What does 'traditional' mean to you when applied to a small sailing boat?

 This post is based upon videos, discussions and comments had by members of the Small Traditional Sailing Boat Facebook group. I had already been thinking about the word 'traditional' for some time; since last year in fact, when a passer by made comment that Arwen had nice traditional lines and rig and was a very 'traditional' looking boat. The gent disappeared off before I could question him further, so I never got to unpick what it was he was eluding to. 

Most of the material in this blog post today comes from the STSB group. I have inserted a few of my own ideas - you can tell where  for as usual- they will make no sense to any one! 

I am one of the admins for the Facebook Group ‘Small Traditional Sailing Boats’; a group I joined on a whim and have since then been learning heaps from.   I know nothing about boats, so, I’m never sure I have anything of worth to contribute. After all, those who follow my blog know I came to sailing late in life. I built a boat before I learned to sail and I have only ever stepped aboard/sailed six other boats before Arwen – some different lasers (One, Pico, Stratos and Bahia), a Drascombe Coaster and a Wayfarer. I did two ‘learning to sail’ courses in the Med and a Day Skipper Three day course in Plymouth.  That is the sum total of my knowledge about boats, sailing and all things nautical!

The 'Small Traditional Sailing Boats' (STSB) group is lovely. Friendly, supportive, informative, passionate, knowledgeable, inspirational. Such positivity! A privilege to be a member of such a great group and if you are into small traditional sailing boats, I genuinely urge you to look up this group. You will not regret joining it.

So, as you can imagine, I have recently been fascinated by a series of conversations and discussions about what ‘Traditional’ means to individual group members. Below I have tried to summarise the points made by video contributors and some of the comment discussion that emerged afterwards. I may have got some of the arguments wrong or poorly expressed and so I proffer my humble apologies at the very start!

My deep thanks to Joe Farrow, Howard Rice, Vincent van der Post, Captain David Gardner, Nick Edmunds, Michael W Jones and Tom Cunliffe for taking the time to post informative, thoughtful videos on the group site. And of course, to all those who got involved in the discussions afterwards via comments. Thoroughly illuminating. And as always, as a novice sailor, I learned heaps!

“What does ‘traditional’ mean to me?”

When I first had this question posed to me, I panicked. My lamentable lack of knowledge about small traditional sailing boats was about to be put under the spotlight! I had no ideas in my head! At a push I can identify a Salcombe Yawl, a Cornish Shrimper, a Drascombe and a few of John Welsford’s designs. Push me on a very good day and I might be able to tell you the difference between a standing lug sail, a gaff rig and a Bermudian sail. Pitiful!

Anyway, this idea of ‘traditional’. What is my thinking on this now? What have I learned from the videos and discussions?

Having listened to all the discussions and read all the comments, I’m thinking ‘Traditional’ refers to the key characteristics/traits in a boat that reflect its historical design, construction methods and sailing rig/techniques; such things that make it different from more modern designs today. This would include discussions about form and function, building materials and modifications made. There is within the word ‘traditional’ also an implied ‘historical significance’ argument. In fact, some group members have argued that a boat can only be ‘traditional’ if it predates the advent of the gasoline engine (although a caveat to this is that modern adaptions of these old boats could be still called ‘traditional’ if they hold firm to the form and function of the original). Many contributors argued that ‘traditional’ boats vary in design based on the region, culture and specific purposes for which they were built.  The dhow in the Middle East or the felucca in Egypt, for example, were a product of their environment and culture, used as fishing boats and for transportation.  

If this is a broad summary of the discussions that emerged, it needs a little teasing apart, just for my own peace of mind and understanding as someone who knows little about boats.

At its simplest then, the term ‘Traditional’ is referring to a set of characteristics. Like, for example, the ‘building materials’ used in a small traditional sailing boat. Some argued that a ‘traditional’ boat would simply be constructed of  wood (oak, Cedar, mahogany), oil, tar, hemp, caulking and painting. Copper rivets perhaps. No epoxy, no glass sheathing, no modern materials.

‘Traditional’ could also refer to the design and construction techniques used in a small sailing boat – plank on frame, lapstrake/clinker construction; the fastening of wooden planks using various techniques such as riveting, caulking or other traditional joinery approaches. Is there something here to do with ‘hand-crafted’ as well? Those almost lost artisanal skills, that skilled craftsmen from the generations of boat builders and custodians before us, passed down? Does ‘tradition’ refer to constructional methods from a time ago that were based on the most effective and efficient use of materials and implements to hand at any given point in time?

