West Channel Class: "Gay Galliard" - how a British sea cruiser came to the Elbe

Paper is patient. Eckart Robohm knows that too. But what the classics fan is reading seems to be worth a trip to the south of England, even if the "Condition Survey", in which the West Channel Class "Gay Galliard" is examined in detail, is a little, shall we say, favourable.

At any rate, Thorsten Jensen explained that he had already heard something similar. Robohm takes the master boat builder from Wedel into his confidence after reading the detailed offer in spring 2013. And so as not to jeopardise this, Jensen replies when asked for advice that he will have to take a look at it himself. Robohm, who at this point was already completely smitten with the nine-and-a-half metre sea cruiser from the United Kingdom, quickly commissioned a yacht transporter to deliver the ship of his dreams to Jensen's workshop. "I thought it would be cheaper than flying there with Thorsten," he says with a grin.

But insiders realise from the outset that Robohm had simply fallen in love with the ship and its harmonious lines - who could blame him, given the charisma of the sea cruiser with its strong character. He had fallen in love with his beloved at first sight. As is so common these days, he met her on the internet. "I was looking for something bigger," says the family man, who until then had been on holiday with his wife, two daughters and a dog on his old 20-metre dinghy cruiser on the Müritz Lake District or in Holland. "I was looking for an affordable wooden boat that would be big enough for the family, but that I could also manage on my own," says Robohm, who looked around more and more intensively and often got stuck on folk boats that he liked in every respect - except for the space they offered.

Designer Giles plays in the same league as Nicholson, Mylne and co.

During a holiday in Denmark, he finally finds what he is looking for: a compact but spacious wooden sea cruiser with pretty lines, a transom and an attached rudder. Unfortunately, it is in deplorable condition. And a restoration project is not exactly what Robohm is looking for. But he finds out that the boat comes from England, researches the classic boat market there and ends up with the broker Peter Gregson, who specialises in wooden boats. In his portfolio, he comes across the West Channel Class "Gay Galliard".

Robohm discovers that it is a design by the British Francis Charles Morgan Giles, who lived from 1883 to 1964 and is mentioned in the same breath as the other great British designers of his time - Charles Nicholson, Alfred Mylne and William Fife III. Giles ran his own shipyard in Teignmouth in the southern English county of Devon from 1920.

The West Channel Class for difficult waters

The origins of the "Gay Galliard", which displaces eight thames tonnes, lie in its smaller sister, the West of England One Design Class, which was created back in 1946. "The design is the result of several meetings with the representatives of no fewer than 18 yacht and sailing clubs," says Giles, describing the 25-foot sea dwarf. The areas there are characterised by strong tidal currents which, in combination with the estuaries, can lead to extremely unpleasant sea conditions even in coastal areas. This resulted in the desire for a standardised ocean-going class for regattas in the relevant sailing areas of West Bay, Torbay, Start Bay, the outer estuary at Salcombe, Plymouth, Fowey Bay and Falmouth. And of course the class to be created should be suitable for feeder races between these areas.

The sailors had specified a purchase price of 500 pounds for the ready-to-sail boat. The result displaced five metric tonnes and was about the same size as a folk boat. It had a high superstructure, and the cabin offered space for two berths and "sitting headroom". The attached rudder blade was designed to maximise robustness. The stem was not trimmed, and a smooth entry into the sea - in line with the requirements - took precedence over speed.

The boat quickly became a success, and customers soon expressed a desire for Giles to build them a larger vessel based on the design. A short time later, six larger models were built at his shipyard in Teignmouth, including two eight-tonne (Thames) boats, the "Westray" and "Gay Galliard".

The new owner's goal: to make it seaworthy first

When Robohm discovered her at the beginning of 2013, the "Gay Galliard" had been on land for five years. But Peter Gregson is a professional when it comes to buying and selling classic yachts. He knows that any deal could damage his internationally recognised reputation. To prevent the sea cruiser from drying out, Gregson has filled the bilge with salt water. And the results of the 2008 survey, which Robohm receives by return of post, are worth listening to:

"An interesting vehicle - in far better condition than you would expect from the many previous owners. If you are really interested in a good old boat, it will tell its own story. And no matter how much effort it takes to get it back into good condition - it will be worth it."

If you are really interested in a good old boat, it will tell its own story"

Robohm comes from a family of craftsmen and can certainly interpret such lines, including what is written between them. Looking back, he says that his plan was not to get the boat "in good order" straight away, but to simply get it ready for sea first. And he wants to be realistic and take two years to do this. He wants to use the 2015 season for the first trim strokes, fine-tune the boat the following winter and sail a tour of the Baltic Sea with his youngest in the summer of 2016 after she finishes school. A sensible-sounding plan.

