No 8 Club

No. 8 was built in 1997 at Falmouth Marine College under the scrutiny of Ralph Bird. Ralph was the best builder of wooden dinghies in the last century, he was famous for his Gig Boats. Gig boats shown here were used in the 19th century for taking pilots out to ships in the Isles of Scilly when there was no wind for sailing boats. 

Gig boats were also used for rowing races by the Victorians for big prize money. In recent years there has been a strong revival of these beautiful boats and more than 150 have been made since 1960. They are raced throughout the summer in Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly. To make the racing fair all new boats are built to the same design. The boat they choose to base all new ones on was built in St Mawes by William Peters in 1812 and the gig boat is still in existence and still raced by Newquay Gig Club.

Back to Falmouth were the sailing pilot boats of the 19th century wanted dinghie s for a slightly different purposes. They used them to transfer pilots between the sailing pilot cutter a nd the tall ship requiring a pilot. They also choose William Peters to build there wooden dinghies and our No. 8 is a replica of his dinghy built for Pilot Boat No. 8. It was built as a light weight construction for those days.

For instance the ribs that support the sides of the boat are 12 inches (310mm) apart and you would expect them to be 7 or 8 inches.  Classic Sailing was fortunate enough to buy No. 8 from the college in 1998 and has been using her ever since.

Our No. 8 has been worn out by excessive use and frequent bumps and grinds; we even towed her to the Isles of Scilly one year and now we looking to replace her. She is a very important part of Eve’s style of voyage, she allows us to stay away from Marinas and voyage in a much more traditional way.

New No. 8
We have commissioned a highly respected Gig boat builder called Peter Williams to build us another replica No. 8. Now how amazing is that, the first builder of No. 8 was called William Peters and the next one is called Peter Williams! We have learnt that the tough usage we put t he dinghy to requires a stronger construction.

So our new No. 8 will have ribs at 8 inch intervals, stronger garboard and top strakes and strengthened seating and fittings for towing. In the old days sailing vessels could not sail directly into the wind but today with an engine we can and have towed No. 8 directly into the wind in some quite choppy seas. This is one of the reasons we have commissioned a tougher build for the dinghy.

Why no Outboard
No. 8 is a pleasure to row, whenever possible she is used to put crew onto E ve of St Mawes. This gentle unhurried and quiet approach to Eve sets the style of the voyage. Just imagine you have spent all day traveling by car, train or plane to St Mawes and instead of another noisy engine you have the physical delight of being the power to move the boat. Not everyone needs to row or wants to but I can assure that if it’s good for Pierce Brosnan its good enough for you.

 

You will receive a "Pieces of 8 Certificate" confirming your membership.