Although not specifically mentioned in any discussion, I pause here because I wonder if associated with the argument above is another principle. Does ‘Traditional’ imply a ‘sense of responsibility’ we might feel to being the custodian of a small sailing boat? Carrying out regular maintenance using these old ‘traditional’ construction techniques to conserve old design features in our current boats? I may be clutching at straws here, for what do I know about boats in general? Nothing! But it strikes me that learning the old ‘traditional’ way of whipping and spicing your boat’s ropes, is preserving a sense of ‘traditional’ approach. Using the old hand plane passed down to me from my father, his father, and his father’s father, is another sense of ‘traditional’ is it not? That plane was used to create bevels in stringers and create flat surfaces for lapstrake planks to sit neatly against each other in Arwen. My father taught me how to use that plane correctly. His Father taught him. 'Traditional'!

 Which leads us back to another consideration around design and construction methods. That principle of ‘evolution’.  There was much discussion and comment on the group Facebook pages about this. Building materials and construction methods have evolved over time. We use more modern building methods/materials in our boats – wood can now be glass sheathed and joined with epoxy. Gaps can be filled with….you get the picture. So can we call these boats built like this, ‘traditional’? The consensus, with the odd objection, seemed to be yes. Someone observed that “most small boats today are a variation of a traditional design because most of their designers draw inspiration from what has worked in the past. They merely adapt/change things to meet the needs of current users today”.

But wait! This theme of ‘evolution’.  Is ‘traditional’ not also associated with the ‘changing form and function’ of a small sailing boat? There was much discussion about how ‘traditional’ refers to an interplay and balance between science and art? Between form and function?  Many ‘traditional’ boats evolved from workmanlike principles – their appearance, seakeeping qualities, how they handled in different seas, their simplicity of use for the job they were built for, their level of safety. Old working boats were a ‘product of their environment’ (and to a certain extent, their ‘cultural setting’, but I’ll come back to that before I confuse myself and you good reader any further); boats designed to function within particular locations with particular environmental constraints and working factors in mind. Did they have to be easy to maintain? Able to be efficient and effective under sail and oar? Easy and safe to sail single handed?  Boats over time thus evolved in shape, form and function; in comfort, volume, seaworthiness, shelter, draft, displacement, efficiency, safety, stability, ease of maintenance. "Adaptation of sensible solutions to particular work-related problems, scenarios and environments were made!", as one commentator noted. In which case, can a boat of wood with modern materials and building methods be deemed to be ‘traditional’ because it is based on traditional values, such as those to do with safety and seaworthiness, that were developed long ago?

Although not explicitly mentioned, I guess this argument can be seem in the development of sailing rigs. I personally associate the word ‘traditional’ with any small sailing boat with an 'old' style sailing rig. But then I am, as I have already said, quite naive and simplistic on these matters. But, surely certain rigs must have evolved under certain environmental, locational and working practice factors long ago?  Can it be this simple? Does ‘traditional’ imply some form of rigging choices? Classic designs like the various lug sail designs? The use of natural fibres – cotton, hemp, manilla? As a geographer, old landscape paintings fascinate me. Old coastal landscapes really fascinate me. Such paintings from the 17^th century onwards – do not many of the fishing boats within such scenes have various lug sail permutations? Why might this be? I sail a boat with a standing lug yawl sail plan. It is simple to use, dependable (especially in strong winds), easily repairable and easy to drop sail on. Spars and yards are short and easy to stow away within the boat as I set it  up for rowing. The rig performs well on most points of sail. Let go of the sheet and heave the mizzen tight and the boat sits there comfortably. I could see how old fishermen would use this rig, sure that they were safe whilst hauling back in their full nets. Tan sails hide the dirt and daily wear and tear. Lug sails - simple, efficient, rigged on a short mast with a minimum of running rigging. Its tack just aft of the mast and able to be set with or without a boom – mine has a sprit boom by the way. I’m going out on a limb here - for me, personally – a boat may have modern materials and building methods but if it is based on an old boat design and possesses an old well proven sailing rig, then it can be classed ‘traditional’. There I’ve said it; now where did I put my tin hat? Incoming!!

So, ‘traditional’ boats ‘evolved’ due to materials and construction methods but also of course to work demands – form and function meeting particular environmental and locational factors. Up my local river, the old Tamar barges evolved their form and function to negotiate shallow creeks and tidal mudbanks/flats.  Flat bottomed to trade where there was no quayside; drop keels to overcome leeway and currents; a simple wide voluminous hull with flat transom, rounded bows and shallow draft – function and form. Probably not a good example, but the best I can come up with at short notice! But, in saying this, is there now another aspect to do with the word ‘traditional’? One of aesthetics?