Generous use of plywood became a problem

But things turn out differently. "When we looked at this, there was a bit more to be done," explains Thorsten Jensen in such broad coastal dialect that the "more" is particularly long. The hull was not the problem at all. "We had to do relatively little there," says the master boat builder, listing that the deadwood had to be replaced, the ballast keel was re-bolted, and "a bit of keel planking" and "the puttress area" were prepared for the future under his hands. But that was about it, says Jensen. "The problem was the plywood."

We had to decide between an Easter bonfire, an eternal building site or systematic restoration"

At the beginning of the 1950s, the Giles shipyard was obviously focussed on series production, otherwise there is no other explanation for the extensive use of the new material that was emerging at the time. The deck is covered with an early variant and is now completely ruined, as is the superstructure, whose side walls are made of plywood that has long since been delaminated, while the curves are moulded in tight radii and "completely mushroomed".

"We had to decide between an Easter bonfire, an eternal building site or systematic restoration," says Robohm, describing the realisation of the inventory. "And we decided in favour of the latter." The premise was not to lose sight of the ship's origin and purpose. After all, Robohm didn't just want to restore the ship to make it a piece of jewellery, but above all to sail it intensively in the style of the year it was built.

Six years of shipyard work on the "Gay Galliard" instead of sailing

At this point, his emotions were still dominated by the view that the decision was courageous but sound. But, says Robohm: "Then the demolition began. We started to take everything apart. And the more that came down, the more was revealed." His philosophy was to preserve as much of the original substance as possible. But the structure could not be saved. It was also important to restore the boat to a condition that would allow it to be preserved in the future at a reasonable cost.

The point of no return has long been passed when master boat builder Jensen cheerfully sets to work with the saw to move the cabin next to the ship.

Sailing is out of the question for the next six years. Instead, Robohm is part of the shipyard's inventory and is juggling the realisation of his project with the following considerations: "What can I do in terms of time, expertise and money?" At Jensen, he is allowed to stand in the hall indefinitely, do as much as he can himself and use the workshop, including instruction. Looking back on that time, Robohm says that he received a complete boatbuilding education and lost a few kilos. Above all, however, he learnt to think only as far as the end of the next step while working. "There were holes in my motivation. But the more we progressed, the greater the incentive became."

Her daughter is so fascinated that she does an internship as a boat builder

Fortunately for the ship and its owner, the family let him get on with it and did not question the time-consuming and costly parallel world into which he regularly disappeared. Although his wife was caring for her parents at the time and unable to support him, she backed him up: "I don't have time to help you, but you're welcome to do it." She probably doesn't realise how much she is contributing to the success of the project with this attitude. Daughter Inken takes part from day one and is so fascinated by working with wood that she completes an internship with the boat builder.

Today, all the hardships are forgotten. It's a midsummer's day and the Robohm family is getting "Gay Galliard" ready for sea at the Jensen shipyard jetty like a long-serving crew for one of the first trips on the Elbe. Since the new family member has been afloat, the owner's leading role in the boat, co-sailors and dog has been noticeably relativised, and they head out onto the river together in good spirits. The light wind is just enough to fill the sails, which are set on the newly built mast, while Inken Robohm holds the rudder firmly in her hand.

The plan to sail the West Channel Class in the style of her time has been a success. The glossy paintwork makes her look as if she has just been delivered, and the fittings are original or replicas of the original. Modern details do not catch the eye. The Dyneema halyards on the mast halyard winches, for example, are colour-coordinated so that they look like the original galvanised wire. Although the spruced-up Brit can't prove her seaworthiness today, she can demonstrate how well thought-out and functional she is.

Now the history of the "Gay Galliard" is to be researched

When the Robohms have moored their "Gay Galliard" at the dock again, it gets cosy in the cockpit. The owner digs out old treasures from the depths of the chart compartment. The ship's own register book, for example, in which every change of ownership was meticulously recorded by hand and which shows that the West Channel Class was based in Teignmouth until the very end.

Now that the manual work is done, Robohm says with a cheerful expression on his face, he can finally dedicate himself to researching the history of his yacht. If he pursues this with the same commitment as the restoration, he will certainly bring many an episode to light, just as predicted in the survey. After all, Robohm has proven his mettle in recent years.

"You also need a certain amount of tenacity for a project like this," says Thorsten Jensen, who has often found himself confronted with old classics in demonstrably "good" condition; paper is patient. But so was the owner family of the "Gay Galliard" - and they can enjoy their time with their new addition all the more relaxed in future.

Technical data "Gay Galliard"

• Class: West Channel Class 1952
• Designer/shipyard:Morgan Giles
• Building material: Mahogany on oak
• Length over everything:9,60 m
• Length in the waterline:7,90 m
• Width: 2,40 m
• Depth:1,50 m
• Displacement/ballast:5/2,8 t
• Sail area: 42 q

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