golden V'S club shamrock

Word of warning for purchasers of used Shamrock Club Racers! Further to encountering a storm and confused seas off western Corsica, the rigging went slack. Further to a satisfactory rig check, the problem was located in the cabin. The OEM mast support tube had compressed at the top but was hidden by the teak trim. Solution: replace with bespoke, wider diameter tube - but re-fitting requires judicious use of a hydraulic jack to gently lift the deck once a crane has taken the weight of the mast off the deck!!

 

My Shamrock

These boats were built in South Africa, renamed Impact and became very popular.

 

Shamrock info

This will be interesting for Shamrock fans. Article from 1976 attached

 

More Shamrock info

Adverstisement for the Shamrock attached.

 

Even more Info on Shamrocks

All Shamrock fans. Would love to hear from you. Any info you may have on mods and improvements will be welcomed.

 

Picture of boat crossing the finishing line

Hope you like the picture

 

Another Picture of my beloved shamrock

I have more information from Ron Holland Design. I'll try and find it!

 

I don't suppose you know if they are still being made?

 

They stopped building them a long time ago. They were all built in the seventies. But I know who built them as I've been meaning to contact the company who turned out the hull, deck and bulkheads, for a builder's certificate. So, I'll ask some questions and post what I find out, but I'm almost certain that the moulds are no longer in existence.

 

Shame, absolute cracker of a little thing up wind, mighty handful downwind under spin in blow but oh what fun!

 

Grimalkin was based upon a Shamrock hull but her stern was more buoyant - needed to be - at full tilt downwind, our Shamrock dropped her stern by about 12 inches!

 

Poor old Grimalkin, I don't know how her type came to be so vilified after the '79 Fastnet. There were two deaths but if I recall correctly, one came about as a result of a medical condition and one as a result of a head injury. Both such tragedies have occurred in larger and heavier boats, and the small lightweights in the Fastnet and Hobart have actually faired better in terms of deaths than the slightly larger heavywieghts.

I think the boats involved in the largest loss of life in the '79 Fastnet and '98 Hobart were conventional boats such as the Ohlson 35 Flashlight, Carter 33 Trophy and the big classic Winston Churchill, which was an exact copy of a fishing smack. The factors involved in these tragedies were sometimes almost completely ignored in the rush to endlessly dissect the Grimalkin capsize.

There just seems to be a kneejerk reaction that creates circular reasoning about the Grimalkin incident and the safety of small boats. They are studied because they are considered dangerous, despite the fact that of the 20 or so deaths in the two most tragic ocean races, only 10% occurred on small light-ish boats, which means that they are statistically SAFER than larger heavier boats.

 

Grimalkin was a Nicholson 30 and again, a fine seaworthy yacht. The '79 Fastnet produced horrific weather with very confused but dangerous seas. Those participating will have first-hand memories, so I shall say no more and leave the recall of those experiences to them. Grimalkin was salvaged and repaired - a photo can be seen at http://de.cosasdebarcos.com/barco_53416082010061014810257991011001.html

 

As for books on the incident, for those interested, have a look at this thread: http://www.seafaring.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=75298

 

Small correction - the Nich 30 was an early in-house design half tonner of about 1971, distinctive for her rounded coachroof. Grimalkin was a "Nicholson Half Tonner" based on the successful one-off "Silver Jubilee".

http://www.yachtsnet.co.uk/archives/nicholson-half-tonner/half-tonner.htm


I have "Left for Dead" but I've not finished reading it. Good read so far.