‘Traditional’ refers to this aspect does it not, surely? Elegant lines that reflect the historical context in which it was built? Decorative elements, traditional paintwork?  Maybe I am clutching at straws again on this one as well.

There is a cultural context to the use of the word ‘traditional’. Some boats are ‘traditional’ because of their historical significance within a particular area - their use for centuries with minimal changes to design; the cultural importance they are held in within a particular region, community or ethnic grouping.  

‘Traditional’ can also be a personal interpretation. Although this aspect was barely explored, it was mentioned in discussions. Perhaps a boat can be termed ‘traditional’ because of the feelings/emotions it evokes when you see it or step aboard it. This is a personal interpretation, individualistic to each of us. It is a ‘feeling’ we have towards a particular design/small boat; an instinct about how it looks and how it will behave out on the water. Aesthetic appeal, the smell of varnish/paint, the amount of varnished wood and hemp rope on show. Its simplicity of design and line, sense of internal space and generosity of freeboard. The sense of confidence it instils in us regarding its safety and seaworthiness. The emotions the vessel provokes through sound and smell – the creaking spar against the mast, the rhythmic clunk of a centreboard in its case; the bubbles and ripples along its hull as it surges forward.

In a similar vein, can ‘traditional’ also relate to the ‘experiences’ we have within a particular small sailing boat? Arwen’s natural haunt is sniffing up the creeks, lakes, marshes and upper river reaches of the Tamar system. Centreboard bouncing along mudflat edges, rapid sequences of tacking in narrow river channels. We follow in the sailing courses of the old Tamar barge and farm produce boat skippers as they once hauled cargo between the old quaysides, lime kilns, farming hards, brickworks and old mines that litter the slopes of this extensive Devon and Cornish valley. Within these waters, I have to develop an understanding of tidal river fluid dynamics - those currents and eddies; how the wind spills off different slopes and where the treacherous mud banks might be found, ready to trap and ground you. Where currents, reedbeds and ‘huffing’ the margins can give you a lift around the next meander bend. The peace and solitude I get, the appreciation of the river valleys and their quirks. The skills I use to navigate into the upper most reaches by pole, oar and sail – reminiscent of those once used by the barge and small trading boat skippers of old. ‘Traditional’ skills and knowledge used way back then and still used today. Essentially its ‘traditional’ seamanship/boatmanship, is it not?

Finally, there was a beautiful argument made about whether a ‘traditional’ boat is one that attracts interesting people alongside it. Such people will recognise certain elements of form, function, design and aesthetics that have their origins in the past. These people appreciate a wooden boat! They appreciate that wood has been used as a boat build material for centuries. They appreciate that this wood came from a forest and was worked on – shaped, formed. It was held together by natural fastenings using old working methods. Such interesting people who come to admire a small boat know and understand the rhythms of nature; they understand timing! How the length of a person’s lifespan can be measured in the length of the life of a wooden boat. It’s a nice perceptive observation. Arwen often draws many admirers. Not for her smart appearance I might add, for she is a much-neglected vessel in needs of some serious cosmetic TLC. No, people comment on her lines, her ‘traditional’ sail plan and its numerous advantages; her hull shape and its seakeeping properties. How she handles in a blow. Those elements are recognisable by those who know!

So, have I clarified my thinking on what does ‘traditional’ mean when applied to a small sailing boat?

I’m beginning to! I think! May be not yet! 

Have I accurately summarised the discussion points from group members with simplicity and clarity – I very much doubt that and so I humbly apologise for this failing!

Perhaps the last words, as way of a summary, should be left to some commentators from the STSB group. One observed that “what defines a boat as ‘traditional’ can be based on different regions, cultures and eras. It can encompass a wide range of designs and construction methods that evolved over time due to particular locational, environmental and working demands. But, what is possibly important is that the term ‘traditional’ places emphasis on preserving historical construction, design and sailing methods”.

Another noted “are what we now all sail developmental hybrids of those early work boats adapted to a society with time on their hands for recreation?”

I think Michael W Jones may have had it right when he observed “Don’t worry about strict definitions of ‘traditional’. Take your boat, adapt it to your needs. Make sure it is safe, simple, easy to use and easy to rig. Go and have fun sailing it.”

If you want to contribute further to the debate on what does ‘traditional’ mean to you in the context of a small sailing boat – then why not find one of the conversation threads using the group homepage search bar and add in your comments.