never dragged when others have skidded around us.
Over recent years she has been wintered ashore only one winter in three, and a framework built over her covered with tarpaulin to give protection for work yet allow excellent ventilation. This has made it easy to carry out major maintenance and renewals like fitting new main and fore hatches, stripping and internal repainting, fitting new windows, re-wiring etc. etc. If afloat for the winter, at the beginning of the season I have painted her topsides from the dinghy, and revarnished her brightwork with several coats. At the end of the season, her bright work has been given another couple of coats of varnish to protect her through the winter. If she has been afloat for the winter, I usually give her a scrub and two coats of antifouling on one tide against the posts in early June. I have really enjoyed my custodianship of Tudor Rose but have now bought another boat - with a wheelhouse. - Yes, I'm getting soft. If you want a boat that is not a plastic fantastic, that will give you a safe, fast, stable ride in a good blow and are prepared to do (or pay for) two or three weekends painting and varnishing each year in return for admiring looks wherever you go, then consider Tudor Rose. |
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